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as is clear from the above general formula ( 1 ), the organosilicon compound of the present invention has sih groups in its molecule , hence , it can form a cured product by the hydrosilylation reaction of these groups with the unsaturated groups in unsaturated polymers . namely , the organosilicon compound of the present invention can be used as a crosslinking agent in curable silicone rubber compositions of addition reaction curing . in the above general formula ( 1 ), rf is a perfluoroalkyl group or a perfluoroalkyl ether group . the perfluoroalkyl group may preferably be those having 1 to 10 carbon atoms , and the perfluoroalkyl ether group preferably those having 3 to 17 carbon atoms , more preferably 5 to 17 carbon atoms . the perfluoroalkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms may include , for example , - cf 3 , - c 2 f 5 , - c 3 f 7 , - c 4 f 9 , - c 5 f 11 , - c 6 f 13 , - c 7 f 15 , c 8 f 17 , - c 19 f 9 and - c 10 f 21 . in particular , an especially preferred perfluoroalkyl group is - cf 3 , - c 4 f 9 , - c 6 f 13 and - c 8 f 17 . as for the perfluoroalkyl ether group having 3 to 17 carbon atoms may include , for example , the following . ## str3 ## ( wherein n is an integer of 1 to 5 ) such as , for example : ## str4 ## b ) - cf 2 -( ocf 2 cf 2 ) m - f ( wherein m is an integer of 1 to 10 ) c ) - cf 2 cf 2 o --( ocf 2 cf 2 cf 2 ) m - f ( wherein m is as defined above ), in particular , especially preferred perfluoroalkyl ether groups are the foregoing a ). r 1 is a monovalent hydrocarbon group , preferably including those having 1 to 10 carbon atoms , and in particular those having 1 to 8 carbon atoms , as exemplified by an alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms such as a methyl group , an ethyl group , a propyl group , an isopropyl group , a butyl group , a hexyl group , a cyclohexyl group or an octyl group ; an alkenyl group having 2 to 8 carbon atoms such as a vinyl group , an allyl group , a propenyl group , an isopropenyl group , a butynyl group or a hexenyl group ; a cycloalkenyl group having 6 to 10 carbon atoms such as cyclohexenyl group , or a cycloheptynyl group ; an aryl group having 6 to 10 carbon atoms such as a phenyl group , a tolyl group , a xylyl group or a naphthyl group ; and an aralkyl group having 7 to 10 carbon atoms such as a benzyl group or a phenylethyl group . in particular , those containing no aliphatic unsaturated bonds are preferred . for the use in crosslinking agents , r 1 may usually be preferably an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms , and most preferably a methyl group . r 2 is an alkylene group such as methylene , ethylene , methylethylene , tetramethylene or hexamethylene , and preferably those having 1 to 6 carbon atoms , particularly preferably those having 2 to 4 carbon atoms , and most preferably a trimethylene group . r 3 is a hydrogen atom or a monovalent hydrocarbon group . usually the monovalent hydrocarbon group typically includes those having 1 to 8 carbon atoms , in particular , those having 1 to 6 carbon atoms , specifically including those exemplified for r 1 . r 3 is preferably a hydrogen atom , an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms or a phenyl group , and more preferably a hydrogen atom , a methyl group , an ethyl group , a propyl group , an isopropyl group or a phenyl group . as typical examples of the above organosilicon compound of the present invention , the compound can be exemplified by , but is not limited to , the following . in the present specification , me represents a methyl group , and ph a phenyl group . ## str5 ## production of organosilicon compound the organosilicon compound of the present invention can be produced by , for example , subjecting a cyclic hydrosiloxane represented by the following general formula ( 2 ): ## str6 ## wherein r 1 , a , b and c are as defined above ; and a fluorine - containing amide compound containing an unsaturated group , represented by the following general formula ( 3 ): wherein m is an integer of 0 to 4 , and rf and r 3 are as defined above ; usually the above reaction may be carried out at a temperature of from 50 ° to 150 ° c ., in particular , from 60 ° to 120 ° c . as the catalyst , platinum family metal catalysts well known as catalysts for hydrosilylation may be used , which are exemplified by chloroplatinic acid ; alcohol - modified chloroplatinic acid ( see u . s . pat . no . 3 , 220 , 972 ); complexes of chloroplatinic acid with olefins ( see u . s . pat . no . 3 , 159 , 601 , no . 3 , 159 , 662 and no . 3 , 775 , 452 ); platinum black or palladium supported on a carrier such as alumina , silica or carbon ; rhodium - olefin complexes ; and chlorotris ( triphenylphosphine ) rhodium ( wilkinson &# 39 ; s catalyst ). of these , complex type catalysts may preferably be used in the form of solutions prepared by dissolving them in solvents such as alcohols , ketones or ethers . the value of b in the above general formula ( 1 ) depends on the addition reaction weight of the above fluorine - containing amide compound . hence , the amount of the fluorine - containing amide compound used in the reaction is set in accordance with the content of sih group in the cyclic hydrosiloxane to be reacted , so as to obtain the value of b as defined in the general formula ( 1 ). the catalyst may be used in an amount of so - called a catalytic weight , e . g ., of from 1 to 1 , 000 ppm , and preferably from 10 to 500 ppm , in terms of platinum family metal per cyclic hydrosiloxane . the organosilicon compound of the present invention thus obtained is , as previously stated , useful as a crosslinking agent for addition - curable silicone rubber compositions . for example , the organosilicon compound of the present invention may be mixed in such an amount that the content of sih group comes to be from 0 . 5 to 5 mols , in particular , from 0 . 8 to 3 moles , per mole of the alkenyl group , and a curing catalyst , a filler and so forth may be further mixed to form a curable silicone rubber composition , which then can be used in various purposes . especially when a polymer into which fluorine groups have been introduced is used as the base polymer , it can be especially expected to improve the adhesion of cured products to various substrates . into a 1 liter four - necked flask provided with a stirrer , a thermometer , a reflux condenser and a dropping funnel , 12 g of 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 - tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 0 . 05 g of a toluene solution of a complex of chloroplatinic acid with 1 , 3 - divinyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyldisiloxane were charged , followed by heating to 80 ° c . into this flask , 26 . 8 g of a fluorine - containing allylamide represented by the following formula : ## str7 ## was dropwise added over a period of 1 hour . the reaction was further carried out for 1 hour at 80 ° c ., and thereafter the reaction mixture was distilled under reduced pressure to obtain 14 . 4 g of a fraction ( yield : 37 . 2 %) having a boiling point of 136 ° to 138 ° c ./ mmhg and a refractive index of 1 . 3586 ( 25 ° c .). on this fraction , 1 h - nmr , 19 f - nmr and ir absorption were measured and elementary analysis was carried out to obtain the results as shown below . 19 f - nmr ( cf 3 cooh standard ): ## str8 ## φ : - 3 . 3 to - 6 . 1 ppm ( a , 13f ) φ : - 52 . 39 ppm ( b , 2f ) ______________________________________ c h o si______________________________________found :(%) 24 . 56 2 . 66 14 . 61 14 . 56calculated :(%) 24 . 78 2 . 86 14 . 44 14 . 48______________________________________ ( as c . sub . 16 h . sub . 22 o . sub . 7 si . sub . 4 f . sub . 17 n . sub . 1 ) from the above results , the fraction obtained was determined to be an organosilicon compound represented by the following formula : ## str9 ## into a 1 liter four - necked flask provided with a stirrer , a thermometer , a reflux condenser and a dropping funnel , 160 g of 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 - tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 0 . 75 g of a toluene solution of a complex of chloroplatinic acid with 1 , 3 - divinyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyldisiloxane were charged , followed by heating to 80 ° c . into this flask , 155 . 2 g of a fluorine - containing allylamide represented by the following formula : ## str10 ## was dropwise added over a period of 1 hour . the reaction was further carried out for 1 hour at 80 ° c ., and thereafter the reaction mixture was distilled under reduced pressure to obtain 120 . 3 g of a fraction ( yield : 57 . 8 %) having a boiling point of 145 ° to 147 ° c ./ mmhg and a refractive index of 1 . 3508 ( 25 ° c .). on this fraction , 1 h - nmr , 19 f - nmr and ir absorption were measured and elementary analysis was carried out to obtain the results as shown below . 19 f - nmr ( cf 3 cooh standard ): ## str11 ## φ : - 3 . 3 to - 5 . 6 ppm ( a , 18f ) φ : - 52 . 49 ppm ( b , 2f ) ______________________________________ c h o si______________________________________found :(%) 24 . 32 2 . 31 13 . 61 11 . 88calculated :(%) 24 . 23 2 . 35 13 . 59 11 . 93______________________________________ ( as c . sub . 19 h . sub . 22 o . sub . 8 si . sub . 4 f . sub . 23 n . sub . 1 ) from the above results , the fraction obtained was determined to be an organosilicon compound represented by the following formula : ## str12 ## into a 1 liter four - necked flask provided with a stirrer , a thermometer , a reflux condenser and a dropping funnel , 120 g of 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 - tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 0 . 5 g of a toluene solution of a complex of chloroplatinic acid with 1 , 3 - divinyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyldisiloxane were charged , followed by heating to 80 ° c . into this flask , 184 . 5 g of a fluorine - containing allylamide represented by the following formula : ## str13 ## was dropwise added over a period of 1 hour . the reaction was further carried out for 1 hour at 80 ° c ., and thereafter the reaction mixture was distilled under reduced pressure to obtain 76 . 2 g of fraction a ( yield : 25 . 0 %) having a boiling point of 130 ° to 132 ° c ./ mmhg and a refractive index of 1 . 3722 ( 25 ° c .) and 5 . 9 g of fraction b ( yield : 1 . 2 %) having a boiling point of 190 ° to 192 ° c ./ mmhg and a refractive index of 1 . 3694 ( 25 ° c .). on these fractions , 1 h - nmr , 19 f - nmr and ir absorption were measured and elementary analyses were carried out to obtain the results as shown below . 19 f - nmr ( cf 3 cooh standard ): ## str14 ## φ : - 4 . 8 to - 6 . 7 ppm ( a , 8f ) φ : - 52 . 58 ppm ( b , 2f ) ______________________________________ c h o si______________________________________found :(%) 25 . 57 3 . 66 15 . 84 18 . 52calculated :(%) 24 . 61 3 . 64 15 . 75 18 . 43______________________________________ ( as c . sub . 13 h . sub . 22 o . sub . 6 si . sub . 4 f . sub . 11 n . sub . 1 ) from the above results , the fraction a obtained was determined to be an organosilicon compound represented by the following formula : ## str15 ## 19 f - nmr ( cf 3 cooh standard ): ## str16 ## φ : - 4 . 3 to - 6 . 4 ppm ( a , 16f ) φ : - 52 . 19 ppm ( b , 4f ) ______________________________________ c h o si______________________________________found :(%) 26 . 89 2 . 76 13 . 15 11 . 53calculated :(%) 27 . 00 2 . 88 13 . 08 11 . 48______________________________________ ( as c . sub . 22 h . sub . 28 o . sub . 8 si . sub . 4 f . sub . 22 n . sub . 2 ) from the above results , the fraction b obtained was determined to be an organosilicon compound represented by the following formula : ## str17 ## into a 1 liter four - necked flask provided with a stirrer , a thermometer , a reflux condenser and a dropping funnel , 282 g of 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 - tetramethyl - 1 - propylcyclotetrasiloxane and 2 . 0 g of a toluene solution of a complex of chloroplatinic acid with 1 , 3 - divinyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyldisiloxane were charged , followed by heating to 80 ° c . into this flask , 178 . 3 g of a fluorine - containing allylamide represented by the following formula : ## str18 ## was dropwise added over a period of 1 hour . the reaction was further carried out for 1 hour at 80 ° c ., and thereafter the reaction mixture was distilled under reduced pressure to obtain 128 . 6 g of a fraction ( yield : 47 . 2 %) having a boiling point of 140 ° to 142 ° c ./ mmhg and a refractive index of 1 . 3666 ( 25 ° c .). on this fraction , 1 h - nmr , 19 f - nmr and ir absorption were measured and elementary analysis was carried out to obtain the results as shown below . 19 f - nmr ( cf 3 cooh standard ): ## str19 ## φ : - 3 . 3 to - 5 . 7 ppm ( a , 13f ) φ : - 52 . 44 ppm ( b , 2f ) ______________________________________ c h o si______________________________________found :(%) 27 . 99 3 . 56 13 . 88 13 . 56calculated :(%) 24 . 91 3 . 45 13 . 74 13 . 74______________________________________ ( as c . sub . 19 h . sub . 25 o . sub . 7 si . sub . 4 f . sub . 17 n . sub . 1 ) from the above results , the fraction obtained was determined to be an organosilicon compound represented by the following formula : ## str20 ## into a 1 liter four - necked flask provided with a stirrer , a thermometer , a reflux condenser and a dropping funnel , 86 . 4 g of 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 - tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 0 . 35 g of a toluene solution of a complex of chloroplatinic acid with 1 , 3 - divinyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyldisiloxane were charged , followed by heating to 80 ° c . into this flask , 69 . 2 g of a fluorine - containing allylamide represented by the following formula : ## str21 ## was dropwise added over a period of 1 hour . the reaction was further carried out for 1 hour at 80 ° c ., and thereafter the reaction mixture was distilled under reduced pressure to obtain 26 . 5 g of a fraction ( yield : 27 . 0 %) having a boiling point of 138 ° to 140 ° c ./ 2 mmhg and a refractive index of 1 . 3650 ( 25 ° c .). on this fraction , 1 h - nmr , 19 f - nmr and ir absorption were measured and elementary analysis was carried out to obtain the results as shown below . 19 f - nmr ( cf 3 cooh standard ): ## str22 ## φ : - 2 . 8 to - 6 . 1 ppm ( a , 13f ) φ : - 47 . 65 ppm ( b , 1f ) ______________________________________ c h o si______________________________________found :(%) 27 . 91 3 . 45 13 . 70 13 . 74calculated :(%) 24 . 07 3 . 30 13 . 85 13 . 72______________________________________ ( as c . sub . 19 h . sub . 28 o . sub . 7 si . sub . 4 f . sub . 17 n . sub . 1 ) from the above results , the compound obtained was determined to be an organosilicon compound represented by the following formula : ## str23 ## into a 1 liter four - necked flask provided with a stirrer , a thermometer , a reflux condenser and a dropping funnel , 36 g of 1 , 3 , 5 , 7 - tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane and 0 . 1 g of a toluene solution of a complex of chloroplatinic acid with 1 , 3 - divinyl - 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyldisiloxane were charged , followed by heating to 80 ° c . into this flask , 21 . 6 g of a fluorine - containing allylamide represented by the following formula : ## str24 ## was dropwise added over a period of 1 hour . the reaction was further carried out for 1 hour at 80 ° c ., and thereafter the reaction mixture was distilled under reduced pressure to obtain 15 . 5 g of a fraction ( yield : 46 . 1 %) having a boiling point of 145 ° to 147 ° c ./ 1 mmhg and a refractive index of 1 . 4032 ( 25 ° c .). on this fraction , 1 h - nmr , 19 f - nmr and ir absorption were measured and elementary analysis was carried out to obtain the results as shown below . 19 f - nmr ( cf 3 cooh standard ): ## str25 ## φ : - 3 . 5 to - 8 . 2 ppm ( a , 8f ) φ : - 45 . 41 ppm ( b , 1f ) ______________________________________ c h o si______________________________________found :(%) 32 . 09 3 . 89 14 . 25 16 . 67calculated :(%) 32 . 13 3 . 71 14 . 33 16 . 83______________________________________ ( as c . sub . 19 h . sub . 26 o . sub . 6 si . sub . 4 f . sub . 11 n . sub . 1 ) from the above results , the compound obtained was determined to be an organosilicon compound represented by the following formula : ## str26 ##	2
improved spinning nozzles are preferred for the implementation of the invention . these are nozzles , known under the name of fiberization nozzles , the structure of which is such that they discharge a melted monofilament material animated by a circular movement . they are described , for example , in european patent no . 224 , 855 ( meltex verbindunges ). the spinning nozzle moves over the mold surface , following a wave such that the mold is coated with an epicycloidal rosette of hot - melt , non - pressure - sensitive adhesive material , and after complete cooling of which the hot - melt , pressure - sensitive adhesive substance is poured into the mold . the free surface of the molded block , cooled in its mold , is then in turn protected according to the same principle . it is then possible to unmold the block which is totally without stickiness , and which can then be packaged and handled without particular precautions . the particular composition of the protective envelopes in accordance with the invention offers numerous advantages . first , that of a very high precision within the geometric limits of this envelope . thus , it is possible to very precisely delimit the coated part of the mold and make it coincide with the level of filling that has been selected in advance . with the protection procedure involving coating by spraying hot - melt , non - pressure - sensitive adhesive , the protection by the hot - melt , non - sticking adhesive greatly exceeds the filling limits ; the raw cast block has double - thickness burrs ( the burrs from the coating of the mold and the burrs from the post - protection of the free surface ), which it is difficult or expensive ( for example , by means of cryogenic deburring ) to remove in an automated industrial manner . the system in accordance with the invention radically eliminates this problem of deburring the blocks . in addition , it also radically eliminates the problem caused by the inevitable run - over of the spraying outside of the molds and the necessity of their systematic cleaning , without which the soiling of the manufacturing tool will end up by impeding its operation . the ability of selection of the filling level is a substantial advantage in relation to the protection systems involving electrostatic powdering . in these systems , the filling of the molds is imposed at a constant level , since the sticky free surface of the blocks is eliminated by attaching them in pairs , by folding the two molds on a common hinge . this obviously means that the hot - melt , pressure - sensitive adhesive will seep into each of the molds : the result is that , depending on the qualities of pressure - sensitive adhesive , the density of the compositions varies , the weight of the blocks is not constant , which is a considerable disadvantage both for marketing and for use of the blocks in feeding automated glueing systems . the procedure in accordance with the invention also provides an elegant solution to the problem of unmolding the blocks during their manufacture . the material with which the mold is coated is selected not only to ensure a nonsticky quality of the block of hot - melt adhesive , but also in part for its quality as an unmolding agent . however , no matter what might be this ability to facilitate unmolding , the material itself of the hot - melt adhesive is not lacking in a certain flexibility and the extraction of the block from its mold is sometimes made difficult because the mold exercises a suction force on a material that responds with a certain deformation to any attempt at extraction . the tenacity of the surface web created in accordance with the invention , particularly that of the epicycloidal rosettes of the molding surface , allows extraction of the blocks by suction , a system which is inapplicable to the blocks molded in accordance with the prior art which do not resist the surface tearing . this tenacity of the protective , spun layer also participates in the reinforcement of the mass of the block , which can therefore be comprised of very elastic pressure - sensitive adhesive material , which is deformed relatively little by handling . in addition , the spinning of the protective envelope allows the use of a very precise amount of the protective material , and its very homogeneous distribution . it is estimated that the relative weight of this envelope should not exceed 1 . 5 % of the mass of the block . the system in accordance with the invention can therefore conserve the coating material . that which is saved can be usefully employed in reinforcing the stitch . it is thereby possible to make blocks with formulations of very deformable material , which until now have been inaccessible in flexible packaging . a secondary advantage , which is not negligible , is associated with the precision of the coating process . it makes it possible to mark various qualities of hot - melt adhesive by changing the color of the non - pressure - sensitive hot - melt adhesive used in the different phases of the formation of the protective envelope . the invention will be further described in connection with the following examples and the drawings , which examples are set forth for purposes of further illustration only . described below is a particular process for manufacturing blocks of hot - melt , pressure - sensitive adhesives in accordance with the invention . the figures of the drawing will facilitate following the description of the example . the molds are cups with their bottoms convex towards the interior ( a ), with a diameter of circa 150 mm . the filling height ( h ) is set as a function of the weight selection for each block ; e . g ., 0 . 5 kg . the spinning nozzle ( b ), fed with melted hot - melt , non - pressure - sensitive adhesive is here a meltex sk 47 fiberization nozzle , mounted on a mobile device ( m ) driven in a circular movement ( c ) centered on the axis of the mold . the movement of the nozzle is regulated such that it travels over the entire useful surface ( su ) of the mold at ± 1 mm from the filling height limit ( h ) set for filling , delivering a thread of glue , and the point of contact of which with the surface of the mold can describe circles or ovals which are flattened ( o ) to an extent determined by the incline of the axis m of the nozzle . after the time required for the coating to take on a sufficient rigidity ( at this point it is possible to separate from the mold a tenacious cap of nonsticky hot - melt adhesive ), the mold is filled by pouring in melted hot - melt , pressure - sensitive adhesive up to level ( h ). ( c ) protection of the block surface and extraction ( fig3 and 4 ). after total cooling of the mass , the free surface is covered with a sheet of spun hot - melt , non - pressure - sensitive adhesive . to accomplish this , the periphery of the protective surface covering is limited in recess from the mold wall at circa 0 . 5 cm ( s ). the filled and surface mold is allowed to cool and then the block is extracted using a suction cup ( v ) the surface contact of which with the block is slightly smaller than that of the surface covered with spun hot - melt adhesive ( s ). it is now necessary to finish the protection of the resultant circular block ( l ) which is still sticky at the periphery ( p ) of its top surface at a certain distance from the edge . during the previous operations , the mold was stationary whereas the spinning nozzle was driven in a circular movement . in the following operation , the spinning nozzle positioning device is stationary and it is the block which is driven in rotational movement ( r ) on a turntable . the periphery ( p ) of the block passes under the nozzle , here the meltex sk 34 fiberization nozzle , which is stationary after regulation of the angle of attack . thus , a braid of hot - melt , non - pressure - sensitive adhesive is embroidered on the peripheral strip ( p ) that is not yet covered , which , because of the resultant elevation of the surface temperature , also has the effect of melting the excess of circa 2 mm of protective web in a sorting of stitching . the result is an absolutely protected block of pressure - sensitive adhesive , without any burns nor any zone capable of self - adhesion . this example of the procedure according to the invention is not limitative . notably , movements other than simply circular movements can be imposed on the nozzle , for example epicycloidal movements when the nozzle is a simple spinning nozzle . it is also possible to combine other relative movements of the nozzle and the mold or block in order to attain the result of the invention . the form of the blocks is not limited solely to cups or cylindrical cakes . it is also possible to employ spinning nozzles with multiple outlets , which have the advantage of not concentrating the non - pressure - sensitive adhesive at the center of the bottom of the block and at the center of the surface of the melting charge . the procedure described in example 1 is applied to a formulation of pressure - sensitive adhesive for palletization . the term &# 34 ; palletization adhesives &# 34 ; refers to pressure - sensitive compositions to be deposited in a very local manner on the exterior of filled sacks that are stacked on the pallets to facilitate handling and transport , notably by means of lift trucks . the problem is to avoid the sacks sliding on each other . this result is attained by depositing films of several square centimeters or several points of glue on the exterior of these sacks . of course , the glue is selected with characteristics such that the walls of the sacks are not torn when the sacks are unstacked . a typical composition for hot - melt palletization adhesives is the following : ______________________________________ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer 17at 33 % vinyl acetateterpene phenol resin 15rosin pentaerythritol ester resin 45dioctylphthalate 23______________________________________ this is a soft hot - melt adhesive whose ball and ring melting point is circa 60 ° c . soft hot - melt adhesives can be defined as adhesives with a ball and ring point between 50 ° and 75 ° c . and which undergo permanent deformation under their own weight in one day . all of these soft hot - melt adhesives can only be packaged in rigid or semirigid boats ( supports ) or else they will deform or break when handled . covering them with hot - melt webs in accordance with french patent no . 2 , 601 , 616 is not effective in providing them with integrity upon handling and protecting them by powdering in accordance with french patent no . 2 , 541 , 930 is even less effective . cakes formed simply with the above hot - melt adhesive can only be handled and transported in the boats in which they are molded . their protection with a hot - melt adhesive web using the materials and conditions described in example 3 of french patent no . 2 , 601 , 616 is not possible since the product is torn off at the moment of extraction from its casting mold . in contrast , the cakes obtained in accordance with the invention following the operating procedure described in example 1 above , with the same hot - melt , non - pressure - sensitive adhesive , do not flow noticeably under their own weight , they can support without sticking to each other a stack of six cakes without intercalary protective films , and they can be handled under normal conditions without excessive deformation or fragmentation and without cracking their envelope of spun hot - melt adhesive . while the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment , it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form 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 .	1
the tool suspension plate in accordance with the present invention comprises a base , at least one clamping element , at least one supporting element , and a slat detachably mounted on the plate and crossing at least one screwdriver to provide a thief - proof efficiency . because each clamping element and each supporting element have versatile modifications in shapes and positions , two preferred embodiments are illustrated as the following . with reference to fig1 and 3 , a first embodiment of tool suspension plate has a screwdriver set placed horizontally and arranged one by one in a vertical direction . the first embodiment of the tool suspension plate comprises a base ( 10 ), multiple fastening devices ( not numbered ) formed on the base ( 10 ), and a slat ( 20 ) detachably mounted on the base ( 10 ) and crossing the multiple fastening devices . the base ( 10 ) is a rectangular plate with a top and has two suspension holes ( 12 ) defined in the plate to suspend the base ( 10 ) on a desired place by means of hook . each fastening device is adapted to hold a single screwdriver and is composed of a clamping element ( 30 ) and a supporting element ( 40 ). the supporting element ( 40 ) is a u - shaped frame ( not numbered ) with an end face ( not numbered ), an opening ( not numbered ) and two opposite sides closely meeting with a handle neck of the screwdriver , and is formed near a side edge of the base ( 10 ) such that the opening is close to the side edge . the u - shaped frame has an inward portion formed at each opposite side to further closely mate with the outlines of the handle neck of the screwdriver and to avoid the screwdriver sliding out horizontally . a cutout ( 42 ) is formed in the end face of the u - shaped frame for resting a shaft of the screwdriver thereon . the clamping element ( 30 ) is formed on the base ( 10 ) and is composed of two arms ( 32 ) erecting on the base ( 10 ) to construct a channel ( not numbered ) between the two arms ( 32 ). the channel is aligned to the cutout ( 42 ). each arm ( 32 ) has an inner lip ( 322 ) at a distal end thereof and a distance between the lips ( 322 ) is smaller than an outer diameter of the shaft of the screwdriver to firmly clamp the screwdriver in the channel once the shaft has been urged through the lips ( 322 ) as shown in fig3 a . additionally , each fastening device further comprises a loop ( 50 ) formed on the base ( 10 ). the loop ( 50 ) has a through hole ( 52 ) aligning to the channel of the clamping element ( 30 ) and the cutout ( 42 ) on the supporting element ( 40 ) and adapted to hold a tail end of the shaft of the screwdriver as shown in fig3 b . moreover , the loop ( 50 ) further has a bottom and a dent ( not shown ) formed on the bottom to adapt to closely meet sharp angles of some angular shafts . by holding the tail end of the shaft with the loop ( 50 ), the screwdriver is not easily swung and can be kept steady on the tool suspension plate . the slat ( 20 ) longitudinally crosses the multiple fastening devices and is basically a u - shaped bracket with two ends . a locking sheet ( 22 ) is formed on each end of the u - shaped bracket and has a hole ( 222 ) defined in the locking sheet ( 22 ). with further reference to fig9 , two end brackets ( 24 ) are formed at two side edges of the base ( 10 ) to engage with the corresponding locking sheet ( 22 ). each end bracket ( 24 ) is an l - shaped frame on the base ( 10 ) and has a short plate ( not numbered ), a long plate ( not numbered ), and a locking hole ( 242 ) defined in the long plate to align with the hole ( 222 ) on the locking sheet ( 22 ). the short plate of the l - shaped frame abuts the base ( 10 ) at edge and the long plate of the l - shaped frame is parallel with the base ( 10 ) and extending inward . thereby , a slit ( not numbered ) is constructed between the long plate and the base ( 10 ) for accommodating the locking sheet ( 22 ). when the locking sheet ( 22 ) is inserted in the slit , a locking pin ( 26 ) penetrates the locking hole ( 242 ) of each end bracket ( 24 ) and the hole ( 222 ) on each corresponding locking sheet ( 22 ) to fasten the slat ( 20 ) on the base ( 10 ). preferably , the slat ( 20 ) is attached on the base to cross over handles of the screwdrivers . with reference to fig4 , when the screwdriver is to be detached from the tool suspension plate , the slat ( 20 ) is detached from the base ( 10 ) first . then , the screwdriver horizontally swung out away from the base ( 10 ) to separate the handle from the supporting element ( 40 ) until the shaft is also detached from the clamping element ( 30 ). lastly , the screwdriver is horizontally pulled outward to make shaft completely separate from the loop ( 50 ). with reference to fig5 and 7 , a second embodiment of the tool suspension plate has the screwdriver set placed vertically and arranged one by one in transversal direction . the second embodiment of the tool suspension plate comprises a base ( 10 a ) with a flange ( not numbered ), multiple fastening devices ( not numbered ) formed on then base ( 10 a ), and a slat ( 20 a ) detachably mounted on the base ( 10 a ) and crossing the multiple fastening device . each fastening device is adapted to hold a single screwdriver and is composed of a clamping element ( 30 a ) and a supporting element ( 40 a ). the supporting element ( 40 a ) is performed by the flange with multiple recess ( 42 a ) defined in the flange . when the screwdriver mounted on the tool suspension plate , a shaft of the screwdriver penetrates one corresponding recess ( 42 a ) and a handle of the screwdriver is rest on the supporting element ( 40 a ). the clamping element ( 30 a ) is formed above the supporting element ( 40 a ) on the base ( 10 a ) and is composed of two arms ( 32 a ) erecting on the base ( 10 a ) to construct a channel ( not numbered ) between the two arms ( 32 a ). the channel is aligned to the recess ( 42 a ). with further reference to fig7 a , each arm ( 32 a ) has an inner lip ( 322 a ) at a distal end thereof and a distance between the lips ( 322 a ) is smaller than an outer diameter of the handle of the screwdriver to firmly clamp the screwdriver in the channel once the shaft has been urged through the lips ( 322 a ). additionally , each fastening device further comprises a positioning rest ( 60 a ) formed between the clamping element ( 30 a ) and the supporting element ( 40 a ) on the base ( 10 a ). the positioning rest ( 60 a ) has a distal end and a curved face ( not numbered ) formed on the distal end for resting a handle neck of the screwdriver to provide an additional positioning efficiency . the slat ( 20 a ) transversally crosses the multiple fastening devices and has the same configuration and engaging means to the base ( 10 a ) with the one described in the first embodiment . therefore , redundant description of the slat ( 20 a ) is obviated here . however , the supporting element ( 40 a ) has no locking efficiency to avoid the screwdriver from pulling along the base ( 10 a ) as the inward portion of the u - shaped frame does . therefore , a stop plate ( 62 a ) is formed above the clamping element ( 30 a ) to abut a handle top of the screwdriver to avoid the screwdriver pulling upward and out along the base ( 10 a ). with reference to fig8 , when the screwdriver is to be detached from the tool suspension plate , the slat ( 20 a ) is detached from the base ( 10 ) first . then , the screwdriver is pushed out to separate the handle from the clamping element ( 30 a ) and the supporting element ( 40 a ). thereby , the screwdriver is completely separated from the tool suspension plate . according to the foregoing description , the clamping element firmly clamps parts of the screwdriver and the supporting element supports the handle of the screwdriver . by both elements , each screwdriver in the screwdriver set enables to be firmly and stably held on the tool suspension plate . further in cooperation with the slat , the tool suspension plate has a thief - proof efficiency to demonstrate the screwdriver set in a safe way . even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description , together with details of the structure and function of the invention , the disclosure is illustrative only , and changes may be made in detail , especially in matters of shape , size , and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed .	1
an important feature of this invention is the promotion of fiber or filament wetting or wetout while minimizing the coalescence between wetted neighboring filaments . to prevent coalescence between coated filaments it is necessary to keep the filaments separated until the matrix solidifies . one approach to keep the filaments separated is by restraining the lateral contraction of the filaments by maintaining an axial tension on the filaments . fig5 illustrates the melting of a powder particle supported by two filaments . in fig5 a , a high axial tension constrains the filaments from approaching each other . in fig5 b the axial tension on the filaments is low ; hence , the filaments can approach each other laterally as the particle melts and wicks along the filaments . in fig5 b -( c ) the thickness of the melt between the two filaments is large even after the filaments are substantially wetted . by comparision , in fig5 a -( c ) the thickness of the melt between the two filaments is substantially thinner than in fig5 b -( c ) due to constraining the lateral movement of the filaments . consequently , it is easy to separate the two coated filaments by fracturing the thin film between the two filaments . the result of this separation process is shown in fig5 a -( d ). due to constraining the filaments a tensile stress develops normal to the filament axis in the necked down melt between the filaments . this condition is illustrated in fig5 c . this tensile stress develops because material is drawn away from this interfilamentary area in order to spread along the filaments . the neck will fracture if this state of stress , s n , exceeds the failure stress , s f , for the melt . the failure stress of the matrix can be used as a guide to determine suitable operating conditions for a particular matrix . for example , it is well known that low molecular weight molten materials have virtually negligible tensile failure stresses . it is also known that high molecular weight molten polymers lose strength as the operating temperature is increased . similarly , partially solvated or plasticized polymers have lower tensile strength than neat polymer . the thinness of the spread towpreg makes it possible to melt the polymer over a very short time period , and the polymer can be raised well above the normal safe temperature for the melt . in this manner , an extremely low elastic strength in the melt can be achieved to facilitate splitting the towpreg into multiple plies . conventional matrix forming material systems may operate at a temperature at or slightly above the melting temperature of the particular matrix forming material . the coating system of the present invention can operate at a temperature significantly higher than the softening temperature of the particular matrix forming material , and generally can operate at a temperature as high as the particular matrix forming material will take without incurring degrading reaction or resin advancement during the residence time within the system . the residence times used in this invention can be short enough such that no matrix forming material degradation or resin advancement is apparent . the same conditions which lead to lower tensile strength in a viscoelastic liquid lead to lower surface tension and viscosity for the liquid . thus , the same conditions which promote filament separation also promote spreading of the liquid along the filaments . thus , the conversion in liquid shape depicted in fig5 a can be physically realized by manipulating material and operating conditions such that the elasticity of the liquid is minimized . by constraining or preventing lateral contraction of the filaments towards each other , the length of the neck before fracture , l n , can be minimized . then thinning of the cross - sectional area , a n , is promoted and the force , f n , required for fracture is reduced . thus , maintaining a high degree of tow spreading throughout wetting and solidification promotes separate filament coating . fracture of the liquid film between filaments can be facilitated by additional forces . hot gases blown normal to the plane of the spread tow will promote interfilament film fracture . running the spread tow over grooved rolls such that the filaments are forced towards the roller axis will facilitate splitting interfilamentary films . a variety of mechanical devices can be introduced to assist filament separation like the grooved rolls . in order to produce the towpreg of this invention , substantial wetout of the fibers by the matrix material must be accomplished such that the matrix forming material has been liquefied sufficiently to achieve adhesion to the filaments without the use of a conventional adhesive or binder . wetout is accomplished in this example via the matrix material liquifier , such as a melter or oven , which , through heat , puts the matrix material into a liquid state . there are various liquifiers available , including any of the radiation or conduction ovens . radiation ovens are preferred for dry powder . additionally , a hot die can be used in place of an oven . since the matrix material is liquefied as part of this invention , it is possible to use any size particles of matrix material powder to coat the filaments , including coarse particles . the liquefaction of the matrix material and the wicking of the matrix material along the filaments reduces the problem of coarse blending between matrix material and filament associated with applying large diameter particles to small diameter filaments . therefore , the particle size of the matrix forming material in this invention is not critical and can range from the diameter or thickness of the filaments or smaller , which is the generally accepted size in the art for coating , to a diameter or thickness many times larger than that of the filaments , as in the present invention . the use of large diameter or thickness particles of matrix forming material which , until the process of the present invention had not been used with any success , also results in significant cost savings . to achieve substantial wetout , sufficient residence time in the apparatus selected to put the matrix in a liquid state and to allow the matrix material to sufficiently wetout the fiber is required . it is important that during the wetout stage the fibers or filaments are not allowed to collapse laterally . this is prevented by maintaining sufficient tension on the tow . after the fibers or filaments have been substantially wetout , the liquefied matrix material generally coats an entire bundle of fibers or filaments . in order to produce the towpreg of this invention , the fibers must be split from each other as shown in fig2 so as to produce individually coated multiple plies within a tow . with reference to fig2 the individually coated multiple plies , represented generally as 134 , are composed of reinforcing filaments 132 and matrix forming material 131 . although entirely individual plies 134 , such as represented generally by 136 , are ideal , the plies 134 can be connected to each other by interply connectors 135 , which are generally single filaments 132 coated with matrix forming material 131 . these coated plies have a lower flexural rigidity than fully consolidated towpreg . with reference now to fig3 and 4 , in conventional towpreg prodution , tows containing bundles of generally about 800 to 13 , 000 filaments 132 , each filament 132 having a diameter or thickness of generally about 4 to 13 microns , are converted to towpregs 130 by coating with matrix forming material 131 . the conventional process yields a towpreg &# 34 ; ply &# 34 ; 130 of about 1 / 8 to 1 / 2 inch wide . the term &# 34 ; ply &# 34 ;, as used in the conventional process , indicates an individual , conventional single - ply towpreg 130 which can be used alone or with other conventional single - ply towpregs 130 to form composite structures . the &# 34 ; plies &# 34 ; 134 of the present invention are individual , substantially wetout bundles of filaments 132 , each bundle or &# 34 ; ply &# 34 ; having an average thickness of 100 microns or less and preferably less than 50 microns , which are gathered to form a &# 34 ; multiply &# 34 ; towpreg 133 of any desired thickness . fig8 is a micrograph of a towpreg 133 of the present invention . fig9 is a photograph of a towpreg 133 of the present invention . both fig8 and 9 show the plies 134 and interply connectors 135 . splitting occurs if the fibers or filaments are well spread by the tow spreader and are held in sufficient tension throughout the process such that the fibers or filaments cannot collapse laterally onto each other . splitting can occur concurrently with wetout in the oven as it generally occurs as the liquified matrix material wicks longitudinally along the axis of the fiber or filament . various alternative methods of splitting can be employed such as the addition of mechanical separators , including grooved rolls , knives , laser cutters , and convection currents perpendicular to the spread tow . the various fibers which are useful as the tow fibers or filaments include glass fibers ; carbon and graphite fibers ; organic fibers , particularly liquid crystal fibers such as aramids and aromatic polyesters which are not low melting ; ceramic fibers , such as silicon carbide ; hybrid fibers , such as aramid / carbon , aramid / glass , aramid / carbon / glass , and carbon / glass fibers . in general , fibers with a diameter or thickness greater that 25 microns are not useful . for example , there is no point in using a boron fiber with a diameter of 140 microns as fibers of that thickness cannot be made very flexible . furthermore , the fiber chosen should be a reinforcing type fiber and should be available in continuous form . suitable fibers should be thermally stable at the temperatures involved in the matrix consolidation step . additionally , suitable fibers must have glass transition and melting temperatures greater than room temperature and melting temperatures greater than the consolidation temperature of the composite . both thermoplastic and thermoset polymers are suitable for use as matrix materials . preferred polymers generally should not be sticky and should have a glass transition or melting temperature greater than room temperature while in service and after curing . preferably , the glass transition temperature should be greater than room temperature . therefore , elastomers , rubbers , and leathers , which are not rigid at room temperature , are unsuitable for use as the matrix material . example classes of polymers are the abs group , acetals , acrylics , alkyd polyesters , allyls , aminos , epoxies , fluoroplastics , furans , melamines , nylons , phenolics , phenylene oxides and ethers , polyamides , polyamide - imides , polybutylenes , polycarbonates , polyesters , polyetheretherketones ( peek ), polyetherimides , polyethylenes , polyimides , polymethylpentenes , polyphenylene sulfides , polypropylenes , polystyrenes , polyurethanes , sulfones , ureas and vinyls . copolymers , alloys and blends can be suitable polymer matrices . within these classes of polymers specific grades which are not tacky immediately following solidification after creating a multiply towpreg are preferred . in addition , thermosetting polymers should not be fully cured when the towpreg is initially solidified in order to permit bonding between the plies and tows when the composite part is finally cured . the preferred polymers for use as the matrix material include engineering polymers , such as polyetheretherketones , polyamides , epoxies , and polyesters . a single towpreg contains several plies which vary in thickness and width . the average thickness of the ply is less than 100 microns and is preferrably less than 50 microns . the maximum thickness of the ply is about 100 microns and the minimum height of the ply is the diameter or thickness of an unimpregnated fiber used as the reinforcing filament in the ply . typically , the length of a ply is greater than the width of a ply and both the length and width of a ply are greater than the thickness of a ply . generally the thickness of a ply is much less than the width of a ply , which is generally less than 2000 microns . additionally , the average length of a ply is preferrably greater than 30 times the thickness of a ply . astm d 1388 is a standard test method used to determine the stiffness of fabrics . this standard can be used to characterize the stiffness of the towpreg . generally , a standard sample is 1 inch wide , however , measurements can be made on tows less than 1 inch wide , as long as the results are corrected for this difference . astm d 1388 is incorporated herein by reference . a standard thermoplastic prepreg , such as apc 2 made by ici , is 5 mils or 127 microns thick and has a flexural rigidity estimated to be 216 , 000 mg - cm . a towpreg with this flexural rigidity is very difficult to weave or braid . thus , for weaving or braiding applications , a thinner towpreg is preferred ; that is , a multiply towpreg with an average ply thickness less than about 50 microns . such towpregs are produced by this invention . flexibility is important for weaving fabrics from towpreg . the cantilever test method , astm d 1388 - 64 ( 1975 ), was used to calculate the flexural rigidity by measuring the bending length of the towpreg . bending length is a measure of the interaction between the weight of the towpreg and its stiffness as indicated by the way in which a towpreg bends under its own weight . it reflects the stiffness of the towpreg when bent in one plane under the force of gravity , and is one component of drape . the maximum elastic strain in the towpreg is at its surface . reinforcing fibers typically cannot withstand compressive strains beyond 0 . 3 % without buckling . for an elastic ply this strain can be related to the ply thickness and minimum bending radius through the following expression : for example , a ply subjected to a minimum bending radius of 10 mm and a maximum allowable strain of 0 . 3 % cannot be more than 60 microns thick . the minimum bending radius depends on the part geometry and the maximum strain depends on the reinforcing fiber . thus , ply thickness depends on both the material and application . this is shown graphically in fig6 . although the towpreg of this invention is defined by its physical characteristics and , subject to these characteristics , can be composed of any combination of the tow filaments and matrix materials listed above , the following examples will help in illustrating several example towpregs of this invention . unsized 6 k hercules as 4 carbon fiber tow , each carbon fiber filament having a diameter of 8 microns , passes through an air banding jet spreading the tow about 2 inches wide . rollers before and after the spreader create tension in the tow . the tow passes over an electrostatically charged bed containing peek 150 pf powder from ici with an average particle size of 90 microns . the tow is grounded and the powder is charged at about 65 kv . the tow passes in spread condition under lateral tension , to prevent collapse , through a tubular oven set at 450 ° c . to melt the peek . the tow is cooled in air and passed through drive rollers to a tension controlled winder . the residence times in the powder coater and the oven are 1 . 4 and 6 . 7 seconds , respectively . the line speed is 6 . 8 meters per minute , the fiber content of the towpreg is 60 % by volume . the towpreg flexural rigidity is 890 mg - cm compared to 670 mg - cm for the uncoated tow . by comparison , consolidated tape has an estimated stiffness of 216 , 000 mg - cm . many of the filaments of the towpreg are readily separated . it is possible to tie a knot in the towpreg , an important feature for weaving . a towpreg comprised of owens corning fiberglas high temperature sized s2 glass with 4 , 080 filaments , each glass filament having a diameter of 9 microns , impregnated with peek matrix material is produced as in example i . after the glass filament tow passes through the air banding jet and the rollers before and after the air banding jet , the tow is wiped by a wet sponge to improve surface conductivity . then the tow passes over the electrostatically charged bed containing the peek 150 pf powder from ici with an average particle size of 90 microns . the tow is grounded and the powder charged at about 70 kv . the tow passes in spread condition under lateral tension , to prevent collapse , through the tubular oven set at 450 ° c . to melt the peek . the tow is cooled in air and passed through drive rollers to a tension controlled winder . the residence times in the powder coater and oven are 5 . 2 and 26 . 3 seconds , respectively . the line speed is 1 . 7 meters per minute . the fiber content of the towpreg is 60 % by volume . the towpreg is split into plies similar in size and shape to the 20 strands of 204 filaments comprising the tow or roving . a towpreg comprised of unsized 6 k hercules as4 carbon fiber tow , each carbon fiber filament having a diameter of 8 microns , impregnated with larc tpi , a thermoplastic polyimide , is produced as in example i . after the carbon fiber filament tow passes through the air banding jet and the rollers before and after the air banding jet , the tow passes over the electrostatically charged bed containing the larc - tpi powder from rogers corp . with an average particle size of 35 microns . the tow is grounded and the powder charged at about 67 kv . the tow passes in spread condition under lateral tension , to prevent collapse , through the tubular oven set at 400 ° c . to melt the tpi . the tow is cooled in air then passes through drive rollers to a tension controlled winder . the residence times in the powder coater and oven are 3 . 2 and 16 seconds , respectively . the line speed is 2 . 9 meters per minute . the fiber content of the towpreg is 37 % by volume . the towpreg flexural rigidity is 7 , 000 mg - cm compared to 670 mg - cm for the uncoated tow . the method of this invention for producing the towpreg of this invention is shown in a simplified flow process chart in fig1 . the tow 102 is supplied during the let - off step 101 , which can be bobbins or spools of tow , tow from an upstream process , or from any other tow supply . the tow 102 consists of many individual filaments 104 which are spread or separated from each other , so as to form a lateral spread of individual filaments 104 , in the spreading step 103 . the now spread filaments 104 are coated with matrix forming material during the coating step 105 . after the filaments 104 are sufficiently coated 106 with matrix forming material , the matrix forming material is liquefied in wetout step 107 , forming sufficiently wetout tow 108 . as the liquefied matrix forming material wicks down the filaments 104 , the thickness of the matrix forming material becomes thinner until the thin film fractures between filaments 104 ( see fig5 ) during the splitting step 109 . the now coated filaments 110 , either individually or in bundles , are cooled in the cooling step 112 where the matrix forming material solidifies . during the cooling step 112 , groups of filaments 110 form individual tow plies 113 . sometimes individual filaments 110 link neighboring tow plies 113 as interply connectors 111 during the cooling step 112 . the tow plies 113 are pulled through the method by a pulling means 114 so as to keep the tow 102 moving and to place axial tension on the filaments 104 so the individual filaments 104 do not collapse upon themselves , thus forming a mass of filaments and matrix material . the tow plies 113 optionally can then be gathered together 115 to form various thickness towpregs , which are then wound in winding step 116 . it should be noted that the above steps define the method of this invention and are not to be limited to the specific examples given throughout this specification . however , to better understand the above steps , the example below is provided with reference to the specific apparatus 8 shown in fig7 . the tow 11 supplied on let - off wheel 10 is drawn through the apparatus 8 and secured to take - up wheel 12 . the take - up wheel 12 is rotated at a variable speed and the let - off wheel 10 is not driven . this apparatus 8 incorporates a standard 11 × 3 inch bobbin . intermediate pinch rollers 14 are used to pull the fibers as they come out of the oven 16 . a constant tension winding on take - up wheel 12 is maintained by adjusting the winder motor ( not shown ) speed with a tension controller ( not shown ). the fiber speed through the apparatus 8 can be controlled by adjusting the speed of the pinch rollers 14 . the take - up machine used in this example is a leesona take - up machine with a pig - tail collector . the tow let - off in this example is taken directly from bobbins of wound tow . the tow can also come directly from upstream processes . during let - off , it is important to avoid twisting the filaments 13 making up the tow 11 as twisted filaments 13 are more difficult to separate . additionally , it is helpful to control the tension on each individual bobbin of tow to keep the line tension constant throughout the impregnating process . a tow guide plate ( not shown ) may be placed between the let - off mechanism and the tow spreader to aid in guiding the tow through the tow spreader . the tow spreader 18 in this example uses a series of 6 rollers 17 , although the number of rollers is not critical , and an air comb 19 to spread the fiber tow 11 to individual filaments 13 . the rollers 17 are arranged in two groups of three rollers each ; one group located just before the air comb 19 and one group located just after the air comb 19 . the two main purposes of the rollers 17 are : ( 1 ) to provide tension to the tow thus reducing the amount of lateral collapse of the tow onto itself during the process ; and ( 2 ) to reduce the vibration of the tow . the rollers 17 can be made of any material and have any surface characteristics ; however , smooth teflon rollers are preferred as they provide for good spreading of the tow . at least one of the rollers 17 , preferably the one immediately before the coating system 20 , must be made of a conducting material , stainless steel being preferred , so as to ground the tow 11 before it enters the coating system 20 . the air comb 19 is already known in the art . the tow 11 , after leaving the let - off wheel 10 , enters the first group of rollers 17 where the filaments 13 are spread . the configuration of this first group of rollers 17 allows the tow to weave through the first group of three rollers 17 , passing over the first roller , under the second roller and over the third roller , helping to impart a constant tension on and to reduce the vibration of the tow filaments 13 . the tow 11 then enters the air comb 19 where forced air further spreads the filaments 13 . after leaving the air comb 19 , the tow 11 enters the second group of rollers 17 where the filaments 13 are further spread . the configuration of this second group of rollers 17 is similar to the configuration of the first group of rollers 17 for the same reasons . as mentioned previously , it is preferred that the final roller in this second group of rollers be made of a conducting material so as to ground the tow prior to entering the coating system 20 . various other tow spreader 18 methods are available , including smooth , grooved or crowned rollers or drums ; air combs ; a combination of air combs and rollers or drums ; air banding jets ; ultrasonic spreaders , and liquid baths . of prime concern in choosing a tow spreading method is that the method chosen will spread the tow into a columnated tape preferably only one filament thick and that the method will not damage the tow fibers or filaments . additional subprocesses may be included between the tow spreader 18 and the coating bed system 20 as required in the various applications . for example , equipment for desizing , surface activation and the application of adhesion promoters may be desired to produce a towpreg desired for a specific application . the tow filaments 13 next enter a coating system 20 where the matrix material is applied to the tow filaments 13 . as the filaments enter and pass through the coating system 20 , the spread of the filaments 13 is maintained . many different coating systems 20 are useful and are discussed as examples below . an electrostatic fluidized bed system is a preferred coating system 20 and is discussed in detail in coating system example i . various other coating systems 20 , such as wet powder , hot melt , and solution coating are discussed previously in the prior art section and below in coating system examples ii , iii , and iv . the fluidized bed coating system 20 , in its simplest embodiment , comprises an enclosure 21 within which the matrix material powder 22 is confined . by a combination of air flow 24 and mechanical vibration , the powder 22 is fluidized and simultaneously electrically charged by means of high voltage electrodes 26 situated at or near the base of the container 28 . the electrode 26 may be sharp points or , more usually , small diameter wires . at the top of the coater enclosure 21 there is an open port 32 to allow the escape of the fluidizing air 24 . passing the tow 11 over and under rollers connected to a metal frame is one procedure to simultaneously ground and spread the fibers . with greater spreading , more powder can be picked up and greater flexibility of product results because the towpreg is thinner . when the fiber tow is not spread prior to coating , the towpreg emerges in a round brittle state and the fibers within the tow are not totally coated . the powder particles 22 are uniformly dispersed in the container 28 . porous plate 34 provides for a very high resistance to travel of air 24 through the plate 34 while permitting passage of sufficient air 24 at low velocity to fluidize the powder 22 . the mechanical vibration of the porous plate 34 is used to enhance fluidization and to reduce the possibility of air channeling and powder clumps . the depth of powder material 22 in the bed 33 is usually two to four inches ( 50 to 100 mm ). in the fluidized bed system 20 , individual particles of the powder 22 adhere electrostatically to the fibers . the charged particles of powder 22 repel each other to such a degree that they rise above the chamber container 21 forming a cloud 40 of charged particles , through which the fibers are passed . in this example , a model c30 electrostatic fluidized bed coater from electrostatic technology incorporated is used . the bed dimensions are 6 × 6 inches . the electrical output is 0 - 90 kv and the air input is 0 - 12 . 5 standard cubic feet per minute ( scfm ). the fluidized bed system 20 also incorporates an ionized air system 36 created by charging electrodes 26 below the fluidized bed 33 to prevent the unintentional ignition of the fluidized powder 22 by electrical sparking . the fluidizing air 24 used in conjunction with this process must be dry and clean because contaminants within the air supply would result in blocking the porous plate 34 and uneven fluidization . moisture in the air causes the powder 22 to pack on the fluidized bed 33 causing reduced fluidization efficiency . normally dry air 24 at a pressure of 30 to 80 psi supplied at a rate of approximately 5 cu . ft ./ min per square foot of diffuser plate 34 is appropriate . the fluidized powder 22 is maintained in the fluidized state by controlling the air flow 24 . a typical method for drying the fluidizing air 24 is to use a cylindrical chamber ( not shown ) filled with silica gel , such as drierite , which can absorb 10 - 14 % of its weight in h 2 o when drying gases . wet air enters the dryer and moves through a mesh screen into the silica gel . moisture is separated out in the chamber . dry air 24 then flows through the outlet to the fluidized bed 33 . the voltages employed in the fluidized bed system 20 are usually from between about 30 to about 100 kv . in most cases , negative polarity is used . the output voltage should be approximately 100 kv maximum and the maximum output energy when the system 20 is shorted to ground must not be greater than the ignition energy of the particular materials 22 being applied . the high voltage required depends on the powder being used and generally ranges from about 35 to about 90 kv . for example , polyester powders achieve a better coating when charged at 40 kv or less ; epoxy powders perform well in the range from 40 to 70 kv ; vinyl powders generally require a higher charge , on the order of 60 to 75 kv , and for peek , good powder pickup occurred at 70 to 90 kv . a vacuum exhaust system ( not shown ) is positioned to collect and return the excess coating powder to the powder supply reservoir 44 ( not shown ). a typical exhaust system consists of one or more cyclones or bag filters ( not shown ), or a combination of both . top exhaust , entrance and exit port exhaust or perimeter exhaust are all techniques that can be applied . the velocity of exhaust air should be about the same as the velocity of the inlet air flow 24 . in this example , the exhaust system employs a cartridge type exhaust to recover powder by collecting the powder in a vacuum bag filter . powder is drawn to the cartridge by air suction , and then recovered by shaking the pocket or the bag filter inside the cartridge . the coated fiber next enters the oven 16 . this should be accomplished as soon as it leaves the fluidized bed system 20 in order to melt the powder 22 onto the fibers before the decay of charge or charge relaxation occurs and the powder falls off the fibers . the oven 16 temperature depends on the fiber and the powder 22 . however , oven 16 temperature should be kept below the decomposition temperature of the powder 22 resin to avoid degradation . the coated tow can be heated by either convection or radiant heating . in this example , the oven 16 is a lindburg single zone tube furnace . it has a maximum operating temperature of 1200 ° c ., is 30 inches in length , and has an inside diameter of 2 inches . an alternative method of coating the tow filaments with the matrix material is a wet powder process such as slurry or emulsion coating . in wet powder coating , there is no need to ground the fiber tow prior to entering the coating system , therefore , the stainless steel roller mentioned above is not necessary . after leaving the tow spreader , the filaments are drawn through an optional primer for applying an adhesion promoter . after leaving the primer , the filaments travel into the wet powder coating system proper which comprises a roll coater , a wet powder or emulsion reservoir , and a slurry pump . the matrix material powder is suspended in a liquid medium which can be either water or solvent based . the water based medium includes water and a water soluble binder and the solvent based medium contains a solvent and a dissolved binder . the filaments travel over the top surface of the roll coater which rotates generally in a direction complimentary to the direction of filament travel . the lower surface of the roll coater contacts the slurry or emulsion in the reservoir and becomes coated with the slurry or emulsion . as the roll coater rotates , it brings the slurry emulsion to its top surface where it contacts and coats the traveling filaments . the slurry pump maintains the slurry or emulsion in a uniform concentration . the coated filament leaves the roll coater area and enters a drier where the water and water soluble binder or solvent are evaporated from the slurry coating the filaments . the now dry filaments leave the drier and enter a melter where the matrix material is liquified and wets the filaments . an alternative to using a roll coater in the wet powder coating system is to draw the filaments directly through the slurry or emulsion itself . after being drawn through the slurry or emulsion , the filaments then travel directly to the drier . an alternative coating system is a hot melt system comprised of a roll coater or an extruder and die . the hot melt system utilizes the roll coater , operates in the same manner as the wet powder coating system described above , with the exception that the slurry or emulsion reservoir is replaced with a melt reservoir containing the hot melt of the matrix material . as in the wet powder coating system , the roll coater is optional as the filaments can be drawn directly through the hot melt reservoir . the hot melt coating system utilizing the extruder and die operates by pulling the spread filaments through a slit die supplied with hot melt by an extruder . the matrix material coats the tow filaments in the die . the die land is grooved to facilitate splitting the towpreg into multiple plies . fiber wetout starts as soon as the hot melt of the matrix forming material contacts the filaments . therefore , an oven to accomplish further wetting may not be necessary . special provisions , such as a grooved die or roll coater , may be necessary to facilitate splitting the towpreg into multiple plies . an alternative coating system is a solution coating system utilizing various solvents . in this system , the matrix material is dissolved in an applicable solvent and the fiber tow is drawn through this matrix material / solvent solution or over a solution coated roller so as to coat the filaments . the coated filaments are then passed through a drier to evaporate the solvent . the now dry coated filaments enter a melter where the matrix material melts and wets the tow fibers . after the filaments 13 have been wetout by the matrix forming material in the coating system 20 , the towpreg 50 can be passed through an optional set of polishing rollers 46 . these rollers 46 can be located within the oven 16 or melter or just after the exit of the oven 16 or melter , but , in any event , the rollers 46 must be located in a position on the apparatus 8 where the matrix forming material is still in the liquid state . the purposes of the polishing rollers 46 are to force the still liquid matrix forming material into the tow plies to help achieve better wetout and to reduce the surface friction of the plies due to droplets of matrix forming material being left on and solidifying on the surfaces of the tow plies . after leaving the oven or melter , the towpreg 50 cools rapidly because the plies comprising the tow are thin . during cooling , it is important that the spread tow remain in sufficient tension such that the individual plies do not collapse onto each other and result in a mass of fibers and matrix material which will result in a towpreg of high flexural rigidity . it is also important not to let the plies within the towpreg solidify in contact with each other , thus leading to a strong interply bond . an optional convective cooling method ( not shown ) located after the oven 16 would help keep the plies separated . conductive cooling methods may be used since they require surface contact which constrains the lateral motion of the tow . splitting after cooling is possible with mechanical devices such as described above ; however , it is inadvisable to rely on doing all of the splitting after the cooling as this would cause too much fiber damage and loss . the main purpose of the pinch rollers 14 is to drive the tow 11 through the process and to keep sufficient tension on the tow 11 to prevent the tow 11 from laterally collapsing onto itself . the various devices useful for the pulling include driven pinch rollers , preferrably rubber coated , and friction rollers , also preferrably rubber coated . the take - up or wind - up device 12 can be any of the known typical tow winders with a tension control . alternatively , the towpreg 50 may be fed directly to downstream processes such as a filament winder , a warp beam for weaving , or a chopper to produce sheet or bulk molding compound feedstock . the above descriptions and examples have been offered for illustrative purposes only , and are not intended to limit the invention of the present application , which is as defined in the claims below .	1
the present invention is particularly well suited for synchronizing a portable computer system with another computer system such as a desktop or larger computer system . in one specific application , the invention is used in conjunction with a pointer - based portable computer system such as the pen - based , stylus - based and mouse - based systems that are currently popular . for the purposes of illustration , the invention will be described in connection with a portable pen - based system that is synchronized with a desktop computer . thus , by synchronizing the portable with the desktop , a user can use the portable in the field and the desktop in the base office . the desktop can also be used as a backup for the portable in the event of a memory crash . as shown in fig1 a pen - based computer system 10 in accordance with the present invention includes a central processing unit ( cpu ) 12 , read only memory ( rom ) 14 , random access memory ( ram ) 16 , input / output ( i / o ) circuitry 18 , and a display assembly 20 . the pen - based computer system 10 may also optionally include a mass storage unit 22 such as a disk drive unit or nonvolatile memory such as flash memory , a keypad 24 arranged as an array of input buttons , a serial port , another i / o port and a clock 26 . the cpu 12 is preferably a commercially available , single chip microprocessor . while cpu 12 can be a complex instruction set computer ( cisc ) chip , it is preferable that cpu 12 be one of the commercially available , reduced instruction set computer ( risc ) chips which are known to be of generally higher performance than cisc chips . cpu 12 is coupled to rom 14 by a unidirectional data bus 28 . rom 14 contains the basic operating system for the pen - based computer system 10 . cpu 12 is connected to ram 16 by a bi - directional data bus 30 to permit the use of ram 16 as scratch pad memory . rom 14 and ram 16 are also coupled to cpu 12 by appropriate control and address busses , as is well known to those skilled in the art . cpu 12 is also coupled to the i / o circuitry 18 by bi - directional data bus 32 to permit data transfers with peripheral devices . i / o circuitry 18 typically includes a number of latches , registers and direct memory access ( dma ) controllers . the purpose of i / o circuitry 18 is to provide an interface between cpu 12 and such peripheral devices as display assembly 20 , mass storage 22 , the keypad 24 , a serial port and an i / o port . keypad 24 , the serial port , and the i / o port are each coupled to the i / o circuitry 18 by a suitable data bus . clock 26 provides a series of clock pulses and is typically coupled to an interrupt port of cpu 12 by the data line 34 . the clock pulses are used to time various functions and events relating to the computer system 10 . the clock 26 can be eliminated and the clock function replaced by a software clock running on cpu 12 , but this tends to be a wasteful use of cpu processing power . in the present invention , clock 26 provides clock pulses at 60 hertz ( hz ). display assembly 20 of pen - based computer system 10 is both an input and an output device . accordingly , it is coupled to i / o circuitry 18 by a bi - directional data bus 36 . when operating as an output device , the display assembly 20 receives data from i / o circuitry 18 via bus 36 and displays that data on a suitable screen . the screen for display assembly 20 is preferably a liquid crystal display ( lcd ) of the type commercially available from a variety of manufacturers . the input device of display assembly 20 is preferably a thin , clear membrane which covers the lcd display and which is sensitive to the position of a stylus 38 on its surface . these position - sensitive membranes are also readily available on the commercial market . combination display assemblies ( such as display assembly 20 ) which include both the lcd and the input membrane are commercially available from such vendors as scriptel corporation of columbus , ohio . the keypad 24 can comprise an array of switches . in the present embodiment , the keypad 24 comprises &# 34 ; button &# 34 ; areas which overlie the bottom edge of the membrane which covers the lcd display . when the &# 34 ; buttons &# 34 ; are depressed , the membrane senses the pressure and communicates that fact to the cpu 12 via i / o circuitry 18 . other types of pointing devices can also be used in conjunction with the present invention . while the method of the present invention is described in the context of a pen - based system , other pointing devices such as a computer mouse , a track ball , or a tablet can be used to manipulate a pointer on a screen of a general purpose computer . therefore , as used herein , the terms &# 34 ; pointer &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; pointing device &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; pointing means &# 34 ;, and the like will refer to any mechanism or device for pointing to a particular location on a screen of a computer display . some type of mass storage 22 is generally considered desirable . however , the mass storage 22 can be eliminated by providing a sufficient amount of ram 16 to store user application programs and data . in that case , the ram 16 could be provided with a backup battery to prevent the loss of data even when the pen - based computer system 10 is mined off . however , it is generally desirable to have some type of long term storage 22 such as a commercially available miniature hard disk drive , or nonvolatile memory such as flash memory or battery backed ram , pc - data cards or the like . storage 22 is coupled to i / o 18 by a bi - directional data bus 37 . in operation , information is input into the pen - based computer system 10 by &# 34 ; writing &# 34 ; on the screen of display assembly 20 with the stylus 38 . information concerning the location of the stylus 38 on the screen of the display assembly 20 is input into the cpu 12 via i / o circuitry 18 . typically , this information comprises the cartesian ( i . e ., x & amp ; y ) coordinates of a pixel of the screen of display assembly 20 over which the tip of the stylus is positioned . commercially available combination display assemblies ( such as the aforementioned assemblies available from scriptel corporation ) include appropriate circuitry to provide the stylus location information as digitally encoded data to the i / o circuitry of the present invention . the cpu 12 then processes the data under control of an operating system and possibly an application program stored in rom 14 and / or ram 16 . the cpu 12 next produces data which is output to the display assembly 20 to produce appropriate images on its screen . in fig2 the pen - based computer system 10 is shown housed within a generally rectangular enclosure 40 . the cpu 12 , rom 14 , ram 16 , i / o circuitry 18 , mass storage 22 , and clock 26 are preferably fully enclosed within the enclosure 40 . the display assembly 20 is mostly enclosed within the enclosure 40 , but a viewing screen 42 of the display assembly is exposed to the user . as used herein the term &# 34 ; screen &# 34 ; will refer to the portion of the display assembly 20 which can display an image that can be viewed by a user . also accessible to the user is the keypad 24 . upon power - up , pen - based computer system 10 displays on screen 42 an initial note area n including a breaker bar b and a number of guidelines 44 . the breaker bar b preferably includes the date of creation 46 of the note n , a note number 48 and a &# 34 ; router &# 34 ; button 50 which allows notes to be dispatched to a printer , facsimile , the trash , etc . the optional guidelines 44 aid a user in entering text , graphics , and data into the pen - based computer system 10 . in this preferred embodiment , the keypad 24 is not a part of the screen 42 but , rather , is a permanent array of input buttons coupled to the cpu 12 by i / o circuitry 18 . alternatively , the keypad 24 could comprise &# 34 ; soft buttons &# 34 ; generated at a convenient location on the screen 42 , in which case a &# 34 ; button &# 34 ; would be activated by touching the stylus to the screen over the image of the button . the keypad 24 preferably includes a number of dedicated function buttons 52 , a pair of scroll buttons 54a , 54b and an overview button 55 . the operation of the scroll buttons 54a and 54b , and other aspects of computer system 10 are discussed in greater detail in co - pending u . s . patent application ser . no . 07 / 868 , 013 , filed apr . 13 , 1992 on behalf of tchao et al . entitled &# 34 ; method for manipulating notes on a computer display .&# 34 ; that application is assigned to the assignee of the present application and its disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . the function buttons 52 include an address button 63 , a calendar button 64 , a drawer button 65 , a find button 66 , an undo button 67 , and an assist button 68 . the screen illustrated in fig2 is referred to as the &# 34 ; notepad &# 34 ;, and is an application program running under the operating system of the pen - based computer system 10 . in this preferred embodiment , the notepad is a special or &# 34 ; base &# 34 ; application which is always available beneath higher level applications . the notepad application , like other applications , runs within a window , which in this instance comprises the entire viewing screen 42 . therefore , as used herein , a &# 34 ; window &# 34 ; is the entire screen or any portion of an entire screen which is dedicated to a particular application program . a status bar 56 is provided at the bottom of the notepad application . the status bar 56 is provided with a number of active areas including a real time clock 57 , a view button 58 , a font button 59 , a formulas button 60 , a text button 61 , a graphics button 62 , and a nib button 70 . copending application ser . no . 07 / 976 , 970 , filed nov . 16 , 1992 , on behalf of foster et al ., entitled , &# 34 ; status bar for application windows &# 34 ;, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention describes the operation of the status bar , and is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . as described in the above - referenced application by tchao et al ., in one suitable embodiment of the present invention , a notepad application program is launched when the computer system 10 is turned on . the address button 63 can then be used to launch an address book application program . that is , when the address button 63 is depressed , a suitable address book application program is opened and a suitable address book dialog box is displayed on screen 42 . similarly , the calendar button 64 launches a calendar application program when depressed . the &# 34 ; find &# 34 ; button 66 is used to initiate a search for information . the undo button 67 will undo the latest user action when depressed and will undo the last two actions if depressed a second time without the intervention of any additional user actions . the assist button 68 gives the user access to a help menu which is designed to provide operating instructions to the user that may be helpful when the user is unsure of how to operate the computing system . a &# 34 ; drawer &# 34 ;, which is opened by pressing the drawer button 65 is used to store other application programs , tools , access buttons to external rom cards , communications applications and other items that can be utilized by the user . when the drawer is &# 34 ; opened &# 34 ;, a drawer dialog box is displayed on the screen 42 . when the dialog box is opened , the user can then launch any application stored therein merely by tapping on the associated icon that is displayed within the drawer dialog box . thus , the icons serve as &# 34 ; soft buttons &# 34 ; which may be activated by tapping the screen at a location corresponding to the displayed position of the icon . of course , in alternative embodiments , the applications that are accessed by keypad buttons can be varied widely . for example , additional keys could be added , existing keys removed , and / or the above described keys could be used to launch different applications . a plurality of application programs ( sometimes referred to as packages ) may be stored in the portable &# 39 ; s memory . by way of example , the notepad , a calendar application , an address book type application , a to - do list application and a variety of other application programs may be provided . the memory may be divided into two or more discrete sections ( sometimes referred to as stores herein ), which represent separately addressable segments of memory . by way of example , internal ram that acts as a first portion of memory may be considered one store . a pcmia card , which can be a part of mass storage 22 , may be considered a second store . within each store , much of the data may be divided into a plurality of different record files ( sometimes called soups herein ). the record files each include a number of records that are to be used with one or more of the specific application files . in one suitable embodiment , each page ( screen - full ) of text constitutes a separate record , with each record being given a record number that is unique within that application file . thus , for example , within the calendar application file , there may initially be thirty records . these records would be given record numbers zero to twenty - nine , respectively . if a particular record is deleted , no attempt is made to reuse that number . rather , the record is treated as though it has no information in it . when new records are added , they are simply given the next higher record number . thus , in the above example , the next record that is added ( the thirty - first record ) would be given the record number thirty . in the described example , this would be true regardless of whether ( for example ) records numbers six and twelve had been deleted . the total number of records within a particular record file is stored in memory . for the purposes of this application , the stored value representative of the highest record number within a record file ( i ) on the remote computer system will be labeled &# 34 ; remote max .&# 34 ; at the same time , the stored value representative of the highest record number within a record file ( i ) on the local computer system will be labeled &# 34 ; local max .&# 34 ; each record file is also given a unique application file number . thus , by way of example , the record file associated with the notepad application program may be assigned the value &# 34 ; zero &# 34 ;, the record file associated the calendar application program may be assigned the value &# 34 ; one &# 34 ;, the address application program &# 39 ; s record file &# 34 ; two &# 34 ; and so forth . each record in each record file includes identification indicia which indicates the record number and the time and date that the record was last edited . in many situations , it will be desirable to backup the information on the hand - held computer system . in order to accomplish that , a conventional computer such as a conventional personal computer , a conventional minicomputer or any other type of computer can be used as the &# 34 ; docking &# 34 ; computer which back up the information stored on the &# 34 ; remote &# 34 ; hand - held device . it is also desirable to provide a mechanism for synchronizing the data between the hand - held computer system and the &# 34 ; docking &# 34 ; computer . by way of example , a suitable computer for the dock is a commercially available macintosh computer manufactured by apple computer , inc . in fig3 a remote / local docking system 72 in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in block diagram form with the data transfer routes shown in arrows . the system 72 includes a remote system 74 ( such as the aforementioned pen - based computer 10 ) and a local system 76 ( such as a macintosh computer system ). the remote system 74 includes a docker interface 78 , which is a relatively compact piece of code running on system 74 which allows the remote system to communicate with a larger docker application 80 running on the local system 76 . the docker interface 78 is conveniently stored within the &# 34 ; drawer &# 34 ; of the system 10 described previously , and is activated by opening the drawer with the drawer button 65 and &# 34 ; clicking &# 34 ; on its icon with stylus 38 . as can be seen in fig3 the communication between docker interface 78 and docker application 80 is preferably bidirectional , as indicated by arrow 82 . the docker application communicates bi - directionally with a synchronization or &# 34 ; sync &# 34 ; file 84 as indicated by arrow 86 . the docker application also communicates with an archieve file 88 so that data may be sent from the synchronization file 84 to the archive file 88 as indicated by a unidirectional arrow 90 . referring next to fig4 - 12 , a process is illustrated which is suitable for synchronizing data records in two separate computer systems . although the process may be carried out on any two computer systems , the description will be in terms of a portable computer system referred to as the &# 34 ; remote &# 34 ; and a desktop computer system referred to as the &# 34 ; local .&# 34 ; referring initially to fig4 a process suitable for initiating the docking function from the remote side will be described . the process begins in step 101 when the user selects the docking function . this may be done in any conventional way , such as selecting an icon located in a drawer or window , selecting a command from a pull - down menu , or entering a command in any other suitable manner . when the docking function is selected , a remote docking routine stored in the rom 14 is called in step 103 and executed as described below . the docking routine begins in step 105 by displaying a dialog box 500 on the screen 42 of the remote . the dialog box asks the user about the type of connection they would like to make . in the embodiment shown the dialog box ( not shown ) permits the user to select the type of unit to be used as the dock ( which is frequently referred to as the local computer herein ). by way of example , as shown , the dock may be any type of desktop style personal computer , a workstation , a minicomputer , a portable computer or most any other type of computing system that has sufficient power and memory to backup the data on the remote computer . by way of example , in the described embodiment , the dock can take the form of a macintosh computer manufactured by apple computer , inc . or an ibm - pc compatible system made by a variety of manufacturers . after the dialog box 500 has been displayed , the user selects the type of docking connection in step 108 . in a preferred embodiment , a default connection is initially displayed . by way of example , a suitable default may be the last selected connection type . when the default is suitable , then the user does not need to actively select a connection type . once the desired connection has been selected , the user selects the connect button in step 110 . when the connect button is selected , a connection request is sent from the remote to the dock to establish a connection ( step 112 ). thereafter , in step 114 , a determination is made as to whether a connection has been established . if a connection is established , control is turned over to the dock which will periodically send requests or commands to the remote . the remote then simply responds to the requests which is designated by step 118 . if no connection is established within a predetermined period of time , then in step 116 the logic displays an error message to the effect that no connection has been established and the docking process is terminated . in order to reestablish the connection , the entire process may be repeated . of course , in alternative embodiments , the actual steps undertaken to establish a connection may be varied widely and upon the failure to establish a connection , the logic could be returned to any intermediate point in the connection sequence . referring next to fig5 the connection process as seen by the dock ( local computer system ) will be described . initially , in step 120 , the docking function is selected by the user . the selection may be accomplished in any suitable manner as discussed above with reference to selecting the remote &# 39 ; s docking function . when the docking function is selected , the local docking routine is called in step 121 and executed as described below . the local docking routine may be stored in any suitable memory on the dock ( local ) computer system . after the docking routine has been selected , a dialog box is displayed in step 122 . the dialog box permits the user to select the function to be performed during the docking operation . by way of example , in the described embodiment , three functions are possible . the first is to synchronize the data between the dock and the remote . the second is to restore information to the remote in the event that the memory has been inadvertently erased . the third is to install a new package ( i . e . application or the like ) onto the remote . after the desired function has been selected , the host will wait to receive a connection request from the remote . in step 124 , the cpu in the dock computer system processes any user inputs concerning the selected function . again , the dialog box may be arranged to default to a particular function such as the synchronize function . then in step 126 , the logic waits for a connection request to be made . this may be accomplished in any suitable manner , such as by having the user select a connect button ( not shown ). when a connection request is received , the local computer prepares to establish a connection in step 128 . then in step 130 , the local computer determines whether a connection request has been received from the remote . if not , it waits for such a request . of course , it is desirable to provide some mechanism which allows the user to exit at this point ( or at any other point in the docking routine ) by quitting the docking routine in a conventional manner for the particular computer system being used . when communication between the dock and the host is initiated , the local logic first determines whether the systems are compatible in step 132 . if not , a dialog box indicating that the systems are not compatible is displayed in step 133 and the docking function is terminated . this determination is made based on the information that is received from the remote in its original connection request . specifically , in the original connection request , the remote transmits information indicative of the system protocal version . when this information is received , the dock checks to determine whether it is using the same protocal version as ( i . e ., is capable of synchronizing with ) the selected system . step 132 . if so , the logic proceeds to step 135 , where it requests , and step 136 , where it receives , the remote name and system information . the remote name is obtained so that the dock knows which remote it is working with . this permits the same dock to be used to synchronize a plurality of different remotes with each different remote being designated by a different name . the system information transmitted includes the ram size , as well as the screen height and width . this information is particularly important when restoring information to the remote . once the remote &# 39 ; s name , time and system information have been received in step 136 , the logic proceeds to step 137 where it determines whether the synchronize function has been selected . if so , the logic proceeds to step 140 where the synchronization process is executed as will be described below with reference to fig6 - 10 . if synchronize has not been selected , then the logic proceeds to step 138 where it determines whether the restore function has been selected . if so , the logic proceeds to step 300 , where the restore process is executed as will be described in more detail below with respect to fig1 . if the restore function has not been selected , the logic proceeds to step 139 where it determines whether the install function has been selected . if so , the logic proceeds to step 400 where the restore process is executed as will be described in more detail below with respect to fig1 . if none of the synchronize , restore or install functions have been selected , then an error has occurred and the logic returns to step 122 where the dialog box 510 is redisplayed to permit the user to select a desired function . referring next to fig6 the synchronizing step 140 will be described in more detail . initially in step 142 , the dock sends a message to the remote which indicates the last time that the remote was synchronized by that particular dock . the time of the last synchronization is sent in order to determine which entries need to be updated . as indicated above , when an entry is revised , the revision time is entered as part of the data entry . this permits the synchronization to be time based . that is , only the records that have been added , deleted or revised since the last synchronization need to be revised . by maintaining a time - based backup system , multiple docks can be used to synchronize the information stored on a particular remote , which may be desirable for a variety of reasons . after the dock has indicated the last time it was synchronized with the remote , the current remote time is requested and received by the dock . step 144 . all synchronization events are then performed on the basis of the remote &# 39 ; s time , not the dock &# 39 ; s time . the remote time is used as the clock for all synchronizing operations . specifically , the synchronization is accomplished by looking primarily at records that were added or modified since the last synchronization . therefore , it is important to ensure that a single clock is used . the remote &# 39 ; s clock was chosen for simplicity . this is simpler since the creation and last editing times associated with the records stored in the remote are all stored on the basis of its clock , so by using the remote &# 39 ; s clock , the remote is not required to factor in any time differences when determining which records have been modified or added since the last synchronization . the current remote time is also saved so that after the synchronization operation has been completed , it can be used as the time of the last synchronization . by using the remote &# 39 ; s time , potential problems that could arise in the event that the remote and the dock are on different clocks can be eliminated . after the current remote time has been received in step 144 , the dock requests and receives any system software patches that are installed on the remote in a step 145 . in step 151 , the dock requests the names of each of the stores found on the remote . after the store names have all been received from the remote , a loop is initiated in which each of the stores is synchronized . the loop is initiated in step 153 where a counter &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; is initialized to zero . then , in step 155 , store ( n ) is synchronized . the actual synchronization process will be described in more detail below with reference to fig7 - 10 . once store ( n ) has been synchronized , the logic returns to step 153 where the counter &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; is incremented by one and compared to a value numstores which is indicative of the total number of stores stored in the remote . if the value of counter &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; is greater than or equal to the total number of stores numstores , then the synchronization process is complete and the logic moves to step 158 where a disconnect signal is sent to the remote , and synchronization complete dialog boxes are displayed on both the remote and the dock . as long as the value of counter &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; is less than the value numstores , the loop formed by steps 153 - 155 will be repeated , thereby synchronizing each of the stores . it is noted that in many embodiments , only one store would be provided . if the system is set up so that only one store can be provided , steps 151 - 153 can be eliminated and only step 155 performed ( which is to synchronize the only store ). referring to fig7 a , the store synchronizing step 155 will be described in more detail . as seen therein , the name of the current store ( i . e ., store ( n )) is sent to the remote in step 161 . in step 148 the id &# 39 ; s of the packages on the dock are compared with the id &# 39 ; s of packages on the remote . if any packages are missing from the host , then in step 149 , the missing packages are copied from the remote to the dock . once all of the missing packages have been copied to the dock , the logic moves to step 163 where the dock requests and receives a list of soups that are located within the store . the list includes an indication of the total number of soups that exist within the store , numsoups . thereafter , in steps 165 - 199 , an extended loop is created for synchronizing each store . in essence , for each existing new record that is added to the soup on either the remote or the dock , a corresponding new entry is added to the other . similarly , for each old record that has been edited since the last synchronization on either the remote or the dock , the corresponding record on the other is amended . in the event that a record has been amended on both the dock and the remote , a message is provided to the user informing them of the conflict . in the event that a record has been deleted on one of the computers , while its corresponding record has been amended on the other , the record is deleted in the described embodiment . on the other hand , it should be appreciated that in alternative embodiments , a conflict message could be provided in this instance as well . the loop begins in step 165 where a counter &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; is initialized . it is then compared to the value numsoups , which is indicative of the number of soups contained within store ( n ). as long as the value of counter &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; is less than the value numsoups , the logic proceeds to step 167 where it determines whether soup ( p ) exists on the dock . for the purposes of this description of the synchronization process , the dock will be referred to as the &# 34 ; local &# 34 ; computer . if soup ( p ) does not exist on the local , then it is created in step 168 . if soup ( p ) did exist on the local in step 167 or after it is created in step 168 the logic proceeds to step 170 where it obtains a list of the records stored within soup ( p ) on the remote . the list obtained includes an identification of each record that is currently stored in the soup . the record identification list is then used to generate a sync list which will be used to synchronize the local and remote computers . the sync list is created in steps 173 to 180 and will be described in more detail below with reference to fig8 - 10 . initially , in step 173 , the initial sync list is created which identifies all records that exist on only one of the two computer systems . if a record was added to the remote , a record indicator is set which indicates that the record should be added to the local . if a record was added to the local , a record indicator is set which indicates that the record should be added to the remote . if a record was deleted from the local , a record indicator is set that indicates it should be deleted from the remote . and finally , if a record was deleted from the remote , it is initially archived and then deleted from the local . the list of added and deleted records , with their corresponding record indicators set , then forms the preliminary sync list . this process will be described in more detail below with reference to fig8 . after the sync list has been initially created , the local requests and receives in step 178 a list of records that have been edited on the remote since the last synchronization . in essence , a loop is performed on the remote which checks to determine which ( if any ) records in the current soup were edited since the last synchronization . this is done by comparing the time of the last synchronization to the time of the last edit . if the last edit was more recent , then the associated record was edited since the last synchronization and the record is added to the modified records list . thus , the modified records list is a compilation of all of the records that have been edited since the last synchronization . after the modified records list has been received in step 178 , the listed records are added to the sync list in step 180 as will be described in more detail below with respect to fig1 . all modified records are added to the sync list . after the completion of step 180 , the sync list is mended by adding an indication of each record on the local computer that has been edited since the last synchronization . this process will be further described below with reference to fig9 . if any of the modified records have also been modified on the remote , then the user is informed of the inconsistent actions . if any of the modified records had been deleted on the remote , then those changes are ignored in the described embodiment . however , it should be appreciated that in alternative embodiments , the user could be informed of the inconsistent actions . all other modified records are added to the list . initially , in step 182 , a counter &# 34 ; k &# 34 ; is initialized to zero and compared to a value numsynch records which is indicative of the number of records that are listed in the sync list . assuming that the value of counter &# 34 ; k &# 34 ; is less than the value numsynch records , the logic proceeds to step 184 where it determines whether the record indicator for entry ( k ) is a &# 34 ; delete on remote &# 34 ; command . if so , a command is sent to the remote to delete the record corresponding to entry ( k ) in the sync list . the logic then returns to step 182 where the counter &# 34 ; k &# 34 ; is incremented and again compared to the value numsynch records . as seen in fig7 ( b ), a step 186 is then simultaneously performed on the remote . in step 186 , the actual delete operation is conducted . if in step 184 the record indicator for entry ( k ) is not a &# 34 ; delete on remote &# 34 ; command , then the logic proceeds to step 187 . in step 187 , the logic determines whether the record indicator for entry ( k ) is set to an &# 34 ; add to remote &# 34 ; command . if so , the logic proceeds to step 188 where it sends a copy of the record corresponding to entry ( k ) to the remote along with a command to add this record to the remote . the remote returns the new record number and the record on the local is assigned that number . this number is returned as a response to the command to add the entry . the logic then returns to step 182 where the counter &# 34 ; k &# 34 ; is incremented as discussed above . simultaneously , the designated record is added by the remote in step 189 . if in step 187 the record indicator for entry ( k ) is not an &# 34 ; add to remote &# 34 ; command , then the logic proceeds to step 190 . in step 190 , the logic determines whether the record indicator for entry ( k ) is set to an &# 34 ; add to local &# 34 ; command . if so , the logic proceeds to step 191 where it requests and receives a copy of the record corresponding to entry ( k ) from the remote . the logic then proceeds to step 192 where the received record is added as a new record on the local . after the record has been added , the logic proceeds to step 182 where the counter &# 34 ; k &# 34 ; is incremented as discussed above . if in step 190 the record indicator for entry ( k ) is not an &# 34 ; add to local &# 34 ; command , then the logic proceeds to step 194 . in step 194 , the logic determines whether the record indicator for entry ( k ) is set to a &# 34 ; change on remote &# 34 ; command . if so , the logic proceeds to step 195 where it sends a copy of the record corresponding to entry ( k ) to the remote along with a command to replace the corresponding record on the remote . the logic then returns to step 182 where the counter &# 34 ; k &# 34 ; is incremented as discussed above . simultaneously , the designated record is replaced by the remote in step 196 . if in step 194 , the record indicator for entry ( k ) is not a &# 34 ; change on remote &# 34 ; command , then the logic proceeds to step 197 . in step 197 , the logic determines whether the record indicator for entry ( k ) is set to a &# 34 ; change on local &# 34 ; command . if so , the logic proceeds to step 198 where it requests and receives a copy of the record corresponding to entry ( k ) from the remote . the logic then proceeds to step 199 where the received record replaces the existing corresponding record on the local . after the record has been replaced , the logic proceeds to step 182 where the counter &# 34 ; k &# 34 ; is incremented as discussed above . similarly , if for any reason in step 197 , the record indicator for entry ( k ) is not a &# 34 ; change on remote &# 34 ; command , then an error has presumably occurred and the logic returns to step 182 where the counter &# 34 ; k &# 34 ; is incremented . if desired , an error message can be displayed at this point . however , such an arrangement is not used in the described embodiment . referring next to fig8 the step 173 of generating the sync list will be described in more detail . as seen therein , counters &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; are initially set to zero in step 205 . in step 207 , two variables are used . initially , the variable remote count is used to denote the number of records found in the current soup in the remote . similarly , the variable local count is used to denote the number of records found in the current soup in the local . in step 207 , the value of counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is compared to the value remote count , and the value of counter &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; is compared to the value local count . if either of the counters are less than their corresponding variables , then the logic proceeds to step 209 . on the other hand , if both of the counters are greater than or equal to their corresponding variables , then the initial sync list has been completed and the logic proceeds to step 176 as described earlier with reference to fig7 ( a ). in step 209 , the logic determines whether the value of counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is greater than or equal to remote count . if so , there are no more records in the remote soup to compare against . in this case , the logic proceeds to step 211 where a variable remote ident is set to &# 34 ; none &# 34 ; since no record exists on the remote for the current value of counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ;. when the value of counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is less than the value of remote count in step 209 , the logic proceeds to step 213 , where the variable remote ident is set equal to the identification characteristics of record &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; in the current soup of the remote ( designated remote id ( i )). thus : the information included in the variable remote ident typically includes the record number on the remote . the logic then moves to step 215 , where it determines whether the value of remote ident is greater than or equal to the value of variable local max . local max is the record number of the next record from the remote that could be added to the local . for example , if the last time a sync occurred the local received record number 10 from the remote , local max could be 10 . after the sync , if another record were added to the remote , it would be given record number 11 . this allows the local to determine all records added to the remote since the last sync . if the value of remote ident is less than local max , the logic proceeds to step 231 as will be described further below . however , if the value of remote ident is greater than or equal to the value of local max , then all additional records on the remote have been added since the last synchronization . this result is inherent since , as described above , the record numbers are provided in sequential chronological order and deleted record numbers are not reused . in this event , all additional records on the remote must be added to the local . thus , an indication is made in the record indicator for each new remote record to be added to the local . specifically , in step 217 , the value &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is compared to the value remote count . as long as the value of counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is less than the value of variable remote count , the logic proceeds to step 219 , where a new record indicator is added to the sync list that corresponds to remote id ( i ) ( i . e ., the identification for record ( i ) in the current soup of the remote ). the new record indicator is set to an &# 34 ; add to local &# 34 ; command . after the record indicator has been set , the counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is incremented in step 221 and the logic returns to step 217 to determine whether the value of counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is still less than the value of variable remote count . as long as there are additional new records in the remote , the new records will be added to the sync list by the loop 217 - 221 . when all of the new records have been added , the value of counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is equal to the value of remote count and the logic returns to step 207 . after the value remote ident has been set to &# 34 ; none &# 34 ; in step 211 or when the value of counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is not determined to be larger than the highest remote id number stored in the local in step 215 , then the logic proceeds to step 231 where it is determined whether the value of counter &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; is greater than or equal to the value of the local count . this effectively determines whether there are any more records in the current soup to compare against . if not , the logic moves to step 233 where the variable local ident is set to &# 34 ; none .&# 34 ; a &# 34 ; none &# 34 ; label implies that the local does not have a record corresponding to counter value &# 34 ; i .&# 34 ; thereafter , the logic moves to step 245 . if the value of the counter &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; is less than the value of local count , then the logic moves to step 235 where the variable local ident is set equal to the identification characteristics of record &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; in the current soup of the local ( designated local id ( i )). the information typically includes the same information as discussed above with respect to variable remote ident , i . e . typically just the record number . then in step 237 the logic determines whether the variable local ident identifies a new record that has been added to the local computer system . as indicated above , new records added to the local computer system are identified with a special marker so the logic only needs to check to determine whether the special marker is set . if the record identified by local ident is not a new local record , then the logic proceeds to step 245 . if the record identified by local ident is a new record , then , in step 239 , an addition is made to the sync list corresponding to record local id ( j ) with the new record indicator being set to an &# 34 ; add to remote &# 34 ; command . after the record indicator has been set , the counter &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; is incremented in step 241 and the logic returns to step 207 . after the value local ident has been set to &# 34 ; none &# 34 ; in step 233 or it is determined that local ident does not identify a new record that has been added to the local in step 237 , then the logic passes to step 245 where a check is made to determine whether the value remote ident is equal to the value local ident . if so , the record has not been either newly added or deleted to either computer system and the counters &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; are each incremented and the logic returns to step 207 to repeat the described process . the equality may exist because the record is not found in either the local or the remote , or because it is found in both . if the values for remote ident and local ident are not equal in step 245 , then in step 244 it is determined whether the value of remote ident is equal to none . if so , the record has been deleted on the remote . in this case , the corresponding local record is first archived in step 263 . this is accomplished by saving the record to the archive memory . thereafter , in step 265 , the record identified by local ident is deleted . together , these sets serve to archive and delete the record that had been deleted on the remote . after the deletion , the counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is incremented and the logic returns to step 207 where the entire described process is repeated until both the value of counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; equals or exceeds remote max and the value of counter &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; equals or exceeds local max . in this manner , the preliminary sync list is formed . if remote ident is not equal to none , the logic moves to step 261 . if local ident is equal to none or local ident is greater than remote ident , the record has been deleted on the local . accordingly , in step 251 , another item is added to the sync list which corresponds to remote record remote id ( i ) and a &# 34 ; delete on remote &# 34 ; command is entered in the entry in step 251 . thereafter , the value &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; is incremented by one in step 253 and the logic returns to step 207 where the entire process is repeated . referring next to fig9 the step 176 of adding remote changes to the sync list will be described . as indicated in step 178 , a list is made of all of the records that have been edited in the remote and the list is transmitted to the local . it is this list that will be worked with in step 271 . initially , in step 271 , a loop is established which covers each of the records changed in the remote computer system . the loop begins by initializing a counter &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; to zero and checking to determine whether the value of &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; is less than the number of records changed in the remote computer system . if not , the remote change adding step is complete and the process moves on to step 178 as described above with reference to fig7 ( a ). if so , the logic moves to step 275 where it is determined whether the record already exists on the local . if not , the record will be added as a result of the step described with reference to fig8 . in this event , the logic returns to step 271 where the counter &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; is incremented and the described process is repeated . when the record is already on the local when checked in step 275 , the logic proceeds to step 277 where an entry is made to the sync list that corresponds to remote id ( j ), with its record indicator being set to a &# 34 ; change on local &# 34 ; command . thereafter , the logic returns to step 271 as previously described . referring next to fig1 , the process 180 of adding the ids of records that have been edited on the local will be described in more detail . initially , in step 280 , a loop is initiated that will step through each of the entries in the local records list . then , in step 281 , it checks to determine whether local record &# 34 ; m &# 34 ; was modified since the last synchronization . if not , the logic returns to step 280 where the counter &# 34 ; m &# 34 ; is incremented and the incremented value is again compared to the count of records on the local computer system . then , in step 282 , the logic checks to determine whether the record indicator for the local id corresponding to entry &# 34 ; m &# 34 ; in the sync list is already set . if not , the logic proceeds to step 284 where an addition is made to the sync list that corresponds to the local id that is associated with entry &# 34 ; m .&# 34 ; the associated record indicator is also set to a &# 34 ; change on remote &# 34 ; command . thereafter , the logic returns to step 280 where the counter &# 34 ; m &# 34 ; is incremented and compared to the number of entries in the local . if the value of &# 34 ; m &# 34 ; is less than the local count , the described loop continues . on the other hand , if the value of &# 34 ; m &# 34 ; is not less than the local count , the modified records have all been added to the sync list which is now completed . at that point , the logic proceeds to step 182 where the actual synchronization begins . if in step 282 the record indicator for the local id corresponding to entry &# 34 ; m &# 34 ; is already set , the logic proceeds to step 286 where it checks to determine whether the record indicator is set to a &# 34 ; change on local &# 34 ; command . if so the corresponding record has been modified in both the local and remote . in the described embodiment , neither has priority and thus , in step 288 , a dialog box is displayed that indicates a conflict and the user is permitted to choose the desired version ( or to keep copies of both ). if the record indicator is not set to a &# 34 ; change on local &# 34 ; command , then it must be set to a delete command or an &# 34 ; add to remote &# 34 ; command . if it is an &# 34 ; add to remote &# 34 ; command , the record was both added and changed on the local since the last sync . in this case , since the record is already going to be added to the remote , the change can be ignored . if it is a delete command , the delete command will have priority . however , as always , in alternative embodiments , the user could be informed of the conflict . if the result of step 286 is negative ( i . e ., a delete or add command was indicated in the record indicator ), or after the user has been notified in step 288 , the logic returns to step 280 where the counter &# 34 ; m &# 34 ; is incremented as described above . the described process is then repeated over and over until all of the entries in the local computer system have been processed . referring next to fig1 , a suitable process ( step 300 ) for restoring data to the remote will be described . as seen therein , a dialog box is initially displayed in step 305 which asks the user which file is to be restored . in the described embodiment , the dialog box ( not shown ) indicates each file that the local computer system is capable of restoring and the user may select any one of these . in step 308 , the name of the user input is obtained which indicates the name of the file that is to be restored . thereafter , in step 320 , a command is sent to the remote to set the current store to the store being restored . this could be the remote &# 39 ; s internal store or an auxiliary store . thereafter , in step 311 , a command is sent to the remote to delete all packages on the remote . this insures that duplicate packages will not be created on the remote during the subsequent restore operation . once the old packages have been deleted , the logic moves to step 323 where it obtains the identifies of each soup that is found within the current remote store . thereafter , a loop is created in steps 326 - 335 which restores each of the records in each soup of the current store . in essence , step 326 establishes a loop that sequentially steps through each soup in the store . a counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is initialized and then compared with a variable ( numsoups ) that indicates the number of soups found within the current store . as long as the value of counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is less than the variable numsoups , there are additional soups to be copied . the next step 329 is to delete all of the records ( if any ) in soup &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; that are still stored in the remote . then in steps 332 and 335 , a loop is formed which copies each record stored in the local to the remote . this causes the record numbers to change in the remote , and a sync is subsequently performed , as will be discussed later . after all of the records in the soup &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; have been copied , the logic returns to step 326 , where the counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is incremented . the described process is then repeated for each soup until all of the soups have been copied . after the last soup has been copied , the restoration process continues with the existing packages on the local being transferred to the remote . the restoration of the packages is accomplished by way of a loop created by steps 314 and 317 . in step 314 , a loop is created , and a counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is initialized . then in step 317 , package ( i ) is copied from the local to the remote . the logic then returns to step 314 where the counter &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; is incremented and this process continues until all of the packages have been copied . after the last package has been copied , all of the data records on the local are deleted in step 338 and the two systems are synchronized in step 140 . the synchronization step 140 proceeds exactly as described above with reference to fig6 - 10 . the local record deleting step 338 and the synchronization step 140 are provided to insure that the record numbers in the local are identical to the record numbers in the remote . referring next to fig1 , the package - installing step 400 set forth above in the discussion of fig5 will be described in more detail . initially , in step 403 , the identity of the package to be installed is obtained by the user . this is accomplished by first displaying a dialog box asking the user which package ( s ) is / are to be installed . the user then selects the desired package . after the desired package has been selected , it is sent to the remote and copied thereon . after the selected package has been copied , a dialog box is displayed in step 409 which indicates that the installation has been completed . after the dialog box has been displayed , a disconnect signal is sent to the remote in step 412 . at this point , the installation is complete . although only one embodiment of the present invention with some variations has been described in detail herein , it should be understood that the present invention may be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . for example , the computer systems upon which the described synchronization , backup and restoring tasks are executed may be varied widely . although the invention has been described in reference to a portable computing device ( such as a hand - held computer system ) being synchronized with a more fixed computing system such as a desktop computer , it should be appreciated that the invention can be applied to the synchronization of virtually any computing systems . by way of example , it can be used to synchronize two portable devices , two desktop devices , a terminal and a host computer , etc . although one specific method of implementing the invention has been described , the actual algorithms by which the invention is carried out may also be widely varied within the scope of the claims . further , the restore and install functions need not be included with the synchronization package as described . the user inputs may be entered via keyboard entries , soft buttons on the screen , menu items , voice entry or any other input mechanism . additionally , the contents , structure and / or formats of the stored application files and records , as well as the nature of the display formats , may all be varied widely . from the foregoing , it should be apparent that the present examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive , and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein , but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims .	6
referring more particularly to the drawings , fig1 shows the pendulous inertial unit illustrating the invention and its immediate support . in fig1 the support 11 may for example be mounted through vibration isolator 12 to bracket 13 which is fixed to a vehicle or other movable member , the position of which is to be determined . a pendulous inertial assembly including the rotatable table 14 is supported from the frame member 11 , penduluously , on bearings 16 and 18 . mounted on the rotatable table 14 are a gyro 20 which is a small &# 34 ; strap - down &# 34 ; two - degree of freedom gyro , an accelerometer ( not shown in fig1 ) mounted symmetrically about the axis of the rotatable table 14 with respect to gyro 20 , and a drive motor 20 which serves to index the gyro and accelerometer support table 14 relative to the pendulous support 24 during initial alignment procedures . a damping mechanism 26 which includes a generally cylindrical member 28 mounted within an oil - filled casing 30 , serves to control angular motion of the pendulous assembly about bearings 16 , 18 , under shock or other conditions of high acceleration applied to the bracket 13 . an optical encoder assembly 32 may be provided to continuously monitor the angular position of the pendulous assembly 14 relative to the frame 11 . in cases where the pendulous axis , as defined by bearings 16 , 18 is aligned with the forward direction of travel of a vehicle , the encoder 32 would provide an indication of the side - to - side tilt , or the &# 34 ; roll &# 34 ; of the vehicle . the encoder assembly 32 may , for example , be an optical encoder from which either a unique signal pattern , or a series of pulses , are applied to electronic circuitry to continuously indicate the angular position of the encoding elements . before continuing with further description of fig1 the schematic showing of fig2 will be considered . in fig2 reference numerals corresponding to those employed in fig1 will be utilized ; however , the showing is greatly simplified to emphasize the mode of operation of the unit rather than the actual physical construction . as may be seen in fig2 the pendulous table 14 &# 39 ; is constrained to hang down from and to rotate only about the pendulous axis indicated by arrow 50 &# 39 ; which is aligned with bearings 16 &# 39 ; and 18 &# 39 ;. on the assembly 14 &# 39 ;, the gyro 20 &# 39 ; has its spin axis aligned with the sensitive axis of the accelerometer 21 &# 39 ;, and these two axes are aligned with the pendulous axis 50 &# 39 ; of the unit . it is particularly to be noted that the pendulous axis will not be horizontal at all times ; for example , when a vehicle is going uphill the pendulous axis 50 &# 39 ; will also be directed at an angle somewhat above the horizontal and presumably approximately parallel to the angle of elevation of the road with respect to the horizontal . for the purpose of considering the sensing capabilities of the gyro 20 &# 39 ; and the accelerometer 21 &# 39 ;, the coordinate axes x , y , and z are shown superimposed on the pendulous table or assembly 14 &# 39 ;. in fig2 the spin axis of the gyro is in the &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; direction . accordingly , the gyro is capable of detecting rotation of the system about the x axis , and about the z axis , with the x and z axes both being perpendicular to the spin axis y of gyro 20 &# 39 ;. the accelerometer 21 &# 39 ;, on the other hand , senses accelerations having components in the y direction . of course , the gyro 20 &# 39 ; is not responsive to movement in this direction . in passing , it may be noted that with the pendulous axis 50 &# 39 ; of the unit being held in alignment with the front - to - rear axis of a vehicle , the accelerometer 21 &# 39 ; will measure the pitch angle of a vehicle , that is , whether it is pointing above or below the horizontal ; azimuth or bearing and changes of azimuth or bearing are measured about the z axis of the gyro . rotation about the x axis corresponds to changes in the pitch of the vehicle , for example , as it goes over the top of a hill , and one of the two outputs from the two - degree - of - freedom gyro 20 &# 39 ; provides this angular rotation information . the notches 52 , 54 and 56 are employed in connection with the initial alignment of the entire inertial sensor system , and position the circular portion of the pendulous assembly 14 &# 39 ; as it is rotated to several discrete positions about the vertical axis 58 &# 39 ;, as will be discussed in greater detail below . fig3 is a schematic showing of an illustrative application for the pendulous inertial unit of the present invention . in fig3 an armored vehicle 62 is equipped with a rocket - launching assembly 64 . the rocket - launching assembly 64 is normally firmly in position against the main body of the armored vehicle 62 ; however , hydraulic units 66 and 68 are provided to raise the launcher assembly 64 to any desired angle of elevation . the vehicle 62 of fig3 is provided with a pendulous inertial assembly 70 , as described above in connection with fig1 and 2 , and which is mounted on the rocket launcher 64 . the pendulous inertial assembly 70 is provided with a local control and electronics unit 72 from which signals are sent to the central computer unit 74 located in the main portion of the armored vehicle . this main central computer and control unit 74 is provided with an input 76 which is connected to an idler wheel 78 or to another portion of the drive mechanism for the tracks 80 to provide an odometer indication of the distance travelled by the armored vehicle 62 and its rate of travel . the pendulous inertial assembly 70 therefore provides information which is utilized in two different ways . when the vehicle is moving and the rocket launcher assembly 64 is clamped firmly down in place against the main portion of the body of the tracked vehicle 62 , the pendulous axis of the inertial unit 70 is aligned with the normal front - to - rear direction of motion of the vehicle . when the vehicle is still , however , and the rocket launching assembly 64 is in the upward firing position , as shown in fig3 the inertial unit 70 provides both initial azimuth and elevation information for orienting the unit , and also determines the changes which may occur following the firing of a salvo of rockets , for example , or of a settling of the heavy armored vehicle 62 , when it is resting on soft ground . the next matter to be considered is the initial alignment procedure which is employed to determine the direction in which the pendulous axis is pointing on the earth &# 39 ; s surface . by way of background , it is well known that a gyroscope tends to remain in a fixed position in &# 34 ; inertial space &# 34 ;, and can detect changes in position about its sensitive axes from its initial orientation in &# 34 ; inertial space &# 34 ;. while it is conventional for persons to consider the earth to be our frame of reference , &# 34 ; inertial space &# 34 ; is determined by the position of the fixed stars in the sky , and of course our earth rotates nominally 360 ° every 24 hours . accordingly , a gyroscope which senses changes in rotation relative to &# 34 ; inertial space &# 34 ; is rotated by nominally 15 ° every hour ( actually 15 . 0412 + degrees ) merely by the rotation of the earth on its axis . it may also be noted that , assuming a single gyroscope located on the equator of the earth , and having its spin axis pointed due north , there would be substantially no effect sensed by the gyroscope on account of the rotation of the earth , because the gyro would continue to point toward true north as the earth rotates . the alignment procedures to be developed more fully below utilize the factors outlined above to determine the exact angular orientation of the pendulous axis of the inertial cluster . in general , this procedure involves taking one measurement of the earth &# 39 ; s rotation and other parameters with the gyro and accelerometer pointing in one direction and then rotating them relative to the pendulous assembly by 180 °. in the present instance , where only one gyro is employed , a third angular orientation at 90 °, half way between the two other positions , is advantageously employed , to improve sensitivity when the pendulous axis is oriented so that it is pointing east or west . the steps and the related mathematical analysis involving the initial alignment procedure , and including determination of azimuth from the earth &# 39 ; s rotation , will be set forth below . in the following analysis , position a is the normally used position of the rotatable pendulous assembly 14 or 14 &# 39 ; ( see fig1 and 2 ) with the indexing roller 84 in notch 56 . in position b , the pendulous assembly 14 &# 39 ; is rotated 180 ° so that notch 52 &# 39 ; ( see fig2 ) is engaged by detent 84 . this rotation is accomplished by drive motor 22 which is mounted on the rotating table 14 , and is provided with a small gear 86 which engages the larger gear 88 which is firmly secured to the central pendulous hub 24 which does not rotate with platform 14 . the third position c , 90 ° between positions a and b , is located by notch 54 . fig4 shows rotatable table 14 together with the three notches 52 , 54 , and 56 , and indexing roller 84 . the three microswitches 92 , 94 and 96 cooperate with cam 98 to indicate orientation of the table at the proper general angular orientation , with final positioning being accomplished by the indexing roller 84 engaging one of the notches . the microswitches control deenergization of the motor 22 when the proper approximate angular position is reached , and of course identify positions a , b , or c to the system electronics . returning now to the mathematical analysis , the following symbols will be used , with the subscripts a , b , and c referring to measurements taken in positions a , b , and c , respectively , and the subscripts x , y , and z referring to the direction y and to rotations about the x and z axes . other symbols which will be used include the following : the torquer scale factor for the gyro z - axis is also calibrated as a result of this rotation through a known angle . step 3 -- position c ( use only if heading ψ was within 45 ° of east or west : fig5 is a diagram which is useful in describing the calibration procedure which is employed in connection with the odometer of the vehicle . in general , when the inertial package is employed in conjunction with the odometer , the pendulous axis of the inertial package is aligned with the front - to - rear forward direction of the vehicle . with regard to fig3 this would be the case when the rocket launcher assembly 64 is in its lowered position and firmly mounted against the main body of the armored vehicle 62 . now , with reference to fig5 the vehicle is initially located at point 102 and is to be driven to point 104 along path 106 . in fig5 the horizontal line 108 is directly underneath the track 106 , and the outer end 110 of horizontal line 108 is a distance δz below point 104 . in practice , the bearing b from true north to the plane defined by lines 106 and 108 is initially determined . in addition , the elevation angle e of point 104 from point 102 is found . after entering angles b and e , and following the initial alignment procedure for the system , the vehicle is driven from point 102 to point 104 . incidentally , the distance between point 102 and point 104 is preferably in the order of about 300 meters . following the traverse from point 102 to point 104 , the reading on the odometer is taken , the distance traversed as indicated by the accelerometer is determined , and the outputs from the gyro are employed to calculate δx , δy , and δz . thereafter , the cross track misalignment angle , the elevation misalignment angle , and the odometer scale factor are determined in accordance with equations 7 , 8 , and 9 set forth below . ## equ3 ## where b . . . bearing from true north of point 104 , measured at point 102 . x o . . . the north distance calculated from odometer measurements . x a . . . the north distance calculated from accelerometer measurements . y o . . . the east distance calculated from odometer measurements . y a . . . the east distance calculated from accelerator measurements . in the foregoing description , the pendulous inertial unit and one arrangement for mounting it on a movable member such as a vehicle have been described , together with both the initial alignment procedures for the unit per se and its subsequent calibration procedures when it is to be employed in combination with the output of a vehicle odometer . with regard to the accelerometer and gyro which are to be used on the inertial unit , any suitable strap - down gyro having two degrees of freedom , and any relatively high accuracy accelerometer , may be employed . in general , of course , from a performance standpoint , the higher the accuracy and the smaller the size of both the accelerometer and the gyro , the better . one suitable accelerometer which may be employed is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 498 , 138 , granted mar . 3 , 1973 . a suitable strap - down gyro having two degrees of freedom is disclosed in u . s . pat . application ser . no . 765 , 239 ( now u . s . pat . no . 4 , 123 , 849 which issued nov . 7 , 1978 ) filed feb . 3 , 1967 and entitled , &# 34 ; miniature north reference unit .&# 34 ; the above patent application is also of interest in going into mathematics and associated circuitry for this type of gyro unit . returning to a description of the drawings , fig6 is a block function diagram in which inputs are received from the odometer 122 which is mounted on the frame 124 of a vehicle , and the gyro 20 &# 34 ; and accelerometer 21 &# 34 ; which form part of the inertial unit 126 . the next step in processing the data from odometer 122 , gyro 20 &# 34 ; and accelerator 21 &# 34 ; is the introduction of compensation , in accordance with the mathematical relationships set forth above , and this function is indicated by blocks 128 , 130 and 132 in fig6 . the gyro signals are then converted into signals indicating the azimuth , elevation , and an indication of roll . this function is indicated by the block 134 designated &# 34 ; attitude generation &# 34 ; in fig6 . using the attitude information and the inputs from the odometer and the accelerometer , which provide distance information , the next function is to convert the distance information obtained from the odometer and the accelerometer into standard coordinates of latitude and longitude or universal transverse mercator northings and eastings ( a universal military grid system ), relating to north / south and east / west directions . this function is indicated by blocks 136 and 138 . with initial conditions including both position and attitude supplied on input 140 the function of determining the present position is indicated by block 142 , and suitable display or electrical output signals are presented to indicate the current position of the vehicle . fig6 as described above is a functional schematic block diagram indicating the mode of operation when both the odometer and the inertial unit are employed . fig7 as set forth below is a schematic block diagram of the inertial unit and associated circuitry which includes three principal sections divided by the vertical dashed lines . from left to right , these three sections are i -- the inertial unit , ii -- the inertial unit electronics , and iii -- the computer . considering first the inertial unit , it includes the optical roll encoder 32 , the gyro unit which includes only a single gyro , but which is shown in terms of the two axes about which the gyro is sensitive , and is therefore specifically designated in terms of the adjacent blocks 152 and 154 , corresponding to the x gyro output signal and the z gyro output signal , respectively . the accelerometer block 21 is designated &# 34 ; y - accel .&# 34 ; to indicate that it is sensitive in the y axis direction which is of course aligned with the pendulous axis of the inertial unit , as discussed in connection with fig2 hereinabove , for example . table motor 22 is also included in the left - hand section designated &# 34 ; i -- inertial unit &# 34 ;. it may be recalled that the motor 22 drives the rotatable pendulous table 14 &# 39 ; on which the accelerometer and the gyro are securely mounted , in the course of the initial alignment procedure . the roll damper 156 as shown in fig7 refers to the portion of the assembly of fig1 which was referenced by numerals 26 , 28 and 30 . the temperatures of the gyro , accelerometer , and roll damper are sensed by the resistors 158 , 160 and 162 , respectively . switching over to section ii ., the inertial unit electronics , it includes the x gyro pulse rebalancing circuit 164 , the z gyro pulse rebalancing circuit 166 , the temperature signal conditioner circuit 168 , the y accelerometer pulse rebalancing circuit 170 and the table motor controller 172 . the power supply for the driving and energization of the inertial unit is indicated by block 174 . the source of power for gyro excitation and drive of the spin motor for the gyro is indicated by block 176 . turning now to the right - hand section designated &# 34 ; iii computer ,&# 34 ; it includes the pulse output interface circuit 178 , the analog - to - digital converter 180 , and the control reference unit 182 , which includes the input - output interface circuitry . the microprocessor 184 is connected by the bus 186 to receive signals from and to transmit information to the control reference unit 182 . inputs to the control reference unit 182 include a latitude input , and the &# 34 ; mode control &# 34 ; input which is employed to control the initial alignment , the calibration , or the normal operation of the entire system . it is particularly to be noted that the functional diagram of fig6 and the block diagram of fig7 are merely illustrative circuits which show how the present inertial unit may be incorporated into various systems . when other forms of strap - down gyros or accelerometers are employed , of course , electronics compatible with such gyros and accelerometers would be employed . for completeness , certain mathematical analyses are set forth below that are useful in limiting errors which might otherwise adversely affect the operation of systems of the present invention . first , corrections for pendulum swing due to accelerations during vehicular travels must be made in order to avoid the large source of error which could arise from the centrifugal acceleration during a sustained vehicle turn . however , with information from the odometer , this potential source of error may be corrected . ω z = vehicle turn rate ( measured by the gyro z - axis ) a measure of v y is supplied by the odometer and ω z by one sensitive axis of the gyro . having calculated the acceleration a x , the angle γ p at which the pendulum had been displaced is readily determined from the following expression : the accelerometer may be used during travel to bound the pitch error , and to continuously adjust the odometer scale factor to account for changing road conditions , or the like . since the system &# 39 ; s pitch orientation θ is determined by mathematically integrating the output from the x - axis of the gyro , errors such as that due to gyro bias drift will increase with time . ## equ4 ## where ω x is the angular rate of rotation measured by the x - axis of the gyro ( see fig2 ). but , the accelerometer also provides a measure of the angle θ ( t ) relative to the earth &# 39 ; s gravity vector g : by appropriately smoothing or averaging the acceleration readings , an independent measure of θ can be made , thereby bounding the pitch error of the system to a value determined by the accelerometer bias error . as the wheeled or tracked vehicle moves over different terrain , the amount of slip of the wheels changes , thereby effectively changing the scale factor of the odometer . the accelerometer may be used to detect and correct for this changing scale factor in the following general manner : the estimate of change in velocity δv o over a short time interval as measured by the odometer may be represented as follows : where s o is the odometer scale factor , δv o is the odometer measured velocity change , and δv o is the estimated velocity change indicated by using the scale factor estimate , s o . the estimate of change in velocity as measured by the accelerometer over the same time interval is : ## equ5 ## where gθ is the correction of acceleration for pitch angle to eliminate the gravity factor ; a y is the measured acceleration in the forward direction of the vehicle ; and equating these two equations and solving for the new estimate s o : ## equ6 ## using the relationship of equation ( 17 ), a continuously updated value for the odometer scale factor is obtained . summarizing the features provided by the pendulous axis arrangements of the present invention , they tend to maintain the gyro z - axis ( see fig2 ) in a plane parallel to the gravity vector , and the gyro x - axis horizontal . in addition , the configuration tends to decouple the vehicle roll rates from the instrument cluster . these features permit reducing the inertial instrument complement from a full inertial guidance strap - down configuration ( two two - degree of freedom gyros and 3 accelerometers ) to the present one gyro , one accelerometer configuration . in conclusion , the pendulous inertial unit of the present invention used with the vehicle odometer constitutes an inexpensive and relatively accurate position and orientation determining unit which is self - contained , does not require external radio or other inputs , and which is not subject to jamming . the disclosed geometry is helpful in eliminating errors which would otherwise decrease the accuracy of the system . it is to be understood that other gyros , such as nuclear magnetic resonance , or laser gyros , could be substituted for the two degree of freedom strap - down gyro disclosed hereinabove , and that alternative mechanical arrangements could be employed in implementing the disclosed functions .	5
fig1 illustrates a bearing assembly in the form of a block or pulley having a pair of side plates or cheeks 10 , of which only one is shown for the sake of clarity , it being understood that a second cheek is disposed and secured over the open side of the assembly . other conventional components may include an upright post 12 retained in a head spacer 14 between the cheeks , and a shackle 16 connected to the outer end of the post by a transverse pin 18 . the assembly includes an inner hub or race 20 , which may be hollow and have a thickened wall portion 22 containing openings 24 therethrough . parallel fasteners such as 26 extend through the cheeks and openings 24 and through the cheeks and openings 28 to hold the assembly together . the above is a description of conventional elements which are routinely employed to support the inner race 20 of a sheave . many other types of supports for the inner race may be employed , depending on the application . for example , the inner race 20 may be supported directly by bolts through the openings 24 to a different form of support structure . supported between the cheeks 10 is a bearing assembly of the present invention . unlike a conventional pulley , having a rotating , rigid outer grooved race for receiving a flexible line , the bearings in the assembly as shown are outwardly radially exposed and engage the line directly . the side plates or cheeks 10 serve to center the line on the roller bearings and prevent lateral deflection . in the embodiment shown , the inner race has an outwardly facing continuous bearing surface 30 , which is curved or arcuate . in the present example , the surface 30 is a continuous cylindrical band . a plurality of closely adjacent cylindrical roller bearings 32 are rotatably disposed on the bearing surface 30 of the inner race 20 . in the embodiment shown , the length of the rollers 32 is substantially equal to the width of the surface 30 . the roller bearings , which may be composed of any suitable polymeric or metal material , function to transfer loads directly from the line to the inner race . the ends of the roller bearings 32 are loosely retained by a pair of spaced guides or rings 34 disposed over opposite ends of the rollers and rotatably disposed at 36 relative to the interior walls of each cheek 10 . the rings have inwardly diverging shoulders 35 to urge or center a line under tension into full contact with the rollers and to keep the axial load centered through the block proper to provide fair alignment with the direction of pull . when engaged by a line 38 , as shown in fig5 the rollers 32 rotate on the bearing surface 30 and also travel in a circular path around the bearing surface , or in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction , depending on the direction of movement of the line 38 . as indicated earlier , in a conventional sheave , the line is not carried directly by the bearings but is carried by a grooved rigid outer race , with the bearings between the inner and outer races . referring to fig5 in a conventional sheave , the bearings at the 12 o &# 39 ; clock position in the figure would carry the highest loads , with the loads decreasing to zero at the 9 and 3 o &# 39 ; clock positions . in accordance with the present invention , as shown in fig5 the bearings 32 are exposed and engage directly with the line 38 , and each roller deflects the line equally , thereby equally distributing the load between active bearings . assuming a 180 ° wrap of the line as shown , the bearings above the 9 and 3 o &# 39 ; clock positions each bear an equal portion of the load or force along lines passing through the central axis 40 of the inner race of hub 20 . the force ( f ) transmitted by each bearing is given by the formula f = 2t sin α where t is the tension on the line , and α is one - half of the angle of deflection of the line by each roller . since the load on the bearings is equal , the practical result is that the bearing assembly can be smaller than a conventional sheave and still have the same working strength . also , the bearings are less subject to distortion from prolonged static loads because the loads on the bearings are equally distributed . fig2 shows a version similar to fig1 with the provision of an additional feature to minimize friction due to side thrusts on the main roller bearings 32 and resistance to rotation of the rings 34 during circulation of the roller bearings 32 . as shown , a ball bearing cage 42 is provided in the form of a ring having inwardly facing uniformly spaced grooves 44 . the grooves 44 are substantially semi - circular and receive a plurality of spaced ball bearings 46 . the ball bearings 46 bear on a cylindrical wall of a boss 48 on the cheek and provide bearing separation between the main ring 34 and the inwardly facing surfaces of the cheek and groove 36 , in order to reduce rotational friction in the system . the cage 42 may be omitted , and the ball bearings 46 may be freely disposed in a circular groove of appropriate size and diameter . in examining the fig2 assembly in more detail , it may be seen that the inner wall of the cheek 10 has a circular groove 36 defining an inner circular rib or boss 48 . the ball bearing cage 42 has an outwardly facing circular rib 47 received within the opening 49 defined by boss 48 . the ball bearings 46 thus bear on the outwardly facing ring shaped wall of the bearing retainer 34 , and bear inwardly on the rib 48 and outwardly on the groove wall 36 . fig3 shows another embodiment having different forms of rollers and race , with the remaining conventional elements being the same as shown in fig1 . in this embodiment , the rollers 50 are spool shaped and have a central cylindrical portion and end flanges 52 . the cylindrical portion of rollers 50 ride on the continuous bearing surface 54 of the inner race 55 , with the flanges 52 extending over the sides of the surface . a short cylindrical stub 56 of reduced diameter extends from both ends of the rollers . the stubs 56 are rotatably and slidably received in a conforming slot or groove 58 provided on or formed into the interior wall of each cheek 10 . in the fig3 embodiment , the bearing surface 54 of the inner race is not cylindrical or circular , but is substantially d - shaped and comprises an outwardly facing curved bearing surface portion 60 in the region where the rollers 50 are engaged by the line , continuous with a relatively straight portion 62 where the rollers are not loaded but are circulating back from an unloaded to a loaded zone . the grooves 58 in the cheeks follow a similar path . it will be appreciated that a block or sheave typically has a fixed support , which predetermines the sector of the block that will be engaged by the line . economies of friction and parts are realized by using a curved or cylindrical inner race in the loaded zone and a straighter return race in the unloaded zone , since fewer rollers are needed , and the fewer rollers create less friction . in addition , the inner race may have a thicker wall 61 in the loaded region than in the return region to provide maximum strength at minimal weight . regardless of the means employed to retain the ends of the roller bearings , it will be appreciated that the end portions of the bearings and their respective retaining rings or slots are designed and arranged such that they do not carry any appreciable load from the line , and the load is transferred directly from a central portion of the bearing into the inner race . in order to simplify production , the continuous bearing surface of the inner race is flat , for the purpose of receiving loads from cylindrical bearings . as shown in fig4 however , it is also possible for the rollers 70 to be concave , with the bearing surface 72 of the inner race being convex . a mathematical comparison has been performed to compare a conventional sheave having a rigid outer grooved race , and the bearing assembly of the present invention . the loads on the roller in the 12 o &# 39 ; clock position of fig5 were evaluated . assuming a 180 ° wrap and tension ( t ) on the line , the uppermost roller in a conventional sheave will bear a force equal to 8t /# rollers . in the assembly of the present invention , the same roller will carry a force equal to 6 . 2832t /# rollers , approximately 79 % of the conventional load , or greater than a 20 percent reduction in load .	5
this invention uses a dye , preferably black , which can be water soluble or organic solvent soluble , or a mixture of both . in most cases , the computer generated ink - jet printed indicia is made with a water soluble ink and the water soluble dye is the most appropriate method . if an unusual organic solvent ink was used an organic soluble dye could be substituted for the water soluble dye . if the maximum protection was required a mixture of a water soluble and an organic solvent soluble dyes could be used to cover all possibilities simultaneously . the black dye would then be covered with a thick coating of a white ink or coating containing a typical white pigment , such . as , titanium dioxide , clay , calcium carbonate , alumina , or others known to one skilled in the art . this would allow for a surface , which is printable by standard printing techniques , for the appropriate graphical representations and for the indicia . the coating could be put down as a single application or as multiple applications . to prevent bleeding of the dye into the white layer a suitable solvent coating can be used over a water bleeding dye or an aqueous coating can be used over a solvent bleeding dye . also , a water soluble dye could be incorporated with a small amount of binder which when dried would hold the in place for the brief time between application of a water based white coating and the drying of the white coating . however , under the longer period of water exposure needed for migration of the ink - jet printed indicia during an attempt to prematurely reveal the lottery or game data , the dye would be extracted from the binder and would bleed thereby staining the underlying substrate . such a combination of dye and binder is normally referred to as a bleedable ink . both the dye and the white coating can be put down over the entire paper surface so that the base paper for printing with this security feature is usable in any configuration . alternatively , both the dye and the white covering may be put down in a particular spot only under the indicia needing this level of security . the spot coated area can be done in a separate operation and then printed with appropriate register controls so that the protected area is in register with the area needing security , or the dye and the white can be printed in the same operation as the remaining printing operations for the gaming form and registered using techniques which are standard to one skill in the graphic arts . a &# 34 ; lilly pad &# 34 ;, that is a white coating designed to absorb the special inks typically used for printing the indicia , can be used if desired over the previously applied white ink . if the white ink is formulated with the correct pigments , or if there are multiple layers of white ink with the topmost layer formulated with the correct pigments , the use of a &# 34 ; lilly pad &# 34 ; could be eliminated . the remainder of the gaming form would be printed as is typical for this type of product . a confusion pattern , i . e ., a discontinuous pattern of black ink or coating , may be used to prevent candling . if enough black dye is applied along with the standard coating , the form could be made opaque enough to eliminate the need for this confusion pattern . alternatively , the black dye may be printed in a confusion pattern so as to prevent attempts at candling to discern any legible information . with the described construction for the gaming form , any attempt to tamper with the form to determine the contents of the indicia will lead to the bleeding of the dye which will both hide the indicia from visibility and mark or stain the form in such a manner as to be obvious that it was tampered with . since the placement of the dye is at the back of the gaming area , i . e ., first down on the paper , it acts as an effective replacement for the foil on the standard lottery ticket / gaming form since the indicia are no longer observable from the back or center of the split ticket and can be used to prevent candling . referring now to fig1 and 2 , the lottery ticket or gaming form t is formed on a cardboard substrate 10 , with an optional opaque clay coating 12 . the ticket t preferably includes a game - play area 11 and a theme area 13 . a layer 14 of black dye is provided over coating 12 , and covered with a thick layer 16 of opaque white ink containing a white pigment , such as titanium dioxide , clay , calcium carbonate , alumina , antimony oxide , barium sulfate , or the like . the layer 14 can be of a nigrosine - based dye , such as : nigrosine 2bp liquid , supplied by keystone aniline corporation , chicago , ill . ; nigrosine o2p powder , also supplied by keystone aniline corporation , chicago , ill . ; or , nigausin web . crystals dk - 8610 , supplied by inx international ink corporation , clifton , n . j . alternatively , layer 14 can be of a formulated finished ink containing dye , such as : fgn - 2289 flexographic ink , supplied by colorcon inc ., west point , pa . ; loe 1092 letterpress / offset ink , also supplied by colorcon inc ., west point , pa . ; or , eh 90264 alkali soluble flexographic ink , supplied by environmental ink corporation , linthicum , md . other acceptable dyes include : in some cases , a combination of other conventional dyes , such as red , blue , and yellow may be utilized to make a black dye . an advantage of a mixture of colors is that it is possible to produce a tamper evident ticket , that is , if the different color dyes bleed at different rates , color shifts will occur in the black , and it would be possible to use this color shift to deter tampering by making such tampering evident . although the use of blended colors is possible , the nigrosine - type dyes listed above are preferred . a benday pattern 18 is printed , usually in the same step in the printing as the thematic game graphics 20 , over white ink layer 16 . the purpose of the white ink layer 16 is to make surface 14 printable by standard printing techniques . one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that dye layer 14 may only need be provided in the game play area 11 . the purpose of the benday pattern 18 is to inconvenience a counterfeiter who would wish to cut out indicia from the game play area of a ticket and replace the same with indicia from another non - winning ticket to cause the first lottery ticket to appear to be a winner . the varying benday lines ( shown in fig1 ), would tend to prevent the counterfeiter from cutting indicia from one ticket and adding it to another because the relative positions of benday lines and overlying indicia vary from lottery ticket to lottery ticket and the discontinuity of benday lines would be obvious to the redeeming agent . as best shown in fig1 benday pattern 18 is preferably in the form of short curved lines . the benday pattern 18 may be confined to the game play area 11 , in which ink - jet printed game numerals or game - play data 22 are shown by example in fig1 . the thematic graphics 20 and the benday pattern 18 are printed by conventional means such as lithographic , flexographic , or gravure techniques . the benday pattern 18 is covered by a thin layer of a translucent ink - jet receptive layer 26 . one purpose of the translucent ink - jet layer 26 is to provide sufficient contrast to the ink - jet produced game - play data 22 which by convention is normally black or deep grey . each of these layers is dried prior to the application of the subsequent layer . once these layers have been applied and dried , the game - play data or image layer 28 is printed onto the receptive layer 26 by ink - jet printing means . the ink - jet printed game - play data layer 28 is then covered by at least one layer of a clear varnish 30 and a layer of scratch - off material 32 , such as craigseal product 2850 - hd manufactured by craig adhesives corp ., newark , n . j . the clear varnish 30 acts to prevent damage to the game - play data layer 28 when the scratch - off material 32 is removed by lottery players . the scratch - off material 32 itself is over - printed with an optical confusion pattern 34 that is covered and hidden by over printed thematic graphics 36 . the overprinted thematic graphics 36 and the optical confusion pattern 34 are typically destroyed when a lottery player removes the scratch - off compound 32 . fig3 illustrates another preferred embodiment of the invention . by control of the translucency and color of the ink - jet receptive layer 26 , it is possible to eliminate the need for the underlying opaque white ink 16 of the embodiment of fig1 and 2 . to achieve this desirable elimination , it is necessary that the ink - jet receptive layer 26 be sufficiently opaque to supply sufficient contrast to the ink - jet produced game - play data layer 28 which by convention is normally black or deep gray . in this embodiment it should be obvious that the dye layer 14 should only be provided in the game play area 11 . additionally , we have found that by controlling the composition and thickness of the ink - jet receptive layer 26 , we can obtain an instant scratch - off lottery ticket that resists the migration or leaching of the ink of the ink - jet produced gameplay data 28 layer through the ticket under the influence of any known wet pad technique , such as described above , to the point that readable migrated ink - jet patterns do not occur prior to obvious ticket destruction owing to warping and fading of the ticket that does not recover after drying . we have found the receptive layer 26 to be effective when applied as an ink by either flexographic , gravure or silk screen techniques to a thickness of about 0 . 0025 to about 0 . 005 inches , and when the receptive layer ink is composed of finely divided fillers thoroughly mixed into a resinous binder and adjusted for viscosity with organic solvents . surprisingly , we have found that in addition to providing the benefit of a structure that prevents premature or unauthorized game data disclosure , these compositions of the receptive layer set forth in table 1 enhance the appearance of the ink - jet fonts by causing a slight feathering of the images &# 39 ; individual droplets into the images of adjacent droplets . in use , we have found that titanium dioxide based white inks provide good results . it is likewise contemplated that the receptive layer 26 contain particles of titanium dioxide , calcium carbonate , calcium chloride , calcium hydroxide , calcium oxide , calcium silicate , zinc sulfide , magnesium carbonate and the like . it is further contemplated that the receptive layer 26 contain acid compounds where no conflict exists with the basic components , e . g ., calcium carbonate and calcium hydroxide . many acids could be used and include both mineral acids and organic acids . the possibilities are too numerous to list and would be known to those skilled in the art . some examples are nitric acid , phosphoric acid , acetic acid , maleic acid , citric acid , crotonic acid , tartaric acid , and benzoic acid and its derivatives . we have found that the inclusion of an acid further prevents leaching or migration of the ink - jet ink toward the substrate . it is contemplated that the ink - jet receptive layer contain particles of compounds of sufficient surface reactivity to hinder or resist leaching of the ink - jet inks . it is also expected that the ink - jet ink be selected to minimum radio opacity for hindering unauthorized detection of hidden data by x - ray detection methods . while this invention has been described as having preferred designs , it is understood that it is capable of further modifications , uses and / or adaptations of the invention following in general the principle of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within the known or customary practice in the art to which to invention pertains and as may be applied to the central features hereinbefore set forth , and fall within the scope of the invention and of the limits of the appended claims .	1
the lock according to the invention includes two rotary latches 11 , 12 , which are supported on two bearing blocks 31 , 32 at points 13 , 14 . the bearing blocks 31 , 32 are integral parts of a carrier 30 . because the two rotary latches are identical in design , it is sufficient to explain their design and function in greater detail on the basis of the rotary latch according to fig4 and 5 . as illustrated in fig4 the lock serves to hold a movable part 15 , which consists in the present case of a pivoting flap , on a resting part 35 . for this purpose , the carrier 30 supporting the two rotary latches 11 , 12 is attached in the present case to the resting part 35 , for which the attachment points 33 , 34 , which can be seen at the ends of the carrier in fig1 are used . two straps , which carry closing pieces 10 , are attached to the pivoting flap 15 , one being assigned to each of the two rotary latches 11 , 12 . only one of the straps 16 with its closing piece 10 is shown in fig4 and 5 . as shown in fig4 and 5 , each of the rotary latches 11 , 12 has an opening 17 , which holds the closing piece 10 after the rotary latch 11 has been pivoted into the position indicated by the auxiliary line 11 . 1 , which is to be referred to here as the “ closed position ”. in this state , the pivoting flap 15 is fastened to its housing 35 . this locking position 11 . 1 is secured by a first locking element 31 , which grips a radial shoulder 18 . the same is also true for the other rotary latch 12 , as shown in fig1 in which a second locking element 22 is supported against a similar radial shoulder 19 provided on that latch 12 . the locking elements 21 , 22 are seated at the ends of a common shaft 20 , which connects the two of them together and with which they form an integral piece of plastic , thus forming a combination with it . this shaft 20 has support pins 23 , 24 at its ends , as indicated in broken line in fig1 which fit into corresponding blind holes , which face each other . the blind holes belong to two end bearings 36 , 37 , which are designed as integral parts of the carrier 30 . the rotational axis 25 of the shaft 20 and of its locking elements 21 , 22 is indicated in dash - dot - line in fig1 and is also marked in fig4 and 5 . both the rotary latches 11 , 12 and also the one - piece combination 40 are subject to the action of restoring forces , which in the present case are produced by restoring springs 38 , 39 with two sidepieces , which act on both components . as illustrated in fig4 the restoring spring 38 shown there exerts a force acting in the counterclockwise direction as shown by the force arrow 41 ; this force tries to move the rotary latch out of the closed position 11 . 1 of fig4 into the other rotational position , illustrated by the auxiliary line 11 . 2 in fig5 . the rotary latch 11 is prevented from doing this , however , as long as the locking element 21 associated with it is supported against the shoulder 18 . the locking element 21 is itself being acted on by the force of the restoring spring 38 , this force acting in the clockwise direction shown by the force arrow 42 in fig4 . in the previously mentioned combination 40 , the shaft 20 has a special profile , which makes it torsionally rigid in the rotational direction 43 according to fig2 and 3 , but flexible in the axial direction 25 . this is achieved in that the shaft 20 is produced in such a way that it consists of an alternating sequence of rigid axial sections 26 and flexible axial sections 27 , 28 as shown in fig1 . the rigid axial sections 26 consist of disks with a circular outline 29 , which are positioned in stack - like fashion a certain axial distance apart , the gaps between them being bridged by two diametric webs 44 , 45 . successive webs 44 , 45 are perpendicular to each other . the webs 44 , 45 act as “ film hinges ” between the successive disks 26 . whereas the one web 44 , which extends horizontally , for example , according to fig2 allows bending in the vertical direction , the other , vertical web 45 provides flexibility in the horizontal direction . the extent of this flexibility is determined by the axial dimension of the web between the successive disks 26 and the radial thickness of the web . the torsional rigidity is obtained as a result of the continuity of the web structure and the relatively low height of the webs between adjacent disks 26 . the one - piece combination 40 makes it possible to install the shaft 20 quickly and conveniently . advantage can be taken of its flexibility for this purpose . for the installation process , the shaft 20 is bent until the terminal bearing pins 23 , 24 of the combination unit 40 just fit between the two end bearings 36 , 37 of the carrier 30 . then , by inserting the bearing pins 23 , 24 into the above - mentioned blind holes , the shaft 20 can be introduced axially into the associated end bearings 36 , 37 . after the shaft has been fitted into the bearings , a clip 48 , which extends over the installed shaft 20 and is attached to the holders 49 on the carrier , limits the flexure of the central part of the shaft 47 . as a result , a central support point is created , which prevents the shaft from bending so sharply outward again in this area 47 . a trigger 50 , on which manually operated actuating means ( not shown in detail ) act , is present on the combination 40 . torque is exerted only on the trigger 50 ; there is no need to exert any torque by way of the locking elements 21 , 22 . when the trigger 50 is moved out of the supporting position in fig4 and into the release position shown in fig5 in which the radial shoulder 18 of the rotary latch 11 is released , the rotary latch 11 pivots automatically into the previously mentioned other position 11 . 2 under the action of the restoring force 41 . this rotational position 11 . 2 is determined by bumpers 51 , which also damp the noise , and against which the rotary latch 11 is supported . these bumpers 51 are a component of the associated bearing block 31 of the carrier 30 . in this rotational position 11 . 2 , the movable part 15 , e . g ., a flap , can be pivoted in the direction of the double arrow 52 of fig5 . with respect to the support of the flap 15 , the rotary latch 11 assumes a position in which the associated closing piece 15 can be moved into or out of the latch opening 17 . this path of movement 53 is indicated in fig5 in dash - dot line . the associated locking element 21 rests under the action of the previously mentioned restoring force against the profile of the rotary latch 11 . for this reason , the outside surface of the latch , which is made of metal , is provided with a sheath 54 , as indicated by the crosshatching in fig5 consisting of an elastomeric material . preloaded by the restoring spring 38 , the locking element 21 is ready to move from the position shown in fig5 into the position under less tension according to fig4 . during the previously mentioned pivoting movement in the closing direction , the closing piece 10 strikes a projection 55 , which forms one boundary of the latch opening 17 , and thus rotates the rotary latch 11 back into the closed position 11 . 1 against the force of its restoring spring 41 . the locking element 21 is able to move automatically behind the latch shoulder 18 again and thus locks the assembly in the closed position 11 . 1 . while specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the inventive principles , it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles .	8
the problems of known multi - layer printed circuit boards are explained with reference to fig5 to 8 . in fig5 to 8 , the internal layers of a multi - layer printed circuit board 20 are omitted . a lsi is mounted on the board 20 and has leads 5 . lead pads 6 and 6 &# 39 ; bond the leads 5 . plated through holes 21 to 25 ( fig5 and 6 ) and 31 to 35 ( fig7 and 8 ) are provided in the printed circuit board 20 . modification pads 26 to 28 ( fig5 and 6 ) and 36 to 39 ( fig7 and 8 ) are wire - bonded with other pads at the time of modification . the pattern is symmetrical about a line 40 in the figures . a lattice indicated by a thin line in fig6 and 8 indicates the standard lattice imaginarily estimated at the time of pattern design . in general , the through holes are formed at the crosspoints of the standard lattice . in the known printed circuit boards shown in fig5 and 6 , the lead pads 6 provided at the crosspoints of the standard lattice are connected to the through holes 22 and 25 provided outside the lsi mounting portion 4 via the modification pads 26 and 27 , respectively , in fig5 and 6 . the lead pads 6 &# 39 ; provided between the crosspoints of the standard lattice are connected to the through holes 21 formed inside of the lsi mounting portion via the modification pads 28 in the embodiment of fig5 and 6 . in the embodiment of fig5 and 6 , the through holes 21 , 22 and 25 guide the modification pads 28 , 26 and 27 to the desired internal layer . the through holes 23 and 24 interconnect the internal layers . it is impossible to provide through holes under the lead pads 6 and 6 &# 39 ;. the board may be modified by cutting the modification pattern at the part indicated by the arrow in fig6 with a knife and then wire - bonding the modification pads 26 , 27 or 28 to the desired pad . since the modification pads of the known printed circuit board of fig5 and 6 are provided within the lsi mounting portion , modification of the board after mounting the lsi is impossible . furthermore , in some instances , wires used for modification cross over the lead pad area from inside to outside the lsi mounting portion . this is a factor which increases the difficulty of mounting the lsi , even when the modification is undertaken prior to the mounting of the lsi . the aforedescribed disadvantage seems to be eliminated in the known embodiment of the printed circuit board shown in fig7 and 8 . in the embodiment of fig7 and 8 , the modification pads 36 to 39 corresponding to the lead pads 6 and 6 &# 39 ; are provided outside the lsi mounting portion , and the through holes 32 to 35 for guiding said modification pads to the internal layer are also provided outside the lsi mounting portion . the through holes 31 interconnect the internal layers . in the printed circuit board of fig7 and 8 , the through holes 32 to 35 for the modification pads are concentrated in a specific area . furthermore , it is difficult to design the wiring patterns of the internal layers , since the through holes cannot be provided under the lead pads 6 and 6 &# 39 ;. that is , the space for providing through holes for interconnecting internal layers cannot be obtained outside the lsi mounting portion . the interconnecting of internal layers is thus possible only inside the lsi mounting portion . the only difference between the embodiments of fig6 and 8 seems to be an interchange of the function of the through holes 21 and 33 , and between the through holes 23 and 31 . in other words , the number of through holes of the modification pads and the number of through holes interconnecting the internal layers are the same in the board as a whole , and the only difference seems to be in arrangement of the through holes . in fig6 both types of through holes are positioned almost uniformly , whereas in fig8 both types of through holes are concentrated . however , such a difference is a considerable problem for designers of internal patterns . the through hole for connecting a land of a specific internal layer to a land of another internal layer is most effectively provided in the interval between such lands . in the printed circuit board shown in fig8 however , the through holes for interconnecting the internal layers cannot be provided in an extended wide area . even when the land of a specific layer and the land of another layer are located adjacent each other , the through holes for connecting the lands must thus be provided at a distance in some cases . in such cases , the connecting path becomes undesirably long . furthermore , in design automation , where the internal layer patterns are designed automatically by a computer , the design software becomes complex in the embodiment of fig8 . when two lands to be connected between layers are located in one lsi mounting portion , or when one land is located in one lsi mounting portion , while the other land is located in another lsi mounting portion , and when both lands are outside the lsi mounting portion , it is necessary to change the method of searching the position in order to provide the through holes for interconnecting the layers in accordance with the respective case . on the other hand , in the embodiment of the printed circuit board of fig6 the crosspoints of the lattice where the through holes for interconnecting the layers may be provided are distributed almost uniformly . therefore , in the aforedescribed case , it would be unnecessary to change the method of searching the position in order to provide through holes . the multi - layer printed circuit board of the invention solves the problems of insufficient remoldability of the board of the embodiment of fig5 and 6 , difficulty in design and inefficiency in wiring of the board of the embodiment of fig7 and 8 . the multi - layer printed circuit board of the invention also permits the positioning of the through holes for interconnecting layers in such area as that under the lead pads 6 and 6 &# 39 ;, where it has never before been possible to provide the through holes . a preferred embodiment of the invention is now described with reference to fig1 to 4 . the multi - layer printed circuit board of the invention is integrated into a form of multi - layer board with a sheet of prepreg obtained by impregnating a resin into glass cloth . the prepreg is sandwiched between an element mounting printed circuit board 1 , referred to as the first board , and an internal layer printed circuit board 2 , hereinafter referred to as the second board . each of the first and second boards is individually formed in accordance with a respective pattern . the second board 2 is for wiring . the first board 1 itself has a plurality of wiring layers and is provided primarily for mounting the lsi 4 , and provides a connecting pattern for connecting the lead pads 6 and 6 &# 39 ; to the internal layers and simultaneously provides a modification pattern . the lead pads 6 , 6 &# 39 ;, 6 , 6 &# 39 ;, and so on , are provided at equal intervals on the surface layer of the first board 1 for bonding flat leads 5 of the lsi 4 . the lead pads 6 , at the crosspoints of the standard lattice , are connected to lands 8 on lines via modification pads 7 . the lead pads 6 &# 39 ;, between the crosspoints of the standard lattice , are extended to modification pads 7 &# 39 ; provided on extended lines of the lands 8 and are extended to lands 9 via the bonding pattern . the lands 8 are connected directly to the second board 2 via through holes 10 and the lands 9 are connected to the second board via through holes 11 of the first board , patterns 12 of the internal layer of the first board and through holes 13 . the through holes 13 are located inside the mounting portion of the lsi 4 . the lead pads are directly drawn at the surface of the printed circuit board to the through holes provided at the same position as the through holes of the embodiment of fig6 . in the embodiment of fig1 and 2 , however , the first board 1 is layered and the lead pads to be drawn inside the lsi mounting portion are once drawn out to the outside at the surface of said first board and then drawn into the through holes 13 inside the lsi mounting portion from the inside of said first board via the through holes 11 . the second board 2 has almost the same configuration as the internal layers of the known multi - layer printed circuit board shown in fig5 and 6 . independent through holes 14 , 14 &# 39 ; and 14 &# 34 ; are provided at the crosspoints of the standard lattice when the second board 2 is in a position where there are no through holes 10 and 13 for connection to the internal layer as the paths . therefore , by providing many through holes or paths 14 , 14 &# 39 ;, 14 &# 34 ; connections between layers in the second board 2 may be made via the shortest route . the first and second boards 1 and 2 may be connected via the through holes 10 and 13 . in the manufacture of the multi - layer printed circuit board of the invention , the first and second boards are separately manufactured and patterns or through holes are formed in said boards . thus , the first board 1 , the second board 2 and the prepreg 3 sandwiched between said boards are integrated into a multi - layer . thereafter , holes are drilled through both boards and then the through hole plating is provided . then , the through holes 10 and 13 for connecting the first and second boards 1 and 2 , respectively , are formed . thereafter , the flat leads 5 of the lsi 4 are provided on the lead pads 6 , 6 &# 39 ;, 6 , 6 &# 39 ;, and so on , of the first board 1 and are fixed by reflow soldering , etc . although only one side and the top part of the lsi 4 are shown in the figures , the lsi terminals may be positioned , as required , as shown in the figures . furthermore , in the figures , the right side of the broken line 40 indicates the patterns and through holes corresponding to the adjacent lsi which is not illustrated . it is also possible to add a third circuit board 16 as a layer to the rear surface of the second board 2 via prepreg 15 , as required . the pattern of the printed circuit board of the invention may be modified without removing the lsi , as hereinafter explained . the lead pads 6 at the crosspoints of the standard lattice are connected to the second board 2 via the modification pads 7 , the lands 8 and the through holes 10 . it is desired to modify the patterns due to a change of specification or an error in design . the pattern between the desired modification pad 7 and the land 8 must be separated from said land by cutting it at the position indicated by the arrow in fig2 . an end of a wire is then bonded to the modification pad 7 and the other end of the wire is rewired to the other part of the board . the lead pads 6 &# 39 ; intermediate the crosspoints of the standard lattice are also connected to the other position in the same manner by cutting the pattern at the position indicated by the arrow in fig2 and by wire bonding to the modification pad 7 &# 39 ;. at such time , although the interval between the modification pad 7 &# 39 ; and the land 9 is cut outside the lsi 4 mounting portion , since said land 9 is drawn to the through hole 13 inside the lsi mounting portion via the pattern 12 inside the first board 1 , the modification pad 7 &# 39 ; of the lead pad 6 &# 39 ; and the through hole 13 inside the lsi mounting portion are disconnected . therefore , pattern disconnection and wiring may be provided for all the terminals of the lsi without removing said lsi . furthermore , the disconnection and wiring may be accomplished at the surface of the printed circuit board . modification is thus achieved with facility , convenience and ease . although the through holes 11 for extension are provided outside the lsi mounting portion , since the through holes 13 for connecting the first board to the second board are provided inside the lsi mounting portion , the paths 14 may be provided at the lower positions of the extension through holes 11 of the second board 2 . thus , the concentration of the through holes for modification pads outside the lsi mounting portion , as in the embodiment of fig7 and 8 , may be substantially eliminated . furthermore , areas devoid of the through holes 13 and 10 for connection at the crosspoints of the standard lattice are vacant . the through holes 14 &# 39 ; and 14 &# 34 ; may therefore be provided in addition to the through hole or path 14 , and may also be used as paths . more particularly , the paths seen when viewing from the surface of the printed circuit board , which may be used only at the internal layers , may be provided with a sufficient margin at the second board 2 , although the lead pads 6 and 6 &# 39 ; and the extension through holes 11 are provided . furthermore , since the paths and through holes for connecting the first board 1 to the second board 2 are scattered , the pattern design may be made freely by determining the shortest route by means of design automation . the wiring efficiency is therefore drastically improved and a pattern design of higher density may be realized . elements other than a lsi may also be mounted at the lead pads 6 and 6 &# 39 ;, as long as such elements are multi - lead units having a small lead pitch . the third circuit board 16 may be layered over the rear surface of the second board 2 , as required , via the prepreg 15 , as shown in fig1 . the third board 16 should have a multi - layer structure and through holes for itself . as hereinbefore described , it is generally recommended that the modification pads be provided adjacent the lead pads or terminal pads on a one to one basis . the lead pads are the pads to which the leads of mounted parts are electrically connected . the terminal pads are the pads used as terminals for connecting the printed circuit board to another printed circuit board , or to other devices . an important function of the printed circuit board is to establish the connection between the aforedescribed pads . therefore , on the occasion of modification , it is easier to provide new wiring directly between pads than to provide modification in the course of wiring the circuit . furthermore , if an unwanted long signal line is left connected to a lead , its stray capacitance affects the circuit characteristic adversely . it is thus preferable to provide the modification pads in positions near to the lead pads or terminal pads . while the invention has been described by means of a specific example and in a specific embodiment , we do not wish to be limited thereto , for obvious modifications will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	7
the general principles of the invention will be discussed in connection with fig2 a and 2b . a resist pattern 20 is formed on a semiconductor substrate 10 according to well known methods , for example , lithography . however , the present invention is not limited to resist as a masking material . while the invention will be described using resist as the masking material for convenience , it should be understood that any other mask material may be used consistent with the present invention . the resist pattern 20 includes a window 30 to the semiconductor substrate 10 . an etchant material 15 , such as fluorine , is incorporated into the semiconductor substrate 10 , for example , by ion implantation through window 30 . it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the use of fluorine as an etchant . other etchants , such as chlorine , may also be used . alternatively , non - etchants such as argon , for example , may be implanted . further , a combination of etchants and non - etchants may be used in a single implantation step or in plural implantation steps . as shown in fig2 b , the substrate 10 and resist 20 are then etched to produce a trench 40 in the region where the etchant was implanted . the resist pattern may be removed at this time as well . of course , the resist pattern 20 may be removed before etching . etching may accomplished according to a highly anisotropic reactive ion etching ( rie ) process , such as a preferential ion assisted or ion enhanced etching procedure where the substrate is immersed in a plasma of etchant , for example , fluorine or chlorine , and subjected to ion bombardment using , for example , ionized argon . alternatively , the plasma may have little or no fluorine in order to more precisely control the critical dimensions of small features . also , other etching techniques may also be used , for example , ion beam etching . the trench 40 may be filled in accordance with a variety of techniques not important for the present invention . devices may be formed in the regions 50 of the semiconductor substrate 10 so that the devices are isolated by the filled trench 40 . accordingly , sti can be achieved . the ion implantation step ensures preferential etching of the ion implanted regions . bombardment by etchant or non - etchant ions causes physical damage to the substrate . the damaged substrate regions etch at a greater rate than undamaged substrate regions . thus , implantation of a non - etchant serves to speed the etching rate by physically damaging the impact region . further , if an etchant is implanted , the etchant serves to break chemical bonds in the substrate . accordingly , the implanted etchant speeds the etching rate by both physical and chemical mechanisms . fig3 a shows a substrate 10 , for example , silicon , to be processed according to the present invention . of course , other semiconductor substrates or other materials may be used in accordance with the present invention . further , the semiconductor substrate 10 may comprise a plurality of layers of different materials , for example , silicon nitride on a silicon substrate . for convenience , element 10 will be referred to as semiconductor substrate 10 . as shown in fig3 b , a resist film 20a is formed on the semiconductor substrate 10 . as noted above , mask materials other than resist may be used consistent with the present invention . the resist film 20a is subjected to known photolithography techniques to form a resist pattern 20 as illustrated in fig3 c . as shown in fig3 c , the resist pattern 20 includes a plurality of windows 31 - 37 that expose a surface of the semiconductor substrate 10 . of course , resist pattern 20 is intended to illustrate the principles of the present invention , and should not be construed to limit the invention . the resist pattern 20 has a height h , which may be , for example , 0 . 95 μm . as can be seen , windows 31 - 35 have a first width w1 , and windows 36 and 37 have a second width w2 , where w2 & gt ; w1 . for example , w1 may be about 0 . 25 μm and w2 may be about 10 μm . of course , the arrangement shown in fig3 c is intended to be illustrative and should not be considered to limit the present invention . for example , the resist height h may be varied , and any number of windows having any window width w may be provided consistent with the present invention . in general , windows 31 - 35 may be formed in a first region of semiconductor substrate 10 where it is desired to have trenches having a first characteristic trench profile , and windows 36 and 37 may be formed in a second region of a semiconductor substrate 10 where it is desired to have trenches having a second characteristic trench profile . for example , as illustrated in fig5 a , the first region may correspond to a memory cell array region 10a of a memory device , such as a dram , where relatively small memory cell devices are formed and where trenches having substantially vertical profiles are required to ensure a precise alignment . the memory cell array region 10a includes a resist pattern 20 including windows having the first width w1 . accordingly , vertical trenches may be formed in the memory cell array region 10a . as illustrated in fig5 b , the second region may correspond to a peripheral circuit region 10b of the memory cell device , such as a dram , where relatively large peripheral circuits are formed and where trenches having substantially tapered trench profiles are required to minimize leakage currents and resulting power dissipation . the peripheral circuit region 10b includes a resist pattern 20 including windows having the second width w2 . thus , tapered trenches may be formed in the peripheral circuit region 10b . after formation of the resist pattern 20 , the semiconductor substrate 10 is subjected to a tilt ion implantation procedure , as illustrated in fig3 d , whereby the ions 15 are implanted at a predetermined tilt angle α with respect to the surface normal of the semiconductor substrate 10 and a predetermined azimuth angle β with respect to an azimuth reference direction . fig6 is a plan view of substrate 10 to illustrate the azimuth angle β of the ion beam with respect to an arbitrary azimuth reference direction . the tilt angle α and azimuth angle β may be selected such that the implantation ions pass through windows 36 and 37 to reach the portion w3 of the surface of the semiconductor substrate 10 but do not pass through windows 31 - 35 to reach to the surface of the semiconductor substrate 10 . w3 may be varied in accordance with the tilt angle α , the azimuth angle β , and the resist height h . for example , for a given resist pattern height h and window widths w , an appropriate tilt angle α and azimuth angle β may be selected to produce an implant area w3 in the semiconductor substrate 10 , to achieve a desired implant profile and thus a trench having a desired taper profile . the following relation may serve as a guideline for the selection of a tilt angle α and an azimuth angle β : further , the ions can be beamed at a predetermined implantation energy to achieve predetermined depth in the semiconductor substrate 10 . preferably , ion energies of 10 kev or greater are utilized . in addition , an implantation dose may be selected to achieve a predetermined concentration in the semiconductor substrate 10 where they strike . in general , higher implant concentrations produce greater physical damage and , if the implanted ion is an etchant , greater chemical damage . thus , the implantation energy and implantation dose of the ions are among the factors which affect the etch rate , and thus the resulting trench profile . of course , the etch rate also depends on the material etched , the implanted material , and the reactive ion etching process . as depicted in fig3 d for purposes of illustration , ions of the etchant fluorine are used to bombard the semiconductor substrate 10 and resist pattern 20 at a tilt angle α . the azimuth angle β of the ion beam is aligned with the plane of the page . the fluorine ions strike the top part of the resist pattern adjacent windows 31 - 35 but do not reach the semiconductor substrate through windows 31 - 35 . accordingly , areas of the semiconductor substrate 10 exposed through windows 31 - 35 are not implanted with ions . the angle α is sufficient to permit the fluorine ions to strike the semiconductor substrate 10 through windows 36 and 37 . the fluorine ions additionally impinge on the sides of the resist that forms windows 36 and 37 . fig3 d illustrates the resulting distribution of fluorine ions implanted in the substrate 10 and the resist pattern 20 from one direction . of course , the distribution of implanted ions , and thus the trench profile , can be tailored by implanting ions at several different tilt angles α and / or azimuth angles β . further , the azimuth angle β may be varied with time to effect a rotation implantation . the semiconductor substrate 10 and the resist pattern 20 are then etched , for example , using a highly anisotropic rie process . fig3 e illustrates the semiconductor substrate according to fig3 d after etching . the dotted lines show the outline of the semiconductor substrate 10 and resist pattern 20 before etching . as can be seen , the areas where fluorine ions were implanted have been etched away to form tapered profile trenches 56 and 57 in the semiconductor substrate 10 at regions corresponding to the windows 36 and 37 . in addition , vertical profile trenches 51 - 55 are formed in the semiconductor substrate 10 at the regions corresponding to windows 31 - 35 where no implantation occurred . it should be noted that the tapered trenches 56 and 57 may be deeper than vertical trenches 51 - 55 as a result of the preferential etching produced by the implantation of fluorine ions . it should be clear that the particular trench profile produced by the etching step may be precisely tailored to specific requirements by adjusting the ion implant profile . this may be accomplished through careful selection of the relevant parameters affecting implant profile , such as resist height , window width , tilt angle of the ion beam , azimuth angle of the ion beam , energy of the ion beam , and the characteristics of the materials used . for example , a more tapered trench may be produced by increasing the tilt angle and / or the energy of the ion beam . accordingly , the formation of the taper may be controlled more easily by adjusting the implant profile than by other methods that vary according to etching conditions , etching area , chamber seasoning and the like which tend to be restrict etching parameters and options . fig4 provides a more detailed view of region similar to that surrounding window 37 of fig3 e after etching is concluded . in this case a nitride layer ( e . g ., sin ) 12 is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 10 prior to forming the resist pattern 20 . the structure of the semiconductor substrate 10 , the nitride layer 12 , and the resist pattern 20 after ion implantation and before etching are shown with dotted lines . as illustrated , a lateral portion 14 of the semiconductor substrate 10 and a lateral portion 24 of the resist pattern 20 are implanted with fluorine ions 15 during the tilt implantation phase . consequently , lateral etching causes lateral portion 14 to be etched during the etching phase . in addition , resist or mask regression is manifest by lateral portion 24 being etched away during the etching phase . because the resist pattern 20 is generally softer than semiconductor substrate 10 , it is etched at a greater rate . moreover , once an oblique surface is formed in the resist , the surface will be etched at an even greater rate due to the higher sputtering yield of ions at an oblique angle . thus , lateral portion 24 is etched to a greater extent than lateral portion 14 . the removal of lateral portion 14 through etching forms tapered portion 57a of tapered trench 57 . tapered trench 57 does not produce the sharp corners at its drop off as does a vertical trench . accordingly , tapered trench 57 is suitable for isolating a peripheral circuit , such as a decoder , without significant power dissipation due to electrical field irregularities . however , tapered trench 57 additionally includes a vertical portion 57b opposite the tapered portion 57a . the semiconductor substrate 10 near vertical portion 57b is not implanted with ions during the ion implantation phase as it is shielded by resist pattern 20 . of course , a second ion implantation phase can be performed where the ion beam angle is adjusted to cause tapered trench 57 to have a tapered portion opposite tapered portion 57a . this may be accomplished , for example , by using an ion beam angle with respect to the substrate equal to - α . in addition , a second ion implantation phase can be implemented . one or more of the parameters of the first implantation phase may be varied in the second implantation to more precisely control the implant profile . for example , the second implantation phase may have a different tilt angle α , a different azimuth angle β , different implant energy , produce a different concentration , and / or include a different implant ion . in this way , the implant profile may be further controlled to produce the desired tapered trench . alternatively , one or more of such parameters may be varied in a single process step . in any event , the trenches may then be filled according to any of a variety of procedures not important in the context of the present invention . the invention is described above in connection with a semiconductor substrate . it should be understood that the present invention may be used to form trenches in material other than a semiconductor substrate or in material including layers on a semiconductor substrate . further , it should be clear that a particular ion implant angle α may be effected by controlling the direction of the ion beam , by tilting the semiconductor substrate 10 , or both . although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments and that changes and modifications may be effected therein by those in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention .	7
with reference to the drawings , a preferred embodiment of the fluid retaining apparatus of the present invention is disclosed at 10 in fig1 . the apparatus 10 is formed from one piece of resilient plastic , such as low density polyethylene that is designed to be attached to the bottom end of a drinking tube , such as a straw , to retain fluid at all times in the tube during the drinking process by a user . referring now to fig2 , the apparatus 10 includes a hollow lower portion 11 having an interior ball valve 12 with a valve chamber 13 and an inlet end 14 to allow fluid to enter the valve chamber 13 . the apparatus 10 also has a hollow upper portion 15 with an outlet end 16 to allow fluid to exit the apparatus 10 and a passageway 17 that leads to the outlet end 16 . as shown best in fig2 , the upper portion 15 and the passageway 17 are tapered along their lengths first at a gradual taper and then at an accelerated taper at their outer ends for dual purposes that will now be described . preferably , the upper portion 15 of the apparatus 10 begins directly above the ball valve 12 and is about 1 . 25 ″ in length . the diameter of the upper portion 15 is tapered with its outside diameter directly above the valve chamber 13 at about 0 . 260 ″. at a distance of about 1 . 00 ″ above the valve chamber 13 the outside diameter is about 0 . 200 ″ and the diameter of the passageway 17 is similarly reduced . the apparatus 10 is attached to a liquid delivery tube , “ straw ” 20 , as shown in fig3 in association with a drinking vessel 21 by inserting the outlet end 16 inside of the straw 20 . the accelerated taper at the last 0 . 250 ″ of the upper portion 15 allows the user or caregiver to increase the flow of fluid through the apparatus 10 by trimming the outlet end 16 of the upper portion 15 . the gradual taper of the upper portion 15 allows for the use of the apparatus 10 with liquid delivery tubs such as the straw 20 having varying inside diameters . it is highly desirable to place the apparatus 10 in the lower end of the straw 20 to prevent a user from removing it from the straw 20 during the drinking process . the accelerated taper of the outlet end 16 provides for fluid flow restriction which prevents fluid from propelling to the back of the mouth of a user drinking from the straw 20 . such restriction improves a user &# 39 ; s ability to swallow without aspirating fluid into their lungs , and enables a user with reduced cognizance to obtain a more consistent quantity of fluid with each sip . as mentioned above , the accelerated taper of the outlet end 16 can be reduced by trimming such end with a pair of scissors to increase the inside diameter of the outlet end 16 to accommodate thicker fluids and assist users unable to generate sufficient suction to draw fluid through a more restricted outlet end . as indicated in fig2 , the valve chamber 13 contains a ball 22 that is reciprocally movable longitudinally with the flow of fluid between a valve seat 24 located at the valve chamber inlet end 14 and a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart interior ribs 26 integrally molded beginning at the upper inside tangent of the valve chamber 13 and extending downward about 0 . 118 °. the ribs 26 prevent the ball 22 from traveling to the uppermost region of the chamber 13 thereby allowing fluid to flow from the chamber 13 to the straw 20 with minimal obstruction . the lower portion of the valve chamber 13 has a diameter that is only slightly larger than the ball 22 . in the preferred embodiment the ball size is 0 . 250 ″ and the lower portion of the ball chamber is 0 . 260 ″. this dimensional relationship allows a small amount of fluid to exit the valve chamber 13 prior to the ball 22 reaching the valve seat 24 when suction on the straw 20 by a user is interrupted so that fluid retained in the straw 20 drops down a small amount . it is desirable that the fluid retained in the straw 20 is slightly recessed from the extreme top of the straw when drinking by the user is interrupted because this reduces the amount of splatter that may occur when the drinking vessel 21 , as seen in fig3 , containing the straw 20 is abruptly placed on a hard surface , such as a table . referring now to fig2 a , the inlet end valve seat 24 is formed by the inward tapering of a sidewall 28 of the lower part of the valve chamber 13 . the correct amount of inward taper is essential to the proper operation of the apparatus 10 as tapering off the vertical at an angle of 20 . 76 ° or greater may cause the valve 12 to leak back , whereas a taper with an angle of 14 . 76 ° degrees or less may cause the ball 22 to stick in the valve seat 24 . the preferred embodiment utilizes the sidewall 28 that tapers inwardly at an angle of 17 . 76 °. the valve seat 24 is located far enough from the inlet end 14 that the ball 22 cannot reach an elevation equal to the lower most portion of the apparatus 10 . this dimensioning ensures that the ball 22 will not dislodge and the prime in the straw 20 will not be lost which would cause fluid to be released back into the drinking vessel 21 . the type of material from which the ball 22 is manufactured and smoothness of the ball 22 are also important factors in providing for optimum operation . it has been found that balls manufactured from delrin ® provide the best operation and that a roughness averaging of 16 or smoother is preferable . it can thus be seen that the present invention provides an apparatus for retaining fluid in a liquid delivery tube that is of a design that enables it to be injection molded in one piece of resilient material , such as low - density polyethylene so that the valve can be stretchably removed from the core of a mold without sacrificing the dimensional accuracy necessary for proper function . it is to be understood that the terminology that has been used herein is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation and the foregoing description of the present invention is solely for illustrative purposes . many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . for example , a variety of different dimensions may be utilized for the exterior of the apparatus 10 and the length and taper of the upper portion 15 may be increased or decreased as desired . therefore , the foregoing description is not to be taken as definitive of the scope of the invention ; but rather that which is regarded as the invention is set forth in the following claims .	0
regarding prior art computer tools , an error list is created . each error is recognized by the computer tool as a separate instance , and given equal emphasis . however , it has been recognized by the present inventor that , this prior art approach creates a problem in reviewing , as this prior art approach creates confusion to a human reviewer , as many of these violations are repeats of a same error repeated multiple times for the same or different components , for example . according to the principles of the present application , as manifested in system 100 and the various methods and a violation condenser software 115 , contrary to the approach of the conventional violation listings of computer tools , from a human perspective , not all violation listings of the same type of violation are of equal immediacy for a purpose of diagnosing violations . as a same master class of defined violation is oftentimes instantiated numerous times in a design , it is oftentimes most useful and efficient for the human to review to have a single , for example first , instance and correlated information ( location , path , etc .) of that error brought to his or her attention , along with a count of the number of instances of that error . in other words , when presenting to the human for review , not all instances of that type of violation given equal listing , whereby the human review can fix the violation of the master class , thereby resolving the further violations of the same type for all instances of the master . generally , the present application allows for the omission of multiple repeats of a same violation message , but allows for the retention of the function of those repeated violation messages by presenting a count of those violation messages . the count can indicate , for example , an indication of the severity of the violation message . the details of each violation message is also retained and displayed to the end user upon request . for example , cad tools generate a lot of information that is not easy for a human to analyze . the amount of data generated can be overwhelming and potentially critical design problems are easily missed among the same repeated violation messages . generally , the present disclosure uses algorithms to combine output from one or multiple data sources and then condense the information for easier debugging by a designer or other user . in a further aspect , data files are analyzed to find violations that are common to types of design blocks and show unique errors in each design block . a unique violation can be defined as a detection by a computer tool , such as a cad tool of cad design , behaving outside pre - defined acceptable boundaries . the unique violation could be a warning , an error , or just a notification of the abnormal behavior based on the definition of the acceptable boundary . turning to fig1 illustrated is one example of a system 100 on aspect of an approach for generating a condensed list of violations , further including a count of the number of violations , from a computer - generated list of a plurality of violations that are instantiated . these violations can occur through use of a single master , such as a master component , e . g ., a type of inverter . in a further aspect , in the system 100 , error types are first organized by a master , such as a master component and are then condensed within each master , and a first instance of a same error type for each master , as well as a count of other instances of that error within the same master . in the system 100 , unlike the prior art , information is gathered and is condensed to show unique violations per net / instance . a unique violation is often produced by the cad tool for behavior outside each type of pre - defined operational or design limits . for example , the cad tool may check if the signal on a net is higher than a value maxhi and generate a violation every time the signal is higher than maxhi . a maxhi violation for a given net would be unique for that net . a different but unique violation could occur if signal is less than minlow . therefore , less time is spent by a human to find all of the unique errors . design productivity is enhanced by helping to create a quicker way to debug the design . by helping to ensure that all potential circuit issues are address by designers , first pas successful design becomes more likely . generally , the prior art checks for unique violations at each step of a calculation . for example , a circuit simulator would check for unique violations at each new time , frequency , voltage , or other parameter variation . this linear and sequential checking results in a linear listing of oft - repeating violations . the prior art emphasizes ensuring all violations to be found and reported as they are found . according to the manifested principles of the present application , however , this prior art information is condensed into a form more useful for a human reviewer . the condensing system 100 includes a workstation 110 , which can be a personal computer . the workstation 110 includes a cpu 112 , a memory 114 , a non - volatile storage 116 , and a system controller 118 . please note that certain well - known aspects of workstations are not illustrated so as to help with explanation of the present application . memory 114 includes the violation condenser software 115 . the violation condenser software 115 is used to analyze preexisting data output , examples of which are given in fig2 a and fig2 b , and run the methods 400 - 700 , as explained in greater detail , below , to generate a condensed data output . please note that violation condenser software 115 can be run in an integrated circuit ( ic ) having a series of operating instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium that directs an operation of a processor when executed thereby , such as would be found in conjunction with the cpu 112 , etc . coupled to the workstation 110 is a display 120 , and an input / output device 130 , such as a keyboard , mouse , etc . coupled to the workstation 110 is the internet 140 . although the various databases / output files are illustrated as coupled directly to the workstation 110 , they can also couple through the internet 140 . an integrated circuit ( ic ) design database 150 is coupled to the workstation 110 . in the illustrated aspect a netlist database 160 is also coupled to the workstation 110 , although these databases can be in alternatives to one another . a logfile database 170 , holding the log file output a log file is typically generated by a cad tool ( such as a circuit simulator ) and provides a record of some or all of the errors , warnings , and informational messages generated during the course of the cad tool &# 39 ; s operation . the log file can be generated by a cad tool directly as a file or converted to file using input / output device 130 and is available as an input to the current art &# 39 ; s software . in some approaches , violations organized by master logfile database 175 is also coupled to the workstation 110 , although this can be subsumed in the condensed logfile database 180 . the violation condenser software 115 has parsed the output logfile , and has extracted the violations . the violation condenser software 115 then organizes the violations by masters , such as master components . in modern ic design , a block “ a ” with certain functionality is implemented and then re - used as often as desired . every time the functionality of “ a ” is needed , a replica of “ a ”— called an instance — is used . each specific instance has a unique name but is merely a copy of the “ master ” cell “ a ”. a condensed logfile database 180 is also coupled to the workstation 110 . in the condensed logfile database 180 , a single , for example first , instance of a violation message is stored , as determined by the violation condenser software 115 , as well as a count of the recurrence of that violation message . in a further aspect , this is performed within each master . in a yet further aspect , links to the individual error messages are provided that link to the listed instance of the violation messages are provided . generally , the system 100 analyzes information generated by existing tools and condenses it by exploiting parallelism found commonly in modern designs . the principles of the present application allow a user or debugger to find unique violations by only showing one entry per violation for a given component . this approach can be used even if detailed information about the instance master is not available . when a database with information on each instance &# 39 ; s master is either available or can be created , the approach collects unique violations in all instances of the same “ master ” component and provides a list of all types of violations for every master . “ n ” violations of the same type are reduced to “ one ” listed violation , with a count of violations , within a given master . fig2 a illustrates an approach to listing violations 210 by a single master , one example of a listing of violations in a condensed format 220 . as is illustrated , a plurality of functional blocks x 1 - xn are defined within a database . all of these functional blocks have an inverter one (“ inv 1 ”) and an inverter two (“ inv 2 ”). however , as is illustrated , all functional blocks x 1 - xn each have a separate instance of the same error , “ error a .” inv 1 is one example of a master , and inv 2 is another example of a different master . in the illustrated example , two different masters are shown to demonstrate the technique is applicable to multiple masters and not just a single type . in this case inv 1 and inv 2 are instances of different masters that could differ in , say , the physical size . in the illustrated example , as is illustrated , there are n errors in a data file output . therefore , there would be “ n ” separate listings : “ errora in x 1 . inv 1 ”; “ errora in x 2 . inv 1 ” and so on , such as illustrated in prior art 210 . however , in the system 100 , only a single instance of errora would be further output , with a count of how many additional instances of errora exist , as a new file , both as determined by the violation condenser software 115 . fig2 b illustrates a further aspect of a generation of a condensed output . “ inv 1 ” and “ inv 2 ” are instantiations of the same master , an inverter , and are placements within the same components , x 1 - xn . moreover , components x 1 - x 2 are themselves within a component x 0 . as is illustrated , each x 1 - xn has an “ errora ” and an “ errorb ”. a master - organized violation list 260 illustrates another example list of errors generated by computer tools . as is illustrated , “ errora ” and “ errorb ” are also listed by wherein they are in a hierarchy , such as “ errora in x 0 . x 2 . inv 1 .” in the example prior art list 260 , as each error is listed . there are therefore 2 * n errors listed . however , in the condensed violation listing 270 , as generated by the violation condenser software 150 , much more elegant listing is presented . a single occurrence that may be the first or one of the n occurrences of “ errora ,” is found in x 0 . x 1 . inv 1 , and a single occurrence that may be the first or one of the n occurrences of errorb , is found in x 0 . x 1 . inv 2 . in fig2 c , illustrated is another example of a list of two different masters being analyzed . the violations are first grouped by master , such as can be found in the violations organized by master logfile database 175 . as is illustrated , in this aspect , the violations are grouped by master component , such as by inverter , and then by nand gate . each master gets its own list of errors . with this information of a single instance , a designer can hone in on fixing the instantiation of this kind of error . moreover , other errors that occur in the listing are more readily apparent , and hence addressable . fig3 illustrates a method 300 for generating a condensed output list according to the principles of the present application by violation condenser software 115 . please note , however , that although violation condenser software 115 is discussed as software , it can be manifested as software , hardware , firmware , or a combination of these . in a step 310 , a log file of messages , which can include violations , is generated . this can be , for example , stored in the logfile database 170 . this is the prior art listing of output of a computer tool . in a step 320 , each line of the log file is searched for violation information . in a step 330 , a database / listing of all violations are created , such as in the logfile database 170 . in a step 340 , in one aspect , a master of each component is determined using the ic design database 150 or a netlist database 160 and added to the violations logfile database 170 . each violation is stored in the database with its master &# 39 ; s name . in a step 350 , the database is one aspect , organized by master for the errors , such as can be found in database 175 . in a step 360 , a condensed summary of messages is created . examples of these condensed lists have been given above . fig4 illustrates step 360 of method 300 in more detail . in a step 310 , a string search for a violation message occurs for a given master . in a step 420 , a first instance of the violation message is extracted and loaded into the condensed logfile database 180 . in a step 430 , all occurrences of a given violation for a given master are determined and saved to the database for all levels of the hierarchy . in a step 440 , a count of all other violations for the violation type for a given master type are also added to the master log file . for example , with all the violations added to the log file database , a lookup such as the regular expression “. inv ” would find all the messages for the cells whose names start with inv . in a further aspect , in a step 450 , the other instances of the violation message for a given master are linked . in a step 460 , a single instance of the error , and the count of the number or that types of violation , are presented for a given master , such as a component . in a further aspect , links to the other errors are also given . in a step 470 , it is determined whether the violation message is the last violation message type for a given master . if not , the method 400 loops back to step 410 . if yes , the method 400 advances to a step 480 . in a step 480 , it is determined whether the master component is a last master component to be reviewed . if no , step 480 loops back to step 410 . if yes , the method 400 advances to the step 360 of method 300 . fig5 illustrates a method 500 for creating a log file organized by master to be condensed by the condenser software 140 when a design database is available . this can be performed by the violation condenser software 115 . after a start step 510 , a line is read from a log file 520 . this log file can be the output log from a cad tool or a prior art log file . in a step 530 , it is determined if a violation is found by the violation condenser software 115 . if no , loop back to 520 . in yes , continue to step 540 . in a step 540 , the instance master correlated to the violation is extracted from an ic design database . in a step 550 , the violation information is added to the master logfile database 175 . please note that the logfile at this point is organized by master component regarding violation messages . in a step 560 , it is determined if this is the end of the log file . if not , then the method 500 loops back to step 510 . if it is the end of the file , the method 500 stops in a step 560 . a method 600 is an alternative aspect to method 500 . in method 600 , a number of steps are analogous to method 500 , and hence have the same number . this can be performed by the violation condenser software 115 . however , in a step 640 , violation instances masters are determined from a netlist database 150 , not from the ic design database . fig7 illustrates a method 700 for creating a netlist database to be used with the method 300 and the validation condensation software 115 . after a start step 710 , a line of a prior art netlist file is read in a step 720 . in a step 730 , it is determined if the line is an instantiation of a master . if yes , the method advances to step 750 , if not , the method 700 advances to a step 740 . in the step 740 , it is determined if the netlist line is a definition of a new master . if not , the method 700 loops back to step 710 . if yes , the method advances to step 50 . in step 750 , a new master or instance name is added to the netlist database . in a step 760 , it is determined if the end of the netlist file has been reached . if not , the method 700 loops back to step 720 . if yes , the method advances to a step 770 , and netlist database creation is completed . fig8 illustrates an example block diagram of the violation condenser software 115 . as is illustrated , the example violation condenser software 115 includes a master recognizer and organizer for violations 810 . this block reviews and sorts a log file , and recognizes violations , and organizes them by master . this information is then stored in the master logfile 175 . a first violation extractor type per master 820 is also included . this extracts the first instance of a given error type for a master . a violation type counter per master 830 is also included . this counts the total numbers of violations for a given violation type for a given master . in a further embodiment , a netlist file line extractor 850 is included . this creates a log file from a netlist that can then be reorganized by the master recognizer and organizer for violations 810 . please note the preceding violation condenser software can be run on an integrated circuit ( ic ), then software comprising : a series of operating instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium that directs an operation of a processor when executed thereby . also , please note that the terms “ error ”, “ warning ” and “ violation ” have been used interchangeably throughout this specification . those skilled in the art to which this application relates will appreciate that other and further additions , deletions , substitutions and modifications may be made to the described embodiments .	6
the principal objects of the present invention are to provide a novel zener diode and back - to - back zener diodes with desired turn - on characteristics to be used as shunts in a series - wired light string . it is well known to those skilled in the art of fabricating zener diodes that the turn - on characteristic of a zener diode is a function of current through the zener diode . however , what is not known or recognized by those of skill in the art is that the turn - on characteristic of a zener diode is also a function of the chip size at a particular current with the same processing parameters , which is most likely the result of a size standardization for given power dissipations . for example , a chip designed to dissipate one - half watt may be designed into silicon at a particular chip size . the iv ( current to voltage ) characteristics would show what the zener voltage would be at various current levels for a given doping concentration and substrate selection . therefore , a particular zener , manufactured according to its specifications might have a zener voltage of ( for example ) five volts at one milliampere . at ten milliamperes , the zener voltage would increase to above five volts . at higher currents , the zener voltage could increase beyond six volts . now , this same zener processing , if applied to a larger area chip size , would result in a lower zener voltage at the same currents as before . if the silicon chip size were large enough , the current that before resulted in a zener voltage beyond six volts , could now result in a zener voltage of five volts . to illustrate this , fig1 shows an iv plot of two 6 . 2 volt zener diodes connected in parallel as well as a plot of each individually . note that when both zener diodes are connected in parallel , the iv characteristics change to a lower zener voltage for a given amount of current . therefore , the same change would occur if the chip area were doubled . fig2 shows the same sort of change concerning the forward voltage drop of the same 6 . 2 volt zener diodes comparing one , two and five such devices connected in parallel . note that as more zener diodes are connected in parallel , the forward voltage drop goes down . therefore , the same change would occur if the chip area were doubled or increased five - fold . in securing the data for fig2 , a zener with exactly the same ( matching ) iv characteristics as the single zener shown - was used in the “ two zeners in parallel ” curve . fig2 a likewise shows the forward voltage drop of back - to - back zener diodes , comparing a single unit to four units in parallel . as shown , the zener voltage of a single unit at 50 milliamperes is the same as at 200 milliamperes for the four units in parallel . thus , the actual zener voltage is lowered when units are placed in parallel or when their chip area is increased proportionally . the “ turn - on ” characteristics of a zener diode include a “ knee ” where current begins to increase rapidly . the ‘ roundness ’ of this knee is wholly dependent on the current through the zener diode of a given physical size area - wise or multiple zener diodes connected in parallel , when all processing parameters are the same . therefore , to achieve a more desirable ‘ knee ’ in the iv curve for christmas light shunts , a chip size of greater than 500 millionths ( ½ of one thousandth ) of a square inch is desirable in chips for use as shunts in a series - wired string of miniature lights as used in christmas decorating . for some applications , a chip size several times that area would be desirable . one of these applications would be for a random twinkle effect in a light string . an area of three to five thousandths of a square inch would be desirable in a random twinkle application because such a shunt would draw excessive current when connected in parallel with an operating bulb . the more current that is drawn by a shunt of a given size in parallel with an operating bulb , the better the voltage regulation in that particular light socket . when shunts incorporating back - to - back zener diodes of small silicon area size are used , the knee of the iv curve is more distinct , but the voltage regulation is not as desirable for random twinkling light sets as a more ‘ rounded knee ’ in the iv curve . such shunt devices cause ‘ flickering ’ in series - wired light strings of the remaining bulbs when only ten or fifteen percent of the bulbs are of the flashing or twinkling type . while it may appear that the sharper the turn - on , the better the voltage regulation , and the better for random twinkling , that is not the case . in actual practice with reasonable device tolerances , it is not desirable to use sharp turn - on devices in series - wired light strings with flasher bulbs installed for random twinkling because a sharp turn - on device creates undesired flickering when too many twinkle lights are added , which affects the remaining non - flashing lights . consequently , rounded knee devices are preferred in such a string of lights , even though more current may be consumed . most of the series - wired mini - lights today operate with 140 to 200 milliampere bulbs at between 2 . 5 and 3 . 5 volts . standard off - the - shelf zener diodes have too small of a silicon chip area to give the required rounded knee iv characteristic that these bulbs need for desired random twinkling . the use of larger area chips comes at a performance price . while the lighting effects are much better , the current dissipation is increased and more power is used to achieve these benefits . leakage currents of ten to twenty milliamperes may be expected for significantly larger chips . reference is now made to fig7 which shows a cross - section of a discrete zener diode and fig1 which shows a back - to - back zener diode made in accordance with this invention . the zener diodes have a homogeneously doped mono - crystalline n - type silicon body 10 with a & lt ; 111 & gt ; or & lt ; 100 & gt ; crystal orientation . the body 10 is a silicon wafer having a given resistivity within the range of approximately 0 . 001 to 1 ohm - centimeter . this corresponds to an n - type doping in the body 10 of about 1 × 10 16 to 1 × 10 19 n - type conductivity determining impurity atoms per cubic centimeter of silicon . in this example , body 10 has a desired resistivity of about 0 . 01 - 0 . 02 ohm - cm . the first step is to grow a layer of silicon oxide 12 onto the silicon wafer as shown in fig4 & amp ; 9 . this is done by standard means in a furnace with oxygen flowing , or sometimes steam , to a thickness of 100 to 1000 angstroms . next , boron is implanted through this oxide into the silicon wafer by ion implantation . this is depicted in fig5 and fig1 by the dotted lines . a blanket p + region 14 is formed within surface 16 of body 10 . the conductivity impurity in region 14 is boron . this p + region is formed preferably by ion implantation on the order of approximately 1 × 10 17 boron ions per square centimeter at an energy of 30 to 70 kev . after the ion implantation , which may be done on one side or both sides of the wafer , the wafer is subjected to a thermal anneal to anneal out any crystalline damage that occurred during the ion implantation . this can be accomplished by a furnace anneal or rapid thermal annealing , both of which are known to those skilled in the art . after the anneal has taken place , the wafer is etched and cleaned to remove all traces of silicon oxide . this step is necessary before metallization can take place . the cleaned wafer ( fig6 & amp ; 11 ) is then placed in a vacuum system and metallized according to standard metallization procedures in the semiconductor industry . aluminum , preferably , with a small silicon content ( and sometimes a trace of copper ) is deposited 18 onto both sides of the wafer ( fig7 & amp ; 12 ) to a desired thickness of approximately 1 micron . metallization can also be done by electroless deposit known to those skilled in the art . this is a low cost means of metallizing and metallic films can be deposited maskless or selective . depositing selectively only on p + regions would help in reducing potential shorts . after the metallization step , the wafer is placed in a furnace for alloying the aluminum to the silicon wafer , which is a standard procedure used throughout the semiconductor industry . in the manufacturing or fabrication of these shunt devices , photomask steps are not involved . there are no “ scribe channels ” as found in standard semiconductor ‘ chip ’ manufacturing where wafers are ‘ scribed ’ for breakage into individual ‘ chips ’. next , the wafer is scribed to the length and width of the desired end product and cut into many ‘ chips ’ as shown in fig1 . advantageously , scribing of the wafer may also occur before the wafer is processed , either before or after the initial step of growing silicon dioxide on the surface of the wafer , or in fact at any time during the processing of the wafer . the wafer can then be separated into chips after processing . by scribing the wafer prior to or during processing , smearing of metallization ( which could cause shorts if the wafer is scribed and broken into chips after processing ) is eliminated or greatly reduced . scribing before or during wafer processing has a number of benefits : 1 ) shorts caused by metal smearing during post processing scribing are reduced or eliminated ; and 2 ) the metallization thickness in the scribed area is less than the metallization on the chip because the metal deposit thickness is a function of the angle of metal being deposited . in thermal evaporation , thickness is a function of the angle of deposit . thickness varies as the cosine of the angle of the incoming deposit . in sputtering , thickness is dependent upon sputtering pressure of the vacuum but also surface area to receive deposit versus area of the wafer . if the area of the wafer is fixed and the surface area is increased , for example from scribing , the thickness will vary accordingly . a single ‘ chip ’ is shown in fig1 . this ‘ chip ’ can now be packaged in the well known do - 41 package or any desired package . it can also be mounted inside the christmas light socket and secured by various means including being contained in place using epoxy . while preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated above , it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting . for example , this invention is not limited to any particular type of silicon wafer , or to any particular type of implanted impurity , nor to any particular implant dose or energy . it is also not limited to doping by implant only , but impurities can be diffused by thermal means known to those skilled in the art . moreover , additions , deletions , substitutions , and other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention . accordingly , the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims .	5
as shown in fig8 f , the present invention relates to a connection , and a method of forming a connection , between a substrate 1 and an anchor 2 by means of adhesive 3 . the substrate 1 is formed with a bore 4 therein . to facilitate the connection between the anchor 2 and the substrate 1 a special porous sleeve 5 is used . the sleeve 5 is received by the bore 4 in the substrate 1 . as shown best in fig1 the sleeve 5 is formed from two distinct and separately formed members : a frame 6 and a tube 7 . the two individual members 6 and 7 are assembled together to create the sleeve 5 for the connection . the first member is a frame 6 that defines an interior area 8 enclosed by the frame 6 , see fig3 and 4 , and an exterior area 9 , see fig8 f . as shown in fig4 the frame 6 has an internal surface 10 and an external surface 11 . the frame 6 is preferably cylindrical . as shown in fig3 the frame 6 can be considered to have a number of different portions . the end of the frame 6 that is inserted first into the bore is called the distal or insertion end 12 . in the preferred embodiment , directly following the insertion end 12 is the first or leading axial section 13 , although the leading axial section 13 , as defined , does not need to directly follow the insertion end 12 to be able practice the invention . the first axial section 13 of the frame 6 is formed with openings 14 therein . the end of the frame 6 that will be visible when the sleeve 5 is inserted into the bore 4 is called the trailing or anchor receiving end 15 . as shown in fig7 a and 7b , the second distinct and separate member is a tube 7 having apertures 16 formed therein . the tube 7 is preferably cylindrical . as shown in fig1 and 2 , to create the connection , the tube 7 is received by the frame 6 , such that at least a portion of the tube 7 overlaps a portion of the leading axial section 13 . because there are openings 14 in the leading axial section 13 and apertures 16 in the tube 7 , a fluid material disposed within the interior area 8 enclosed by frame 6 and at the leading axial section 13 could be forced radially outwardly through the apertures 16 in the cylindrical tube 7 , and through the openings 14 in the leading axial section 13 of the frame 6 to reach the exterior 9 of the frame 6 . in fact , as shown in fig8 f , to make the connection , an adhesive 3 is disposed within the interior area 8 of the frame 6 and due to the insertion of the anchor 2 into the sleeve 5 before the adhesive 3 has set , the adhesive 3 is forced out of the frame 6 through the apertures 16 in the tube 7 and the openings 14 in the leading axial section 13 of the frame 6 . the adhesive 3 is also disposed along portions of the exterior area 9 of the frame 6 , and in contact with the bore 4 in the substrate 1 . preferably , the adhesive 3 is extruded out of the sleeve 5 and into contact with the bore 4 in the substrate 1 by operation of the insertion of the anchor 2 into the sleeve 5 . the anchor 2 through contact with the adhesive 3 becomes bonded to the substrate 1 when the adhesive 3 sets . in the preferred form of the connection , the adhesive 3 completely surrounds and is in complete contact with the portion of the anchor 2 inserted into the frame 6 . similarly , where there are openings 14 in the frame 6 , the adhesive surrounds the portion of the sleeve 5 inserted into the bore 4 in the substrate 1 . thus , the adhesive 3 substantially surrounds and contacts the interior and exterior surfaces 10 and 11 of the frame 6 , pervades the apertures 16 in the tube 7 and the openings 14 in the leading axial section 13 of the frame 6 , and bonds with the walls 17 of the bore 4 . as shown in fig1 and 2 , in the preferred form of the sleeve 5 , the frame 6 is further formed with - a second axial section 18 . the second axial section 18 has openings 19 formed therein . preferably , the second axial section 18 follows the leading axial section 13 , thus it is also called the trailing axial section 18 , i . e . it is disposed between the leading axial section 13 and the anchor receiving end 15 of the frame 6 . preferably , the openings 19 formed in the trailing axial section 18 are of a different size than the openings 14 formed in the first axial section 13 , and the apertures 16 in the tube 7 . the anchor 2 or fastener can be a rod , bolt , dowel , post , bar , rebar , pin or some other elongated member . the anchor 2 can be smooth , threaded , or have some other surface contour . as shown in fig8 f , the preferred anchor 2 is an all thread rod , having threads 20 . the anchor 2 can have similar leading and trailing ends 21 - and 22 , respectively , as shown in fig8 f , or the trailing end 22 that juts out from the substrate 1 could be formed with a hook or some other shape to enable it to be used as a special purpose support for something to be hung from the anchor 2 . the anchor or fastener 2 is preferably made of metal , such as steel , but the particular material can vary so long as the desired load characteristics are achieved . the anchor 2 could be made from a fiber composite , a plastic , a ceramic or wood . the preferred sleeve 5 is an axially extending generally cylindrical hollow body . the sleeve 5 can be of any length , depending on the anchor 2 and bore 4 with which it will be used . as is best shown in fig1 and 2 , in the preferred embodiment , the sleeve 5 is formed from at least two separate and physically distinct pieces that are combined together to form the final sleeve 5 . in the preferred embodiment the sleeve 5 is made up of at least a cylindrical frame 6 , and a separate mesh tube 7 that are assembled together . in the preferred embodiment , the frame 6 has an insertion end 12 , a leading axial section 13 , a trailing axial section 18 , and an anchor receiving end 15 . as is shown in fig1 in the preferred embodiment , the insertion end 12 of the frame 6 is open , and receives a plug 23 that will completely close off the insertion end 12 of the frame 6 , once the mesh tube 7 has been received in the frame 6 . in the preferred embodiment , when the sleeve 5 is ready to be inserted in the bore 4 in the substrate and be filled with adhesive 3 , the insertion end 12 of the frame 6 is substantially closed or sealed so that the adhesive 3 in the interior 8 of the frame 6 cannot pass through the insertion end 12 of the frame 6 to reach the exterior 9 of the frame 6 . as is shown in fig1 and 3 , in the preferred embodiment , the leading axial section 13 of the frame 6 has a plurality of spaced - apart staves 24 running from the insertion end 12 to the trailing axial section 18 , joined together at points along the length of the frame 6 by ribs 25 . the ribs 25 are preferably annular hoops . the openings 14 in the leading axial section 13 are created between the spaced - apart staves 24 and the ribs 25 . in the preferred embodiment , these openings 14 in the leading axial section of the frame 6 are relatively large compared to the apertures 16 in the tube 7 . in the preferred embodiment , the spaced - apart staves 24 that extend axially along the frame 6 are joined by ribs 25 at the ends of the staves 24 and at intervals along the staves 24 . in the preferred embodiment , as shown in fig1 the preferred frame has four staves 24 . the preferred embodiment has at least one annular rib 15 spaced between the insertion end 12 and the trailing axial section 18 , and more depending on the length of the sleeve 5 . in the preferred embodiment , the trailing axial section 18 is also cylindrical , but instead of having large open areas , it has a plurality of small apertures or openings 19 . as is shown in fig1 in the preferred embodiment , the apertures are laid - out in a rectangular grid as shown in fig1 . the preferred openings 19 are square openings . as is best shown in fig3 in one embodiment , the sides 26 that define the square openings 19 are 0 . 038 ″ long , and are separated by members that are 0 . 030 ″ wide . in the preferred embodiment , after the trailing axial section 18 , the sleeve 5 ends at the anchor receiving end 15 . the other separate member of the preferred multi - component sleeve 5 is the mesh tube 7 . the mesh tube 7 is preferably formed from a synthetic fabric or mesh netting , preferably nylon , or some other material such as polyester , polypropylene , polyethylene or some other thermal formed material . the mesh tube 7 could also be formed from a perforated plastic or metal sheet . the mesh tube 7 is preferably made by cutting a strip from stock mesh netting . the strip of mesh netting is then rolled about its longitudinal axis and secured to itself at one or ; more locations or , preferably , along its entire length by an adhesive , hot melt , heat or ultrasonic welding , as is shown in fig7 a and 7 b . preferably , there is very little overlap when the mesh is rolled on itself . alternatively , the mesh tube can be manufactured in a continuous operation . the apertures 16 of a select size in the mesh tube 7 are preferably uniformly distributed over the surface of the tube 7 . the size of the apertures 16 or mesh count of the mesh tube 7 will depend on the adhesive or mortar to be used . the inventors have found that a mesh tube 7 with a mesh count of 30 per inch and an open area of 22 % is the preferred mesh for use with an adhesive product sold under the mark acrylic - tie ™ by simpson strong - tie company , inc ., the assignee of the present invention . the mesh tubes shown in fig7 a and 7b show alternate orientations of the preferred rectangular mesh . as shown in fig4 a , 6 b and 8 a , the mesh tube 7 is inserted into the frame 6 . preferably , the mesh tube 7 has an outer diameter 27 that closely matches the interior diameter - 28 of leading axial section 13 of the frame 6 . the sleeve 5 is manufactured by separately forming the frame 6 and the mesh tube 7 , and then inserting the mesh tube 7 into the frame 6 . the mesh tube 7 is preferably inserted through the insertion end 12 of the frame 6 . as shown in fig8 a , in the preferred embodiment , the internal surface 10 of the frame 6 is preferably formed with a plurality of shoulders 29 at the beginning of the trailing axial section 18 of the frame . the mesh tube 7 is preferably the length of the leading axial section of the frame 13 , and when it is inserted fully into the frame 6 , and stopped by the shoulders 29 on the inner diameter 28 of the frame 6 it does not protrude from the insertion end 12 of the frame 6 . in the preferred method of making the sleeve 5 , a plug 23 is then attached to the insertion end 12 of the frame 6 by sonic or heat welding , trapping the mesh tube 7 in the frame 6 between the shoulders 29 and the plug 23 . as shown in fig2 in the preferred embodiment , once the mesh tube 7 is inserted within the frame 6 , the screen 5 is provided with relatively small apertures 16 and 19 substantially along the whole of its length . in the preferred embodiment , the sleeve 5 has a greater open area or higher porosity at its rear or trailing axial section 18 than at its forward or leading axial section 13 to allow for selectively higher rates of radial extrusion of the adhesive 3 at the rear of the sleeve 5 . the porosity could be reversed , the rear section could have no pores at all , or the length of the screen 5 could be divided in more than just two segments of differing porosity . more than one mesh tube 7 could be received by the sleeve , and where a plurality of mesh tubes 7 are used , the porosity of the mesh tubes 7 could vary . tubes could also be inserted in the frame that do not have apertures . the use of a frame 6 that receives one or more mesh tubes 7 allows for a simple means to create a sleeve 5 with varying porosity or resistance to radial extrusion of a fluid material out of the sleeve 5 under ram action along various segments of the sleeve 5 . as shown in fig8 e and 9 , in the preferred embodiment of the sleeve 5 designed for use with concrete masonry units 30 having thin webs 31 or shells , the trailing axial section 18 , having less resistance to radial extrusion of the adhesive 3 , does not extend too far along the sleeve 5 . the trailing axial section 18 is preferably , approximately the depth of the web 31 or shell when the sleeve 6 is used in a hollow concrete masonry unit 30 or other substrate 1 having an initial web 31 and then a large cavity 32 . the sleeve 5 is made of a relatively stiff but resilient material . the material may be metal , but it is preferably made from plastic . the cylindrical frame 6 is preferably made of polypropylene , polyethylene , nylon , polyester , polyurethane , abs plastic or any similar thermal formed material . as is shown in fig8 f , the material of the frame 5 is stiff enough to enable the elongate sleeve or screen 6 , even when it is filled with mortar or some other adhesive 3 , to bridge a void or cavity 32 in a hollow substrate 1 such as concrete masonry unit 30 . longer screens 3 meant to span long voids 32 will need to be made from very stiff material ; however , the inventors contemplate that typical screens will be from 3 . 5 ″ to 8 ″ long , and these can be made from polypropylene or polyethylene . as shown in fig8 e and 8f , when used in a concrete masonry unit or hollow block 30 , and the uses desires to set the anchor in both the first web 31 and the second web 33 of the concrete masonry unit 30 , the screen 5 needs to be stiff enough , when filled with mortar 3 to be inserted into a first bore or tunnel 4 formed in a first web 31 of a hollow block 30 , extend across an interior cavity 32 of the hollow block 30 and be received in second aperture formed in the second opposite web 33 of the hollow block 30 . during the insertion , the user will not be able to see the second aperture 34 formed in the second opposite web 33 of the hollow block 30 . preferably , the screen 5 has a generally uniform diameter along its length . as shown in fig5 and 8e , the screen has an outer diameter 35 selected to cooperate with the diameter of the bore 4 or aperture in the substrate 1 or the first and second bores or apertures 4 and 34 in the first and second webs 31 and 33 of a hollow substrate 30 . as shown in fig4 and 8f , the effective inner diameter of the sleeve 28 is selected to cooperate with the external diameter 36 of the anchor 2 . the insertion or distal end 12 of the frame 6 is preferably closed or substantially closed so that the uncured adhesive 3 is prevented from leaving the intended zone of adhesive bonding . when a fastener or anchor 2 is inserted into the cylindrical screen 5 , the adhesive 3 disposed within the screen 5 will be prevented from being axially discharged from the distal end 12 of the sleeve 5 and will be discharged radially through the apertures and openings 14 , 16 and 19 in the sleeve 5 . as shown in fig8 f , the frame 6 is preferably formed with an abutment 37 at its anchor receiving or proximal end 15 which determines the depth to which the sleeve 5 can be driven or inserted into the hole 4 . this abutment or stop 37 may be formed by providing an annular flange at the anchor receiving end 15 , or as is shown in fig1 in the preferred embodiment , a pair of oppositely disposed flanges 38 at the anchor receiving end 15 of the frame 6 . as is shown in fig1 a cap 39 is preferably formed integral with the proximal end 15 of the frame 6 . the cap 39 is formed with resilient flaps 40 so that when it is attached to the frame 6 , an anchor or fastener 2 may still be inserted into the sleeve 6 . the cap 39 with flaps 40 helps prevent the adhesive 3 from being extruded out of the sleeve 5 through the proximal end 15 when the anchor 2 is inserted into the sleeve 5 . the substrate 1 is preferably masonry or concrete . the substrate could also be rock , metal , plastic , a composite or some other material . the bore 4 in the substrate 1 or apertures 4 and 34 in the webs 31 and 33 , if a hollow substrate 30 is used , are generally cylindrical tunnels with a peripheral / cylindrical wall 17 . the bore 4 can be a blind tunnel . the bore 4 can also be a through - hole or aperture if the bore is formed in the first web 31 of a substrate 1 having a hollow interior 32 , such as with concrete masonry units 30 . if the substrate 1 is soft , or porous , the peripheral wall 17 of the bore 4 may have large cavities . a typical hollow substrate 1 is a wall of a building made up of concrete masonry units 30 . concrete masonry units 30 typically come in widths of 6 ″, 8 ″, 10 ″ or and 12 ″. they come in different weights . the face shell or webs 31 and 33 of the concrete masonry 30 unit get thicker as the width of the concrete masonry unit gets larger . the inventors have designed selected screens 5 for use with concrete masonry units 30 of different sizes . the inventors have found that a nominal 3 . 5 ″ length screen is optimally used with a 6 ″ concrete masonry unit for insertion into only the front web or shell 31 of the concrete masonry unit 30 . with respect to the adhesive 3 , preferably , the apertures 16 in the mesh tube 7 and the openings 19 in the second axial section 18 are designed to be used with a specific adhesive or hardenable mass 3 . the characteristics of the adhesive 3 determine the size of the apertures 16 of the mesh tube 7 and the size of the apertures 19 in the second axial section 18 of the frame 6 . these characteristics include viscosity and the particle size of the filler in the adhesive 3 . preferably , the aperture sizes are chosen for a specific adhesive compound 3 so that the adhesive 3 does not flow or just barely flows through the screen 5 when initially injected into the screen 5 before insertion into the apertures or bore 4 , due to the viscosity of the adhesive 3 . the consistency of the adhesive 3 and the dimensions of the relatively small apertures 16 and 19 of the sleeve 5 should be so interrelated that the mortar 3 can only barely flow out of the sleeve 5 by itself when initially injected into the sleeve 5 , but can be forced out through the apertures 16 and 19 by the bolt 2 when it is introduced into the sleeve 5 , and substantially surrounds the circumference of the sleeve 5 . the adhesive 3 is preferably a construction adhesive , such as a polymerizing system . typical systems include the free radical polymerization of unsaturated polyester resins , the free radical polymerization of acrylates , and the free radical polymerization of epoxyacrylates . the adhesive 3 can be a vinyl ester , an acrylic , an epoxy , a polyester , resin , grout , cement mortar or any other adhesive system which can be placed into the sleeve 5 , allow for the insertion of the sleeve 5 filled with the adhesive system 3 to be inserted into the bore 4 or apertures 4 and 34 , allow for an anchor or fastener 2 to be positioned in the sleeve 5 , and then harden or set - up to bond the anchor 2 with the substrate 1 . the adhesive 3 is preferably a two - part adhesive , the first part consisting primarily of one or more polymerizable monomers or compounds , and the second part consisting of an initiator or other hardening agent . the components are stored separately , and when mixed the adhesive 3 sets . preferably , the adhesive 3 is stored separately and then mixed just before insertion into the sleeve 5 . a preferred means of accomplishing this is using a two - part container that can be loaded into an injection gun . the container has a static mixing nozzle where the components are mixed as they are extruded from the container by the piston of the mixing gun , with the mixed components be inserted immediately upon mixing into the sleeve 5 . the container could also have means for mixing the components in the container such as a rupturable or frangible barrier between the components that can be broken when the components are ready to be mixed such as by a impeller that would then help mix the components . the components of the adhesive 3 could also be stored in a flexible casing that could be inserted into the sleeve 5 . the casing and the barrier between the two components could be broken by the anchor 2 being inserted into the sleeve 5 with rotating of the anchor 2 accomplishing the mixing , although this method is not preferred . methods of introducing the adhesive 3 into the sleeve 5 are also known in the art where the resin is placed in the sleeve 5 , and a hardener or initiator is carried on a fibrous sheath on the anchor 2 , wherein , when the anchor 2 is inserted into the sleeve , the hardener on the sheath comes into contact with the resin and setting begins . in these methods the anchor 2 is rotated in the sleeve 5 to produce mixing . this method is also not preferred . various additives , known in the art , such as fillers , inhibitors , stabilizers , catalysts , thixotropic agents , plasticizers , pigments , and cross - linking agents can be included in the adhesive system 3 , depending on its type . for a hollow substrate , such as a a concrete masonry unit 30 , the substrate is prepared by forming aligned apertures 4 and 34 in the first and second webs 31 and 33 of the hollow substrate 30 . using a drill , a first aperture 4 is formed in the first web 31 of the substrate 30 . the drill is then inserted further , extending across the interior cavity 32 of the hollow substrate 30 , and a second aperture 34 is blind drilled in a second opposite web 33 of the hollow substrate 30 . a substrate 1 with a large interior cavity 32 could be a hollow concrete block 30 , or it could be two walls of masonry members such as rows of bricks spaced apart from each other , to name two common examples . the bores or apertures 4 and 34 in the substrate 30 , are then cleaned of debris , usually with a brush . the preferred screen 5 , formed by inserting a separately formed tube 7 into the insertion end 12 of a separately formed frame 6 , and sealing the insertion end 12 of the frame with a plug 23 , is then completely filled with an adhesive 3 through the trailing end or proximal end 15 . an injection gun is typically used for this filling procedure , and the screen 5 can be filled with a cap 39 having an opening for receiving the nozzle 41 of an injection gun in place if desired . see fig8 c and 8d . the apertures 16 in the mesh tube 7 and the apertures 19 in the trailing axial section 18 in the frame 6 are of a selected size with respect to the adhesive 3 selected so that the adhesive 3 does not come too far out of the apertures 16 and 19 . after the screen 5 has been filled with adhesive 3 , it is inserted , distal end first 12 , through the first aperture 4 within the web 31 , across the hollow interior 32 of the hollow substrate 30 , and into the second aperture 34 in the second web 33 . the fastener or anchor 2 is inserted into the screen 5 so as to exert ram pressure on the adhesive mass 3 and extrude the adhesive or mortar 3 out of the apertures 14 , 16 and 19 of the screen 5 ( the larger openings 14 in the leading axial section 13 of the frame 6 , the apertures 19 in the trailing axial section 18 of the frame 6 , and the apertures 16 in the mesh tube 7 ) to bond with the substrate 30 and secure the bolt 2 thereto upon setting . the skirt or flaps 40 on the end cap 39 help to keep mortar or adhesive 3 from extruding out the trailing end of the sleeve 15 , and they also help center the anchor 2 in the sleeve 5 . where the cavity 32 in the substrate 30 interfaces with the aperture or bore 4 , a positive lock will be afforded by the hardenable mass or adhesive 3 spreading along the web 31 into the cavity 32 in the substrate 30 and then setting . depending on the orientation of the anchor 2 , and particularly if the anchor 2 is set in a ceiling or roof , the anchor or fastener 2 will need to be held in place while the adhesive 3 sets and hardens . the screen 5 can also be used for bonding an anchor 2 to just the outer shell or first web 31 of a hollow wall 30 . the installation is similar to that described above . the inventors have tested the inventive screen 5 in a 10 ″ on hollow concrete masonry unit 30 , bonding the anchor to only the outer shell 31 of the concrete masonry unit 30 in the center of the shell or web 31 . using a drill with a { fraction ( 9 / 16 )}″ drill bit , a first aperture 4 was formed in the first web 31 of the concrete masonry unit 30 . the aperture was then cleaned of debris . a 3 . 5 ″ long screen 5 formed according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention was selected . the internal diameter 28 of the frame was 0 . 475 ″. the mesh tube 7 had an outside diameter 27 of approximately 0 . 470 ″, a length of 2 . 45 ″ and a thickness of 0 . 020 ″. the screen 5 was completely filled with an acrylic - based adhesive sold under the brand acrylic - tie ™ through the trailing end or proximal end 15 of the frame 6 . after the screen 5 was filled with adhesive 3 , it was inserted , distal end first 12 , through the first aperture 4 within the outer shell or web 31 of the hollow concrete block 30 which was approximately 1 . 7 ″ thick . a ⅜ ″ diameter grade b7 all thread rod anchor 3 was inserted into the screen 5 so as to exert ram pressure on the adhesive mass 3 and extrude the adhesive 3 out of the apertures apertures 14 , 16 and 19 of the screen 5 ( the larger openings 14 in the leading axial section 13 of the frame 6 , the apertures 19 in the trailing axial section 18 of the frame 6 , and the apertures 16 in the mesh tube 7 ) to bond with the substrate 30 and secure the bolt 2 thereto upon setting . the screen can also be used in a solid substrate 1 . a bore 4 is drilled a selected depth in the solid substrate , and otherwise the installation is similar to that described above and is not repeated .	8
the embodiments of the invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig4 is a block diagram , showing a voltage transforming circuit according to a first embodiment of the invention . the voltage transforming circuit of this embodiment is similar to the conventional circuit of fig1 in that it is incorporated in an integrated circuit and arranged to transform the output voltage vdd of a battery into four different voltages vreg ( vlc1 ), vlc2 , vlc3 and vlc4 . in fig4 elements similar to those of the conventional circuit of fig1 are denoted by corresponding reference numerals . the high - potential - side voltage ( positive voltage ) vdd and the reference - potential - side voltage gnd of a battery 11 are applied via external terminals 12 and 13 to the integrated circuit including the voltage transforming circuit . in the integrated circuit , a predetermined voltage vreg lower than the voltage vdd is created from the voltage vdd by means of a constant - voltage regulator 14 . a widely - known constant - voltage regulator can be used as the regulator 14 . the voltage vdd is also input to a level shifter 15 . the level shifter 15 further receives a voltage vlc4 , which is the highest one of voltages generated by a step - up circuit explained later , and a clock signal ck1 supplied via the external terminal 16 from the outside of the integrated circuit . the level shifter 15 shifts the level of a high - level portion of the clock signal ck1 from the voltage vdd to the voltage vlc4 , thereby outputting a clock signal ck2 with an amplitude between the voltages vlc4 and gnd . this is done because the step - up circuit 17 treats the voltage vlc4 higher than the voltage vdd , and accordingly the clock signal need be stepped up to the voltage vlc4 to enable a normal operation of the circuit 17 . a well - known level shifter circuit can be used as the level shifter 15 . the clock signal ck2 obtained by level shifting of the level shifter 15 is supplied to a step - up circuit 17 , together with the voltage vreg . the step - up circuit 17 steps up the voltage vreg to create a stepped - up voltage vlc2 two times the voltage vreg , a stepped - up voltage vlc3 three times the voltage vreg , and a stepped - up voltage vlc4 four times the voltage vreg . the step - up circuit 17 is a well - known charge pump circuit of a capacitor - coupling type using capacitors , and generates a desired stepped - up voltage by connecting capacitors 41 - 44 to external terminals 18 - 21 . the external terminals 18 - 21 are connected to an internal circuit such as a circuit for generating a liquid crystal - driving signal . the clock signal ck2 is used as a synchronization signal for controlling the step - up operation of the step - up circuit 17 . between the output terminal of the voltage vreg and the output terminal of the voltage vlc4 , the drain and the source of a p - channel mos transistor 22 are connected . the pmos transistor 22 serves as a protect element for protecting the internal circuit from the surge voltage . the gate and back gate of the pmos transistor 22 are connected to the source of the same . thus , the pmos transistor 22 is equivalent to a diode having an anode and a cathode . the drain side and source side of the pmos transistor 22 correspond to the anode and cathode of the diode , respectively . the drain and source of a p - channel mos transistor 23 are connected between the output terminal of the voltage vlc2 and the output terminal of the voltage vlc4 , and the drain and source of a p - channel mos transistor 24 are connected between the output terminal of the voltage vlc3 and the output terminal of the voltage vlc4 . the pmos transistors 23 and 24 also serve as protect elements . like the pmos transistor 22 , the gate and back gate of the pmos transistor 23 ( or 24 ) are connected to the source of the same . thus , each of the transistors 23 and 24 are equivalent to a diode having an anode and a cathode . similarly , the drain and source of an n - channel mos transistor 25 are connected between the output terminal of the voltage vreg and the ground voltage , those of an n - channel mos transistor 26 between the output terminal of the voltage vlc2 and the ground voltage , those of an n - channel mos transistor 27 between the output terminal of the voltage vlc3 and the ground voltage , and those of an n - channel mos transistor 28 between the output terminal of the voltage vlc4 and the ground voltage . these nmos transistors serves as protect elements for protecting the internal circuit from the surge voltage . the gate and back gate of each nmos transistor are connected to the source of the same . thus , the nmos transistors are equivalent to a diode having an anode and a cathode . further , in the circuit of this embodiment , the drain and source of a p - channel mos transistor 29 for setting the initial value of the voltage vlc4 are connected to the external terminal 12 of the voltage vdd from the battery 11 and the output terminal of the voltage vlc4 , respectively . the gate and back gate of the pmos transistor 29 are connected to the source of the same . the transistor 29 is equivalent to a diode ( a one - way conductive element ). the vdd side and vlc4 side of the transistor 29 correspond to the anode and cathode of the diode , respectively . as described above , in the circuit constructed as above , the constant - voltage regulator 14 creates the predetermined voltage vreg lower than the voltage vdd is created from the voltage vdd , and the step - up circuit 17 creates three different stepped - up voltages vlc2 - vlc4 on the basis of the voltage vreg , and supplies the voltages vlc2 - vlc4 to the internal circuit 40 or to a circuit for generating a liquid crystal - driving signal ( not shown ) connected to a peripheral circuit of the integrated circuit . this circuit , in turn , generates an ac signal for driving a liquid crystal unit . the operation of the integrated circuit constructed as above , assumed when the relationship of vlc4 & gt ; vdd & gt ; vreg is established and the step - up circuit 17 is operating in a stable manner , will be explained . in this case , too , suppose that a compact business machine such as an electric calculator or a personal digital assistant is used . further , suppose that the voltage vreg is 1 . 5 v , vlc4 6 v ( 1 . 5 × 4 ), the voltage vdd 3 v , the minimum operation - guarantee voltage of the level shifter 15 ( hereinafter referred to as &# 34 ; vddmin &# 34 ;) 1 . 2 v , and the forward voltage of each diode ( hereinafter referred to as &# 34 ; vf &# 34 ;) 0 . 5 v . in a state assumed immediately after the step - up circuit 17 starts the step - up operation , the voltage vreg is higher than the voltage vlc4 , and a forward current flows from the vreg terminal to the vlc4 terminal via the p - channel mos transistor 22 . moreover , the voltage vdd is higher than the voltage vlc4 , and accordingly a forward current flows from the vdd input terminal to the vlc4 output terminal via the p - channel mos transistor 29 . since at this time the voltage vreg ( 1 . 5 v ) is lower than voltage vdd ( 3 v ), the pmos transistor 22 is in the off - state , and an initial voltage based on the higher value of the voltage vdd is applied to the vlc4 output terminal . specifically , since the vf of the diode is 0 . 5 v , the initial voltage applied to the vlc4 terminal is 2 . 5 v (= vdd ( 3 v )- vf ( 0 . 5 v )). fig5 shows the input waveform ( ck1 ) and output waveform ( ck2 ) of the level shifter 15 which is in an initial state immediately after the step - up circuit 17 starts the step - up operation , together with the voltages vdd , vlc4 and vddmin . as is shown in fig5 the voltage vlc4 ( i . e ., vdd - vf ) is higher than the voltage vddmin of the level shifter 15 even in the initial state , and therefore the shifter 15 can operate in a reliable manner . accordingly , the step - up circuit 17 controlled by the clock signal ck2 output from the level shifter 15 can reliably operate . the output waveform ck2 of the level shifter 15 assumed when the operation of the step - up circuit 17 has been stabilized has an amplitude between the voltages vlc4 and gnd , as in the fig2 case . although an explanation has been made of a case where the external power source supplies a positive voltage , the same explanation can be made of a case where the source supplies a negative voltage . fig6 shows such a negative voltage case . in this case , the structure of the integrated circuit is similar to the fig4 structure except that the pmos transistors are replaced with nmos ones and the nmos transistors with pmos ones . moreover , since the pmos transistor 29 in fig4 is equivalent to a diode ( one - way conductive element ), it may be replaced with a diode 29 &# 34 ; as shown in fig7 . in the case of using a negative power source as the external power source 11 , a diode 29 &# 39 ;&# 34 ; may be used as shown in fig8 . although fig7 and 8 show only peripheral circuits including the diodes 29 &# 34 ; and 29 &# 39 ;&# 34 ;, the other elements are identical to those shown in fig4 or 6 . further , the protecting transistors 22 - 28 ( fig4 ) and 22 &# 39 ;- 28 &# 39 ; ( fig6 ) may be replaced with diodes . fig9 is a block diagram , showing a voltage transforming circuit according to a second embodiment of the invention . since the second embodiment is similar to the first embodiment , an explanation will be given of only elements which differ from those in the first embodiment . the second embodiment does not employ the p - channel mos transistor 29 for setting the initial value of the voltage vlc4 , but employs a second constant - voltage regulator 30 and a p - channel mos transistor 31 for setting the initial voltage , in addition to the first constant - voltage regulator 14 . the second constant - voltage regulator 30 creates , from the voltage vdd , a voltage vreg2 which is lower than the voltage vdd and higher than the output voltage vreg of the first constant - voltage regulator 14 . the p - channel mos transistor 31 has its gate and back gate connected to its source , and serves as an element equivalent to a diode ( one - way conductive element ). the vreg side and vlc side of the transistor 31 correspond to the anode and cathode of the diode , respectively . in the voltage transforming circuit constructed as above , the output voltage vreg2 of the second constant - voltage regulator 30 is set , for example , to 2 v . accordingly , the initial value of the voltage vlc4 is 1 . 5 v (= vreg2 ( 2 v )- vf ( 0 . 5 v )). since the initial value is higher than the voltage vddmin of the level shifter 15 , the level shifter 15 can operate in a reliable manner even in an initial state , and accordingly the operation of the step - up circuit 17 controlled by the clock signal ck2 output from the level shifter 15 can be stabilized . in the first embodiment in which the initial value of the voltage vlc4 is set with the use of the voltage vdd of the battery 11 , the step - up operation of the step - up circuit 17 is sufficiently stabilized , and a current is supplied from the battery 11 until the voltage vlc4 exceeds ( vdd - vf ), i . e ., 2 . 5 v . thus , until then , the power consumption of the battery 11 is high . on the other hand , since in the second embodiment , the initial value setting of the voltage vlc4 is performed on the basis of the voltage vreg lower than the voltage vdd of the battery 11 , the step - up operation of the step - up circuit 17 is sufficiently stabilized , and the supply of a current is stopped when the voltage vlc4 has exceeded ( vreg2 - vf ), i . e ., 1 . 5 v . thus , the second embodiment can save power more than the first embodiment . further , after the step up operation of the step - up circuit 17 is fully stabilized , the voltage transforming circuit of this embodiment can be normally operated even when the voltage vlc4 is less than the voltage vdd . although in the fig9 circuit , a positive voltage source is used as the external power source 11 , a negative voltage source may be used instead . fig1 shows a modification in which a negative voltage source is used . the fig1 structure is similar to the fig9 structure except that the pmos transistors are replaced with nmos ones and the nmos transistors with pmos ones . in addition , a mos transistor 31 &# 34 ; or 31 &# 39 ;&# 34 ; for setting the initial value of the voltage vlc4 can be replaced with a diode . fig1 and 12 show such cases . although fig1 and 12 show only peripheral circuits including the diodes 31 &# 34 ; and 31 &# 39 ;&# 34 ;, the other elements are identical to those shown in fig9 or 10 . further , the protecting transistors 22 - 28 ( fig4 ) and 22 &# 39 ;- 28 &# 39 ; ( fig6 ) may be replaced with diodes . it is a matter of course that the invention is not limited to the above - described embodiments , but can be modified in various manners . for example , although in the embodiments the step - up circuit 17 creates four different voltages by step - up operation , the circuit 17 can be modified to create two , six or eight different voltages . furthermore , although the mos transistors as protect elements are used as elements equivalent to diodes , diodes may be used in place of the mos transistors , or diode - connected bipolar transistors may be used . also , the battery 11 as the external power source may be a dry battery , a lithium battery , a solar cell , etc . as described above , the invention can provide a voltage transforming circuit capable of causing the internal circuit to perform normal operations even when protect elements are provided therein for protecting the internal circuit from a surge voltage applied to the external terminals , thereby reliably producing a plurality of different output voltages . additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art . therefore , the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details , and representative devices shown and described herein . accordingly , various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents .	6
implementations of the present disclosure now will be described more fully hereinafter . indeed , these implementations can be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the implementations set forth herein ; rather , these implementations are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements . as used in the specification , and in the appended claims , the singular forms “ a ”, “ an ” and “ the ” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . the term “ comprising ” and variations thereof as used herein is used synonymously with the term “ including ” and variations thereof and are open , non - limiting terms . fig1 shows a suction device 10 of the present invention including a hand - grippable body 12 , a plurality of buttons 14 , and a suction tip . the body defines a chamber or passage 26 . a vacuum supply conduit 18 connected to a vacuum supply 20 and an irrigation fluid supply conduit 22 connected to a fluid supply 24 may pass through the passage 26 . advantageously , the chamber or passage 26 may facilitate generation of suction or negative pressure by attachment to a suction tip , when the suction tip is in contact with fluid , tissue or any surface . for example , as shown in fig1 and 2 , the suction tip may include an outer cannula 50 and an inner cannula 51 . the outer cannula 50 may have a proximal end 37 and a distal tip 44 . the inner cannula 51 , which conducts a vacuum supply , extends within the outer cannula 50 . the inner cannula 51 also may have a proximal end 53 and a distal tip 46 . but , the distal tip 46 of the inner cannula 51 is recessed inwardly from the distal tip 44 of the outer cannula 50 . any and all space defined between the outer cannula 50 and inner cannula 51 that contains a vacuum may be a first suction volume . attachment of the suction tip to the body 10 , as described in more detail below , establishes fluid communication between the chamber or passage 26 and the suction volume . when fluid communication is established , the chamber or passage 26 may become an additional or second suction volume . advantageously , a vacuum generated by the inner cannula 51 at its distal tip 46 extends through the suction volume defined between the inner cannula 51 and outer cannula 50 and into the chamber 26 defined in the body 12 . further advantageously , the recessed position of the inner cannula 51 distal tip 46 helps to break blockages from fluids and tissue being suctioned from the surgical site . additional details about the structure and operation of the suction tip are described in the &# 39 ; 571 application . the fluid supply 24 may be a bag of saline , for example , under pressure due to the head generated by its elevation above the suction device 10 on a pole . or , it may be supplied as a standard fluid in an operating room or other healthcare setting . this pressure facilitates urging the fluid down the fluid supply line 22 so as to facilitate suction . the fluid supply conduit 22 may be polymer or rubber medical tubing , for example , that is configured to direct and control fluid flow to the body 12 . at the same time , some flexibility of the tubing is advantageous in order to allow its connection to and passage through the passage defined by the body 12 . the vacuum supply conduit 18 may be of similar construction , although it may have characteristics better adapted to resisting collapse than elevated pressures . the vacuum supply 20 may be generated by a standalone device , such as a portable pump , or may be part of an existing built - in vacuum or suction pressure supply in the clinical setting . also , the vacuum supply 20 may include some type of catch basin or other container to capture and hold suctioned fluids and tissues for later safe disposal . as shown in fig1 and 2 , the conduits 18 , 22 may extend through the passage 26 and merge into a single distal conduit end 32 . this merger combines the fluid for irrigation with the vacuum so , if both lines are free - flowing , the majority of the irrigation fluid is sucked into the vacuum conduit 18 . if only the irrigation conduit 18 is flowing , the conduit 18 supplies fluid at the distal conduit end 32 to dilute tissue , blood or and other bodily fluids . this allows tissue and fluid entering the distal conduit end 32 to be diluted before being sucked up through the vacuum conduit 18 , when activated , for disposal . as shown in fig2 , the proximal end 37 of the outer cannula 50 may include a connector . also , the proximal end 53 of the inner cannula 51 may include a connector . for example , each of the cannulae proximal ends 37 and 53 may have one - half of an appropriately - sized luer , bayonet or other style lock or connector . the other half of the 20 connector may be positioned on the distal end of the body 12 and the single distal conduit end 32 . connecting these connectors will attach the cannulae to the body and conduit , as shown in fig1 . as shown in fig3 , the body 12 of the suction device may have an ergonomic shape , such as an eggplant or teardrop shape , with a resulting greater volume defined in a portion of the passage 26 proximal of the midline ( i . e ., half way between the proximal and distal ends ) of the body . this shape is configured to facilitate easy gripping and manipulation in a normal range of hand sizes . the body 12 may be constructed of a polymer material so as to be light and inexpensive . its outer surface may be textured for further ease of gripping and manipulation . the greater volume of the teardrop shape may facilitate the generation of suction or negative pressure in the volume between the inner cannula 51 and outer cannula 50 when the outer cannula 44 is in contact with fluid or tissue . as shown in fig1 and 2 , the body 12 may also include a neck region that extends out of the bulbous proximal region and then curves gently downward over a region where the fingers would wrap . restated , the fingers of the hand would wrap around and under the inner curvature . the thumb would be positioned near the buttons 14 . the body 12 includes a proximal end 34 and the distal end 36 . at the proximal end may be an air - tight sealing disc 38 , as shown in fig1 . the sealing disc 38 may be a rubber or polymer plug , for example , that friction fits within a cylindrical opening at the proximal end 34 . defined through the sealing disc 38 may be a pair of holes configured to allow snug passage of the conduits 18 , 22 . separate construction of the sealing disc 38 facilitates its removal and replacement along with threading new conduits 18 , 22 . also , revealing the opening at the proximal end 34 facilitates cleaning and sterilization of the passage 26 of the body 12 . the distal end 36 defines its own cylindrical opening that , as shown in fig2 , may be configured to receive the similarly - sized connector on the proximal end of the outer cannula 50 . the opening at the distal end 36 may include its own stopper or member to support in a central location , and allow passage therethrough , of the single distal conduit end 32 . central positioning may facilitate attachment of the conduit end 32 to the proximal end of the inner cannula 51 . referring again to fig1 , the buttons 14 are on the dorsal outer curvature of the body 12 so as to be positioned for thumb actuation . the buttons 14 include shafts or posts that extend through sealed openings in the body 12 so as to prevent air escape . each of the buttons 14 is spring biased on its shaft to clamp shut on or open a respective one of the conduits 18 or 22 . depression of the buttons 14 against the spring bias progressively opens the conduits 18 and 22 . progressive opening results in progressively increasing supply of fluid or suction . linear , adjacent positioning of the buttons 14 on the dorsal surface ( as shown in fig3 ) of the body 12 facilitates simultaneous , dual compression to route some irrigation and vacuum at the same time . isolated suction or irrigation may also be performed by depressing only one of the buttons 14 . the suction device 10 may also include a single button or more than two buttons for selective application of various combinations of suction and fluids . a single button may be used to actuate a single suction line . multiple buttons may be used for different types of fluids through different conduits . the buttons 14 , for example , may include compression members such as pyramidal members that trap the flexible conduits 18 or 22 against the inner surface of the body 12 under compression of the spring . also , the buttons themselves may have an ergonomic shape of a tear drop and be nested within shaped recesses 40 on the dorsal , outer curvature of the body 12 . the chamber or passage 26 is defined within the body 12 by the wall structure of the body . advantageously , the passage 26 is configured to allow positioning and passage of the conduits 18 and 22 in a configuration that allows their selective compression by the buttons 14 . for example , as shown in fig1 and 2 , the conduits 18 and 22 may be configured in a crossing or overlapping configuration that facilitates positioning of the buttons 14 along the mid - dorsal line of the body 12 . the passage 26 has the same general shape as the outer surface of the body 12 due to the relatively consistent wall thickness of the body . however , the passage 26 could have a less similar shape , such as a curved cylinder . regardless , the passage 26 can extend from the proximal end 34 to the distal end 36 of the body 12 so as to guide and shield the conduits 18 and 22 from entanglement or exposure to the environment . a number of aspects of the systems , devices and methods have been described . nevertheless , it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure . accordingly , other aspects are within the scope of the following claims . 10 suction device 12 body 14 buttons 18 vacuum supply conduit 20 vacuum supply 22 fluid supply conduit 24 fluid supply 26 passage 32 single distal conduit end 34 proximal end 36 distal end 37 outer cannula proximal end 38 sealing disc 40 shaped recesses 44 outer cannula distal tip 46 inner cannula distal tip 50 outer cannula 51 inner cannula 53 inner cannula proximal end	0
this invention consists of an instrument containing an indented intermediate part ( c ) and a working part ( d ). inserted into a groove ( 2 ) made beforehand by the practitioner , the working part ( d ) is designed to generate a couple of forces roughly in the vertical axis ( f ) of the tooth or implant between the occlusal faces of the stump ( 3 ) on one hand , and the basal surface of the crown ( 4 ) on the other hand , thus causing the removal of the crown ( 4 ). until the crown ( 4 ) is unsealed , the shapes and dimensions of the indented intermediate part ( c ) enable it not to hinder the lifting of the notched sidewall of the crown ( 4 ) and not to apply any lateral forces on the crown ( 4 ). the invention requires in its application four operations common to all alternative designs [ see fig1 , 17 and 18 ]. the use of the instrument requires making beforehand a notch ( 1 ) through the thickness of the crown ( 4 ) on its most accessible face ( generally , the vestibular face ). this notch ( 1 ) must have a width greater than or equal to the diameter of the indented intermediate part ( c ). this notch ( 1 ) must be made on a plane roughly parallel to the occlusal surface of the crown ( 4 ) at the assumed level of the occlusal part of the stump ( 3 ). in a second step , said notch ( 1 ) is extended using a bur ( of the fissure type ) to create a groove ( 2 ) through partial or full sweeping of the stump ( 3 ). said groove ( 2 ) must have dimensions allowing for full introduction of the working part ( d ). in a third step , the working part ( d ) of the instrument should be slid into the groove ( 2 ) thus created until the indented intermediate part ( c ) coincides with the notch ( 1 ) in the crown ( 4 ). finally , the crown ( 4 ) lifting mechanism is actuated , which may result from an expansion or rotation of the working part ( d ) or from any other process causing a couple of forces roughly in the axis of the tooth ( or of the implant ) between the occlusal faces of the stump ( 3 ) on one hand and of the basal surface of the crown ( 4 ) on the other hand . thus , proper use of the instrument makes it possible to unseal the crown ( 4 ) with minimum lateral forces that are inefficient , painful and detrimental to the preservation of the stump ( 3 ), tooth or implant . in addition , in the process used , the crown ( 4 ) is cut in a plane roughly parallel to the occlusal surface of the crown ( 4 ), which makes it possible not to destroy the crown ( 4 ). as a matter of fact , the notch ( 1 ) made into the crown ( 4 ) preserves its rigidity and does not alter its cervical setting , which permits to recover it so that it can possibly be put back in place . after putting the crown ( 4 ) back in place , all is needed is to plug the notch ( 1 ) using proper materials . the list of methods that can be used to apply a couple of forces between the occlusal faces of the stump ( 3 ) and the basal surface of the crown ( 4 ) is not exhaustive . a limited number of embodiments compared to the number of practicable technical processes will be described . as non - limiting examples , in addition to the embodiments described below , the invention can take the form of an instrument whose working part ( d ) will be made of a material that offers controlled expansion capabilities , whose roughly vertical expansion will be achieved , in a non - limiting example , through temperature variation . as a matter of fact , all physical processes inducing a roughly vertical expansion of the working part ( d ) can be considered , provided the instrument is characterized by the presence of an indented intermediate part ( c ) allowing for free lifting of the crown ( 4 ) and the absence or limitation of lateral forces . the shank ( a ) and the intermediate section ( b ) will be accessorily required only to hold or to actuate the working part ( d ) inside groove ( 2 ), depending on the expansion system used ( for example , the shank ( a ) and the tapered intermediate section ( b ) are necessary to hold and rotate the working part ( d ) of the r . u . i . described later ). for an easier use , the invention can be equipped with a mechanism allowing for an easy , even automatic , return to the rest position of the working part ( d ). a mechanism such as a motor or turbine , can also initiate successively the vertical expansion of the working part ( d ) and then its return to the rest position . the instrument may require some adjustment to the various situations encountered ( dimension and more or less accessible position of the tooth to be treated ). such adjustment can be achieved through modulation in the alignment of its different parts or in the shapes and dimensions of said parts . thus , the instrument may advantageously take the form of a set of interchangeable end pieces incorporating one or more parts of the instrument . the focus will be on describing more specifically three embodiments of the invention : a rotary unsealing instrument ( r . u . i ); an alternative design using the overlapping of two inclined planes ( o . t . i . p .) [ see fig1 ]; and an alternative design with vertical expansion ( v . e .) [ see fig1 ]. the r . u . i . can be broken down into 4 parts ( fig1 and 2 ): a shank ( a ); a tapered intermediate section ( b ); an indented intermediate part ( c ); and a working part ( d ). the r . u . i . shank ( a ) has an ergonomic shape designed to be held in the hand and to actuate the instrument rotation , in a manner similar to the shank of a syndesmotome . the only function of the r . u . i tapered intermediate section ( b ) is to make the transition from the section of the shank ( a ) to a section close or equal to that of the indented intermediate part ( c ). its shapes and dimensions can thus be varied . the r . u . i . indented intermediate part ( c ) comes in the form of a segment with a preferably cylindrical shape . its diameter depends on the dimensions of the notch ( 1 ) made in crown ( 4 ). its length depends on the thickness of the crown ( 4 ) and on the depth of the groove ( 2 ). the r . u . i . working part can take the most varied shapes provided , through rotation of the r . u . i , they generate a couple of forces between the occlusal faces of the stump ( 3 ), on one hand , and of the basal surface of the crown ( 4 ), on the other hand . this implies that the distance between the lateral ends of the working part ( d ) is greater than the height of the groove ( 2 ). whether in its cross - section , face or profile , the r . u . i . working part ( d ) can be given specific shapes , including rectangular , ovoid , triangular , snail - shaped or lozenge - shaped . however , the cross - section of the working part will preferably be ovoid or snail - shaped . such shapes will indeed provide for an even , non - traumatizing , lifting closer to the axis ( f ) of the tooth because of the absence of protruding parts and the proximity between the points where the couple of forces is applied and the center of the tooth . in addition , as the working part ( d ) can have different shapes and sizes , the r . u . i . can advantageously come in the form of a set of interchangeable end pieces . depending on the location chosen to operate the anchoring system , each end piece can incorporate one or more parts of the instrument . the angles between axes a ′, b ′, c ′ and d ′ of the r . u . i . various parts can be different so that all parts of the r . u . i . can be either on one same axis [ see fig1 and 2 ], or different axes for easier handling inside the mouth , as for example for posterior teeth [ see fig1 , 13 , 14 and 15 ]. fig3 and 4 show an alternative design of r . u . i . end piece with a working part ( d ) whose face ( fig3 ) and profile ( fig4 ) are rectangular respectively , with the ends diametrically and symmetrically opposite in relation to the axis of rotation ( c ) of the indented intermediate part ( c ). fig5 shows an alternative design of r . u . i . with a working part ( d ) in the shape of a “ blank key ”. the axis of rotation ( d ′) of the working part ( d ) is parallel to the axis ( c ′) of the indented intermediate part ( c ), but separate from it . fig6 shows an alternative design of r . u . i . with a working part ( d ) whose profile has a rectangular shape with rounded edges . fig7 and 9 show an alternative design of r . u . i . end piece with a working part ( d ) whose face ( fig7 ), profile ( fig7 ) and cross - section ( fig9 ) are ellipsoidal . fig1 shows an alternative design of the r . u . i . working part ( d ) whose cross section is snail - shaped . this shape offers the advantage of achieving an even couple of forces , toughly vertical and very close to the vertical axis ( f ) of the tooth . fig1 shows the cross - section of a r . u . i . indented intermediate part ( c ) of cylindrical shape . fig1 and 13 show an alternative design of r . u . i . whose axes a ′ of the handle ( a ) and b ′ of the tapered intermediate section ( b ) form face angle α 1 and profile angle β 1 . fig1 and 15 show an alternative design of r . u . i . whose axes a ′ of the handle ( a ) and b ′ of the tapered intermediate section ( b ) form face angle α 2 and profile angle β 2 and whose axes b ′ and c ′ of the indented intermediate section ( c ) form face angle α 3 and profile angle β 3 . fig1 shows an alternative design of r . u . i . whose working part ( d ) has a rectangular section that , once inserted into groove ( 2 ), permits to generate through rotation a couple of forces between the basal surface of the occlusal face of the crown ( 4 ) and the occlusal face of the stump ( 3 ). fig1 shows a cross - section of the tooth along the sagittal plane . after having made the notch ( 1 ) and the groove ( 2 ), the r . u . i . working part ( d ) is inserted into the groove ( 2 ) so that the indented intermediate part ( c ) is positioned at the notch ( 1 ) made in the prosthesis . the shapes and dimensions of the indented intermediate part ( c ) enable it to freely make rotation movements that it transmits to the working part ( d ). the assembly thus achieved permits to transmit to the working part ( d ) the rotation movements successively applied by the practitioner at the handle ( a ). the respective dimensions of the indented intermediate part ( c ) and of the working part ( d ) can vary based on the situations encountered , whether dealing with a standard crown or a crown on implant . as a non - limiting example , the indented intermediate part ( c ), as represented in fig3 can come in the form of an approx . 4 mm to 5 mm long cylinder with a section from 1 mm to 1 . 6 mm and the working part ( d ) can take the form of a rectangular parallelepiped whose thickness is roughly equal to the diameter of the indented intermediate part ( c ) ( i . e ., 1 to 1 . 6 mm ) whose non - sharp edges are 1 . 6 to 3 mm . the alternative design using the overlapping of two inclined planes ( o . t . i . p ) consists of : a handle ( a ); a tapered intermediate part ( b ); an indented intermediate part ( c ); and a working part ( d ) split into ( d 1 ) and ( d 2 ). the handle ( a ) of the o . t . i . p . has characteristics roughly identical to those of the r . u . i . however , it includes in addition the insertion of a mechanism designed to actuate the working half - part ( d 2 ). this mechanism can also contain a system allowing for the o . t . i . p .&# 39 ; s automatic return to the rest position . the characteristics of the tapered intermediate section ( b ) on the o . t . i . p . are roughly identical to those of the r . u . i . however , it includes in addition the insertion of the device designed to initiate the movement of the working half - part ( d 2 ). the indented intermediate part ( c ) of the o . t . i . p . consists of two parts sliding on each other or into each other . the first part ( c 1 ) is integral on one hand with the tapered intermediate section ( b ), on the other hand with the lower pentahedron ( d 1 ) of the working part ( d ). the second part ( c 2 ) is integral on one hand with the mechanism inserted in the handle ( a ) that imparts movement and runs through the tapered intermediate section ( b ), on the other hand with the upper pentahedron ( d 2 ) of the working part ( d ). the shapes and dimensions of the indented intermediate part ( c ) must allow for a vertical translation of the crown ( 4 ). the working part ( d ) of the o . t . i . p . consists of two half - parts ( d 1 ) and ( d 2 ), featuring each an inclined plane whose sum , when the o . t . i . p . is in rest position , forms a rectangular parallelepiped . each of the two half - parts ( d 1 ) and ( d 2 ) overall has the shape of a pentahedron . as in the case of the r . u . i ., after having made the notch ( 1 ) and the groove ( 2 ), the working part ( d ) of the o . t . i . p . at rest is inserted into the groove ( 2 ) so that the indented intermediate part ( c ) is positioned at the notch ( 1 ) made in the prosthesis . whenever , using the device inserted into handle ( a ), a pull action is applied to the pentahedron d 2 , the latter , when overlapping pentahedron d 1 , rises evenly so that pentahedrons d 1 and d 2 generate a roughly vertical expansion of the working part ( d ). with the pentahedron d 1 pressed against the occlusal face of the stump ( 3 ) and with the pentahedron d 2 pressed against the occlusal face of the basal surface of the crown ( 4 ), a couple of forces is achieved between both faces . the alternative design with vertical expansion ( v . e .) [ see fig1 ] includes : a handle ( a ); a shank ( e ); a tapered intermediate part ( b ); an indented intermediate part ( c ); and a working part ( d ) split into ( d 3 ) and ( d 4 ). the handle ( a ) of the v . e . has characteristics roughly identical to those of the r . u . i . however , it includes in addition the insertion of a mechanism allowing for the actuation of a shank ( e ) extending into the working part ( d ). this mechanism can also include a system allowing for automatic return of the v . e . to the rest position . the shank ( e ) is inserted into the v . e . it has a wide end ( e 1 ) so that whenever a pull action is applied onto the shank ( e ) from the handle ( a ), the wide end ( e 1 ) becomes lodged between the polyhedrons ( d 3 ) and ( d 4 ) causing them to be pulled apart . the characteristics of the tapered intermediate section ( b ) of the v . e . are roughly identical to those of the r . u . i . however , it also includes in addition insertion of the shank ( e ). the indented intermediate section of the v . e . has characteristics roughly identical to those of the r . u . i . however , it also includes in addition insertion of the shank ( e ). the working part ( d ) of the v . e . consists of two polyhedrons ( d 3 ) and ( d 4 ) with two inclined planes opposite to the wide end ( e 1 ) of the shank ( e ). whenever the shank ( e ) is pulled between the inclined planes , their gradual separation is achieved , and thus the roughly vertical expansion of the working part ( d ). a notch ( 1 ) and a groove ( 2 ) are made in the same manner as for the r . u . i . the whole v . e . working part ( d ) is inserted into the groove ( 2 ) so that the indented intermediate part ( c ) is positioned at the notch ( 1 ). by actuating the mechanism located in the handle a , a pull action is applied on the wide end ( e 1 ) of the shank ( e ). the wide end ( e 1 ) causes a gradual separation of the tow polyhedrons ( d 3 ) and ( d 4 ) until a couple of forces is achieved between the occlusal face of the basal surface of the crown ( 4 ), on one hand , and the occlusal face of the stump ( 3 ), on the other hand .	0
the present invention is an amorphous compound of the formula i : ## str1 ## as used herein , &# 34 ; l - 708 na + salt &# 34 ; will mean the crystalline form of the sodium salt of l - 686 , 708 and &# 34 ; amorphous l - 708 &# 34 ; will refer to the compound of the present invention , i . e ., the amorphous form of l - 708 na + salt . amorphous l - 708 is prepared by suspending or dissolving the free acid ( l - 686 , 708 ) in a mixture of water and a suitable organic co - solvent or co - solvents , such as methanol , ethanol , isopropanol , ether , acetone , 2 - butanone , acetonitrile , and the like . the solution or suspension of free acid is then neutralized with one equivalent of sodium hydroxide , preferably in aqueous solution . if necessary , to obtain a homogeneous solution , the mixture may then be heated and / or additional water and organic solvent may be added as required . the bulk of the organic solvent ( s ) is then removed by evaporation under vacuum with moderate warming . the remaining , mostly aqueous , solvent is removed by lyophilization ( freeze - drying ) to leave the compound of the present invention as an amorphous powder . if the mixture is to be lyophilized , it is preferred to continue the distillation until the mixture achieves a concentration of 77 - 120 mg / ml and has an oily consistency . this additional concentration both improves the efficiency of the lyophilization step and reduces the residual organic solvent concentration to & lt ; 1 %. alternatively , amorphous l - 708 can be prepared from its corresponding crystalline form . l - 708 na + salt is dissolved or suspended in a mixture of water and one or more organic co - solvents as indicated above . once a homogeneous solution is obtained , the amorphous form is obtained by evaporation and lyophilization as described above . the resultant amorphous material retains the biological properties of its crystalline allotrope but is highly soluble in water . an alternative drying process is to spray dry the above homogenous solutions . advantageously , evaporation of the organic co - solvent is not necessary prior to spray drying . the term &# 34 ; amorphous &# 34 ; is used to describe the physical state of the sodium salt of l - 686 , 708 obtained by drying an aqueous solution of said sodium salt as described herein . in addition to greatly increased aqueous solubility , the amorphous form is characterized by showing no x - ray powder diffraction pattern ( e . g ., on a philips pw 1840 diffractometer ), in contrast to the crystalline form . ( a discussion of crystalline vs . amorphous states may be found in : solid state chemistry of drugs , by s . r . byrn , academic press , n . y ., 1982 , pp . 10 - 11 and r . syryanarayanan and a . g . mitchell , int . j . pharm ., vol . 24 , pp . 1 - 17 ( 1985 )). another physical parameter useful for characterizing the present invention is differential scanning calorimetry ( dsc ). the amorphous material of the present invention shows a clear exotherm between 180 ° and 195 ° c ., as it converts to the crystalline form . as heating is continued , there is an endotherm at 325 ° c . as the material melts . in contrast , the l - 708 na + salt shows no peak in its dsc between 180 ° and 195 ° c ., and shows the endothermic melting peak at 335 ° c . thermal scans were obtained on samples prepared in crimped aluminum pans under n 2 using a perkin elmer dsc - 4 with a system - 4 controller . the dsc was calibrated with indium ( 156 . 6 °± 0 . 2 ° c .). amorphous l - 708 crystallizes at ca . 190 ° c . with an enthalpy of crystallization of ca . - 30 kj / mol . this is generally followed by a second smaller exotherm at ca . 259 ° c . ( δh =- 7 . 6 kj / mol ). the crystallization enthalpy at ca . 190 ° c . ( δh , obtained by dsc ) of amorphous l - 708 is related to the amount of x - ray amorphous material in the sample . in one set of experiments l - 708 na + salt was assumed to be 100 % crystalline with no enthalpy of crystallization at 190 ° c ., while amorphous l - 708 was assumed to be 100 % amorphous with an enthalpy of crystallization of ca . - 30 kj / mol . 0 to 80 % of ground l - 708 na + salt was shaken with amorphous l - 708 . the enthalpies of crystallization of the blends were measured by dsc and plotted as a function of crystalline content . a straight line with a correlation coefficient of 0 . 9985 was obtained . standard deviations varied between 0 . 06 and 0 . 7 . the fact that a straight line was obtained indicates that seeding the x - ray amorphous material with ground crystalline material does not lead to nucleation and crystal growth . surprisingly , saturated aqueous solutions of amorphous l - 708 are highly stable , i . e ., they do not readily precipitate the crystalline form even when seeded with the crystalline allotrope . the solid material is also highly stable . no change in water solubility has been observed even when stored for three months at 30 ° c . and 60 ° c . at ambient humidity and at 30 ° c ./ 79 % relative humidity . amorphous l - 708 is also highly stable to chemical decomposition both in the solid form and in aqueous solution . amorphous l - 708 is useful as an inhibitor of leukotriene biosynthesis in the same manner as described in ep 419 , 049 for l - 686 , 708 . advantageously , it is much more bioavailable than l - 708 na + salt . ep 419 , 049 is incorporated herein by reference , especially pages 5 - 10 , 25 , and 26 thereof . therefore , one aspect of this invention is a pharmaceutical composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of amorphous l - 708 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier . another aspect is a pharmaceutical composition as described above additionally comprising an effective amount of a second active ingredient selected from the group consisting of non - steroidal anti - inflammatory drugs ; peripheral analgesic agents ; cyclooxygenase inhibitors ; leukotriene antagonists ; leukotriene biosynthesis inhibitors ; h 1 - or h 2 - receptor antagonists ; antihistaminic agents ; prostaglandin antagonists ; and ace antagonists . especially preferred is such a pharmaceutical composition wherein the second active ingredient is a non - steroidal anti - inflammatory drug . also especially preferred is such a pharmaceutical composition wherein the weight ratio of amorphous l - 708 to said second active ingredient ranges from about 1000 : 1 to 1 : 1000 . another aspect of this invention is a method of preventing the synthesis , the action , or the release of srs - a or leukotrienes in a mammal which comprises administering to said mammal an effective amount of amorphous l - 708 , especially wherein the mammal is man . another aspect is a method of treating asthma in a mammal comprising administering to a mammal in need of such treatment a therapeutically effective amount of amorphous l - 708 , especially wherein the mammal is man . another aspect of this invention is a method of treating inflammatory diseases of the eye in a mammal which comprises administering to a mammal in need of such treatment a therapeutically effective amount of amorphous l - 708 , especially wherein the mammal is man . the invention is further defined by reference to the examples , which are intended to be illustrative and not limiting . temperatures are in degrees celsius . preparations 1 and 2 appear in ep 419 , 049 as examples 1 and 1a and are copied here for convenience . starting materials also appear in ep 419 , 049 . to a solution of 39 g of methyl 5 -( t - butylthio )- 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 4 - oxopentanoate in a mixture of 300 ml of toluene and 150 ml of glacial acetic acid was added 15 g of naoac and 50 g of 1 -( 4 - methoxyphenyl )- 1 -( p - chlorobenzyl ) hydrazine hydrochloride . the reaction was maintained with stirring at room temperature for 3 days under argon in the dark . the mixture was poured into 3 l of h 2 o and extracted with 3 × 500 ml of etoac . the ethyl acetate was washed with 3 × 500 ml of water then solid nahco 3 was added . the mixture was filtered and the filtrate washed twice with water . the organic phase was dried over mgso 4 and evaporated to dryness to provide the title compound . m . p . 102 °- 103 ° c . the compound from step a was hydrolysed using 325 ml of thf , 600 ml of meoh and 325 ml of 1 . 0m lioh . the solution was heated to 80 ° c . for 3 h . the solution was acidified with 1n hcl and extracted with 3 × 200 ml of etoac . the organic phase was washed with water ( 2 × 150 ml ) and dried over mgso 4 . the solution was evaporated to dryness to provide the title compound . m . p . 190 °- 191 ° c . anal c , h , n : calc . c 65 . 27 ; h 6 . 57 ; n 3 . 04 , found c 65 . 28 ; h 6 . 58 ; n 3 . 04 a solution of 61 ml of t - butylthiol in 650 ml of dry hmpa at 0 ° c . was treated portionwise with 26 g of 50 % nah in mineral oil after removal of oil with hexane . the reaction was stirred at rt for 30 mins and 46 g of the compound from step b was added . the reaction was then heated under n 2 at 175 ° c . for 5 hours . the solution was cooled , and poured onto crushed ice , after which it was treated with 2n hcl to ph 5 and extracted with etoac ( 3 × 500 ml ). the organic phase was washed with h 2 o ( 3 × 200 ml ) dried ( mgso 4 ) and evaporated . the residue was dissolved in 300 ml of ether and ethereal diazomethane was added until all acid was consumed . the excess solvent was removed and the oily residue triturated with hexane to leave a crystalline mass which was recrystallized from etoac / hexane to provide the title compound as a white crystalline solid , m . p . 170 °- 171 ° c . methyl 3 -[ n -( p - chlorobenzyl )- 5 - hydroxy - 3 -( t - butylthio ) indol - 2 - yl ]- 2 , 2 - dimethylpropanoate ( 33 . 6 g ) from step c was dissolved in 500 ml of dry dmf and the solution was charged with 2 . 4 g of ki , 30 . 3 g of k 2 co 3 4 . 77 g of cs 2 co 3 and 23 . 5 g of 2 -( chloromethyl ) quinoline hydrochloride . the reaction was stirred at rt , under n 2 , for 72 hours then it was poured into water ( 1 . 5 l ), acidified with 1n hcl and extracted ( 3 × 200 ml ) with ch 2 cl 2 . the organic phase was washed with h 2 o ( 3 × 150 ml ), dried and evaporated . the residue was dissolved in hot etoac and upon cooling crystallized to deposit 22 . 0 g of the title compound , m . p . 166 °- 167 ° c . using the hydrolytic procedure of step b but substituting the ester of step d for the ester of step a provided the title compound , which was recrystallized from 1 : 1 etoac / hexane . m . p . 208 ° c . anal c , h , n : calc . c 69 . 55 ; h 6 . 01 ; n 4 . 77 , found c 69 . 77 ; h 6 . 05 ; n 4 . 70 a mixture containing 2 -( chloromethyl ) quinoline hydrochloride ( 100 . 0 g ), 4 - acetamidophenol ( 70 . 69 g ) and milled anhydrous potassium carbonate ( 194 g ) was stirred in dmf ( 1 . 2 l ) using a mechanical stirrer for 48 hours . the mixture was carefully poured onto ice / water ( 3 l ) with vigourous stirring . after the ice had melted , the solid was filtered and rinsed thoroughly with water . it was recrystallized from 95 % ethanol and filtered to give the title compound in three crops . a suspension of n - acetyl - 4 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) aniline ( step a , 108 . 9 g ) in 1 l of 95 % ethanol containing 10m koh ( 120 ml ) was heated at reflux under nitrogen in a heating mantle . when the hydrolysis was complete ( approx . 36 h ), the reaction mixture was cooled and ethanol was partially removed under vacuum . the mixture was then diluted with water ( 200 ml ) and the fine off - white crystals were collected and thoroughly rinsed with water . the material , after air - drying , yielded the title compound which was used as such in the next step . a quantity of 84 g of 4 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) aniline from step b was suspended in 300 ml of deionized h 2 o and 84 ml of 12m hcl . the suspension was stirred vigourously to obtain a fine particle suspension . then a precooled solution ( 5 ° c .) of 23 . 88 g of sodium nitrite dissolved in 75 ml of deionized h 2 o was added dropwise to the suspension at 5 ° c . over 25 minutes . the solution was stirred at 5 ° c . for 60 min to obtain the diazonium salt as a clear brown solution . the presence of excess hno 2 was confirmed by ki - starch paper , and the ph of the solution was about 3 . 0 . if a white suspension persisted after 1 h , the mixture was filtered through a glass wool plug , to give the diazonium salt in the filtrate . in the meantime a sodium hydrosulfite solution was prepared by dissolving 321 g of sodium hydrosulfite ( approx . 85 % purity ) in 2 l of deionized water , and cooled at 0 ° to 5 ° c . to this solution were added 15 ml of 2n naoh and 2 l of ether . the biphasic solution was kept near 0 ° c . by addition of crushed ice and was stirred vigorously . to this solution was added dropwise the diazonium salt solution with stirring maintained throughout . at the end of the addition an orange solid was formed and 600 ml of naoh ( 2n ) was added over 30 minutes . the reaction was finally stirred for 60 minutes at 25 ° c . the solid was collected , suspended in ether ( 1 l ) and filtered . the process was repeated with 2 l of water to yield the title compound as a pale yellow solid after freeze - drying overnight . m . p . 73 °- 85 ° c . ( dec ). a quantity of 10 g of 4 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) phenylhydrazine from step c was added to a solution of 10 . 5 ml of diisopropylethylamine and 150 ml of ch 2 cl 2 . to the yellow suspension was added 9 . 11 g of p - chlorobenzyl chloride followed by 3 . 64 g of bu 4 nbr and 50 ml of ch 2 cl 2 . the reaction was stirred for approximately 24 hours . when no starting material remained , the reaction was diluted with h 2 o and extracted 3 times with ch 2 cl 2 . the combined organic phase was washed once with water and dried ( mgso 4 ), filtered and evaporated to dryness . the solid residue was dried under vacuum overnight prior to being swished in ether / methanol 90 / 10 to give the title compound as a pale yellow solid . m . p . 130 ° c . the methyl ester of the title compound was prepared according to the method described in step a of example 1 but using the phenylhydrazine from step d of example 1a as starting material . the title compound was prepared under the conditions described in step b of example 1 . crystalline 3 -[ n -( p - chlorobenzyl )- 3 -( t - butylthio )- 5 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) indol - 2 - yl ]- 2 . 2 - dimethylpropanoic acid , sodium salt ( l - 708 na + salt by hydrolysis of ester ) a mixture of the methyl ester of the title acid ( preparation 1 , step d ) ( 6 . 25 kg , 10 . 4 moles ) and etoh ( absolute , 45 l ) was warmed to 50 ° c . and a solution of naoh ( 2 . 29 l of a 5n solution , 11 . 4 moles ) in h 2 o ( 5 l ) was added . the reaction was heated to reflux and held at this temperature for 41 hours . the progress of the reaction was monitored by hplc using a zorbax rx column , a mobile phase consisting of 0 . 1 % phosphoric acid : acetonitrile ( 20 : 80 ) at 1 . 15 ml / min , with uv detection at 220 nm . additional naoh ( 103 . 8 ml of a 5n solution , 0 . 52 moles ) was added and the reaction was held at reflux for 24 hours , then cooled to 60 ° c . etoh : h2o ( 25 l of a 90 : 10 mixture ) was added and the reaction was filtered . the filtrate was azeotropically distilled to remove the water . ethanol was added , as needed , during the distillation to maintain the volume above 62 . 5 l . the distillation was monitored for water content by karl fischer titration . the reaction was concentration to 37 . 5 l , cooled to room temperature , then filtered . the filter cake was washed with cold ( 5 ° c .) etoh ( 5 × 3 . 75 l ) and dried under vacuum at 50 ° c . for 72 hours , providing 5 . 58 kg of the title compound ( 88 % yield ). amorphous 3 -[ n -( p - chlorobenzyl )- 3 -( t - butylthio )- 5 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) indol - 2 - yl ]- 2 , 2 - dimethylpropanoic acid , sodium salt ( amorphous l - 708 from the free acid ) to a two liter erlenmeyer flask was added 12 . 25 gm ( 20 . 86 mmol ) of the title acid ( preparation 1 ) followed by 100 ml of etoh and 100 ml of h 2 o . the resulting suspension was stirred and 20 . 86 ml of 1n aqueous naoh ( 20 . 86 mmol ) was added . the ph was approximately 8 . to dissolve the bulk of the suspended material , an additional 100 ml of etoh and 300 ml of h 2 o were added with stirring . the resulting mixture was filtered to remove a small amount of insoluble material , and the bulk of the etoh removed from the filtrate on a rotary evaporator at between 30 ° c . and 50 ° c . the resulting solution was lyophilized at - 78 ° c . to yield the title compound . solubility in water : at least 3 mg / ml ( at least 5 mm ) ( not tested higher ). amorphous 3 -[ n -( p - chlorobenzyl )- 3 -( t - butylthio )- 5 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) indol - 2 - yl ]- 2 , 2 - dimethylpropanoic acid , sodium salt ( amorphous l - 708 from l - 708 na + salt ) crystalline 3 -[ n -( p - chlorobenzyl )- 3 -( t - butylthio )- 5 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) indol - 2 - yl ]- 2 , 2 - dimethylpropanoic acid , sodium salt , ( 25 g ) was dissolved in etoh ( 2 . 75 l ) at 20 ° c . water ( 1 l ) was added thereto and then the volume was reduced to 0 . 5 l in a rotary evaporator . the remaining solution was lyophilized in a virtis 10 src lyophilization chamber at - 42 ° c . to yield the title compound . amorphous 3 -[ n -( p - chlorobenzyl )- 3 -( t - butylthio )- 5 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) indol - 2 - yl ]- 2 , 2 - dimethylpropanoic acid , sodium salt ( amorphous l - 708 from l - 708 na + salt ) crystalline 3 -[ n -( p - chlorobenzyl )- 3 -( t - butylthio )- 5 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) indol - 2 - yl ]- 2 , 2 - dimethylpropanoic acid , sodium salt , ( 6 g ) was dissolved in etoh ( 240 ml ) and h 2 o ( 1 l ) pre - heated to about 90 ° c ., and then the volume was reduced to 0 . 9 l in a rotary evaporator . the remaining solution was lyophilized in a virtis 10 src lyophilization chamber at - 42 ° c . to yield the title compound . amorphous 3 -[ n -( p - chlorobenzyl )- 3 -( t - butylthio )- 5 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) indol - 2 - yl ]- 2 , 2 - dimethylpropanoic acid , sodium salt ( amorphous l - 708 from l - 708 na + salt ) a 50 l 3 - necked flask carrying a thermometer probe was fitted with a mechanical stirrer , a nitrogen inlet through the top of a reflux condenser , and a downward condensor with a receiving flask and placed in a steam mantle . the flask was charged with 22 l of h 2 o , 2 l of absolute etoh , and 1099 g of the crystalline form of the title compound . after addition of a further 3 l of absolute etoh , the mixture was stirred at 81 °- 82 ° c . until a clear solution was obtained ( about 20 min .). the receiving flask was cooled in dry ice and a vacuum of - 100 kpa was applied to the stirred solution through the receiving flask . steam heating was continued in order to maintain the temperature at 17 ° c . evaporation was continued until the solution started to become cloudy ( about 2 hr .). the mixture was vacuum filtered through a sintered glass funnel , and the filtrate ( 17 . 5 l ) was divided among 6 lyophilization trays ( 18 . 25 × 23 . 75 in .). the trays were placed in the cold lyophilization chamber ( virtis ) and 2 . 5 hr . later , with the shelf temperature at - 55 ° c ., the vacuum was turned on . ______________________________________lapsed time ( hr .) shelf temp . (° c . ) ______________________________________0 - 55 ° 4 - 25 ° 17 . 5 - 15 ° 66 . 5 0 ° 98 . 5 25 ° 114 . 5 30 ° 140 . 5 30 ° ______________________________________ crystalline 3 -[ n -( p - chlorobenzyl )- 3 -( t - butylthio )- 5 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) indol - 2 - yl ]- 2 , 2 - dimethylpropanoic acid , sodium salt ( 15 g ) was dissolved in 360 ml of 20 % ethanol / water by heating at reflux for 30 mins . the solution was cooled to 40 °- 50 ° c . and fed uniformly over 30 minutes to a buchi model 190 mini spray drier to yield 8 g of product . drying was at inlet and outlet air temperatures of 150 ° c . and 104 ° c ., respectively . the dried product was amorphous by x - ray diffraction and contained 1 . 4 % water by karl fischer and 0 . 01 % ethanol by gas chromatography analyses . solubility was measured by stirring 100 mg / ml in water ( 10 ml ) of amorphous l - 708 at room temperature . at 48 hrs . 1 ml of the suspension was drawn and centrifuged . the supernatant was diluted and content of amorphous l - 708 was measured by both u . v . spectrophotometry and by hplc . this gave a concentration of 55 mg / ml . amorphous 3 -[ n -( p - chlorobenzyl )- 3 -( t - butylthio )- 5 -( quinolin - 2 - ylmethoxy ) indol - 2 - yl ]- 2 , 2 - dimethylpropanoic acid , sodium salt ( amorphous l - 708 from l - 708 na + salt ) 58 l h 2 o was heated to 81 ° c ., then 15 l etoh and 3249 g of the crystalline form of the title compound were added . when the solution became clear ( 75 ° c . ), it was cooled to ambient and the etoh was distilled under approximately 25 mm vacuum . the temperature ranged from 18 °- 21 ° c . distillation was continued until a 32 l slurry remained ( approximately 100 mg / ml ). the slurry was divided among 6 trays of a virtis freeze dryer and frozen overnight at 70 ° c . then the vacuum was turned on to 30 μm , following which the shelf was warmed to 15 ° c . and held at that temperature for 46 hours . the shelf was warmed to 30 ° c . over 2 hours and held there for 18 . 5 hours . the residual ethanol by 1 h nmr was 0 . 9 %. the trays were then heated to 65 ° c . for 19 hours in a hull vacuum dryer and yielded the freeze - dried title product ; 3161 g . residual ethanol by 1 h nmr was 0 . 6 %.	2
referring now to fig1 an electrode assembly 10 according to the present invention is shown attached to an electrode holder 12 . as illustrated , electrode assembly 10 generally has four parts , ultrasonic probe 20 ; structural support system 21 ; shell 13 ; and cooling circuit 23 , each playing a vital roll in its operation . at its core , electrode assembly 10 has ultrasonic probe 20 which is responsible for generating acoustic energy . supporting ultrasonic probe 20 within electrode assembly 10 is structural support system 21 . this structural support system 21 maintains ultrasonic probe in position while allowing coolant to flow around ultrasonic probe 20 and through electrode assembly 10 . the outer periphery of electrode assembly 10 consists of shell 13 which conducts electrical current for spot welding and provides protection to the internal components of electrode assembly 10 . between shell 13 and structural support assembly 21 lies a cooling circuit 23 for cooling shell 13 and ultrasonic probe 20 . in the following discussion , each of these elements will be discussed in greater detail . referring now to fig2 electrode assembly 10 is shown in greater detail . here , shell 13 has an has an electrode cap 14 , lower adaptor 16 and an upper adaptor 18 . to facilitate the flow of coolant from electrode holder 12 to electrode assembly 10 , electrode holder 12 is provided with an internal sleeve 22 . sleeve 22 is radially spaced from outer sleeve 24 , creating a gap 26 therebetween . this gap 26 allows coolant to flow from electrode assembly 10 and into electrode holder 12 . similar to gap 26 , the internal diameter of internal sleeve 22 forms a passage 28 which channels coolant into electrode assembly 10 . as such , passage 28 and gap 26 provide the entrance and exit passages for internal cooling circuit 21 within electrode assembly 10 . internal sleeve 22 and lower adaptor 16 serve as the structural base for structural support system 21 designed to support ultrasonic probe 20 . besides these elements , structural support system 21 generally comprises upper ultrasonic probe holder 32 and lower ultrasonic probe holder 34 . internal sleeve 22 , at its lower periphery as shown , attaches to upper ultrasonic probe holder 32 . upper ultrasonic probe holder 32 , in turn , attaches to lower ultrasonic probe holder 34 . lower ultrasonic probe holder 34 is then attached to and supported by lower adaptor 16 by sleeve 38 . because only internal sleeve 22 and lower adaptor 16 connect structural support system 21 to shell 13 , a gap 36 is formed between structural support system 21 and shell 13 . this gap 36 provides a major portion of internal cooling circuit 21 which passage 28 and gap 26 is designed to service . in fig3 a cross - sectional view of lower adaptor 16 is shown . channels 40 fluidly connect an upper area 42 with passage 44 . in fig4 a cross - sectional view at section a of fig3 illustrates channels 40 in greater detail . from the illustration , it may be seen that channels 40 generally comprise a plurality of small cylindrical - like tubes . these tubes allow coolant flow through lower adaptor 16 while maintaining its structural integrity . in fig5 a cross - sectional view of lower ultrasonic probe holder 34 is shown . as illustrated , passages 46 connect upper chamber 50 with lower chamber 48 . in fig6 a cross - sectional view at section b of fig5 similar to lower adaptor 16 , shows that passages 46 generally comprise a plurality of cylindrical channels which allow coolant flow and maintain the structural integrity of ultrasonic probe holder 34 . as discussed previously , structural support system 21 provides support for ultrasonic probe 20 and passages for cooling circuit 21 . ultrasonic probe 20 is supported in position by support plate 52 , lower ultrasonic probe holder 34 , upper ultrasonic probe holder 32 , and upper plate 56 as shown . ultrasonic probe 20 , itself , generally comprises piezoelectric crystal 58 sandwiched between conductive plates 60 . conductive plates 60 serve to provide the required current and voltage across piezoelectric crystal 60 to create vibration , thereby inducing a burst of acoustic energy 67 . as such , conductive plates 60 are electrically connected to plug 62 by electrical leads 64 to provide the required voltage and current . a power source 66 , controlled by computer 68 , is connected to plug 62 to provide the required power thereto . during welding , shell 13 provides a conductive path for welding current to be transmitted from electrode holder 12 to a weld subject . as such , electrical current is conducted from electrode holder 12 through upper adaptor 18 and lower adaptor 16 , terminating at electrode cap 14 . the electrode cap 14 , itself , is the element which is in contact with items which are to be welded . to cool the electrode assembly 10 and protect the ultrasonic probe 20 , cooling circuit 23 is provided . in cooling circuit 21 , coolant is transmitted from electrode holder 12 through internal portion 28 and into upper chamber 50 . coolant moves from upper chamber 50 , through passages 46 of lower ultrasonic probe holder 34 and into lower chamber 48 , thereby ensuring that ultrasonic probe 20 remains cool . coolant then passes from lower chamber 48 , through passage 44 of lower adaptor 16 , to area 70 within electrode cap 14 , thereby cooling electrode cap 14 . coolant next moves from area 70 into channels 40 of lower adaptor 16 , through gap 36 , thereby cooling lower adaptor 16 and upper adaptor 18 , and exits through gap 26 . referring now to fig7 the operation of the present invention will now be described . in fig7 upper electrode assembly 110 and lower electrode assembly 210 , having the same components as electrode assembly 10 , are shown attached to upper electrode holder 112 and lower electrode holder 212 , respectively . upper electrode holder 112 and lower electrode holder 212 are mechanically and electrically engaged with spot welder 41 as is known . during operation , weld subject 80 , here consisting of two or more overlapping plates 84 and 86 , are clamped between lower electrode assembly 210 and upper electrode assembly 110 . electrical current is then transmitted from upper electrode assembly 110 to lower electrode assembly 210 , through weld subject 80 , creating weld nugget 86 . when weld subject 80 is initially clamped and before weld current flow and formation of weld nugget 86 , computer 68 instructs upper electrode assembly 110 to generate bursts of acoustic energy 67 which pass through and are reflected by upper plate 82 , weld nugget 86 , and lower plate 84 . these bursts continue until after weld nugget 86 has been formed and cooled . the portion of each burst of acoustic energy 67 which passes through these elements , intersects and resonates piezoelectric crystal 58 of lower electrode assembly 210 . the portion which is reflected by these elements , resonates piezoelectric crystal 58 of upper electrode assembly 110 . this resonation induces a current in conductive plates 60 , sending electrical signals to computer 68 . referring now to fig1 , a schematic illustrating weld subject 80 , upper electrode assembly 110 and lower electrode assembly 210 is provided . rays 250 , 252 , 254 , and 258 are reflected portions of initial burst of acoustic energy 67 . different portions of burst of acoustic energy 67 reflect off different portions of weld subject 80 . specifically , ray 250 represents acoustic energy reflected upward from the upper surface of upper weld plate 82 , ray 252 represents acoustic energy reflected from upper portion of weld nugget 86 , rays 254 represent acoustic energy reflected from the interface between upper plate 82 and lower plate 84 , and ray 258 represents acoustic energy reflected from the interface between weld nugget 86 and lower plate 84 . similarly , ray 256 represents acoustic energy which passes through weld subject 80 and ultimately intersects and resonates piezoelectric crystal 58 of lower electrode assembly 210 . the time of flight ( tof ), time from transmission of burst of acoustic energy 67 until reception , is indicative of certain characteristics of weld subject 80 , weld nugget 86 and even upper electrode 110 . referring now to fig1 , a time amplitude graph is shown which plots each ray 250 , 252 , 254 or 258 in time . each spike represents the signal strength , generated by resonation of piezoelectric crystal 58 in upper electrode assembly 110 . the time between each of these spikes is used to determine certain characteristics about weld subject 80 and upper electrode assembly 110 . for instance , the tof of ray 250 ( tof 260 in fig1 ), which represents time between transmission and reception of acoustic energy which results in ray 250 , can be used to determine the wear of upper electrode assembly 110 . likewise , ray 252 together with ray 250 can be used to generate tof 262 used to determine the residual thickness of upper plate 82 , and together with ray 258 can be used to generate tof 264 and determine the thickness of weld nugget 86 . rays 254 , which are reflected only outside weld nugget 86 , can be used to determine the cross section of weld nugget 86 . ray 256 is used by computer 68 generate a time history of the welding process . this time history follows a somewhat predictable pattern from which characteristics of the weld nugget 86 may be configured . initially , when plates 84 and 86 are clamped between lower electrode assembly 210 and upper electrode assembly 110 , before the flow of electrical current begins and before maximum clamping pressure , the strength of ray 256 is small and the electrical signal generated from lower electrode assembly 210 , in response to ray 256 , is near zero . as the applied force from the clamping action of upper electrode assembly 110 and lower electrode assembly 210 increases , the strength of ray 256 increases to a peak , then remains constant until the welding current is generated . during heating , the strength of ray 256 increases causing the signal produced by piezoelectric crystal 58 to likewise increase . after current flow and during cooling of weld nugget 86 , the signal strength fluctuates according to temperature and phase transition of the cooling metal . this signal strength and fluctuation during the welding process can be used to form a kind of acoustic signature of the process and determine certain characteristics of the weld nugget 86 . in particular , primary informative parameters of the signal ( magnitude and phase ) tend to follow the metal heating and melting stages . experimental ultrasonic patterns , as a function of time , as well as real time welding current values , tend to correlate with the diameter of the weld nugget 86 . by using a representative set of the signatures and comparing them with destructive tests ( peel tests ), quantitative calibration characteristics can be established . those calibration characteristics can be explicit ones , or the final guess about the weld could be established using neural networking algorithms . either way , this information can be used to determine valuable information about the weld subject 80 . referring now to fig8 and 9 , ultrasonic probe 20 of lower electrode assembly 210 is replaced with ultrasonic array 120 . ultrasonic array 120 differs from ultrasonic probe 20 in that ultrasonic array 120 has a plurality of sensing elements as opposed to only one . in fig8 ultrasonic array 120 is shown having a plurality of independent ultrasonic probes 120 a , 120 b , and 120 c , each generating an output signal independent from the remainder . to form these elements , each independent piezoelectric crystal 58 a , 58 b , and 58 c is sandwiched by independent conductive plates 60 a , 60 b , and 60 c . each set of conductive plates 60 a , 60 b , and 60 c communicates with computer 68 , allowing each independent piezoelectric crystal 58 a , 58 b , and 58 c to provide a different output signal to computer 68 . in operation , each burst of acoustic energy 67 intersects various and different portions of ultrasonic array 120 . as such , bursts of acoustic energy 67 which pass through weld nugget 86 may intersect one portion of ultrasonic array 120 while other bursts of acoustic energy 67 intersect other portions of ultrasonic array 120 . for example , as shown in fig7 bursts of acoustic energy 67 which pass through weld nugget 86 intersect independent piezoelectric crystal 58 a while bursts of acoustic energy 67 which bypass weld nugget 86 intersect independent piezoelectric crystals 58 b and 58 c . as such , the outputs generated by independent piezoelectric crystal 58 a will be different than the outputs from independent piezoelectric crystals 58 b and 58 c . the result is that computer 68 is able to analyze the received information and provide a more accurate result of the size and geometry of weld nugget 86 . it is noted that ultrasonic probe 20 of upper electrode assembly 110 may be also constructed similar to ultrasonic array 120 , thereby providing a plurality of independent and separate bursts of acoustic energy 67 . while the above detailed description describes the preferred embodiment of the present invention , it should be understood that the present invention is susceptible to modification , variation , and alteration without deviating from the scope and fair meaning of the subadjoined claims .	6
fig1 shows a general layout of a cell 2 used for holographic liquid crystal elements according to the invention . the element comprises a transparent cathode 4 and a transparent anode 6 electrically connected to a power supply 8 for creating an electrical field between these . the electrodes are held by transparent substrates 5 and 7 and encompass a lc gel phase or a lc pre - gel mixture 10 . macroscopic orientation within the pre - gel mixture is induced by orientation layers 1 and 3 . these layers are usually made of uniaxially rubbed polymer such as polyimide for planar orientation . in order to induce perpendicular orientation of molecules with respect to surface the orientation layers can chosen to be surfactants . the various kinds of applicable layers are known by those skilled in the art . fig2 illustrates a simple layout for forming a holographic element . here , in a first step , a beam from a laser 11 is split by a polarizing beam splitter 12 and then brought together to interfere , forming fringes inside the cell 2 containing a lc pre - gel mixture . lasers emitting in uv or near uv are very suitable . the interference fringes shown in the exploded view gives a sinusoidal varying illumination of the mixture , and the reactive monomers tend to diffuse to the areas with high intensity to start forming a polymer network . after the first illumination , the cell is exposed to a more intensive flood illumination without the spatial variation whereby the bulk mixture is polymerized . as the first illumination step is limited by diffusion , the first step involves low intensity over longer times whereas the second illumination steps are a higher intensity . as a result , regions 14 and 15 with high and low polymer network density , respectively , are formed , high - density regions switching at much higher voltages than low - density regions . it is important not to have large difference in the refractive indices n h and n l of the regions in order to avoid diffraction in the electric field off state . as the lc gel is anisotropic , it is therefore also important to control the orientation during the illumination steps , e . g . by surface coating of the electrodes or a voltage bias . furthermore it is important to have high diffraction efficiency . in order to get high diffraction efficiency from such a grating , the duty ratio should be 50 % ( i . e . x 1 = x 2 ) and the phase difference needs to be half a wave ( i . e . d *[ n h − n l ]= λ / 2 ). fig3 a and b show optical photographs of the resulting elements at different applied voltage observed between crossed polarizing filters . areas illuminated during the first step gave regions within the gel with a high threshold voltage . this explains why , when an electric field was applied across the gel , these areas do not switch , and only the areas which was irradiated only in second stage of radiation starts to switch . fig3 a and b shows resulting holographic grating elements in an off ( v = 0 ) and on ( v ≠ 0 ) state respectively . in fig4 , the threshold voltage v c is plotted as a function of cross linker ( c6m ) concentration for three different gels having different monofunctional monomer ( cb6 ) concentrations . hence , the three curves of the graph represent gels formed by polymerizing different amounts of monofunctional monomer , whereas the variation in each curve is related to the degree of polymerization of the given system . the system with the most monomers forms high network densities ( i . e . high v c ) faster than the system with fewer monomers . here , the cross linker is c6m , a diacrylate shown in fig5 and the monofunctional monomer is cb6 , a monoacrylate also shown in fig5 . fig5 also shows the structure of another , chiral monoacrylate ccb6 . the photoinitiator concentration in the mixtures was 0 . 5 % and the intensity of the uv light was 1 mw / cm 2 . it can also be seen that the threshold voltage remained constant up to a certain cross linker concentration , above which the threshold voltage rapidly increases . the fact that the threshold voltage shows an increase above a critical concentration indicates that the elastic constant in the expression ( 1 ) for the threshold voltage shows an increase above this concentration , corresponding to the gel - point of the system . at this concentration a three - dimensional network is created by the side - chain polymers formed by the monoacrylate molecules cross - linked by the diacrylate molecules . it can be seen from fig4 that there is an inverse relationship between the monomer and cross linker concentrations necessary to reach the gel - point . furthermore , for gels with high monomer concentrations , the increase in v c above the gel - point is much faster than for gels with lower monomer concentrations . in the following , we describe two different anisotropic gel systems used to study holographic recording . one of the systems is uniaxially oriented gel with a positive birefringence “ gel 1 ”. the other system is a gel with a negative birefringence “ gel 2 ”. gel 2 is obtained using a chiral system with a very short pitch comparable that of the wavelength of light . such a twisted configuration gives the system negative birefringence . furthermore such a negative birefringent system has the property of showing no polarization direction dependence for light falling perpendicular to the cell . photoinitiator irgacure 651 ( 0 . 5 %) diacrylate c6m ( variable ) monoacrylate cb6 ( 20 %) non reactive liquid crystal e7 ( 80 %) photoinitiator irgacure 651 ( 0 . 5 %) diacrylate c6m ( variable ) chiral monoacrylate ccb6 ( 20 %) chiral cb15 ( 35 %) non reactive liquid crystal bl98 ( 45 %) we produced gratings using the holographic set up shown in fig2 where the period of the fringes was 10 μm . we estimated the efficiency of the gratin by measuring the zero order peak intensity i 0 . for the gel 1 system , i 0 was measured as a function of the cross linker ( c6m ) concentration , and the result is plotted in the graph of fig6 . from fig6 it can be seen that the intensity of the zero order shows a rapid decrease at around 0 . 5 % cross linker concentration . this point determines the onset of efficient diffraction and is critically dependent on the relative cross linker and monomer concentrations . a series of measurements of how much diacrylate ( cross linker ) was necessary with a given monoacrylate ( monomer ) concentration for a system to reach the onset of good diffraction efficiency was conducted . fig7 shows the results in a graph of inverse cross linker concentration 1 / c cl as a function of monomer concentration c m . from fig7 it can be determined that there is an inverse relationship between monomer and cross linker concentrations necessary to reach the onset of efficient diffraction . a linear regression of the curve of fig7 yields the relationship which may be used as a guideline for determining proper relative amounts of cross linker and monomer . it was also determined that the intensity of the zero order peak from gratings could be decreased further when the system was provided with a nonlinear photo absorber , e . g . a dye , in the lc pre - gel mixture . fig8 shows a graph of the zero order peak intensity i 0 versus a dye concentration c d for a grating formed by holographic illumination of the following mixture : irgacure 651 ( 0 . 5 %) diacrylate c6m ( 0 . 8 ) chiral monoacrylate ccb6 ( 20 %) chiral cb15 ( 35 %) non reactive lc bl98 ( 45 %) dye molecule 11646 ( variable , c d ) as can be seen , the addition of dye increases the diffraction efficiency considerably ; from i 0 = 8 . 5 at zero dye concentration to i 0 = 3 . 5 at 0 , 2 % dye concentration . adding more dye slowly deteriorates the extinction of the zero order , most likely by introducing more scattering in the system . it appears that the optimum dye concentration is to be in the interval 0 & lt ; c d ≦ 0 . 2 %, at least for dye molecule 11646 . another dye molecule 457 was also found be working effectively . the structure of these dyes is shown in fig1 f and g . the effect of the nonlinear absorption component is attributed to its strong absorption at low intensities and weak absorption at high intensities . thereby , in the fringe pattern shown in fig2 , the nonlinear absorption absorbs radiation mainly in the low intensity regions 15 and thereby reduces the illumination of the photoinitiator and thereby polymerization in these regions . this will increase the effective intensity contrast between highly and lowly illuminated regions 14 and 15 and thereby the diffraction efficiency of the system . fig9 shows a set - up similar to the set - up of fig2 . here , a cell 2 containing a lc pre - gel mixture is illuminated by an interference pattern of a lens 17 . the pattern is generated by overlapping two coherent beams , one of which is the image plane of lens 17 . this setup was used to record a lens function in the cell 2 . the resulting dynamic hologram is transparent in the field off state , and fig1 a and b show the element in voltage off / on states . fig1 a and b shows the use of the fabricated dynamic hologram in forming an image of a logo . the hologram of the lens was held between a camera and the logo and pictures 11 a and b was taken with v = 0 and v ≠ 0 respectively . there are a large number of molecules , which can be used as the liquid crystal host in a lc pre - gel mixture . structures of a non - exclusive list of applicable lc molecules are shown in fig1 . options for the variable groups x , m , and n of the structures in fig1 are shown in fig1 - 15 . options for the variable groups r and of the structures in fig1 and 15 are shown in fig1 and 17 . in the above description , the fabrication of dynamic lc gel holographic elements of a grating and a lens is shown . it is possible for the person skilled in the art to produce dynamic lc gel holographic elements representing any other optical components . such optical elements can be used in combination with a light source with or without beam shaping optics . the holographic element can be placed in such a system in order to dynamically alter the shape or direction of the light beam . fig1 a schematically shows a light emitting setup 25 dynamic holographic element 20 in combination with a light source 18 . the light source includes passive optics 19 to form a collimated beam 21 incident on the holographic element 20 . when the holographic element 20 is off ( v = 0 ), it does not deflect incident beam 21 as shown in fig1 a . a preferred light source is an led . upon switching the holographic element 20 on ( v ≠ 0 ) using a voltage source , the ordered structure of the hologram cause the incident beam to diverge as shown in fig1 b . as can be seen , the holographic element 20 has the function of a divergent lens or a lens array and can be fabricated using a set - up such as the one shown in fig9 with a divergent lens or a lens array in place of the component 17 . fig1 c shows the same setup with another holographic element 22 having another function . here , beam 21 is deflected as the holographic element 22 has the function of a grating , which can be fabricated according to the set - up such as the one shown fig2 . the light source may emit a white light . however it may also consist of a plurality of light sources emitting different primary colors , typically light emitting diodes . if the intensity of the light sources emitting the different colors can be individually controlled , then the color and / or the color temperature of the light can also be adjusted . when such light source is combined with a dynamic hologram a dynamic light source with color and beam control can be obtained . in the above description the term “ comprising ” does not exclude other elements or steps and “ a ” or “ an ” does not exclude a plurality . furthermore the terms “ include ” and “ contain ” does not exclude other elements or steps .	6
the present invention relates , in general , to an apparatus for abrading a workpiece , such as a thrustwall . more specifically , the apparatus includes a shoe for supporting an abrasive tape , the shoe having a frictional engagement material on a pressure face for frictionally engaging the abrasive tape . the frictional engagement between the frictional engagement material of the shoe and the abrasive tape attenuates relative displacement of the abrasive tape as the workpiece is abraded . although the workpiece is typically rotated with respect to a stationary - shoe , the workpiece could be held stationary and the shoe rotated , or the two components could be rotated in opposite directions simultaneously . thus the present invention should be understood to have general utility in rotative abrading generally , but can also be used in abrading where there is planar motion . referring to fig1 and 2 , a first embodiment of shoes 10 is illustrated as first shoe 14 and second shoe 16 . shoes 10 are used in processes for abrading material from surfaces of a workpiece , such as camshafts and crankshafts . such surfaces include , for example , thrustwalls , lobes and journals . each shoe 14 , 16 has a support surface 20 , specifically , support surfaces 24 , 26 , respectively . support surfaces 20 match the desired profile of the workpiece being abraded . in the illustrated embodiment of fig1 and 2 , support surfaces 24 , 26 are each planar , configured to match the workpiece to be abraded . such shoes 14 , 16 are often referred to as “ thrustwall shoes ”. fig3 illustrates shoes 10 in use on a workpiece . specifically , shoes 14 , 16 are illustrated positioned in relation to a workpiece 50 . in the particular embodiment illustrated , workpiece 50 is a crankshaft . shoes 14 , 16 are positioned so that support surfaces 24 , 26 support an abrasive tape 33 ( supplied via a wind 34 / unwind 32 system , the details of which are not a part of the present invention and , therefore , not shown ). against internal surfaces 51 , 52 of workpiece 50 . as described above , shoes 10 include support surfaces 20 , which support an abrasive tape and generally conform to the surface of the workpiece to be abraded . for example , in fig3 , generally flat portions 51 , 52 of workpiece 50 are adapted for rotation with respect to shoes 14 , 16 , which include flat support surfaces 24 , 26 . fig4 illustrates a frictional engagement material , indicated at reference numeral 80 . material 80 has a flexible substrate 82 supporting discrete , individual friction areas 84 . these areas 84 comprise abrasive particles 86 held to substrate 82 by a binder 88 . substrate 82 can be any material that is flexible . typically , a flexible substrate 82 is capable of being conformed to an arcuate object without imparting undue stress into the substrate . examples of typical flexible substrate 82 include paper , polymeric film , vulcanized fiber , and fibrous materials , such as woven or nonwoven materials , scrims , and meshes , treated versions thereof and combinations thereof . suitable materials may comprises polyester , polypropylene , cotton , nylon , rayon , polyamides , polyaramides , and the like . additionally , it is preferred that substrate 82 be porous or otherwise ‘ open ’, for example , like a woven scrim . the thickness of the flexible substrate 82 will generally be about 5 to 1000 micrometers , preferably about 25 to 250 micrometers . optionally , an additional flexible support 90 is provided under substrate 82 . the thickness of the frictional material ( i . e . : flex diamond material or other abrasives ) adhered to the shoes plays a very important part in polishing or dimensioning the abraded area . for example , a thicker backed product ( i . e . : cloth or polyester ) provides compressibility in the backing allowing for improvements in surface finish . in essence , the softer the backing supporting the microfinishing film , the finer the finish . the thinner the backing on the frictional material becomes ( i . e . : polyester film ), the less compressible it is and the greater ability it has to generate geometric improvements . unlike a plated diamond shoe , which is used primarily to make geometric improvements , this shoe design utilizes different thicknesses of frictional material enabling it to generate geometry , or follow existing geometry . the key in determining which backing to use is dependent upon the criteria of the application in which the shoes are being used . on the front side of the substrate 82 , a plurality of discrete , individual friction areas 84 are bonded . the discrete , individual friction areas 84 are individual entities and are spaced apart from one another . there is not a continuous friction area 84 . the individual friction areas 84 provide a flexible material 80 , which can be conformed to the support surface 20 . the height of the discrete , individual friction areas 84 will typically be about 25 to 800 micrometers , preferably about 20 to 450 micrometers from the surface of substrate 82 . the diameter of the discrete , individual friction areas 84 will typically be about 0 . 1 to 5 mm , preferably about 0 . 2 to 3 mm , and , most preferably , about 0 . 25 to 2 mm . approximately about 15 to 90 %, preferably about 15 to 50 %, of the substrate 82 surface area will contain discrete , individual friction areas 84 . the discrete , individual friction areas 84 can have a random shape or form . conversely , the discrete , individual friction areas 84 can have a geometric shape such as a circle , a triangle , square , rectangle , diamond , etc . in addition , the discrete , individual friction areas 84 can be arranged in a specified pattern on the backing suitable examples of abrasive particles 86 for the friction engagement material include diamond , cubic boron nitride , fused alumina , heat treated alumina , ceramic aluminum oxide , alumina - zirconia , silicon carbide , garnet , tungsten carbide , boron carbide , titanium carbide , ceria , iron oxide , silica , and silicon nitride . the particle size of the abrasive particles 86 will be about 0 . 1 to 1000 micrometers , preferably about 1 to 100 micrometers . the shape of each abrasive particles 86 can be random or it can be a specified shape . the choice of grain size can vary , as the particular conditions of use require . individual friction areas 84 may have a combination of two or more different abrasive particles 86 . the individual friction areas 84 may also include diluent particles such as graystone , marble or gypsum . additionally , in certain applications there may be a coating on the particles 86 to improve the adhesion to the binder 88 . the purpose of the binder 88 is to secure the abrasive particles 86 to the substrate 82 . it is preferred that a portion of the abrasive particles 86 protrudes from and past the surface of the binder 88 . the binder 88 can be an organic binder or an inorganic binder . examples of organic binders include phenolic resins , urea - formaldehyde resins , acrylate resins , epoxy resins , melamine resins , aminoplast resins , isocyanate resins , urethane resins , polyester resins and combinations thereof . examples of inorganic binders include metals , silicates , and silica . the preferred binder 88 is a metallic binder , and examples include tin , bronze , nickel , silver , iron , alloys thereof and combinations thereof . it is most preferred that the binder 88 be applied to the substrate 82 by an electroplating process . the abrasive particles 86 are applied simultaneously during the electroplating process . in a preferred embodiment of material 80 , flexible substrate 82 is a porous , woven mesh , such as woven polyester material , flexible support 90 is paper or film , abrasive particles 86 are diamond or cubic boron nitride , and binder 88 is nickel . preferably , at least a portion of binder 88 penetrates through substrate 82 to form an increased bond between individual friction areas 84 and substrate 82 . such material 80 is commercially available from 3m company under the trade designation “ flex diamond ” abrasive articles , and is available with various sizes of diamond abrasive particles 86 ( for example , 20 micrometer , 40 micrometer , 74 micrometer , 100 micrometer , and 120 micrometer ). in this exemplary embodiment of material 80 , the nickel binder 88 is electroplated onto substrate 82 . during the electroplating process , the flexible substrate 82 is placed over an electrically conductive metal drum and the nickel binder 88 is electroplated through the scrim . it is inherent in this process that a portion of the nickel will be on the back side of the substrate 82 , and the remainder of the nickel will be present on the front side of the substrate 82 as the binder 88 . one exemplary process for preparing material 80 is described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 256 , 467 ( gorsuch ), which is incorporated herein by reference . another exemplary process for preparing material 80 is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 318 , 604 ( gorsuch et al . ), which is also incorporated herein by reference . additional methods for making an exemplary frictional engagement material , such as material 80 of fig4 , are taught in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 047 , 902 ( wiand ) and u . s . pat . no . 4 , 863 , 573 ( moore et al . ), each of these being incorporated herein by reference . as described above , shoe 10 has a support surface 20 to which a frictional engagement material is attached . the frictional engagement material is preferably attached to the support surface 20 by known attachment methods , such as adhering with an epoxy , and the like . a primer can be used to improve the bond . the term “ tape ,” as used throughout this description when referring to the abrasive , is not intended to limit the relative size or construction of the abrasive member used in conjunction with the shoes of the present invention . typically , the abrasive tape is a narrow strip of abrasive material , where the length of the material is significantly larger than its width . the tape is typically provided by a supply roll of abrasive tape to the abrading apparatus . in one exemplary embodiment , the abrasive tape is a coated abrasive as is known in the art , which comprises a plurality of abrasive particles attached to the substrate . the substrate may be , for example , a polymeric film , ( including primed polymeric film ), cloth , paper , a nonwoven material , rubber , or combinations thereof . the abrasive tape includes a binder applied over the front face of the substrate . the plurality of abrasive particles are typically embedded into this binder . examples of typical abrasive article binders include phenolic resins , aminoplast resins having pendant alpha , beta unsaturated carbonyl groups , urethane resins , hide glue , epoxy resins , acrylate resins , acrylated isocyanurate resins , urea - formaldehyde resins , isocyanurate resins , acrylated urethane resins , acrylated epoxy resins , and mixtures thereof . the binder can include additives , such as fillers , fibers , antistatic agents , humectants , lubricants , fire retardants , wetting agents , surfactants , pigments , dyes , coupling agents , plasticizers , suspending agents , and the like . a second binder , commonly referred to as a size coat , may be applied over the abrasive particles . when using a size coat , the first binder is commonly referred to as a make coat . typical examples of size coat materials include the same materials described above for the first binder . in some embodiments , a third binder ( also not shown ), commonly referred to as a supersize coating , may be applied over the second binder . a supersize coating is typically used to minimize loading of the abrasive substrate . the specific materials and components forming the abrasive tape may be selected to provide a desired abrading performance . the abrasive particles are at least 0 . 01 micrometer and usually no greater than 400 micrometers in size , and are preferably about 1 to 120 micrometers , although finer or coarser particles may used as desired for the particular application . the abrasive particles may include , for example , aluminum oxide ( including fused , ceramic , heat treated , or white aluminum oxide ), silicon carbide , alumina zirconia , diamond , iron oxide , silica , ceria , cubic boron nitride , garnet , and combinations thereof . the abrasive particles could be an abrasive agglomerate formed from single abrasive particles bonded together . agglomerates include a plurality of abrasive particles held together by a binder , such as a resinous , glass , ceramic , or metal binder . the agglomerates are preferably about 1 micrometer to 1500 micrometers in size , and preferably are about 60 to 500 micrometers in size . the agglomerates may be precisely shaped or irregular . examples of shaped agglomerates include cubes , four - sided pyramids , and truncated pyramids . examples of abrasive agglomerates are described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 652 , 275 ( bloecher et al . ); u . s . pat . no . 4 , 799 , 939 ( bloecher et al ); u . s . pat . no . 4 , 541 , 842 ; u . s . pat . no . 5 , 549 , 962 ( holmes et al . ); and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 975 , 988 ( christenson ). one alternative construction of the abrasive tape is referred to as a lapping coated abrasive , which comprises a plurality of abrasive particles distributed throughout a binder , where the binder also serves to bond the abrasive composite to the backing . one example of a lapping film is described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 773 , 920 ( chasman et al .). another alternative abrasive construction is a structured abrasive having three dimensional , precisely shaped abrasive composites bonded to a backing , such as that described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 152 , 917 ( pieper et al . ), and in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 435 , 816 ( spurgeon et al .). these precisely shaped abrasive composites may have various geometric shapes such as pyramids , truncated pyramids , cones , spheres , rods , tapered rods , and the like . non - precisely shaped abrasive composites , such as described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 014 , 468 ( ravipati et al . ), are also suitable . the abrasive tape preferably includes a slip resistant backing layer on the back face of the substrate , the slip resistant coating generally comprising an inorganic particulate dispersed in a polymeric binder . one example of a backing layer is a coating of calcium carbonate particles in an adhesive material , as is used on the 372 and 382 microfinishing film products type s . another example of a backing layer is a coating of quartz particles in an adhesive material , as is used on the 373 and 383 microfinishing film products type q . it is understood that other particles may also be used in the backing layer , articles such as clay , metal shavings ( e . g ., bronze ), aluminum oxide , silicon carbide , alumina zirconia , diamond , iron oxide , mullite , silica , ceria , cubic boron nitride , garnet and combinations thereof . while an abrasive tape having a coating as the backing layer is preferred , other tape configurations may be used with the present invention . for example , the abrasive tape may have no backsize coating or may include any other type of coating on the back face 30 , such as the gripper coating described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 109 , 638 ( kime , jr .). for another example , the substrate may be a resilient foam , such as a urethane or acrylate , or may be a polymeric film coextruded with a polyester on one side and a polyolefin on the opposite side . the backing layer is selected so that the friction between the frictional engagement material 80 on shoe 10 is greater than the friction present between the abrasive surface of the abrasive tape and the workpiece being abraded or finished . in other works , in used , a first coefficient of friction is induced between the back face of the abrasive tape and the frictional engagement material on the shoe , and a second coefficient of friction is induced between the abrasive face and the outer peripheral surface of the workpiece , during relative rotation between the workpiece and the shoe ; the first coefficient of friction is larger than the second coefficient of friction . various modifications and alterations of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and principles of this invention , and it should be understood that this invention is not to be unduly limited to the illustrative embodiments set forth hereinabove . the above specification provides a complete description of the construction and use of the shoes of the invention . since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention , the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended .	1
the present invention provides processes and systems for recrystallization of semiconductor thin films by laser annealing . the processes for recrystallization of semiconductor thin films involve one - shot irradiation of regions of a semiconductor thin film workpiece to a laser beam . the systems direct a laser beam to a region or spot on the surface of the semiconductor thin film . the incident laser beam has sufficient intensity or fluence to melt targeted portions of the region or spot of the semiconductor thin film on which the laser beam is incident . after the targeted incident areas or portions are melted , the laser beam is moved or stepped to another region or spot on the semiconductor thin film . the molten semiconductor material recrystallizes when the incident laser beam is moved away . the dwell time of the laser beam on a spot on the semiconductor thin film may be sufficient small so that the recrystallization of an entire semiconductor thin film workpiece can be carried out quickly with high throughput rates . in order that the invention herein described can be fully understood the subsequent description is set forth in the context of laser annealing of silicon thin films . the annealed silicon thin films may be intended for exemplary tft device applications . it will , however , be understood that the invention is equally applicable to other types of materials and / or other types of device applications . an embodiment of the present invention is described herein with reference to fig1 - 6 . thin film silicon workpieces ( see e . g ., workpiece 170 , fig2 and 4 - 6 ) are used herein as illustrative workpieces . workpiece 170 may , for example , be a film of amorphous or randomly expanding and collimating lenses 141 and 142 , homogenizer 144 , condenser lens 145 , a field lens 148 , eye piece 161 , controllable shutter 152 , multi - element objective lens 163 ), also may , for example , he any suitable commercially available optical components sold by the by lambda physik usa , or by other vendors . the suitable optical components 120 - 163 for shaping and directing the radiation beam may include a masking system 150 . masking system 150 may be a projection masking system , which is used for patterning incident radiation ( 149 ) so that radiation beam ( 164 ) that is ultimately incident on workpiece 170 is geometrically shaped or patterned . stage assembly 180 , on which workpiece 170 rests during processing , may be any suitable motorized translation stage capable of movement in one or more dimensions . a translation stage capable of high translation speeds may be advantageous for the high throughput single - shot processing described herein . stage assembly 80 may he supported on suitable support structures to isolate the thin film silicon workpiece 170 from vibrations . the support structures may , for example , include conventional optical benches such as a granite block optical bench 190 mounted on a vibration isolation and self - leveling system 191 , 192 , 193 and 194 . a computer 100 may be linked to laser 110 , modulator 120 , stage assembly 180 and other controllable components of apparatus 1000 . computer 100 may be used to control the timing and fluence of the incident laser beam pulses and the relative movement of the stage assembly 180 . computer 100 may be programmed to controllably move stage assembly translation stage 180 in x , y and z directions . workpiece 170 may be moved , for example , over predetermined distances in the x - y plane and as well as in the z direction in response to instruction from computer 1000 . in operation , the position of workpiece 170 relative to the incident radiation beam 164 may be continuously adjusted or intermittently reset during the single - shot laser annealing process at suitable times according to preprogrammed process recipes for single shot recrystallization of workpiece 170 . the movement of workpiece 170 may be synchronized or co - ordinated with the timing of radiation beam pulses generated by laser 100 . in apparatus 1000 , the movement of stage assembly 180 translates the workpiece 170 and the radiation beam ( 164 ) relative to each other . in the processing described herein the radiation beam ( 164 ) is held fixed in a position or orientation while stage 180 is moved . alternative configurations or arrangements of optical components may be used to move incident radiation beam 164 and workpiece 170 relative to each other along defined paths . for example , a computer - controlled beam steering mirror may be used to deflect radiation beam 164 while stage 180 is held fixed in position . by such beam deflecting arrangements it may be possible to completely or partially dispense with the use of mechanical projection masks ( e . g ., masking system 150 ) and instead use electronic or optical beam guiding mechanisms to scan or step selected portions of workpiece 170 at a rapid pace . using apparatus 1000 , sequential lateral solidification of molten semiconductor material may be achieved using , for example , the processes that involve incremental movement or shifting the position of stage 180 between excimer laser pulses as described in the &# 39 ; 531 patent . the movements of stage 170 are small , so that the portions of the silicon thin film that are molten by sequential pulses are proximate to each other . the proximity of the two molten portions allows the first portion to recrystallize and propagate its crystal structure into the adjacent portion , which is melted by the next pulse . in the single shot recrystallization processes described here , apparatus 1000 may be used to scan or step a laser beam across the surface of a semiconductor thin film by moving of stage assembly 180 . the laser beam has sufficient intensity or fluence to melt target areas in the regions or spots at which the laser beam pulses are incident . to process an entire workpiece 170 , stage assembly 180 may be moved predetermined distances to cause the laser beam to move along paths across semiconductor thin film 175 / workpiece 170 . fig2 also schematically shows paths 230 , 255 etc . that may be traced by incident radiation beam 164 as it is moved across the surface of the workpiece 170 . the number of paths and their geometrical orientation may be determined by the cross sectional dimensions of the laser beam and the target area requirements of the circuit or device applications for which workpiece 170 is being processed . accordingly , the surface of a . semiconductor thin film 175 / workpiece 170 may be partitioned in a geometric array of regions for generating processing recipes for computer 1000 or otherwise controlling the operation of apparatus 1000 . fig2 shows an exemplary geometrical partitioning of the surface of a semiconductor thin film 175 on workpiece 170 . in the exemplary geometrical partitioning shown in fig2 , the surface is divided into a number of rows ( e . g ., 205 , 206 , 207 , etc .) each having a width w . the widths of rows w may be selected with consideration to the cross sectional width of incident radiation beam 164 . each row contains one or more regions . as an illustrative numerical example , workpiece 170 may have x and y dimensions of about 30 cms and 40 cms , respectively . each of rows 205 , 206 , 207 , . . . etc ., may , for example , have a width w of about vi cm in the y direction . this value of w may , for example , correspond a laser beam width of about the same size . thus , the surface of workpiece 170 can be divided into eighty ( 80 ) rows each with a length of about 30 cms in the x direction . each row contains one or more regions whose combined length equals 30 cms ( not shown ). the co - ordinates of each row may be stored in computer 100 for use by the processing recipes . computer 1000 may use the stored co - ordinates , for example , to compute the direction , timing and travel distances of stage 180 during the processing . the co - ordinates also may be used , for example , to time the firing of laser 110 so that designated regions of semiconductor thin film 175 are irradiated as stage 180 is moved . workpiece 170 may be translated in linear directions while silicon thin film 175 is being irradiated so that a linear strip of silicon thin film 175 is exposed to radiation beams of melting intensity or fluence . the translation paths traced by the radiation beams may be configured an that the desired portions of the entire surface of thin film silicon 175 are successively treated by exposure to laser beams . the translation paths may be configured , for example , so that the laser beam traverses rows 205 , 206 , 207 , etc . sequentially . in fig2 , the radiation beam is initially directed to a point 220 off side 210 ′ near the left end of row 205 . path 230 represents , for example , the translation path traced by the center of the radiation beam through row 205 as stage 180 is moved in the negative x direction , the movement of stage 180 may be conducted in a series of steps in an intermittent stop - and - go fashion , or continuously without pause until the center of the radiation beam is directed to a point 240 near the right end of row 205 . path segments 225 and 235 represent extensions of path 230 that may extend beyond edges 210 ′ and 210 ″ of workpiece 170 to points 220 and 240 , respectively . these segments may be necessary to accommodate acceleration and deceleration of stage assembly 180 at the ends of path 230 and / or may be useful for reinitializing stage 180 position for moving stage 180 in another direction . stage 180 may , for example , be moved in the negative y direction from point 240 , so that the center of the radiation beam traces path 245 to point 247 next to the right end of row 206 in preparation for treating the silicon material in row 206 . from point 247 in manner similar to the movement along path 230 in row 205 ( but in the opposite direction ), stage 180 is moved in the x direction so that the center of the radiation beam moves along path 255 irradiating thin film silicon material in row 206 . the movement may be continued till the center of radiation beam is incident at spot 265 that is near the left end of row 206 . path extensions 260 and 250 represent segments of path 255 that may extend beyond edges 210 ′ and 210 ″ to spots 247 and 265 , respectively . further linear movement of stage 180 in the y direction moves the center of the incident radiation beam along path 270 to a point 272 next to row 207 . then , the thin film silicon material in row 207 may be processed by moving stage 180 in the negative x direction along path 275 and further toward the opposite side 210 ″ of workpiece 170 . by continuing x and y direction movements of stage 180 in the manner described for rows 205 . 206 , and 207 , all of the rows on the surface of thin film silicon 175 may be treated or irradiated . it will be understood that the particular directions or sequence of paths described above are used only for purposes of illustration , other directions or sequences may be used as appropriate . in an operation of apparatus 1000 , silicon thin film 175 may be irradiated by beam pulse 164 whose geometrical profile is defined by masking system 150 . masking system 150 may include suitable projection masks for this purpose . masking system 150 may cause a single incident radiation beam ( e . g ., beam 149 ) incident on it to dissemble into a plurality of beamlets in a geometrical pattern . the beamlets irradiate a corresponding geometrical pattern of target areas in a region on the thin film silicon workpiece . the intensity of each of the beamlets may be chosen to be sufficient to induce complete melting of irradiated thin film silicon portions throughout their ( film ) thickness . the projection masks may be made of suitable materials that block passage of radiation through undesired cross sectional areas of beam 149 but allow passage through desired areas . an exemplary projection mask may have a blocking / unblocking pattern of rectangular stripes or other suitable geometrical shapes which may be arranged in random or in geometrical patterens . the stripes may , for example , be placed in a parallel pattern as shown in fig3 a , or in a mixed parallel and orthogonal pattern as shown in fig3 b , or any other suitable pattern . with reference to fig3 a , exemplary mask 300 a includes beam - blocking portions 310 which has a number of open or transparent slits 301 , 302 , 303 , etc . beam - blocking portions 310 prevent passage of incident portions of incident beam 149 through mask 300 a . in contrast , open or transparent slits 301 , 302 , 303 , etc . permit passage of incident portions of radiation beam 149 through mask 300 . accordingly , radiation beam 164 exiting mask 300 a has a cross section with a geometrical pattern corresponding to the parallel pattern of the plurality of open or transparent slits 301 , 302 , 303 , etc . thus when positioned in masking system 150 , mask 300 a may be used to pattern radiation beam 164 that is incident on semiconductor thin film 175 as a collection of parallel rectangular - shaped beamlets . the beamlets irradiate a corresponding pattern of rectangular target areas in a region on the surface of the on semiconductor thin film 175 . the beamlet dimensions may be selected with a view to promote recrystallization or lateral solidification of thin film silicon areas melted by a beamlet . for example , a side length of a beamlet may be chosen so that corresponding target areas in adjoining regions are contiguous . the size of the beamlets and the inter beamlet separation distances may be selected by suitable choice of the size and separation of transparent slits 301 , 302 , 303 , etc . open or transparent slits 301 , 302 , 303 , etc . having linear dimensions of the order of a micron or larger may , for example , generate laser radiation beamlets having dimensions that are suitable for recrystallization processing of silicon thin films in many instances . fig3 b shows another exemplary mask 300 b with a pattern which is different than that of mask 300 a . in mask 300 b , a number of open or transparent slits 351 , 352 , 361 , 362 . etc . may , for example , be arranged in pairs along the sides of squares . this mask 300 b also may be used in masking system 150 to pattern the radiation beam 164 that is incident on semiconductor thin film 175 . the radiation beam 164 may be patterned , for example , as a collection of beamlets arranged in square - shaped patterns . the beamlet dimensions may be selected with a view to promote recrystallization or lateral solidification of thin film silicon areas melted by a beamlet . open or transparent slits 351 , 352 , 361 , 362 , etc . having linear dimensions of about 0 . 5 micron may generate laser radiation beamlets of suitable dimensions for recrystallization of thin film silicon areas it will be understood that the specific mask patterns shown in fig3 a and 3 b are exemplary . any other suitable mask patterns may be used including , for example , the chevron shaped patterns described in the &# 39 ; 625 patent . a particular mask pattern may be chosen in consideration of the desired placement of tfts or other circuit or device elements in the semiconductor product for which the recrystallized thin film silicon material is intended . fig4 shows , for example , portions of workpiece 170 that has been processed using mask 300 a of fig3 a . ( mask 300 a may be rotated by about 90 degrees from the orientation shown in fig3 a ). the portion shown corresponds to a row , for example , row 205 of workpiece 170 ( fig2 ). row 205 of processed workpiece 170 includes recrystallized polycrystalline silicon linear regions or strips 401 , 402 , etc . each of the linear strips is a result of irradiation by a radiation beamlet formed by a corresponding mask slit 301 , 302 , etc . the continuous extent of recrystallized silicon in the linear strips across row 205 may he a consequence , for example , of a continuous movement of the stage 180 along path 230 under laser beam exposure ( fig2 ). strips 401 , 402 , may have a microstructure corresponding to the one shot exposure with colliding liquid / solid growth fronts in the center creating a long location - controlled grain boundary . alternatively , in a directional solidification process the continuous extent may be a result of closely spaced stepped movements of stage 180 along path 230 that are sufficiently overlapping to permit formation of a continuous recrystallized silicon strip , hi this alternative process , the microstructure of the recrystallized material may have long grains parallel to the scanning direction . the recrystallized polycrystalline silicon ( e . g . strips 401 , 402 , etc .) may have a generally uniform structure , which may he suitable for placement of the active region of one or more tft devices . similarly , fig5 shows , exemplary results using mask 300 b of fig3 b . exemplary processed workpiece 170 includes recrystallized polycrystalline silicon strips 501 , 502 , etc . recrystallized polycrystalline silicon strips 501 , 502 , etc . like strips 401 and 402 may have a uniform crystalline structure , which is suitable for placement of the active regions of tft devices . strips 501 and 502 that are shown to be generally at right angles to each other may correspond to radiation beamlets formed by orthogonal mask slits ( e . g ., fig3 b slits 351 , 361 ). the distinct geometrical orientation and physical separation of strips 501 and 502 ( in contrast to extended length of strips 401 and 402 ) may be a consequence , for example , of physically separated exposure to laser radiation during the processing of workpiece 170 . the separated radiation exposure may be achieved by stepped movement of stage 180 ( e . g ., along path 230 fig2 ) during the processing . additionally or alternatively , the separated exposure may be achieved by triggering laser 110 to generate radiation pulses at appropriate times and positions of stage 180 along path 230 while stage 180 and laser beam 164 are moved or scanned relative to each other at constant speeds . computer 100 may be used control the triggering of laser 110 at appropriate times and positions during the movement of stage 180 . computer 100 may act according to preprogrammed processing recipes that , for example , include geometrical design information for a workpiece - in - process . fig6 shows an exemplary design pattern 600 that may be used by computer 1000 to trigger laser 110 at appropriate times . pattern 600 may be a geometrical grid covering thin film silicon 175 / workpiece 170 . the grid may , for example , be a rectangular x - y grid having co - ordinates ( x 1 , x 2 , . . . etc .) and ( y 1 , y 2 , . . . etc .). the grid spacings may be regular or irregular by design . pattern 600 may be laid out as physical fiducial marks ( e . g ., on the thin film workpiece ) or may be a mathematical construct in the processing recipes . computer 100 may trigger laser 110 when stage 180 is at the grid coordinates ( xi , yi ). computer 100 may do so in response , for example , to conventional position sensors or indicators , which may be deployed to sense the position of stage 180 . alternatively , computer 100 may trigger laser 110 at computed times , which are computed from parameters such as an initial stage position , and the speeds and direction of stage movements from the initial stage position , computer 100 also may be used advantageously to instruct laser 110 to emit radiation pulses at a variable rate , rather than at a usual even rate . the variable rate of pulse generation may be used beneficially to accommodate changes in the speed of stage 180 , for example , as it accelerates or decelerates at the ends of paths 230 and the like . it will be understood that the foregoing is only illustrative of the principles of the invention and that various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention , which is limited only by the claims that follow .	1
fig1 a ˜ 1h illustrate manufacturing processes of display device 1 according to an embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig1 a , a first substrate 10 is provided . a pixel define layer 102 is formed on the first substrate 10 . in fig1 b , pixel define layer 102 ( shown in fig1 a ) is patterned to form patterned pixel define sections 102 ′. in this embodiment , patterned pixel define sections 102 ′ are semi - cylindrical or semi - elliptical cylinder , and cross sections of the patterned pixel define sections 102 ′ are arc shapes . as shown in fig1 c , an electrical conductive material 104 is formed on the first substrate 10 and the patterned pixel define sections 102 ′. as shown in fig1 d , the electrical conductive material 104 on the patterned pixel define sections 102 ′ ( shown in fig1 c ) is patterned to form the first electrode layer 104 ′. the first electrode layer 104 ′ comprises a first sub - electrode 104 a and a second sub - electrode 104 b spacing apart from the first sub - electrode 104 a by a spacing w 11 . the patterned pixel define sections 102 ′ has a first lateral surface s 1 and a second lateral surface s 2 , the first sub - electrode 104 a is disposed on the first lateral surface s 1 , the second sub - electrode 104 b is disposed on the second lateral surface s 2 . the spacing w 11 is smaller than a maximum width w 12 of the patterned pixel define sections 102 ′. as shown in fig1 e , an insulating material 106 is formed to cover the patterned pixel define sections 102 ′ exposed by the spacing w 11 and the first electrode layer 104 ′. as shown in fig1 f , the insulating material 106 ( shown in fig1 e ) is patterned to form the insulating layer 106 ′. as shown in fig1 g , the emission layer 108 is formed on the insulating layer 106 ′, and the second electrode layer 110 is formed on the emission layer 108 . as shown in fig1 h , a second substrate 16 is provided . the second substrate 16 is opposite to the first substrate 10 . in this embodiment , the display device 1 comprises light emitting pixel unit 12 and pixel define units 14 . in this embodiment , the display device 1 is for example an oled display device , the light emitting pixel unit 12 is for example an oled pixel unit , the pixel define units 14 are for example oled pixel define units . the pixel define units 14 comprise patterned pixel define sections 102 ′, the first electrode layer 104 ′, the insulating layer 106 ′, the emission layer 108 and the second electrode layer 110 . the first electrode layer 104 ′ is for example a reflect electrode layer , the second electrode layer is for example a transparent electrode layer . the insulating layer 106 ′ covers the patterned pixel define sections 102 ′ exposed by the spacing w 11 and parts of the first electrode layer 104 ′. the insulating layer 106 ′ is used for electrical insulating the first electrode layer 104 ′ and the second electrode layer 110 . in particular , as long as the electrical insulation between the first electrode layer 104 ′ and the second electrode layer 110 can be achieved , there is no limitation to the shape of the insulating layer 106 ′. besides , the height h 11 of the insulating layer 106 ′ is preferably larger than or equal to the height h 12 of the first electrode layer 104 ′. in this embodiment , by disposing the first electrode layer 104 ′ on the opposite surfaces of the patterned pixel define sections 102 ′, problems of total reflection of light caused by a refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 108 and the electrode adjacent to the emission layer 108 can be solved . therefore , the light l transmitted inside the emission layer 108 can be guided to the outside so that the luminous efficiency can be improved . in addition , the less the insulating layer 106 ′ covers the first electrode layer 104 ′, the larger the contact area between the first electrode layer 104 ′ and the emission layer 108 on the patterned pixel define section 102 ′. therefore , the light emission area of the display device 1 can be improved . in this embodiment , the first substrate 10 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate . besides , the first substrate 10 can be transparent or non - transparent substrate . a color filter , such as a rgb or rgbw color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 16 . fig2 a illustrates a display device 2 a according to another embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig2 a , the display device 2 a comprises a first substrate 20 , a second substrate 26 , light emitting pixel units 22 and pixel define units 24 . the light emitting pixel units 22 and pixel define units 24 are interlacedly arranged between the first substrate 20 and the second substrate 26 . the structures and the manufacturing processes of the pixel define units 24 in fig2 a and that of the pixel define units in 14 fig1 h are similar . the pixel define units 24 comprises patterned pixel define sections 202 , the first electrode layer 204 , the insulating layer 206 , the emission layer 208 and the second electrode layer 210 . the first electrode layer 204 comprises a first sub - electrode 204 a and a second sub - electrode 204 b . the minimum distance between the first sub - electrode 204 a and the second sub - electrode 204 b is spacing w 21 , and the spacing w 21 is smaller than the maximum width w 22 of the patterned pixel define section 202 . in particular , the insulating layer 206 in this embodiment covers at least the patterned pixel define section 202 exposed from the spacing w 21 . besides , the height h 21 of the insulating layer 206 is preferably larger than or equal to the height h 22 of the first electrode layer 204 . by disposing the first electrode layer 204 on the opposite surfaces of the patterned pixel define sections 202 , problems of the total reflection of light caused by the refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 208 and the electrode layers adjacent to the emission layer 208 can be solved . therefore , the light l transmitted inside the emission layer 208 is guided to the outside and the luminous efficiency can be improved . moreover , since the insulating layer 206 covers merely the patterned pixel define section 202 exposed from the spacing w 21 , contact areas between the first electrode layer 204 and emission layer 208 on the patterned pixel define sections 202 can be increased and light emitting area of the display device 2 a can also be increased . in this embodiment , the first substrate 20 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate . besides , the first substrate 20 can be transparent or non - transparent substrate . the color filter , such as rgb color filter or rgbw color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 26 . fig2 b illustrates a display device 2 b according to another one embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig2 b , the display device 2 b comprises a first substrate 20 ′, a second substrate 26 ′, light emitting pixel units 22 ′ and pixel define units 24 ′. the light emitting pixel units 22 ′ and pixel define units 24 ′ are interlacedly arranged between the first substrate 20 ′ and the second substrate 26 ′. in fig2 b , the pixel define unit 24 ′ comprise patterned pixel define sections 202 ′, a first electrode layer 204 ′, an emission layer 208 ′ and a second electrode layer 210 ′. the structure and manufacturing processes of the pixel define units 24 ′ are similar to that of the pixel define units 14 in fig1 h . the difference between the pixel define units 14 and the pixel define units 24 ′ is that the pixel define units 24 ′ lacks of the insulating layer . therefore , the manufacturing process of the insulating layer can be omitted . in this embodiment , the first substrate 20 ′ can be a glass substrate or a flexible substrate . the first substrate 20 ′ can be transparent or non - transparent . a color filter , such as a rgb or rgbw color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 26 . fig3 illustrates a display device 3 according to another one embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig3 , the display device 3 comprises a first substrate 30 , a second substrate 36 , light emitting pixel units 32 and pixel define units 34 . the light emitting pixel units 32 and pixel define units 34 are interlacedly arranged between the first substrate 30 and the second substrate 36 . the pixel define units 34 in fig3 comprises patterned pixel define sections 302 , a first electrode layer 304 , an insulating layer 306 , an emission layer 308 and a second electrode layer 310 . the structure and the manufacturing processes of the pixel define units 34 are similar to the pixel define units 14 in fig1 h , the differences between the pixel define units 14 and the pixel define units 34 are described below . as shown in fig3 , a cross section of one of the patterned pixel define sections 302 is trapezoid shape and has a base angle θ 1 . the base angle θ 1 ranges between 1 degree to 89 degrees . preferably , the base angle θ 1 ranges between 30 degrees to 45 degrees . the first electrode layer 304 comprises a first sub - electrode 304 a and a second sub - electrode 304 b . a minimum distance between the first sub - electrode 304 a and the second sub - electrode 304 b is spacing w 31 . the spacing w 31 is smaller than the maximum width w 32 of the patterned pixel define sections 302 . the insulating layer 306 covers the patterned pixel define sections 302 exposed from the spacing w 31 to provide electrical insulation between the first electrode layer 304 and the second electrode layer 310 . the insulating layer 306 corresponds to the spacing w 31 has a height h 31 . preferably , the height h 31 of the insulating layer 306 is larger than or equal to the height h 32 of the first electrode layer 304 . by disposing the first electrode layer 304 on the opposite surfaces of the patterned pixel define section 302 , problems of the total reflection of light caused by the refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 308 and the electrode layers adjacent to the emission layer 308 can be solved . therefore , the light l transmitted inside the emission layer 308 is guided to the outside so that the luminous efficiency can be improved . moreover , since the insulating layer 306 merely covers the patterned pixel define section 302 exposed from the spacing w 21 , contact areas between the first electrode layer 304 and emission layer 308 on the patterned pixel define section 302 can be increased and the light emitting area of the display device 3 can also be increased . in this embodiment , the first substrate 30 can be a glass substrate or a flexible substrate . besides , the first substrate 30 can be transparent or non - transparent . the color filter , such as rgb color filter or rgbw color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 36 . fig4 illustrates a display device 4 according to another one embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig4 , the display device 4 comprises a first substrate 40 , a second substrate 46 , light emitting pixel units 42 and pixel define units 44 . the light emitting pixel units 42 and pixel define units 44 are interlacedly arranged between the first substrate 40 and the second substrate 46 . the pixel define units 44 in fig4 comprises patterned pixel define sections 402 , a first electrode layer 404 , an insulating layer 406 , an emission layer 408 and a second electrode layer 410 . the structure and the manufacturing processes of the pixel define units 44 are similar to that of the pixel define units 34 in fig3 . differences between the pixel define units 44 and the pixel define units 34 are that the insulating layer 406 of the pixel define units 44 covers the not only the patterned pixel define section 402 exposed from the spacing w 41 , but also covers a part of the first electrode layer 404 . therefore , the electrical insulation between the first electrode layer 404 and the second electrode layer 410 can be improved . in this embodiment , the first electrode layer 404 comprises a first sub - electrode 404 a and a second sub - electrode 404 b , a minimum distance between the first sub - electrode 404 a and the second sub - electrode 404 b is the spacing w 41 . the spacing w 41 is smaller than a width w 42 ( maximum width of the patterned pixel define section 402 ). a height of the insulating layer 406 in the spacing w 41 is height h 41 . preferably , the height h 41 is larger than or equal to a height h 42 of the first electrode layer 404 . a cross section of one of the patterned pixel define sections 402 is a trapezoid shape with a base angle θ 2 . a range of the base angle θ 2 can be equal to the base angle θ 1 in fig3 . in this embodiment , the total reflection of light caused by the refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 408 and electrodes adjacent to the emission layer 408 can be solved by disposing the first electrode layer 404 on opposite side surfaces of the patterned pixel define section 402 , so as to guide the light l transmitting in the emission layer 408 to the outside . therefore , the luminous efficiency can be increased . in addition , the less area the insulating layer 406 covers the first electrode layer 404 , the more contact area between the first electrode layer 404 and the emission layer 408 on the patterned pixel define sections 402 . therefore , the luminous area of the display device 4 can be increased . in this embodiment , the first substrate 40 can be a glass substrate or a flexible substrate . besides , the first substrate 40 can be transparent or non - transparent . a color filter , such as a rgb or rgbw color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 46 . fig5 illustrates a display device 5 according to another embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig5 , the display device 5 comprises a first substrate 50 , a second substrate 56 and , light emitting pixel units 52 and pixel define units 54 . the light emitting pixel units 52 and pixel define units 54 are interlacedly arranged between the first substrate 50 and the second substrate 56 . in fig5 , the pixel define units 54 comprises patterned pixel define sections 502 , a first electrode layer 504 , an emission layer 508 and the second electrode layer 510 . the structure and the manufacturing process of the pixel define units 54 is similar to that of the pixel define units 34 in fig3 . the differences between the pixel define units 54 and the pixel define units 34 are that the pixel define units 54 requires no insulating layer . therefore , the manufacturing process of the insulating layer can be omitted . in this embodiment , a cross section of the patterned pixel define section 502 is trapezoid shaped and has a base angle θ 3 . a range of the base angle θ 3 is the same as that of the base angle θ 1 in fig3 . the first electrode layer 504 comprises a first sub - electrode 504 a and a second sub - electrode 504 b . a minimum distance between the first sub - electrode 504 a and the second sub - electrode 504 b is spacing w 51 . the spacing w 51 is smaller than a width w 52 of the patterned pixel define section 502 . the width w 52 is a maximum width of the patterned pixel define section 502 . in this embodiment , the first substrate 50 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate . besides , the first substrate 50 can be transparent or non - transparent substrate . a color filter , such as a rgb or rgbw color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 56 . fig6 illustrates a display device 6 according to another one embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig6 , the display device 6 comprises a first substrate 60 , a second substrate 66 , light emitting pixel units 62 and pixel define units 64 . the light emitting pixel units 62 and pixel define units 64 are interlacedly arranged between the first substrate 60 and the second substrate 66 . the pixel define units 64 in fig6 comprises patterned pixel define sections 602 , a first electrode layer 604 , an insulating layer 606 , an emission layer 608 and a second electrode layer 610 . the structure and manufacturing processes of the pixel define units 64 are similar to that of the pixel define units 14 in fig1 h and are not described herein . as shown in fig6 , a cross section of the patterned pixel define section 602 is triangle shaped and has a base angle θ 4 . the base angle θ 4 ranges between 1 degree to 89 degrees . preferably , the base angle θ 4 ranges between 30 degrees to 45 degrees . the first electrode layer 604 comprises the first sub - electrode 604 a and the second sub - electrode 604 b . a minimum distance between the first sub - electrode 604 a and the second sub - electrode 604 b is spacing w 61 . the spacing w 61 is smaller than a width w 62 of the patterned pixel define section 602 . the width w 62 is a maximum width of the patterned pixel define section 602 . the insulating layer 606 covers the patterned pixel define section 602 exposed from the spacing w 61 , and provides electrical insulation between the first electrode layer 604 and the second electrode layer 610 . besides , the first sub - electrode 604 a or the second sub - electrode 604 b are dispose on side surfaces of the patterned pixel define sections 602 with a vertical height h 61 . preferably , the vertical height h 61 is larger than a width h 62 of the first electrode layer 604 . by disposing the first electrode layer 604 on the opposite surfaces of the patterned pixel define section 602 , problems of the total reflection of light caused by the refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 608 and the electrode layers adjacent to the emission layer 608 can be solved . therefore , the light l transmitted inside the emission layer 608 is guided to the outside so that the luminous efficiency can be improved . moreover , since the insulating layer 606 covers merely the patterned pixel define sections 602 exposed from the spacing w 61 , contact areas between the first electrode layer 604 and emission layer 608 on the patterned pixel define section 602 can be increased and the light emitting area of the display device 6 can also be increased . in this embodiment , the first substrate 60 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate . besides , the first substrate 60 can be transparent or non - transparent substrate . a color filter , such as a rgb or rgbw color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 66 . fig7 illustrates a display device 7 according to another embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig7 , the display device 7 comprises a first substrate 70 , a second substrate 76 , light emitting pixel units 72 and pixel define units 74 . the light emitting pixel units 72 and pixel define units 74 are interlacedly arranged between the first substrate 70 and the second substrate 76 . the pixel define units 74 in fig7 comprises patterned pixel define sections 702 , a first electrode layer 704 , an insulating layer 706 , an emission layer 708 and a second electrode layer 710 . the structures and the manufacturing processes of the pixel define units 74 are similar to that of the pixel define units 64 in fig6 . the differences between the pixel define units 74 and the pixel define units 64 are that the insulating layer 706 of the pixel define units 74 covers not only the patterned pixel define section 702 exposed from the spacing w 71 , but also a part of the first electrode layer 704 . therefore , the electrical insulation between the first electrode layer 704 and the second electrode layer 710 can be improved . in this embodiment , the triangle shaped patterned pixel define section 702 has a base angle θ 5 . a range of the base angle θ 5 is the same as the base angle θ 4 in fig6 . the first electrode layer 704 comprises a first sub - electrode 704 a and a second sub - electrode 704 b . the minimum distance between the first sub - electrode 704 a and the second sub - electrode 704 b is a width of the spacing w 71 . the width of the spacing w 71 is smaller than the maximum width w 72 of the patterned pixel define section 702 . besides , the first sub - electrode 704 a or the second sub - electrode 704 b are disposed on opposite side surfaces of the patterned pixel define sections 702 with a vertical height h 71 . preferably , the vertical height h 71 is larger than a width h 72 of the first electrode layer 704 . in this embodiment , by disposing the first electrode layer 704 on the opposite surfaces of the patterned pixel define sections 702 , problems of the total reflection of light caused by the refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 708 and the electrode layers adjacent to the emission layer 708 can be improved . therefore , the light l transmitted inside the emission layer 708 is guided to the outside and the luminous efficiency can be improved . moreover , since the insulating layer 706 covers merely the patterned pixel define sections 702 exposed from the spacing w 71 , contact areas between the first electrode layer 704 and emission layer 708 on the patterned pixel define sections 702 can be increased and the light emitting area of the display device 7 can also be increased . in this embodiment , the first substrate 70 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate . besides , the first substrate 70 can be transparent or non - transparent substrate . a color filter , such as a rgb or rgbw color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 76 . fig8 illustrates a display device 8 according to another embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig8 , the display device 8 comprises a first substrate 80 , a second substrate 86 , light emitting pixel units 82 and pixel define units 84 . the light emitting pixel units 82 and pixel define units 84 are interlacedly arranged between the first substrate 80 and the second substrate 86 . in fig8 , the pixel define units 84 comprises patterned pixel define sections 802 , a first electrode layer 804 , an emission layer 808 and a second electrode layer 810 . the structures and the manufacturing processes of pixel define units 84 are similar to that of the pixel define units 64 in fig6 . the differences between the pixel define units 84 and the pixel define units 64 are that the pixel define units 84 require no an insulating layer , so that the manufacturing process of an insulating layer can be omitted . in this embodiment , the triangle shaped patterned pixel define section 802 has a base angle θ 6 . a range of base angle θ 6 can be the same as the range of the base angle θ 4 in fig6 . the first electrode layer 804 comprises a first sub - electrode 804 a and a second sub - electrode 804 b . the minimum distance between the first sub - electrode 804 a and the second sub - electrode 804 b is a width of the spacing w 81 , the width of the spacing w 81 is smaller than the maximum width w 82 of the patterned pixel define section 802 . besides , the first sub - electrode 804 a or the second sub - electrode 804 b are dispose on opposite side surfaces of the patterned pixel define sections 802 with a vertical height h 81 . preferably , the vertical height h 81 is larger than a width h 82 of the first electrode layer 804 . in this embodiment , the first substrate 80 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate . besides , the first substrate 80 can be transparent or non - transparent substrate . a color filter , such as a rgb or rgbw color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 86 . based on the above , a display device according to the embodiments described above can be manufactured by uncomplicated manufacturing processes . by disposing an electrode layer on opposite side surfaces of patterned pixel define sections of the display device , the total reflection of light caused by a refractive index mismatch between the emission layer and the electrode adjacent to the emission layer can be destroyed . therefore , the light transmitted inside the emission layer can be guided to the outside so that the luminous efficiency of the display device can be improved . while the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiment ( s ), it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto . on the contrary , it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures , and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures .	7
fig1 illustrates a cross - sectional view of a tethered imaging capsule device that can utilize a tilted camera array detector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure . the exemplary imaging capsule device of fig1 can include illumination sources ( 107 , 108 ), imaging sensors ( 104 ), and optics ( 105 ) that can provide oblique back - illumination microscopy of the biological sample into which the capsule is introduced . the individual illuminations ( 107 , 108 ) are separately conducted into the sample ( 101 ), and not necessarily aligned directly to the image plane ( 106 ). the light or other electro - magnetic radiation from each illumination ( 110 , 111 ) can be scattered within the volume of the sample , a fraction of which can traverse the image plane from the side farther from the capsule . the selection of individual light sources can have an effect on the illumination angle of light crossing the imaging plane . a phase gradient in the plane of focus can bend the illumination light ( or other electro - magnetic radiation ). depending upon the magnitude and direction of such phase gradients , using such exemplary device , it is possible to increase or decrease the amount of light ( or other electro - magnetic radiation ) relayed to the imaging sensor ( 104 ) by the optical lens due to the oblique nature of the original illumination . the difference between images acquired using alternating illumination direction indicates the effect of angle changes induced by phase gradients , providing a contrast mechanism for revealing phase gradients simply by contrasting the different images resulting from each illumination direction . furthermore , multiple ( e . g ., three or more ) images resulting from multiple illumination directions can provide phase gradient vector information from each pixel location in the sample . to provide volumetric imaging of biological samples that can be approximately cylindrical , such as the esophagus or the intestine , additional techniques and / or components can be used , since oblique the illumination microscopy as described in herein can provide a single plane of imaging . by tilting the imaging detector ( 104 ), instead of mounting it perpendicularly to the optical imaging axis , the imaging focal plane ( 106 ) would also be tilted , i . e ., being non - perpendicular to the optical imaging axis . thus , the focal plane ( 106 ) can include , e . g ., line segments found at different distances from the lens , e . g ., at different depths within the sample ( 101 ). further , by a rotation ( 117 ) of the exemplary capsule ( 102 ) relative to the sample ( 101 ), and / or by rotating the contents of the capsule ( 102 ) within the respective housing ( 103 ), each such line ( e . g ., each being at a different depth in the sample ) can trace a cylinder of different radius . in an image sequence acquired by the array of the detector ( 104 ) during a rotation of the capsule optics , each pixel can trace a circle in the imaging sample . for example , one spatial coordinate of the sensor array can encode depth , and the other can encode longitudinal position relative to the capsule . the capsule can then be further translated in the longitudinal direction ( 116 ), either driven by the tether or by natural forces such as gravity or peristaltic action of an organ such as the esophagus , in order to image a greater extent of the sample . alternatively , with another embodiment of the present disclosure , it is possible to utilize modes of motion other than rotation and translation . any direction of motion of the focal plane , and in any sequence , that volumetrically samples the biological specimen , can be used to form volumetric imaging data . according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure , illumination sources ( 107 , 108 ), imaging sensors ( 104 ), and optics ( 105 ) can be contained within the capsule device ( 102 ). in a further exemplary embodiment , a tether ( 112 ) can connect the capsule device ( 102 ) with an external electrical and computer system outside of the imaging sample ( 101 ) or patient . the tether ( 112 ) can contain electrical wiring ( 115 ) that can provide power to the components within the capsule device ( 102 ), and can conduct and / or provide the image data in the form of , e . g ., electrical signals from the sensor array to the external system . the tether ( 112 ) can also contain a driveshaft ( 114 ), which can be a mechanical component that can transmit torque applied by a motor at one end of the tether to the capsule or its contents , facilitating the optical system to rotate , as described herein . a rotary junction can be provided at or in the tether ( 112 ) that can facilitate an electrical contact for power and signal ( s ) to and from the capsule device ( 102 ) to be preserved while the driveshaft ( 114 ) is rotated . alternatively or in addition , a motor can also be positioned within the capsule device ( 102 ), e . g ., so as to drive the rotation directly and drawing electrical power from the wiring in the tether ( 112 ). according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure , it is possible to facilitate a rotation and / or a translation of the capsule device ( 102 ) by modifying and / or manipulating an external magnetic field . for example , the external system can receive the imaging data from the capsule sensor , and can process such data into phase gradient volumetric images . in yet other exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure , the imaging modality may be other than an oblique back - illumination microscopy . for example , volumetric imaging can be performed using any technique that can generate a planar focal plane , including but not limited to bright field microscopy , reflectance microscopy , reflectance confocal microscopy , fluorescence microscopy , multiple - wavelength reflectance microscopy , spectrally encoded confocal microscopy , multiple - wavelength excitation fluorescence microscopy , fourier microscopy , or coherence microscopy , including full field optical coherence tomography ( ffoct ) and full field optical coherence microscopy ( ffocm ). fig2 shows a cross - section view of a tethered capsule device , according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure . using this exemplary tether capsule device ( 202 ), the image plane ( 206 ) can be tilted such that it is not perpendicular to the optical axis of the objective lens arrangement ( 205 ), as suitable for microscopy techniques such as bright field microscopy , reflectance microscopy , reflectance confocal microscopy , fluorescence microscopy , multiple - wavelength reflectance microscopy , spectrally encoded confocal microscopy , multiple - wavelength excitation fluorescence microscopy , fourier microscopy , or coherence microscopy , including full field optical coherence tomography ( ffoct ) and full field optical coherence microscopy ( ffocm ). for example , using such exemplary embodiment , it is possible to implement the techniques described herein above by acquiring different images while tilting the planar focal plane ( 206 ), following illumination by different light ( or other radiation ) sources ( 207 ), and / or by moving a component within the apparatus mechanically , including changing the path length of a reference arm for a coherence embodiment such as ffoct and ffocm . the same components shown in fig1 are shown in fig2 , with the reference increase by 100 ( i . e ., 202 , 204 , etc .). in an alternative exemplary embodiment of the capsule device ( 302 ) according to the present disclosure , as illustrated in fig3 , the imaging sensor may be and / or include a linear array ( 304 ), e . g ., instead of an area array . for example , tilting this array ( 304 ) relative to the optical axis of the imaging optics ( 305 ) can cause each pixel along this line to be focused to a different depth in the sample ( 306 ), and the capsule device ( 302 ) or its contents ( 303 ) can be rotated ( 317 ) such that each sensor pixel can trace a circle at different depth . the exemplary operating principle of the exemplary embodiment shown in fig3 is similar to that of the exemplary embodiment of the capsule device shown in fig1 , with an exemplary difference being a lack of additional pixels along the longitudinal axis results in a more limited imaging volume , preferring additional rotations as the capsule device ( 302 ) translates to form a similar volume of imaging . the same components shown in fig2 are shown in fig3 , with the reference increase by 100 ( i . e ., 302 , 304 , etc .). in a further alternative exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure , as shown in fig4 , the exemplary capsule device ( 402 ) can be self - contained and not physically tethered to the external system . in this exemplary embodiment , a power source ( 413 ) in the capsule ( e . g ., a battery ) can provide an electrical power to the illumination / radiation sources ( 407 , 408 ) and / or sensor components ( 404 ). further , as shown in fig4 , a wireless mechanism ( 414 ) can be provided for a transmission of imaging data to the external system . the wireless mechanism ( 414 ) can be or include , for example , a device which provides analog and / or digital signal transmission using electromagnetic waves with radio frequencies between , e . g ., about 100 mhz and 10 ghz , and / or digital signal transmission using modulated potential of surface electrodes and direction electrical conduction through the body . an on - board circuitry of the capsule device ( 402 ) can include a processor ( 412 ) to obtain data from the imaging sensor , and convert such data to a format amenable to a wireless transmitter , which can also be provided on or in the capsule device ( 402 ). the processor ( 412 ) can be specifically programmed to provide , for example , image compression and bandwidth - reducing , contrast enhancement and / or de - noising filtering . the external system , according to this exemplary embodiment , can include at least one wireless receiver ( 414 ) and / or at least one surface potential electrode , as well as any hardware and / or software used to decode the imaging data from the wireless data stream . the same components shown in fig3 are shown in fig4 , with the reference increase by 100 ( i . e ., 402 , 404 , etc .). fig5 illustrates an exemplary usage / application of the exemplary embodiment of the capsule device ( 502 ) in the esophagus of a patient ( 501 ). the capsule device ( 502 ) can be introduced into the esophagus . the capsule device ( 502 ) can be rotated ( 505 ), and / or translated ( 504 ) within the organ ( e . g ., the esophagus ) to generate volumetric imaging . the flexible tether ( 503 ) can link the capsule device ( 502 ) with the external system , which can supply power through the tether ( 503 ) to the capsule device ( 502 ). a computer ( 508 ), which can be provide on or in the external system , e . g ., can process the imaging data into volumetric phase images , and can include or be connect to an image display ( 507 ) and a power source ( 509 ) for the tethered capsule device ( 502 ). a rotary junction ( 506 ) can be provided which can facilitate an electrical contact between the external system and the capsule device ( 502 ) to be maintained even while the capsule or its contents are rotated . fig6 illustrates an exemplary usage / application of the exemplary embodiment of the untethered capsule device 602 ( the example of which is shown in fig4 ), in which image data provided by the capsule is transmitted wirelessly to a transceiver and computer system for storage and display . for example , according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure , the exemplary untethered capsule ( 602 ) and / or its contents can be rotated ( 604 ) and / or translated ( 603 ). in such exemplary configuration shown in fig6 , no physical link connects the capsule device ( 602 ) to the external system . being self - contained , the capsule device ( 602 ) can be powered by an onboard battery , which can supply the electrical power for illumination , processing and control circuitry , wireless transmission , and the sensor array . imaging data generated using this exemplary embodiment of the capsule device ( 602 ) can be transmitted wirelessly to a transceiver ( 605 ) on the external system for additional processing by a processor / computer ( 606 ), storage , and / or display on a display device ( 607 ). fig7 shows a flow diagram that illustrates ( and provides details of ) exemplary utilization procedures for a tethered capsule device , according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure . for example , in step 705 , the exemplary capsule device is assembled and sterilized . in step 710 , the exemplary device can be place in the proximity of the target tissue , e . g ., by swallowing or insertion . in step 715 , electrical power can be continuously delivered to the exemplary device , e . g ., via wires in a flexible tether . then , in step 720 , electro - magnetic radiation ( e . g ., light ) can be provided so as to exit the window ( s ) of the device , interact with the sample / tissue , and return through such window ( s ). optical sensors ( s ) ( e . g ., planar and / or linear ) can record image information from the target tissue ( e . g ., including absorption information , gradients , etc .) in step 725 . in step 730 , the image information ( or image information ) can be transmitted ( e . g ., via wires in the flexible tether ) to a computer outside of the body , and in step 735 , the computer digitizes the image information . for example , the digital image data ( or information ) can be stored ( step 740 ), displayed on the screen ( step 745 ) and / or used as feedback information to position the exemplary device ( step 750 ). in step 755 , it is possible to use a torque cable , an external magnetic field and / or other configuration or mechanism to rotate an image plane of the irradiation from and / or to the exemplary device , e . g ., while obtaining or otherwise acquiring the images ( e . g ., serially and / or in parallel ). in step 765 , the rotational position of the device can be communicated to the computer . at the same time or at another time , in step 760 , it is possible to use a tether tension , an external magnetic field , peristalsis , serpentine motion of the device and / or other configuration or mechanism to translate the image plane of the irradiation from and / or to the exemplary device , e . g ., while obtaining or otherwise acquiring the images ( e . g ., serially and / or in parallel ). in step 770 , the translational position of the device can be communicated to the computer . further , in step 775 , the computer can be programmed to determine or otherwise compute volumetric data from the raw data ( e . g ., the image information ) and / or based on or using the rotational position information and / or the translational position information . in step 780 , the volumetric data can be stored , displayed , etc . then , in step 785 , the exemplary device can be removed from the body , and possibly cleaned and / or reused . fig8 shows a flow diagram that illustrates ( and provides details of ) exemplary utilization procedures for an untethered wireless capsule device , according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure . for example , in step 805 , the exemplary capsule device can be assembled and sterilized . in step 810 , the exemplary device can be place in the proximity of the target tissue , e . g ., by swallowing or insertion . in step 815 , electrical power can be continuously delivered to the exemplary device , e . g ., via an internal battery and / or magnetic induction . then , in step 820 , electro - magnetic radiation ( e . g ., light ) can be provided so as to exit the window ( s ) of the device , interact with the sample / tissue , and return through such window ( s ). optical sensors ( s ) ( e . g ., planar and / or linear ) can record image information from the target tissue ( e . g ., including absorption information , gradients , etc .) in step 825 . in step 830 , the image information ( or image information ) can be transmitted ( e . g ., wirelessly via a wireless transceiver ) to a computer outside of the body , and in step 835 , the computer digitizes the image information . for example , the digital image data ( or information ) can be stored ( step 840 ), displayed on the screen ( step 845 ) and / or used as feedback information to position the exemplary device ( step 850 ). in step 855 , it is possible to use an external magnetic field and / or other configuration or mechanism to rotate an image plane of the irradiation from and / or to the exemplary device , e . g ., while obtaining or otherwise acquiring the images ( e . g ., serially and / or in parallel ). in step 865 , the rotational position of the device can be communicated to the computer . at the same time or at another time , in step 860 , it is possible to use an external magnetic field , peristalsis , serpentine motion of the device and / or other configuration or mechanism to translate the image plane of the irradiation from and / or to the exemplary device , e . g ., while obtaining or otherwise acquiring the images ( e . g ., serially and / or in parallel ). in step 870 , the translational position of the device can be communicated to the computer . further , in step 875 , the computer can be programmed to determine or otherwise compute volumetric data from the raw data ( e . g ., the image information ) and / or based on or using the rotational position information and / or the translational position information . in step 880 , the volumetric data can be stored , displayed , etc . then , in step 885 , the exemplary device can be removed from the body , and possibly cleaned and / or reused . the foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure . various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein . indeed , the arrangements , systems and methods according to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can be used with and / or implement any oct system , ofdi system , sd - oct system or other imaging systems , and for example with those described in international patent application pct / us2004 / 029148 , filed sep . 8 , 2004 which published as international patent publication no . wo 2005 / 047813 on may 26 , 2005 , u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 266 , 779 , filed nov . 2 , 2005 which published as u . s . patent publication no . 2006 / 0093276 on may 4 , 2006 , and u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 501 , 276 , filed jul . 9 , 2004 which published as u . s . patent publication no . 2005 / 0018201 on jan . 27 , 2005 , and u . s . patent publication no . 2002 / 0122246 , published on may 9 , 2002 , the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties . it will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems , arrangements and methods which , although not explicitly shown or described herein , embody the principles of the disclosure and are thus within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure . it should be understood that the exemplary procedures described herein can be stored on any computer accessible medium , including a hard drive , ram , rom , removable disks , cd - rom , memory sticks , etc ., and executed by a processing arrangement and / or computing arrangement which can be and / or include a hardware processors , microprocessor , mini , macro , mainframe , etc ., including a plurality and / or combination thereof . in addition , certain terms used in the present disclosure , including the specification , drawings and claims thereof , can be used synonymously in certain instances , including , but not limited to , e . g ., data and information . it should be understood that , while these words , and / or other words that can be synonymous to one another , can be used synonymously herein , that there can be instances when such words can be intended to not be used synonymously . further , to the extent that the prior art knowledge has not been explicitly incorporated by reference herein above , it can be explicitly incorporated herein in its entirety . all publications referenced herein can be incorporated herein by reference in their entireties .	0
this device is a bi - fold or foldable dinghy 5 . it will consist of a forward section 15 and an aft section 10 . both the forward 15 and aft sections 10 have a flat solid bottom surface and an open top surface . the front and rear sections are joined together using a set of hinges 32 on the top surfaces of both the forward and aft sections at the junction of the two sections . a portion of the forward section is hollow as well as a portion of the aft section to provide an interior cavity for storage purposes and the occupants of the dinghy . a cover 20 for the forward section may also be provided to prevent water from entering the forward section . the cover 20 is likely to be secured using a series of snaps 22 along the perimeter of the forward section . battens 21 that are installed in the cover will allow the cover 20 to keep a certain semi - rigid shape to prevent water from pooling on the cover when it is installed . in the forward section an anchor roller arm 45 will be provided . the anchor roller arm 45 is hingedly secured to the inside of the forward section with a pin 45 p and may be stowed under the cover 20 when not in use . when the device is unfolded the forward section bulkhead 34 will be positioned parallel to the aft section bulkhead 37 . the seat lock 30 will be inserted over the respective forward section and aft bulkheads to secure the relative positions of the bulkheads during normal use . the seat lock 30 will extend from one side of the dinghy to the other and will extend to the bottom of the respective forward and aft section bulkheads . this seat lock 30 will prevent the separation of the forward and aft sections and also allow persons who are using the dinghy to sit during transit , if desired . in order to provide additional rigidity and stability in the device and particularly to reinforce the forward and aft sections where the dinghy folds , the seat lock 30 is provided . the seat lock 30 is likely to be a flat planar surface with two vertical members attached to one side of the flat planar surface and extending downward a predetermined distance . the two vertical members will cover the respective forward and aft bulkheads and allow and provide stability so that the two sections remain unfolded during normal use . on the rear of the device will be a set of safety steps 25 , which will also be hollow and allow for storage of various items . the safety steps 25 will extend a predetermined distance from the rear of the device to allow an individual to place a foot while getting on and off the dinghy 5 . a non - skid surface will be on the top of the safety step . an engine ( not depicted ) will be positioned in the space between the safety steps 25 and mounted to the engine transom 52 . a drain 51 will also be provided . in the aft section a rear seat 40 will be provided to allow individuals to sit during normal operation of the dinghy . the rear seat 40 will extend from one side of the interior of the aft section to the other and will be secured to the aft section . no specific means to secure the rear seat 40 is being claimed . a means to lift and stow the device will also be provided and is likely to be a set of eye hooks or eye bolts 28 located on the side surfaces of the back of the dinghy and the underside of the device near the junction of the forward and aft sections . backing plates 29 for the eyebolts , which are embedded in the material that is used to make the dinghy will also be provided to add strength . the eyebolts 28 will allow cables or ropes from the vessel to secure the dinghy 5 during transport . in order to prevent water intrusion into the dinghy during normal transport , a gunwale strip on the forward 36 and a corresponding gunwale strip on the aft section 35 will be provided . the gunwale strips are raised strips , around a pre - determined portion of the perimeter of the respective sections which will prevent water from entering the dinghy during normal transport . the aft gunwale strip 35 is offset from the forward gunwale strip 36 to allow the forward section to be folded over the aft section . the aft gunwale strip 35 will be offset such that it is interior to the forward gunwale strip 36 when the two sections are folded . the general purpose of the dinghy is to transport passengers from a sailboat or other vessel that is anchored to the shore . when the device is stowed , typically on the back of a sailboat or other vessel , it will be suspended by a set of cables that will pass through the eye bolts 28 on the rear section and the eyebolt on the front of the device when the device is folded such as depicted in fig9 .	1
the description of the foregoing environment is representative of the possible environments that support the invention , but the invention is not limited to this specific environment . the purpose of the invention is to defer the interrupt at the end of a time quantum to occur when the cost of a context swap is likely to be relatively low . the invention modifies the normal operation described above to become the following . when the operating system allocates a time quantum to a selected task , it expresses the time quantum by two times , the earliest possible end of the time quantum and the latest possible end of the time quantum . an interrupt for end of quantum cannot occur before the earliest time and is guaranteed to occur at the latest time unless it is triggered by the executing program to occur before that point . the operating system initiates execution of the task selected , and the selected task executes for the minimum quantum of time allocated to it , at which point the end - of - quantum interrupt becomes armed . while the end - of - quantum interrupt is armed , the task continues execution . if the task executes an instruction that triggers the end - of - quantum interrupt , the interrupt is honored immediately . if no end - of - quantum interrupt is triggered before the task executes for the maximum alloted time , then the end - of - quantum interrupt is triggered . regardless of how the end - of - quantum interrupt is triggered , the operating system treats the interrupt as a conventional end - of - interrupt quantum interrupt . if an external event triggers an interrupt while an executing task has an armed end - of - quantum interrupt , the task is treated as having reached its end of quantum , and the pending interrupt is removed . referring now to the drawings , and more particularly to fig1 there is shown the mechanism for implementing the deferrable interrupt according to the invention . the mechanism comprises three registers and two adders . the registers are an elapsed - time register 10 , a minimum - quantum register 20 , and a maximum - quantum register 30 . the first adder 40 forms the difference of the value of the minimum quantum and elapsed time . the sign of the result is negative if the elapsed time has exceeded the minimum quantum time . the negative sign causes the interrupt to be armed as described later . similarly , the second adder 50 forms the difference in the value of the maximum quantum and the elapsed time . a negative sign on the result of this addition causes the interrupt to be posted as described later . the difference between fig1 and the prior art is that the conventional implementation of an interrupt based on elapsed time uses only the maximum - time register 30 , the elapsed - time register 10 and the adder 50 . the interrupt is posted by testing the sign of the result of the adder . the prior art does not contain the provision to arm an interrupt , and therefore the prior art does not teach the use of the minimum - time register 20 and the adder 40 shown in fig1 . fig2 illustrates the steps taken by the operating system just prior to initiating the running of a task . the operating system initializes the elapsed time of the task to zero in function block 60 , and initializes the minimum and maximum quantum times in function blocks 70 and 80 in fig2 . the final step in fig2 is to initiate the task as indicated in 90 . the order of the operations performed in function blocks 60 , 70 and 80 is unimportant . the operating system may do other system dependent tasks interspersed with these tasks . the aspect of the figure that is not taught by the prior art is the setting of the minimum quantum time in block 70 . fig3 shows the logic required to arm the interrupt . the elapsed time for the running task is indicated by a clock , which is advanced as indicated in function block 100 in fig3 . the interval between executions of block 100 is system dependent , and it need not be done at the rate of the fastest clock in the system . each time the clock advances , a test is made in decision block 110 to determine if the quantum - time interrupt is armed . if so , an exit is taken to decision block 150 in fig4 where further tests are made as described below . if not , the current valve of the elapsed time is compared to the minimum quantum time in decision block 120 . if the current value exceeds the minimum quantum time , the quantum - time interrupt becomes armed as shown in function block 130 . fig4 shows how a quantum - time interrupt is posted . this figure reflects the prior art . in decision block 150 , the current elapsed time is compared to the maximum quantum time . if the current value exceeds maximum quantum time , an interrupt is posted as shown in function block 160 . fig5 illustrates how a program forces an armed interrupt to occur . the program executes a special instruction that is placed in a program where context swap overhead is locally smaller than the overhead incurred at other places . the execution of this instruction is shown in function block 200 . the execution of the instruction causes a test of the state of the interrupt as shown in decision block 210 . if the interrupt is armed , then it is posted in function block 220 . the posting of the interrupt signifies the end of the quantum . the operating system will react to the interrupt by suspending the task using techniques available in the prior art in response to the end of the time quantum . if the interrupt is unarmed , then the special instruction has no effect on program execution other than to utilize the time required to fetch and interpret the interrupt instruction . fig6 illustrates how an external event can trigger an end - of - quantum interrupt . function block 300 shows an interrupt being posted by an external event . when this occurs , the quantum - time interrupt is checked in decision block 310 . if it is armed , then in function block 320 , it is posted as an interrupt as well , thus causing at least two interrupts to be actively pending . if it is not armed , then , in function block 330 , the advance of the register devoted to recording the elapsed time for the running task is disabled . at this point , the operating system will suspend the running task and schedule a task associated with the external event . the important new idea of fig6 that is not taught by the prior art is that an external event is an opportune time to force a context swap that otherwise may not be taken until later . because the original task will be suspended briefly to permit a second task to run , the second task will load itself into cache memory and thereby remove part of the state associated with the first task . this will produce a local reduction in the size of the state associated with the first task . at the completion of running the second task , the operating system would normally return to the first task because its time quantum has not run out . however , if the quantum interrupt is armed , then an interrupt can be taken at any point where the size of the state to be swapped is relatively small . this occurs at the end of processing the interrupting task . by posting the quantum - time interrupt as indicated in function block 320 of fig6 the operating system will not return to the original task after processing the interrupting task , thereby causing the context swap to occur at a locally good point in time . thus , an armed quantum - time interrupt can be posted by either the execution of an instruction or by the posting of an external - event interrupt . in general , an armed interrupt should be posted under any condition that is recognized to produce a locally small context . the conditions under which this is the case depend on the characteristics of the computer system . broadly described , the invention consists of ( 1 ) an interrupt for context swapping that tends to occur when program footprints are small and ( 2 ) a means for triggering the interrupt at the point that a footprint decreases in size . context - swap interrupts are triggered on the following events : 3 . other similar detectable events when storage is returned for use for other purposes . these events can be signaled by a special interrupt instruction placed in the code by the compiler . the action of the special instruction is to cause an interrupt if the context - swap interrupt has been armed , and to have no effect otherwise . a simple and expedient way of generating the interrupts is to force the interrupts to occur when subroutine returns and interrupt returns are executed . in each case , a program or process is being exited , and its state is unlikely to be needed in the near future . a more effective method is to use algorithmic analysis to determine when a subroutine exit occurs that has the characteristic that the subroutine is a large straight - line code or has one or more nesting levels of loops , and the total number of data and instruction cells likely to be touched by the subroutine is on the order of the cache size . when this characteristic is detected , the subroutine will tend to occupy a large fraction of cache and that fraction will not be needed by subsequent code . if a context - swap interrupt occurs before execution of a subroutine is ended , the subroutine will have to be reloaded in cache before the exit occurs . if the context - swap interrupt waits for the exit of the subroutine , the cache - reload transient is avoided . by identifying a subroutine with the property above , a compiler can insert a context - swap interrupt trigger just before the exit of each such routine . this invention offers performance improvements whichever means is used for triggering interrupts . the performance improvement tends to be greater if the interrupts can be associated with the greatest reductions in footprint sizes . while the invention has been described in terms of a single preferred embodiment , those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	6
in the following description , various operating parameters and components are described for one or more constructed embodiments . these specific parameters and components are included as examples and are not meant to be limiting . while the invention is described with respect to a rigid joint sealing system of a constant velocity universal joint for use in a vehicle , the following apparatus is capable of being adapted for various purposes including automotive vehicles drive axles , motor systems that use a propeller shaft , or other vehicles and non - vehicle applications which require propeller shaft assemblies for torque transmission . an exemplary drive system 12 for a typical 4 - wheel drive automobile is shown in fig1 . while a 4 - wheel drive system is shown and described the concepts here presented could apply to a single drive unit system or multiple drive unit system , including rear wheel drive only vehicles , front wheel drive only vehicles , all wheel drive vehicles , and four wheel drive vehicles . in this example , the drive system 12 includes an engine 14 that is connected to a transmission 16 and a power take - off unit 18 . a front differential 20 has a right hand side half shaft 22 and left hand side half shaft 24 each of which are connected to a wheel and deliver power to the wheels . on both ends of the right hand side half shaft 22 and left hand side half shaft 24 are constant velocity joints 10 . a propeller shaft 26 connects the front differential 20 to a rear differential 28 wherein the rear differential 28 includes a rear right hand side shaft 30 and a rear left hand side shaft 32 , each of which ends with a wheel on one end thereof . constant velocity joints 10 are located on both ends of the half shafts 30 , 32 that connect to the wheels and the rear differential 28 . the propeller shaft 26 , shown in fig1 , is a three - piece propeller shaft that includes a plurality of cardan joints 34 and one high - speed constant velocity joint 10 . the propeller shaft 26 includes interconnecting shafts 23 , 25 , 27 . the constant velocity joints 10 transmit power to the wheels through the propeller shaft 26 even if the wheels or the propeller shaft 26 have changed angles due to steering , raising or lowering of the suspension of the vehicle . the constant velocity joints 10 may be any of the standards types known , such as a plunging tripod , a cross groove joint , a fixed ball joint , a fixed tripod joint , or a double offset joint , all of which are commonly known terms in the art for different varieties of constant velocity joints 10 . the constant velocity joints 10 allow for transmission of constant velocities at angles typically encountered in every day driving of automotive vehicles in both the half shafts , interconnecting shafts and propeller shafts of these vehicles . optionally , each cardan joint 34 may be replaced with any other suitable type of joint , including constant velocity joint types . the inventive rigid joint sealing system may be utilized to advantage for any of the above mentioned joint locations not requiring a plunging type of joint . the shafts 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 27 , 30 , 32 may be solid or tubular with ends adapted to attach each shaft to an inner race or an outer race of a joint in accordance with a traditional connection , thereby allowing the outer race or inner race to be connected to a hub connector 36 , a flange 38 or stubshaft 40 of each drive unit , as appropriate , for the particular application . thus , any of the traditional connections identified in fig1 at 10 or 34 may be direct torque flow connections in accordance with a first embodiment ( fig2 ) of the present invention or may be a typical joint connection in accordance with a second embodiment ( fig3 ) of the present invention . for completeness of the description of the first embodiment of the present invention as given in fig2 , the term direct torque flow ( dtf ) connection refers to a direct connection from the inner race of a cv joint to the shaft of a differential , transmission or transfer case , generally supplied by the customer . the direct connection typically is in the form of a spline because of its robust design features as understood by one skilled in the art . however , it is anticipated that other forms of direct connection are appropriate including fixed and releasable connections between the inner race and shaft . a mating key connection is just one example , without limitation , of a releasable connector between the inner race and the shaft . a welded connection would be a fixed direct connection example . thus , a dtf connection refers to the inner race coupling to the shaft of a drive unit , such as a differential , transmission or transfer case without limitation , as opposed to the traditional connection mentioned above . also , as used herein , a dtf connector refers to a joint coupled to a shaft which forms a dtf propshaft assembly . only together with the shaft of a differential , for example , does a dtf connector combine to make a dtf connection . it is recognized that the shaft of the drive unit may include the shaft of any input or output drive unit and is not necessarily limited to a shaft of a differential , transmission or transfer case . although the present invention as described in the first embodiment illustrated in fig2 utilizes a dtf clip cvj connector type , it is intended that the inventive rigid joint sealing system may be applied equally to constant velocity joints having other connection types . fig2 shows a first embodiment of an inventive rigid joint sealing system 102 of a constant velocity universal joint 54 . the constant velocity universal joint in this embodiment is a dtf clip cvj having a dtf connection assembly arranged between a shaft journal 111 and a dtf connector constant velocity universal joint 112 . the shaft journal 111 is supported by a bearing 113 in a housing 114 , which , in this case , is illustrated in the form of a housing in the driveline drive unit of a motor vehicle . the bearing 113 is axially tensioned by a tensioning nut 118 which has been threaded on to a threaded portion 115 of the shaft journal 111 . a shaft seal 120 seals the tensioning nut 118 relative to the axle housing 114 . by way of a cover 121 secured to the tensioning nut 118 , the shaft seal is protected against damage . the dtf connector constant velocity universal joint 112 of the rigid joint sealing system 102 is connected to a propeller shaft 117 of the motor vehicle driveline . the dtf connector constant velocity universal joint 112 comprises an outer joint part 122 welded to the propeller shaft 117 by a collar 123 , an inner joint part 124 , torque transmitting balls 126 as well as a ball cage 125 . the inner joint part 124 having an internal spline 148 is axially secured on a toothed shaft portion 116 of the shaft journal 111 in a rotationally fast way . between the collar 123 and the outer joint part 122 there is inserted a cover 131 , which seals the joint towards the propeller shaft 117 and , more particularly , contains lubricants within the joint . furthermore , a membrane seal 150 circumferentially connected to an outer circumference 152 of the outer joint part 122 is in sealing relationship with the inner circumference 154 of a hard boot 133 and which , in a way to be further described , seals the dtf connector constant velocity universal joint relative to the shaft journal 111 . while the membrane seal 150 may be selectively positioned on the outer circumference of the outer joint part 122 in order to seal against the hard boot 133 , the membrane seal may optionally be selectively connected to the inner circumference of the hard boot in sealing relationship with the outer circumference of the outer joint part . the seal , whether connected to the outer joint part or to the hard boot , provides an effective barrier during joint motion over the applicable semispherical sealing surface . moreover , optionally , a wiper 132 encloses the outer end of the hard boot 133 and which environmentally seals the dtf connector constant velocity universal joint relative to the membrane seal 150 . the wiper 132 is sealingly positioned on the outer joint part 122 . the wiper 132 may be made from any pliable material and may be welded , glue , rolled and / or affixed in any other applicable way known to one of skill in the art onto the outer surface of the outer joint part 122 . the dtf connector constant velocity universal joint 112 includes pairs of ball tracks 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 . the orientation of each ball track set is dependent upon the type of universal joint selected , which is well understood to a person having skill in the art . however , the ball tracks of the present invention are of the non - plunging type for cvj applications requiring angular offset between the shafts that connect via the joint . the inner joint part 124 further includes a front face 144 , a back face 146 , a clamping groove 156 , a neck 158 and insertion grooves 172 . the insertion grooves 172 are for receiving a clip 170 for axially securing the inner joint part 124 to the shaft journal 111 by way of a shaft reception groove ( not shown ). the hard boot 133 is axially form - fitting and positively secured to the neck 158 of the inner joint part 124 by way of a clamping strip 142 secured into the clamping groove 156 and further sandwiched between the clip 170 to prevent axial motion . a backup seal 160 between the inner joint part 124 and the hard boot 133 may optionally be provided . fig3 shows a second embodiment of an inventive rigid joint sealing system 202 of a constant velocity universal joint 212 . the constant velocity universal joint in this embodiment is a fixed ball cvj used to advantage in a typical shaft connection assembly . the constant velocity universal joint 212 comprises an outer joint part 222 , a collar 223 , an inner joint part 224 , torque transmitting balls 226 as well as a ball cage 225 . the inner joint part 224 includes a connection , such as an internal spline ( not shown ), for axially securing to a shaft journal , shaft , or stub flange for torque transmission in an rotationally fast way . the inner joint part may be coupled as is known by a person having skill in the art . between the collar 223 and the outer joint part 222 there is inserted a vent cover 231 which may seal the joint when coupled to a propeller shaft or other connection and , more particularly , contains lubrication within the joint . furthermore , a membrane seal 250 circumferentially connected to an outer circumference 252 of the outer joint part 222 is in sealing relationship with the inner circumference 254 of a hard boot 233 and which , in a way to be further described , seals the constant velocity universal joint relative to the inner joint part . while the membrane seal 250 may be selectively positioned on the outer circumference of the outer joint part 222 in order to seal against the hard boot 233 , the membrane seal 250 may optionally be selectively connected to the inner circumference 254 of the hard boot 233 in sealing relationship with the outer circumference 252 of the outer joint part 222 . the seal 250 , whether connected to the outer joint part 222 or to the hard boot 233 , provides an effective barrier during joint motion over the applicable semi - spherical sealing surface . moreover , optionally , a wiper 232 encloses the outer end of the hard boot 233 and which environmentally seals the constant velocity universal joint relative to the membrane seal 250 . the wiper 232 is positioned on the outer joint part 222 and functions as a backup barrier for sealing the joint . the wiper 232 may be made from any pliable material and may be welded , glue , rolled and / or affixed in any other applicable way know to one of skill in the art onto the outer surface of the outer joint part 222 . the constant velocity universal joint 212 also includes pairs of ball tracks 227 , 228 , 229 , 230 . the inner joint part 224 of the second embodiment includes an inner race part 243 connected to an extension part 245 . the inner race part 243 includes a front face 244 , and a circlip groove 256 for retentively engaging a connection shaft . the extension part includes a flange 255 coupled to the front face of the inner race part by bolts 257 , a neck 258 , a step 259 and retention bolts 272 , 273 . the hard boot 233 is axially form - fitting and positively secured to the neck 258 of the extension part 245 of the inner joint part 224 by way of retention bolts 272 , 273 secured into the extension part 245 and further sandwiched between the step 259 to prevent axial motion between the parts . optionally , the inner race part 243 or the extension part 245 of the inner joint part 224 may be solid . accordingly , a person of skill in the art would recognized the alternate connection types required in order to utilize a cvj having a solid inner joint part 224 . the hard boot may be made from any material consistent with the intent and scope of the present invention . specifically , the inventive rigid seal system provides a boot and a seal combination that enables the seal to have angular motion with respect to the outer joint part or the hard boot in such a way that the seal integrity and structural integrity is maintained between selected moving parts . in the present embodiment , the material of the hard boot is selected to have a substantially small amount of deflection or distortion during angular gyrations of the joint parts . suitable materials would include wood , metal , or hard plastic , without limitation . the hard boot of the present embodiment is made from carbon steel . however , it is recognized that soft plastic , i . e ., materials used for the traditional neoprene boots , may not have the requisite rigidity to properly maintain the sealing requirements as described herein . the word “ hard ” as used with the hard boot of the present invention is not meant to be limiting , but is provided to distinguish the boot of the present invention requiring only one fixed attachment from the prior art boots requiring at least two fixed attachment points in order to effectuate a sealed system . while the material , coupling and treatment of the various other dtf parts have not been discussed ; appropriate selection would be well understood by a person of skill in the art . an additional aspect of the present invention , the applicant has discovered certain relationship between the outer joint part and the hard boot that enable a robust rigid joint sealing system . the relationship is explained in detail below with reference to the first and second exemplary embodiments . in order to obtain additional advantages , the outer joint part and the hard boot have a hard boot optimisation ratio ( hb ). the optimisation ratio represents one metric for providing geometric tolerance for further improvement to the rigid joint sealing system of the present invention . the parameters used to determine the hard boot optimisation ratio are : 1 ) an internal radius r 1 defined by the axis origin of the inner joint part to the inner circumference of the hard boot ; 2 ) an external radius r 2 defined by the axis origin of the outer joint part to the outer circumference of the outer joint part ; and 3 ) a membrane seal designed compression thickness ct . the seal designed compression thickness is a constant . the hard boot optimisation ratio helps to minimize distortion of the inner circumference of the hard boot and or the outer circumference of the outer joint part . furthermore , the hard boot optimisation ratio helps to maintain proper compression upon the membrane seal for proper sealing capability . the hard boot optimisation ratio is equal to the external radius plus the membrane seal designed compression thickness all divided by the internal radius . the hard boot optimisation ratio is calculated for optimised minimum distortion of the inner circumference of the hard boot and or the outer circumference of the outer joint part and is controlled substantially in the range defined by : the hard boot optimisation ratio has improved range at approximately 0 . 9 ≦ hb ≦ 1 . 1 , with even better range at approximately 0 . 98 ≦ hb ≦ 1 . 02 . generally , fig4 through 9 illustrate partial cross sectional views of the first through sixth embodiments of the inventive rigid joint sealing systems 102 , 202 , 302 , 402 , 502 , 602 , respectively . generally , each of the rigid joint sealing systems 102 , 202 , 302 , 402 , 502 , 602 include a membrane seal 150 , 250 , 350 , 450 , 550 , 650 circumferentially connected to the outer circumference 152 , 252 , 352 , 452 , 552 , 652 of the outer joint parts 122 , 222 , 322 , 422 , 522 , 622 , in sealing relationship with the inner circumference 154 , 254 , 354 , 454 , 554 , 654 of the hard boot 133 , 233 , 333 , 433 , 533 , 633 , respectively . the membrane seals or seals in general are utilized to separate one environment from another environment . these environments may include the separation of gases , liquids , solids , heat regimes and pressure regimes , without limitation , in order to maintain the desired environmental relationship , such as retention of lubrication within the joint of the present invention . seals , including material selection and design factors , used to accomplish environmental control are understood by persons of skill in the art and may be utilized to advantage in the various embodiment of the inventive rigid joint sealing system . accordingly , any suitable material may be utilized to advantage , such as rubber , without limitation , for the seal . moreover , composite seal designs may also be used to advantage . the membrane seals for the first through sixth embodiments will now discussed . fig4 shows the membrane seal 150 having a single blade 151 . in an optimal setting , the seal 150 may be compressed having focused sealing pressure or compression at the blade 151 and the hard boot 133 interface . fig5 shows the membrane seal 250 having two single blades 251 , 253 thereby providing better assurance of seal contact during angular motion of the cvj . fig6 shows the membrane seal 350 having two wiper blades 351 , 353 . the two wiper blades 351 , 353 may interface with the hard boot 333 by resilient loading of the material , compressive loading between the parts or by environmental pressure loaded in both seal directions . an advantage of the two wiper blade design , is that during angular joint motion , with or without an environmental pressure differential , one wiper blade is likely to maintain sealing contact with the hard boot . fig7 shows the membrane seal 450 having two double wiper blades 451 , 453 . fig8 shows the membrane seal 550 having a blades 551 and retention spring 581 . the retention spring 581 securely fastens the seal to the outer joint part 522 thereby allowing the seal to have higher compressive loading between the seal and the wiping or sealing surface of the hard boot . fig9 shows the membrane seal 650 having two blades 651 , 653 and two retention springs 681 , 682 being used to advantage . while the above embodiments of the membrane seals are provided as examples , it is recognized that various other types of membrane seal configurations may also be used with the inventive rigid joint sealing system . from the foregoing , it can be seen that there has been brought to the art a new and improved rigid joint sealing system . while the invention has been described in connection with one or more embodiments , it should be understood that the invention is not limited to those embodiments . on the contrary , the invention covers all alternatives , modifications , and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	8
as seen in fig1 a first cooling body 10 is comprised as part of an inventive light hardening apparatus in one embodiment of the present invention . the cooling body 10 comprises a plurality of cooling ribs 12 which extend parallel to one another along the cooling body longitudinal axis 18 . a light source 16 is disposed on the forward end of the cooling body 10 , whose configuration can be best seen in fig4 and 5 . the light source emits light emissions for light hardening of polymer masses along the direction , as well , of the axis 18 . the cooling body 10 comprises a rearward , substantially cylindrical region 20 and a forward conical region 22 . the conical region is , in conventional manner , received along with the light source 16 in a correspondingly formed portion of a housing of the light hardening apparatus , whereby reference is had in this regard to german patent application 101 27 416 , which is fully incorporated by reference herein . the cylindrical region is , in any event , received in a correspondingly formed portion of the housing . four support elements 24 are uniformly circumferentially distributed about the circumference for fixedly supporting the cooling body 10 in the housing . in accordance with the present invention , the cooling body 10 is provided with two opposed channels , of which a channel 26 can be seen in fig1 . the configuration of the opposed channel 28 is symmetrical to that of the channel 26 . each channel 26 , 28 extends not only over the conical region 22 but , as well , extends over the cylindrical region 20 parallel to the axis 18 and , thus , adjacent the cooling ribs 12 . while grooves 30 are configured between the cooling ribs , each of whose width is merely somewhat greater than the width of a cooling rib itself or , alternatively , corresponds to the width of a cooling rib , the channels 26 and 28 are substantially wider . each channel 26 and 28 is operable to receive the inventive printed circuit . in accordance with the present invention , the printed circuit can be flexible and , as well , can be comprised of multiple components , whereby it is nonetheless preferred that the printed circuit is configured as a single integral unit and has the configuration as shown in fig2 . each channel 26 and 28 includes a floor 32 and two side flanks 34 and 36 , whereby the side flanks 34 and 36 diverge slightly from one another outwardly . due to this configuration , the printed circuit can be arranged with space saving components and the printed circuit can be disposed in a channel of this configuration in a straightforward manner . the cooling body 10 comprises , at its rear end , a blind hole - type recess 42 extending around its axis . [ 0032 ] fig2 shows a printed circuit 50 in an exemplary inventive embodiment . in this embodiment , the printed circuit 50 is a single integral unit , whereby it is to be understood that , instead of this configuration , it is also possible to select a multiple - component configuration and to interconnect the individual pieces of the printed circuit to one another via solder joints or , as the case may be , via plug and socket connections . in accordance with the present invention , the printed circuit 50 is configured as a three - dimensional ( 3 - d ) configuration . the production of the printed circuit itself and the mounting thereon of its components occurs in the conventional manner — that is , this occurs as the printed circuit 50 still extends in planar form . by the selection of suitable bending means , the configuration of the printed circuit shown in fig4 is produced . in this configuration , the printed circuit comprises two principal strips 52 and 54 which are connected to one another via a connector ring 56 . two wings 58 and 60 extend from each respective principal strip 52 , 54 at an angle which corresponds to the angle of the side flanks 34 and 36 relative to the floor 32 of the channel 26 . an angled region 64 , 66 is provided on the rear end of each principal strip 52 , 54 , respectively , with each angled region 64 , 66 , supporting a plug element 66 , 68 , respectively . stop elements 65 and 67 are provided between the angled regions 64 , 66 and the plug elements 66 , 68 , the stop elements operating to axially support the plug elements 66 , 68 . the stop elements 65 , 67 extend sideways into an encircling groove 69 of the cooling body which is arranged in the rearward region of the cooling ribs . the axial length of this groove 69 substantially corresponds to the thickness of the stop elements 65 , 67 . in the illustrated embodiment , the printed circuit 50 is substantially configured in smd technology , while , in the region of the plug elements 66 and 68 , soldering lugs are provided . the printed circuit 50 comprises not - illustrated conductor paths and supports numerous electrical and electronic components 70 , as are schematically shown in fig2 . to the extent that the components are configured via smd technology and are configured on the surfaces of the wings 58 and 60 , it is also possible to provide punch outs or breakthroughs in the printed circuit and to permit the entire printed components with their cooling surfaces 72 to be sealed off in a flush manner with the underside of the printed circuit 50 . this solution permits a direct cooling of the respective components via the disposition of their cooling surface 72 on the bordering cooling ribs of the cooling body 10 to be ensured . the connector ring 56 having an axial cutout 74 interconnects the principal strips 52 and 54 with one another . the configuration of the connector ring 56 for the receipt of the light source is shown in more detail in fig3 . the connector ring 56 supports , on its underside , a disc - shaped substrate body 76 . the substrate body 76 receives , on its upper side , a plurality of led chips , of which three chips 80 , 82 , and 84 are shown . also , in spite of the fact that only three chips are illustrated , it is to be understood that , in reality , a plurality of chips over the surface of the substrate body 76 and a matrix - type arrangement are provided . the substrate body 76 comprises an effective heat conducting metal and has an outer shape 88 which is larger than the inner configuration of the cutout 74 . the substrate body 76 is secured by adhesion to the underside of the connector ring 56 but can , however , also be secured in any other suitable manner such as , for example , by clamping . it is to be understood that the led chips are electronically isolated relative to the metallic substrate body 76 in conventional manner such as , for example , via a thin silicon oxide layer . preferably , bondable chips are used which are connected with the not - illustrated bond wires to corresponding connecting surfaces or bond pads on the printed circuit 50 . in this connection , the possibility to realize substantially short bond wire length is directly due to an oval shape which is selected for the cutouts and the substrate body 76 . it is preferred to use a cover disc 90 for protecting the chips from dirt and debris , as is illustrated in fig5 which can be comprised of , for example , a high transparency quartz glass . the cover disc 90 is preferably secured by adhesion on the substrate body 76 so that an enclosed unit is formed which can be , as needed , also completely changed out for an exchange unit . a not - illustrated distance ring 75 can be arranged between the forward side of the connector ring 56 and the cover disc 80 so that a spacing between the chips and the cover disc 90 can be achieved . it is to be understood that the connection of the led matrix , which forms the light source 92 , can be disposed on the printed circuit 50 in any suitable desired manner . for example , a direct welding or soldering is possible . alternatively , a small sister plate can be used which is insertable on the printed circuit and comprises a portion of the light source . in accordance with the present invention , it is advantageous as well that , via the insertion of the substrate body 76 in the cutout 74 , an automatically correct orientation of the light source is produced so that an after adjustment of the light source can be omitted . a mounted unit 54 is shown in fig5 which is comprised of the cooling body 10 , the light source 92 , and the printed circuit 50 . as can be seen , the unit provides an exceptionally compact unit 94 . via the intensive through flow of the significantly deeply extending cooling ribs 12 , a good cooling effect is achieved . preferably , the grooves 30 adjacent the conical region 22 are somewhat less deep and have their maximum depth at the rearward end of the cooling body 10 . in this manner , the flow velocity of the cooling air at the transition between the conical region 22 and the cylindrical region 20 is especially large and is , in the rearward region , reduced , so that there occurs a longer residence time of the cooling air on the cooling ribs 12 . in fig6 an embodiment of an inventive light hardening apparatus 96 with an installed and mounted unit 94 is illustrated . cooling air slots 98 can be provided in conventional manner on the housing in surrounding relation to the conical region 22 which conduct the cooling air thereto . the cooling air flows along the axis 18 on the unit 94 and is exhausted outwardly by a blower 100 . as can be seen in fig6 the unit 94 , which has the described printed circuit which is not otherwise illustrated in fig6 is connected to an additional printed circuit 102 . the connection is preferably effected via bushings which correspond to the plug elements 66 and 68 . the printed circuit 102 serves as the connector of the blower motor and the light source but can , however , operate as the energy source of the electronics on the printed circuit 50 and operate , as well , as the connection to a finger pressure switch 104 . the energy supply can be configured either via accumulators , which are disposed in conventional manner on the hand grip 106 of the light hardening apparatus 96 , or can be configured as a connector cable extending outwardly under the handgrip 106 to a base station of the light hardening apparatus 96 , which ensures the electrical voltage supply . it is to be understood that the printed circuit 102 can be configured in any suitable desired manner . it can also extend transversely through the handgrip 106 to the lower end thereof and thereat form a support position for the connector cables . although the herein described embodiment comprises a cooling body 10 , which extends along the printed circuit 50 , it is to be understood that , as needed , it is also possible without further substantial effort to configure the cooling body as a multiple - component cooling body , whereby a partition line extends , for example , along the groove . the present invention is , of course , in no way restricted to the specific disclosure of the specification and drawings , but also encompasses any modifications within the scope of the appended claims .	7
turning now to the drawings , and more particularly to fig1 , system 10 , broadly defined , for producing patterned deposition from compressed fluids includes a delivery system 12 , a deposition chamber , or alternatively controlled environment , 30 , and a substrate 14 retained in the deposition chamber , or alternatively , controlled environment 30 . controlled environment 30 is more typically a deposition chamber , as described in detail below . a typical delivery system 12 contemplated by the invention is one disclosed , for instance , in commonly assigned u . s . pat . no . 6 , 471 , 327 b2 , issued to jagannathan et al ., on oct . 29 , 2002 , and titled “ apparatus and method of delivering a focused beam of a thermodynamically stable / metastable mixture of a function material in a dense fluid onto a receiver ,” hereby incorporated herein by reference . each of the disclosed delivery systems is capable of delivering a precipitate color filter material ( as described below ) and can be used in the invention . referring to fig1 , delivery system 12 , capable of delivering fluids along fluid delivery path 13 in a compressed state , generally includes a source 16 of compressed fluid , a formulation reservoir 18 for containing a formulation material , a discharge assembly 20 , each being described in detail in the above u . s . patent applications . delivery system 12 serves several important functions in the invention . it enables the dissolution and / or dispersal of a selected material into a compressed fluid with density greater than 0 . 1 g / cc 3 . further , a solution and / or dispersion of an appropriate color filter material or combination of color filter materials in the chosen compressed fluid is produced in delivery system 12 . moreover , delivery system 12 delivers the color filter materials as a beam or spray into a deposition chamber 30 in a controlled manner . in this context , the chosen materials taken to a compressed fluid state with a density greater than 0 . 1 g / cc 3 are gases at ambient pressure and temperature . ambient conditions are preferably defined as temperature in the range from − 100 to + 100 ° c ., and pressure in the range from 1 × 10 − 8 – 100 atm for this application . as depicted in fig1 , controlled environment 30 , such as a deposition chamber , is arranged proximate to delivery system 12 . controlled environment 30 is positioned at one end of the fluid delivery path 13 and adjacent the discharge assembly 20 of delivery system 12 . as illustrated in fig2 , substrate 14 to be patterned with deposition material and is suitably arranged within deposition chamber 30 . in close proximity to substrate 14 , a mask 22 is preferably used to control the location of the deposited color filter material on the substrate 14 . referring to fig3 , in many applications , it is desirable to maintain an exact concentration of color filter material within the controlled enclosure 31 . whilst open loop systems relying on valve opening times can be used , for greater precision and reliability it is desirable to use a system such as the one illustrated in fig3 . according to fig3 , enclosure 31 ( applies to enclosures of fig2 , 5 and 6 ) is fitted with at least one viewing window or port 33 . viewing window 33 can be used alone to provide a visual indication of the conditions inside the enclosure 31 . on the other hand , a viewing window 33 is also required to facilitate the use of optical emitters 35 and optical detectors 37 for the purpose of a more accurate assessment of the concentration of color filter material inside the enclosure 31 . the optical emitter 35 emits a beam of light that travels across the inside of the enclosure 31 and is detected by optical detector 37 . this optical detector 37 sends an electrical signal to the microprocessor 39 in proportion to the amount of light received ( which is a function of the amount of color filter material inside the controlled enclosure 31 ). this information can be used in many ways , most simply as a check of the process , but also as an input to a closed loop control of the input valve 24 . for example , if the concentration in the controlled enclosure 31 is low , the valve 24 is opened allowing more color filter material to enter the controlled enclosure 31 . this method relies on the cleanliness of the viewing windows 33 to be effective , and therefore either by routine maintenance , calibration , or the application of a like charge as the particles to the viewing windows 33 , the viewing windows 33 themselves must be kept free of debris . skilled artisans will appreciate that there are many variations and other detection methods that could be applied to a closed loop concentration monitoring and control method described above . for example , in an optical detection scheme , the optical emitter 35 and optical detector 37 could be on the same side of the controlled enclosure 31 relying on a reflective surface on the opposite side to reflect the beam . the scope is not limited to optical detection , any method that provides an indication of the amount of color filter material such as electrical properties , physical properties , or chemical properties could be used . referring back to fig1 , a compressed fluid carrier contained in the source 16 of compressed fluid is any material that dissolves / solubilizes / disperses a color filter material . source 16 of compressed fluids , containing compressed fluid delivers the compressed fluid carrier at predetermined conditions of pressure , temperature , and flow rate as a compressed fluid . compressed fluids are defined in the context of this application as those fluids that have a density of greater than 0 . 1 grams per cubic centimeter in the defined range of temperature and pressure of the formulation reservoir , and are gases at ambient temperature and pressure . materials in their compressed fluid state that exist as gases at ambient conditions find application here because of their unique ability to solubilize and / or disperse color filter materials of interest in the compressed fluid state , and precipitate the color filter material under ambient conditions . fluids of interest that may be used to transport the color filter material include but are not limited to carbon dioxide , nitrous oxide , ammonia , xenon , ethane , ethylene , propane , propylene , butane , isobutane , chlorotrifluoromethane , monofluoromethane , sulphur hexafluoride , and mixtures thereof . due to environmental compatibility , low toxicity , low cost , wide availability , and non - flammability , carbon dioxide is generally preferred . referring again to fig1 , formulation reservoir 18 is utilized to dissolve and / or disperse color filter materials in compressed liquids or compressed fluids with or without cosolvents and / or dispersants and / or surfactants , at desired formulation conditions of temperature , pressure , volume , and concentration . the formulation may include additives to modify surface tension for charging and wetting viscosity through the use of rheology modifiers and / or thickeners , stabilizers , binders , and dopants . in addition , the formulation reservoir 18 can include a source that electrically charges the material particles prior to the material being ejected from the discharge assembly 20 . charging the particles is an important step in many of the preferred embodiments . alternatively , the color filter materials can also be chosen such that the color filter material stream becomes charged as it is ejected from the discharge assembly 20 and does not need additional charging . additionally , additives that can promote charging of the color filter materials can also be chosen such that the color filter material stream becomes charged as it is ejected from the discharge assembly 20 . such additives may include surfactants such as those disclosed in u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 033 , 458 filed dec . 27 , 2001 , titled “ a compressed fluid formulation ” by glen c . irvin , jr ., et al . further , formulation reservoir 18 can be made out of any suitable materials that can withstand the formulation conditions . an operating range from 0 . 001 atmospheres ( 1 . 013 × 10 2 pa ) to 1000 atmospheres ( 1 . 013 × 10 8 pa ) in pressure and from − 25 ° centigrade to 1000 ° centigrade is preferred . typically , the preferred materials of construction include various grades of high pressure stainless steel . however , the material of choice is determined by temperature and pressure range of operation . formulation reservoir 18 should be precisely controlled with respect to the operating conditions , i . e ., pressure , temperature , and volume . the solubility / dispersability of color filter materials depends upon the conditions within the formulation reservoir 18 and even small changes in the operating conditions within the formulation reservoir 18 can have undesired effects on color filter material solubility / dispersability . any suitable surfactant and dispersant material that is capable of solubilizing / dispersing the color filter materials in the compressed liquid for the required application can be used in this method . such materials include but are not limited to fluorinated polymers such as perfluoropolyether and silane and siloxane compounds . referring to fig1 and 4 , delivery system 12 is shown in fluid communication through orifices / nozzles 28 with enclosed , controlled environment 30 that contains substrate 14 and mask 22 . according to fig1 , valve 24 may be designed to actuate with a specific frequency or for a fixed time period so as to permit the controlled release of formulation from formulation reservoir 18 into enclosed environment 30 via orifices / nozzles 28 . according to fig4 , the controlled release of color filter material 40 into enclosed environment 30 results in the evaporation of the compressed fluid 41 and the precipitation and / or aggregation of the dissolved and / or dispersed color filter material 40 . the precipitated / aggregated color filter material may be allowed to gravity - settle or may be settled using an electric , electrostatic , electromagnetic , or magnetic assist . mask 22 in close proximity to substrate 14 results in the patterned deposition of color filter material 40 on the substrate 14 . substrate 14 may be any solid including an organic , an inorganic , a metallo - organic , a metallic , an alloy , a ceramic , a synthetic and / or natural polymeric , a gel , a glass , and a composite material . substrate 14 may be porous or non - porous . additionally , the substrate 14 can have more than one layer . additionally , the substrate 14 may be flexible or rigid . as best illustrated in fig2 and 4 , mask 22 may be physical ( separate ) or integral . the purpose of the mask 22 is to provide a pattern for the deposition of functional solute material . those skilled in the art will appreciate that mask design and manufacture is well established . physical masks require direct contact between mask 22 and substrate 14 . their advantage is that they are relatively inexpensive and can be re - used for multiple substrates 14 . however , if the substrate 14 is delicate , the physical contact may damage the substrate 14 . precise alignment is also difficult . integral masks 22 are structures formed on the substrate 14 prior to coating / deposition . alignment and spacing is easier because the mask 22 is a part of the substrate 14 . however , because of the potential need to remove the mask 22 after deposition , a subsequent etching step may be necessary , potentially making this more expensive and time - consuming . referring to fig4 , nozzle 28 directs the flow of the color filter material 40 from formulation reservoir 18 via delivery system 12 into enclosed environment 30 . nozzle 28 is also used to attenuate the final velocity with which the color filter material 40 enters the enclosed environment 30 . in our preferred application , it is desirable to rapidly spread the stream of precipitated color filter material 40 using a divergent nozzle geometry . skilled artisans will however appreciate that nozzle geometry can vary depending on a particular application , as described in u . s . patent application publication no . 2002 / 011842a1 , incorporate herein by reference . operation of system 10 will now be described . fig4 is a diagram schematically representing the operation of delivery system 10 and should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner . the description below uses a single nozzle 28 although multiple nozzles and / or multiple nozzle shapes and / or multiple delivery devices and shapes are within the contemplation of the invention . ( see for instance other nozzle examples disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 471 , 327 b2 , issued to jagannathan et al ., on oct . 29 , 2002 ). referring to fig4 , a formulation 42 of color filter material 40 in a compressed liquid 41 is prepared in the formulation reservoir 18 of the invention . color filter material 40 , which may be any material of interest in solid or liquid phase , can be dispersed ( as shown in fig4 ) and / or dissolved in a compressed fluid 41 making a mixture or formulation 42 . color filter material 40 may have various shapes and sizes depending on the type of the color filter material 40 used in the formulation . according to fig4 , the compressed fluid ( for example , a supercritical fluid , a compressed gas , and / or a compressed liquid ) 41 forms a continuous phase and color filter material 40 forms a dispersed and / or dissolved single phase . the formulation 42 ( i . e ., the color filter material 40 and the compressed fluid 41 ) is maintained at a suitable temperature and a suitable pressure for the color filter material 40 and the compressed fluid 41 used in a particular application . the shutter 32 is actuated to enable the ejection of a controlled quantity of the formulation 42 . with reference to fig1 and 4 , color filter material 40 is controllably introduced into the formulation reservoir 18 . the compressed fluid 41 is also controllably introduced into the formulation reservoir 18 . the contents of the formulation reservoir 18 are suitably mixed using a mixing device ( not shown ) to ensure intimate contact between the color filter material 40 and compressed fluid 41 . as the mixing process proceeds , color filter material 40 is dissolved and / or dispersed within the compressed fluid 41 . the process of dissolution / dispersion , including the amount of color filter material 40 and the rate at which the mixing proceeds , depends upon the color filter material 40 itself , the particle size and particle size distribution of the color filter material 40 ( if the color filter material 40 is a solid ), the compressed fluid 41 used , the temperature , and the pressure within the formulation reservoir 18 . when the mixing process is complete , the mixture or formulation 42 of color filter material and compressed fluid is thermodynamically stable / metastable in that the color filter material is dissolved or dispersed within the compressed fluid in such a fashion as to be indefinitely contained in the same state as long as the temperature and pressure within the formulation reservoir 18 are maintained constant or in the same state for the period of the efficient operation of the process ( metastable ). this thermodynamically stable state is distinguished from other physical mixtures in that there is no settling , precipitation , and / or agglomeration of color filter material particles within the formulation reservoir 18 unless the thermodynamic conditions of temperature and pressure within the formulation reservoir 18 are changed . as such , the color filter material 40 and compressed fluid 41 mixtures or formulations 42 of the present invention are said to be thermodynamically stable / metastable . the color filter material 40 can be a solid or a liquid . additionally , the color filter material 40 can be an organic molecule , a polymer molecule , a metallo - organic molecule , an inorganic molecule , an organic nanoparticle , a polymer nanoparticle , a metallo - organic nanoparticle , an inorganic nanoparticle , an organic microparticle , a polymer micro - particle , a metallo - organic microparticle , an inorganic microparticle , and / or composites of these materials , etc . after suitable mixing with the compressed fluid 41 within the formulation reservoir 18 , the color filter material 40 is uniformly distributed within a thermodynamically stable / metastable mixture , that can be a solution or a dispersion , with the compressed fluid 41 . this thermodynamically stable / metastable mixture or formulation 42 is controllably released from the formulation reservoir 18 through the discharge assembly 20 . referring again to fig4 , during the discharge process , the color filter material 40 is precipitated from the compressed fluid 41 as the temperature and / or pressure conditions change . the precipitated color filter material 44 is ejected into the deposition chamber or controlled environment 30 by the discharge assembly 20 . the particle size of the color filter material 40 ejected into the chamber 30 and subsequently deposited on the substrate 14 is typically in the range from 1 nanometer to 1000 nanometers . the particle size distribution may be controlled to be more uniform by controlling the formulation ( functional solute materials and their concentrations ) rate of change of temperature and / or pressure in the discharge assembly 20 , and the ambient conditions inside the controlled environment 30 . although not specifically shown , delivery system 12 ( fig4 ), contemplated by the invention , is also designed to appropriately change the temperature and pressure of the formulation 42 to permit a controlled precipitation and / or aggregation of the color filter material 40 ( see for instance u . s . pat . no . 6 , 471 , 327 b2 , issued to jagannathan et al ., on oct . 29 , 2002 ). as the pressure is typically stepped down in stages , the formulation 42 fluid flow is self - energized . subsequent changes to the conditions of formulation 42 , for instance , a change in pressure , a change in temperature , etc ., result in the precipitation and / or aggregation of the color filter material 40 coupled with an evaporation of the compressed fluid 41 . the resulting precipitated and / or aggregated color filter material 44 deposits on the substrate 14 evenly . according to fig4 , evaporation of the compressed fluid 41 can occur in a region located outside of the discharge assembly 20 within deposition chamber 30 . alternatively , evaporation of the compressed fluid 41 can begin within the discharge assembly 20 and continue in the region located outside the discharge assembly 20 but within deposition chamber 30 . alternatively , evaporation can occur within the discharge assembly 20 . according to fig4 , a stream 43 of the color filter material 40 and the compressed fluid 41 is formed as the formulation 42 moves through the discharge assembly 20 . when the size of the stream 43 of precipitated and / or aggregated color filter material 44 is substantially equal to an exit diameter of the nozzle 28 of the discharge assembly 20 , the stream 43 of precipitated and / or aggregated color filter material 44 has been collimated by the nozzle 28 . when the size of the stream 43 of precipitated and / or aggregated color filter material 44 is less than the exit diameter of the nozzle 28 of the discharge assembly 20 , the stream 43 of precipitated and / or aggregated color filter material 44 has been focused by the nozzle 28 . it may be desirable for a deposition chamber input to be a diverging beam to quickly spread the precipitated and / or aggregated color filter material 44 and dissipate its kinetic energy . such an input is possible without a nozzle 28 . referring again to fig2 , 4 & amp ; 5 , substrate 14 resides within deposition chamber 30 such that the stream 43 of precipitated and / or aggregated color filter material stream 44 is deposited onto the substrate 14 . the distance of the substrate 14 from the discharge assembly 20 is chosen such that the compressed fluid 41 evaporates prior to reaching the substrate 14 . hence , there is no need for subsequent substrate 14 drying processes . further , subsequent to the ejection of the formulation 42 from the nozzle 28 and the precipitation of the color filter material 44 , additional focusing and / or collimation may be achieved using external devices such as electromagnetic fields , mechanical shields , magnetic lenses , electrostatic lenses , etc . alternatively , the substrate 14 can be electrically or electrostatically charged such that the position of the color filter material 40 can be controlled . referring again to fig4 , it is also desirable to control the velocity with which individual particles 46 of color filter material 40 are ejected from the nozzle 28 . since there may be a sizable pressure drop from within the delivery system 10 to the operating environment , the pressure differential converts the potential energy of the delivery system 10 into kinetic energy that propels the color filter material particles 46 onto the substrate 14 . the velocity of these particles 46 can be controlled by suitable nozzle design ( see discussion above ) and by controlling the rate of change of operating pressure and temperature within the system . further , subsequent to the ejection of the formulation 42 from nozzle 28 and the precipitation of the color filter material 40 , additional velocity regulation of the color filter material 40 may be achieved using external devices such as electromagnetic fields , mechanical shields , magnetic lenses , electrostatic lenses , etc . the nozzle design will depend upon the particular application addressed . ( see , for instance , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 471 , 327 b2 , issued to jagannathan et al ., on oct . 29 , 2002 ). moreover , the temperature of nozzle 28 may also be controlled . referring to fig4 , the temperature of nozzle 28 may be controlled as required by specific applications to ensure that the nozzle opening 47 maintains the desired fluid flow characteristics . nozzle temperature can be controlled through the nozzle heating module ( not shown ) using a water jacket , electrical heating techniques , etc . ( see , for instance , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 471 , 327 b2 , issued to jagannathan et al ., on oct . 29 , 2002 ). with appropriate nozzle design , the exiting stream temperature can be controlled at a desired value by enveloping the exiting stream with a co - current annular stream of a warm or cool inert gas . referring to fig2 , controlled environment 30 is designed for use at extremes of pressure . incorporated in the controlled environment 30 is a pressure modulator 105 . the pressure modulator 105 , as shown , resembles a piston . this is for illustration only . skilled artisans will also appreciate that pressure modulator 105 could also be a pump or a vent used in conjunction with an additional pressure source . an example of an additional pressure source is the source 109 of compressed fluid . this source 109 is modulated with a flow control device or valve 108 to enable color filter material to enter the deposition chamber 30 via a fluid delivery path 13 . the pressure inside the deposition chamber 30 is carefully monitored by a pressure sensor 103 and can be set at any pressure less than that of the delivery system 12 ( including levels of vacuum ) to facilitate precipitation / aggregation . in addition , the deposition chamber 30 is provided with temperature sensor 104 and temperature modulator 106 . temperature modulator 106 is shown as an electric heater but could consist of any of the following ( not shown ): heater , a water jacket , a refrigeration coil , and a combination of temperature control devices . referring to fig1 , 2 , and 4 , deposition chamber 30 generally serves to hold the substrate 14 and the mask 22 and facilitates the deposition of the precipitated color filter material 44 . to enable a more complete and even distribution of the color filter material 40 , electric or electrostatic charges can be applied to the substrate 14 and / or mask 22 . through the ejection process in the discharge assembly 20 , the particles are known to become charged . if desired , additional charge can be applied to them using a particle charging device 107 ( fig2 ). the color filter material 40 , now charged can be attracted or repelled from various surfaces to aid in the deposition process . according to fig2 , charging devices 102 a , 102 b are provided for both the substrate 14 and mask 22 , respectively . for illustrative purposes only , a positive charge (+) is shown on substrate 14 and a negative charge (−) is shown on mask 22 . the polarity may be changed to suit the application . a charge equal to that of the color filter material 40 is applied to the mask 22 , whereas a charge opposite of that of the color filter material 40 is applied to the substrate 14 to attract the color filter material . obviously there can be no electrical conduction between the two to maintain the charge differential . this may limit the material selection of one or both , or add the requirement for an additional insulating layer ( not shown ). in a similar manner , it may be beneficial to create other electric or electrostatic charges on the deposition chamber 30 or on any other mechanical elements within the deposition chamber 30 . as shown in fig6 , an internal baffle 122 may be used to provide a more even distribution of color filter material 40 within the deposition chamber 200 . a charge may be applied to the internal baffling by a baffle charging device 123 . referring again to fig2 , deposition chamber 30 also provides easy access for the insertion and removal of the substrate 14 through access port 101 . this process will potentially be automated by mechanical devices which are not shown . access port 101 of deposition chamber 30 also provides access for the insertion and removal of the mask 22 as well as for the proper placement of the mask 22 . mask alignment relative to the substrate 14 is key to this application and may be manual or preferably , automated . though it is shown oriented with the substrate 14 facing upwards , this is not a requirement of the invention . when attracting particles electrostatically , it may be advantageous to orient the substrate 14 facing downward . in this manner , no debris from the deposition chamber 30 could inadvertently fall onto the substrate 14 . the controlled environment can be used for post deposition processing of the deposited material on the substrate . post deposition processing may involve the control of humidity , temperature , atmospheric conditions including pressure , and chemical composition of the atmosphere . as an example , many processes require the curing of the materials to obtain desired functionality at elevated temperature . the thermal control that is already built into the enclosure can be utilized for this purpose . alternatively , the post processing required can be done outside the enclosure . it should be appreciated that deposition chamber 30 should also be designed so that there are no dead volumes that may result in the accumulation of precipitated color filter materials 44 and so that it may be easily cleaned . as such , it may be further partitioned into more than one sub - chamber to facilitate the above ( not shown ). it may also be equipped with suitable mechanical devices to aid the precipitation and deposition of color filter material 40 . an example of such a device would be a mechanical agitator . turning now to fig5 , another embodiment of deposition chamber 100 , contemplated by the invention , is shown . it contains many of the same features previously described in the discussion of fig2 , with the addition of a medium 111 which divides the deposition chamber 100 into a preparation sub - chamber 100 a and a deposition sub - chamber 100 b . the materials in these sub - chambers 100 a , 100 b are allowed to flow through controllable dual chamber interface valve 110 . each sub - chamber 100 a , 100 b is configured with independent control of pressure and temperature through the use of pressure sensors 103 , temperature sensors 104 , pressure modulators 105 , and temperature modulators 106 . the preparation sub - chamber 100 a differs from the formulation reservoir 18 ( fig1 ) in that the color filter material 40 can be ( but is not necessarily ) precipitated . the addition of a preparation sub - chamber 100 a to the system allows for a potentially large volume of prepared deposition material to be ready and maintained at a higher than ambient pressure while still allowing the changing of substrate 14 and deposition material through the access port 101 . in fig6 , a simplified deposition chamber 200 is illustrated . in this embodiment , no provision is made for maintaining a pressure above that of ambient . many of the other features described in fig2 and 5 are still possible , but by no longer requiring the deposition chamber 200 to support an elevated pressure , certain additional advantages can be realized . for example , the substrate 14 no longer is required to be contained in deposition chamber 200 . this is illustrated in fig6 by showing a moving substrate in the form of a web 120 that is transported by conveyors 121 . in such a system , it is possible to perform continuous coating operations . in this case , a separate mask would likely not be used except for the case of a step and repeat process . rather , a mask integral to the substrate , as previously described , is the preferred method of achieving patterned deposition . alternatively , a similar approach , illustrated in fig2 and 5 , could be used also without need for access port 101 . additional aspects of the invention may include multiple deposition chambers 30 , 100 , or 200 , as illustrated in fig2 , 5 , and 6 , for coating multiple layers onto substrate 14 . alternatively , multiple masks 22 may be used such that a mask with a specific configurational structure of aperture patterns is used and subsequently replaced with another shadow mask of different configurational structure of aperture patterns on the same substrate 14 . multiple masks , indexing of a mask , multiple layers , and multiple material processes are commonly used in the manufacture of displays , therefore details and methods to provide proper registration such as through the use of optical fiducials are well known . the sequential process used for deposition of colored material ( s ) for display products applications may be interspersed with other processes , including deposition of other material ( s ) and / or post treatment of deposited material ( s ), as needed , to create a desired product . the general architecture of a color filter made in accordance with the present invention will now be described . the color filter can be a continuous film type or a pixellated array type . additionally , either type of color filter can include one or a plurality of color filter materials . the substrate used with the invention can be any solid material , including an organic , an inorganic , a metallo - organic , a metallic , an alloy , a ceramic , a synthetic and / or natural polymeric , a gel , a glass , or a composite material . the substrate can also have more than one layer . for example , when the color filter is of the pixellated array type , the substrate can include a pre - patterned photoresist layer containing selected openings over the pixel array . after depositing the color filter material , the pre - patterned photoresist layer can be removed leaving the color filter material ( s ) in the opening position ( s ) over the pixel array . the photoresist layer can be created in any known manner . the color filter material ( s ) can be any material delivered to a substrate , to create a pattern on the substrate using deposition , etching , or other processes involving placement of a color filter material on a substrate . the color filter material ( s ) can be selected from species that are ionic and / or molecular of the types such as organic , inorganic , metallo - organic , polymeric , oligomeric , metallic , alloy , ceramic , a synthetic and / or natural polymer , and a composite material . for example , color filter materials which are useful in the invention include , but are not limited to , the following : phthalocyanines , such as pigment blue 15 , nickel phthalocyanine , chloroaluminum phthalocyanine , hydroxy aluminum phthalocyanine , vanadyl phthalocyanine , titanyl phthalocyanine , and titanyl tetrafluorophthalocyanine ; isoindolinones , such as pigment yellow 110 and pigment yellow 173 ; isoindolines , such as pigment yellow 139 and pigment yellow 185 ; benzimidazolones , such as pigment yellow 151 , pigment yellow 154 , pigment yellow 175 , pigment yellow 194 , pigment orange 36 , pigment orange 62 , pigment red 175 , and pigment red 208 ; quinophthalones , such as pigment yellow 138 ; quinacridones , such as pigment red 122 , pigment red 202 , and pigment violet 19 ; perylenes , such as pigment red 123 , pigment red 149 , pigment 179 , pigment red 224 , and pigment violet 29 ; dioxazines , such as pigment violet 23 ; thioindigos , such as pigment red 88 , and pigment violet 38 ; epindolidiones , such as 2 , 8 - difluoroepindolidione ; anthanthrones , such as pigment red 168 ; isoviolanthrones , such as isoviolanthrone ; indanthrones , such as pigment blue 60 ; imidazobenzimidazolones , such as pigment yellow 192 ; pyrazoloquinazolones , such as pigment orange 67 ; iketopyrrolopyrroles , such as pigment red 254 , irgazin dpp rubintr , cromophtal dpp orangetr ; chromophtal dpp flame red fp ( all of ciba - geigy ); and bisaminoanthrones , such as pigment red 177 . the color filter material ( s ) can be a solid or a liquid . additionally , the color filter material ( s ) can be an organic molecule , a polymer molecule , a metallo - organic molecule , an inorganic molecule , an organic nanoparticle , a polymer nanoparticle , a metallo - organic nanoparticle , an inorganic nanoparticle , an organic microparticles , a polymer micro - particle , a metallo - organic microparticle , an inorganic microparticle , and / or composites of these materials , etc . depending on the specific application , it can be desirable to have a polymer - inorganic nanoparticle composite forming the color filter material layer . the color filter material ( s ) can be functionalized to dissolve , disperse and / or solubilize the color filter material ( s ) in the compressed fluid . the functionalization may be performed by attaching fluorocarbons , siloxane , or hydrocarbon functional groups to the color filter material . after suitable mixing with the compressed fluid , the color filter material is uniformly distributed within a thermodynamically stable / metastable mixture ( either a dispersion or a solution ) with the compressed fluid ( commonly referred to as the formulation ). the formulation may also contain a dispersant and or a surfactant to help solubilize and / or disperse the color filter material . the dispersant and / or surfactant can be selected from any group that will have appropriate solubility in the compressed fluid medium as well as have interactions with the color filter material so that the color filter material can be solubilized . such materials include , but are not limited to , fluorinated polymers such as perfluoropolyether , siloxane compounds , etc . the formulation is maintained at a temperature and a pressure suitable for the color filter material and the compressed fluid used in a particular application . a preferred range of formulation conditions includes a temperature in the range of 0 to 100 ° c . and / or a pressure in the range from 1 × 10 − 2 to 400 atm . it is to be understood that elements not specifically shown or described may take various forms well known to those skilled in the art . additionally , materials identified as suitable for various facets of the invention , for example , color filter materials , are to be treated as exemplary , and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any manner .	1
one preferred film of the invention comprises compounds which reduce hydrolysis rate ( for example phenolic compounds ) and also compounds which can restore ester bonds . it is particularly resistant to moisture or water . in one preferred embodiment , the film therefore comprises from 0 . 1 to 5 % by weight of polymeric aromatic carbodiimides and from 0 . 1 to 5 % by weight of a blend made from 30 to 90 % by weight of an organic phosphite ( in particular a triaryl phosphite ) and 70 to 10 % by weight of a hydroxyphenylpropionate . the proportion of all of the hydrolysis stabilizers together is generally from 0 . 2 to 13 . 0 % by weight , preferably from 0 . 4 to 8 . 0 % by weight , based in each case on the weight of the film or , respectively , of the relevant layer of the multilayer film . the absorbance of the hydrolysis stabilizers at wavelength 380 - 400 nm is practically zero , or only very small when compared with that of uv stabilizers . the single - layer film , or at least one layer of the multilayer film , has been obliquely pigmented with at least one pigment . the pigment is preferably an inorganic white pigment , an inorganic or organic non - neutral - color pigment , an inorganic black pigment , or a mixture of these . in the case of the multilayer films , the location of the pigment is preferably in the base layer , but may also , either instead or additionally , be in the outer layer ( s ) and / or in the intermediate layers which may be present . the pigment is preferably fed in the form of a masterbatch but may also be incorporated directly at the premises of the raw material producer . preferred white pigments are titanium dioxide , barium sulfate , calcium carbonate , kaolin , silicon dioxide , particularly preferably titanium dioxide ( anatase or rutile type ) and barium sulfate . titanium dioxide does not give rise to any vacuoles in the polymer matrix during film production . the titanium dioxide pigment particles may have been coated , in particular with a covering of inorganic oxides . coated particles of this type are known and are used , for example , in papers or paints to improve lighffastness . tio 2 is photoactive . on exposure to uv radiation , free radicals form on the surface of the particles . the free radicals are in turn capable of initiating degradation reactions in the film - forming polymers , this being particularly noticeable through yellowing of the film . in one preferred embodiment , the tio 2 particles have been coated with oxides of aluminum , of silicon , of zinc , or of magnesium , or with a mixture of various oxides . ep - a 044 515 and ep - a - 078 633 , for example , disclose tio 2 particles with a covering made from a number of these compounds . the covering may moreover comprise organic compounds having polar and nonpolar groups . the organic compounds have to have sufficient thermal stability during production of the film via extrusion of the polymer melt . examples of polar groups are — oh ; — or ; — coox ; ( x = r ; h or na , r = alkyl having 1 - 34 carbon atoms ). preferred organic compounds are alkanols and fatty acids having 8 - 30 carbon atoms , in particular fatty acids and primary n - alkanols having 12 - 24 carbon atoms , and also polydiorganosiloxanes and / or polyorganohydrosiloxanes , such as polydimethylsiloxane and polymethyl - hydrosiloxane . the titanium dioxide pigment particles have generally been coated with from 1 to 12 g , preferably from 2 to 6 g , of inorganic oxides , and from 0 . 5 to 3 g , preferably from 0 . 7 to 1 . 5 g , of organic compounds , based on 100 g of titanium dioxide particles . the covering is particularly advantageously applied with the aid of an aqueous suspension . the inorganic oxides in the aqueous suspension here may be precipitated from water - soluble compounds — e . g . an alkali metal nitrate , in particular sodium nitrate , sodium silicate ( waterglass ), or silica . the term inorganic oxides , such as al 2 o 3 or sio 2 , also includes the hydroxides , and also the various dehydration states of the oxides , such as oxide hydrates , the precise composition and structure here often being unknown . the oxide hydrates , e . g . of aluminum and / or silicon , are precipitated onto the calcined and ground tio 2 pigment , in aqueous suspension , and the pigments are then washed and dried . this precipitation may therefore take place directly in a suspension such as that produced within the production process after calcination followed by wet - grinding . the oxides and / or oxide hydrates of the respective metals are precipitated from the water - soluble metal salts within the known ph range : for example , for aluminum use is made of aluminum sulfate in aqueous solution ( ph below 4 ), and the oxide hydrate is precipitated within the ph range from 5 to 9 , preferably from 7 to 8 . 5 , by adding aqueous ammonia solution or sodium hydroxide solution . if the starting material is waterglass solution or alkali metal aluminate solution , the ph of the initial charge of tio 2 suspension should be within the strongly alkaline range ( ph above 8 ). the precipitation then takes place within the ph range from 5 to 8 , by adding mineral acid , such as sulfuric acid . once the metal oxides have been precipitated , the stirring of the suspension is continued for from 15 min to about 2 h , aging the precipitated layers . the coated pigment is separated off from the aqueous dispersion , washed , and dried at an elevated temperature , preferably at from 70 to 100 ° c . in another preferred embodiment , the pigment is barium sulfate , and the proportion here of the barium sulfate is generally from 0 . 2 to 40 % by weight , preferably from 0 . 3 to 25 % by weight , particularly preferably from 1 to 25 % by weight , based in each case on the weight of the crystallizable thermoplastic . like the other pigments , the barium sulfate , too , is preferably fed in the form of a masterbatch directly during film production . in one preferred embodiment , precipitated grades of barium sulfate are used . precipitated barium sulfate is obtained from barium salts with sulfates or sulfuric acid , as a fine - particle colorless powder whose particle size can be controled via the conditions of precipitation . precipitated barium sulfates may be prepared by the conventional processes described in kunststoff - journal , 8 [ 1974 ], no . 10 , pp . 30 - 36 and nr . 11 , pp . 26 - 31 . the average particle size is relatively small , preferably within the range from 0 . 1 to 5 μm , particularly preferably within the range from 0 . 2 to 3 μm . the density of the barium sulfate used is usually from about 4 to 5 g / cm 3 . in the event of pigmentation using barium sulfate , the film advantageously also comprises at least one optical brightener , the amount used of the optical brightener being from 10 to 50 000 ppm , in particular from 20 to 30 000 ppm , particularly preferably from 50 to 25 000 ppm , in each case based on the weight of the crystallizable thermoplastic . the optical brightener , too , is preferably added with the aid of masterbatch technology directly during film production . optical brighteners are capable of absorbing uv radiation in the region from 360 to 380 nm and of re - emitting this in the form of longer - wavelength visible blue - violet light . suitable optical brighteners are benzoxazol derivatives , triazines , phenyl - coumarins , and bis - styrylbiphenyls . examples of brighteners of this type are obtainable with the name ® tinopal from ciba specialty chemicals , basle , switzerland , ® hostalux ks from clariant deutschland gmbh , or ® eastobrite ob - 1 from eastman , usa . besides the optical brightener , one or more blue dyes soluble in the thermoplastic may also be present , where appropriate , in the film . suitable blue dyes have proven to be ultramarine blue and anthraquinone dyes , in particular sudan blue 2 from basf ag , ludwigshafen , germany . the proportion of the blue dye ( s ) is generally from 10 to 10 000 ppm , preferably from 20 to 5000 ppm , particularly preferably from 50 to 1000 ppm , based in each case on the weight of the at least one crystallizable thermoplastic . in one particularly preferred embodiment , the film of the invention comprises a crystallizable polyethylene terephthalate as main constituent , and also from 1 to 25 % by weight of precipitated barium sulfate , advantageously with a particle diameter of from 0 . 4 to 1 μm , particular preference being given to ® blanc fixe xr - hx or ® blanc fixe hxh from sachtleben chemie . in another embodiment , the film of the invention has color pigmentation . in the case of the multilayer film , an inorganic or organic non - neutral - color pigment and / or an inorganic black pigment may be present in the base and / or outer layer ( s ). the inorganic black pigments include in particular various carbon black pigments ( flame , channel , or furnace blacks ), which may also have been coated , and also carbon pigments which differ from the carbon black pigments in having higher ash content , and oxidic black pigments , such as iron oxide black and mixtures of copper pigments , chromium pigments , and iron oxide pigments ( mixed - phase pigments ). suitable inorganic non - neutral - color pigments are oxidic color pigments , hydroxy - containing pigments , sulfidic pigments , and chromates . examples of oxidic non - neutral - color pigments are iron oxide red , titanium oxide / nickel oxide / antimony oxide mixed - phase pigments , titanium dioxide / chromium oxide pigments , antimony oxide mixed - phase pigments , mixtures of oxides of iron , of zinc , and of titanium , chromium oxide , iron oxide brown , spinelles of the cobalt / aluminum / titanium / nickel / zinc oxide system , and mixed - phase pigments based on other metal oxides . examples of typical hydroxy - containing pigments are oxide - hydroxides of trivalent iron , such as feooh . examples of sulfidic pigments are cadmium sulfide - selenides , cadmium / zinc sulfides , and also sodium / aluminum silicates in which sulfur is present in the lattice with polysulfide - type bonding . examples of chromates are lead chromates , whose crystalline forms may be monoclinic , rhombic ,. or tetragonal . the organic non - neutral - color pigments are generally divided into azo pigments and what are known as non - azo pigments . a characteristic of the azo pigments is the azo (— n ═ n —) group . azo pigments may be monoazo pigments , diazo pigments , diazo condensation pigments , salts of azo dye acids , or a mixture of the azo pigments . like the white and black pigments , the non - neutral - color pigments may be uncoated or have been coated with inorganic and / or organic substances . the black or non - neutral - color pigment is preferably fed in the form of a masterbatch , but may also be incorporated directly at the premises of the raw material producer . the proportion of the pigment or pigment mixture is generally from 0 . 2 to 40 % by weight , preferably from 0 . 3 to 25 % by weight , based in each case on the weight of the crystallizable thermoplastic of the relevant layer . the film of the invention comprises a crystallizable thermoplastic as main constituent , in particular a crystallizable polyester or copolyester . examples of suitable crystallizable or semicrystalline ( co ) polyesters are polyethyelene terephthalate ( pet ), polyethylene naphthalate ( pen ), polybutylene terephthalate ( pbt ), bibenzoyl - modified polyethylene terephthalate ( petbb ), bibenzoyl - modified polybutylene terephthalate ( pbtbb ), and bibenzoyl - modified poly - ethylene naphthalate ( penbb ), preference being given to polyethylene tere - phthalate ( pet ) and bibenzoyl - modified polyethylene terephthalate ( petbb ). for the purposes of the present invention , “ crystallizable thermoplastics ” are crystallizable homopolymers , crystallizable copolymers , crystallizable compositions , crystallizable recycled material , or many other type of crystallizable thermoplastic . substances which may be used for preparing crystallizable , thermoplastic ( co ) polyesters , besides the main monomers , such as dimethyl terephthalate ( dmt ), ethylene glycol ( eg ), propylene glycol ( pg ), 1 , 4 - butanediol , terephthalic acid ( ta ), benzenedicarboxylic acid , and / or naphthalene - 2 , 6 - dicarboxylic acid ( nda ), are isophthalic acid ( ipa ) and / or cis - and / or trans - 1 , 4 - cyclohexane - dimethanol ( c - chdm , t - chdm , or c / t - chdm ). the standard viscosity sv ( dca ) of the polyethylene terephthalate is generally from 600 to 1000 , preferably from 700 to 900 . preferred starting materials for producing the film of the invention are crystallizable thermoplastics with a crystalline melting point tm of from 180 to 365 ° c . or above , preferably from 180 to 310 ° c ., and with a crystallization temperature range tc of from 75 to 280 ° c ., and with a glass transition temperature tg of from 65 to 130 ° c . ( determined by differential scanning colorimetry ( dsc ) at a heating rate of 20 ° c ./ min ) and with a density from 1 . 10 to 1 . 45 ( determined to din 53479 ), and with a crystallinity of from 5 to 65 %, preferably from 20 to 65 %. the bulk density ( measured to din 53466 ) is from 0 . 75 to 1 . 0 kg / dm 3 , preferably from 0 . 80 to 0 . 90 kg / dm 3 . the polydispersity ( or mw : mn ratio ) of the thermoplastic , measured by gel permeation chromatography ( gpc ) is preferably from 1 . 5 to 4 . 0 , particularly preferably from 2 . 0 to 3 . 5 . “ main constituent ” means that the proportion of the at least one semicrystalline thermoplastic is preferably from 50 to 99 % by weight , particularly preferably from 75 to 95 % by weight , based in each case on the total weight of the film or , respectively , on the total weight of the layer within the film . the remaining content may be made up by the hydrolysis stabilizer and other additives usually used for biaxially oriented , transparent films . the film of the invention may be a single - or multilayer film . in the multilayer embodiment , the film is composed of at least one core layer , of at least one outer layer , and , where appropriate , of at least one intermediate layer , and particular preference is given here to an a - b - a or a - b - c three - layer structure . in this embodiment it is important that the standard viscosity of the crystallizable thermoplastic of the core layer is similar to that of the crystallizable thermoplastic of the outer layer ( s ) which adjoin ( s ) the core layer . again , the thermoplastic is preferably a polyethylene terephthalate . in one particular embodiment , the outer layers and / or the intermediate layers of the multilayer film may also be composed of a polyethylene naphthalate homopolymer , or of polyethylene terephthalate - polyethylene naphthalate copolymers , or of a compound . in this embodiment , the standard viscosities of the thermoplastics of the outer layers are again similar to that of the polyethylene terephthalate of the core layer . in the multilayer embodiment , the hydrolysis stabilizer ( s ) is / are preferably present in the base layer . however , depending on requirements , it is also possible for the outer layers and / or any intermediate layers present to have hydrolysis stabilizers , at the concentration stated for the monofilm . unlike in the single - layer embodiment , the concentration of the stabilizers here is based on the weight of the layer provided with the materials . the film of the invention has good mechanical properties . these include high modulus of elasticity ( longitudinally = in machine direction ( md ) greater than 3200 n / mm 2 , preferably greater than 3500 n / mm 2 ; in transverse direction ( td ) greater than 3500 n / mm 2 , preferably greater than 3800 n / mm 2 ; in each case determined to iso 527 - 1 - 2 ), and also good values for tensile stress at break ( in md more than 100 n / mm 2 ; in td more than 130 n / mm 2 . it also has low shrinkage . this means that the shrinkage of the film both longitudinally and transversely is less than 2 . 0 %, preferably less than 1 . 8 %, particularly preferably less than 1 . 6 %, after 15 min of heating to 150 ° c . ( din 40 634 ). these shrinkage values may be achieved byway of the production process , or else by subsequent off - line post - treatment . in the off - line post - treatment , the film is conducted , very substantially without tension , through an oven where it is exposed to a temperature in the range from 160 to 210 ° c . for from 1 second to 2 minutes . the shrinkage may be established during the production process via adjustment of the heat - setting temperature . the heat - setting temperature is from 180 to 260 ° c ., in particular from 220 to 250 ° c . the film also has excellent capability for both longitudinal and transverse orientation during its production , with no break - offs . the oriented film generally has a thickness of from 1 to 500 μm , preferably from 5 to 350 μm , particularly preferably from 10 to 300 μm . the film of the invention also has good hydrolysis resistance . that means that its tensile stress at break is more than 100 n / mm 2 longitudinally and transversely after 1000 hours at 85 ° c . and 95 % relative humidity in an autoclave in the heat / humidity test ( long - term humidity test ). it therefore passes the heat / humidity test usually used in the automotive industry . in contrast to this , pet films without hydrolysis stabilizers are non - compliant with this test . in addition , the film does not embrittle when exposed to heat . this means that even after 1000 hours of heat - conditioning at 130 ° c . in a circulating - air heating cabinet there is only insignificant impairment of the mechanical properties of the film . an example of the good optical properties of the film is low light transmittance ( less than 85 %, preferably less than 82 %), low rays ( less than 30 %), and also low yellow index ( yi less than 30 , preferably less than 28 ). in view of the hydrolysis stability achieved , these values are surprisingly good . the film may also be produced cost - effectively . for example , the raw materials or raw material components needed to produce the film may be dried using conventional industrial dryers , such as vacuum dryers , fluidized - bed dryers , or fixed - bed dryers ( power dryers ) without any caking of the raw materials or thermal degradation of the same . the film of the invention may moreover be recycled without polluting the environment , and the film produced from the recycled material exhibits practically no impairment of optical properties ( in particular in the case of the yellowness index ) or of mechanical properties in comparison with a film produced from virgin starting materials . the base layer and / or outer layer ( s ) may also comprise other conventional additives , such as stabilizers and antiblocking agents , besides the hydrolysis stabilizer ( s ) and the additives described above . the other additives are advantageously added to the polymer or polymer mixture before melting begins . mixtures of two or more different antiblocking agents or mixtures of antiblocking agents of the same composition but different particle size may also be chosen as additives . the usual proportions of the particles , e . g . in the form of a glycolic dispersion , may be added to the individual layers , during poly - condensation , or by way of masterbatches during extrusion . proportions of from 0 . 0001 to 10 . 0 % by weight of pigment , based on the weight of the outer layers , have proven particularly suitable . the film of the invention may also have been functionalized , i . e . may , for example , be sealable or have been flame - treated and / or corona - treated , rendered uv - resistant , or chemically pretreated , depending on requirements . one embodiment of the film is uv - resistant . light , in particular the ultraviolet content of solar radiation , i . e . the wavelength region from 280 to 400 nm , causes degradation in thermoplastics , the results of which are not only a change in appearance due to color change or yellowing but also an extremely adverse effect on the mechanical and physical properties of films made from these thermoplastics . the suppression of this photooxidative degradation is of considerable industrial and economic importance , since without it many thermoplastics have drastically reduced scope of application . the absorption of uv light by polyethylene terephthalates , for example , start below 360 nm , increasing markedly below 320 nm , and is very pronounced below 300 nm . maximum absorption occurs at between 280 and 300 nm . in the presence of oxygen it is mainly chain cleavage which is observed , but without any crosslinking . the predominant photooxidation products in quantity terms are carbon monoxide , carbon dioxide and carboxylic acids . besides direct photolysis of the ester groups , attention has to be paid to oxidation reactions which proceed via peroxide radicals , again to form carbon dioxide . in photooxidation of polyethylene terephthalates there can also be cleavage of hydrogen at the position a to the estergroups , giving hydroperoxides and decomposition products of these , and this may be accompanied by chain cleavage ( h . day , d . m . wiles , j . appl . polym . sci . 16 [ 1972 ] p . 203 ). uv stabilizers , i . e . light stabilizers which are uv absorbers , are chemical compounds which intervene in the physical and chemical processes of light - induced degradation . carbon black and other pigments can give some protection from light , but these substances are unsuitable for transparent films , since they cause discoloration or color change . uv stabilizers which are suitable light stabilizers are those which absorb at least 70 %, preferably at least 80 %, particularly preferably at least 90 %, of the uv light in the wavelength region from 180 to 380 nm , preferably from 280 to 350 nm . these are particularly suitable if they are thermally stable , i . e . do not decompose into cleavage products , nor cause any evolution of gas , in the temperature range from 260 to 300 ° c . examples of uv stabilizers which are suitable light stabilizers are 2 - hydroxy - benzophenones , 2 - hydroxybenzotriazoles , organonickel compounds , salicylic esters , cinnamic ester derivatives , resorcinol monobenzoate , oxanilides , hydroxybenzoic esters , benzoxazinones , sterically hindered amines and triazines , preference being given to the 2 - hydroxybenzotriazoles , the benzoxazinones and the triazines . for the skilled worker it was highly surprising that the use of uv stabilizers in combination with hydrolysis stabilizers leads to useful films with excellent properties . the skilled workerwould probably have begun by attempting to achieve a certain level of uv resistance by using an antioxidant , but after weathering would have found that the film rapidly yellows . there are uv stabilizers known from the literature which absorb uv radiation and therefore provide protection . the skilled workerwould then probably have used one of these known and commercially available uv stabilizers , but in doing this would have found that the uv stabilizer lacks thermal stability and evolves gases or decomposes at temperatures from 200 to 240 ° c . in order to prevent damage to the film , the skilled worker would have had to incorporate large amounts ( from about 10 to 15 % by weight ) of uv stabilizer , so that the uv light is really effectively absorbed by the stabilizer . however , at these high concentrations the film yellows within just a short period after its production . its mechanical properties are also adversely affected . extraordinary problems would have been encountered on orientation , for example break - off due to lack of strength , i . e . modulus of elasticity , die deposits , causing variations in profile , roller deposits from the uv stabilizer , an effect which causes impairment of optical properties ( excessive haze , adhesion problems , non - uniform surface ), and deposits in the stretching and setting frames , dropping onto the film . it was therefore surprising that even low concentrations of the uv stabilizer achieve exceptional uv protection . when comparison is made with an unstabilized film , it was particularly surprising that , within the limits of accuracy of measurement , there is no change here in the yellowness index of the film . in addition , the film has excellent optical properties , outstandingly good profile , and outstandingly good layflat . the uv - resistant film has excellent capability for orientation , and is therefore capable of stable production by a process which is reliable . this means that production of the film is also cost - effective . it is also very surprising that it is even possible to reuse the regrind without adversely affecting the yellowness index of the film . in one particularly preferred embodiment , the film of the invention comprises , as uv stabilizer , from 0 . 1 to 5 . 0 % by weight of 2 -( 4 , 6 - diphenyl -[ 1 , 3 , 5 ]- triazin - 2 - yl )- 5 - hexyloxyphenol of the formula or from 0 . 1 to 5 . 0 % by weight of2 , 2 ′- methylenebis [ 6 - benzotriazol - 2 - yl4 -( 1 , 1 , 2 , 2 - tetramethylpropyl ) phenol ] of the formula or from 0 . 1 to 5 . 0 % by weight of 2 , 2 ′-( 1 , 4 - phenylene ) bis ([ 3 , 1 ] benzoxazin - 4 - one ) of the formula in another embodiment , it is also possible for mixtures of these uv stabilizers to be used , or mixtures of at least one of these uv stabilizers with other uv stabilizers , the total concentration of light stabilizers preferably being from 0 . 1 to 5 . 0 % by weight , particularly preferably in the range from 0 . 5 to 3 . 0 % by weight , based on the weight of the layer provided with the materials . in another embodiment , the film of the invention has been made flame - retardant . for the purposes of the present invention , the term flame retardant implies that the film complies with the conditions of din 4102 part 2 , and in particular the conditions of din 4102 part 1 in tests known as fire - protection tests , and can be assigned to construction materials class b2 , and in particular b1 , for low - flammability materials . when it is appropriate for the film to be flame - retardant , it should also pass the ul 94 “ horizontal burning test for flammability of plastic material ”, to the extent that it can be placed in class 94 vtm - 0 . in this case , the film comprises a flame retardant , which is fed directly by way of what is known as masterbatch technology during film production , the proportion of the flame retardant being in the range from 0 . 5 to 30 . 0 % by weight , preferably from 1 . 0 to 20 . 0 % by weight , based on the total weight of the single - layer film , or of the relevant layer of the multilayer film . the proportion of the flame retardant in the masterbatch is generally from 5 to 60 % by weight , preferably from 10 to 50 % by weight , based in each case on the total weight of the masterbatch . the flame retardant here is dispersed in the carrier material , or else may have been chemically bonded within the thermoplastic . examples of suitable flame retardants are bromine compounds , chloroparaffins and other chlorine compounds , antimony trioxide , and alumina trihydrates . however , the halogen compounds have the disadvantage that halogenated byproducts can be produced . in particular , hydrogen halides are produced in the event of a fire . another disadvantage is that films provided with these materials have low light resistance . examples of other suitable flame retardants are monomeric or polymeric , cyclic or acyclic , organophosphorus compounds , such as carboxyphosphinic acids and / or anhydrides of these , and also alkanephosphonic esters , preferably methanephosphonates , such as bis ( 5 - ethyl - 2 - methyl - 2 - oxo - 2λ5 -[ 1 , 3 , 2 ] dioxaphosphinan - 5 - ylmethyl ) methanephosphonate . it is important that the organic phosphorus compound is soluble in the thermoplastic , since otherwise the optical properties required are not complied with . very surprisingly , fire - protection tests to din 4102 and the ul test have shown that in order to provide improved flame retardancy in a three - layer film it is entirely sufficient to provide flame retardants in the outer layers whose thickness is from 0 . 5 to 2 μm . if required , and if fire - protection requirements are stringent , the core layer may also have what is known as a base level of flame retardants . the flame - retardant film also exhibits no embrittlement and no impairment of mechanical properties after 1000 hours of heat - conditioning at 130 ° c . in a circulating - air heating cabinet , and therefore passes the heat / moisture test used by the automotive industry . in contrast , flame - retardant films which are not hydrolysis - resistant exhibit marked embrittlement after the heat - conditioning described . known processes may also have been used to provide one or both sides of the film with a conventional functional coating . examples of materials which may be used to produce the coating are : acrylates as in wo 94 / 13476 , ethylene - vinyl alcohols , pvdc , waterglass ( na 2 sio 4 ), hydrophilic polyesters , such as pet / ipa polyesters containing the sodium salt of 5 - sulfoisophthalic acid ( ep - a 144 878 , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 252 , 885 or ep - a 296 620 ), vinyl acetates ( wo 94 / 13481 ), polyvinyl acetates , polyurethanes , the alkali metal or alkaline earth metal salts of c 10 - c 18 fatty acids , and copolymers having units of butadiene and acrylonitrile , or of ( meth ) acrylic acid or of an alkyl ( meth ) acrylate . the coating may also comprise conventional additives ( e . g . antiblocking agents , ph stabilizers ) in proportions of from about 0 . 05 to 5 . 0 % by weight , preferably from 0 . 1 to 3 . 0 % by weight , in each case based on the weight of the coating liquid . the substances or compositions mentioned are applied in the form of dilute , preferably aqueous , solution , emulsion , or dispersion to one or more both sides of the film . the solvent is then evaporated . the coating is preferably applied in - line , i . e . during the film production process , advantageously prior to transverse stretching . particular preference is given to application by the reverse gravure - roll coating process , which gives extremely uniform layer thicknesses . if the in - line coatings are applied after longitudinal stretching , the heat treatment prior to transverse stretching is usually sufficient to evaporate the solvent and dry the coating . the thicknesses of the dried coatings are then from 5 to 100 nm , preferably from 20 to 70 nm , in particular from 30 to 50 nm . for particular applications , it can also be advantageous to use treatment with acids for chemical pretreatment of one or both sides of the film . trichloroacetic acid , dichloroacetic acid or hydrofluoric acid are particularly suitable for this process , which is known as adhesion etching , and act on the surface for a short period ( from about 1 to 120 seconds ), and are then removed , advantageously with the aid of what is known as an air knife . where appropriate , the film is then dried . the resultant film has a very reactive , amorphous surface . if very good sealability is demanded , and if this property cannot be achieved via in - line coating , the film of the invention then has a structure of at least three layers and in one particular embodiment then encompasses the base layer b , a sealable outer layer a , and an outer layer c which may , where appropriate , be sealable . if the outer layer c is also sealable , it is then preferable for the two outer layers to be identical . the sealable outer layer a applied by coextrusion to the base layer b has a structure based on polyester copolymers and essentially consists of copolyesters composed predominantly of isophthalic acid units , bibenzoyl units , and terephthalic acid units , and of ethylene glycol units . the remaining monomer units derive from the other aliphatic , cycloaliphatic , or aromatic diols and , respectively , dicarboxylic acids which may be present in the base layer . the preferred copolyesters providing the desired sealing properties are those built up from ethylene terephthalate units and ethylene isophthalate units , and from ethylene glycol units . the proportion of ethylene terephthalate is from 40 to 95 mol %, and the corresponding proportion of ethylene isophthalate is from 60 to 5 mol %. preference is given to copolyesters in which the proportion of ethylene terephthalate is from 50 to 90 mol % and the corresponding proportion of ethylene isophthalate from 50 to 10 mol %, and a high level of preference is given to copolyesters in which the proportion of ethylene terephthalate is from 60 to 85 mol % and the corresponding proportion of ethylene isophthalate is from 40 to 15 mol %. for the outer layer c which may , where appropriate be sealable , and for any intermediate layers present it is possible in principle to use polymers which are identical to those used in the base layer . the desired sealing properties and processing properties of the film of the invention are obtained by combining the properties of the copolyester used for the sealable outer layer with the topographies of the sealable outer layer a and of the outer layer c which may , where appropriate , be sealable . the minimum sealing temperature of 110 ° c . and the sealed seam strength of at least 1 . 3 n / 15 mm are achieved if the copolymers described in some detail above are used for the sealable outer layer a . the best sealing properties are obtained for the film if no other additives are used with the copolymer , in particular no inorganic or organic fillers . this gives the lowest minimum sealing temperature and the highest sealed seam strengths , for a given copolyester . however , it also gives poor film handling , since the surface of the sealable outer layer a is highly susceptible to blocking . the film is almost impossible to wind and is unsuitable for further processing on high - speed packaging machinery . to improve the handling of the film and its processibility , it is necessary to modify the sealable outer layer a . this is best done with the aid of suitable antiblocking agents of selected size , these being added to the sealable layer at a certain concentration and specifically in such a way as firstly to minimize blocking and secondly to give no significant impairment of sealing properties . to establish other desired properties , the film may be corona - or flame - treated . the treatment is generally carried out in such a way that the resultant surface tension of the film is generally above 45 mn / m . the base layer and / or outer layer ( s ) may also comprise other conventional additives , such as stabilizers and antiblocking agents , besides the hydrolysis stabilizer ( s ) and the additives described above . the other additives are advantageously added to the polymer or polymer mixture before melting begins . the present invention also provides a process for producing the film . it is generally produced by extrusion or coextrusion , for example on an extrusion line . it has proven particularly advantageous to add the hydrolysis stabilizer ( s ) in the form of a predried or precrystallized masterbatch , prior to extrusion or coextrusion . the proportion of hydrolysis stabilizer ( s ) in the masterbatch is generally from 5 to 50 % by weight , preferably from 6 to 30 % by weight , in each case based on the total weight of the masterbatch . the hydrolysis stabilizer ( s ) are fully dispersed in a carrier material . carrier materials which may be used are the thermoplastic itself , e . g . polyethylene terephthalate , or else other polymers compatible with the thermoplastic . it has proven particularly advantageous for the particle size and the bulk density of the masterbatches to be identical with or similar to the particle size and the bulk density of the thermoplastic . homogeneous distribution is then achieved , and the resultant film has particularly consistent properties . the films of the invention may be produced either as single - layer or as multilayer — where appropriate coextruded — films , by known processes , from a polyester , where appropriate with other raw materials , at least one hydrolysis stabilizer , and also other conventional additives where appropriate ( these latter in the usual amounts of from 0 . 1 to 30 % by weight , based on the weight of the film ). the surfaces of the films may be identical or different in nature . for example , one surface may comprise particles while the other does not , or all of the layers may comprise particles . one or both surfaces of the film may also be provided with a functional coating , using known processes . masterbatches comprising the hydrolysis stabilizer ( s ) should have been precrystallized or predried . this predrying includes gradual heating of the masterbatches at reduced pressure ( from 20 to 80 mbar , preferably from 30 to 60 mbar , in particular from 40 to 50 mbar ), and also agitation and , where appropriate , post - drying at a constant elevated temperature ( likewise at reduced pressure ). the masterbatches are preferably charged batchwise at room temperature from a feed vessel , in the desired blend together with the polymers of the base layer and / or outer layers and , where appropriate , with other raw material components , into a vacuum dryer which in the course of the drying period or residence time , traverses a temperature profile of from 10 to 160 ° c ., preferably from 20 to 150 ° c ., in particular from 30 to 130 ° c . during the residence time of about 6 hours , preferably 5 hours , in particular 4 hours , the mixture of raw materials is agitated at from 10 to 70 rpm , preferably from 15 to 65 rpm , in particular from 20 to 60 rpm . the resultant precrystallized and , respectively , predried mixture of raw materials is post - dried in a downstream vessel , likewise evacuated , at from 90 to 180 ° c ., preferably from 100 to 170 ° c ., in particular from 110 to 160 ° c ., for from 2 to 8 hours , preferably from 3 to 7 hours , in particular from 4 to 6 hours . in the preferred extrusion process for producing the film , the molten polymer material with the additives is extruded through a slot die and quenched , in the form of a substantively amorphous prefilm , on a chill roll . this film is then reheated and oriented longitudinally and transversely or transversely and longitudinally , or longitudinally , transversely , and again longitudinally and / or transversely . the stretching temperatures are generally above the glass transition temperature t g of the film by from 10 to 60 ° c . it is usual for the stretching ratio for longitudinal stretching to be from 2 to 6 , in particular from 3 to 4 . 5 , while that for transverse stretching is from 2 to 5 , in particular from 3 to 4 . 5 , and that for any second longitudinal or transverse stretching carried out is from 1 . 1 to 5 . the first longitudinal stretching may also be carried out at the same time as the transverse stretching ( simultaneous stretching ). heat - setting of the film follows at oven temperatures of from 180 to 260 ° c ., in particular from 220 to 250 ° c . the film is then cooled and wound up . it was surprising that a film with hydrolysis resistance and heat resistance and with the property profile required could be produced without any technical problems ( such as caking in the dryer ) by using masterbatch technology combined with suitable predrying and / or precrystallization and the use of hydrolysis stabilizers . when comparison is made with a film not provided with the appropriate materials , there is also no adverse change , within the limits of accuracy of measurement , in the yellowness index of the film . the combined properties of the film of the invention make it suitable for many varied applications , for example for flexible conductors in the automotive industry , for ribbon cables , for flexible printed circuits , for capacitors , for interior decoration , for the construction of exhibition stands , for exhibition requisites , as displays , for placards , for the protective glazing of machinery or of vehicles , in the lighting sector , in the fitting out of shops or of stores , as a promotional item or laminating medium , for greenhouses , applications in the construction sector , or for illuminating advertising profiles , electrical applications , etc . the examples are used below to describe the invention in further detail , without limiting the same . film properties were tested as follows : for the purposes of the present invention , light transmittance is the ratio between the total transmitted light to the amount of incident light . light transmittance was measured to astm d1003 using the ® hazegard plus test equipment from byk gardener , germany . yellowness index ( yi ) is the deviation from colorlessness in the “ yellow ” direction and was measured to din 6167 . standard viscosity sv was measured by a method based on din 53726 on a 1 % strength solution in dichloroacetic acid ( dca ) at 25 ° c . sv ( dca )=( h rel − 1 )× 1 000 . the intrinsic viscosity ( iv ) is calculated from the standard viscosity ( sv ) as follows : iv =[ η ]= 6 . 907 · 10 − 4 sv ( dca )+ 0 . 063096 [ dl / g ] shrinkage was measured to din 40634 at 150 ° c . with a residence time of 15 minutes . modulus of elasticity and tensile stress at break were determined longitudinally and transversely to iso 527 - 1 - 2 . in this test , the film was aged in an autoclave for 1000 h at 85 ° c . and 95 % relative humidity , and tensile stress at break was then measured longitudinally and transversely . tensile stress at break has to be more than 100 n / mm 2 if the requirements of the automotive industry are to be met . resistance to high temperatures was determined to ipc tm 650 2 . 4 . 9 after 1000 h of heat - conditioning at 130 ° c . in a circulating air drying cabinet . after this heat - conditioning , tensile stress at break to iso 527 - 1 - 2 has to be more than 100 n / mm 2 if the requirements of the automotive industry are to be met . uv resistance was tested as follows to the iso 4892 test specification : test equipment atlas ci 65 weather - ometer ( atlas , england ) test conditions to iso 4892 , i . e . artificial weathering irradiation time 1000 hours ( per side ) irradiation 0 . 5 w / m 2 , 340 nm temperature 63 ° c . relative humidity 50 % xenon lamp internal and external filter made from borosilicate irradiation cycles 102 minutes of uv light , then 18 minutes of uv light with water spray on the specimens , then again 102 minutes of uv light , etc . fire performance was determined to din 4102 , part 2 , construction materials class b2 and to din 4102 part 1 , construction materials class b1 , and also to the ul 94 test . hot - sealed specimens ( sealed seam 20 mm × 100 mm ) were produced using brugger hsg / et sealing equipment , by sealing the film at different temperatures with the aid of two heated sealing jaws at a sealing pressure of 2 bar and with a sealing time of 0 . 5 s . from the sealed specimens , test strips of 15 mm width were cut . the t - sealed seam strength was measured as in the determination of sealed seam strength . the minimum sealing temperature is the temperature at which a sealed seam strength of at least 0 . 5 n / 15 mm is achieved . to determine sealed steam strength , two film strips of width 15 mm were placed one on top of the other and sealed at 130 ° c . with a sealing time of 0 . 5 s and a sealing pressure of 2 bar ( apparatus : brugger model nds , single - side - heated sealing jaw ). the sealed seam strength was determined by the t - peel method . all of the films were weathered bilaterally to the test specification iso 4892 , in each case for 1000 hours per side using the atlas ci 65 weather ometer and then tested for mechanical properties , discoloration , surface defects , and glass . the examples and comparative examples below in each case concern opaquely pigmented single - or multilayer films of varying thickness , produced on an extrusion line . unless otherwise stated , percentages are percentages by weight . the polyethylene terephthalate ( clear polymer ) from which the opaquely pigmented film was produced had standard viscosity sv ( dca ) of 810 ( polyethylene terephthalate rt49 from kosa , germany ) or standard viscosity sv ( dca ) of 770 ( polyethylene terephthalate 4020 from kosa , germany ). 10 % of titanium dioxide ( anatase type , average particle size 0 . 2 μm , from sachtleben , germany ), and [ 0118 ] 50 % of titanium dioxide ( rutile type , average particle size 0 . 2 μm , from dupont , germany ), and 45 % of barium sulfate (® blanc fixe xr - hx from sachtleben chemie gmbh , germany ), 20 % of pigment blue 28 ( a coal 2 o 4 spinel ; cobalt blue from degussa ag , germany ), and 6 % of phenolic hydrolysis stabilizer (® irganox b561 , a blend made from 80 % of irgafos ® 168 and 20 % of ® irganox 1010 , ciba specialty chemicals , basle ) 20 % a polymeric polycarbodimide (® stabaxol p from rhein chemie , mannheim , germany ) comprises 10 000 ppm of ® sylobloc 44h ( grace , germany ) alongside pet . 25 % of bis ( 5 - ethyl - 2 - methyl - 2 - oxo - 2λ5 -[ 1 , 3 , 2 ] dioxaphosphinan - 5 - ylmethyl methane phosphonate ) (® amgard p1045 from albright & amp ; wilson americas , usa ), and an opaquely pigmented single - layer film of 75 μm thickness was produced and comprised 49 % of polyethylene terephthalate ( rt49 ), 6 % of mb1 , and 10 % of mb6 . the film also comprised 35 % of directly - arising regrind . the mixture of the individual components was charged at room temperature from separate feed vessels to a vacuum dryer which traversed a temperature profile of from 25 to 130 ° c . from the time of charging to the end of the residence time . during the residence of about 4 hours , the raw material mixture was stirred at 61 revolutions per minute ( rpm ). the precrystallized or predried raw material mixture was then after - dried for 4 hours in a hopper at 140 ° c ., again in vacuo . a single - layer film ( monofilm ) of thickness 75 μm was then produced by the extrusion process described . the monofilm produced by a method based on example 1 comprised 8 . 0 % of mb1 , 10 % of mb6 , and 4 % of mb8 and 35 % of directly - arising regrind , alongside polyethylene terephthalate rt49 . the raw material mixture was predried as described in example 1 . using a method based on example 1 , a monofilm of 75 μm thickness was produced . it comprised 10 % of mb2 , 10 % of mb6 , and 4 % of mb8 and 35 % of directly - arising regrind , alongside pet rt49 . the raw material mixture was predried as described in example 1 . the film from example 1 was post - treated for a residence time of 60 seconds at a temperature of 200 ° c . in an oven , very substantially without tension . the film from example 1 was chemically post - treated using trichloroacetic acid . using a method based on example 1 , a monofilm of 75 μm thickness was produced . this film differed from the film of example 1 in that it comprised 7 . 5 % of mb4 instead of 6 % of mb1 . a hydrolysis - resistant aba film was produced using the following mixing specification : base layer ( thickness 72 μm ): 57 % of polyethylene terephthalate 4020 , 3 % of mb2 , 5 % of mb6 , and also 35 % of directly - arising regrind outer layers a ( each 1 . 5 μm ): 83 % of polyethylene terephthalate 4020 , 7 % of mb8 , and also 10 % of mb5 as described in example 1 , a monofilm of 75 μm thickness was produced . however , this film differed from the film of example 1 in that it comprised no hydrolysis stabilizer . example 1 was repeated , but modified in that both sides of the film were coated . to this end , a reverse gravure - roll coating process was used to coat both sides of the film with an aqueous dispersion after longitudinal stretching . the dispersion comprised 4 . 20 % of hydrophilic polyester ( pet / ipa polyester containing the sodium salt of 5 - sulfoisophthalic acid , sp41 , ticona , usa ), 0 . 15 % of colloidal silica (® nalco 1060 , deutsche nalco chemie , germany ) as antiblocking agent , 0 . 15 % of ammonium carbonate ( merck , germany ) as ph buffer , and water . the wet application weight was 2 g / m 2 per coated side . the calculated thickness of the coating after transverse orientation was 40 nm . a hydrolysis - resistant and uv - resistant aba film of 75 μm thickness was produced . 40 % of pet 4020 , 10 % of mb1 , 10 % of mb6 , 5 % of mb7 , and also 35 % of directly - arising regrind . outer layers a ( thickness of each 1 . 5 μm ): 93 % of pet 4020 , and also 7 % of mb8 . 27 % of pet 4020 , 30 % of mb3 , 5 % of mb6 , 3 % of mb7 ( 0 . 6 % of uv stabilizer ), and also 35 % of directly - arising regrind . 78 % of pet 4020 , 7 % of mb8 , 10 % of mb5 , and also 5 % of mb7 ( 1 % of uv stabilizer ). both sides of the film have a coating , the method being based on example 8 . coextrusion was used to produce a sealable abc film of 12 μm thickness . 50 % of pet 4020 , 10 % of mb1 , 10 % of mb6 , and also 35 % of directly - arising regrind . the thermoplastic used for the sealable outer layer a of thickness 1 μm was a copolyester made from 78 mol % of ethylene terephthalate and 22 mol % of ethylene isophthalate ( prepared by transesterification in the presence of a manganese catalyst , mn concentration : 100 ppm ). that layer also comprised 3 . 0 % of masterbatch mb8 as antiblocking agent . the outer layer c of thickness 1 μm comprised 7 % of masterbatch mb8 alongside 93 . 0 % of pet 4020 . a hydrolysis - resistant , opaquely pigmented , coextruded sealable a - b - c film of 12 μm thickness was produced as described in example 11 . unlike in example 11 , reverse gravure - roll coating was used to single - side - coat the non - sealable outer layer c with an aqueous dispersion after longitudinal stretching . the makeup of the dispersion was as in example 8 . the wet application weight was 2 g / m 2 . the calculated thickness of the coating after transverse stretching was 40 nm . using a method based on example 1 , a monofilm of 75 μm thickness was produced . the film differed from the film of example 1 in that it now also comprised 3 % of mb9 ( 0 . 75 % of flame retardant ). the film from example 13 was post - treated for a residence time of 60 seconds at a temperature of 200 ° c . in an oven , very substantially without tension . the film from example 13 was chemically post - treated using trichloroacetic acid . using a method based on example 1 , a monofilm of 75 μm thickness was produced . the film differed from the film of example 1 in that it now comprised 7 . 5 % of mb4 ( 1 . 5 % of pigment blue 28 ) instead of 6 % of mb1 . the film was corona - treated on one side . the intensity selected was such as to give a surface tension of more than 45 mn / m after the treatment . using a method based on example 13 , a monofilm of 75 μm thickness was produced . it differed from the film of example 13 in that it comprised no hydrolysis stabilizer . the properties of the films are found in table 2 below . additional advantages , features and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art . therefore , the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details , and representative devices , shown and described herein . accordingly , various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined bye the appended claims and their equivalents . the priority document , german patent application no . 101 26 149 . 7 , filed may 30 , 2001 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . as used herein and in the following claims , articles such as “ the ”, “ a ” and “ an ” can connote the singular or plural . all documents referred to herein are specifically incorporated herein by reference in their entireties .	1
fig1 shows that the two webs of slivers f emanating respectively from each side of the creel , not shown in the drawings , end at a single head comprising three trains 1 , 2 , 3 , although it is possible obviously to increase or reduce the number of trains . the total width of the working part is approximately twice that of the existing heads , so that the total intake capacity of this head may rise to 700 r . p . m . in view of the ruggedness of the twin carrier rollers of the trains , and of which at least one is heavily fluted . inserted into a nut 4 fixed to the train 1 , made in one piece and well guided , is a screw with a strong thread 5 , of which the squared end 6 projects externally of the machine , although this screw can be operated from inside the machine by a permanently fixed hand wheel , the ratchet of which operates the threaded screw operatively attached to the box - like support for the rollers 17 and 18 ( fig8 ). operation of the hand wheel jointly moves the bottom rollers only , of this first train in accordance with a graduated disc or millimeter graduated scale . the second train 2 is operated by a similar screw 7 acting on the nut 8 fixed to this train and controlled according to the means described hereinabove . the two emerging slivers r are then returned via guides 10 , the angle of inclination of which is chosen in such a way as to diminish the width of the lap by more than half , thus increasing its final thickness and cohesion . the lap then arrives at the head which reduces the mass or length according to the result desired . fig7 shows a pinion drive with a chain 16 , presser rollers 11 to 15 overhangingly mounted , although this is only one of many means and with support bearing rollers ( unnumbered ) illustrated between the chain 16 and the presser rollers 11 ( also note fig7 upper right ), which support the presser rollers which are mounted overhangingly . in this case , two twin idle rollers 17 , 18 ( also called &# 34 ; idle rollers &# 34 ; since they are pressed against the upper roller ), situated below each presser roller and the ball - bearing mounted ends of which are located in housings , are pressed upwards by hydraulic pressure , as can be seen in fig7 and 8 . in another embodiment , it is possible to limit the number of trains to two , but often it comprises three trains of three overhung rollers . in the detail shown in fig7 it can be seen that the pressure cans 19 are free and easily movable on slideways 20 , being self - locating vertically when pressure is applied . all the rollers of this second phase may be fluted , milled or simply smooth and conform in diameter and fluting to those of the first head , even if limited to two trains . the diameters of the various rollers and their spacing in the case of reconversion of fibres are progressive . for example , in the drawing stage the diameters have been chosen for short fibres intended for cotton or &# 34 ; open end &# 34 ; spinning , but the twin rollers driven by the roller which is coated by elastic material may have the same or different diameters . fig9 shows the same machine as that which is illustrated in fig1 but here the slivers r continue to advance in the direction of the first head , that is the second head is located in an extension of the first . as in the machine shown in fig1 the two slivers r are combined into one but here again it is as a result of the double reversal of direction of just one of the slivers over a direction changing means such as a plate 10 &# 39 ;. shown in fig1 and 11 is a machine comprising only the first phase . in fig1 , the reversing plate , having a double angle 10 &# 39 ; allows slivers r to be juxtaposed before the canning or curling of a single sliver . in fig1 , the single head works as an individual machine producing two slivers . the twin carrier rollers of the trains are provided with pronounced flutes , which are helical or at right - angles to the roller axis , so that it is possible perfectly to control the material , and the wool and synthetic fibers can be treated together as on an intersecting arrangement . the precise adjustment of the spacings is achieved by reason of the aforedescribed control device which controls the movement of the heads . fig1 shows a section through a three roller drawing assembly . the roller 11 , provided with an elastic covering 11 &# 39 ; is applied by hydraulic or other pressure against the two fluted twin rollers 17 and 18 . the first roller 17 of the first train , if there are three trains following one after another , has a fluting 17 &# 39 ; which is very slightly helical , while the second 18 has a spiral fluting 18 &# 39 ;, the turns of which are far more inclined in respect of the axis ( bordering on 45 °) and in the opposite direction ( fig1 a ). on the roller 17 , the flutes 17 &# 39 ; are helical in order to avoid violent pulls on the presser roller . the flutings 18 &# 39 ; on the roller 18 are inclined in the opposite direction to the flutings 17 &# 39 ; in order as far as possible to avoid the lap from slipping off on one side . the fluting on the roller 18 has a more defined spiral in order to break down bunches of agglomerated fibres , as a result therefore of the distributed gripping of the fibres . it is thus desirable for drawing to be extended somewhat towards the roller 17 in order to improve regularity , hence the second roller 18 may have grooves parallel and at right - angles to the axis ( fig1 ). the shape of the fluting will be appropriate to the work envisaged . three types of fluting are shown as being provided on the roller 18 in fig1 b , 13a , 13b . it must however be stipulated that the squared form of the fluting which can be provided on the roller 18 , properly trued after tempering , is entirely suitable for cutting or shortening any type of synthetic fibre slivers . in this latter case , the presser roller is advantageously free of elastic covering ; it is made of smooth steel or may have straight or helical channels cut into the mass of the roller or not , as the case may be . fig1 shows an alternative arrangement of the three rollers in a train without limiting the application of each separate element to the following train or trains . a mass of fibres r , distributed as thoroughly as possible over the intake creel , is brought towards the first free roller drawing train shown in fig1 . the presser roller 11 , usually covered with elastic material 11 &# 39 ;, may according to the considerable mass of fibres on intake , be made entirely of steel and may , or need not have fluting of various forms such as flutings 23 or 24 . the material is pressed by a hydraulic , pneumatic or mechanical system against the twin rollers , roller 17 for maintenance or support and roller 18 for control purposes . the roller 17 has deep channels 17 iii cut therein shown here in saw tooth profile , in order better to withstand the traction effected on the fibres by the second train ( shown to the right in fig1 with the grooves 17 iv -- the second train including rollers 12 , 17 and 18 , the latter roller not shown -- a train as previously indicated constituting a group of three rollers , namely an upper pressure roller and two lower rollers for maintenance or support and control , respectively ). by virtue of the saw - tooth profile of the roller 17 , the roller 18 is now adapted to constitute a sliding control element , by reason of the fact that this roller has circular and parallel trapezoidal grooves ( 18 iv fig1 ) over its entire working width and a smooth portion can be formed on each side or possibly in the center of the rollers for supporting the presser roller when the machine is running under no load conditions . a regulatable depression means 25 bears at will on the emerging lap in order to regulate the automatic control of the fibres inter se as a function of their volume . it may be cylindrical and rotating and may have grooves parallel with its axis . the material pulled by the second train will be positively gripped between its presser roller 12 and its supporting roller 17 , which is provided with deep flutes ; however the control roller ( not shown ), like the roller 18 of the first train , will be provided with grooves which are circular but which are of a smaller width , as a function of the forming of the lap due to the preceding drawing operation . if the head comprises only two trains , the second roller will be simply smooth or channelled . for its part , the regulatable depressor 25 will be adjusted similarly in its height ; it may be provided with parallel grooves like the roller 18 or it may possibly be smooth and / or rotary , in order that the following roller provides regular drawing , due to this additional control . this control element may have an appropriate profile , such as semi - circular or flat . the last train ( e . g ., in fig1 represented by upper roller 15 ) may have its control roller of a smaller diameter in order further to reinforce its control ability in the treatment of short fibres . the apparatus described hereinabove is intended for the treatment of long fibres , but by reducing the diameter of the various rollers and the amounts by which they are spaced apart , proportionately , it is possible also to draw short fibres . in the first train the presser roller is made of steel and has flutes instead of being covered with an elastic coating , and it may constitute two pieces each oscillating about its single roller - or ball - bearing .	3
fig1 depicts a conventional drilling rig 10 comprising a derrick 12 having a crown 14 from which is suspended a traveling block 16 , traveling block 16 being attached to bails 18 which in turn suspend a coiled casing injector head 20 . a typical wellhead assembly 22 is located on or adjacent the rig floor 24 and includes slips or other gripping devices for suspending tubular members in an earth borehole . mounted on a pad 26 is a spool 28 for housing coiled casing 30 , coiled casing 30 being played off of reel 28 through an arched guide 31 into injector head 20 , through wellhead 22 and then into a drilled earth borehole 32 . as shown , earth borehole 32 has an upper section 34 in which has been installed surface casing 36 which is cemented in place by cement 38 . as shown , the portion of the coiled casing suspended below the wellhead 22 , referred to as the suspended casing string , is provided at its free end with a casing shoe 40 through which cement or other bonding agent can be pumped in a conventional fashion to cement the suspended casing string in the wellbore 32 . cementing fluid may thus pass down the casing string and up the annulus 42 between the suspended casing string and the wall 44 of the earth borehole 32 . since the coiled casing 30 is unjointed , it will be appreciated that a primary borehole liner can be continuously installed into the earth borehole 32 , there being no need for intermittent stops to connect successive joints of casing as is typically done in jointed casing running operations . a source 46 of commonly used fluids , such as brine , fresh water , drilling mud , etc ., can be supplied to the coiled casing as desired through line 47 during the running operations to facilitate injection of the casing string into the borehole . the returns from annulus may be directed to mud pit 48 through line 50 . in this regard , connection systems used to connect coiled tubing to such fluid suspensions can also be employed in the coiled casing operations of the present invention . when the desired length of casing string is in the borehole , the casing string may be engaged by the slips in the wellhead assembly 22 and the coiled casing severed at a location above the securing of string 30 to the wellhead 22 . thereafter , a bonding agent such as cement can be pumped down the casing string to cement the casing string in place in the borehole . fig2 is similar to fig1 , and shows a derrick 12 suspending the injector 20 , and a reel 28 supplied with fluid through line 47 while unreeling the coiled casing to the injector . a winch 51 is depicted for raising and lowering the injector 20 on the mast 12 . pit 48 receives the returns from the annulus . in this application , the coiled casing reel 28 is provided on a trailer mounted unit 29 . the lower portion of fig2 is enlarged to more clearly show the annulus 32 surrounding the coiled casing 30 , and also depicts a conventional mud motor 54 at the lower end of the casing string 30 for rotating the bit 56 . fluid is thus pumped through the casing string 30 by line 47 , through the mud motor 54 and the bit 56 , then up the annulus 42 and into the pit 48 . fig2 also simplistically depicts one or more drill collars 52 and one or more stabilizers 53 provided above the motor 54 for adding weight for drilling and for stabilizing the bottomhole assembly , respectively . fig3 depicts further details with respect to the lower portion of the coiled casing string 30 , the mud motor 54 and the bit 56 . motor 54 may have the same diameter or a slightly larger diameter than the diameter of the coiled casing 30 , so that the annulus 32 may be restricted in the area of the motor 54 . the retrievable bottomhole assembly , including motor 54 and bit 52 , may be periodically retrieved to the surface by powering injector 20 to move coiled casing 30 upward , thereby allowing the motor to be checked , repaired or replaced , and the bit replaced . in the fig4 embodiment , the borehole 32 has been drilled to the desired depth , and the coiled casing string 30 is inserted with a conventional cementing shoe 58 provided at the lower end of the coiled casing . in an alternate embodiment , the cementing shoe may be replaced with a cementing joint . in the fig5 embodiment , a bonding agent , such as a cementitious material , is injected through line 60 to a swivel - type cementing head 62 , and from there travels downward through the coiled casing string 30 to the cementing shoe 58 at the lower end of the well . during this operation , the casing string is supported by slip 64 provided within the wellhead 22 . as the hole fills with cement , fluid within the annulus 32 is driven upward and out the flowline 50 to a mud pit , as previously described . during the cementing operation , the cementing head 62 may be designed to facilitate right hand and / or left hand rotation of the coiled tubing string 30 , thereby providing a more effective bond between the coiled casing string and the borehole wall . in the fig6 embodiment , an alternative cementing head 66 is suspended by bails 18 , and is fed with a cementitious material through line 60 . the cementing head 66 and the coiled casing string are suspended from an elevator , and are moved axially during the cementing operations . the bonding fluid is transmitted down the coiled casing 30 and out the shoe 58 at the lower end of the coiled casing string . fluid in the annulus 32 flows by line 50 to the mud pit . for this operation , the coiled casing string preferably is reciprocated at a direction substantially aligned with the axis of the coiled casing to ensure a quality bond between the coiled casing and the borehole wall . after cementing , the tubular 30 may be suspended in a well from a wellhead , or from a casing hanger . in the fig7 embodiment , the retrievable mud motor 68 is suspended at the lower end of the coiled tubing from a wireline 70 , which extends to the surface . the mud motor 68 rotates a pilot bit 71 , and also reamer section 72 which has a cutting diameter appreciably larger than the diameter of the coiled tubing 30 . those skilled in the art will appreciate that coiled casing 30 may be left in the hole , and the mud motor 68 , bit 71 , and reamer 72 may be retrieved to the surface wireline 70 , with the retrieved components passing through the id of the coiled casing 30 . reamer 72 thus retract to a diameter slightly less than an internal diameter of the coiled casing , as shown in fig8 . fig9 shows the mud motor 68 , the reamer 72 and the pilot bit 71 adjacent an upper end of the casing string 30 , which has been severed at a location above the slips 64 of a suitable casing hanger which fixes the coiled casing with respect to the rig floor 24 . the wireline 70 may thus be retrieved through the severed coiled casing 30 and the injector 20 . when retrieved to the surface , the mud motor may be repaired or replaced , and both the pilot bit and the reamer 72 replaced with new components . in an alternate embodiment , a coiled tubing string may be used instead of wireline 70 to retrieve the bottomhole assembly . fig1 illustrates a cementing head 66 generally shown in fig6 , and more particularly illustrates one or more wiper plugs 76 and control members 78 for regulating the release of the wiper plugs . cement is pumped via line 66 into the interior of the casing string 30 , and fluids in the annulus flow out the line 50 to a suitable pit or other fluid retainer . as shown in the fig1 and 12 embodiment , a pig 80 may be pumped down the coiled tubing 30 to land at the end of the coiled tubing string , with a cementitious material 82 being pumped behind the pig 80 , and the upper end of the cementitious fluid being sealed from a non - cementitious driving fluid 83 by the wiper plugs 76 . fluid thus exits the bottom of the coiled casing 30 , passes out of the pig 80 and into the annulus 32 , filling the annulus with cement . in the fig1 embodiment , the mud motor 54 at the lower end of the coiled casing cement 30 is powered by fluid passing downward through the coiled casing 30 and the mud motor to rotate the bit 56 . for this embodiment , mud motor and bit may be an expendable item , and accordingly when the desired depth is reached , the cementitious material 82 may be pumped down the coiled casing 30 , with the wiper plug 76 ( see fig1 ) serving the function previously described . the cementitious material may thus fill the annulus about the coiled casing 30 , and also fill the annulus about the motor 54 and the bit 56 . fig1 discloses yet another embodiment , wherein the mast 12 is inclined relative to the trailer 29 so that the coiled casing 30 can be used to drill under a river . the motor 54 and the bit 56 may thus be provided with conventional directional drilling capability , and for this purpose the motor may include a relatively small internal bend ( not shown ) common for directional drilling equipment . circulation of fluid through the coiled tubing casing string occurs during drilling , with the circulating fluid flowing between the interior of the casing string and the annulus . circulation when installing a liner is preferable in order to better convey the liner into the well and to provide proper hole cleaning . circulation of a bonding agent , such as a cementitious fluid , is required if the liner is to be cemented in the open hole . for each of the embodiments discussed herein , the coiled casing once installed in the well provides the primary barrier between the formation and the interior of the casing . coiled casing may be perforated after it is installed , so that formation fluid will flow into the interior of the casing string . in other embodiments , the coiled casing is not a solid tubular , and instead may be slotted or perforated for preventing collapse of a formation wall while allowing fluid to flow into the interior of the casing string . the coiled casing of the present invention may be made from various materials , including a carbon alloy steel or a carbon fiber material . various types of guide devices , cementing stage tools , driver shoes , packers , perforating guns , correlation indicators , and cross - over tools may be used in conjunction with the coiled casing string . the bottomhole assembly may include drill collars , drill pipe , heavy weight drill pipe , shock subs , jars , hole openers , stabilizers , reamers , cross - over subs , and various types of drill bits . whipstocks , bent subs , and various types of downhole motors with bent housings may be conveyed on the bottomhole assembly of the coiled casing string . wellbore production tools may also be used with a coiled casing string , including side bore extensions and lateral extension placements . the coiled casing may be drilled or conveyed into a wellbore vertically , directionally , or in a substantially horizontal plane . the techniques of the present invention may be used to recover various types of hydrocarbons , including oil and gas , and may also be used for geothermal applications , or to recover water . applied internal pressure within the coiled casing may be produced with an energized fluid or gas . air , nitrogen , natural gas , water , compatible liquid hydrocarbons , drilling muds , and other mediums may be used for pumping into the coiled casing string utilizing pumps or compressors common in the oilfield industry . although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein in some detail , this has been done solely for the purposes of explaining the various aspects of the invention , and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined in the claims which follow . those skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment shown and described is exemplary , and various other substitutions , alterations and modifications , including but not limited to those design alternatives specifically discussed herein , may be made in the practice of the invention without departing from its scope .	4
for a general understanding of the present invention , reference is made to the drawings . in the drawings , like reference numerals have been used throughout to designate identical elements . the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus , as depicted in the drawings and described in this specification , uses water as an exemplary application of the apparatus . it should be noted , however , that other materials may also be used that exhibit polar electronic bond structures . wafer has a polar bond structure between oxygen and hydrogen that provides for attraction of the water molecules using an electric field . in the specific example of water , removal of water molecules from a gaseous stream ( such as , for example , ambient air ) and subsequent electrostatic condensation of the water molecules has widespread commercial value . dehumidification of air is one application , but another application that may prove immensely valuable to human civilization is the extraction of clean drinking water from ambient air . water is essential for all life , and the use of ambient air as an abundant and plentiful source of clean drinking water has unsurpassed benefits to humanity . to convert air to water using very little electrical power makes the apparatus of the present invention all the more beneficial . the apparatus of the present invention converts gases to liquids using a novel adiabatic process . as will be described by way of the drawings , a novel use of electrostatic forces in a vessel where the incoming gas is bubbled through a charged polar liquid ( such as water ) has not been described or attempted in the prior art , and efficiently changes a gaseous state to a liquid state in a polar liquid . such an apparatus could also be used for cooling through the use of the thermodynamic properties of gas - liquid and liquid - gas state changes . in addition , the apparatus of the present invention may be used for purification of water in applications such as desalination and the like . in united states provisional application for patent application no . 61 / 036 , 912 to dr . stuart alfred hoenig , entitled “ electrostatic desalination and water purification ”, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference , the use of electrostatics and the bubbling of salt water is disclosed as a novel desalination technique . the use of the present invention , and various improvements thereupon , to replace the cooling stage of the hoenig invention , would result in lower energy consumption and improved efficiencies . in addition , the present invention may be used for desalination by replacing the water in the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus with salt water . now turning to the drawings , fig1 a is a perspective cutaway view of the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus 100 . referring to fig1 a , a phase - change vessel 129 is depicted . the vessel 129 is shown as a cylindrical structure with hemispherical ends , but other shapes and sizes may be used as well . larger vessels may be used to increase throughput of the apparatus , for example . the phase - change vessel 129 is made of a non - conductive or dielectric material such as fiberglass , polypropylene , polycarbonate , a plastic , or the like . in the example of water production from ambient air , air is pulled into the apparatus through an air intake 101 that may , in some embodiments of the present invention , contain an optional intake particulate filter 103 . the intake particulate filter 103 may be sized to accommodate the specific environmental situation where the apparatus of the present invention is used . the intake particulate filter 103 may be cloth , glass mesh , pleated paper , foam , or any other suitable material known to remove particulates from an airstream . ambient or process air is pulled into the apparatus through the air intake 101 by way of a blower 105 . the blower 105 may be any gas handling device suitable for moving a volume of gas such as air , and may be , for example , a blower , a centrifugal blower , a mechanical rotary vein pump , a piston pump , an actuated plunger pump , or the like . once the gas ( such as ambient air ) is pulled through the blower 105 , it travels through a first dielectric tube 107 and a second dielectric tube 111 that are joined by a tube 109 that may , in some embodiments of the present invention , be conductive and be electrically connected to a positive source , a negative source , or ground . this arrangement serves to bias or neutralize the incoming airstream . the first dielectric tube 107 and the second dielectric tube 111 may be made from , for example , nylon , silicone , polycarbonate , poly vinyl chloride , or the like . the tube 109 may be made from a conductive material such as , for example , copper , brass , iron , or the like . the couplings between the dielectric tubes 107 and 111 and the tube 109 are preferably air tight , and may use hose clamps , barb fittings , threaded fittings , glued fittings , compression fittings , quick release o - ring fittings , or any other mechanical connection means that are suitable for such purpose . now looking at the phase - change vessel 129 in fig1 , the dielectric tube 111 is connected to a fitting on the phase - change vessel 129 using an air tight connection technique such as hose clamps , barb fittings , threaded fittings , glued fittings , compression fittings , quick release o - ring fittings , or the like . this coupling of the dielectric tube 111 to the phase - change vessel allows air under pressure 113 to reside in the phase - change vessel 129 at a proximate low point in the phase - change vessel 129 . above the air under pressure 113 is a porous bubbler 115 that is physically and mechanically coupled to the sides of the phase - change vessel 129 in such a way as to prevent the water above the porous bubbler from entering the air under pressure 113 . the porous bubbler 115 may be made from a porous polymer , a ceramic membrane , sintered metal such as stainless steel , brass , or the like , a metal mesh , a hydrophilic material or the like . the surface of the porous bubbler 115 contains a plurality of small orifices of sufficient spacing to generate a stream of small bubbles in the water above the porous bubbler 115 . as the air under pressure 113 travels through the porous bubbler 115 , bubbles are generated in the water 121 above , it should be noted that the water 121 is considered “ seed water ” necessary for the formation of bubbles in the apparatus of the present invention . as water is removed from the airstream , the water 121 will grow in volume , necessitating removal through a pump ; siphon , spillway , gate valve , manual removal or other techniques for transferring a liquid that are well known to those skilled in the art . submersed in the water 121 is a high voltage grid 123 for imparting a potential to the water 121 . the high voltage grid 123 is made from a conductive material such as a metal . the grid may also be integrated with , or be , the porous bubbler 115 . it may be a grid as depicted in fig1 , or it may have another shape such as a matrix , helix , or any other shape sufficient to impart a potential to the water 121 . the high voltage grid 123 is electrically connected to a high voltage lead 143 of the high voltage power supply 131 that is capable of generating a potential of 10 to about 30 kilovolts or higher . a positive potential may be applied to the seed water 121 with a negative potential applied to the upper electrode 127 , or the polarities may be reversed in some embodiments and applications of the present invention . the high voltage applied to the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus 100 should be below the potential where corona discharge occurs . an example of such a high voltage power supply is the spellman mp series or the bertran 230 by spellman high voltage electronics corporation , hauppauge , n . y . emco high voltage corporation also manufacturers high voltage power supplies that may be used . other high voltage sources may also be used , including , for example , photovoltaic cells with appropriate high voltage step up circuitry . a high voltage lead 145 of the high voltage power supply 131 is connected to an upper electrode 127 that , as shown in the figures , is on the outside of the phase - change vessel 129 , but may also , in some embodiments of the present invention , be on the inside of the phase - change vessel 129 . the upper electrode 127 is made from an electrically conductive material such as copper , brass , aluminum , or the like . the phase - change vessel 129 also contains a feed - through 133 for the passage of wires and the like . as the air bubbles 117 pass through the water 121 that has been driven to a high voltage potential , and break the surface of the water 121 , the water molecules that were contained within the bubbles interact with the applied electric field generated by the upper electrode 127 and form electrostatic condensation 125 on the walls of the phase - change vessel 129 , or in the case of an interior upper electrode , on the upper electrode itself . the electrostatic condensation 125 will run down the sides of the phase - change vessel 129 or drop into and combine with the water 121 . the production of water from the intake air stream will require the removal of produced water to allow for further water production . a volume of seed water is always required , however , to provide for continued water production from air . as the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus continues to produce water from air , the dehumidified air travels through a vent release valve 137 and a vent 139 , releasing vented dehumidified air to the environment . in some embodiments of the present invention , the vented dehumidified air 141 may be fed back to the air intake 101 for further removal of water from the vented dehumidified air 141 . it should be noted that other materials may be used in place of the seed water and connected to a high voltage source . for complete understanding of the present invention , additional views of the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus are depicted in fig1 b , 1 c , 1 d and 1 e . fig1 b is a partially cutaway plan view of the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus . fig1 c is a perspective view of the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus . fig1 d is a plan view of the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus , and fig1 e is a top plan view of the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus . referring now to fig2 , a flowchart depicting a process for removing water from air using the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus of the present invention is shown . in step 201 , ambient air is received by the apparatus of the present invention . in step 203 , pressure of the incoming air stream is increased as it enters the apparatus of the present invention . in step 205 , the pressurized air is bubbled through seed water . seed water is water within the apparatus of the present invention that is used for making more water from the air stream , and has a high voltage potential applied to it , as described previously by way of fig1 . as the air is bubbled through the seed water in step 205 , the presence of an upper electrode with an applied potential difference between the upper electrode and the seed water causes electrostatic condensation to form in step 207 . this electrostatic condensation is product water that has been derived from the air , and can be removed in step 209 for drinking or other purposes . in step 211 if sufficient dehumidification of the incoming airstream has been achieved , the dehumidified air is vented in step 213 . if sufficient , dehumidification of the incoming airstream has not been achieved in step 211 , the resulting airstream is added to the input airstream in step 215 and the process begins again at step 201 , until such time as sufficient dehumidification is achieved . it should be noted that the products of the present invention may be either liquid or gas , such as drinking water or conditioned air . lastly , in fig3 , a functional diagram of exemplary control elements for the electrostatic phase change generating apparatus are depicted . some or all of these control elements may be used to assist with the process of making water from air . the control elements may interface with a microprocessor or microcontroller 325 . control elements may include an air filter sensor 301 , a pressure sensor 303 , a flow meter 305 , a change in pressure sensor 307 , a water level / output sensor 300 , a thermostat / temperature probe 311 , a humidistat 313 , a high voltage output voltmeter 315 , a turbidity sensor 317 , a bubble sensor / optical sensor 319 , an output vent control 321 , a ground sense / ground fault sense 323 , and the like . other control and sensing elements may become evident to those skilled in the art after reading this specification and claims and reviewing the attached drawings . it is , therefore , apparent that there has been provided , in accordance with the various objects of the present invention , an electrostatic phase change generating apparatus . while the various objects of this invention have been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments thereof , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications , and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art . accordingly , it is intended to embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the present invention as defined by this specification , drawings and claims .	1
the components and materials described hereinafter as making up the various embodiments are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive . many suitable components and materials that would perform the same or a similar function as the materials described herein are intended to be embraced within the scope of embodiments of the present invention . fig1 a shows a schematic representation of a side view of an articulated vehicle 1 in accordance with the prior art . the articulated vehicle 1 comprises two vehicle modules , designated as car shells 30 , which are connected by a bellows 20 . the bellows 20 , also called gangway bellows , is arranged between mutually opposed faces of two consecutive vehicle sections , for example the car shells 30 , of a sectional vehicle , for example an articulated bus , and are attached at their ends to these faces . the bellows 20 forms a tube , which is dosed around its entire periphery and is open at the both ends , and surrounds a crossover platform . fig1 b shows a schematic representation of a top view of an articulation area 10 of a vehicle , for example a rail vehicle . the articulation area 10 comprises a bellows 20 arranged between two vehicle modules , i . e . car shells 30 . the two car shells 30 are connected via the bellows 20 . the bellows 20 comprises flexible material , for example rubber material or fabric reinforced rubber material . a tunnel type area without any natural light is created . within the articulation area 10 on ground level , there are usually running plates arranged , either formed as a turning table or as sliding plate ( s ). underneath the plates is a coupler or a type of strong coupler connection to connect the two vehicle modules . the bellows is normally fully closed underneath of the coupler , i . e . the bellows itself from a tube . but some other types of vehicles , like certain articulated busses , airport shuttles , or streetcars do not have a bellows underneath the coupler . in this case , the bellows including the running plates form a tube . a full length of the flexible material of the bellows 20 is only needed on the side areas 40 to allow for example a consist run through a horizontal curve . the side areas 40 as indicated in fig1 b define a large movement area . in the center area 50 of the bellows 20 , in particular of the roof area , above the aisle , the flexible material of the bellows is only needed for example to allow a consist run through vertical curves , i . e . crest and sag . vertical curves have much larger radii than horizontal curves . thus , the full length of flexible material of the bellows 20 is not needed in the center area 50 of the roof area . the center area 50 defines a small movement area compared to the large movement areas of the side areas 40 of the bellows . fig2 shows a schematic representation of a top view of an articulation area 100 with a section 400 for an integrated overhead light of a vehicle , for example a rail vehicle , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment . the articulation area 100 comprises a bellows 200 with an added fixed section 400 . the fixed section 400 is arranged essentially in the center area 500 of the bellows 200 . as described before , the full length of the flexible material of the bellows 200 in the center area 500 of the roof area , above the aisle of the vehicle , is usually not fully needed and may therefore be used for overhead lights . the fixed , non - flexible , section 400 can include for example a window which allows natural light to enter the articulation area 100 . the window can comprise glass , acrylic glass or many other materials allowing natural light to enter the section 400 . to improve the amount of light , a prism may be used . in a further embodiment , the non - flexible section 400 in the bellow ceiling can also be used for artificial lights or a combination of window or prism and artificial light . the fixed section 400 can comprise the shape of a rhombus , also called diamond . as shown in this example , the rhombus has two diagonals 410 and 420 connecting pairs of opposite vertices . the two diagonals 410 and 420 are perpendicular , wherein the rhombus is shaped such that the diagonal 420 , which is parallel to a longitudinal direction 550 of the articulated vehicle , comprises a length which is shorter than the length of the diagonal 410 . this means that the rhombus ( diamond ) is arranged such that its longer diagonal 410 extends perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 550 of the vehicle . the fixed section 400 can comprise many other shapes for example a parallelogram , rectangle , oval or ellipse . for the section 400 , shapes are selected which comprise a longitudinal direction which is greater than a lateral direction of the shape , wherein the longitudinal direction of the section 400 is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 550 of the vehicle . in this way , the center area 500 of the bellows 200 is used in an optimal way , i . e . most of the center area 50 , but least of the side areas 40 ( see fig1 b ) is used for the fixed section 400 . the section 400 can comprise a cut - out or opening in the bellows 200 . the integrated overhead lights , for example a window , can be arranged in the cut - out or opening and fastened to the bellows 200 . for example , a frame , having the form of the opening , can be arranged in the opening and a window can be arranged in the frame . many other types of fastening the overhead lights within the cut - out or opening to the bellows can be used , for example adhesives technologies or many other fastening methods and structures known to persons of ordinary skill in the art . the section 400 can have sloped and easy - to - clean or self - cleaning upper surfaces , for example with a so called lotus - effect , to prevent an accumulation of duct or dirt which would hinder natural light to enter the vehicle . the non - flexible section 400 in the bellows 200 can also be used for artificial lights . in case of artificial lights , the section 400 may not comprise a cut - out or opening , but a designated ceiling area configured to arrange lighting installations ( see fig4 and fig5 ). fig3 shows a schematic representation of top view of an articulation area 100 with two sections 400 for integrated overhead lights of a vehicle , for example a rail vehicle . fig3 shows an option with two split sections 400 to implement overhead or sky lights in the articulation area 100 . the bellows 200 can comprise a plurality of sections 400 in a plurality of shapes . the sections 400 can each comprise the shape of a triangle , in particular an isosceles triangle . furthermore , the triangle can be an obtuse triangle which has one angle greater than 90 °. the angle greater than 90 ° as shown in fig3 lies opposite a face 310 of the car shell 300 . the embodiment according to fig3 provides that an overhead light in the form of the triangle can be mounted directly to the car shell 300 . the lighting installations are mounted within the roof region of the vehicle 100 to the car shells 300 . the bellows 200 is connected to opposite faces of the car shells 300 , wherein the lighting installations can be mounted to the faces of the car shells . the fixed sections 400 can comprise many other shapes , wherein shapes are selected which comprise a longitudinal direction which is greater than a lateral direction of the shape , wherein the longitudinal direction of the section 400 is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 550 of the vehicle . in this way , the center area 500 of the bellows 200 is used in an optimal way , i . e . most of the center area 500 , but least of the side areas 40 ( see fig1 b ) is used for the fixed section 400 . fig4 shows a schematic representation of a view inside a vehicle , for example a rail vehicle , from the bottom up to the ceiling within an articulation area with a section for an overhead light , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . as mentioned before , the non - flexible section 400 in the bellows 200 can also be used for artificial lights . in case of artificial lights , the section 400 may not comprise a cut - out or opening , but a designated ceiling area configured to arrange lighting installations . fig4 shows that the artificial light installation can use the same area 400 as shown for example in fig2 . the artificial light installation 600 is in oval form , but can comprise many other shapes and forms as described before . the light installation 600 can be mounted in the interior of the bellows 200 mounted to the bellows 200 within a ceiling region of the bellows 200 . fig5 shows a schematic representation of a view inside a vehicle , for example a rail vehicle , from the bottom up to the ceiling within an articulation area with two sections for overhead lights , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . fig5 shows , similar to the arrangement of fig4 , that the bellows 200 does not comprise a cut - out or opening , but two artificial lighting installations 600 which are mounted to the end of one or both vehicle modules 300 . but the bellows 200 can comprise a plurality of artificial lighting installations 600 mounted to the bellows 200 from inside within a ceiling area of the bellows 200 . the lighting installations 600 can comprise many other shapes suitable for the bellows 200 which can be mounted to the car modules 300 , in particular to opposite ends of the car modules 300 as shown in fig5 . while embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in exemplary forms , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications , additions , and deletions can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and its equivalents , as set forth in the following claims .	1
referring now to fig1 to 13 , a marker used in the endoscopic treatment tool ( hereinafter , referred to as “ marker ”) according to an embodiment of the invention will be described . fig1 is a perspective view of a marker 1 . the marker 1 is formed of an elastic material such as silicone rubber . the marker 1 includes a substantially cylindrical body 2 and a engaging portion 3 provided at a front end of the body 2 . fig2 is a right side view , partially shown in cross - section , of the marker 1 . the marker 1 includes an insertion hole 4 along its central axis in which an endoscopic treatment tool is inserted . the insertion hole 4 includes a tip section 4 a at the side of engaging portion 3 , an inserting section 4 c at the side of an opposite rear end , and a middle section 4 b between the tip section 4 a and the inserting section 4 c . as shown in fig1 and 3 , the tip section 4 a is square - sectioned and functions as a fixing portion for fixing the body 2 to an intended position of the middle section of the endoscopic treatment tool due to frictional force generated at the contact face of the tip section 4 a and the external surface of the endoscopic treatment tool as described later . the middle section 4 b is circular - sectioned and has a diameter larger than the maximum inner diameter ( i . e ., the diagonal diameter in the cross - section ) of the tip section 4 a . thus , the middle section 4 b does not come in direct contact with an external surface of the endoscope treatment tool . the inserting section 4 c is also circular - sectioned and has a diameter that is substantially the same as that of the middle section 4 b at the side of the middle section 4 b and gradually expands toward the rear end . namely , the inserting section 4 c is formed in a tapered shape such that the endoscopic treatment tool may be easily inserted from the expanded rear end of the insertion hole 4 . the marker 1 is removably attached to the endoscopic treatment tool . in particular , after the endoscopic treatment tool is inserted from the inserting section 4 c and the marker 1 is attached , the endoscopic treatment tool can be removed . the engaging portion 3 includes an annular engaging groove 5 provided in a circumferential direction thereof on a radial direction outside of the insertion hole 4 , and a flange 6 circumferentially projecting from the radial direction outside of the engaging groove 5 . the engaging groove 5 is provided between the external surface of the tip section 4 a of the insertion hole 4 and the body 2 concentrically with the insertion hole 4 . a guide sheath is engaged in the engaging groove 5 as described later . as shown in fig2 , the engaging groove 5 includes a first surface 5 a at the side of the flange 6 formed substantially parallel with the axial direction of the marker 1 , and a second surface ( wall surface ) 5 b at the side of the insertion hole 4 formed such that a radial direction width w 1 of the engaging groove 5 at the front end is slightly larger than a radial direction width w 2 at the rear end . that is , the engaging groove 5 is tapered such that the radial direction width thereof becomes smaller toward the axial direction of the insertion hole 4 . fig4 is a partial cross - sectional view of a guide sheath 7 used with the marker 1 . the guide sheath 7 includes a tubular , flexible sheath body 8 made of , for example , resin , and a stick ( engaging member ) 9 attached to a base end of the sheath body 8 . as shown in fig4 , a tubular indexing member 10 made of stainless steel or the like is thermoformed at an inner surface of the sheath body 8 near the tip thereof . with the x - ray radioscopy , the indexing member 10 is an indication of the tip position of the sheath body 8 . a base end of the sheath body 8 is press - fit at the tip of the stick 9 and is fixed by a coil 11 from the outside . the stick 9 is a tubular member made of resin or the like , and includes a through hole 12 inside thereof . an endoscopic treatment tool is inserted in the through hole 12 . the through hole 12 is circular - sectioned and includes a first section 12 a with a constant diameter and a second section 12 b with a diameter gradually expanding toward the rear end . the inner surface of the second section 12 b is formed such that the wall surface of the stick 9 becomes thicker in the axial direction of the stick 9 from the rear end where the stick 9 enters the engaging groove 5 of the marker 1 . the taper angle of the inner surface of the second section 12 b is larger than that of the second surface 5 b of the engaging groove 5 of the marker 1 . referring now to fig5 to 13 , an operation of the marker 1 and the guide sheath 7 will be described . fig5 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure of lung biopsy using an endoscopic treatment tool performing with the marker 1 and the guide sheath 7 . first , in step s 1 shown in fig5 , the guide sheath 7 is moved to the target site where tissue samples are to be taken . in particular , the endoscope is advanced within a bronchus while the position of the target site is observed through x - ray radioscopy images . fig6 illustrates a state in which an endoscope 100 is advanced to the vicinity of a target site r . since the diameter of a bronchiole 101 in which the target site r exists is smaller than that of the endoscope 100 , the endoscope 100 cannot be advanced further toward the target site r . here , an ultrasonic probe 102 placed in the guide sheath 7 is inserted together with the guide sheath 7 from an opening for forceps ( not shown ) of the endoscope 100 and is projected from the tip of the endoscope 100 as shown in fig7 . since the diameters of the sheath body 8 and the ultrasonic probe 102 of the guide sheath 7 are smaller than that of the endoscope 100 , the guide sheath 7 can reach the target site r through the bronchiole 101 . as shown in fig8 , the sheath body 8 itself is stopped at a position considered near but not touching the target site r , and the ultrasonic probe 102 is moved ahead to a position beyond the target site r . then , the ultrasonic probe 102 is slowly pulled back in the direction of an arrow in fig8 . images of the tissue around the ultrasonic probe 102 are displayed on unillustrated test equipment through the ultrasonic wave emitted from the ultrasonic probe 102 . thus , the operator can confirm whether the ultrasonic probe 102 has reached the target site r . after the operator confirmed that the ultrasonic probe 102 has reached the target site r , the procedure proceeds to step s 2 . in step s 2 , the sheath body 8 is advanced to the vicinity of the target site r along the ultrasonic probe 102 as shown in fig9 . the position of the tip of the sheath body 8 is confirmed by the indexing member 10 ( not shown ). here , in a state in which the tip of the ultrasonic probe 102 is placed in the position where the tissue samples are to be taken , the position of the ultrasonic probe 102 projected from the rear end of the stick 9 of the guide sheath 7 is marked . then , only the ultrasonic probe 102 is removed from the guide sheath 7 and the guide sheath 7 is held there . in the next step s 3 , a known biopsy cup ( endoscopic treatment tool ) 103 is inserted in the insertion hole 4 from the rear end of the marker 1 , and the marker 1 is fixed to the biopsy cup 103 as shown in fig1 . the marker 1 is then slid to a position where the distance between the rear end of the engaging groove 5 and the tip of the biopsy cup equals the distance between the tip of the ultrasonic probe 102 and the marking taken in step s 2 . instead of the biopsy cup 103 , other treatment tools such as a biopsy brush may alternatively be used . as described above , since the tip section 4 a of the insertion hole 4 which functions as the fixing portion is square - sectioned , the tip section 4 a is made to contact the biopsy cup 103 at four sides 4 d as shown in fig1 . thus , the frictional force generated between the tip section 4 a and the biopsy cups 103 is small , whereby the marker 1 can be slid smoothly for positional alignment . if the marker 1 is formed of a transparent material , the rear end of the engaging groove 5 is more clearly visible , and positioning of the marker 1 can be made more precisely . next , in step s 4 , the biopsy cup 103 to which the marker 1 is attached is inserted in the guide sheath 7 from the base end of the stick 9 . then , as shown in the dotted line in fig1 , the rear end of the stick 9 is made to advance into the engaging groove 5 of the marker 1 , and the marker 1 is engaged in the guide sheath 7 . since the taper angle of the inner surface of the second section 12 b of the through hole 12 formed in the stick 9 is larger than that of the second surface 5 b of the engaging groove 5 of the marker 1 , the second surface 5 b of the engaging groove 5 is pressed against the insertion hole 4 as the stick 9 advances in the engaging groove 5 . as a result , as shown in fig1 , the tip section 4 a of the insertion hole 4 nips the biopsy cup 103 with far stronger force than before engagement , while keeping point contact with the biopsy cup 103 . as a result , the marker 1 is securely fixed to the biopsy cup 103 , and forward and backward movement of the biopsy cup 103 within the guide sheath 7 is prevented . in the state in which the marker 1 and the stick 9 are engaged together , the biopsy cup 103 is projected only the same distance as that of the ultrasonic probe 102 in step s 2 from the tip of the sheath body 8 , and the tip of the biopsy cup 103 reliably reaches the target site r as shown in fig1 . here , in step s 5 , the biopsy cup 103 is operated to take tissue samples at the target site r . after taking the tissue samples , the biopsy cup 103 is removed and the tissue samples are collected . taking tissue samples in step s 5 may be repeated several times when needed . it is also possible to estimate the size ( i . e ., the length along the direction in which the bronchiole 101 extends ) of the target site r by repeating taking tissue samples several times with the position of the marker 1 fine - controlled and moving the tip of the biopsy cut 103 forward and backward in order to specify the position at which no more tissue sample can be taken . the steps shown in fig5 are not necessarily performed in the described order . instead , a projecting length of the biopsy cup 103 from the guide sheath 7 may be determined in advance , the marker 1 may be attached at a predetermined position on the biopsy cup 103 so that the biopsy cup 103 projects at the predetermined length , and then the guide sheath 7 may be disposed such that the distance between the tip of the ultrasonic probe 102 and the tip of the guide sheath 7 equals the above predetermined length while observing via x - ray radioscopy . in step s 1 , instead of providing the ultrasonic probe 102 , the biopsy cup 103 inserted in the guide sheath may be advanced to the target site r . alternatively , the guide sheath 7 alone may be advanced to the target site . x - ray radioscopy , a ultrasonic image or an endoscope image may be suitably selected for guiding instruments to the target site r . the marker 1 is attached to the biopsy cup 103 before the biopsy cup 103 is inserted in the guide sheath 7 , but the marker 1 is not necessarily engaged and fixed to the stick 9 immediately after the ultrasonic probe 102 is removed . for example , the marker 1 may be engaged with the stick 9 when the tip of the biopsy cup 103 is positioned under x - ray radioscopy , thereby positioning and engagement may occur at the same time . according to the marker 1 of the present embodiment , the positional relationship between the biopsy cup 103 and the guide sheath 7 is fixed when the engaging groove 5 of the engaging portion 3 engages the guide sheath 7 . in this manner , the tip of the biopsy cup 103 can be projected precisely by the predetermined amount . thus , the tip of the biopsy cup 103 can reliably reach the target site r , thereby performing a precise biopsy . the marker 1 is slidably fixed to the biopsy cup 103 in the axial direction thereof due to frictional force between the inner surface of the tip section 4 a of the insertion hole 4 and the outer surface of the biopsy cup 103 . thus , the projecting length of the biopsy cup 103 from the guide sheath 7 can be controlled as intended by changing the position at which the marker 1 is fixed to the biopsy cup 103 . the marker 1 and the biopsy cup 103 are in contact with each other not in the entire inner surface of the insertion hole 4 , but only in the inner surface of the tip section 4 a . further , since the tip section 4 a is square - sectioned as described above , the tip section 4 a is made to point contact with the biopsy cup 103 only at four sides 4 d . thus , since the marker 1 is structured to have a smaller contact area with the biopsy cup 103 to be attached to , the frictional force generated between the marker 1 and the biopsy cups 103 in the axial direction is small , whereby the marker 1 can be slid smoothly for positional alignment . the marker 1 is engaged with the stick 9 of the guide sheath 7 such that , as the stick 9 advances in the engaging groove 5 , the second surface 5 b of the engaging groove 5 is pressed against the insertion hole 4 due to a difference in taper angles as described above . thus , the marker 1 is firmly fixed to the biopsy cup 103 , and the positional relationship with the guide sheath 7 in operation including taking tissue samples is reliably maintained . in this manner , a marker which slides smoothly for positional alignment and is firmly fixed for engagement can be obtained . in addition , since the flange 6 is provided in the engaging portion 3 , even if the external surface of the body 2 is drawn toward the rear end side due to deformation at the time of engagement with the stick 9 , the flange 6 moves toward the radial direction inner side , the movement of the entire external surface of the body 2 can be prevented . therefore , a marker with holding performance which is not easily decline during engagement can be obtained . while the embodiments of the invention have been described , the technical range of the invention is not limited to those described . various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention . in the described embodiment , although the marker 1 includes the engaging portion 3 and is engaged with the base end of the guide sheath 7 , an abutting portion may be provided instead of the engaging portion 3 for abutting the base end of the guide sheath 7 . in particular , if the engaging groove 5 is not provided in the marker 1 , a front end surface of the body 2 abuts the base end of the guide sheath 7 and functions as the abutting portion . in this manner , when the endoscopic treatment tool with the marker attached thereon is inserted in the guide sheath and the abutting portion is made to abut the base end of the guide sheath , a predetermined length of the tip of the endoscopic treatment tool can always be projected from the tip of the guide sheath . in the described embodiment , although the marker 1 is fixed slidably in the axial direction of the endoscopic treatment tool by the inner surface of the insertion hole 4 , the invention is not limited thereto . for example , the marker 1 may be removably fixed at an intended position by nipping the endoscopic treatment tool like a clip . in addition , neither the engaging portion nor the abutting portion is indispensable . so long as the marker is fixed to a predetermined position of the endoscopic treatment tool , when the guide sheath is inserted to the position of the marker , a predetermined length of the tip of the endoscopic treatment tool can always be projected from the tip of the guide sheath . in addition , in the described embodiment , although the marker is attached to the endoscopic treatment tool such as the biopsy cup for taking tissue samples , the invention is not limited thereto . the marker may be attached to any treatment tools that are difficult to locate in a body . for example , the marker of the invention may be attached to an ultrasonic probe for reliable ultrasonic image diagnosis in a position repeatedly .	0
referring now to the drawings , and , more particularly to fig1 an embodiment to be preferred of a reciprocating drive mechanism made according to the present invention is disclosed as incorporated into a dot matrix printer . as paper 5 is advanced upwardly in its contact with a platen 4 , a hammer bank 20 is caused to reciprocate by the drive mechanism along the printing line where styli , not shown , of the hammer bank strike a ribbon to print upon the paper , as is conventional in the art . hammer bank 20 is supported at its free end by a support shaft 22 which is adapted to reciprocate within a linear bearing 23 of bearing block 24 , mounted on the base of the machine . a servo control system positions the hammer bank for correct print placement . the servo control system includes an optical switch assembly 41 for establishing a zero reference position , a velocity transducer assembly 46 for measuring velocity , and a servo circuit , as is conventional in the art . while varying types of devices are available , a preferred optical switch , shown in fig4 and a preferred velocity transducer , shown in fig5 are employed . optical switch includes a flag 44 attached to the reciprocating hammer bank 20 directly or by attachment bar 43 and a photo diode 45 , emitting light sensed by a photo transistor 42 , both of which are affixed directly or indirectly to a frame , represented generally by the numeral 25 . velocity transducer assembly 46 includes a magnet bar 49 attached directly to the reciprocating hammer bank 20 , or indirectly by attachment bar 47 , and a coil 48 attached directly or indirectly to frame 25 by coil housing 83 , the coil adapted to reciprocally receive magnet bar 49 . as the magnet bar moves through the coil , its change of velocity will induce a voltage in the coil which is analogous to velocity change of the hammer banks from the desired reference velocity . velocity is integrated by the servo circuit to find the position of the hammer banks . thus the position of the hammer banks are constantly monitored for proper dot placements . depending on the level of dots placements accuracy desired , the velocity transducer may be omitted and the hammers activated at predetermined time intervals referenced to the time the shuttle triggers the optical switch . although the accuracy of dots placements is compromised , this system may be employed depending on the print application . the end of hammer bank 20 , opposite its free end , is attached to a non - linear spring set 50 , shown to advantage in fig6 and considered a critical element of this invention . spring set 50 , in the embodiment shown in fig6 includes a plurality of elongated resilient strips 52 stacked together , and clamped at both ends of the length to a fixed frame 25 , preferably by a bolt 53 , extending through a clamp plate 54 , through bolt holes 55 in strips 52 and into a threaded aperture 59 in the frame to form a body acting in unison as a non - linear spring . screw holes 69 may be provided for attachment of solenoid shafts or motor shafts of the drive mechanism to the midlength of the spring set . an alternate spring set 50 may be seen in fig7 and 8 . a plurality of elongated resilient strips 52a are joined at midlength to define a hub 68 , about which the end of the strips are spaced at regular intervals . the ends of the strips may be clamped , individually or by a common clamping 67 to frame 25 , as shown . a screw hole 66 may be provided for attachment of solenoid or motor shafts . the force profile of the non - linear spring set is defined by the equation : f is applied force perpendicular to the plane of strips at midlength ; x is a deflection at midlength in a plane perpendicular to the plane of strips ; and k is the spring constant defined by physical properties of the strips . a non - linear spring set as such will produce small opposing force to the movement of the hammer bank 20 within most of the print region . as the hammer bank approaches the turn around point the opposing force of the non - linear spring increases at a very rapid rate , thus quickly absorbing the kinetic energy of the hammer bank , reversing its direction , and quickly restoring its kinetic energy . fig1 shows the force profile of the non - linear spring as well as the force profile of a linear spring such as a cantilever supported rectangular flexure which produces the same force as the non - linear spring at the print region limit . the shaded area depicts the undesirable additional force of the linear spring opposing the motion of the hammer banks . the natural frequency of this non - linear spring mass system varies , depending on the initial deflection of the spring . see fig9 where &# 34 ; f &# 34 ; is the natural frequency . as the amplitude of the undamped free vibration is increased , the turn around travel time increases , but the print region travel time decreases ( velocity increases ), decreasing the overall cycle time . the turn around time limit is dictated by how fast the paper transport system can move the paper 5 one dot row ; the print time is dictated by the maximum operable hammer frequency and the desired dots spacings . if sufficient time is not allowed for either of the said time intervals , dots displacements and impaired print quality would result . on the other hand , allowing intervals longer than necessary would result in loss of thruput . therefore , for achieving maximum thruput , and good print quality , the velocity profile should satisfy the above criteria . fig9 thru 12 exemplify a set of guidelines for selecting the proper number of resilient strips per spring set , and proper travel length . fig9 shows the effect of travel limit on the turn around time and the print time . fig1 shows variation of the turn around time , the print time , and subsequently the variation of the natural frequency f as the number of strips ( labeled by m , n , or x ) of a spring set is changed . fig1 shows the effect of travel limit on the velocity profile of a spring set of m number of strips , and fig1 shows variation of velocity profile as the number of strips ( labeled by m , n , or x ) of a spring set is changed . for example , if a turn around time of 4 milliseconds , and a velocity of 40 in / sec is needed , velocity profile of a spring set consisting of n number of strips deflected to travel limit of 0 . 178 inch satisfies the performance criteria . by reciprocating at a natural frequency of this non - linear spring mass system , the need for a relatively powerful , and high response electromagnet actuator is replaced for one ( s ), which only needs to replace the energy loss due to damping . of course , for a higher cost of a high voltage power supply , more responsive magnetic actuators and servo circuits , further improvement in the velocity profile may be obtained . the shuttle frequency , therefore , is not necessarily limited to the natural frequency of the spring mass system . depending on the type of electromagnets used , and how the system is dynamically balanced , three alternative but preferred embodiments are hereinafter described . referring now to fig1 a first embodiment of an improved reciprocating drive mechanism of the present invention is shown to advantage . a first pair of solenoids 31 , their pole faces facing each other , are fixed to a frame 25 . solenoids 31 share a common armature plate 32 which is mounted on non - magnetic shaft 27 . the shaft at one end is secured to midlength of a non - linear spring set 50 , and at the opposite end it is supported by a linear bearing 33 . the hammer bank assembly 20 is secured at one end to midlength of spring set 50 , opposite of the shaft 27 , and at the opposite end is supported on shaft 22 by linear bearing 23 . when the spring set is at its neutral position , the armature plate 32 is at midway between the pole faces of the solenoids 31 . as hammer bank 20 moves to the tight from its midposition , the right solenoid gap narrows , and the right solenoid is servo controlled to remain turned on unless the desired constant velocity is exceeded . at a designated position before the print region limit is passed , the solenoid is turned off to allow the current in the coil to fall substantially before the mass reverses its direction . similarly , the left solenoid , of fig1 operates in the left side of the travel . when hammer bank 20 moves to the left , the left solenoid remains turned on unless the reference velocity is exceeded , or the turn off position is reached . a second set 60 of elongated resilient strips are fixed to frame 25 similar to the first set 50 , to serve as the non - linear spring for the counter mass , said counter mass designated generally by the numeral 70 . in that the second set 60 is identical in construction to the first set 50 , as shown in fig6 and 8 , further description will not be given . counter mass 70 comprises a pair of solenoids 71 fixed on a non - magnetic shaft 72 such that their pole faces are at the opposite ends , facing away from each other . the shaft at one end is secured to the midlength of the second spring set 60 and at the opposite end is supported by linear bearing 73 . the armature plates 75 of the solenoids are fixed to the frame 25 , each facing the pole face of their adjacent solenoid . the total weight of these moving solenoids and their shafts , matches the total weight of the hammer banks and all the other parts fixed to it . the right counter mass solenoid is electrically in parallel with the left hammer bank solenoid , and the left counter mass solenoid is electrically in parallel with the right hammer bank solenoid . thus the motion of the hammer bank is accomplished by the motion of the counter mass solenoid , in resonance , but in opposite direction to create a dynamic balance . referring now to fig2 a second preferred embodiment of the drive mechanism of the present invention is shown . hammer bank 20 and its non - linear spring set 50 and armature plate 82 secured to non - magnetic shaft 87 which in turn is secured to midlength of spring set 50 are assembled similar to the first embodiment , shown in fig1 . a pair of solenoids 81 which can slide freely on the shaft 87 of the armature plate are fixed to solenoid frame 85 . the opposite end of solenoid frame 85 is secured to the midlength of the second spring set 60 . the solenoid pole faces are separated from the armature plate by equal gaps . each gap is slightly wider than the full length of the hammer bank travel . the total weight of solenoids 81 and their frame 85 serves as a counter weight to the total weight of the hammer bank assembly 20 and the parts fixed to it . the basic operation remains the same as explained in regard to the first embodiment . referring now to fig3 a third embodiment of the drive mechanism of the present invention may be seen . the single action solenoids 81 , as described in the second embodiment , are replaced by a double action linear motor , designated generally by the numeral 91 , of the voice coil type . coil assembly 95 of the motor , and the hammer bank assembly 20 are secured to non - linear spring set 50 as in the first embodiment . a linear bearing 100 supports shaft 101 of the coil assembly 95 . the remaining structure of motor 91 , including permanent magnet 98 and pole pieces 96 , at one end is secured to the second non - linear spring set 60 , and at the opposite end is supported by linear bearings 93 housed in the frame 25 . the two opposite moving masses are made equal to create dynamic balance . the basic operation remains the same as explained in the first and second embodiments . having thus described in detail a preferred selection of embodiments of the present invention , it is to be appreciated and will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many physical changes could be made in the apparatus without altering the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein . 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 to be embraced therein .	1
fig1 shows an image projector 8 having an optical system 10 designed in accordance with a first embodiment of this invention and enclosed in and supported by a housing ( not shown ). optical system 10 is constructed along an optical axis 12 and includes a light source 14 ; a light pipe optical integrator 16 having an inlet end 17 and an outlet end 18 ; a first positive lens 20 ; a polarization conversion prism assembly 22 ; a fold mirror 23 ; a second positive lens 24 ; a three - path reflective lcd assembly 25 that includes first , second , and third liquid crystal displays (“ lcds ”) 26 1 , 26 2 , and 26 3 ( collectively “ lcds 26 ”); and a telecentric - type projection lens 27 . lcds 26 are preferably about 15 millimeter ( 0 . 6 inch ), reflective lcos light valves employing twisted neumatic liquid crystal material , which is optically active . of course , other types of liquid crystal materials , such as birefringent or optical retardation types , may be adapted for use with this invention . light source 14 includes a short arc lamp 28 mounted at a focus of an elliptical reflector 29 . an optional meniscus lens ( not shown ) may be placed between elliptical reflector 29 and optical integrator 16 to concentrate the light propagating from light source 14 and striking inlet end 17 . optical integrator 16 is an elongated tunnel - type integrator with squared - off flat inlet and outlet ends 17 and 18 . optical integrator 16 is located such that its inlet end 17 is at the “ point of least confusion ” of elliptical reflector 29 . the point of least confusion is the point where a light ray bundle reflecting from elliptical reflector 29 has the smallest spot size . inlet and outlet ends 17 and 18 of optical integrator 16 have 3 × 4 cross - sectional aspect ratios that provide a 3 × 4 projection display format that is compatible with conventional svga and xga display addressing formats . of course , optical integrator 16 may be constructed to support other display formats , such as 9 × 16 ( hdtv ) and 5 × 4 ( sxga ). moreover , multiple integrators having different cross - sectional aspect ratios may be arranged for selective positioning into optical axis 12 to provide selectable projection display formats . optical integrator 16 preferably has cross - sectional and length dimensions that are optimized according to the magnification necessary to provide the proper illumination dimensions and f - number at lcds 26 . this permits a very compact optical system . of course , fly - eye lens systems may be used with this invention . first positive lens 20 receives and collimates light propagating from outlet end 18 of optical integrator 16 . polarization conversion prism assembly 22 is of conventional construction , including a 45 ° rhomboid prism 30 , a right - angle triangle prism 31 , and a half - wave plate 32 . fold mirror 23 receives s - polarized light rays 34 from polarization conversion prism assembly 22 and reflects them toward second positive lens 24 , which receives the reflected s - polarized light rays 34 and transmits them toward three - path reflective lcd assembly 25 . ( s - polarized light rays are indicated in the drawing figures by small open circles connected together by a line representing a light propagation path .) the s - polarized light rays 34 are received by a spectrally selective input wave plate 36 , which transmits with polarization direction change a first wavelength range of light rays 34 to form p - polarized light rays 38 and transmits without polarization direction change second and third wavelength ranges of light rays 34 . ( p - polarized light rays are indicated in the drawing figures by short - length transverse lines intersecting a line representing a light propagation path .) spectrally selective wave plate 36 is preferably of an optical retardation type . a plate - type transflective polarizing beam splitter 40 transmits the p - polarized first wavelength range light rays 38 and reflects the s - polarized second and third wavelength range light rays 34 . ( transflective polarizing beam splitters direct and recombine all the wavelength ranges of incident light rays according to their directions of polarization . s - polarized light rays are reflected , and p - polarized light rays are transmitted .) p - polarized first wavelength range light rays 38 propagate through a field lens 42 1 and impinge telecentrically on first lcd 26 1 , and s - polarized second and third wavelength range light rays 34 impinge on a pleochroic color filter 48 , which divides them to form second and third wavelength range light rays 44 and 46 . second and third wavelength range light rays 44 and 46 propagate through respective field lenses 42 2 , and 42 3 and impinge telecentrically on respective second and third lcds 26 2 , and 26 3 . ( field lenses 42 1 , 42 2 , and 42 3 are referred to collectively hereafter as “ field lenses 42 ”.) to correct astigmatism , pleochroic color filter 48 is preferably fabricated as a dichroic coating on one of the mated inner surfaces of a beam splitting cube . alternatively , to eliminate a prism , color filter 48 may be fabricated as a dichroic coating formed on the light input surface of a plate of float glass . skilled workers will recognize that suitable optical retarders , polarizers , wave plates , transflective polarizing beam splitters , pleochroic filters , field lenses , and lcd light valves are available from a variety of manufacturers including colorlink , inc . of boulder , colo . ; moxtek , inc . of orem , utah ; and sharp corporation of nara , japan transflective polarizing beam splitter 40 is preferably of a diffractive wire grid type , but acceptable alternatives include transflective polarizing beam splitters formed from multi - layer thin films , cholesteric polymer liquid crystals , and laminated polymer sheets . the latter type consist of laminating together multiple thin polymer sheets , each having a different index of refraction , such as “ dbef ” sheets available from 3m . each of lcds 26 includes an array of pixels that are individually controllable by a controller 49 that receives video information from analog or digital signal sources , such as a personal computer . skilled workers will understand that controller 49 interprets the video information and conveys to lcds 26 pixel image patterns that control each pixel to reflect light in one of two orthogonal polarization directions depending on whether the pixel is switched to a dark state or an illuminated state . pixels in the dark state reflect incident light rays without change in polarization direction , and pixels in the illuminated state reflect incident light rays with a 90 ° rotation in polarization direction . skilled workers will also understand that grey scale images may also be generated with lcds 26 by employing methods in controller 49 that vary according to the specific type of lcds . the grey scale imaging methods fall roughly into analog and digital classes . in analog lcd driving schemes , grey scales are typically achieved by driving the lcds to a level between the dark and illuminated states to cause partial polarization phase retardation in the lcd . in digital lcd driving schemes , grey scales are typically achieved by employing pulse width modulation between the dark and illuminated states . however , this invention might best be understood from the following operational descriptions in which only the dark and illuminated pixel states are considered . with respect to the dark state pixels , p - polarized first wavelength range light rays 38 impinging on dark state pixels of first lcd 26 1 are reflected without change in polarization direction and return as p - polarized first wavelength range light rays 38 along their original paths toward light source 14 through transflective polarizing beam splitter 40 . s - polarized second and third wavelength range light rays 44 and 46 impinging on respective second and third lcds 26 2 and 26 3 are reflected without change in polarization direction as s - polarized second and third wavelength range light rays 44 and 46 , are recombined by pleochroic color filter 48 , and return along their original paths toward light source 14 by reflecting off transflective polarizing beam splitter 40 . with respect to the illuminated state pixels , p - polarized first wavelength range light rays 38 impinging on illuminated state pixels on first lcd 26 1 are reflected with a 90 ° change in polarization direction as s - polarized first wavelength range light rays 50 that propagate toward transflective polarizing beam splitter 40 . s - polarized first wavelength range light rays 50 strike transflective polarizing beam splitter 40 , which reflects them toward projection lens 27 . s - polarized second and third wavelength range light rays 44 and 46 impinging on respective second and third lcds 26 2 and 26 3 are reflected with a 90 ° change in polarization direction as respective p - polarized second and third wavelength range light rays 52 and 54 . p - polarized second and third wavelength range light rays 52 and 54 strike pleochroic color filter 48 , which recombines and transmits them through transflective polarizing beam splitter 40 toward projection lens 27 . s - polarized first wavelength range light rays 50 and p - polarized second and third wavelength range light rays 52 and 54 are received by a spectrally selective output wave plate 56 that changes the polarization direction of s - polarized first wavelength range light rays 50 into alignment with the polarization direction of p - polarized second and third wavelength range light rays 52 and 54 to produce p - polarized first , second , and third wavelength range light rays 58 . spectrally selective output wave plate 56 is preferably of an optical retardation type . a “ clean up ” polarizer 60 positioned between spectrally selective output wave plate 56 and projection lens 27 color balances light rays 58 by correcting for non - ideal light transmission and reflection responses of transflective polarization beam splitter 40 affecting at least one of the first , second , and third modulated light output beams of different wavelength ranges or bands . spectrally selective output wave plate 56 aligns the polarization direction of light rays 58 so that clean - up polarizer 60 will not block light in one of the wavelength bands . spectrally selective output wave plate 56 and clean - up polarizer 60 cooperate to improve the color purity of this invention and may be omitted if color purity is not an issue . fig2 shows an image projector 68 having an optical system 70 in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of this invention . optical system 70 is constructed similarly to optical system 10 but includes neither polarization conversion prism assembly 22 nor spectrally selective input wave plate 36 . accordingly , randomly polarized first , second , and third wavelength range light rays 72 propagate toward a three - path reflective lcd assembly 74 and strike a transflective polarizing beam splitter 40 . randomly polarized first , second , and third wavelength range light rays 72 can be separated into p - polarized components 76 and s - polarized components 78 . transflective polarizing beam splitter 40 transmits p - polarized components 76 of first , second , and third wavelength range light rays 72 toward field lens 26 1 and reflects s - polarized components 78 of first , second , and third wavelength range light rays 72 toward pleochroic color filter 48 . pleochroic color filter 48 transmits s - polarized first and second wavelength range light rays 80 toward field lens 26 2 and reflects s - polarized third wavelength range light rays 82 toward field lens 26 3 . there is associated with each of field lenses 42 an optional dichroic trim filter coating 84 1 , 84 2 , and 84 3 ( collectively “ trim filters 84 ”) placed at a convenient location in the light propagation paths of respective lcds 26 1 , 26 2 , and 26 3 . trim filters 84 may be formed on separate substrates , directly on the windows of lcds 26 , or preferably on surfaces of field lenses 42 as shown . trim filters 84 reflect selected wavelength ranges of light rays without changing their polarization directions , so the reflected light simply propagates in reverse direction along the same path toward light source 14 without reaching projection lens 27 . light rays having the desired wavelength range propagate through trim filters 84 for reflection off the pixels of lcds 26 . skilled workers will recognize that trim filters 84 may be “ tuned ” to provide color balance and purity to the final projected image . in particular , dichroic trim filter coating 84 1 receives p - polarized first , second , and third wavelength range light rays 76 , reflects the second and third wavelength range light rays in reverse direction along the same propagation path toward light source 14 and transmits the first wavelength range light rays toward lcd 26 1 . the first wavelength range light rays are received and reflected by lcd 26 1 , with their polarization direction selectively changed or unchanged , depending whether the pixels are switched to a dark state or an illuminated state . the polarization directions of light rays reflected by the pixels the light rays strike causes the first wavelength light rays to either propagate toward light source 14 or reflect toward projection lens 27 as described for optical system 10 . likewise , dichroic trim filter coatings 842 and 843 placed in the paths of lcds 26 2 and 26 3 have the same effect on the second and third wavelength ranges of light rays . in this way each of lcds 26 1 , 26 2 , and 26 3 receives and reflects the respective first , second , and third wavelength ranges of light rays . skilled workers will recognize that dichroic trim filter 84 3 is not required if pleochroic color filter 48 provides suitable third wavelength filtering characteristics . image projectors 8 and 68 have been described with reference to first , second , and third wavelength ranges of light rays . in the preferred embodiments these wavelength ranges correspond to those of the respective green , red , and blue primary colors . optical systems 10 and 70 are advantageous because they can support an f / 2 . 0 optical path that provides 1 , 200 lumens of projected image brightness with a 270 watt lamp and 15 millimeter ( 0 . 6 inch ) lcds . 1 , 500 lumens are possible with 19 . 7 millimeter ( 0 . 774 inch ) lcds , and 1 , 700 lumens are possible with 24 . 6 millimeter ( 0 . 97 inch ) lcds . projected image brightness can be tailored through selection of particular lamps , filter characteristics , polarizer characteristics , and various other optical path design details . optical systems 10 and 70 are further advantageous because they enable constructing reflective lcd - based multimedia projectors that are lighter , smaller , potentially less costly , and easier to implement than prior prism - based systems . skilled workers will recognize that various other portions of this invention may be implemented differently from the implementations described above for preferred embodiments . for example , skilled workers will understand that minor optical path variations and additions may be necessary to correct for astigmatism , color aberrations , and other distortions . moreover , the wavelength ranges , filters , wave plates , and other optical components may employ a wide variety of characteristics , mounting positions , spacings , dimensions , and aspect ratios that are suited to particular displays , such as rear projection , higher resolution , video only , and entertainment applications . it will be obvious to those having skill in the art that many changes may be made to the details of the above - described embodiments of this invention without departing from the underlying principles thereof . the scope of this invention should , therefore , be determined only by the following claims .	6
as shown in fig1 - 6 , the present invention is a car seat , generally designated 10 , having a relatively rigid shell or seat body 12 having a seat pan 14 and a seat back 16 . the car seat 10 may include a layer of cushioned material 18 tightly fit around the shell 12 to provide comfort to the occupant . the car seat 10 may include a pair of belts or shoulder harnesses 20 , 22 , each shoulder harness 20 , 22 having an upper end 24 and a lower end 26 . the lower end 26 of each harness 20 , 22 may be passed through one of a pair of openings 30 , 32 ( see fig2 ) in the seat pan 14 and wrapped around a rotatable spool 34 located below the seat pan 14 . the spool 34 preferably includes a releasable ratchet mechanism such that the spool 34 can be rotated in a direction indicated by the arrow a to tighten the harnesses 20 , 22 . the spool 34 preferably includes a tension release mechanism ( such as a push button , not shown ) that can be activated to enable the spool 34 to rotate in a direction to opposite to a loosen the tension in the harnesses 20 , 22 . however , the spool 34 illustrated herein is only one mechanism for tensioning the harnesses 20 , 22 , and any of a number of tensioning devices may be used without departing from the scope of the invention . each harness 20 , 22 extends from the spool 34 or other tensioning mechanism , through the openings 30 , 32 in the seat pan 14 , and is slidably and / or fixedly coupled to a bracket 38 , 40 . each harness 20 , 22 is looped about a loop 42 located in or adjacent to the seat back 16 ( see fig3 - 5 and 7 ). the loop 42 is coupled to a strap of material 43 which is in turn coupled to an anchor plate 45 located on the back side of the seat back 16 . instead of the loop 42 , strap 43 and anchor plate 45 , each harness 20 , 22 may instead be fixedly coupled to a carriage 49 that is mounted to the seat 10 and vertically slidable to accommodate growth of the occupant in a manner well known in the art . in this case each harness 20 , 22 may be looped through an opening of the carriage similar to the illustrated embodiments . furthermore , instead each harness 20 , 22 passing through the openings 30 , 32 in the seat pan 14 , the lower end of each harness 20 , 22 may instead be fixedly coupled to the seat pan 14 , as shown in fig6 . in this case the upper end of each harness 20 , 22 may be looped through a loop 42 , and each loop 42 may be coupled to a rear belt 71 . each rear belt 71 may extend along the seat back 16 to a splitter plate 88 . the splitter plate 88 is coupled to each rear belt 71 and to a lower belt 90 . the lower belt 90 extends through an opening in the seat base 92 and includes a handle 94 . the seat base 92 includes a a - lock and release mechanism 96 that can be used to releasably grip the lower belt 90 . in this manner , the user can adjust the tension in the harnesses 20 , 22 by moving the lower belt 90 in the direction of arrow c . as shown in fig2 each bracket 38 , 40 includes a tongue 39 having an opening 41 . the seat 10 includes a buckle 50 which includes a base 46 coupled to the seat pan 14 by a base belt 48 . the base 46 has a pair of slots or openings 52 , 54 formed therein . each tongue 39 is shaped to be passed through one of the slots 52 , 54 of the base 46 and securely received in the base 46 . when each tongue 39 is received in the base 46 , the buckle 50 is in its latched condition . the base 46 may include one or more spring biased latches ( not shown ) and each tongue opening 41 can receive a latch therein when the buckle 50 is in its latched condition to retain the tongues 39 therein . the base 46 may include a button 47 that is actuable to move the spring loaded latch or latches out of engagement with each tongue 39 to enable each bracket 38 , 40 to be removed from the base 46 , as in a standard buckle for a car seat or seat belt . as best shown in fig3 and 4 , each shoulder harness 20 , 22 includes a rearward portion or sliding portion 68 that extends from a lower portion or seat pan 14 of the seat shell 12 to an upper portion or seat back 16 of the seat shell 12 . each sliding portion 68 is slidingly passed through an associated bracket 38 , 40 . each shoulder harness 20 , 22 further includes a forward portion or bracket portion 70 that extends from the loop 42 or from an upper portion or seat back 16 of the seat shell 12 to the associated tongue or bracket 38 , 40 . the lower end of each bracket portion 70 is fixedly secured to the associated bracket 38 , 40 . in other words , the rearward portion 68 of each harness 20 , 22 extends from the seat pan 14 to the loop 42 , and the forward portion 70 extends from the loop 42 to a bracket 38 , 40 . each shoulder harness 20 , 22 is looped about itself such that the forward 70 and rearward 68 portions are generally parallel . each harness 20 , 22 forms a gap or loop 74 between the harness 20 , 22 and the seat back 16 . the gap or loop 74 is a gap between the associated harness 20 , 22 and the seat back 16 , and is the space through which the arm of the occupant can be passed when an occupant is placed in the car seat 10 . the effective length of each harness 20 , 22 is the length of the rearward portion 68 of each harness . thus , the larger the effective length of each harness 20 , 22 , the larger the gap 74 can be made . the looped nature of the harnesses 20 , 22 of the present invention enable a user to vary the size of the gaps 74 of the harnesses 20 , 22 ( or the effective length of the harnesses ) to allow easy insertion and removal of an occupant from the seat 10 . for example , as shown in fig1 and 4 , when the bracket 38 is secured in the base 46 , the shoulder harness 20 is sized and positioned to be located closely about the shoulders of the occupant ( not shown ). when it is desired to remove the occupant from the car seat 10 , the buckle 50 is released and the bracket 38 removed from the base 46 . next , the bracket 38 is slid towards the upper portion of the seat back 16 by sliding the bracket 38 along the sliding portion 68 of the shoulder harness 20 . this motion of the bracket 38 enables an additional length of the harness 20 to be slid through the carriage or loop 42 , thereby increasing the size sliding portion 68 , the size of the gap 74 , and the effective length of the harness 20 as shown in fig2 and 6 . the increased size of the sliding portion 68 and the gap 74 enables the arms and shoulders of an occupant to be easily placed and removed from under the shoulder harness 20 . the same procedure can be carried out with the bracket 40 and shoulder harness 22 to increase the effective size of the shoulder harness 22 . in order to secure an occupant in the car seat 10 , the occupant is located onto the seat pan 14 , and his or her arms are passed through the gaps 74 of each shoulder harness 20 , 22 when the car seat is in its condition as shown in fig2 and 3 . the shoulder harnesses 20 , 22 are then “ tightened down ” by moving the brackets 38 , 40 toward the base 46 shown by the arrow b of fig4 . as the rearward portion 68 of the harnesses 20 , 22 slides through the brackets 38 , 40 the size of the rearward portion 68 , gaps 74 and the effective length of the harnesses 20 , 22 are reduced . furthermore , once the brackets 38 , 40 are latched in the base 46 , the gaps 74 are automatically sized to the desired size ( i . e ., the size of the harnesses of 20 , 22 before the effective size of the harnesses 20 , 22 was adjusted ) and the shoulder harnesses 20 , 22 are automatically tightened down to the desired tension . next , if necessary , the spool 34 or other tension adjust mechanism ( i . e . lock and release mechanism 96 ) may be rotated to tighten the harnesses 20 , 22 to their desired position and tension over the occupant . fig5 illustrates an alternate embodiment 10 ′ of the car seat of the present invention . in this embodiment the “ rearward portion ” or sliding portion 68 is located above the “ forward portion ” or bracket portion 70 of the harness 20 . the remaining features of the car seat 10 ′ are the same as that described above ; that is , the sliding portion 68 is slidingly received through the bracket 38 and the lower end of the bracket portion 70 is secured to the bracket 38 . the size of the gap 74 can be adjusted by sliding the bracket 38 along the sliding portion 68 . this looped nature of the shoulder harnesses 20 , 22 enables the size of the gaps 74 and effective length of each shoulder harness 20 , 22 to be increased or decreased by sliding the brackets 38 , 40 along the length of the shoulder harnesses . this feature provides a significant advantage over conventional shoulder harness systems . in a conventional shoulder harness system , the size of the gaps and effective length of the shoulder harnesses are typically not adjustable when removing an occupant from the seat . this requires an occupant to “ squeeze ” into or out of the harness . in contrast , looped nature of the shoulder harnesses 20 , 22 of the present invention enables the size of the gaps 74 and effective lengths to be significantly increased or decreased , which provides much greater space for an occupant to fit under the harnesses . alternately , when using a conventional car seat , the size of the gaps and effective length of the shoulder harnesses can be adjusted by releasing the overall tension in the harness system ( i . e ., in the illustrated embodiment , by unspooling the harnesses 20 , 22 off of the spool 34 ). however , this method for increasing the size of the gaps has several drawbacks . firstly , the tension release mechanism ( i . e ., the spool ) may be located at an inconvenient location . furthermore , if the tension of the harnesses is released to remove an occupant from the car seat , the tension must then be reset or re - established when an occupant is again placed into the car seat . it can be difficult and time consuming to adjust the harness to the precise , desired tension . accordingly , the present invention enables the gaps of the harnesses to be adjusted to allow easy insertion and removal of the occupant , but does not require resetting of the tension of the harness . in this manner , the tension of the harnesses of the car seat of the present invention can remain at a desired set value , and needs to be adjusted only infrequently ( i . e . upon sufficient growth of the occupant , use of bulky clothing by the occupant , use with a differently sized occupant , etc .). having described the invention in detail and by reference to the preferred embodiments , it will be apparent that modifications and variations thereof are possible without departing from the scope of the invention .	8
the following detailed description is directed to certain exemplary embodiments . however , the present disclosure can also be further embodied in a multitude of different ways as defined and covered by the claims and equivalents thereof . in this description , reference is made to the drawings wherein like parts are designated with like reference numerals throughout . as used in the description herein and throughout this disclosure , the meaning of “ a ,” “ an ,” and “ the ” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . also , as used in the description herein , the meaning of “ in ” includes “ into ” and “ on ” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . as shown in fig1 , in an exemplary embodiment , a sports board sleeve 10 comprises a top panel 50 , a bottom panel 40 , tip 80 , a hook and loop tape ( not shown ), a plurality of parallel latitudinal lines 60 a , 60 b , 60 c , and 60 d , and a plurality of parallel longitudinal lines 30 a , 30 b , 30 c , and 30 d . in an exemplary embodiment , top panel 50 comprises a flexible sheet . in an exemplary embodiment , the flexible sheet comprises plastic . top panel 50 and bottom panel 40 are joined along their respective outer edges , thereby creating an overlapping pocket 70 . in an exemplary embodiment , overlapping pocket 70 may receive a sports board ( not shown ) through the tip of sports board sleeve 10 , such that bottom panel 40 covers the entire length of a sports board and top panel 50 covers the top portion of sports board . in an exemplary embodiment , overlapping pocket 70 is about 12 inches long , but the overlapping pocket may vary in length depending on the application . in an exemplary embodiment , sports board sleeve 10 is flexible and lightweight to allow users to insert or remove waxed sports board ( not shown ) from sports board sleeve 10 without disturbing the wax so that sports board sleeve 10 may be re - used multiple times . in an exemplary embodiment , the dimensions for the hook and loop tape ( not shown ) range from about 1 inch wide by 1 inch long to about 2 inches wide to 2 inches long , but the dimensions may vary depending on the application . in an exemplary embodiment , the female portion of said hook and loop tape ( not shown ) is a square tab that may be attached to the tail end of a sports board . further the female portion attaches to the male portion of the tape , which may be attached to the middle section of sports board sleeve 10 that corresponds with the center line of the sports board located on the rear portion of the sports board &# 39 ; s tail . in an exemplary embodiment , the center line is located on the rear 2 to 4 inches of the sports board &# 39 ; s tail . in an exemplary embodiment , sports board sleeve 10 is about 24 inches wide and about 10 feet long . a person of an ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the size of sports sleeve may vary according to the size of the sports board and thus sports board sleeve 10 may be customized to accommodate the user &# 39 ; s needs . in an exemplary embodiment , top panel 50 comprises a plurality of parallel latitudinal lines ( first latitudinal line 60 a , second latitudinal line 60 b , third latitudinal line 60 c , and fourth latitudinal line 60 d ), that correspond with different lengths for various sports boards . in one exemplary embodiment , the distance between tip 80 of sports board sleeve 10 and first latitudinal line 60 a is about 9 feet , but this distance may vary depending on the size of the sleeve . exemplary embodiments could be different sizes to accommodate sports boards of varying size . in an exemplary embodiment , the distance between tip 80 of sports board sleeve 10 and second latitudinal line 60 b is about 8 feet , but this distance may vary depending on the size of the sleeve . exemplary embodiments could be different sizes to accommodate sports boards of varying size . in an exemplary embodiment , the distance between tip 80 of the sports board sleeve 10 and third latitudinal line 60 c is about 7 feet , but this distance may vary depending on the size of the sleeve . exemplary embodiments could be different sizes to accommodate sports boards of varying size . in another exemplary embodiment , the distance between tip 80 of sports board sleeve 10 and fourth latitudinal line 60 d is about 6 feet , but this distance may vary depending on the size of the sleeve . exemplary embodiments could be different sizes to accommodate sports boards of varying size . in yet another exemplary embodiment , when the user of the sports board sleeve 10 cuts along the appropriate latitudinal line corresponding to the dimensions of his / her sports board , then the hook and loop tape ( not shown ) is attached to the inner bottom edge 90 of the sports board sleeve 10 to secure it to a sports board . in another exemplary embodiment , top panel 50 further comprises parallel vertical lines 30 a , 30 b , 30 c , 30 d , 31 a , 31 b , 31 c , and 31 d that correspond with different widths for various sports boards . in an exemplary embodiment , the user of the sports board sleeve 10 cuts along the appropriate parallel longitudinal line corresponding to the dimensions of his / her sports board to fit the user &# 39 ; s sports board . in one exemplary embodiment , the distance between parallel longitudinal lines 30 a and 31 a is about 16 inches , but this distance may vary depending on the size of the sleeve . exemplary embodiments could be different sizes to accommodate sports boards of varying size . in another exemplary embodiment , the distance between parallel longitudinal lines 30 b and 31 b is about 18 inches but this distance may vary depending on the size of the sleeve . exemplary embodiments could be different sizes to accommodate sports boards of varying size . in yet another exemplary embodiment , the distance between parallel longitudinal lines 30 c and 31 c is about 20 inches but this distance may vary depending on the size of the sleeve . exemplary embodiments could be different sizes to accommodate sports boards of varying size . in still another embodiment , the distance between parallel longitudinal lines 30 d and 31 d is about 22 inches but this distance may vary depending on the size of the sleeve . exemplary embodiments could be different sizes to accommodate sports boards of varying size . in an exemplary embodiment , if the sports board 100 is about 8 feet long and about 16 inches wide , the user cuts the sleeve 10 along the latitudinal line 60 b and along the longitudinal lines 31 a to 30 a to customize his / her sports board ( not shown ). in an exemplary embodiment , overlapping pocket 70 remains intact relative to the width of the edges of both top and bottom panels 50 and 40 , respectively after sports board sleeve 10 is cut to the desired dimensions . in another exemplary embodiment , as shown in fig2 a , the present disclosure is directed to a sports board sleeve 10 that protects a long sports board ( not shown ). once the user trims the sports board sleeve 10 along the corresponding latitudinal lines ( 60 a , 60 b , 60 c , or 60 d ) and longitudinal lines ( 30 a , 30 b , 30 c , 30 d , 31 a , 31 b , 31 c , and 31 d ) to the corresponding desired dimensions , then the hook and loop tape ( not shown ) is used to attach sports board sleeve 10 to the sports board . in one exemplary embodiment , the dimensions of the sports board sleeve 10 for a long sports board range from about 20 to 24 inches wide and from about 8 to 10 feet long . but the dimensions of the sports board sleeve may vary depending on the sports board size . in another exemplary embodiment , as shown in fig2 b , the bottom view of the sports board sleeve shows the overlapping pocket 70 formed when bottom panel 40 and top panel 50 are connected together . in an exemplary embodiment , top and bottom panels 50 and 40 are molded or glued together along their respective outer edges . in another exemplary embodiment , as shown in fig3 a , the present disclosure is directed to a sports board sleeve 10 that protects a short sports board ( not shown ). once the user trims the sports board sleeve 10 along the latitudinal lines ( 60 a , 60 b , 60 c , or 60 d ) and longitudinal lines ( 30 a , 30 b , 30 c , 30 d , 31 a , 31 b , 31 c , and 31 d ) to the corresponding desired dimensions , then the hook and loop tape ( not shown ) is used to attach the sports board sleeve 10 to the sports board . in an exemplary embodiment , the dimensions of the sports board sleeve 10 for a short sports board is about 14 to 20 inches wide and about 5 to 7 feet inches long . but the dimensions of the sports board sleeve may vary depending on the board size . a shown in fig3 b , the bottom view of the sports board sleeve 10 shows the overlapping pocket 70 formed when the bottom panel 40 and top panel 50 are molded or glued along their respective outer edges . in an exemplary embodiment , as the width of the sports board sleeve 10 is reduced to correspond to the desired width of the sports board , the overall length of the overlapping pocket 70 remains constant , so that the length of the overlapping pocket 70 is about 12 inches long . however , the overlapping pocket may vary in length depending on the application . a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand that variations in sports boards &# 39 ; dimensions and customization , both for short and long sports boards do not detract from using the sports board sleeve of the present disclosure . the latitudinal and longitudinal lines provided according to the disclosure readily accommodate such variations in dimensions of any types of sports board whether customized or commercially available . thus , exemplary embodiments of a flexible protective sports board sleeve have been disclosed . it should be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the disclosure concepts herein . the disclosed subject matter , therefore , is not to be restricted in the spirit of the appended claims . moreover , in interpreting both the specification and the claims , all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context . in particular , the terms “ comprises ” and “ comprising ” should be interpreted as referring to elements , components , or steps in a non - exclusive manner , indicating that the referred elements , components , or steps may be present , utilized , or combined with other elements , components , or steps that are not expressly referenced . furthermore , when a definition or use of a term in a reference , which is incorporated by reference herein , is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein , the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply .	0
as shown on fig2 the celestial object m67 forms a wide triangle with two guide stars , i . e . regulus and procyon with an included angle of 164 degrees . the apparatus of the invention assists in finding m67 by apparently projecting a triangle into the sky with the same angular shape and size as that formed by m67 , procyon and regulus , see fig2 . as can be seen from fig2 the projected triangle consists of three , different , easily recognizable , symbols of light . the representation of the guide stars can be differentiated from each other since one is formed by a single dot of light whereas the other consists of two closely spaced dots of light . the position of the deep - sky object apex is indicated by a small circle of light . the guide stars ( and optionally the celestial object ) are represented by small holes on a disc made of an opaque material . in order to find celestial object m67 , one aligns the &# 34 ; projected &# 34 ; triangle with the triangle formed by the actual guide stars procyon , regulus and m67 in the sky . for unambiguously aligning the projected triangle , one needs to align the two guide star representation with the respective actual guide stars in the the sky . to achieve that goal , the projected triangle is rotated while moving , preferably simultaneously , the telescope in altitude and azimuth . because the two guide star corners of the projected triangle form different images in the sky , there is no ambiguity of which projected guide star image should be placed on which star . in the example of fig2 the single dot image should be placed on regulus and the middle of the double dot image should be placed on procyon . the projected triangle ( in the sky ) is able to rotate about the deep - sky object apex , around an axis of rotation aligned with the optical axis of the telescope . provided these conditions are met , there is only one direction that the telescope can be pointed in to align the guide star representation of the projected triangle with the respective actual guide stars in the sky ; in the example shown in fig1 and 2 , this direction points at m67 . the &# 34 ; circle of light &# 34 ; apex of the projected triangle will indicate where m67 is in the sky . the observer then returns to the eye piece of the telescope and should then be able to locate m67 inside a 1 degree field of view . there is one specific triangulation disc for each deep - sky object that needs to be located . fig1 is an example of one &# 34 ; triangulation disc &# 34 ;, hereafter referred to also as &# 34 ; disc &# 34 ;, bearing the representation of the associated guide stars . each disc is usually designed to help locating a single celestial object . however , two deep - sky objects located within 1 degree can be found and identified with one disc . additionally , each disc may contain basic information on the celestial object to be located . this information may e . g . consist of the constellation where the celestial object is found , the type of object ( galaxy , open cluster , globular cluster , bright nebula or planetary nebula ), the brightness magnitude of the object , ( which clearly provides information on how difficult it will be to see it ), and the right ascension and declination coordinates for the deep - sky object for the year 2000 . also can be indicated the approximate distance of the object from the earth , e . g . in light years , and a sketch showing the relative size of the deep - sky object to a circle representing a 0 . 5 , 1 or 2 degree field of view . other basic information may also include a wide field star map sketch showing the main constellations and bright stars in the vicinity of the deep - sky object . each of these maps shows the two guide stars which will be used to locate the deep - sky object . one guide star is followed by ( 1 ) and the other by ( 2 ); see fig1 . these reference numbers indicate which of the projected guide star images should be aligned with which actual guide star star in the sky . the single dot projected image is e . g . placed on the star referenced ( 1 ) and the double dot projected image should be placed on the star referenced ( 2 ). to further reinforce this information , there is provided on the disc a single line joining star ( 1 ) with the deep - sky object and two lines joining star ( 2 ) with the deep - sky object . in order to design a triangulation disc and thus apparently project calibrated triangles into the sky , the angular separation between any three celestial objects has to be calculated . these three objects would normally be two bright guide stars and the deep - sky object to be located . the basic spherical triangle that can be drawn between two stars and a deep - sky object is shown in fig3 . to fully define the spherical triangle abc we need to calculate the angular distances b and c and the included angle a . the steps for achieving this from the right ascension and declination coordinates of the guide stars the and deep - sky object are given herebelow : the angular separation between the object and star 1 ( c ), the angular separation between the object and star 2 ( b ) and the included angle a are calculated as follows : the general formula for calculating the third side of a spherical triangle when 2 sides and the included angle a are known is : applying formula 1 to the spherical triangle apc enables b to be calculated , i . e ., cos ( b )= cos ( 90 - dec star 2 )* cos ( 90 - dec object )+ sin ( 90 - dec star 2 ) * sin ( 90 - dec object ) * cos ( ra object - ra star 2 ) applying formula 1 to the spherical triangle apb enables c to be calculated , i . e ., cos ( c )= cos ( 90 - dec star 1 )* cos ( 90 - dec object )+ sin ( 90 - dec star 1 ) * sin ( 90 - dec object ) * cos ( ra star 1 - ra object ) applying formula 1 to the spherical triangle bcp enables a to be calculated , i . e ., cos ( a )= cos ( 90 - dec star 1 )* cos ( 90 - dec star 2 )+ sin ( 90 - dec star 1 ) * sin ( 90 - dec star 2 ) * cos ( ra star 1 - ra star 2 ) now that a , b and c have been calculated the included angle a can be determined , i . e ., the accuracy of the apparatus of the invention improves the greater the included angle a . angle &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; is 164 degrees in the example of fig2 . an angle in excess of 90 degrees is particularly adapted if suitably placed guide stars can be found within the maximum angular range of the projection system of the invention ( described herebelow ). the maximum angular separation between each guide star and the deep - sky object is 22 . 5 degrees . therefore the maximum angle that can be subtended between the two guide stars can be up to 45 degrees . there are nearly always guide stars of 3rd magnitude or brighter in such a large segment of the sky . other examples of triangulation discs are given in fig4 a and 4b . a schematic drawing of the projection system is shown in fig5 . the opaque triangulation disc 1 , which is approximately 110 mm in diameter , is illuminated from below by a red light 2 . small pin holes are pieced through the disc at the positions which correspond to the guide star coordinates . the disc is mounted on a base which allows the disc to be rotated about a central pivot 3 that corresponds to the coordinates of the deep - sky object . the relationship between the deep - sky object and the two guide stars has to be defined by spherical geometry as hereabove described in connection with fig3 . to apparently project the image of the triangulation disc into the sky , the projection system comprises a plano - convex lens 4 and a plastic viewer 5 . the viewer 5 reflects a small percentage of the light coming from the pin holes in the triangulation disc and the central pivot ( corresponding to the celestial object to be located ). when the observer places his / her eye close to the eye guard 6 associated with the viewer 5 , the red spot images from the triangulation disc appear to be focused amongst the stars . to project the correct spherical angular distances b and c into the sky requires them to be converted to the lengths &# 34 ; x &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; on the triangulation disc , using the following formulas : where &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; is the focal length of the lens 4 . the included spherical angle a does not need to be converted and is used directly . the actual places where the single hole and double holes are pierced in the triangulation disc are denoted by the reference 1 near the small circle and the reference 2 near the small rectangle ; see fig1 a and 4b . a single hole is pierced through the center of the small circle and one hole is pierced at each end of the small rectangle , i . e ., the double holes are about 1 . 5 mm apart . because the light from the triangulation disc is reflected by the viewer disc 5 , the triangulation disc is placed face down on the light table to project the correct orientation in the sky . in placing his / her eye as close as possible to the eye guard 6 , the observer can have the widest possible view of the sky through the viewer 5 , without having to substantially move the head . it is important that the observer keeps both eyes open to receive the maximum amount of light from the guide stars . the brain integrates the images from both eyes and it appears as though the red spot images are superimposed on the actual stars in the sky . fig6 shows the preferable position on a telescope for the projection system of the invention . by mounting it up near the top it is easy to move the telescope in altitude and azimuth by grasping the top of the telescope tube leaving the thumb free to rotate the triangulation disc to align the guide stars . other positions are of course possible provided the essential conditions are met , i . e ., the observer must be able to place his / her eye close to the viewer 5 , and easily move the telescope in altitude and azimuth whilst rotating the triangulation disc ( e . g . with his / her thumb ). prior to any celestial object locating session the optical axis 11 , of the telescope , must be aligned with the optical axis 12 , of the projection system . the method for achieving this is as follows . the observer first sights along the telescope tube 10 and aims the telescope at any bright star . the observer looks in the telescope eyepiece and centers the bright star in the field of view . once this has been done the observer looks through the viewer 5 and by means of two adjustment screws ( not shown ), tilts and rotates the viewer 5 until the projected circle of light is exactly centered on the same bright star . 1 ) it effectively teaches the user the main constellations and bright star names in the sky and above all allows the user to locate and observe deep - sky objects with a minimum of frustration . 2 ) it enables the observer to enjoy astronomy in a 3 to 3 . 5 limiting magnitude sky when &# 34 ; star hopping &# 34 ; is extremely difficult . 3 ) there is no difficult set up or calibration required before the observing session can start . 4 ) each of the individual triangulation discs provides the novice observer with the initial discipline , organization , and essential information to observe all 110 messier objects . 5 ) the triangulation discs are always calibrated regardless of the month or time of the night . their calibration is not affected by the precession of the earth &# 39 ; s axis , therefore they will not go out of date for a very , very long time , typically many hundreds of years . the calibration of any particular triangulation disc is only affected by the proper motions of the celestial objects which are extremely small . 6 ) the same triangulation discs can be used anywhere in the world , regardless of latitude , longitude or northern or southern hemisphere . 7 ) the telescope does not have to be initially aligned in any way and does not have to be on level ground since the projection system effectively sets up its own frame of reference relative to the stars . 8 ) the observer keeps both eyes open when viewing through the viewer 5 , making it easy to align the two projected guide star images with the selected guide stars . 9 ) using blank triangulation discs and a calculator or simple hand held computer , an observer can make up his own set of , calibrated discs to observe whatever deep - sky objects he / she wishes . this feature may be particularly useful to variable star observers who need to locate the same set of stars time and time again . 10 ) the accuracy is such that most times the deep - sky object is within a 1 degree field of view once the guide stars have , been aligned . any residual error comes from tolerance errors in the projection system and the tolerance errors in the position of the guide star holes and center pivot position in the triangulation discs . however , the accuracy can be dramatically improved if the observer does some fine tuning with a particular projection system and a particular set of triangulation discs . the holes in a particular triangulation disc can be re - pierced to exactly coincide with the guide stars once the deep - sky object has been centered in a high power eye - piece . once a triangulation disc has been &# 34 ; tuned up &# 34 ;, the celestial object should always be re - findable to an accuracy better than +/- 0 . 15 degrees . the observer has thus created a highly accurate frame of reference relative to the two guide stars of that particular disc . this feature should be particularly useful for supernova hunters who wish to continue their search from a non dark - sky sight . provided the telescope is accurately pointed at the galaxy , the supernova , should it occur , would still be visible , even if the galaxy itself is not visible .	6
fig1 a and 2b illustrate the electrical insulating material of this invention . fig1 shows the material supplied in strip form on a roll , although , as will later appear , it will also be useful in sheet form . the material is essentially a stitch bonded fabric , that is to say a fabric formed predominantly from fibres which are formed into a fleece as by carding and cross - folding operations , the fleece being then stitched along parallel lines with warp threads . the technique for making this type of fabric is well known , though its uses have essentially been confined to household textiles such as drapes , bedspreads , mattress covers and the like , and to certain industrial uses as a substrate for p . v . c . coatings to make tarpaulins , coated rainwear and linings for boots and interlining for clothing . in all such end uses , the fibres used are rayon or polyester or like textile fibres , and the stitching yarn is usually continuous filament polyester or nylon thread . the structure of the fabric is shown in more detail in fig2 a and 2b , in which the fibres 21 are seen to be held together by chain stitches of the stitching yarn 22 . the invention is based on the use of the properties of such a fabric in combination with the high temperature resisting properties of nomex or other high temperature textile fibres and yarns in a resin - based system for the insulation of rotating electric machines . fig3 shows a coil of a large rotating electric machine , which is the basic element that requires insulation . the coil consists of two parallel straight sections 31 that fit into slots in the rotor or stator of the machine , joined by &# 34 ; overhang &# 34 ; sections that are curved and kinked by virtue of the way the coil is spread from a basic loop . the insulation of such coils is more or less complicated depending on the specified voltage . a high voltage assembly is shown in fig4 which shows a cut - away view of one of the straight sections 31 of the coil of fig3 . the coil consists of four turns of square section copper wire 41 . the wire 41 is precoated with an insulating varnish layer 42 and the assembly is then covered with layers 43 of flake mica . this is then wrapped with helical turns of the tape shown in fig1 a and 2b . perhaps four layers of tape are applied . at the overhang sections of the coil , the biaxial flexibility of the stitch bonded fabric is of particular benefit , since the tape can tightly wrap the coil , which is bent and kinked here , without gaping . in this regard it is superior to nomex - based paper tapes , which are only uniaxially flexible . in another important respect also , the stitch bonded tape is superior to paper tapes , namely , its capacity to absorb resin . after winding , the coil is impregnated with resin , preferably in a sealed pressure vessel as shown at 51 in fig5 which can be evacuated to eliminate air from between the fibres of the tape and then filled with liquid resin so as to impregnate the tape therewith . after impregnation , the coil is placed in a coil press which basically comprises separable press parts 52 , 53 with heating coils 54 . the press parts can be separated to insert the coil 55 and then urged together hydraulically or pneumatically while the temperature is controlled through a cycle suitable to cure the resin . as compared to the paper tape , the stitch bonded fabric tape absorbs more resin , and is not liable to have voids . moreover , the resin , while still liquid , can flow through the stitch bonded tape under the pressure of the press so that the dimensions of the finished coil are held more precisely to the shape of the press , which is chosen so that the coil fits its intended slot more precisely . with paper tapes , the resin cannot flow , or at least not to the same extent , and this leads to inaccuracies and imperfections in the shape of the coil that reflect in the performance of the electric machine . fig6 illustrates another use of the stitch bonded fabric , this time in sheet form , as a slot liner . a slot 61 , that is bigger than a coil 62 intended for it is lined with the fabric 63 in sheet form , the lines of stitches in this case preferably extending around the slot contour . when all the coils have been inserted , the whole assembled rotor or stator is immersed in resin so as to impregnate the fabric and the resin is then cured by heat in an oven . this not only provides a secure location of the coils but also provides a good heat conduction path so that hot spots in the coils are avoided . this enables the machine to work to a higher rating .	7
in accordance with the method of the present invention , carpet is treated , by means of a low wet pick - up method , with a topical solution or dispersion of an inorganic additive to impart improved soil resistance to the carpet . the method results in a wet pick - up of less than about 60 % by weight , and preferably less than about 15 % by weight . while binding agents and other organic or inorganic additives can be used along with the inorganic additive to impart additional antisoiling , stain release , repellency , or a softer hand , the inorganic additive of the instant invention is sufficient in itself to impart a dramatic improvement in soil resistance . the treatment of the present invention may be applied as a mixture , solution , dispersion , or slurry , depending in part on the relative solubilities of the component ingredients . water is the preferred liquid medium because it is inexpensive , environmentally friendly , non - toxic , and not harmfuil to most carpets and carpet fibers . however , in some applications , water may be replaced , in part or in whole , with one or more other solvents , as when a faster drying time is required , or when it is necessary to solvate a hydrophobic component of the treatment mixture . various methods may also be used for applying the mixture of the present invention to carpets or carpet fibers . the individual ingredients of the mixture may be applied simultaneously or consecutively at any convenient point during the manufacture of a carpet , and may also be applied to finished carpets or carpet fibers . the mixture is preferably applied to the carpet or carpet fibers as a topical spray , but can also be applied as a foam , powder , dust , or mist , or by electrostatic methods . in the preferred embodiment , the inorganic additive , optional organic additive , and any other ingredients used in the treatment are mixed together in an aqueous medium and are applied to a carpet or to carpet fibers as a topical spray or foam . the relative amounts or concentrations of each ingredient in the medium are such that treatment of the carpet or carpet fibers with the mixture necessitates at most a low wet pick - up . as used herein , the term &# 34 ; oil residue &# 34 ; includes fats or waxes which are naturally occurring on natural fibers such as wool , as well as spin finishes and similar processing oils which are added to natural or synthetic fibers during their manufacture or processing . some examples of oil residues include mineral oils , vegetable oils , fatty acid esters such as butyl stearate , esters of pentaerythritol , trimethylol propane , or other polyols , triglycerides , coconut oil , sperm oil , animal oils , waxes , polyethers , silicones , and alkoxylated alcohols or acids . as used herein , the terms &# 34 ; particle &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; particulate &# 34 ; refer to a material in a disperse phase having an average diameter of at least about 2 nm . by contrast , the terms &# 34 ; molecular &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; ionic &# 34 ; are used herein in reference to materials present in a medium as individual molecules or ions , or as molecular or ionic clusters having an average diameter of less than about 2 nm . various inorganic additives - may be used in conjunction with the present invention . two important classes of inorganic additives are inorganic oxides and basic metal salts . among the inorganic oxides , grafted inorganic oxides ( i . e ., inorganic oxides grafted with functional groups or polymers ) are especially useful in some applications . as used herein , the terms &# 34 ; inorganic oxide &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; metal oxide &# 34 ; are applied to a general class of materials comprising at least one species of metal cation combined with oxygen anions or hydroxyl anions , or mixtures of oxygen and hydroxyl ions . this material can additionally contain water in bound or adsorbed form and can further comprise small amounts , for example less than 5 % by weight , stabilized counterions such as sodium ion , carboxylate ion , chloride ion , nitrate ion , or the like . the metal oxide or inorganic oxide material can be in crystalline or amorphous form . examples representatively include true oxides such as sio 2 , zro 2 , tio 2 , and al 2 o 3 , oxyhydroxides such as αalo ( oh ), and hydroxides such as al ( oh ) 3 , or titanium , aluminum , or zirconium hydroxide gel particles . preferably , the inorganic oxide used is stable , inert , nontoxic , and does not adversely affect the color or appearance of the treated carpet for the purposes of the present invention , it is desired that the metal oxides or inorganic oxides be in a very finely divided state . colloidal dispersions of the metal oxide provide a particularly useful form for use in the present invention . in general , the activity of the metal oxide in the present invention will increase with finer state of subdivision of the particles . additionally it has been discovered that another class of materials , that is , basic metal salts , can also impart excellent soil resistance to unscoured carpets when used in a topical manner . like the metal oxides described above , the basic metal salts also generally comprise a metal cation in chemical combination with oxygen anions or hydroxyl anions or combinations of oxygen anions and hydroxyl anions . however , the basic metal salts further consist of a sufficient amount of acid equivalency to render them soluble in water . as used herein , the term &# 34 ; basic metal salt &# 34 ; refers to a material which can be empirically described by the formula m ( o ) x ( oh ) y x z , where m has a valence of n and is selected from the metals al , zr , and ti , x has a valence of m and is the conjugate base of the solubilizing acid , and 2x + y + mz = n . the acids generally used in the preparation of basic metal salts include strong acids , such as hydrochloric , sulfuric , phosphoric , or nitric acid , or weaker acids such as carbonic or carboxylic acids . for example , in the case where a monovalent conjugate base anion is involved , 2x + y + mz = 3 for aluminum and 2x + y + mz = 4 for titanium and zirconium . solutions of these basic metal salts are known to contain polynuclear metal cluster cations , that is , cations consisting of more than one metal ion bound together by oxygen and / or hydroxide ligands . despite the fact that these cluster cations can be quite large , for example , 1 - 2 nanometers in diameter , when admixed with a suitable carrier fluid or solvent , for example water , these materials fully dissolve to form a true solution . surprisingly , despite this solubility in the carrier fluid , these basic metal salts can be used in a manner similar to the particulate metal oxides to impart excellent soil resistance to unscoured carpet . methods for synthesizing these basic metal salts are well known in the art and include partial neutralization of a simple metal salt by addition of a base , acid hydrolysis of a metal alkoxide , acid dissolution of a basic metal carbonate , or hydrolysis of a metal salt by ion exchange . the following inorganic oxides were utilized in the examples of the present invention : nalco ™ 1042 colloidal silica -- a 34 % solids ( by weight ) aqueous colloidal acidic silica sol cation available commercially from nalco chemical co ., naperville , ill . the sol has an average ph of 2 . 8 - 3 . 2 , an average particle size of 20 nm in diameter , an average particle surface area of 150 m 2 / g , is devoid of metal cationic stabilizers , and has a reported na 2 o content of 0 . 04 %. nalco ™ 1050 colloidal silica -- a 50 % by weight solids aqueous colloidal silica sol available commercially from nalco chemical co . the sol has a ph of 9 , an average particle size of 20 nm in diameter , and an average surface area of 150 m 2 / g , and includes a sodium stabilizing ion . nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica -- a 15 % by weight solids aqueous colloidal silica sol available commercially from nalco chemical co . the sol has a ph of 9 , an average particle size of 5 nm in diameter , an average surface area of 600 m 2 / g , and includes an ammonium stabilizing ion . nalco ™ 2327 colloidal silica -- a 40 % by weight solids aqueous colloidal silica sol available commercially from nalco chemical co . the sol has a ph of 9 , an average particle size of 20 nm in diameter , an average surface area of 150 m 2 / g , and includes an ammonium stabilizing ion . nalco ™ 2329 colloidal silica -- a 40 % by weight solids aqueous colloidal silica sol available commercially from nalco chemical co . the sol has a ph of 9 , an average particle size of 75 nm in diameter , an average surface area of 40 m 2 / g , and includes an ammonium stabilizing ion . cab - o - sperse ™ s3295 fumed silica -- a 15 % by weight solids aqueous dispersion of fumed silica available commercially from cabot corporation , boyertown , pa . the dispersion has a ph of 9 . 5 , an average agglomerated primary particle size of 100 nm in diameter , and a primary particle surface area of 325 m 2 / g , and includes a sodium stabilizing ion . ludox ™ as - 40 colloidal silica -- a 40 % by weight solids aqueous colloidal silica sol available commercially from e . i . dupont de nemours & amp ; co ., wilmington , del . the sol has a ph of 9 , an average particle size of 20 nm in diameter , an average surface area of 150 m 2 / g , and includes an ammonium stabilizing ion . nalco ™ 1056 aluminized silica -- a 30 % by weight solids aqueous colloidal suspension of aluminized silica particles ( 26 % silica and 4 % alumina ) available commercially from nalco chemical co . the sol has an average particle size of 20 nm in diameter . nalco ™ 88sn - 126 colloidal titanium dioxide -- a 10 % by weight solids aqueous dispersion of titanium dioxide available commercially from nalco chemical co . the dispersion has a ph of 9 . 8 and an average particle size of 5 nm in diameter . nalco ™ 88sn - 123 colloidal tin oxide -- a 22 % by weight solids aqueous dispersion of tin oxide available commercially from nalco chemical co . the dispersion has a ph of 9 . 9 and an average particle size of 22 nm in diameter . nyacol ™ zr 50 \ 20 zirconia -- a 20 % by weight solids aqueous colloidal suspension of zirconium dioxide particles averaging 50 nm in diameter , available commercially from nyacol , inc ., ashland , mass . nyacol ™ zr 100 \ 20 zirconia -- a 20 % by weight solids aqueous colloidal suspension of zirconium dioxide particles averaging 100 nm in diameter , available commercially from nyacol , inc . the following basic metal salts were utilized in the examples of the present invention : zirconium oxyacetate -- a zirconium oxydiacetate available from magnesium elektron , inc ., flemington , n . j . basic aluminum salt a -- a 15 % by weight aqueous solution of basic aluminum salt containing hydrolyzed al clusters with diameters averaging about 2 nm or less , prepared by the following procedure . a 2 . 7m alcl 3 6h 2 o aqueous solution was mixed with sufficient urea to provide 1 . 25 moles of urea per mole of aluminum . after refluxing this mixture for 24 hours , the concentration of the sol was increased by rotoevaporation until a precipitate began to form . the solid was separated by filtration and the filtrate solution was combined with ethanol ( volume of ethanol added : sol volume = 0 . 33 : 1 . 0 ). the solution was cooled to about 10 ° c . to precipitate ammonium chloride and the solid was removed by filtration . ethanol / water was removed by rotoevaporation and the concentrated sol was again filtered . the final oxide content was about 20 % ( wt ). the sol was diluted to 15 % ( wt ) oxide content prior to use . basic aluminum salt b -- a 15 % by weight aqueous colloidal suspension of aluminum hydroxide gel particles averaging about 60 nm in diameter in admixture with a basic aluminum carboxylate , prepared by the following procedure . the preparation of aluminum formoacetate by digestion of aluminum metal in carboxylic acid mixtures is well known in the art . in this case , aluminum formoacetate having an aluminum / carboxylate ratio of 1 was prepared by digesting aluminum metal in an acetic acid / formic acid mixture under reflux conditions . the resulting aluminum formoacetate solution ( 9 . 0 % alumina ) was mixed with urea so that there was 0 . 075 moles of urea per mole of aluminum . this solution was refluxed for 1 . 5 hours in a round bottom flask fitted with a reflux condenser . the reflux condenser was then replaced with a distillation head and the solution was concentrated by distillation for an additional 2 . 5 hours . the slightly turbid , viscous sol that was produced had an oxide content of about 21 % ( wt ). the sol was diluted to 15 % ( wt ) oxide content prior to use . the following grafted inorganic oxides were utilized in the examples of the present invention : pmaa - 1042 -- mercapto - functionalized nalco ™ 1042 was prepared using the following procedure . an aqueous dispersion of colloidal silica ( 1176 g of nalco ™ 1042 , 20 nm average particle diameter , 34 % solids , ph = 3 . 2 ) was diluted to 10 % total solids with distilled water to give 4000 g total . to this was added 19 . 6 g ( 100 mmoles ) of ( 3 - mercaptopropyl ) trimethoxysilane , mptms , ( available commercial from aldrich chemical co .). the resulting suspension was heated for 18 hours at 80 ° c . with stirring to give a translucent , colorless suspension which was used without purification . the grafting reaction was carried out by diluting the mercapto - functionalized nalco ™ 1042 to 2 . 5 % solids with h 2 o and mixing with an equivalent weight of a 2 . 5 % aqueous solution of methacrylic acid ( available commercially from aldrich chemical co ., inhibitor removed ). the resulting mixture was degassed with nitrogen , t - butylhydroperoxide ( available commercially from aldrich chemical co .) was added at about 1 % based on the weight of the monomer , and the mixture was heated to about 65 to 75 ° c . the heated mixture was stirred for 16 - 18 hours . pmaa - 2326 -- mercapto - functionalized nalco ™ 2326 ( 5 nm diameter particles ) was prepared in a similar fashion , by first diluting nalco ™ 2326 to 5 % solids and then adjusting the ph of the suspension to about 3 . 5 with h 2 so 4 before addition of the mptms . the grafting reaction with mercapto - functionalized nalco ™ 2326 was carried out in a manner analogous to that used in grafting with mercapto - functionalized nalco ™ 1042 . h 2 n - 2326 -- an amino - functionalized silica made by the following procedure . nalco ™ 2326 ( 2 . 6 kg ) silica sol was adjusted to ph 4 with acetic acid . in a separate flask , 100 g of aminopropyltrimethoxysilane ( available commercially from aldrich chemical co .) was mixed with 100 g of water . this mixture was also adjusted to a ph of 4 and was added to the silica sol . an additional 700 g of water was added and the ph of the resulting mixture was lowered to 3 . 5 with sulfuric acid . the suspension was then heated to 85 ° c . overnight ( 16 hours ) with stirring to obtain the product . nalco ™ 2326 silica sol ( 4 . 5 kg ) was mixed with 34 . 8 g of propyltrimethoxysilane ( available from aldrich chemical co .). the mixture was heated to 85 ° c . and stirred overnight ( 16 hours ) to obtain the product . various organic additives may be used in conjunction with the present invention . such materials may include binding agents , stainblockers , hand improvement additives , or repellent fluorochemicals added to impart improved hand or improved soil , water , or oil repellency to treated carpets . in many applications , a given material may perform more than one of these functions . thus , for example , it is frequently found that a material that performs as a binding agent also improves the hand of the treated carpet . also , materials that perform a given function under one set of conditions may no longer perform that function under another set of conditions . thus , for example , some organic additives that act as a binding agent for silica may do so only at certain ratios of organic additive to silica . consequently , the categorizations of various organic additives in the present invention are not intended to be limiting as to the ultimate function served by a particular organic additive . suitable binding agents for use in the present invention must be capable of promoting good particle - to - particle or particle - to - fiber adhesion . preferably , the binding agent is a material that will not significantly degrade the feel or &# 34 ; hand &# 34 ; of the treated carpet . examples of materials which frequently behave as binding agents include higher molecular weight polyethylene glycols and their derivatives , including esters and carboxyfunctionalized polyethylene glycols ; and stainblocking polymers , such as sulfonated novolac resins , acrylic resins and styrene / maleic anhydride copolymers . other specific examples of binding agents useful in the present invention are illustrated in the examples . suitable stainblocking materials useful in the present invention include those materials which impart stain resistance to carpets . these materials include the following : polymer i -- an aqueous solution of a stainblocking acrylic polymer made using the following procedure . to a 1 - l flask were added 115 g of sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate and 380 g of water . the mixture was deaerated three times using vacuum / nitrogen and was heated to 93 ° c . in a separate 100 ml flask , 400 mg of ammonium persulfate was dissolved in 22 . 1 g of deionized water ( feed a ). using two pumps , feed a and 68 . 4 g of methacrylic acid ( feed b ) were added simultaneously to the sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate / water mixture at a rate such that both additions were completed after 3 hours . stirring was continued for an additional 3 hours at 93 ° c ., at which point the reaction was complete . 3m brand stain release concentrate fc - 657 -- a 30 % solids aqueous solution containing a blend of sulfonated novolac and acrylic resins , available commercially from minnesota mining and manufacturing company ( 3m ), st . paul , minn . 3m brand stain release concentrate fc - 661 -- a 29 . 5 % solids aqueous solution containing a blend of sulfonated novolac and acrylic resins , available commercially from 3m . stain resist sr - 300 -- a 30 % by weight solids aqueous solution containing a styrene / maleic anhydride copolymer and a sulfonated novolac resin , commercially available from e . i . dupont de nemours & amp ; co ., wilmington , del . generally , repellent fluorochemicals useful in the present invention include any of the fluorochemical compounds and polymers known in the art to impart dry soil resistance and water - and oil - repellency to fibrous substrates , particularly to carpet . these repellent fluorochemical compounds and polymers typically comprise one or more fluorochemical radicals that contain a perfluorinated carbon chain having from 3 to about 20 carbon atoms , more preferably from about 6 to about 14 carbon atoms . these fluorochemical radicals can contain straight chain , branched chain , or cyclic fluorinated allcylene groups or any combination thereof the fluorochemical radicals are preferably free of polymerizable olefinic unsaturation but can optionally contain catenary heteroatoms such as oxygen , divalent or hexavalent sulfur , or nitrogen . fully fluorinated radicals are preferred , but hydrogen or chlorine atoms may also be present as substituents , although , preferably , no more than one atom of either is present for every two carbon atoms . it is additionally preferred that any fluorochemical radical contain from about 40 % to about 80 % fluorine by weight , and more preferably , from about 50 % to about 78 % fluorine by weight . the terminal portion of the radical is preferably fully fluorinated , preferably containing at least 7 fluorine atoms , e . g ., cf 3 cf 2 cf 2 --, ( cf 3 ) 2 cf --, sf 5 cf 2 --. perfluorinated aliphatic groups ( i . e ., those of the formula c n f 2n + 1 --) are the most preferred fluorochemical radical embodiments . representative repellent fluorochemical compounds useful in treatments of the present invention include fluorochemical urethanes , ureas , esters , ethers , alcohols , epoxides , allophanates , amides , amines ( and salts thereof ), acids ( and salts thereof ), carbodiimides , guanidines , oxazolidinones , isocyanurates , and biurets . blends of these compounds are also considered useful . representative fluorochemical polymers useful in treatments in the present invention include fluorochernical acrylate and substituted acrylate homopolymers or copolymers containing fluorochemical acrylate monomers interpolymerized with monomers free of non - vinylic fluorine such as methyl methacrylate , butyl acrylate , acrylate and methacrylate esters of oxyalkylene and polyoxyalkylene polyol oligomers ( e . g ., oxyethylene glycol dimethacrylate , polyoxyethylene glycol dimethacrylate , methoxy acrylate , and polyoxyethylene acrylate ), glycidyl methacrylate , ethylene , butadiene , styrene , isoprene , chloroprene , vinyl acetate , vinyl chloride , vinylidene chloride , vinylidene fluoride , acrylonitrile , vinyl chloroacetate , vinylpyridine , vinyl alkyl ethers , vinyl alkyl ketones , acrylic acid , methacrylic acid , 2 - hydroxyethylacrylate , n - methylolacrylamide , 2 -( n , n , n - trimethylammonium ) ethyl methacrylate , and 2 - acrylamido - 2 - methylpropanesulfonic acid ( amps ). the relative amounts of various non - vinylic fluorine - free comonomers used are generally selected empirically depending on the fibrous substrate to be treated , the properties desired , and the mode of application onto the fibrous substrate . useful fluorochernical treatments also include blends of the various repellent fluorochemical polymers described above as well as blends of the aforementioned fluorochemical compounds with these repellent fluorochemical polymers . also useful in the present invention as substrate treatments are blends of these repellent fluorochemical compounds and polymers with fluorine - free extender compounds , such as free - radically polymerized polymers and copolymers made from methyl methacrylate , butyl acrylate , acrylate and methacrylate esters of oxyalkylene and polyoxyalkylene polyol oligomers , glycidyl methacrylate , 2 - hydroxyethylacrylate , n - methylolacrylamide , and 2 -( n , n , n - trimethylammonium ) ethyl methacrylate ; siloxanes ; urethanes , such as blocked isocyanate - containing polymers and oligomers ; condensates or precondensates of urea or melamine with formaldehyde ; glyoxal resins ; condensates of fatty acids with melamine or urea derivatives ; condensation of fatty acids with polyamides and their epichlorohydrin adducts ; waxes ; polyethylene ; chlorinated polyethylene ; and alkyl ketene dimers . blends of these fluorine - free extender polymers and compounds are also considered useful in the present invention . the relative amount of the extender polymers and compounds in the treatment is not critical to the present invention . however , the overall composition of the fluorochemical - containing repellent treatment should contain , relative to the amounts of solids present in the system , at least 3 weight percent , and preferably at least about 5 weight percent , of carbon - bound fluorine in the form of said fluorochemical radical groups . many fluorochemical - containing repellent treatments , including treatment blends that include fluorine - free extender polymers and compounds such as those described above , are commercially available as ready - made formulations . such products are sold , for example , as scotchgard ™ brand carpet protector manufactured by 3m , and as zonyl ™ brand carpet treatment manufactured by e . i . du pont de nemours and company . the following are specific repellent fluorochemical compounds which are useful in the present invention . fc - a -- an aqueous fluorochemical urethane repellent treatment made using the following procedure . to a 3 - necked round bottom flask equipped with an overhead stirrer , reflux condenser and nitrogen inlet was added 58 . 2 g of desmodur ™ n - 3300 isocyanate ( a trifunctional isocyanate biuret derived from three moles of 1 , 6 - hexamethylene diisocyanate and water , available commercially from mobay corp ., pittsburgh , pa . ), 142 g of c 8 f 17 so 2 n ( ch 3 ) ch 2 ch 2 oh , 200 g of methyl isobutyl ketone ( mibk ) and 3 drops of stannous octoate catalyst . the mixture was refluxed until the fluorochemical alcohol was consumed as measured by gpc ( theoretically consuming 85 % of the available isocyanate groups ). then 1 . 4 g of ethylene glycol and 2 additional drops of stannous octoate were added and the mixture was refluxed again until no isocyanate groups remained as monitored by ftir . a surfactant solution was made by heating and mixing 11 g of siponate ™ ds - 10 ( available commercially from rhone - poulenec , princeton , n . j .) with 475 g of deionized water . this hot aqueous surfactant solution was then added with stirring to the solution of fluorochemical urethane in mibk , and the resulting emulsion was sonified using a branson sonifier ™ 450 ( available from vwr scientific ). the mibk solvent was removed under reduced pressure to yield the desired fluorochemical urethane aqueous emulsion , which contained 29 . 5 % ( wt ) active solids . fc - b -- a fluorochemical adipate ester as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 264 , 484 , example 8 , formula xvii . the ester was used as a 34 % solids emulsion . fc - c -- a cationic fluorochemical acrylate copolymer emulsion , made in the following manner . in an 8 - oz ( 225 ml ) glass jar were added 31 . 5 g of c 8 f 17 so 2 n ( ch 3 ) c 2 h 4 oc ( o ) ch ═ ch 2 ( mefosea ), 15 . 8 g of n - butyl acrylate , 5 . 3 g of n - butyl methacrylate , 2 . 1 g of ch 2 ═ c ( ch 3 ) c ( o ) oc 2 h 4 n + ( ch 3 ) 2 c 16 h33 br -( made by quaternizing n , n - dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate with 1 - bromohexadecane ) and 126 g of deionized water . the jar was capped and was placed in a water bath adjusted to 80 ° c . when the mefosea had all melted , the warm mixture was poured into a 1 qt ( 0 . 90 l ) container and the contents homogenized for 2 minutes using a waring ™ blender set at high speed . 120 g of the resultant homogenized mixture was poured into a 4 oz ( 450 ml ) bottle and 0 . 1 g of vazo ™ v - 50 initiator 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- azobis ( 2 - amidinopropane ) hydrochloride ! ( available commercially from wako chemicals usa inc ., richmond , va .) was added . the 4 oz ( 450 ml ) bottle was then purged with nitrogen , was capped , and was placed in a shaker water bath set at 60 ° c . for 20 hours . the resulting latex was filtered through a piece of cheesecloth . the filtered latex was 29 . 1 % ( wt ) solids with an average particle size of 0 . 15 mμ as measured by a coulter ™ n4md submicron particle size analyzer . fc - d -- a nonionic fluorochemical acrylate copolymer emulsion , made in the following manner . in a glass reaction bottle was placed 70 g of c 8 f 17 so 2 n ( ch 3 ) c 2 h 4 oc ( o ) ch ═ ch 2 ( mefosea ), 30 g of n - butyl acrylate ( ba ), 0 . 20 g of v - 50 initiator , 0 . 20 g of n - octylmercaptan , 163 . 5 g of deionized water , 70 g of acetone and 9 . 0 g of tergitol ™ 15 - s - 30 nonionic surfactant ( available commercially from union carbide corp .). the bottle was degassed , refilled five times with a blanket of nitrogen , and sealed . the bottle was then placed in a 70 ° c . bath and tumbled therein for 16 hours to give a nonionic polymer emulsion with 30 % ( wt ) solids . this polymer emulsion was used as is for formulation without further purification . fc - e -- a cationic fluorochemical acrylate copolymer emulsion , prepared under the same conditions as fc - d except that 0 . 20 g of sipomer ™ q - 6 monomer ( available commercially from rhone - poulenc surfactants and specialties , l . p ., princeton , n . j . and 5 . 0 g of ethoquad ™ 18 / 25 cationic surfactant ( available commercially from armak corp .) were used in place of tergitol ™ 15 - s - 30 nonionic surfactant . the resulting 30 % ( wt ) solids nonionic polymer emulsion was used as is for formulation without further purification . fc - si -- a fluorochemical , water - soluble silane of the approximate structure c 8 f 17 so 2 n ( c 2 h 5 ) ch 2 ch 2 ch 2 si o ( ch 2 ch 2 o ) 2 ch 2 ! 2 . 47 ( och . sub . ch 2 ) 0 . 53 as described in example 3 of u . s . pat . no . 5 , 274 , 159 . the fluorosilane was used in a 100 % solids form . fc - 170c ( fluorad ™ brand fc - 170c fluorochemical surfactant )-- a 100 % ( wt ) active solids ethoxylated fluorochemical alcohol , available commercially from 3m . fc - 171 ( fluorad ™ brand fc - 171 fluorochemical surfactant )-- a 100 % ( wt ) active solids ethoxylated fluorochemical alcohol , available commercially from 3m . fc - 247 ( scotchgard brand fc - 247 fabric protector )-- a 26 . 5 % ( wt ) active solids aqueous treatment containing a fluorochemical acrylate polymer , available commercially from 3m . fc - 364 ( 3m brand fc - 364 carpet protector )-- a 21 % ( wt ) active solids aqueous treatment containing an anionic fluorocherncal urethane , available commercially from 3m . fc - 365 ( 3m brand fc - 365 carpet protector )-- a 21 % ( wt ) active solids aqueous treatment containing an anionic fluorochernical allophanate as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 606 , 73 7 , available commercially from 3m . fc - 461 ( 3m brand fc - 461 fluorochemical rainwear apparel treatment )-- a 30 % by weight active solids aqueous treatment containing a fluorochemical acrylate polymer , available commercially from 3m , st . paul , minn . fx - 1373m ( scotchgard ™ fx - 1373m commercial carpet protector )-- a 31 % ( wt ) active solids aqueous treatment containing a fluorochemical urethane , available commercially from 3m . zonyl ™ 1250 carpet protector -- a 30 % by weight active solids aqueous treatment believed to contain a fluorochemiical urethane - urea , available commercially from e . i . du pont de nemours & amp ; co . dyetech ™ 97h -- a 15 . 6 % ( wt ) active solids aqueous fluorochemical treatment , believed to contain a fluorochernical acrylate polymer , available commercially from dyetech inc ., dalton , ga . hand improving agents suitable for use in the present invention include those materials which impart improved hand to the treated carpet . some materials which typically fuinction in this capacity are the following : carbowa ™ p 300 polyethylene glycol -- an approximately 300 molecular weight polyethylene glycol , commercially available from union carbide corp ., danbury , conn . carbowax ™ 600 polyethylene glycol -- an approximately 600 molecular weight polyethylene glycol , commercially available from union carbide corp . carbowax ™ 3350 polyethylene glycol -- an approximately 3350 molecular weight polyethylene glycol , commercially available from union carbide corp . carbowax ™ 8000 polyethylene glycol -- an approximately 8000 molecular weight polyethylene glycol , commercially available from union carbide corp . carbowax ™ 25000 polyoxyethylene -- an approximately 25000 molecular weight polyethylene glycol , commercially available from union carbide corp . emerest ™ 2662 polyethylene glycol 600 monostearate -- 100 % solids product , available commercially from henkel corp ., mauldin , s . c . pegda -- 600 molecular weight polyethylene glycol bis ( carboxymethyl ether ), available commercially from aldrich chemical co . as catalogue no . 40 , 703 - 8 . various other organic additives useful in the present invention include the following : berol ™ 09 surfactant -- a 100 % solids ethoxylated nonylphenol , commercially available from akzo nobel surface chemistry , inc ., stratford , conn . spensol ™ l - 55 urethane -- a 35 % ( wt ) aqueous solution of a water - soluble urethane , available commercially from reichhold corp ., research triangle park , n . c . rhoplex ™ hg - 74 acrylic -- a 42 % ( wt ) solids aqueous emulsion of an acrylic copolymer available commercially from rohm & amp ; haas co ., philadelphia , pa . adcote ™ 50t - 4990 acrylic -- a 35 % ( wt ) solids aqueous dispersion of an ethylene / acrylic acid copolymer , available commercially from morton international , chicago , ill . neocryl ™ a - 601 acrylic -- a 32 % ( wt ) acrylic latex , available commercially from ici americas , inc ., wilmington , del . neorez ™ xr - 9699 urethane -- a 40 % ( wt ) solids aqueous dispersion of a urethane polymer , available commercially from ici americas , inc . neocryl ™ a - 6092 acrylic -- a 43 % ( wt ) solids aqueous dispersion of an acrylic polymer , available commercially from ici americas , inc . neocryl ™ xa - 6075 acrylic -- a 45 % ( wt ) solids aqueous dispersion of an acrylic polymer , available commercially from ici americas , inc . pva # 1 -- 98 % hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol having a molecular weight distribution of from 13000 to 23000 , commercially available from aldrich chemical co . pva # 2 -- 98 - 99 % hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol having a molecular weight distribution of from 31000 to 50000 , commercially available from aldrich chemical co . the method of the present invention may be used to treat a wide variety of carpet materials , including polypropylene , nylon , acrylic , and wool carpets . the treatment of the following specific carpets is illustrated in the examples . dignitary ™ 51609 carpet -- a polypropylene carpet , available commercially from shaw industries , inc ., dalton , ga . the carpet is characterized by a 100 % cut pile and a face weight of 55 - 60 oz / yd 2 ( 1 . 9 - 2 . 1 kg / m 2 ). the color of the carpet is designated by the color code 09100 . the unscoured carpet contains about 0 . 5 - 1 . 1 % by weight of spin finish . the scoured carpet contains about 0 . 02 - 0 . 26 % by weight of spin finish . zeftron ™ 2000 carpet -- a solution - dyed nylon carpet , made for 3m by basf corp ., parsippany , n . j . the carpet is made of yarn type 1115 , # 6104 , and is characterized by a level loop style and a face weight of 38 oz / yd 2 ( 1 . 3 kg / m2 ). the color of the carpet is citrine . the unscoured carpet contains approximately 0 . 8 % by weight of spin finish , and the scoured carpet contains about 0 . 02 % by weight of spin finish . style &# 34 ; angelic ™&# 34 ; carpet -- a carpet available commercially from horizon mohawk industries , calhoun , ga ., made of 100 % 1800 / 99 solution - dyed nylon fiber from basf corp . the carpet is made of the same polymer with the same fiber cross - section and spin finish as zeftron ™ 2000 , tri - level loop construction , face weight of 28 oz / yd 2 ( 0 . 9 kg / m 2 ). the color of the carpet is off - white . the unscoured carpet contains approximately 1 . 4 % by weight spin finish and the scoured carpet contains approximately 0 . 06 % by weight spin finish . acrylan ™ carpet -- an acrylic carpet available commercially from monsanto corp ., st . louis , mo . the carpet is characterized by a level loop style and a face weight of 40 oz / yd 2 ( 1 . 3 kg / m 2 ). the color of the carpet is off - white . the unscoured carpet contains approximately 0 . 63 - 1 . 30 % by weight of spin finish . the scoured carpet contains approximately 0 . 01 % by weight of spin finish . style m0033 carpet -- a polypropylene carpet , &# 34 ; classic weave &# 34 ; style # a3493 , available commercially from shaw industries , inc . the carpet is characterized by a loop pile style and a face weight of 40 oz / yd 2 ( 1 . 3 kg / m 2 ). the unscoured carpet contains about 0 . 48 % by weight of spin finish . the scoured carpet contains about 0 . 03 % by weight of spin finish . regal heir ™ carpet -- a polypropylene carpet , style 17196 , available from shaw industries , inc . the unscoured carpet contains approximately 0 . 66 % ( wt ) of spin finish on the fibers and is characterized by a berber style and a face weight of 49 oz / yd 2 ( 1 . 7 kg / m 2 ). the scoured carpet contains approximately 0 . 13 % ( wt ) of spin finish on the fibers . the color of the carpet is sand dollar and is designated by the color code 96100 . cm010 carpet -- a wool carpet , cobblestone style no . cm010 , available from shaw industries , inc . the unscoured carpet contains approximately 0 . 85 % spin finish ( believed to be a combination of natural and synthetic oils ) and is characterized by a level loop style and a face weight of 44 oz / yd 2 ( 1 . 5 kg / m 2 ). the scoured carpet contains approximately 0 . 14 % spin finish . the color of the carpet is sand dollar and is designated by the color code 96100 . the following procedures were used in the examples of the present invention : determining percent lubricant on carpet -- the weight percent of lubricant on unscoured or scoured carpet was determined in accordance with the following test procedure . a 9 . 3 g carpet sample is placed in an 8 oz ( 225 ml ) glass jar along with 90 g of solvent ( typically , ethyl acetate or methanol ). the glass jar is capped and is mounted on a tumbler for 10 minutes . next , 50 g of the solvent containing the stripped lubricant is poured into a tared aluminum pan which is placed in a 250 ° f . ( 121 ° c .) vented oven for 20 minutes to remove the solvent . the pan is then reweighed to determine the amount of lubricant present . the percent lubricant on the carpet is calculated by dividing the weight of lubricant by the initial weight of the carpet sample and dividing by 100 . scouring of carpet -- scouring of the carpet to remove lubricant can be accomplished by washing the carpet thoroughly with hot water containing detergent , followed by rinsing . spray application and curing procedure -- the aqueous treatment is applied to the carpet via spraying to about 15 % by weight wet pickup . the amount of inorganic additive and optional hydrophilic polymer to be added to the aqueous treatment solution is determined by the theoretical percent solids on carpet ( expressed as &# 34 ;% soc &# 34 ;) desired . unless specified otherwise , the wet sprayed carpet is then dried at 120 ° c . until dry ( typically 10 - 20 minutes ) in a forced air oven to cure the treatment onto the carpet . foam application and curing procedure -- the foamer used in the present invention consists of a foam preparation device and a vacuum frame device . the foam preparation device is a hobart kitchen - aid ™ made by the kitchen - aid division of hobart corporation , troy , ohio . the vacuum frame device is a small stainless steel bench with a vacuum plenum and a vacuum bed . the carpet to be treated is placed on the bed , along with the foamed material to be deposited onto the carpet . the vacuum bed forms a bench that has an exhaust port fitted to a dayton tradesman ™ 25 gallon heavy duty shop vac . the size of the bed is 8 &# 34 ;× 12 &# 34 ;× 1 . 5 &# 34 ;. the plenum is separated from the rest of the bed by an aluminum plate in which closely spaced 1 / 16 &# 34 ; holes are drilled . the plate is similar in structure to a colander . the portion of carpet to be treated is weighed . the carpet may then be pre - wetted with water . several parameters of the application must be adjusted by trial and error . in particular , trial foams must be prepared in order to determine the blow ratio , which is determined by the equation in general , the foam should be adjusted so that the wet pick - up of foam is about 60 % that of the dry carpet weight . a doctor blade can be prepared out of any thin , stiff material . thin vinyl sheeting , approximately 100 mils thick , is especially suitable , since it can be cut easily to any size . the notch part of the blade should be about 8 &# 34 ; wide so as to fit into the slot of the vacuum bed . in a typical application , about 150 g of liquid to be foamed is put into the bowl of the kitchen - aid ™. the wire whisk attachment is used and the mixer is set to its highest speed ( 10 ). about 2 - 3 minutes are allowed for the foam to form and stabilize at a certain blow ratio . the blow ratio may be calculated by placing volume marks on the side of the bowl . an excess of the foam is placed on top of the carpet specimen resting flat on the vacuum bed . caution must be exercised so that there are no large air pockets in the foam structure . the foam is then doctored off with the doctor blade . the vacuum is then subsequently turned on and pulled into the carpet . at this point , the carpet may be oven dried . &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test -- the relative resistance of the treated carpet to dry soiling is determined by challenging both treated unscoured and untreated scoured ( control ) carpet under defined &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling conditions and comparing their relative soiling levels . the defined soil condition test is conducted by mounting treated and control small square carpet samples on particle board panels ( typically five to seven replicates of each ), placing the panels on the floor at a high pedestrian location , and allowing the samples to be soiled by normal foot traffic . the amount of foot traffic in each of these areas is monitored , and the position of each sample within a given location is changed daily using a pattern designed to minimize the effects of position and orientation upon soiling . following a period of one cycle of walk - on traffic followed by vacuuming , where one cycle is defined as approximately 10 , 000 foot - traffics , soiled carpet samples are removed and the amount of soil present on a given sample is determined using colorimetric measurements , making the assumption that the amount of soil on a given sample is directly proportional to the difference in color between the unsoiled sample and the corresponding sample after soiling . the three cie l * a * b * color coordinates of the soiled carpet samples are measured using a minolta 310 chroma meter with a d65 illumination source . the color difference value , δe , of each soiled carpet sample is calculated relative to its unsoiled counterpart ( i . e ., carpet which has not been walked upon ) using the equation δb * = b * soiled ( treated )- b * unsoiled ( control ) the δe values calculated from these colorometric measurements have been shown to be qualitatively in agreement with values from older , visual evaluations such as the soiling evaluation suggested by the american associates of textile chemists and colorists ( aatcc ), and have the additional advantages of higher precision and being unaffected by environment variations or operator subjectivities . typical , the 95 % confidence interval when using five to seven replicates is about . sup .± 1 δe unit . a δδe value is also calculated , which is a &# 34 ; relative δe &# 34 ; value obtained by subtracting from the δe value of the soiled treated unscoured carpet sample the δe value measured for a soiled untreated scoured carpet sample . the lower the δδe value , the better the soil resistance of the treatment . a negative δδe value means that the treated unscoured carpet is more resistant to soiling than is untreated scoured carpet . hand test -- an unsoiled treated carpet sample is evaluated for hand by rubbing a hand over the carpet surface and noting the relative softness of the carpet fibers . the hand of a carpet is sometimes directly affected by the degree of adherence of the inorganic additive to the carpet fibers . thus , when adherence is poor , the resulting dustiness or sandiness imparted by loose particles of the inorganic additive may adversely affect the hand of the carpet . on the other hand , in some cases , hand may be poor even when the adherence of the inorganic additive to the carpet fibers is good . oil repellency test -- treated carpet samples were evaluated for oil repellency using 3m oil repellency test iii february 1994 ), available from 3m . in this test , treated carpet samples are challenged to penetration by oil or oil mixtures of varying surface tensions . oils and oil mixtures are given a rating corresponding to the following : ______________________________________oil repellency oilrating number composition______________________________________f ( fails mineral oil ) 1 mineral oil1 . 5 85 / 15 ( vol ) mineral oil2 65 / 35 ( vol ) mineral oil with n - hexadecane3 n - hexadecane______________________________________ in running this test , a treated carpet sample is placed on a flat , horizontal surface and the carpet pile is hand - brushed in the direction giving the greatest lay to the yarn . five small drops of an oil or oil mixture are gently placed at points at least two inches apart on the carpet sample . if , after observing for ten seconds at a 45 ° is angle , four of the five drops are visible as a sphere or a hemisphere , the carpet is deemed to pass the test for that oil or oil mixture . the reported oil repellency rating corresponds to the most penetrating oil ( i . e ., the highest numbered oil in the above table ) for which the treated carpet sample passes the described test . a &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; following the number indicates that the repellency was slightly higher than the reported number , while a &# 34 ;-&# 34 ; following the number indicates that the repellency was slightly lower than the reported number . water repellency test -- treated carpet samples were evaluated for water repellency using 3m water repellency test v for floorcoverings ( february 1994 ), available from 3m . in this test , treated carpet samples are challenged to penetrations by blends of deionized water and isopropyl alcohol ( ipa ). each blend is assigned a rating number as shown below : ______________________________________water repellency water / iparating number blend (% by volume ) ______________________________________f ( fails water ) w 100 % water1 90 / 10 water / ipa2 80 / 20 water / ipa______________________________________ the water repellency test is run in the same manner as is the oil repellency test , with the reported water repellency rating corresponding to the highest ipa - containing blend for which the treated carpet sample passes the test . a &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; or a &# 34 ;-&# 34 ; following the reported number has the same significance as in the oil repellency test . shampooing and steam cleaning procedure -- the shampooing and steam cleaning procedure used is described in the publication &# 34 ; shampooing carpet samples with carpet board cleaning machine ,&# 34 ; floorcovering test methods , cpt 106 - 1995 ( apr . 21 , 1995 ), available from 3m . this test method describes the use of an automatic laboratory carpet board cleaning machine designed to reproduce approximately the shampooing of carpets through a hot water extraction process . hot water ( at 140 ° f . or 60 ° c .) is used during all of the testing . the machine has three stations with a spray nozzle and vacuum cleaner head at each station . the first station sprays soap solution onto the carpet samples immediately preceding a vacuum head that moves slowly over the surface of the carpet . the other two stations spray only water for rinsing immediately in front of the vacuum head as it passes over the carpet , removing as much rinse water as possible . a turntable carries the boards with the carpet samples to each station , rotating the samples 90 ° between stations . a metering pump delivers the soap from a soap reservoir into the water line connected to the first head . the soap in the reservoir contains a 1 : 1 mixture of water and steamex ™ super carpet cleaner , available commercially from u . s . floor systems , inc ., raleigh , n . c . the metering pump delivers a concentration of 1 oz ( 28 g ) of soap to 1 gal ( 3 . 8 l ) of water to make the soap solution . after shampooing and steaming , the wet carpet samples are allowed to dry flat at room temperature with the pile up . after drying , the carpet samples are subjected to the repellency , soiling , and staining challenges previously described . the following examples illustrate the soil resistance values of unscoured polypropylene carpet treated in accordance with the method of the present invention . those values are compared with the soil resistance values of similarly treated scoured samples of the same carpet . these examples also illustrate the effect of the surface area of the inorganic particles on the soil resistance values . in examples 1 - 4 and comparative examples c2 - c5 , treatments containing colloidal silica with particle sizes of about 75 nm and surface areas ranging from 40 - 600 m 2 / g were applied to unscoured and scoured dignitary ™ 51609 polypropylene carpet samples using the spray application and curing procedure , and the effect of each treatment on the soiling value of the carpet was measured using one cycle of the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test . in examples 1 - 4 , aqueous treatments containing nalco ™ 2329 colloidal silica , nalco ™ 2327 colloidal silica , cab - o - sperselm s3295 fumed silica , and nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica , respectively , were applied to unscoured carpet at 0 . 75 % soc . in comparative example c1 , no treatment was applied to unscoured carpet . in comparative examples c2 - c5 , the same treating and soiling test procedures were followed as described in examples 1 - 4 , respectively , except that the aqueous colloidal silica treatments were applied to scoured rather than unscoured carpet . in comparative example c6 , no treatment was applied to scoured carpet . the δe and δδe values for examples 1 - 4 and comparative examples c1 - c6 are presented in . by definition , the δδe value for comparative example c6 was set equal to zero . table 1______________________________________ particle / % agglom - particle / soc soilingcarpet coll . erate agglomerate ap - values : ex . scoured ? silica size ( nm ) area ( m . sup . 2 / g ) plied δe δδe______________________________________1 no 2329 75 40 * 0 . 75 15 . 21 4 . 942 no 2327 20 150 * 0 . 75 12 . 96 2 . 693 no s3295 100 325 ** 0 . 75 11 . 39 1 . 124 no 2326 5 600 * 0 . 75 10 . 81 0 . 55c1 no -- -- -- -- 18 . 68 8 . 83c2 yes 2329 75 40 * 0 . 75 7 . 70 -- 1 . 73c3 yes 2327 20 150 * 0 . 75 8 . 63 0 . 79c4 yes s3295 100 325 ** 0 . 75 8 . 55 -- 0 . 88c5 yes 2326 5 600 * 0 . 75 10 . 01 -- 0 . 59c6 yes -- -- -- -- 9 . 84 0______________________________________ * particle / agglomerate surface area was determined using the sears method based on the titration of the surface silanols as described in analytical chemistry , vol . 28 , 1981 ( 1956 ). ** particle / agglomerate surface area was determined by nitrogen adsorption capacity using the brunauer emmettteller ( bet ) procedure as described in annual book of astm standards , vol . 09 . 01 , designation d1993 - 91 , 360 - 365 ( 1993 ). the δδe values in table 1 show that the application of aqueous colloidal silica treatment to unscoured polypropylene carpet greatly improved its anti - soiling performance ( examples 1 - 4 compared to comparative example c1 ). this improvement was most dramatic when the average size of the colloidal silica particles was very small , i . e ., when the particles had a surface area of 300 m 2 / g or more . in example 4 , the anti - soiling performance of treated unscoured carpet was nearly comparable to that of scoured untreated carpet ( comparative example c6 ). in example 3 , though the silica particles were large in size , anti - soiling performance was still very good , as each larger particle was comprised of agglomerated primary silica particles , each primary particle having a large surface area to volume ratio . in contrast , when the aqueous colloidal silica treatments were applied to scoured polypropylene carpet ( comparative examples c2 - c5 ), the improvements in anti - soiling performance as compared to untreated scoured polypropylene carpet ( comparative example c6 ) were relatively small . the following examples illustrate the use of various inorganic additives in the method of the present invention . in examples 5 - 12 and comparative examples c8 - c15 , unscoured and scoured samples of dignitary ™ 51609 polypropylene carpet were treated with aqueous colloidal dispersions of various metal oxides and basic metal salts using the spray application and curing procedure , and the effect of each treatment on the soiling value of the carpet was measured using the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test . in examples 5 - 12 , metal oxide sols containing basic aluminum salts a and b , nalco ™ 1056 aluminized silica , nyacol ™ zr 50 \ 20 and 100 \ 20 zirconias , zirconium oxyacetate , nalco ™ 88sn - 126 colloidal titanium dioxide and nalco ™ 88sn - 123 colloidal tin oxide , respectively , were applied to unscoured carpet at 0 . 75 % soc . in comparative example c7 , no treatment was applied to unscoured carpet . in comparative examples c8 - c1 5 , the same treating and soiling test procedures were followed as described in examples 5 - 12 , respectively , except that the aqueous colloidal metal oxide treatments were applied to scoured rather than unscoured carpet . in comparative example c16 , no treatment was applied to the scoured carpet . the δe and δδe values for examples 5 - 12 and comparative examples c7 - c16 are presented in table 2 . by definition , the δδe value for comparative example c16 was zero . table 2__________________________________________________________________________ particlecarpet particle metal size % soc soiling values : ex . scoured ? composition sol ( nm ) applied δe δδe__________________________________________________________________________ 5 no al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 salt a 2 0 . 75 10 . 63 0 . 36 6 no al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 salt b 60 0 . 75 11 . 97 1 . 70 7 no al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 + sio . sub . 2 1056 20 0 . 75 -- 2 . 19 8 no zro . sub . 2 zr50 \ 20 50 0 . 75 13 . 28 3 . 01 9 no zro . sub . 2 zr100 \ 20 100 0 . 75 13 . 21 2 . 9410 no zroac . sub . 2 -- molecular 0 . 75 10 . 30 0 . 0311 no tio . sub . 2 88sn - 126 5 0 . 75 12 . 38 2 . 5312 no sno 88sn - 123 22 0 . 75 13 . 88 4 . 03c7 no -- -- -- -- 18 . 68 8 . 83c8 yes al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 salt a 2 0 . 75 9 . 09 - 0 . 33c9 yes al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 salt b 60 0 . 75 8 . 25 - 1 . 71 c10 yes al . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 + sio . sub . 2 1056 20 0 . 75 -- - 0 . 69 c11 yes zro . sub . 2 zr50 \ 20 50 0 . 75 9 . 84 0 . 41 c12 yes zro . sub . 2 zr100 \ 20 100 0 . 75 9 . 53 0 . 11 c13 yes zroac . sub . 2 -- molecular 0 . 75 8 . 50 - 0 . 93 c14 yes tio . sub . 2 88sn - 126 5 0 . 75 10 . 95 1 . 10 c15 yes sno 88sn - 123 22 0 . 75 10 . 90 1 . 05 c16 yes -- -- -- -- 9 . 85 0__________________________________________________________________________ the δδe values in table 2 show that treatment of unscoured polypropylene carpet with basic aluminum salts , aluminized silica , zirconium dioxide , zirconium oxyacetate , titanium dioxide and tin oxide sols ( examples 5 - 12 ) greatly enhanced the anti - soiling performance of the carpet when compared to the performance of untreated carpet ( comparative example c7 ). the effect was especially pronounced when solutions of basic metal salts which form polynuclear metal clusters were used ( examples 5 and 10 ). in contrast , when colloidal treatments containing inorganic oxides or basic metal salts were applied to scoured polypropylene carpet ( comparative examples c8 - c15 ), the improvement in anti - soiling performance compared to untreated scoured carpet ( comparative example c16 ) was relatively small or nonexistent . the following examples illustrate the effect of the choice of counterion on the antisoiling behavior of various colloidal silicas used to treat carpet in accordance with the method of the present invention . in examples 13 - 15 and comparative examples c18 - c20 , unscoured and scoured samples of dignitary ™ 51609 polypropylene carpet were treated with colloidal silica having ammonium and sodium stabilizing ions ( nalco ™ 2327 and nalco ™ 1050 colloidal silicas , respectively ) and acid silica sols having no stabilizing ion ( nalco ™ 1042 colloidal silica ). the colloidal silicas were applied using the spray application and curing procedure , and the effect of each treatment on the soiling value of the carpet was measured using one cycle of the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test . in examples 13 - 15 , aqueous treatments containing nalco ™ 1042 , nalco ™ 2327 and nalco ™ 1050 colloidal silicas , supplied at phs of 3 , 9 , and 9 , respectively , were applied to unscoured carpet at 0 . 75 % soc . in comparative example c17 , no treatment was applied to unscoured carpet . in comparative examples c18 - c20 , the same treating and soiling test procedures were followed as described in examples 13 - 15 , respectively , except that the aqueous colloidal metal oxide treatments were applied to scoured rather than unscoured carpet . in comparative example c20 , no treatment was applied to scoured carpet . the δe and δδe values for examples 13 - 15 and comparative examples c17 - c21 are presented in table 3 . by definition , the δδe value for comparative example c21 was zero . table 3______________________________________carpet silica stabilizing % soc soiling values : ex . scoured ? sol ph ion applied δe δδe______________________________________13 no 1042 4 none 0 . 75 18 . 05 4 . 1114 no 2327 9 nh . sub . 4 . sup .+ 0 . 75 18 . 26 4 . 3215 no 1050 9 na . sup .+ 0 . 75 20 . 76 6 . 82c17 no -- -- -- -- 24 . 07 10 . 13c18 yes 1042 4 none 0 . 75 11 . 34 - 2 . 60c19 yes 2327 9 nh . sub . 4 . sup .+ 0 . 75 16 . 64 2 . 70c20 yes 1050 9 na . sup .+ 0 . 75 14 . 73 0 . 79c21 yes -- -- -- -- 13 . 94 0______________________________________ the δδe values in table 3 show that , on unscoured polypropylene carpet , better anti - soiling performance was realized with the silica sols stabilized with ammonium ion or acid silica sols ( examples 13 and 14 ) than with the sols stabilized with sodium ion ( example 15 ), although all three treatments gave greatly improved anti - soiling performance when compared to no treatment ( comparative example c17 ). when applied to scoured carpet ( comparative examples c18 - c20 ), the silica treatments had no clear positive or negative overall effect on anti - soiling characteristics when compared to untreated scoured carpet ( comparative example c21 ). the following examples illustrate the effect of the method of the present invention in treating various kinds of carpet . in examples 16 - 18 , unscoured solution - dyed nylon carpet , acrylic carpet and wool carpet were treated with colloidal silica using the spray application and curing procedure . the soiling value for each treated carpet was measured using one cycle of the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test . in examples 16 - 18 , aqueous treatments containing nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica were applied to unscoured samples of zeftron ™ 2000 carpet ( solution - dyed nylon ), acrylan ™ acrylic carpet , and cm010 wool carpet , respectively , at 0 . 75 % soc . in comparative examples c22 , c24 and c26 , no treatment was applied to the same unscoured carpets of examples 16 - 18 , respectively . in comparative examples c23 and c25 , no treatment was applied to the scoured , solution - dyed nylon and wool carpets . the δe and δδe values for examples 16 - 18 and comparative examples c22 - c26 are presented in table 4 . by definition , the δδe values for comparative examples c23 and c25 were set equal to zero . table 4______________________________________ carpet carpet % silica soiling values : ex . scoured ? substrate ( soc ) δe δδe______________________________________16 no nylon 0 . 75 5 . 36 - 0 . 15c22 no nylon -- 13 . 70 8 . 49c23 yes nylon -- 5 . 21 017 no wool 0 . 75 1 . 60 - 0 . 73c24 no wool -- 4 . 08 1 . 75c25 yes wool -- 2 . 33 018 no acrylic 0 . 75 2 . 45 -- c26 no acrylic -- 10 . 14 -- ______________________________________ the δδe values in table 4 show that when the aqueous silica sol treatment was applied to unscoured nylon carpet , the anti - soiling value of the treated carpet ( example 16 ) was greatly improved over that of the untreated , unscoured nylon carpet ( comparative example c22 ) and was essentially comparable to the value measured on untreated scoured nylon carpet ( comparative example c23 ). a similar large improvement in anti - soiling value resulted upon comparing treated unscoured acrylic carpet ( example 18 ) to untreated unscoured acrylic carpet ( comparative example c26 ). the effect with wool carpet was also evident but less dramatic ( example 17 vs . comparative examples c24 and c25 ). the following examples illustrate the effect of treating unscoured carpet with colloidal silica and a stainblocking polymer . in examples 19 - 31 , unscoured samples of dignitary ™ 51609 carpet ( polypropylene ) were treated with colloidal silica alone , various stainblocking polymers alone , and blends thereof using the spray application and curing procedure . the soiling value for each treated carpet sample was determined using one cycle of the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test , and the adherence of each treatment to the carpet was measured using the treatment adherence test . in examples 19 - 21 , nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica was applied alone at levels of 0 . 90 , 0 . 75 and 0 . 50 % soc at a treatment ph of 9 . in examples 22 - 29 , 3m brand stain release concentrate fc - 661 was coapplied at levels varying from 0 . 125 - 0 . 75 % soc with nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica at levels varying from 0 . 15 - 0 . 75 % soc . treatment phs varied from 4 to 6 . in examples 28 and 29 , 3m brand stain release concentrate fc - 657 was coapplied at levels of 0 . 125 and 0 . 25 % soc with nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica at 0 . 50 % soc . treatment phs were 5 and 4 , respectively . in examples 30 and 31 , stain resist sr - 300 was coapplied at levels of 0 . 125 % and 0 . 25 % soc , respectively , with nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica at 0 . 50 % soc . treatment phs were 8 and 7 respectively . in comparative examples c28 - c30 , fc - 661 , fc - 657 and sr - 300 , respectively , were applied alone at 0 . 25 % soc , while in comparative example c27 , fc - 661 was applied alone at 0 . 90 % soc . in comparative example c31 , no treatment was applied to unscoured carpet . in comparative example c32 , no treatment was applied to scoured carpet . the δe and δδe values for examples 19 - 31 and comparative examples c27 - c32 are presented in table 5 . by definition , the δδe value for comparative examples c32 as set equal to zero . table 5______________________________________carpet 2326 , polymer : soiling , ex . scoured ? % soc name % soc ph δδe______________________________________19 no 0 . 90 -- -- 9 0 . 5620 no 0 . 75 -- -- 9 2 . 1721 no 0 . 50 -- -- 9 3 . 5122 no 0 . 50 fc - 661 0 . 125 5 1 . 3223 no 0 . 50 fc - 661 0 . 25 5 1 . 6924 no 0 . 75 fc - 661 0 . 15 6 - 1 . 3725 no 0 . 45 fc - 661 0 . 45 5 1 . 0126 no 0 . 15 fc - 661 0 . 75 4 2 . 4027 no 0 . 60 fc - 661 0 . 15 5 - 1 . 2228 no 0 . 50 fc - 657 0 . 125 5 1 . 6829 no 0 . 50 fc - 657 0 . 25 4 1 . 4530 no 0 . 50 sr - 300 0 . 125 5 1 . 3131 no 0 . 50 sr - 300 0 . 25 4 1 . 98c27 no -- fc - 661 0 . 90 3 3 . 64c28 no -- fc - 661 0 . 25 3 5 . 87c29 no -- fc - 657 0 . 25 3 8 . 86c30 no -- sr - 300 0 . 25 3 7 . 50c31 no -- -- -- -- 11 . 26c32 yes -- -- -- -- 0______________________________________ the hand of the samples tested was generally &# 34 ; good &# 34 ;, with the exceptions of examples 19 - 20 , which had a comparatively large amount of silica ( greater than 0 . 5 %) and no polymer . the data in table 5 show that when each of the stainblocking polymers was coapplied with colloidal silica , improved anti - soiling and better hand were both generally achieved . anti - soiling results from examples 24 and 27 , using relatively high ratios of silica to polymer , were especially impressive , out performing soiled untreated scoured polypropylene ( comparative example c32 ). the following examples illustrate the effect of treating unscoured dignitary ™ 51609 ( polypropylene ) carpet in accordance with the method of the present invention , using colloidal silica as the inorganic additive in conjunction with various organic additives . the organic additives used include polyethylene glycols of various molecular weights , polyethylene glycol monostearate , carboxyfunctionalized polyoxyethylene glycol , and polyethylene glycol monofluoroalkyl ethers . the treatments were all applied at a treatment ph of 9 using the spray application and curing procedure . the soiling value for each treated carpet sample was determined using the one cycle &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test , and the hand of each treatmed carpet was measured using the hand test . in example 32 , nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica was applied alone at 0 . 75 % soc . in examples 33 - 37 , 0 . 75 % soc nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica was coapplied to carpet samples with 0 . 15 % soc carbowax ™ 300 , 600 , 4000 and 8000 polyethylene glycols and carbowax ™ 25000 polyoxyethylene ( the numbers representing the approximate polymer molecular weights ), respectively . in example 38 , emerest 2662 polyethylene glycol 600 monostearate ( 600s ) was coapplied at 0 . 15 % soc with nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica at 0 . 75 % soc . in example 39 , nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica was coapplied at 0 . 75 % soc with 0 . 15 % soc of pegda carbonyfunctional polyethylene glycol . in examples 40 and 41 , nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica was applied at 0 . 75 % soc with 0 . 15 % soc of fc - 170c and fc - 171 polyethylene oxide monofluoroalkl ethers , respectively . in comparative example c33 , no treatment was applied to scoured carpet . in comparatiave example c34 , no treatment was applied to unscoured carpet . the δe and δδe values for examples 32 - 41 and comparative examples c33 and c34 are presented in table 6 . by definition , the δδe value for comparative example c33 was set equal to zero . table 6______________________________________carpet 2326 , glycol : soiling , ex . scoured ? % soc mw % soc ph δδe hand______________________________________32 no 0 . 75 -- -- 9 0 . 88 poor33 no 0 . 75 300 0 . 15 9 1 . 22 good34 no 0 . 75 600 0 . 15 9 1 . 52 good35 no 0 . 75 4000 0 . 15 9 0 . 89 good36 no 0 . 75 8000 0 . 15 9 - 0 . 05 good37 no 0 . 75 25000 0 . 15 9 0 . 85 good38 no 0 . 75 600s 0 . 15 9 - 1 . 23 good39 no 0 . 75 pegda 0 . 13 9 - 0 . 85 good40 no 0 . 75 fc - 170c 0 . 15 9 1 . 18 good41 no 0 . 75 fc - 171 0 . 15 9 0 . 29 goodc33 yes -- -- -- -- 0 n / ac34 no -- -- -- -- 10 . 30 good______________________________________ the data in table 6 show that coapplication of polyethylene glycols of various molecular weight with the aqueous colloidal silica treatment ( examples 33 - 37 ) improved the adherence of the treatment to the carpet , imparting a soft , dustless hand , while not significantly affecting the anti - soiling performance when compared to using colloidal silica alone ( example 32 ). by contrast , the use of colloidal silica alone imparted a dusty feel to the carpet . in example 36 , where 8000 molecular weight polyethylene glycol was used , antisoiling performance was improved to the level of that shown by untreated , scoured carpet ( comparative example c33 ). in example 38 , where polyethylene glycol 600 monostearate was used , antisoiling performance clearly surpassed the level of that shown by untreated scoured carpet . the data in table 6 also show that treating unscoured polypropylene carpet with a combination of colloidal silica and carboxyfinctionalized polyoxyethylene glycol improved the antisoiling performance of the carpet to the point where it outperformed the untreated scoured carpet . in examples 42 - 45 , unscoured samples of dignitary ™ 51609 carpet ( polypropylene ) were treated with colloidal silica alone and silica grafted with homopolymerized methacrylic acid using the spray application and curing procedure . the soiling value of each treated carpet was measured using one cycle of the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test . in examples 42 - 44 , polymethacrylic acid - grafted nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica ( pmaa - 2326 ) was applied to unscoured dignitary ™ 51609 polypropylene carpet at concentrations of 0 . 20 , 0 . 29 and 0 . 44 % soc and at a treating solution ph of 3 . 5 in example 45 , the same experiment was run as in examples 42 - 44 , except that unmodified nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica was substituted for pmaa - 2326 and the ph of the treating solution was 9 . in comparative example c35 , no treatment was applied to scoured carpet . the δδe values for examples 42 - 45 and comparative example c35 are on scoured untreated in table 7 . by definition , the δδe value for comparative example c35 , run on scoured untreated carpet , was set equal to zero . table 7______________________________________carpet treating total % soc soiling , ex . scoured ? composition % soc sio2 ph δδe______________________________________42 no pmaa - 2326 0 . 20 0 . 10 3 . 5 2 . 0343 no pmaa - 2326 0 . 29 0 . 15 3 . 5 1 . 0744 no pmaa - 2326 0 . 44 0 . 22 3 . 5 0 . 6645 no nalco ™ 2326 0 . 50 0 . 50 9 0 . 73c35 yes -- -- -- 0______________________________________ the δδe values in table 7 show that at a lower total % soc ( and much lower sio 2 % soc ), the poly - maa grafted silica gave a comparable δδe value than did the silica used alone ( example 45 vs . example 44 ). thus , the polymeric organic additive can be incorporated in the invention either grafted to an inorganic additive particle ( table 7 ) or separately as an aqueous polymer dispersion admixed with polymer - free colloidal inorganic additive ( table 5 ). in examples 46 - 57 , colloidal silica was coapplied with various polymeric organic additives on unscoured polypropylene carpet and the effect on soil resistance was measured . dignitary ™ 51609 carpet ( polypropylene ) was treated using the spray application and curing procedure , and the soiling value of each treated carpet was measured using one cycle of the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test . in example 46 , nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica was applied alone at a concentration of 0 . 75 % soc and at a solution ph of 9 . in examples 47 - 57 , the same experiment was run as in example 46 except that various water - soluble and water - dispersible organic additives were coapplied with the nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica . in example 57 , the nalco ™ 2236 level was lowered to 0 . 50 % soc . the treatment ph was 9 in all cases . in comparative example c36 , no treatment was applied to unscoured carpet . in comparative example c37 , no treatment was applied to scoured carpet . the δδe values for examples 46 - 57 and comparative examples c36 - c37 are presented in table 8 . by definition , the δδe value for comparative example c37 , run on scoured untreated carpet , was set equal to zero . table 8__________________________________________________________________________carpet 2326 , polymer used : soiling , ex . scoured ? % soc name type % soc δδe hand__________________________________________________________________________46 no 0 . 75 -- -- -- 0 . 72 poor47 no 0 . 75 spensol l - 55 polyurethane 0 . 15 2 . 55 good48 no 0 . 75 rhoplex hg - acrylic 0 . 15 3 . 49 good 74 copolymer49 no 0 . 75 adcote 50t - ethylene - 0 . 15 2 . 53 good 4990 acrylic acid copolymer50 no 0 . 75 neocryl a - acrylic 0 . 15 3 . 04 good 601 polymer51 no 0 . 75 neorez polyurethane 0 . 15 3 . 63 good xr - 969952 no 0 . 75 neocryl acrylic 0 . 15 4 . 26 good a - 6092 polymer53 no 0 . 75 neocryl xa - acrylic 0 . 15 3 . 93 good 6075 polymer54 no 0 . 75 pva # 1 polyvinyl 0 . 075 3 . 24 good alcohol55 no 0 . 75 pva # 1 polyvinyl 0 . 15 2 . 65 good alcohol56 no 0 . 75 pva # 2 polyvinyl 0 . 075 2 . 84 good alcohol57 no 0 . 50 pva # 2 polyvinyl 0 . 15 2 . 74 good alcoholc36 no -- -- -- -- 9 . 49 -- c37 yes -- -- -- -- 0 -- __________________________________________________________________________ the data in table 8 show that all of the polymeric organic additives evaluated improved the hand of the silica treatment but at some expense to anti - soiling performance when compared to the silica alone . in examples 58 - 65 and comparative examples c38 - c57 , unscoured polypropylene carpet was treated with various mixtures of colloidal silica and fluorochemical repellents to show how a combination of good anti - soiling properties and repellency to oil and water can simultaneously be achieved . the usual spray application and curing procedure was used to apply and cure each treatment onto both unscoured and scoured dignitary ™ 51609 carpet ( polypropylene ). the soiling value of each treated carpet was measured using one cycle of the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test . oil and water repellency were measured using the oil repellency test and the water repellency test earlier described . the repellency and δδe values for examples 58 - 65 and comparative examples c38 - c57 are presented in table 9 . by definition , the δδe value for comparative example c57 , run on scoured untreated carpet , was set equal to zero . table 9______________________________________ silica : soil - carpet % fluorochemical : repellency : ing : ex . scoured ? name soc name % soc oil water δδe______________________________________58 no 2326 0 . 75 -- -- f f 2 . 859 no 1056 0 . 75 -- -- f f 2 . 9c38 yes 2326 0 . 75 -- -- f w - 1 . 1c39 yes 1056 0 . 75 -- -- 1 - w 0 . 560 no 2326 0 . 75 fc - 461 0 . 10 f 1 4 . 4c40 no -- -- fc - 461 0 . 10 1 - 1 12 . 5c41 yes 2326 0 . 75 fc - 461 0 . 10 1 - 1 1 . 6c42 yes -- -- fc - 461 0 . 10 1 1 2 . 361 no 2326 0 . 75 fc - 364 0 . 10 f w - 2 . 2c43 no -- -- fc - 364 0 . 10 1 - w - 11 . 4c44 yes 2326 0 . 75 fc - 364 0 . 10 f 1 0 . 7c45 yes -- -- fc - 364 0 . 10 1 . 5 1 2 . 362 no 2326 0 . 75 fc - c 0 . 10 1 + 1 + - 7 . 1c46 no -- -- fc - c 0 . 10 1 - 1 + 0 . 1c47 yes 2326 0 . 75 fc - c 0 . 10 2 3 1 . 0c48 yes -- -- fc - c 0 . 10 2 5 3 . 763 no 2326 0 . 75 fc - d 0 . 10 f f 3 . 164 no 1056 0 . 75 fc - d 0 . 10 1 1 + 5 . 6c49 no -- -- fc - d 0 . 10 1 . 5 3 11 . 3c50 yes 2326 0 . 75 fc - d 0 . 10 1 - 1 1 . 5c51 yes 1056 0 . 75 fc - d 0 . 10 2 2 1 . 7c52 yes -- -- fc - d 0 . 10 2 2 3 . 165 no 1056 0 . 75 fc - e 0 . 10 1 + 1 + 4 . 3c53 no -- -- fc - e 0 . 10 1 - 1 + 11 . 5c54 yes 1056 0 . 75 fc - e 0 . 10 2 3 1 . 0c55 yes -- -- fc - e 0 . 10 2 5 3 . 7c56 no -- -- -- -- f f 11 . 4c57 yes -- -- -- -- f f 0______________________________________ the data in table 9 show that unscoured polypropylene carpet treated with a combination of silica and fluorochemical repellent in most cases shows significantly improved resistance to soiling and oil and water repellency not exhibited by the untreated , unscoured carpet . these anti - soiling and repellency properties approach and in one case exceed those of scoured polypropylene carpet treated with the same combination . in examples 66 - 69 and comparative examples c58 - c62 , unscoured solution - dyed nylon carpet was treated with nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica as the inorganic additive and polymer i stainblocker , fx - 1373m fluorochemical repellent , and mixtures thereof as the organic additive , to show how a combination of good anti - soiling properties and repellency to oil and water can simultaneously be achieved and how these anti - soiling and repellency features are durable to a high level of foot traffic followed by repeated steam cleanings . the usual spray application and curing procedure was used to apply and cure each treatment onto both unscoured and scoured zeftron ™ 2000 solution - dyed nylon carpet . the oil and water repellency were measured as before using the oil repellency test and the water repellency test . however , this time , the soil resistance of each treated carpet was measured under two different conditions . the first condition was two cycles of the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test . the second condition , designed to show the durability of the treatment , was two foot - traffic cycles of the &# 34 ; walk - on soiling test &# 34 ; followed by shampooing / steam cleaning using the shampooing and steam cleaning procedure , two more foot - traffic cycles and another shampooing / steam cleaning , and finally two more foot - traffic cycles . the δδe values for examples 66 - 69 and comparative examples c58 - c62 are presented in table 10 . by definition , the δδe value for comparative example c62 , run on scoured untreated carpet , was set equal to zero . table 10__________________________________________________________________________carpet silica : organic additive repellency : soiling ( δδe ) after : ex . scoured ? name % soc name % soc oil water 2 cycles 6 cyc + 2 sc__________________________________________________________________________66 no 2326 0 . 75 -- -- f f + 1 . 8 - 0 . 667 no 2326 0 . 75 fx - 1373m 0 . 05 1 2 - 2 . 7 - 1 . 468 no 2326 0 . 75 polymer i 0 . 6 f f + 0 . 6 - 1 . 869 no 2326 0 . 75 fx - 1373m 0 . 05 2 f - 4 . 2 - 3 . 3 polymer i 0 . 6c58 no -- -- fx - 1373m 0 . 05 1 2 + 4 . 5 + 2 . 1c59 no -- -- polymer i 0 . 6 f f + 2 . 7 - 0 . 3c60 yes -- -- fx - 1373m 0 . 05 f 2 - 4 . 4 - 2 . 6c61 no -- -- -- -- f f + 9 . 4 + 3 . 3c62 yes -- -- -- -- f f 0 0__________________________________________________________________________ the data in table 10 show that in examples 67 - 69 , an additive effect between the silica , the fluorochemical repellent and polymer i occurred to give an improved anti - soiling performance , both with and without steam cleaning , relative to example 66 when the silica was run alone . also , oil and water repellency were achieved . in examples 70 - 76 and comparative examples c63 - c68 , unscoured solution - dyed nylon carpet was treated with aqueous mixtures of a colloidal silica and a fluorochemical carpet treatment at various concentrations , and each treated carpet was evaluated for repellency to oil and water and resistance to soiling . the usual spray application and curing procedure was used to apply and cure each treatment onto unscoured , white , solution - dyed angelic ™ nylon carpet . the oil and water repellency were measured as before using the oil repellency test and the water repellency test , and the anti - soiling performance was measured using two cycles of the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test . the δe and δδe values for examples 70 - 76 and comparative examples c63 - c68 are presented in table 11 . as usual , the δδe values were calculated compared to the δe value for scoured , untreated carpet ( comparative example c68 ). table 11______________________________________carpet 2326 , fc - a , repellency to : soiling values : ex . scoured ? % soc % soc oil water δe δδe______________________________________70 no 1 . 50 -- f f 10 . 1 - 1 . 271 no 0 . 90 -- f f 13 . 3 2 . 072 no 0 . 75 -- f f 13 . 9 2 . 673 no 0 . 50 -- f f 15 . 8 4 . 5c63 no -- 0 . 90 1 1 12 . 1 0 . 8c64 no -- 0 . 30 2 1 14 . 4 3 . 1c65 no -- 0 . 15 2 1 16 . 5 5 . 2c66 no -- 0 . 07 f 1 18 . 5 7 . 274 no 1 . 35 0 . 15 f f 8 . 9 - 2 . 475 no 0 . 75 0 . 15 1 w 10 . 9 - 0 . 476 no 0 . 50 0 . 07 f w 11 . 8 0 . 5c67 no -- -- f f 23 . 5 12 . 2c68 yes -- -- f f 11 . 3 0______________________________________ the data in table 11 show that a synergistic anti - soiling effect was demonstrated in example 75 when silica and fluorochemical treatment were blended and applied at 0 . 90 % total soc as compared to being applied separately at comparable % soc levels ( see example 71 and comparative example c63 ). also , carpets treated with the blend showed repellency to both oil and water . in examples 77 - 98 , and comparatiave examples c69 and c70 , various unscoured polypropylene carpets were treated by spray or foam application with aqueous mixtures of colloidal silicas or modified silicas and fluorochemical treatments , and each treated carpet was evaluated for repellency to oil and water and resistance to soiling . for spray application , the spray application and curing procedure was used to apply and cure the treatment onto unscoured carpet . for foam application , the foam application and curing procedure was used to apply and cure the treatment onto unscoured carpet . various silicas and modified silicas were evaluated , including unmodified silicas ( nalco ™ 2326 , nalco ™ 2327 , nalco ™ 1056 and ludox ™ as - 40 ), silica grafted with polymethacrylic acid ( pmaa - 1042 ), silica blended with polyethylene oxide ( nalco ™ 2326 + carbowax ™ 8000 ), silicas having the surface modified with aminopropyl and propyl - functional silanes ( h 2 n - 2326 and pr - 2326 respectively ), and with hydrocarbon surfactant blended therewith ( berol 09 , designated as b9 ). in all examples , the silica or modified silica was applied at 0 . 75 % soc except for example 79 , where a blend of 0 . 5 % soc nalco ™ 2326 and 0 . 10 % soc carbowax ™ 8000 was applied . fluorochemical treatments coapplied with the silicas and modified silicas were fc - b ( adipate ester ), fc - c ( acrylate polymer ), fc - si ( silane ), fc - 247 ( acrylate polymer ), fc - 364 ( urethane ), fc - 365 ( allophanate ), fc - 461 ( acrylic polymer ), fc - 1373m ( urethane ), and dyetech ™ 97h ( acrylate polymer ). in all cases , the fluorochemical treatment was applied at 0 . 050 % soc ( 500 ppm ) based on fluorine . the oil and water repellency was measured as before using the oil repellency test and the water repellency test , and the anti - soiling performance was measured using one cycle of the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test . the δδe values for examples 77 - 98 and comparative examples c69 and c70 are presented in table 12 . each δδe value was calculated using the corresponding scoured , untreated carpet as a reference . table 12__________________________________________________________________________unscoured appl . silica or fluoro - repellency : soiling : ex . carpet method * mod . silica chemical oil water δδe__________________________________________________________________________77 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 2326 fc - 364 f w 1 . 4878 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 2326 97h f 1 - 1 . 0579 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 2326 + fc - b 1 f 1 . 33 cw800080 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 h . sub . 2 n - 2326 fc - c 1 2 n / r81 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 pr - 2326 fc - 461 f w n / r82 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 pr - 2326 + b9 fc - 461 f 1 n / r83 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 2327 fc - 364 f w - 0 . 0584 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 2327 fc - 365 f w - 0 . 3285 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 2327 fc - 461 f 2 0 . 02c69 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 -- fc - 364 1 - w 9 . 92c70 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 -- fc - 461 1 - 1 10 . 9786 dignitary ™ foam . sup . 1 2327 fc - 365 2 w 1 . 587 dignitary ™ foam . sup . 1 2327 fc - 461 2 1 - 0 . 588 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 1056 fc - 247 1 f n / r89 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 1 1056 + b9 fc - c 1 1 + n / r90 dignitary ™ spray . sup . 2 pmaa - 1042 fc - si 1 . 5 w 0 . 1291 dignitary ™ foam . sup . 2 pmaa - 1042 fc - si 3 2 - 1 . 5292 dignitary ™ foam . sup . 1 as - 40 fc - b 1 f 5 . 393 m0033 spray . sup . 1 2326 fc - 364 1 - w - 1 . 394 m0033 spray . sup . 1 2326 fc - 461 1 - 2 - 2 . 4295 m0033 spray . sup . 1 2326 97h 2 2 - 1 . 0496 regal heir ™ spray . sup . 1 2326 fc - 364 f w - 0 . 4497 regal heir ™ spray . sup . 1 2326 fc - 461 f 2 0 . 0998 regal heir ™ spray . sup . 1 2326 97h 1 2 0 . 08__________________________________________________________________________ * application method : . sup . 1 one step coapplication of silica or modified silica and aqueous fluorochemical dispersion . . sup . 2 two step application : first step is application of silica or modified silica sol ; second step is application of aqueous fluorochemical dispersion . the data in table 12 show that when unscoured carpet was treated with one of many combinations of a modified or unmodified silica blended with a fluorochemical treatment , the resulting treated carpet demonstrated repellency to oil and water and good antisoiling performance , as compared to untreated scoured or unscoured carpet . in examples 99 - 104 and comparative examples c71 - c74 , experiments were run to show that aqueous treatments containing colloidal silica applied to unscoured polypropylene or nylon carpet do not require an oven curing cycle but instead can be allowed to cure at room temperature to give comparable excellent anti - soiling performance . in examples 99 , 101 and 103 , nalco ™ 2326 colloidal silica was applied at 0 . 75 % soc to unscoured dignitary ™ 51609 polypropylene or zeftron ™ 2000 solution - dyed nylon carpet samples using the spray application and curing procedure , where in example 99 curing was done for 20 minutes at 120 ° c ., while in examples 101 and 103 curing was done for 10 minutes at 120 ° c . in examples 100 , 102 and 104 , the same procedure was used as in examples 99 , 101 and 103 , respectively , except that instead of being cured in a forced air oven , treated samples were allowed to cure overnight ( i . e ., for approximately 16 hours ) at room temperature . in comparative example c71 , unscoured polypropylene carpet was left untreated . in comparative example c72 , scoured polypropylene carpet was left untreated . in comparative examples c73 and c74 , unscoured solution - dyed nylon carpet was left untreated . the δe soiling value for each treated and untreated carpet sample was measured using the &# 34 ; walk - on &# 34 ; soiling test procedure . for examples 99 and 100 and comparative examples c71 and c72 , 1 cycle of walk - on traffic was used . for examples 101 and 102 and comparative example c73 , 2 cycles of walk - on traffic were used . for examples 103 and 104 and comparative example c74 , 4 cycles of walk - on traffic were used . the δe and δδe values for examples 99 - 104 and comparative examples c71 - c74 are presented in table 13 . by definition , the δδe value for comparative example c72 was set equal to zero . table 13__________________________________________________________________________carpet carpet coll . % soc cure cond : soiling values : ex . scoured ? substrate silica applied temp . time cycle δe δδe__________________________________________________________________________ 99 no polyprop . 2326 0 . 75 120 ° c . 20 min . 1 7 . 05 - 2 . 42100 no polyprop . 2326 0 . 75 r . t . 16 hrs . 1 7 . 03 - 2 . 44c71 no polyprop . -- -- -- -- 1 19 . 86 10 . 39c72 yes polyprop . -- -- -- -- 1 9 . 47 0101 no nylon 2326 0 . 75 120 ° c . 10 min . 2 6 . 5 n / r102 no nylon 2326 0 . 75 r . t . 16 hrs . 2 7 . 6 n / rc73 no nylon -- -- -- -- 2 15 . 0 n / r103 no nylon 2326 0 . 75 120 ° c . 10 min . 4 10 . 0 n / r104 no nylon 2326 0 . 75 r . t . 16 hrs . 4 11 . 1 n / rc74 no nylon -- -- -- -- 4 19 . 1 n / r__________________________________________________________________________ the data in table 13 show that when colloidal silica treatments were applied to either unscoured polypropylene or solution - dyed nylon , anti - soiling performance was as good with room temperature cured treatments as with oven - cured treatments . the preceding description is meant to convey an understanding of the present invention to one skilled in the art , and is not intended to be limiting . modifications within the scope of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art . therefore , the scope of the invention should be construed solely by reference to the appended claims .	8
reference will now be made in detail to presently preferred embodiments of the invention , specific examples of which are described below . the eta phase compositions in accordance with the invention are produced for example by the reduction decomposition of a suitable mixed metal coordination compound or mixed metal organometallic precursor at a temperature sufficient to yield an atomically mixed high surface area reactive product . the reduction is carried out in a non - oxidizing atmosphere free of sulfur or sulfur bearing compounds . a specific , typical reaction employing a catalyst in accordance with the eta - phase compositions of the invention in a hydrogenation reaction wherein hydrogen and carbon monoxide are reacted at a suitable elevated temperature and pressure with a catalyst of the invention to produce a hydrocarbon and alcohol would be as follows : h 2 + co c n h 2n + 2 + c n h 2n + 1 oh . specific examples demonstrating the effectiveness of applicants &# 39 ; eta phase composition and method employing the same in producing hydrocarbons and alcohols or converting hydrocarbons are set forth hereinafter . a tris ( ethylenediamine ) nickel molybdate , ni ( en ) 3 moo 4 , catalyst precursor was prepared by dissolving ammonium molybdate into ethylenediamine ( en ) and the resulting solution cooled to 0 ° c . in an ice bath . an aqueous solution of nickel chloride was slowly added , in aliquots , to the above solution , with agitation after the addition of each aliquot . a precipitate was formed and recovered by vacuum filtration . this precipitate was ni ( en ) 3 moo 4 which was washed with water and acetone and then dried in a vacuum oven at 50 ° c . more specifically , 20 . 5 g of ammonium heptamolybdate , ( nh 4 ) 6 mo 7 o 24 . 4h 2 o , was added to 500 ml of ethylenediamine , nh 2 ch 2 ch 2 nh 2 , in a 1000 ml erlenmeyer flask . the amount of ethylenediamine was greatly in excess of the stochiometric amount required to form the precursor compound and aids in its precipitation . in a separate flask 27 g of nickel chloride , nicl 2 . 6h 2 o , were dissolved into 300 ml of distilled water . this ni 2 + was added slowly , in aliquots , to the molybdate solution with agitation after each addition . the precipitate , ni ( en ) 3 moo 4 , which formed immediately , was collected on a buchner funnel , washed with a small amount of water and then acetone . it was dried in a vacuum oven for 16 hours . 46 g of ni ( en ) 3 moo 4 were recovered . the method of example 1 was used with the substitution of either cocl 2 . 6h 2 o or fecl 2 . 4h 2 o for the nicl 2 . 6h 2 o . in the synthesis of fe ( en ) 3 moo 4 the solutions and the precipitate were handled under an inert blanket of nitrogen gas to prevent the oxidation of fe 2 + to fe 3 + . preparation of [ fe ( en ) 3 ] 0 . 5 [ ni ( en ) 3 ] 0 . 5 moo 4 , [ fe ( en ) 3 ] 0 . 5 [ co ( en ) 3 ] 0 . 5 moo 4 , [ co ( en ) 3 ] 0 . 5 [ ni ( en ) 3 ] 0 . 5 moo 4 , etc . the methods of example 1 and example 2 were used with equimolar mixtures of aqueous fe 2 + and ni 2 + fe 2 + and co 2 + , and co 2 + and ni 2 + substituted respectively for the ni 2 + aqueous solution used in example 1 . again a nitrogen gas blanket was used where necessary to prevent the oxidation of these ions . preparation of [ m ( en ) 3 ] 1 - x [ m &# 39 ;( en ) 3 ] x moo 4 where both m and m &# 39 ;= fe , co , ni the methods of example 1 and example 2 were used with mixtures of aqueous m 2 + and m &# 39 ; 2 + in the molar ratio ( 1 - x ): x , where x is greater than or equal to zero less than or equal to 1 , substituted for the ni 2 + aqueous solution of example 1 . a nitrogen gas blanket was used as in the previous examples . 14 . 5 grams of tungstric acid , h 2 wo 4 , were dissolved in 150 ml of a 1 : 1 mixture of concentrated nh 4 oh and water , and 150 ml of ethylenediamine . a clear solution was obtained by heating and stirring . in a separate vessel , 13 . 5 grams of nicl 2 . 6h 2 o was dissolved in distilled water and added to the hot tungstric acid solution . a precipitate , ni ( en ) 3 wo 4 , formed as the volume of the mixture was reduced 50 % by evaporating the solution . after cooling the mixture to room temperature , the product was collected by filtration on a buchner funnel , washed with acetone , and dried . the method of example 5 was used with the substitution of cocl 2 . 6h 2 o or fecl 2 . 4h 2 o for nicl 2 o . 6 h2 o . in the synthesis of fe ( en ) 3 wo 4 the procedure is carried out under an inert atmosphere to prevent the oxidation of fe 2 + to fe 3 + . preparation of [ m ( en ) 3 ] 1 - x [ m &# 39 ;( en ) 3 ] x wo 4 where both m and m &# 39 ;= fe , co , ni the methods of example 5 and example 6 were used with mixtures of aqueous m 2 + and m &# 39 ; 2 + in the molar ratio ( 1 - x ): x , where x is defined as in example 4 , substituted for the ni 2 + aqueous solution of example 5 . the reactive precursors were prepared in identical manners from the appropriate m &# 39 ;( en ) 3 moo 4 salt and were synthesized by the methods of examples 1 and 2 , where m &# 39 ; is ni , co and fe . the transition metal coordination compound was placed in a quartz boat in a 1 . 5 &# 34 ; i . d . quartz tubular furnace and heated in a flowing mixture of equal parts by volume of he and h 2 at 1 atm pressure and at a total flow rate of 160 cc / min . the furnace temperature was ramped from room temperature to 650 ° c . at a heating rate of 15 ° c ./ min and held at temperature for 0 . 5 hours . the h 2 / he flow was replaced with he and the heating continued to 1000 ° c . the flow rate was then replaced with a co 2 / co / he mixture appropriate for the desired thermodynamic conversion . the conversion was allowed to proceed at 1000 ° c . for at least three hours . finally the reactor was purged with he and cooled to room temperature . in this manner , the following four molybdenum eta phases were produced fe 6 mo 6 c , co 6 mo 6 c , co 6 mo 6 c ( at an elevated temperature ), and ni 6 mo 6 c . table i______________________________________molybdenum eta carbide phases co . sub . 2 he temp . ( cc / co ( cc / carbon pco . sup .+ pcoeta - phase ( c .°) min ) ( cc / min ) min ) activity ( torr ) ______________________________________ni . sub . 6 mo . sub . 6 c 1000 64 . 8 200 200 0 . 011 433co . sub . 6 mo . sub . 6 c 1000 64 . 8 200 200 0 . 011 433fe . sub . 6 mo . sub . 6 c 1000 64 . 8 200 200 0 . 011 433co . sub . 6 mo . sub . 6 c 1010 14 . 0 100 0 0 . 048 760______________________________________ the reactive precursor for the synthesis of a pure co 6 w 6 c was prepared by reductive decomposition of co ( en ) 3 wo 4 . the transition metal coordination compound was placed in a quartz boat in a 1 . 5 &# 34 ; i . d . quartz tubular furnace and heated in a flowing mixture of equal parts by volume of he and h 2 at 1 atm pressure and total flow rate of 160 cc / min . the furnace was ramped from room temperature to a temperature of 650 ° c . at a heating rate of 15 ° c ./ min , held there for three hours and cooled to room temperature in flowing gas . at room temperature , the reactive gas was replaced by helium at a flow rate of 40 cc / min . the resulting reactive precursor was subsequently passivated in he / o 2 gas mixtures by successive addition of o 2 of increasing concentration prior to removal from the furnace tube . the reactive high surface area precursor produced by the low temperature reductive decomposition of co ( en ) 3 wo 4 described above was placed in a quartz boat at the center of a uniform hot zone of a quartz tubular furnace in flowing argon at 900 torr pressure and 250 cc / min flow rate . the furnace temperature was raised rapidly to the conversion temperature ( typically 700 ° to 1000 ° c .). the argon flow was quickly replaced by the co 2 / co mixture with total pressure ( p ) and co 2 / co ratio necessary to achieve the desired carbon and oxygen activities at the conversion temperatures . the sample was held isothermally in the flowing reactive gas at a flow rate of 500 cc / min for a time sufficient to allow complete equilibration of the carbon activity of the precursor with the flowing gas . the co 2 / co gas mixture was then purged from the reaction tube by argon at a flow rate of 500 cc / min and the furnace was rapidly cooled to room temperature . samples were removed at room temperature without passivation . it was determined that complete conversion to the pure co 6 w 6 c eta carbide had occurred for the precursor processed at a carbon activity , ac , of 0 . 1 . kinetically controlled preparation of ni 6 mo 6 z a eta phase a small quartz boat was filled with ni ( en ) 3 moo 4 . the boat was then placed into a 1 . 5 &# 34 ; i . d . quartz tubular furnace which had been preheated to 700 ° c . and which contained a 1 : 1 h 2 / he mixture flowing at 500 cc / min . the reactor was maintained at these conditions for 3 hours after which the resulting catalyst was cooled to room temperature in the flowing gas mixture . the catalyst was removed from the reactor without passivation . the structure of the catalyst was determined by x - ray powder diffraction and elemental analysis . kinetically controlled preparation of fe 3 ni 3 mo 6 z a , where a = 1 and fe 3 ni 3 mo 6 z a , where a = 2 eta phase a small quartz boat was filled with [ fe ( en ) 3 ] 0 . 5 [ ni ( en ) 3 ] 0 . 5 moo 4 . the boat was then placed into a 1 . 5 &# 34 ; i . d . quartz tubular furnace which had been preheated to 700 ° c . and which contained he flowing at 500 cc / min . the temperature was allowed to stabilize and the flow increased to 525 cc / min with the addition of a h 2 gas stream . the reactor was maintained at these conditions for 3 hours after which the catalyst was cooled to room temperature in the flowing gas mixture . the catalyst was passivated at room temperature according to the following schedule . the samples were removed from the reactor . x - ray and chemical analysis showed that the catalyst sample contained two forms of eta phase catalyst , fe 3 ni 3 mo 6 z a , where a is greater than zero but less than or equal to 1 and fe 3 ni 3 mo 6 z a , where a is greater than zero but less than or equal to 2 . molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst for co hydrogenation : effect of pressure on alcohol synthesis samples of eta phase catalysts were evaluated for co hydrogenation reactions in a continuous flow unit with separate mass flow controllers for metering the feed rates of carbon monoxide and hydrogen to a stainless steel upflow reactor temperature controlled in a fluidized sand bath with 2 . 0 cc catalyst volume between porous frits . an on - line gas chromatograph was used for analyzing both reactants and products , and a back pressure regulator was used for controlling the reaction pressure between 1 and 60 atmospheres . a sample of molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst weighing 0 . 53 g , prepared by the methods of example 1 and example 10 , was loaded into the reactor and flushed with flowing hydrogen at room temperature . the catalyst was heated in stages , first to 120 ° c ., then to 250 ° c . and finally to 400 ° c . the sample was reduced for at least 1 hour at 400 ° c . prior to lowering the temperature for reaction studies . a temperature of 250 ° c . was used as a typical temperature for evaluating new materials . the effect of pressure on catalyst performance of molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst is shown in table ii . the feed rates were varied from 40 to 80 to 120 cc ( stp ) per minute as the pressure was increased from 1 to 5 to 10 to 15 atmospheres pressure . the h 2 / co ratio was maintained at 3 . 0 . the product distribution changed substantially as the pressure was increased from 1 atmosphere . initially the products were exclusively light hydrocarbons , water and co 2 . as the pressure was raised , substantial quantities of alcohols appeared in the products . increasing the pressure increased the methanol selectivity from 29 . 8 % to 46 . 1 % to 52 . 2 %. table ii______________________________________molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst run number 2 - 1 2 - 2 2 - 3 2 - 4______________________________________temp . (° c .) 249 250 252 249pressure ( atm ) 1 . 0 5 . 0 10 . 0 15 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0feed rate ( cc / min ) 40 40 80 120 % co conversion 1 . 2 2 . 8 2 . 3 1 . 9product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 63 . 8 44 . 0 33 . 5 29 . 2c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 27 . 5 14 . 5 9 . 7 7 . 9c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 8 . 6 5 . 0 3 . 5 2 . 8c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons -- 1 . 6 1 . 5 1 . 3c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons -- 0 . 5 0 . 4 0 . 5c . sub . 1 alcohols -- 29 . 8 46 . 1 52 . 2c . sub . 2 alcohols -- 4 . 6 5 . 3 5 . 9c . sub . 3 alcohols -- -- -- 0 . 3______________________________________ molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst for co hydrogenation : effect of partial pressure on selectivity the sample of molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst described in example 12 was tested to determine the effect of h 2 / co ratio on performance . the catalyst sample was heated to 250 ° c . and the initial reactant inlet partial pressures were set at co = 1 . 0 atm and h 2 = 3 . 0 atm . conversions were maintained at a low level so that the changes in reactant concentration would be low in moving from the reactor inlet to the outlet . the reactant concentrations were changed systematically , first by maintaining the co partial pressure and increasing the hydrogenation pressure , then by holding the hydrogen partial pressure constant and increasing the co partial pressure . the results of this set of runs are presented in table iii . the run 3 - 1 starting the sequence has h 2 / co = 3 . 0 and a total pressure of 4 . 0 atm . both hydrocarbons and alcohols are among the products . increasing the h 2 / co ratio to 6 . 0 while maintaining the co partial pressure increased the reaction rate and increased the selectivity to methanol relative to hydrocarbon products . increasing the h 2 / co ratio to 9 . 0 increased the alcohol selectivity still further . when the h 2 partial pressure reached 9 . 0 atm , the co partial pressure was systematically increased first to 2 . 0 atm , then 4 . 0 atm , and finally 6 . 0 atm . the h 2 / co ratio decreased from 9 . 0 to 1 . 5 over the full range . the high selectivity to light alcohols was maintained over this broad range of h 2 / co ratio . table iii__________________________________________________________________________molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst run number 3 - 1 3 - 2 303 3 - 4 3 - 5 3 - 6__________________________________________________________________________temp . (° c .) 253 253 252 256 252 252total pressure ( atm ) 4 . 0 7 . 0 10 . 0 11 . 0 13 . 0 15 . 0h . sub . 2 pressure ( atm ) 3 . 0 6 . 0 9 . 0 9 . 0 9 . 0 9 . 0co pressure ( atm ) 1 . 0 1 . 0 1 . 0 2 . 0 4 . 0 6 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 3 . 0 6 . 0 9 . 0 4 . 5 2 . 2 1 . 5feed rate ( cc / min ) 40 70 100 110 130 150 % co conversion 1 . 8 2 . 9 4 . 4 2 . 2 1 . 1 0 . 7product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 46 . 1 40 . 0 38 . 8 33 . 4 29 . 7 27 . 2c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 15 . 8 10 . 6 8 . 8 8 . 5 8 . 5 8 . 7c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 5 . 3 3 . 1 2 . 5 2 . 7 3 . 0 3 . 2c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons 1 . 2 0 . 5 0 . 5 1 . 4 1 . 3 1 . 2c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons 0 . 4 0 . 3 0 . 3 0 . 2 0 . 4 0 . 5c . sub . 1 alcohols 31 . 2 41 . 4 46 . 3 49 . 2 51 . 2 51 . 4c . sub . 2 alcohols -- 4 . 0 2 . 9 4 . 7 5 . 9 7 . 9c . sub . 3 alcohols -- -- -- -- -- -- __________________________________________________________________________ molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst for co hydrogenation : effect of temperature on selectivity a 0 . 51 g sample of molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst was evaluated at constant pressure and h 2 / co ratio while the temperature was varied . table iv shows changes in the rate and product distribution when the reaction temperature was increased from 199 to 302 ° c . the h 2 / co ratio was maintained at 3 . 0 and the total pressure was 10 atmospheres . run 4 - 1 shows high selectivity to methanol at 199 ° c . this selectivity stayed at 49 % when the temperature was increased to 250 ° c ., but dropped to 38 % at 275 ° c . and to 12 % at 302 ° c . decreased selectivity to methanol at the higher temperatures was predicted by thermodynamic considerations . higher reaction temperatures require higher pressures to prevent methanol from decomposing to the reactants co + 2h 2 . increased reaction temperature has a substantial effect on the rate of co conversion to hydrocarbons . table iv______________________________________molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst run number 4 - 1 4 - 2 4 - 3 4 - 4______________________________________temp . (° c .) 199 250 275 302pressure ( atm ) 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0feed rate ( cc / min ) 40 80 120 120 % co conversion 0 . 8 2 . 5 4 . 2 12 . 0product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 24 . 2 32 . 6 46 . 4 74 . 2c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 9 . 2 7 . 5 7 . 9 8 . 8c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 5 . 4 3 . 1 2 . 5 2 . 7c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons 2 . 7 1 . 0 0 . 9 0 . 8c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons 1 . 3 1 . 1 0 . 5 0 . 3c . sub . 5 + hydrocarbons 2 . 1 0 . 6 0 . 5 0 . 4c . sub . 1 alcohols 49 . 0 49 . 1 38 . 2 11 . 7c . sub . 2 alcohols 6 . 2 5 . 0 2 . 9 1 . 1c . sub . 3 alcohols -- -- -- -- ______________________________________ comparison of molybdenum nickel eta phase with molybdenum oxycarbonitride for co hydrogenation a comparison of the catalytic properties of molybdenum nickel eta phase was made with molybdenum oxycarbonitride for co hydrogenation reactions . molybdenum oxycarbonitride is a high surface area , high activity catalyst for co hydrogenation as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 418 , 154 . it produces hydrocarbon product distributions typical of traditional molybdenum carbide and molybdenum nitride materials , but has high activity due to its high surface area . a comparison of 1 . 08 g of molybdenum oxycarbonitride with 0 . 53 g of molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst using the continuous flow unit described in example 12 is shown in table v . at 250 ° c ., 10 atmospheres pressure , and a h 2 / co ratio of 1 . 0 , the molybdenum nickel eta phase catalyst produced a product distribution containing 46 . 3 % hydrocarbons and 53 . 7 % alcohols . by contrast , the molybdenum oxycarbonitride catalyst produced 94 . 5 % hydrocarbons and only 5 . 5 % alcohols . the high selectivity to alcohols distinguishes the molybdenum eta phase catalyst from catalyst containing molybdenum alone in a carbide , nitride , oxycarbide , carbonitride , or oxycarbonitride form . table v______________________________________comparison of molybdenum nickel eta phase withmolybdenum oxycarbonitride for co hydrogenation run number 5 - 1 5 - 2 catalyst moni eta phase moo . sub . xc . sub . y n . sub . z______________________________________temp . (° c .) 250 249pressure ( atm ) 10 . 0 10 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 1 . 0 1 . 0feed rate ( cc / min ) 100 120 % co conversion 0 . 66 1 . 60product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 28 . 0 50 . 2c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 10 . 8 18 . 9c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 4 . 4 8 . 5c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons 1 . 5 3 . 2c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons 0 . 8 1 . 6c . sub . 5 + hydrocarbons 0 . 9 12 . 2c . sub . 1 alcohols 37 . 5 5 . 1c . sub . 2 alcohols 14 . 4 0 . 4c . sub . 3 alcohols 1 . 3 -- c . sub . 4 alcohols 0 . 5 -- ______________________________________ molybdenum cobalt eta phase catalyst for co hydrogenation : effect of temperature on selectivity a 0 . 51 g sample of molybdenum cobalt eta phase catalyst was evaluated at constant pressure and h 2 / co ratio while the temperature was varied . table vi shows how rate and product distribution changed when the reaction temperature was increased from 203 ° to 299 ° c . the h 2 / co inlet ratio was maintained at 3 . 0 and the total pressure was 10 atmospheres . run 6 - 1 shows product selectivities for both hydrocarbons and alcohols . the major individual product at 203 ° c . is methanol . a comparison of molybdenum cobalt with molybdenum nickel at similar conditions shows that changing from nickel to cobalt increased the hydrocarbon yield relative to alcohols and also caused the hydrocarbon distribution to shift toward higher molecular weights . increasing reaction temperature increases reaction rates and selectivities toward hydrocarbons . table vi______________________________________molybdenum cobalt eta phase catalyst run number 6 - 1 6 - 2 6 - 3 6 - 4______________________________________temp . (° c .) 203 250 275 299pressure ( atm ) 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0feed rate ( cc / min ) 120 120 120 120 % co conversion 0 . 8 9 . 6 20 . 4 54 . 2product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 17 . 1 32 . 0 44 . 1 57 . 9c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 13 . 4 19 . 9 23 . 4 24 . 8c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 11 . 1 12 . 4 11 . 9 9 . 8c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons 6 . 2 5 . 8 4 . 7 3 . 1c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons 4 . 1 3 . 2 2 . 3 1 . 4c . sub . 5 + hydrocarbons 10 . 3 7 . 7 5 . 3 2 . 2c . sub . 1 alcohols 29 . 3 14 . 5 7 . 5 0 . 7c . sub . 2 alcohols 8 . 5 4 . 2 0 . 9 0 . 1c . sub . 3 alcohols -- 0 . 3 -- -- ______________________________________ molybdenum cobalt eta phase catalyst for co hydrogenation : effect of reactant partial pressure on selectivity a 0 . 51 g sample of molybdenum cobalt eta phase catalyst was tested to determine the effect of h 2 / co ratio on performance . the catalyst sample was heated to 250 ° c . and the initial reactant inlet partial pressures were set at co = 1 . 0 atm and h 2 = 3 . 0 atm . the reactant concentrations were changed systematically , first by maintaining the co partial pressure and increasing the hydrogen pressure , then by holding the hydrogen partial pressure constant and increasing the co partial pressure . the results of this set of experiments are presented in table vii . the run 7 - 1 starting the sequence has h 2 / co 3 . 0 and a total pressure of 4 atm . both hydrocarbons and alcohols are among the products . increasing the h 2 / co ratio to 6 . 0 while maintaining the co partial pressure increased reaction rates and increased selectivity towards alcohols . the hydrocarbon product distribution became slightly lighter with increasing hydrogen partial pressure . increasing the h 2 / co ratio to 9 . 0 continued the trend toward more alcohols and lighter hydrocarbon products . when the h 2 inlet partial pressure reached 9 . 0 atm , the co inlet partial pressure was systematically increased , first to 2 . 0 atm and then to 4 . 0 atm . increased co pressure reduced the catalyst selectivity toward methane and increased selectivity toward methanol and other light alcohols . table vii______________________________________molybdenum cobalt eta phase catalyst run number 7 - 1 7 - 2 7 - 3 7 - 4 7 - 5______________________________________temp . (° c .) 249 247 254 247 248pressure ( atm ) 4 . 0 7 . 0 10 . 0 11 . 0 13 . 0h . sub . 2 pressure 3 . 0 6 . 0 9 . 0 9 . 0 9 . 0co pressure 1 . 0 1 . 0 1 . 0 2 . 0 4 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 3 . 0 6 . 0 9 . 0 9 . 0 9 . 0feed rate ( cc / min ) 40 70 100 110 130 % co conversion 11 . 2 15 . 3 20 . 5 8 . 5 3 . 9product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 33 . 5 40 . 5 45 . 3 35 . 2 28 . 9c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 25 . 7 22 . 3 20 . 4 19 . 4 18 . 2c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 16 . 7 11 . 9 10 . 0 11 . 0 11 . 4c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons 7 . 4 5 . 1 4 . 1 4 . 5 5 . 0c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons 4 . 2 2 . 5 1 . 8 2 . 5 2 . 9c . sub . 5 + hydrocarbons 10 . 0 7 . 2 4 . 7 5 . 8 7 . 2c . sub . 1 alcohols 2 . 6 9 . 5 12 . 6 17 . 8 19 . 7c . sub . 2 alcohols -- 1 . 1 1 . 2 3 . 7 6 . 2c . sub . 3 alcohols -- -- -- 0 . 2 0 . 6______________________________________ a 0 . 50 g sample of molybdenum iron eta phase catalyst was tested in the continuous flow reactor described in example 12 to determine its activity and selectivity for h 2 / co reactions . tests were carried out at 10 . 0 atm pressure and a constant inlet h 2 / co ratio of 3 . 0 while the temperature was varied . table viii shows how the conversion and product distributions changed as the temperature was increased from 200 to 302 ° c . run 8 - 1 shows that at 200 ° c . the iron molybdenum eta phase catalyst has low methane selectivity , a broad distribution of hydrocarbon products , and high selectivity to both methanol and ethanol . catalyst samples containing iron had broader product distributions than their analogs containing cobalt ( run 6 - 1 ) or nickel ( run 4 - 1 ). increasing reaction temperature at 10 atm pressure increased reaction rate and shifted the product distribution toward lower molecular weights . table viii______________________________________molybdenum iron eta phase catalyst run number 8 - 1 8 - 2 8 - 3______________________________________temp . (° c .) 200 249 302pressure ( atm ) 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0feed rate ( cc / min ) 40 80 120 % co conversion 3 . 2 9 . 7 38 . 4product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 15 . 0 25 . 6 44 . 5c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 11 . 4 17 . 9 26 . 2c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 11 . 5 14 . 4 14 . 2c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons 7 . 2 7 . 3 5 . 6c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons 5 . 5 4 . 4 2 . 9c . sub . 5 + hydrocarbons 19 . 4 12 . 4 6 . 6c . sub . 1 alcohols 15 . 2 12 . 7 0 . 8c . sub . 2 alcohols 12 . 4 4 . 5 0 . 2c . sub . 3 alcohols 2 . 5 0 . 9 -- ______________________________________ a 0 . 487 m solution of potassium carbonate was prepared by dissolving 1 . 01 g of potassium carbonate in 15 . 0 g of distilled water . 0 . 87 cc of the resulting solution was added dropwise to 0 . 99 g of molybdenum iron eta phase catalyst . the sample was stirred to provide an even distribution of liquid over the solid sample and then permitted to air dry . the concentration of potassium on the sample is calculated to be 3 . 2 %. potassium promoted molybdenum iron eta phase catalyst for co hydrogenation : a comparison with unpromoted molybdenum iron eta phase catalyst a 0 . 51 g sample of potassium promoted molybdenum iron eta phase catalyst was tested at conditions similar to those used in example 18 to determine the effect of the potassium addition on the catalyst performance . the comparison was made at 10 . 0 atm total pressure , a h 2 / co ratio of 3 . 0 and at both 250 and 300 ° c . the results were presented in table ix . at approximately 250 ° c ., the potassium promoted catalyst showed a substantially heavier product than the unpromoted sample . methane selectivity was 12 . 8 % as compared to 25 . 6 %. the heavier hydrocarbon liquids were analyzed at 16 . 9 % as compared to 12 . 4 %, and the alcohol selectivity showed a substantial increase with potassium addition . at 300 ° c ., similar results were observed with methane from the potassium promoted sample being about half that produced by the unpromoted sample . again , heavier hydrocarbon liquids were observed , as well as substantially more alcohol products . table ix______________________________________potassium promoter affects onmolybdenum iron eta phases run number 9 - 1 8 - 2 9 - 2 8 - 3______________________________________ % potassium 3 . 2 0 . 0 3 . 2 0 . 0temp . (° c .) 253 249 304 302pressure ( atm ) 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0feed rate ( cc / min ) 80 80 80 80 % co conversion 1 . 0 9 . 7 5 . 0 38 . 4product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 12 . 8 25 . 6 22 . 4 44 . 5c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 12 . 9 17 . 9 19 . 9 26 . 2c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 9 . 8 14 . 4 12 . 6 14 . 2c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons 6 . 2 7 . 3 6 . 7 5 . 6c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons 4 . 8 4 . 4 4 . 9 2 . 9c . sub . 5 + hydrocarbons 16 . 9 12 . 4 11 . 8 6 . 6c . sub . 1 alcohols 19 . 0 12 . 7 10 . 6 0 . 8c . sub . 2 alcohols 16 . 3 4 . 5 9 . 9 0 . 2c . sub . 3 alcohols 1 . 4 0 . 9 1 . 3 -- ______________________________________ a 0 . 50 g sample of molybdenum nickel - iron eta phase catalyst as prepared in example 11 was evaluated at constant pressure and h 2 / co ratio while the temperature was varied . table x shows how rate and product distribution changed when the reaction temperature was increased from 199 ° to 300 ° c . the h 2 / co inlet ratio was 3 . 0 and the total pressure was 10 . 0 atm . the product contains both hydrocarbons and alcohols . at 199 ° c ., the major product is methanol . raising the temperature reduces the selectivity to alcohols with hydrocarbons being the predominant product at 300 ° c . table x______________________________________molybdenum nickel - iron eta phase catalyst run number 10 - 1 10 - 2 10 - 3______________________________________temp . (° c .) 199 251 300pressure ( atm ) 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0feed rate ( cc / min ) 40 80 120 % co conversion 2 . 6 6 . 9 25 . 9product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 18 . 8 30 . 8 52 . 3c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 12 . 0 16 . 1 22 . 0c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 9 . 2 9 . 9 10 . 4c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons 5 . 4 4 . 8 4 . 3c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons 2 . 9 2 . 6 2 . 1c . sub . 5 + hydrocarbons 7 . 8 6 . 1 4 . 5c . sub . 1 alcohols 29 . 5 22 . 3 3 . 9c . sub . 2 alcohols 12 . 5 6 . 5 0 . 5c . sub . 3 alcohols 2 . 0 1 . 0 -- ______________________________________ comparison of molybdenum eta phase catalysts for co hydrogenation reactions : effect of group viii metals on selectivity a comparison of the molybdenum eta phase catalysts described in examples 14 , 16 , 18 and 21 is made in table xi . the molybdenum nickel - iron eta phase catalyst is compared with its molybdenum nickel , molybdenum cobalt and molybdenum iron analogs . the comparison is made for reactions at approximately 250 ° c ., 10 . 0 atm pressure and h 2 / co = 3 . 0 . all of the catalyst make similar products , but variations do occur in a systemic way . molybdenum nickel is most selective to methanol . methanol selectivity decreases as the group viii metal changes from nickel to cobalt to iron . while methanol selectivity is decreasing , the hydrocarbon products are becoming more significant , and they are shifting from primarily light products to heavier products . comparing the mixed group viii metal eta phase catalyst to the others , the nickel - iron combination produces a product state similar to that produced by cobalt . the mixed group viii metal eta phase catalyst is clearly not just the average of nickel properties and iron properties , for were that the case , yield of methanol would be higher . this similarity between molybdenum nickel - iron and molybdenum cobalt can also be observed at 200 ° and 300 ° c . by comparing the data provided in table x with table vi . table xi______________________________________comparison of molybdenum eta phase catalysts run number 10 - 2 4 - 2 6 - 2 8 - 2 group viii metals nife ni co fe______________________________________temp . (° c .) 251 250 250 249pressure ( atm ) 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0feed rate ( cc / min ) 80 80 120 80 % co conversion 6 . 9 2 . 5 9 . 6 9 . 7product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 30 . 8 32 . 6 32 . 0 25 . 6c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 16 . 1 7 . 5 19 . 9 17 . 9c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 9 . 9 3 . 1 12 . 4 14 . 4c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons 4 . 8 1 . 0 5 . 8 7 . 3c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons 2 . 6 1 . 1 3 . 2 4 . 4c . sub . 5 + hydrocarbons 6 . 1 0 . 6 7 . 7 12 . 4c . sub . 1 alcohols 22 . 3 49 . 1 14 . 5 12 . 7c . sub . 2 alcohols 6 . 5 5 . 0 4 . 2 4 . 5c . sub . 3 alcohols 1 . 0 -- 0 . 3 0 . 9______________________________________ a 1 . 02 g sample of tungsten nickel eta phase catalyst was evaluated at constant pressure and h 2 / co ratio while the temperature was varied . table xii shows how rate and product distribution changed when the temperature was increased from 172 ° to 252 ° c . the h 2 / co ratio was maintained at 3 . 0 and the total pressure was maintained at 10 atm . run 12 - 1 shows high selectivity to methanol at 172 ° c . this initial selectivity of 28 % methanol remained nearly constant as the temperature was increased to 223 ° c ., then decreased slightly to 20 % on raising the reaction temperature to 252 ° c . the hydrocarbon distribution is comprised primarily of methane and other light hydrocarbon products . table xii______________________________________tungsten nickel eta phase catalyst run number 12 - 1 12 - 2 12 - 3 12 - 4______________________________________temp . (° c .) 172 199 223 252pressure ( atm ) 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0feed rate ( cc / min ) 40 40 40 40 % co conversion 0 . 73 1 . 7 2 . 1 6 . 0product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 45 . 0 46 . 8 53 . 3 65 . 2c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 12 . 8 11 . 1 10 . 2 9 . 0c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 5 . 1 4 . 1 3 . 6 2 . 7c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons 1 . 6 1 . 2 1 . 0 0 . 6c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons 0 . 7 0 . 4 0 . 5 0 . 3c . sub . 5 + hydrocarbons 2 . 1 0 . 7 0 . 9 0 . 3c . sub . 1 alcohols 28 . 1 31 . 1 27 . 8 20 . 5c . sub . 2 alcohols 4 . 6 4 . 6 2 . 6 1 . 4c . sub . 3 alcohols -- -- -- -- ______________________________________ a 1 . 02 g sample of tungsten cobalt eta phase catalyst was evaluated at constant pressure and h 2 / co ratio while the temperature was varied . table xiii shows rate and product distribution changes when the temperature was increased from 201 ° to 304 ° c . the h 2 / co ratio was maintained at 3 . 0 and the total pressure was maintained at 10 atm . run 13 - 1 shows high selectivity to light hydrocarbons and alcohols at 201 ° c . increasing the temperature increases conversion and shifts both the hydrocarbons and alcohols toward lighter products . table xiii______________________________________tungsten cobalt eta phase catalyst run number 13 - 1 13 - 2 13 - 3 13 - 4 13 - 5______________________________________temp . (° c .) 201 227 252 278 304pressure ( atm ) 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0 10 . 0h . sub . 2 / co inlet 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0 3 . 0feed rate ( cc / min ) 40 40 40 80 120 % co conversion 1 . 5 4 . 2 10 . 3 13 . 1 20 . 9product selectivity ( wt . %, co . sub . 2 free ) c . sub . 1 hydrocarbons 27 . 1 29 . 9 36 . 6 44 . 0 54 . 5c . sub . 2 hydrocarbons 18 . 1 20 . 1 23 . 0 25 . 1 26 . 4c . sub . 3 hydrocarbons 13 . 7 13 . 3 13 . 6 12 . 7 10 . 5c . sub . 4 hydrocarbons 6 . 9 6 . 1 5 . 7 4 . 7 3 . 3c . sub . 5 hydrocarbons 3 . 6 3 . 9 3 . 2 2 . 4 1 . 5c . sub . 5 + hydrocarbons 9 . 9 9 . 2 7 . 4 5 . 3 3 . 3c . sub . 1 alcohols 12 . 9 11 . 2 8 . 4 4 . 6 0 . 6c . sub . 2 alcohols 7 . 8 6 . 3 2 . 0 1 . 2 -- c . sub . 3 alcohols -- -- -- -- -- ______________________________________ samples of eta phase catalyst were evaluated for olefin hydrogenation in a continuous flow unit with mass flow controllers for metering flows of hydrogen and helium , a gas saturator in a constant temperature bath for adding controlled amounts of hydrocarbons to the hydrogen or helium stream , a stainless steel upflow reactor temperature controlled in a sand bath with 2 . 0 cc catalyst volume between porous frits , an on line gas chromatograph for analyzing both reactants and products , and a back pressure regulator for controlling the reaction pressure between 1 and 60 atmospheres . a sample of tungsten cobalt eta phase catalyst weighing 1 . 02 g was loaded into the reactor and reduced in flowing hydrogen at 90 cc / min ( stp ) at 400 ° c . for 1 . 5 hours . the reactor temperature was lowered to room temperature to evaluate this material as a catalyst for olefin hydrogenation . the unit was pressurized to 9 . 9 atmospheres with hydrogen , the saturator filled with 1 - hexene and thermostated to 0 ° c ., and the hydrogen flow rate controlled at 50 cc / min ( stp ). the saturator temperature set the 1 - hexene concentration at 0 . 7 volume percent , a weight hourly space velocity of approximately 0 . 08 grams of feed per gram of catalyst per hour . run 14 - 1 shows that 11 0 % of the 1 - hexene fed was hydrogenated to n - hexane at 24 ° c . the olefins that were not hydrogenated were isomerized so that the product contained not only 1 - hexene and n - hexane but also 2 - hexenes and 3 - hexenes as well . the reactor temperature was raised to 97 ° c . and all of the feed was hydrogenated to n - hexane at this temperature . no methane or light hydrocarbon products indicative of carbon - carbon bond hydrogenolysis were observed . the results and conditions for these experiments are listed in table xiv . table xiv______________________________________tungsten cobalt eta phase catalyst run number feed 14 - 1 14 - 2______________________________________temp . (° c .) -- 24 97pressure ( atm ) -- 9 . 9 9 . 9h . sub . 2 feed rate ( cc / min ) -- 50 50h . sub . 2 / hc inlet -- 140 140whsv ( g / g / hr )* -- 0 . 08 0 . 08analysis ( wt . %) n - hexane 0 . 0 11 . 0 100 . 0hexenes 100 . 0 89 . 0 0 . 00ch . sub . 4 0 . 00 0 . 00 0 . 00other c . sub . 2 - c . sub . 6 0 . 00 0 . 00 0 . 00______________________________________ * weight hourly space velocity samples of eta phase catalyst were evaluated for aromatics hydrogenation and carbon - carbon bond hydrogenolysis in a continuous flow unit with mass flow controllers for metering flows of hydrogen and helium , a liquid chromatrography pump for maintaining low feed rates of liquid reactants , a stainless steel upflow reactor temperature controlled in a sand bath with 2 . 0 cc catalyst volume between porous frits , an on line gas chromatograph for analyzing both reactants and products , and a back pressure regulator for controlling the reaction between 1 and 60 atmospheres . a sample of tungsten nickel eta phase cataylst weighing 1 . 00 g was loaded into the reactor and reduced in flowing hydrogen at 80 cc / min ( stp ) at 400 ° c . for 2 . 5 hours . the reactor temperature was lowered to 250 ° c . to evaluate this material as a catalyst for benzene hydrogenation . the unit was pressurized to 21 . 3 atmospheres with hydrogen and a benzene feed was introduced at 0 . 50 g / hr , at weight hourly space velocity of 0 . 5 grams of feed per gram of catalyst per hour . run 15 - 1 shows that all of the benzene was hydrogenated to cyclohexane at these conditions . none of the cyclohexane was cracked by carbon - carbon bond hydrogenolysis to lighter products at 252 ° c . the reactor temperature was lowered to 201 ° c . to reduce reaction rate . again 100 % of the benzene was hydrogenated to cyclohexane . finally the reactor was cooled to 152 ° c . where the conversion of benzene to cyclohexane was again 100 %. the results and conditions for these experiments are listed below in table xv . table xv______________________________________tungsten nickel eta phase catalyst run number feed 15 - 1 15 - 2 15 - 3______________________________________temp . (° c .) -- 255 201 152pressure ( atm ) -- 21 . 3 21 . 3 21 . 3h . sub . 2 feed rate ( cc / min ) -- 80 80 80hc feed rate ( g / hr ) -- 0 . 50 0 . 50 0 . 50h . sub . 2 / hc inlet -- 33 33 33whsv ( g / g / hr )* -- 0 . 5 0 . 5 0 . 5analysis ( wt . %) cyclohexane 0 . 07 100 . 0 100 . 0 100 . 0benzene 97 . 93 0 . 00 0 . 00 0 . 00ch . sub . 4 0 . 00 0 . 00 0 . 00 0 . 00other c . sub . 2 - c . sub . 6 0 . 00 0 . 00 0 . 00 0 . 00______________________________________ * weight hourly space velocity the tungsten nickel eta phase catalyst used for example 26 was tested again for aromatics hydrogenation using a mixture comprised of 14 . 6 % naphthylene in benzene . the reactor temperature was raised from room temperature to 250 ° c . and the unit pressurized with hydrogen to 21 . 3 atm . the aromatic feed mixture was introduced at 1 . 33 g / hr , a weight hourly space velocity of 1 . 33 grams of feed per gram of catalyst per hour . introducing the feed at this rate raised the reaction temperature above that of the sand bath . run 16 - 1 shows that at 267 ° c ., 99 . 98 % of the benzene was hydrogenated to cyclohexane and 99 . 66 % of the naphthylene was hydrogenated to either tetralin ( 1 . 7 %) or one of the decalin isomers ( 98 %). only traces of other hydrocarbon products due to either isomerization or carbon - carbon bond hydrogenolysis were observed . raising the reaction temperature from 267 ° to 313 ° c . caused the extent of aromatic hydrogenation to decrease since increasing temperature shifts the thermodynamic equilibrium away from the totally hydrogenated product and toward the aromatic forms . raising the temperature caused only a small increase in carbon - carbon bond breaking or skeletal rearrangements . the methane product was only 0 . 03 % while the total hydrocarbon converted to other structural forms was 1 . 3 %. a final increase in reaction temperature to 361 ° c . reduced aromatics saturation still further due to changing equilibrium position and increased the extent of rearranged or cracking products to 6 . 3 %. table xvi______________________________________tungsten nickel eta phase catalyst run number feed 16 - 1 16 - 2 16 - 3______________________________________temp . (° c .) -- 267 313 361pressure ( atm ) -- 21 . 3 21 . 3 21 . 3h . sub . 2 feed rate ( cc / min ) -- 80 80 80hc feed rate ( g / hr ) -- 1 . 33 1 . 33 1 . 33h . sub . 2 / hc inlet -- 13 13 13whsv ( g / g / hr )* -- 1 . 33 1 . 33 1 . 33analysis ( wt . %) cyclohexane 0 . 06 85 . 20 67 . 25 32 . 76benzene 85 . 21 0 . 02 16 . 71 51 . 13trans - decalin 0 . 01 9 . 26 9 . 86 4 . 51cis - decalin 0 . 02 5 . 15 3 . 74 1 . 85tetralin 0 . 08 0 . 25 1 . 06 2 . 58naphthalene 14 . 61 0 . 05 0 . 11 0 . 92ch . sub . 4 0 . 00 0 . 00 0 . 03 0 . 56other c . sub . 2 - c . sub . 6 0 . 00 0 . 05 0 . 46 2 . 19other c . sub . 7 - c . sub . 10 0 . 00 0 . 02 0 . 78 3 . 49______________________________________ * weight hourly space velocity a tungsten cobalt eta phase catalyst was tested for converting cycloparaffins to aromatics and isoparaffins . using the catalyst and test unit described in example 25 , methylcyclohexane was added to the saturator thermostated at 0 ° c ., the pressure was raised to 350 ° c . a hydrogen flow of 50 cc / min ( stp ) carrying 0 . 16 volume percent methylcyclohexane made the weight hourly space velocity of hydrocarbons approximately 0 . 02 grams of feed per gram of catalyst per hour . run 17 - 1 shows that at 351 ° c ., about 56 % of the methylcyclohexane had reacted , yielding 8 . 1 % toluene , 42 . 8 % heptane isomers , and 5 . 2 % methane . toluene was the dehydrogenation product , the other c 7 &# 39 ; s were paraffins produced by isomerization of the methylcyclohexane , and the methane and other c 2 - c 6 &# 39 ; s were products of carbon - carbon bond hydrogenolysis and various conversion reactions . raising the temperature to 401 ° c . increased the toluene selectivity to 53 % with lower selectivity to other c 7 paraffin isomers . both benzene and xylene products were evident as well as hydrogenolysis products of methane and c 2 - c 6 paraffins . the tungsten cobalt eta phase catalyst showed only 10 . 2 % methane and c 2 - c 6 paraffins under conditions where most of the products were either aromatics or branched c 7 paraffin isomers . table xvii______________________________________tungsten cobalt eta phase catalyst run number feed 17 - 1 17 - 2______________________________________temp . (° c .) -- 351 401pressure ( atm ) -- 10 . 0 10 . 0h . sub . 2 feed rate ( cc / min ) -- 50 50hc feed rate ( g / hr ) -- 0 . 02 0 . 02h . sub . 2 / hc inlet -- 625 625whsv ( g / g / hr )* -- 0 . 02 0 . 02analysis ( wt . %) methylcyclohexane 99 . 69 43 . 55 9 . 77toluene 0 . 31 8 . 11 52 . 26other c . sub . 7 -- 42 . 80 25 . 09xylenes -- -- 0 . 68benzene -- 0 . 15 2 . 00other c . sub . 2 - c . sub . 6 -- 0 . 15 3 . 45ch . sub . 4 -- 5 . 23 6 . 74______________________________________ * weight hourly space velocity in these specific examples , for equilibration at constant carbon activity , the following reaction may be employed : where the co and co 2 are gas phase species and c ( s ) is the solid carbon phase available for reaction to form the desired carbide phase , dissolved carbon or free carbon . from equation ( i ) the equilibrium carbon activity ( a c ) of a co / co 2 gas mixture is ## equ1 ## where g ° i is the standard free energy of formation of 1 mole of carbon in reaction i above at the reaction temperature t , molar gas constant r . for a fixed total reactive gas pressure and ratio of the partial pressure of co ( p co ) to the partial pressure of co 2 ( p co2 ) p co / p co2 the equilibrium carbon activity of the gas environment is fixed by equation ( ii ). two issues are considered in fixing the carbon activity with co / co 2 gas mixtures for the method of the invention : control of carbon activity should be easy and accurate and the equilibrium oxygen activity of the co / co 2 mixture used should be below that for which any oxide phase is stable at the reaction temperature . the equilibrium oxygen activity of a co / co 2 gas mixture can be calculated from the reaction : for which the oxygen partial pressure ( p o2 ) is given by ## equ2 ## where g ° iii is standard free energy of formation of one mole of o 2 in equation ( iii ) at the reaction temperature t . equations ( iv ) and ( ii ) show that the oxygen partial pressure and carbon activity at constant total reactive gas pressure p t ( where p t = p co + p co2 ) and temperature are coupled . at constant t and p t , measurement of the oxygen partial pressure of the gas phase therefore is a unique determination of the carbon activity of the gas phase . this observation provides a simple and precise method for the determination and control of the carbon activity . the oxygen partial pressure of the gas phase may , for example , be continuously measured by means of a 71 / 2 % calcia stabilized zirconia oxygen probe located ideally in the hot zone of the furnace in which the thermodynamic conversion of the reactive precursor is carried out . the carbon activity of the gas phase is then calculated by equation ( ii ) from a knowledge of the total reaction pressure , temperature and p co / p co2 as determined by equation ( iv ). generally , the coupling of equations i and iii requires that the total pressure in the system be adjusted so that no undesirable oxide phase is stable at conditions required to form the desired carbide phase .	2
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 . the exemplary processing of a video field in order to classify the cadence of regions of the image comprises three stages : 1 . derivation of pixel inter - field differences . 2 . initial classification of pixels according to the respective inter - field differences . 3 . refinement of the classification of each pixel in dependence upon the classification of other pixels in the same field . the first stage is illustrated in fig1 , which shows an example of the derivation of inter - image difference signals in a real - time process applied to a conventional , streaming , sampled interlaced television signal . the skilled reader will understand that analogous derivations can be applied in systems that process image data in other formats , including image files and non - interlaced image formats . the input video signal ( 1 ) is applied to an optional spatial low - pass filter ( 2 ), which would typically be a two - dimensional filter that reduces the resolution of the image to the required resolution of the cadence data to be derived . the filtered video is optionally spatially sub - sampled in a sampler ( 3 ) to reduce the number of pixels that describe each field . the resulting stream of pixels is applied to a tapped , 2 - field delay ( 4 ) which has a number of intermediate - tap outputs ( 5 ) corresponding to delay values close to one field period and equal to integral numbers of television lines . a weighted sum of these intermediate outputs is formed in a vertical interpolator ( 6 ). the stream of pixels ( 7 ) at the input to the delay ( 4 ) are spatially aligned with the corresponding stream of pixels ( 8 ) at the output of the delay ( 4 ); however spatially - corresponding pixels represent temporal samples that are two fields apart . the stream of pixels ( 9 ) at the output of the vertical interpolator ( 6 ) are also spatially aligned with the pixels ( 7 ) and ( 8 ) in known manner by suitable choice of the summing weights in the vertical interpolator ( 6 ); however these pixels are temporally one field later than the pixels ( 8 ) and one field earlier than the pixels ( 7 ). if we designate the current pixel ( 8 ) as pixel a , being part of field a , the current pixel ( 9 ) as pixel b , being part of field b , and the current pixel ( 7 ) as pixel c , being part of field c , then we can form two temporal difference signals by subtracting pixel values , which , typically , would be the respective luminance values : these difference signals are formed by the subtractors ( 10 ) and ( 11 ). as explained in the above - cited prior patent , the vertical interpolation could be applied to field a and to field c rather than to field b , or all three fields could be interpolated to a common intermediate vertical position . in the second stage of the process the cadence of each of the vertically - interpolated pixels ( 9 ) of field b is analyzed by comparing the corresponding f 1 and f 2 values , which represent the inter - field differences with respect to the co - sited pixels in the earlier field a and the later field c respectively . the values for each field are stored and processed as described below to find a cadence for every pixel of every field . fig2 shows how a two - dimensional plot of f 2 versus f 1 for a given pixel may be divided into regions that correspond to particular cadence types . ( note that , in fig2 the regions and the boundaries between regions are shown schematically and not to scale , so as to enable their relationships to be more readily appreciated . the following description defines an exemplary embodiment of this aspect of the invention .) in any practical system the pixel values will have an upper bound ( typically 1 , 023 ) and so all pixels will fall within a square region on the plot ( assuming equal scales for the f 1 and f 2 axes ). the cadence of a pixel can be inferred from the region , within the square , in which it lies . the correspondence between regions and particular cadence types is as follows : film 1 pixels lie close to the f 1 axis because field b and field c correspond to the same temporal sample . regions ( 24 a ) and ( 24 b ). film 2 pixels lie close to the f 2 axis because field a and field b correspond to the same temporal sample . regions ( 25 a ) and ( 25 b ). video pixels corresponding to slow movement lie in the first quadrant if the pixel values b , and c are monotonically decreasing ; or , the third quadrant if the pixel values a , b , and c are monotonically increasing . these will be designated ‘ video ’ pixels . regions ( 21 ) and ( 22 ). video pixels corresponding to fast movement ( objects moving at speeds of several pixels per field , captured by a camera with a short temporal sampling aperture ) lie in the regions of the second and fourth quadrants far from the origin . these will be also be designated video pixels and are likely to be generated by ‘ shuttered ’ video cameras having a short temporal sampling aperture . regions ( 26 a ) and ( 26 b ). pixels corresponding to stationary image content , lacking vertical detail will lie close to the origin . these will be designated ‘ still ’ pixels . region ( 23 ). pixels corresponding to film with high levels vertical detail ( e . g . closely - spaced horizontal lines ) will lie in the second and fourth quadrants , but closer to the origin than the ‘ shuttered ’ video pixels . these will be designated ‘ alias ’ pixels . regions ( 29 a ) and ( 29 b ). the f 1 and f 2 inter - field difference values can be used to determine of the region into which a pixel falls by the following logic : if [( f 1 & lt ;− δ ) and [( f 2 & lt ;− δ )] then allocate pixel to video ( region ( 21 )), otherwise : if [( f 1 & gt ; δ ) and [( f 2 & gt ; δ )] then allocate pixel to video , ( region ( 22 )), otherwise : if [(\| f 1 \|≦ δ ) and (\| f 2 \|≦ δ )] then allocate pixel to still , ( region ( 23 )), otherwise : if [( f 2 & gt ;− δ 6 ) and ( f 2 & lt ; δ )] then allocate pixel to film 1 , ( regions ( 24 a ) and ( 24 b )), otherwise : if [( f 1 & gt ;− δ ) and ( f 1 & lt ; δ )] then allocate pixel to film 2 , ( regions ( 25 a ) and ( 25 b )), otherwise : if [ f 1 2 + f 2 2 − f 1 f 2 & gt ; δ ] then allocate pixel to ‘ shuttered ’ video , ( regions ( 26 a ) and ( 26 b )), otherwise : if [\| f 2 \|& lt ;÷ α )] then allocate pixel to film 1 , ( regions ( 27 a ) and ( 27 b )), otherwise : if [\| f 1 \|& lt ;\| f 2 \|÷ α )] then allocate pixel to film 2 , ( regions ( 28 a ) and ( 28 b )), otherwise : allocate pixel to alias , ( regions ( 29 a ) and ( 29 b )). where : \| x \| designates a magnitude of x ; and , δ , δ and α are constants . the constant δ defines the size of the square ‘ still ’ region ( 23 ) and is typically less than one percent of the maximum pixel value . the curved inner boundaries of the regions ( 26 a ) and ( 26 b ) are sections of an ellipse whose major axis lies along the line defined by the equation f 1 = f 2 , and whose size depends on a . the distance between each of these boundaries and the origin is typically about ten percent of the maximum pixel value . the constant α defines the slopes of the boundaries between regions ( 27 ) ( 28 ) and ( 29 ) and typically has a value of the order of 3 . the above initial classification process is applied to every pixel derived from field b and results in every pixel being assigned to one of five classes : video , regions ( 21 ), ( 22 ), ( 26 a ) and ( 26 b ); film 1 , regions ( 24 a ), ( 24 b ), ( 27 a ) and ( 27 b ); film 2 , regions ( 25 a ), ( 25 b ), ( 28 a ) and ( 28 b ); alias , regions ( 29 a ) and ( 29 b ); and , still , region ( 23 ). in the third stage of the processing , the initial classification of each pixel is refined , taking into account the total membership of each class obtained by summing over all the pixels ( 9 ) derived from field b . the refinement process comprises four parts . first , if there are fewer still pixels than film pixels ( both types ), and the majority film cadence has more pixels assigned to it than the number of still pixels , then those still pixels are re - assigned to the majority film cadence : if {[ σfilm 1 & gt ; σfilm 2 ] and [ σfilm 1 & gt ; σstill ]} then assign all still pixels to film 1 if {[ σfilm 2 & gt ; σfilm 1 ] and [ σfilm 2 & gt ; σstill ]} then assign all still pixels to film 2 . where : σfilm 1 is the total number of pixels from field b initially classified as film 1 ; σfilm 2 is the total number of pixels from field b initially classified as film 2 ; and , σstill is the total number of pixels from field b initially classified as still . the second part of the refinement is to test whether there is an unambiguous majority film cadence , and , if so , to set minority film cadence film pixels having small inter - field difference values to the opposite ( majority ) film cadence : β is typically about ten percent of the maximum pixel value , and γ is typically about five percent of the maximum pixel value . the third part of the refinement is to re - classify isolated pixels that are differently classified from their neighbors in dependence upon the classes of the neighboring pixels . for each pixel there are eight such neighboring pixels and the re - classification logic is as follows : for alias pixels there are two conditions that lead to re - classification : if there are two or more video neighbors , and two or less film neighbors ( including both film 1 and film 2 ) then the pixel is re - classified as video ; and , if there is one video neighbor and no film neighbors ( including both film 1 and film 2 ) then the pixel is also re - classified as video . for video pixels there is one condition that leads to re - classification : if there are no video neighbors then the pixel is re - classified as alias . for film 1 , film 2 , and still pixels there is one condition that leads to re - classification : if there are seven or more video neighbors then the pixel is re - classified as video . note that the above re - classification processes are not recursive ; the re - classification decisions are made using the classification results for the neighboring pixels as determined at the end of the second part of the refinement process . the fourth and final part of the refinement is to assign the alias pixels ( which represent aliased film ) to the majority film cadence : if [ σfilm 1 ≧ σfilm 2 ] then re - classify alias pixels to film 1 , otherwise : re - classify alias pixels as film 2 . all pixels have now been classified as video , film 1 , film 2 , or still . there are a number of variations possible within the scope of the invention . for example either the initial low - pass filtering or the spatial sub - sampling process may be omitted ; and , some or all of the refinement processes may be omitted . if metadata giving information about the images or the objects represented by the pixels is available then it may be used to improve the refinement process . typically luminance values of pixels are used in the processing , but other values , including multi - dimensional values ( such as red , green blue , or hue , saturation , lightness ) could be used , provided a suitable numerical measure of the inter - image difference between spatially co - sited pixels can be obtained . it is sometimes helpful to ignore pixels close to the edges of the images because they may be distorted as a result of filtering processes . and , in real - time processing , it is sometimes helpful to ignore pixels towards the bottom of the image so as to gain time to carry out processing before the next image arrives . the invention can be applied to non - interlaced image sequences , but this is a simpler problem to solve because stationary vertical detail does not produce the same inter - image differences as motion . this means that the alias categories , regions ( 29 a ) and ( 29 b ), are not required .	7
the resins which are preferred for use in water reducible compositions are those requiring the least number of monomers for their synthesis . this , of course , simplifies the manufacture of the resins . the coalescing solvent is generally selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol monomethyl ether , ethylene glycol monoethyl ether , ethylene glycol monobutyl ether , diethylene glycol monobutyl ether , diethylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate , diethylene glycol diethyl ether , ethylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate , dipropylene glycol methyl ether , methyl ethyl ketone , propylene glycol ethyl ether , propylene glycol isopropyl ether , propylene glycol butyl ether , acetone , methyl propyl ketone and diacetone alcohol . of the various solvents which can be used , generally the ethylene glycol monobutyl ether , ethylene glycol monoethyl ether , diethylene glycol monomethyl ether , diethylene glycol monoethyl ether and diethylent glycol monobutyl ether are preferred . the solvent and resin are usually mixed at a temperature of from about 25 ° c . to about 80 ° c ., for a period of from about 20 to about 60 minutes . representative of the various volatile amines which may be used to form the water reducible compositions are : primary amines such as ethyl amine , propyl amine , butyl amine , isoamyl amine , amyl amine , hexyl amine , heptyl amine and ethanol amine ; secondary amines such as diethyl amine , ethyl ethanol amine , and morpholine ; and tertiary amines such as dimethylethanol amine , trimethyl amine , triethylamine and n - methyl morpholine . sufficient amine is added to achieve a ph in the final water dispersion of from about 8 to about 14 . the group insoluble solvent is generally selected from the group consisting of mineral spirits , ketones ( such as mibk ), aromatic solvents , and acetates . it is either a true solvent for the resin or forms a true solvent for the resin when it is mixed with the water soluble solvent . the amount of water used depends on whether a high or a low viscosity dispersion is desired or whether high or low solids content is desired . it also depends on the type and amount of coalescing solvent used . the water is usually mixed with the amine neutralized composition at a temperature of from about 25 ° c . to about 80 ° c . the volume ratio of water to solvent is preferably about 4 : 1 . here , the term &# 34 ; solvent &# 34 ; refers to all the volatile organic solvent ( water soluble solvent , water insoluble solvent , and amine ). a lower level of organic solvent may be used if the level of acidic monomer is increased , but this in turn creates water sensitivity in the coating . solvent level could also be lowered by using plasticizer in place of some of the solvent . the water , amine and coalescing solvent are evaporated from applied coatings usually at a temperature in the range of about 20 ° c . to about 100 ° c ., preferably about 25 ° c . to about 50 ° c . films formed by applying the coating compositions of this invention to substrates are generally dried for a period of from about 8 to about 24 hours . the invention will be further clarified by a consideration of the following example , which is intended to be purely exemplary of the use of the invention . unless otherwise stated , parts are parts by weight , and percentages are by weight . film forming water reducible coating compositions were prepared by mixing : ( a ) a resin selected from those in table 1 : table 1______________________________________water reducible resin monomer componentsresin type 2720 ** 2731 * 2736 ** ______________________________________monomers : ( percent ) isobutyl methacrylate 71 71n - butyl methacrylate 72 . 5methyl methacrylate 232 - ethylhexyl methacrylate 24 24methacrylic acid 3 3 2 . 5n - vinyl - 2 - pyrrolidone 2 2 2 100 100 100______________________________________ * made by continuous monomer addition to reaction . ** made by batch reaction . ( b ) a defoamer comprising 2 , 4 , 7 , 8 - tetramethyl - 5 - decyne - 4 , 7 - diol ; ( c ) butyl cellosolve ; ( d ) mibk ; and ( e ) triethylamine in the proportions given in table 3 in parts by weight . blends of these various water reducible compositions with aqueous dispersion or latex type coating compositions were made . the polymer emulsified in the latex used was selected from those in table 2 : table 2______________________________________latex resinslatex resin type 2457a 2457c______________________________________monomers : ( percent ) n - butyl methacrylate 72 . 5 47 . 52 - ethylhexyl acrylate 48ethyl acrylate 23methacrylic acid 2 . 5 2 . 5n - vinyl - 2 - pyrrolidone 2 2 100 100______________________________________ the presence of 2 - ethylhexyl acrylate makes a relatively soft polymer . the resin latex blends were made by mixing the water reducible coating compositions previously described with latex , water , and a small amount of defoamer . to these coating composition blends were added pigment comprising titanium dioxide slurry ( 60 % solids ). the resulting blends were applied to phosphated steel test plates using a number 30 wire - wrapped coating rod to obtain a film thickness of between 0 . 8 and 2 . 5 mils ( 0 . 02 to 0 . 06 mm .). the coating rod was made by rd specialty company , webster , new york and was typical of those used in applying test coatings . the coatings were then dried at room temperature for two hours , and residual solvent was removed by drying at 49 °- 54 ° c . for one - half hour in an oven . the formulations for the water reducible compositions , the resin latex blends , the blends containing pigment , and the test results on coatings made from the latter blends are shown on table 3 : table 3__________________________________________________________________________acrylic resin / latex evaluations controlssample a c d f h j l n q u v__________________________________________________________________________ ( parts by weight ) water reducible composition : resin type 2720 2720 2720 2731 2731 2731 2736 2736 2736resin ( dry ) 40 25 12 . 5 40 25 12 . 5 40 25 10water 70 50 45 45defoamer 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2butyl cellosolve 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17mibk 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10triethylamine 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2latex type : 2457c 2457c 2457c 2457c 2457c 2457c 2457a 2457a 2457a 2457a 2457clatex ( 40 % solids ) 25 62 . 5 93 . 75 25 62 . 5 93 . 75 25 62 . 5 100 125 125water 105 82 . 5 63 . 75 105 82 . 5 63 . 75 35 32 . 5 60total parts in blend 201 201 . 0 201 . 0 201 201 . 0 201 . 0 201 201 . 0 201 201 20160 % tio . sub . 2 slurry 20 . 8 20 . 8 20 . 8 20 . 8 20 . 8 20 . 8 20 . 8 20 . 8 20 . 8 20 . 8 20 . 8 ( parts added to a 100 part blend sample ) wt . ratio red . resin / latex resin 80 / 20 50 / 50 25 / 75 80 / 20 50 / 50 25 / 75 80 / 20 50 / 50 20 / 80 0 / 100 0 / 100tests : gloss , 60 ° 50 - 52 58 - 60 55 - 60 48 - 50 78 - 80 80 - 85 50 - 55 30 - 40 34 - 35 50 - 52 78 - 80reverse impact : fail - f f 4 &# 34 ; f 28 &# 34 ; p 28 &# 34 ; f 6 &# 34 ; p 28 &# 34 ; p 28 &# 34 ; f 12 &# 34 ; p 28 &# 34 ; p 28 &# 34 ; p 28 &# 34 ; p 28 &# 34 ; pass - p p 2 &# 34 ; p 26 &# 34 ; p 4 &# 34 ; p 10 &# 34 ; __________________________________________________________________________ gloss is the ability of a surface to reflect light regularly . as reported here , gloss is objective gloss ( the intensity of light regularly or specularly reflected from the coated samples at a 60 ° angle of incidence ) measured on a hunter glossmeter ( re : astm method d523 ). reverse impact tests the brittleness , elasticity , adhesion , and ability to stretch of a film . in this test , a weight is dropped on a test panel ( with the coated side facing down ) on an anvil or striking surface . this is done on an instrument such as a parlin - du pont type impact tester or a ball bearing impactor . the inches reported in table 3 are the various heights to which the weight was raised above the test panel . a coating has passed the test if it does not loosen , crack appreciably , or fall off . an ability to withstand reverse impact from a greater height indicates a better coating . samples h and j ( with approximately 50 / 50 and 25 / 75 blends of water reducible resin and latex resin respectively ) performed as well as control sample v made with the same latex and better than control sample u made with the other latex . the water reducible resin type in samples h and j ( 2731 ) was made by continuous monomer addition ; while , the other two resin types were made by batch reactions . the continuous addition technique results in resin polymers closer in composition to the ratio of the raw materials charged . in batch reactions , faster reacting monomers ( e . g . methacrylic acid ) may react more quickly than the other monomers , forming some polymer molecules which are relatively high in that particular monomeric unit and others which are low . the carboxyl groups are thus said to be &# 34 ; blocked &# 34 ; as opposed to being evenly distributed . the continuous monomer addition technique is known in the polymerization field and examples of it are in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 324 , 066 and 3 , 966 , 661 . the emulsion polymerization is carried out by : ( 1 ) forming an aqueous dispersion of an initial monomeric increment of just a part of the total charge ( e . g . 5 - 20 percent of the monomers ) which increment includes at least a part of the acrylate monomers and the unsaturated carbonyl compound : ( 2 ) subjecting said dispersion to catalytic and thermal conditions sufficient to induce polymerization ; and then ( 3 ) adding incrementally or continuously ( e . g . 8 to 16 percent per hour ) the remainder of the monomers to said dispersion along with catalyst and emulsifier . another technique for synthesizing uniform resin polymers is to use a mixture of acrylic and methacrylic acids as the carbonyl compound in a batch reaction system . acrylic acid reacts more slowly than methacrylic acid and therefore helps to &# 34 ; spread out &# 34 ; the carbonyl groups in the polymer . this method is not quite as effective as continuous monomer addition . the data indicates that : ( 1 ) it is preferable to make the water reducible resins by the technique of continuous monomer addition ; ( 2 ) it is preferable to make blends with a weight ratio of water reducible resin to latex resin of from about 30 / 70 to about 70 / 30 , and ( 3 ) higher gloss can be obtained using a blend of a resin with a &# 34 ; soft &# 34 ; latex containing 2 - ethylhexylacrylate ( 2457c ). as titanium dioxide pigment is added to resin latex blends , adhesion of the final coating is adversely effected . plasticizers can be added to the blends to wet the pigment . plasticizers are thought to be undesirable ingredients because they can be extracted from coatings by solvents . however , in applications other than solvent resistant coatings they are not detrimental . coating compositions using plasticizer should contain about 5 to about 10 weight percent plasticizer as a preferred proportion in recipes such as those in example i . it is desirable that the plasticizer used be a liquid at room temperature and have a sufficiently high boiling point , preferably at least 100 ° c ., and more preferably at least 150 ° c ., so that it will not be volatilized from the final coating . the plasticizer used should enhance the water insolubility of the final dried coating . further , it must be compatible with the water reducible resin . for this characterization , a solubility parameter in the range of about 8 to about 11 is required . such solubility parameter is of the type described in the encylopedia of polymer science and technology , volume 3 , page 854 , 1965 , john wiley and sons , inc ., which is simply determined by the equation σf = sum of the pertinent molar attraction constants of groups determined by small , p . a . [ j . appl . chem . 3 , 71 , ( 1953 )] various plasticizers can be used for this purpose . they can , for example , be of the type listed in the federation series on coatings technology , unit 22 , entitled &# 34 ; plasticizers ,&# 34 ; published april , 1974 , so long as they fulfill the boiling point and compatibility requirements . representative of various plasticizers are cyclic plasticizers such as phosphoric acid esters , phthalic anhydride esters and trimellitic acid esters as well as n - cyclohexyl - p - toluene sulfonamide , dibenzyl sebacate , diethylene glycol dibenzoate , di - t - octylphenylether , dipropane diol dibenzoate , n - ethyl - p - toluene sulfonamide , isopropylidenediphenoxypropanol , alkylated naphthalene , polyethylene glycol dibenzoate , o - p - toluene sulfonamide , trimethylpentanediol dibenzoate and trimethylpentanediol monoisobutyrate monobenzoate . representative of various acyclic plasticizers are adipic acid esters , azelaic acid esters , citric acid esters , acetylcitric acid esters , myristic acid esters , phosphoric acid esters , ricinoleic acid esters , acetylricinoleic acid esters , sebacic acid esters , stearic acid esters , epoxidized esters , as well as 1 , 4 - butane diol dicaprylate , butoxyethyl pelargonate di [( butoxyethoxy ) ethoxy ] methane , dibutyl tartrate , diethylene glycol dipelargonate , diiso - octyl diglycolate , isodecyl nonanoate , tetraethylene glycol di ( 2 - ethylbutyrate ), triethylene glycol di ( 2 - ethylhexanoate ), triethylene glycol dipelargonate and 2 , 2 , 4 - trimethyl - 1 , 3 - pentane diol diisobutyrate . the scope of this invention includes coating compositions containing the water reducible resins , solvents , and water as described above , as well as other normal coating ingredients such as pigments , alkyds , oils ( e . g . pine oil ) and thickeners . other embodiments of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of this specification or practice of the invention disclosed herein . it is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only , with the true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims .	2
the cellulose which is obtained in accordance with the invention has a distinctly lower residual lignin content , and improved characteristics . it can be seen from table 1 that the addition of 10 % by weight of formic acid under otherwise equal pulping conditions brings about , with the use of pinic cellulose , a reduction of the kappa figure from 15 . 6 to 3 . 6 , which corresponds to a lignin content of 2 . 5 to 0 . 5 , while the yield only drops off slightly . something similar applied in the case of poplar and miscanthus cellulose ( table 1 ). the levels of whiteness of the three celluloses was correspondingly increased by 8 % to 15 %. the lower kappa figures and the higher levels of whiteness mean a lower application of the expensive bleaching chemicals , which are of significance for the economical nature of the process . the cellulose characteristics after pulping ( 2 hours , 180 ° c ., poplar and miscanthus 170 ° c . ), with 85 % acetic acid , 85 % acetic acid and 10 % formic acid , are compared in table 1 . as can be seen from this table , the solidity characteristics of the celluloses which are obtained with the formic acid supplement are distinctly increased . this applies in particular for the tearing resistance , which is generally lower , in acidic pulping processes , than it is in alkaline ones , such as , for example , the sulfate process . since sulfate celluloses are generally considered at the present time to be standard for paper production , the increase in the tearing resistance in the process in accordance with the invention is accorded great importance . table 1______________________________________ acetic acid 85 % + acetic acid 85 % formic acid 10 % spruce poplar misc . spruce poplar misc . ______________________________________kappa number : 15 . 6 9 . 2 13 . 3 3 . 6 3 . 1 3 . 2 yield (%): 48 . 0 50 . 1 48 . 6 46 . 8 50 . 3 48 . 2 degree of 20 . 3 20 . 0 25 . 9 28 . 0 34 . 7 33 . 8 whiteness (% iso ): gvz ( mi / g ): 1050 . 0 1005 . 0 1022 . 0 1179 . 0 849 . 5 1012 . 0 dpw : 3035 . 0 2850 . 0 2910 . 0 3490 . 0 2430 . 0 2870 . 0 tearing resist - 59 . 1 31 . 1 51 . 5 77 . 1 42 . 7 90 . 4 ance () ( cn ): busting sur - 62 . 9 31 . 4 24 . 6 70 . 9 38 . 0 43 . 9 face () ( m . sup . 2 ): white length 10 . 3 7 . 5 5 . 2 11 . 4 7 . 3 8 . 1 () ( in km ): r - 10 (%): 90 . 1 5 . 9 88 . 5 93 . 6 89 . 4 91 . 0 mannose (%): -- 2 . 3 -- 0 . 5 1 . 2 0 . 2 xylose (%): -- 5 . 4 -- 1 . 5 2 . 4 3 . 3 glucose (%): -- 92 . 3 -- 94 . 2 93 . 5 96 . 2______________________________________ () paper strengths at degree of fineness 30 ° sr . in this table , &# 34 ; gvz &# 34 ; means the boundary viscosity figure in accordance with staudinger ; &# 34 ; dpw &# 34 ; means the polymerization level ; while &# 34 ; r - 10 &# 34 ; means the residual cellulose , which is insoluble in 10 % naoh . the increase in the r - 10 values , which is likewise evident from table 1 , means , in connection with the lower xylose and mannose contents , lower hemicellulose contents in the celluloses which are obtained with the addition of formic acid , and thus their suitability as starting materials ( chemical celluloses ) for the production of cellulose derivatives . the process in accordance with the invention offers advantages , in particular , relative to the production of cellulose acetate because , in this case , the preliminary swelling of the cellulose in the acetic acid before the acetylization , as well as an acetic acid recovery stage , are both dispensed with . the optimal concentration of formic acid depends on the pulping temperature , the pulping time , the type of wood , and the water content of the pulping medium . as is evident from table 2 , the lignin condensation predominates at 190 ° c ., with 20 % formic acid , as early as after 1 hour , for which reason a two - hour pulping with 10 % formic acid , at 180 ° c . or 170 ° c ., was selected in table 1 . the acetic acid concentration in table 2 amounts to 85 %. table 2__________________________________________________________________________key to chart below : a = temperature ° c . b = formic acid (%) c = kappa figure d = degree of whiteness (% isc ) e = yield (%) __________________________________________________________________________a 190 180 170b 5 . 010 . 0 15 . 0 20 . 0 5 . 0 10 . 0 15 . 0 20 . 0 5 . 0 10 . 0 15 . 0 20 . 0 c 7 . 2 5 . 3 5 . 6 14 . 6 14 . 5 11 . 2 7 . 8 7 . 1 39 . 9 25 . 4 14 . 5 7 . 1 d 27 . 9 29 . 9 28 . 7 24 . 4 22 . 6 25 . 8 26 . 3 27 . 0 18 . 8 22 . 6 24 . 6 27 . 6 e 46 . 3 43 . 6 42 . 2 42 . 2 49 . 2 48 . 0 46 . 6 45 . 3 54 . 8 50 . 3 47 . 0 46 . 6__________________________________________________________________________ the formic acid increases the acidity of the pulping medium and thereby the breakdown of the lignin , while the lignin condensations increase more slowly . the selectivity of the formic acid in the breakdown of the lignin appears to be increased relative to the use of mineral acids as catalysts . moreover , the formic acid increases the solubility of the lignin in the pulping medium . the chlorine - free bleaches of the celluloses obtained in accordance with the process in accordance with the invention are fundamentally simplified relative to that of conventional celluloses . whereas in the conventional cellulose bleaches , five bleaching stages are normally used at the present time , in which oxygen , peroxide , ozone , caustic soda and , if necessary , chlorine dioxide , are required , only two to three bleaching stages with slight quantities of ozone in acetic acid and / or peracetic acid are enough for the bleaches of the process in accordance with the invention . chopped spruce wood scraps ( 20 × 35 × 5 - 6 mm ), with a moisture content of 8 %, had a 5 - fold weight quantity of 85 % acetic acid , which contained 10 % formic acid , poured over them , and were heated in a rotary autoclave for 2 hours at 180 ° c . ( heating time of 40 minutes ). after that , through the evaporation of a portion of the cooking lye , it was cooled off to below 100 ° c ., the fiber material was pressed off onto suction filter , and it was then subsequently washed with 85 % acetic acid . the filter cake was , by means of a laboratory mixer , impacted under 85 % acetic acid in a large beaker , and was then suction filtered again . the cellulose obtained was free of splinters , and had the characteristics which are stated in table 1 . for the purpose of the comparison , chopped spruce scraps with 85 % acetic acid , which contained no formic acid , were pulped and processed under conditions which were otherwise the same . the characteristics of the cellulose which was obtained under these conditions are likewise depicted in table 1 . the spruce cellulose obtained through the addition of formic acid ( table 1 ) was washed , on a suction filter , with acetic acid , pressed out to a consistency of 35 %, aerated in a coffee grinder for 30 seconds , then in a round bottom flask on the rotation evaporator with a 3 % ozone / oxygen mixture . after that , the cellulose was , on a suction filter , first washed with water and , after that , washed with a 0 . 2 % peracetic acid solution in water , and pressed out to a 15 % consistency , heated for 1 hour at 80 ° c ., and then finally washed on the suction filter with water . the bleached spruce cellulose has the characteristics stated in table 3 . in a second batch , the spruce cellulose , at 15 % consistency , was bleached with peracetic acid only , first in acetic acid , with 0 . 7 % at 80 ° c ., for 90 minutes , and then in water with 1 . 3 %, at 80 ° c ., for 120 minutes . the results are also presented in table 3 . chopped scraps ( 80 × 20 × 5 mm ) of a six - year old poplar ( populus nigra from the clone &# 34 ; rapp &# 34 ;), with a moisture content of 10 %, had a six - fold quantity of an 85 % acetic acid , which contained 10 % formic acid , poured over them , and were then heated to 170 ° c ., for two hours , in the rotary autoclave . the processing , shredding and washing of the cellulose were carried out as described in example 1 for the spruce cellulose . the characteristics of the cellulose are reproduced in table 1 . the bleaching of the cellulose was carried out in two stages with peracetic acid , first with 0 . 7 % in 6 . 6 parts of acetic acid , for 90 minutes at 80 ° c ., and then with 1 . 3 % of peracetic acid in 6 . 6 parts of water for 120 minutes at 80 ° c . the characteristics of the bleached cellulose are reproduced in table 3 . stems of miscanthus sinensis &# 34 ; giganteus &# 34 ;, chopped to a length of 2 . 5 cm , with a moisture content of 18 %, were poured with the ten - fold quantity of 85 % of acetic acid , which contained 10 % formic acid , and heated , in a rotary autoclave , for 2 hours , to 170 ° c . ( heating time : 40 minutes ). the processing , shredding and washing of the cellulose were carried out as described in example 1 for spruce cellulose . the cellulose was free of splinters , its characteristics are evident from table 1 , and are contrasted with those for cellulose which was obtained under the same conditions , but with the exclusion of the acetic acid . the bleaching of the cellulose was carried out in two states with peracetic acid , as described under example 2 for poplar cellulose . the characteristics of the bleached cellulose are presented in table 3 . chopped spruce scraps of the type as stated under example 1 had a six - fold quantity of 85 % acetic acid poured over them , which contained , in four batches , 5 , 10 , 15 or 20 % formic acid , and were heated in the rotary autoclave to 180 ° c . for 1 hour each . the processing , shredding and washing of the cellulose which was obtained was carried out in the same manner as in example 1 . after that , the celluloses were free of splinters . their contents of residual lignin , levels of whiteness , and yields can be seen in table 2 . table 3______________________________________characteristics of the cellulose with degree of fineness 20 - sr bleached with ozone ( z ) and peracetic acid ( pa ). key to chart below : a = cellulose b = bleaching agent c = quantity (%) d = degree of whiteness (% iso ) e = breaking length ( km ) f = bursting surface ( m . sup . 2 ) g = tearing strength ( cn ) -( a ) ( b ) ( c ) ( d ) ( e ) ( f ) ( g ) ______________________________________spruce z / pa 0 . 6 / 1 . 3 64 . 3 9 . 315 52 . 5 76 . 7 pa / pa 0 . 7 / 1 . 3 72 . 1 9 . 113 50 . 3 79 . 1 poplar pa / pa 0 . 7 / 1 . 3 83 . 4 6 . 68 28 . 8 46 . 0 miscanthus pa / pa 0 . 7 / l . 3 83 . 0 6 . 933 35 . 6 89 . 6______________________________________ one preferred form of implementation of the process in accordance with the invention ( the ` formacell ` process ) will be described in the following . the percentage figures relate to the weight . ______________________________________a . pulping______________________________________cooker 2 . 5 × 10 m = 49 m . sup . 3 ; pulping solution : acetic acid / water / formic acid ( 75 : 15 : 10 ); temperature : 106 ° c . to 180 ° c . ; time : 1 to 2 hours ; batch ratio : 1 : 5 . ______________________________________ one cooker ( batch process , 25 tons of cellulose / d ) is sufficient for the experimental phase while , for the production , 6 to 12 cookers are connected in series one after the other ( semi - continuous process , maximum of 300 tons of cellulose / d ). it is only through the connection of several cookers in series that an extraction of the chopped scraps , in accordance with the counter - current principle , with the optimal utilization of the pumping solution , is possible . the heating of the chopped scraps is carried out by means of the pump circulation of the pulping solution , which is heated externally in the heat exchangers . the first bleaching state is carried out with 1 % to 2 % hydrogen peroxide in the cooker after the completion of the pulping and the expulsion of the extract through fresh pulping solution , for 1 to 2 hours , at 70 ° c . to 90 ° c . a uniform distribution of the h 2 o 2 is carried out through the pump circulation of the bleach solution , the composition of which does not differ , up to the h 2 o 2 , from the pulping solution . the active agent is peracetic acid , the formation of which is catalyzed by means of the formic acid which is present . the sorting consists of a post - defibering ( separation ), a rough sorting , and purification . for the first two steps , there is proposed an aperture sorting device which is equipped with stirring arms ( slot width of approximately 0 . 4 mm ) in the manner of a tube centrifuge , while a hydrocyclone device is proposed for the purification . the diffusing device ( concentrating device ) must be very effective , in order to proceed , from a substance density of approximately 1 % which is necessary for the sorting , to at least 8 %, from which , in a screw pump , a consistency of approximately 50 % must be attained for the ozone bleach . the cellulose wash takes place simultaneously in the sorting . a separate washing , such as in the conventional process , is not necessary , because no inorganic pulping chemicals are to be washed out , and the cellulose which is leaving the cooker scarcely contains lignin any longer . the flushing out of the foreign materials and contaminants , the conveying of the flushing solution , as well as the guiding of the fiber suspension during the sorting process , can be seen in the flow chart . the effectiveness of the sorting can be improved by means of several tube centrifuges or cyclone units which are connected in series one after the other . the ozone bleaching is carried out in a rotating drum at 20 ° c . to 50 ° c ., and a substance density of approximately 40 %, whereby the residence time of the cellulose should amount to at least 10 min ., ozone quantity approximately 0 . 5 %, computed in relation to the cellulose . because of the good solubility of the ozone in the acetic acid , a filling up of the cellulose is not necessary . because of the danger of the explosion of acetic acid vapors in the case of oxygen / ozone mixtures , an implementation of the rotating drum in a manner which is protected from explosions is necessary . the exhaust gases should be kept within the circuit , or within a closed system . ozone which is transported out with the cellulose breaks down within a certain period of time . a monitoring in the distillation column appears to be absolutely necessary , particularly with high doses of ozone (& gt ; 0 . 5 %). the acetic acid / butyl acetate mixture which is required for the distillation should possibly be degassed in the vacuum , or the excess ozone should be eliminated by chemical methods ( test with the kj - solution ). after the ozone bleaching , the cellulose still contains approximately 60 %, which is expelled with butyl acetate in an extraction column ( 2 . 0 × 10 m ). since the swelling expansion of the cellulose in acetic acid is greater than it is in butyl acetate , no problems of obstruction should arise within the column . the quantity of the butyl acetate which , along with the pulping solution , leaves the column at the top , should amount to approximately 80 % of the dry weight of the cellulose , if the wood moisture of the chopped scraps amounts to 10 % because , with the subsequently following distillation , 20 % water , in relation to the cellulose weight , then leaves the distillation column in the upper part , as an azeotrope with butyl acetate . under these conditions , the butyl acetate would leave the solvent mixture completely as azeotrope , while another 2 . 5 % water remains behind in the pulping solution , which flows back , in an undistilled manner , into the supply tank . small quantities of extract substances , such as furfural , etc ., remain in the pulping solution and do not disrupt the pulping . a separating of the formic acid from the acetic acid by means of distillation is not necessary . changes of the composition of the pulping solution ( see under &# 34 ; a pulping &# 34 ;) are to be equalized through the addition of the components which are present in the shortfall quantity . the exchange of the butyl acetate against water is carried out with water vapor in a desolventizing device . the substance density of the cellulose is , by means of a helical extruder press which is connected in series in front of the desolventizing device , brought to approximately 40 %. since the evaporation enthalpy of the butyl acetate amounts to only approximately 1 / 5 of that of the water , the cellulose leaves the desolventizing device with 12 % moisture and is subsequently pressed into plates of 1 m 2 in a press device . the spent lye which leaves the cooker contains 17 % dissolved lignin and hemicelluloses . its concentration to a 50 % viscous lye is carried out in a six - layer tube evaporator , with drops in pressure , during the utilization of the condensation heat , of the evaporated pulping solution . the distillation column serves only for the separation of the water which is brought in , with the chopped scraps , from the pulping solution as an azeotrope with butyl acetate . after the distillation off of the water , the pulping solution flows , in an undistilled condition , into the supply container . the capacity of the column is oriented in accordance with the moisture of the chopped scraps . if this amounts to 10 %, then 200 kg . of water ( together with approximately 600 kg of butyl acetate ) per ton of cellulose , are to be distilled off . since the pulping solution contains 15 % water , 1 , 333 m 3 of pulping solution + 0 . 6 m 3 of butyl acetate would be necessary per ton of cellulose . with a moisture level of the chopped scraps of 20 %, the quantity is doubled . it is thus to be considered whether a preliminary drying of the chopped scraps , which would also be of advantage for the capacity for storing the chopped scraps , is possible . a drying of the chopped scraps has no influence on the wood pulping in accordance with the formacell process . in all parts of the apparatus which come into contact with the hot pulping solution , steels which are resistant to corrosion from mixtures of acetic acid / formic acid / water must be used . this applied , in particular , to the cooker , the distillation column , as well as to the spray dryer . in table 4 , the characteristics of the unbleached pinic celluloses which were obtained in accordance with the process in accordance with the invention ( the &# 34 ; formacell process &# 34 ;) are compared with those of sulfate and acetosolve celluloses . table 3______________________________________ formacell sulfate acetosolve______________________________________cap figure : 3 . 6 30 . 6 15 . 6 degree of whiteness (% iso ): 28 . 0 24 . 8 20 . 3 gvz ( ml / g ): 1179 . 5 902 . 2 1059 . 0 dp : 3490 . 0 2470 . 0 3035 . 0 r - 10 (%): 83 . 8 88 . 3 90 . 1 yield (%): 46 . 8 47 . 4 49 . 0______________________________________ the very low cap figure of the formacell cellulose , which has only a slightly reduced yield relative to the conventional sulfate cellulose , which has a significantly lower requirement of the bleaching chemicals , is very striking . because of their high r - 10 value , formacell celluloses are also suited for the production of the cellulose derivatives . table 4 depicts , in addition , the improvements of the formacell process relative to the earlier acetosolve process , which comprise , above all , a distinct improvement of the delignification and an increase of the degree of whiteness . fig1 shows a comparison of the rigidities ( tearing length and tearing resistance ) of formacell and sulfate pinic cellulose in dependence on the degree of grinding . while the tearing length of formacell pinic cellulose is , in all the degrees of grinding , above the values of the sulfate cellulose , the tearing resistance of the formacell cellulose is , as a whole , approximately comparable with that of the sulfate cellulose . as can be seen from table 5 , still more favorable values are obtained with miscanthus celluloses . here , not only are lower cap figures and higher degrees of whiteness obtained , but also significantly higher tearing resistances than in accordance with the conventional soda processes as well . in more recent investigations , still higher tearing resistances , which come close to those of pinic sulfate celluloses , are obtained . since the formacell process produces , in contrast to the soda process , no spent lyes which contain sodium silicate , it is particularly well suited for the pulping of annual plants . table 5______________________________________characteristics of miscanthus celluloses , which were obtained in accordance with three different processes formacell soda acetosolve______________________________________cap figure : 3 . 2 27 . 2 13 . 2 degree of whiteness (% iso ): 33 . 8 26 . 8 25 . 9 gvz ( ml / g ): 1012 . 0 1010 . 0 1022 . 5 dp : 2870 . 0 2870 . 0 2910 . 0 r - 10 (%): 91 . 0 -- 99 . 5 yield (%): 48 . 2 54 . 6 48 . 5 tear resistance ( cn ): 90 . 4 63 . 2 51 . 5 bursting surface ( m . sup . 2 ) 43 . 9 41 . 2 24 . 6 tearing strength ( km ): 8 . 1 7 . 08 5 . 2______________________________________	3
referring now to the drawings more specifically , and to fig1 and 2 thereof in particular , a privacy blind 20 in accordance with the present invention is shown installed on a patio door assembly 22 . a privacy blind 20 in accordance with the present invention can be used advantageously on architectural openings of many types including windows , doors and the like , and is particularly advantageous in conditions where privacy is desired or required in combination with the transmission of light through the blind to provide natural lighting in the room . privacy blind 20 includes a head rail 24 , a bottom rail 26 and a plurality of slats 28 therebetween . in fig1 and 2 , only some of the slats 28 , but not all of the slats 28 are indicated with reference numbers . slats 28 are suspended on ladders 30 , as will be described more fully hereinafter . for more narrow blinds 20 , two ladders 30 may be sufficient ; and on wider blinds 20 three , four or more ladders 30 may be used . in the exemplary embodiment , three ladders 30 are provided . also shown in fig1 and 2 are ladder operator cords 32 for operating the ladders in known manner to tilt slats 28 between substantially horizontal positions as shown in fig1 , commonly referred to as an “ open ” condition , in which spaces 34 are provided between adjacent , substantially horizontal slats 28 ; and a “ closed ” condition as shown in fig2 in which the slats 28 are tilted to close spaces 34 with the individual slats substantially vertically positioned on edge . ladders 30 can be adjusted to place slats 28 at intermediate positions between the fully open and full closed positions shown in fig1 and 2 , respectively . lift cords 36 are also shown in fig1 and 2 for raising and lowering bottom rail 26 , causing slats 28 to stack thereon from the bottom up as is well known to those skilled in the art . lift cords 36 have distal ends as indicated in fig1 and 2 , and extend coextensively with ladders 30 from head rail 24 to bottom rail 26 , as will be described more fully hereinafter . head rail 24 is mounted to patio door assembly 22 , with ladders 30 having slats 28 installed therein suspended from head rail 24 in known manner . head rail 24 includes various operating mechanisms for tilting ladders 30 , guides for routing lift cords 36 to raise and lower bottom rail 26 , necessary cord locks for securing adjusted positions of the blind and the like . various such mechanisms for head rail 24 can be used , and are well known to those skilled in the art . the particular types of operating mechanisms in head rail 24 are not relevant to the present invention and therefore will not be described in further detail herein . bottom rail 26 in known blinds is a thin bar or tube forming the bottom of the blind and upon which the slats 28 stack as the blind is raised . in known designs , the bottom rail thereby forms an outline or demarcation at the bottom of the blind that appears differently from the slats there above . in accordance with the present invention , bottom rail 26 is formed of two slats 28 , designated as 28 a and 28 b in fig6 . slats 28 a and 28 b are oppositely directed , that is they face in opposite directions to form an elliptical shape in cross - section . by using two slats 28 a and 28 b to form bottom rail 26 , the appearance of blind 20 beneath head rail 24 is consistent all the way through to the bottom edge of the blind . slats 28 a and 28 b can be fastened one to another by end caps 38 at each end ( one end cap 38 being shown in fig6 ), adhesive or other means . an advantage of using end caps 38 is providing a finished look and closing the end openings between slats 28 a and 28 b . as thus far described , exemplary blind 20 is a so - called “ horizontal blind ” with slats 28 horizontally disposed beneath head rail 24 , and a plurality of slats 28 arranged one beneath another between head rail 24 and bottom rail 26 . however , it should be understood that slats 28 of the present invention can be used also for so - called “ vertical blinds ” in which the slats are suspended vertically from one end beneath head rail 24 , with each slat extending from the head rail to the bottom of the blind , and a plurality of the slats arranged one beside another across the width of the blind . commonly , in a vertical blind a bottom rail is not provided , and lift cords are not required . slats 28 of the present invention are made of material and formed by a process whereby light is transmitted readily through each slat , but the translucency of the slat is increased to provide privacy . an exemplary process 50 for making slats 28 is shown in fig1 . suitable materials for slats 28 include transparent or translucent plastics such as , but not limited to acrylics , clear pvc , polycarbonates and butyrate . process 50 of the present invention includes a forming step 52 , a printing step 54 , an embossing step 56 , a shaping step 58 and a sizing or cutting step 60 . it should be understood that process 50 to be described hereinafter is exemplary for use with acrylics , and the details of the various process steps may vary depending on the material being used to form slats 28 . in forming step 52 , if the material being used is hydroscopic , a supply 62 of the material , normally pellets or other discrete particles of acrylic resin , for example , is treated preliminarily by pre - drying to remove moisture and prevent the formation of bubbles in the subsequent forming steps . again , for the exemplary use of acrylic pellets , drying for approximately two and one - half hours at 175 ° f . has been found suitable for removing excess moisture . the pre - dried acrylic resin is vacuum loaded into a hopper 64 . from hopper 64 , the acrylic resin is gravity - fed to an extruder 66 , which in the exemplary embodiment is a screw extruder having a screw 68 therein . screw 68 is suitable for use with acrylics and includes flights thereon decreasing in depth from the inlet end to the outlet end of extruder 66 . as known to those familiar with the extrusion art , as the acrylic material is conveyed forward by screw 68 , with the depth of the flight on screw 68 decreasing , the material is compressed increasingly . the increased compression generates shear heat in the material . the shear heat along with supplemental heat from external barrel heaters breaks down the acrylic pellets into a low viscosity melt . temperatures should be kept sufficiently high to form a clear extrusion . generally , higher temperatures provide clearer acrylic extrusions , and a melt temperature of approximately 420 ° f . has been found to be adequate for desired levels of clarity . a die 70 is provided at the front of extruder 66 , and the melted acrylic is forced through die 70 as the material emerges from extruder 66 . the emerging material forms a continuous web or strip 72 having the general shape of die 70 , again has well understood by those familiar with the art . standard slat sizes can be formed in thicknesses from approximately 0 . 038 inch to approximately 0 . 150 inch and in widths between the edges of strip 72 from approximately 1 . 5 inch to approximately 3 . 7 inches . strip 72 advances from extruder 66 to printing step 54 wherein option patterns , designs and colors can be applied to a surface of the strip . it should be understood that between extruder 66 and printing step 54 , strip 72 may require support by use of air jets , rollers or the like . printing step 54 , in the exemplary process shown , is a laminating or transfer printing process in which ink in a desired pattern , which can be specifically designed or random , is transferred to a surface of strip 72 . in a suitable transfer process , a mylar or other web 74 ( fig1 ), having an ink pattern 75 thereon , is provided as a supply roll 76 from which a continuous feed thereof passes through an ink - transfer station or laminator 78 including opposed rollers 80 , 82 forming a transfer nip 84 . the term “ ink ” as used herein is intended to include inks and paints of various types as well as pigmented solids or other colorants that can be applied to strip 72 . acrylic strip 72 and mylar web 74 pass together through nip 84 , wherein the ink pattern 75 on web 74 is released from web 74 and transferred to the surface of strip 72 under the application of pressure in nip 84 . after the ink is released there from , web 74 is accumulated on a take - up roll 86 . printing step 54 is performed relatively close to extruder 66 , but spaced sufficiently therefrom so that some cooling of strip 72 occurs before strip 72 enters laminator 78 . if strip 72 is too hot , mylar web 74 can wrinkle or melt . however , laminator 78 should not be so far from extruder 66 that strip 72 is cooled excessively . strip 72 should remain sufficiently hot that proper ink transfer occurs from mylar web 74 to extruded strip 72 . generally , if strip 72 at the exit from transfer nip 84 maintains an exit temperature at about 300 ° f . sufficient ink transfer occurs without wrinkling in mylar web 74 . printing step 54 can be performed using ink pattern 75 provided on web 74 in specific designed patterns of objects or things such as flowers , leaves or the like . further , ink pattern 75 for printing step 54 can be provided in desired geometric or random patterns . further , ink pattern 75 can be provided in discrete lines or shapes or can be provided as a continuous colored band or block for full color coverage of the entire surface of strip 72 , or of discrete portions thereof such as bands or stripes . single solid colors or multi - colors can be used as ink pattern 75 . artistic and aesthetic concerns can be met by virtually limitless printing configurations . however , it should be understood that printing step 54 also can be omitted , and a clear unprinted strip 72 can be passed to subsequent processing . while a laminating or transfer process is shown in the exemplary process 50 , other coloring or printing processes also can be used , such as , for example and not limitation , wash coat , gravure or tip printing . further , instead of or in addition to printing step 54 , color can be added to strip 72 during the extrusion or other forming process by the addition of colorants to the feed material . from printing step 54 , the printed strip 72 advances to embossing step 56 wherein physical modifications are made to a surface of strip 72 that decrease the transparency of strip 72 while retaining a high level of translucency . an embosser 90 includes an embossing wheel 92 and a backing wheel 94 . embossing wheel 92 has surface configurations 96 in the form of discrete projections to create a surface topography or embossment of impressions 98 ( fig1 ) on strip 72 . impressions 98 are formed of sufficiently varying height and depth , and sufficiently close to one another so as to reduce the transparency of strip 72 while retaining a desired level of translucency to provide desired privacy features regarding visibility through the slat together with a desired level of light transfer through the slat . decreased transparency , making the strip translucent , is achieved with deeper impressions more closely spaced together . for greater privacy , the embossment should substantially cover the entire surface between edges of strip 72 . the temperature of strip 72 in embosser 90 should remain sufficiently high for suitable penetration depth in the embossing step 56 , and for subsequent handling to be described . however , the temperature of strip 72 at embossing step 56 should not be so high as to cause material flow after embossing , which can distort the embossing pattern and degrade embossing detail . it has been found that an exit temperature for strip 72 as the strip emerges from embosser 90 of about 250 ° f . works well together with a nip pressure of about 1000 psi between embossing wheel 92 and backing wheel 94 . various patterns can be used in embossing step 56 to provide desired aesthetic effects as well as performance . from embossing step 56 , web 72 advances to shaping step 58 wherein both cooling and shaping occurs . a shaping table 100 provides a crown across the width of the slat , from one side edge to the other side edge . a crown of approximately ¼ inch has been found satisfactory . crowning plates 102 ( fig1 ), as known to those skilled in the art , can be used above and below strip 72 . crowning improves rigidity of the slat , and may be desirable for longer slats ; however , flat slats without crowning also can be used . maintaining a temperature of approximately 250 ° f . at the exit of the embosser not only improves embossing but also ensures sufficient flexibility in an acrylic strip 72 for shaping . fans 104 provided above and / or below strip 72 force air against and around the strip from opposite sides to promote cooling . relatively slow , even cooling is preferred to prevent warping or curling . while two fans 104 are shown , it should be understood that a series of fans 104 , both above and below strip 72 , can be used . upon completion of final shaping and cooling , strip 72 is passed through a puller 106 to cutting step 60 wherein desired lengths for slats 28 are cut . cutting step 60 can include operating a saw , knife or other cutting means 108 for severing strip 72 in desired lengths for subsequent use . various types of encoders and other measuring or length determining systems and processes can be used to ensure consistent desired lengths for all slats 28 emerging from cutting station 60 . as understood by those familiar with extrusion processes , puller 106 near the end of process 50 is used to move strip 72 through out the process . pullers well known in the industry include belt pullers and other types that can be used in the present process . desirably , puller 106 will not mark or otherwise disfigure the completed product . as those skilled in the art of extrusion processes will readily understand , puller 106 , embosser 90 and laminator 78 are synchronized to the same speeds to maintain constant tension in strip 72 . formed in this manner , slats 28 are translucent and light diffusing from the embossment formed therein . the transparency thereof is decreased to provide privacy by obscuring visibility through the slat , but the slat remains translucent to allow light to pass there through . ladders 30 have a pair of uprights 110 , 112 and a series of rungs or cross - members 114 extending therebetween . slats 28 are supported on rungs 114 . differential vertical movement between uprights 110 , 112 causes rungs 114 to assume different angular positions , from substantially horizontal as required for the open position of blind 20 as shown in fig1 , to the severely angular , almost vertical position in which the slats are nearly vertical on edge as shown in fig2 . since slats 28 are supported on rungs 114 , slats 28 move together with rungs 114 as the rungs are moved between various angular positions . to retain proper lengthwise positioning of slats 28 within ladders 30 , notches 116 , 118 are provided on the front and back edges of slats 28 respectively , to receive therein the uprights 110 , 112 . it should be understood that while notches on the front and back are shown , notches on only one or the other edge also can be used , perhaps alternating with notches for others of the ladders 30 when multiple ladders are used . at spaced positions along the lengths thereof , ladder uprights 110 , 112 are provided with loops 120 positioned outwardly . lift cords 36 extend through loops 120 from head rail 24 to bottom rail 26 . lift cords 36 can be provided on the front and back of each ladder 30 or can be provided on one or the other . when multiple ladders and lift cords are used , each ladder can include two lift cords as shown in fig3 , or one ladder can have a lift cord 36 on the front edge thereof and another ladder 30 can have a lift cord 36 at the back edge thereof . further , with multiple ladders , each ladder can be provided with one or two lift cords as described , or some ladders can be used without lift cords when sufficient lift cords are provided on others of the ladders . by providing the lift cords away from the slats 28 , slats 28 are continuous without interruption except for the shallow notches 116 , 118 , and when blind 20 is closed as shown in fig5 no holes or openings extend through one slat that are not covered by an overlapping slat . as shown in fig5 , notches 116 are covered by the slat there behind , so that no unobstructed light passes therethrough . fig1 shows a valence 130 for head rail 24 . a plurality of head rail clips 132 are used connected to head rail 24 . only one head rail clip 132 is visible in the cross - section shown in fig1 ; however , it should be understood that two or more clips 132 will be used . each clip 132 includes a spring arm of 134 for connecting to head rail 24 , a body portion 136 projecting in front of head rail 24 and first and second holding arms 138 , 140 to hold first and second overlapping slats 28 c and 28 d . slats 28 c and 28 d are similar to slats 28 , 28 a and 28 b . accordingly , valance 130 provides a consistent color and appearance as in the main portion of blind 20 . further , uppermost most slat 28 d overlaps and covers any space at the top of head rail 24 , and lower slat 28 c overlaps and covers any space between the bottom of head rail 24 and the uppermost slat 28 in blind 20 . while this invention has been described with respect to at least one embodiment , the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure . this application is therefore intended to cover any variations , uses , or adaptations of the invention 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 .	4
the set of conjugated components to build a ultralight type airplane , subject of this application for invention patent , consists , in more detail , of a set of parts to build a ultralight type airplane , this set of components consisting of fuselage ( 1 ); wings ( 2 ); empennages ( 3 ); landing gear ( 4 ); systems ( 5 ) which include the controls ( 6 ) with joint terminations and fuel system consisting of a metal tank ( 7 ) fixed on the same level of the engine , with a vent , cover and system cutting valve ; propelling unit ( 8 ) formed by an otto &# 39 ; s four cycle engine ( 9 ), which uses aviation gasoline , started through cdi , with cutting switch available to the pilot . the fuselage ( 1 ) is formed by tubes ( 10 ) preferably made of aeronautical alloy aluminum ( type 6061 t6 ) with some steel reinforcements , preferably made of steel 4130n . the tubes ( 10 ) made of aeronautical aluminum alloy are two lower tubes ( 12 ) which project from the front region of the airplane up to the back region , and between them there is an angle of 6 °; an upper tube ( 13 ) projects also from the front part to the back part of the structure , and this upper tube ( 13 ) is positioned on a middle longitudinal line between the two lower tubes ( 12 ), and on the maximum front end the distal points of these points are defined as 1200 mm ; said upper tube ( 13 ) has a 6 ° angle as regards the horizontal axis ( h ), and this is the same angle formed by the lower tubes ( 12 ) with regard to the same horizontal axis ( h ), the lower tubes ( 12 ) are fixed , on the front part , on the transversal steel axis ( 14 ) which receives the axes ( 14 a ) of the front wheels ( 15 ) of the landing gear ; while the upper tube ( 13 ) goes from the front end , where it connects to the cradle ( 16 ) of the propelling unit ( 8 ), with the said cradle ( 16 ) having a general triangular configuration formed by the welded steel tubes which configure an elevated base to place the above referred propelling unit ( 8 ). along the fuselage ( 1 ) tubes ( 17 ) are distributed by pairs , so that each component of a pair is transversally aligned , projecting from the lower tubes ( 12 ) up to the upper tube ( 13 ) forming actual triangles , while the junction , both with the lower tubes ( 12 ) as with the upper one ( 13 ) requires the use of special connections or catches ( 18 ), and the lower connections ( 18 a ) surround partially the contour of the corresponding lower tube ( 12 ) and project , above , almost parallel skirts ( 19 ) among which is included a flat end ( 20 ) of the corresponding tubes ( 17 ), for fixation purposes by means of screws an ( 17 a ) where tension adjusting threads ( 21 ) are further applied for the steel cables ( 22 ) which act as diagonal wires to absorb the shear stresses . the junction of the tubes ( 17 ) with the upper tube ( 13 ) is made by connections ( 18 b ) which totally and circularly wrap up the referred upper tube ( 13 ) and project to the slightly inclined side skirts ( 23 ) which receive the flat ends ( 24 ) opposite to said pipes ( 17 ) where , similarly , an type screws ( 17 a ) are applied and which receive also tension - adjusting threads ( 21 ). the steel cables ( 22 ) exercise the function of wires , as said above , through diagonal displacements on the two sides of the airplane , from the first and up to the last quadrant , with each fixation point provided with a tension - adjusting thread ( 21 ) in the form of two blades similar to clamps ( 21 a ) where the closed side of each clamp ( 21 a ) receives the threaded end ( 25 ) for the corresponding steel cable ( 22 ). the fuselage ( 1 ) has , further , reinforcement structural elements ( 26 ) preferably made of steel , normally distributed among the lower tubes ( 12 ). said lower tubes ( 12 ) have their back ends united by means of a flat plate ( 27 ), with two points of fixation by means of screws on each side ( 28 ), with said flat plate ( 27 ) configurating on its center a bearing ( 29 ) which receives a crosspiece ( 30 ) which can be pivoted around the vertical axis of this bearing ( 29 ), while the section of this crosspiece ( 30 ) orthogonal to the axis of the bearing ( 29 ) projects a cylindrical element ( 31 ) the ends of which are attached to bearings ( 32 ) incorporated to the set of the tail ( 33 ), providing , in this way , the horizontal articulation of this set of the tail ( 33 ), around the axis formed by the cylindrical element ( 31 ). the lower tubes ( 12 ) have , on the level formed among them , steel wires ( 22 ) similar to the above referred ones , which employ the same tension adjusting threads ( 21 ) formed by blades similar to clamps ( 21 a ). the cradle ( 16 ) receives , on the bottom and the front , the ends of a pair of tubes ( 34 ) the lower ends of which are attached to substantially “ u ” shaped catches ( 35 ) placed on the axis tube of the wheels ( 14 ) by means of special screws from where they advance raised and frontwards , so as to attach to the cradle ( 16 ), and on the side of said tubes ( 34 ) fixed to the axis of the wheels ( 14 ), there are two other tubes ( 36 ), which raise so as to form a triangle and are fixed on the lower back part of the cradle ( 16 ); sidewise to said tubes ( 34 ), with the same catches ( 35 ) and with the same screws , the flattened ends of the tubes ( 37 ) which displace diagonally and are fixed on the upper part , on the inside of said tubes ( 34 ), which receive by means of catches ( 37 b ), upper and lower pairs of plates ( 38 ) which fix the radiator ( 39 ) of the propelling unit ( 8 ). connections ( 40 ) are attached to the tubes ( 36 ) close to their lower ends , which almost surround said tubes ( 36 ) and , from these circular sections , parallel skirts ( 42 ) project , among which the ends of the tubes ( 43 ) are attached which raise sidewise and slopingly towards the wings ( 2 ), where they are attached by means of special catches ( 44 ) incorporated on the lower part of the structure of the wing ( 2 ) furthermore , side catches ( 45 ) are attach to the tubes ( 36 ) at a level close to the one of the propelling unit ( 8 ), and these side catches ( 45 ) partially surround those tubes ( 36 ) and have parallel skirts ( 46 ) among which are fitted the flattened ends of the tubes ( 47 ) which raise slopingly from the sides towards the center , ending beside the upper tube ( 13 ), and these tubes ( 47 ) take an approximately triangular configuration where a fairy is attached ( 48 ). the propelling unit ( 8 ) is supported on the cradle ( 16 ), which is welded and fixed to the structure by means of rubber pads ( 11 ), while on the front part of the upper pipe ( 13 ) in the region where it connects to the cradle ( 16 ), two sets of special catches ( 49 ) are provided , which surround the upper tube ( 13 ) and have upper parallel skirts ( 50 ) where small supporting pipes ( 51 ) are fixed which work as supports for the upper reservoir of said propelling unit ( 8 ), while side plates ( 52 ), laid by pairs on each fixation point , are intended to provide side support to said upper reservoir . the wings ( 2 ) have a structure formed by two girders ( 53 ) made of aeronautical alloy aluminium ( type 6061 t6 ), that is to say , a pair of girders ( 53 ) on each side of the wing ( 2 ), and these girders ( 53 ) are supported by the described tubes ( 36 ) which link them to the lower part of the fuselage ( 1 ). on the central part , where the girders ( 53 ) on the opposite sides of the wing ( 2 ) meet , a tube ( 54 ) is provided beside the pair of front girders ( 53 ), which is incorporated to the front superior part of the cradle ( 16 ), with said tube ( 54 ) coupled on both ends , with nylon or similar material cylindric bushings ( 55 ) inside said girders ( 53 ). the pair of back girders ( 53 ) receives a tube ( 56 ) coupled on said cilindric bushings ( 55 ), with this tube ( 56 ) incorporated to a small metal square ( 57 ) which is coupled to the first set of tubes ( 17 ) which project substantially in “ v ” shape , with the vortex on the upper part , and these tubes ( 17 ) extend to the lower tubes ( 12 ) where they are attached by means of catches with screws ( 18 ), and these catches partially wrap up the tubes ( 12 ) and project parallel skirts ( 19 ) among which fit the flattened ends of said tubes ( 17 ), to which are attached on a preferably upper sector , catches ( 58 ) which attach tubes ( 55 ) that extend up to the lower tubes ( 12 ) where they are attached also by means of catches ( 60 ) which partially surround the lower tubes ( 12 ) and project skirts ( 61 ) among which the ends of the pipes ( 59 ) are fixed by means of special screws of the type already mentioned in this report , with this specification being almost a general one . these tubes ( 59 ) serve as receiving elements of a transversal tube ( 62 ) where by traditional means , the seat ( 63 ) of the pilot is fixed . on the wings ( 2 ) sectors at equal distances are provided consisting of ribs ( 64 ) preferably made of aluminium , which go from one girder to the next , to build the profile of the airfoil that has particular characteristics , which determine the excellent sustentation of the airplane . these ribs ( 64 ) are composed , basically , each of them , of an upper profile ( 65 ) substantially “ t ” shaped which goes over the girder ( 63 ) with a thin plate ( 67 ) between it and the corresponding lower profile ( 66 ), and this plate has a perforation of a diameter which matches that of the girder ( 63 ), however , this plate ( 67 ) raises little beyond the diameter of the corresponding girder ( 53 ), and meets the branches of the “ t ” profile ( 65 ) and ( 66 ) on the same level , creating , this way , a support surface where stainless steel or age - hardening aluminum rivets are applied , as it is the case for all points that require said rivets . as the profile ( 65 ) and ( 66 ) which form one same rib ( 64 ) are bended to acquire the profile of the airfoil , the central segment naturally has longer distance between them . for that purpose , the wing ( 2 ) has substantially “ v ” shaped profiles ( 68 ) with grooves ( 69 ) on the ends , which are fitted to the profiles ( 65 ) and ( 66 ) and fixed by means of rivets . beside the back girders ( 53 ) and , more particularly , juxtaposed to them , close to the ends of the wing ( 2 ), parallel aluminum profiles ( 70 ) are fixed , in particular two profiles adjacent to each other which form surfaces ( 71 ) to fix the profile ( 65 ) originating from the front part of the wing ( 2 ), as well as surfaces ( 72 ) which extend from said plates up to the back part of the wing ( 2 ). on each side of the wing ( 2 ) there are four upper wires ( 73 ) and four lower wires ( 74 ), with the upper wires fixed on the end of the compression tube ( king post ) ( 75 ) attached and raised starting from an upper tube ( 13 ), while the lower wires ( 74 ) are fixed on the left and right side of the wing ( 2 ), to a bracing device ( 80 ) provided on the non - turning end of the wheel . theses wires ( 73 ) and ( 74 ) are steel cables with grommets ( 76 ) at the ends which provide points for fixation , while , on the other side , the attachment on the wing ( 2 ) requires on the four mentioned points reinforced plastic bushings ( 77 ) and theses bushings are fitted in the corresponding openings provided on the girders ( 53 ), on axes which are orthogonal among them , so that on the ends of each bushing ( 77 ) a catch ( 78 ) is inserted forming approximately an “ l ”, the end of which includes a retention pin ( 79 ) for the corresponding wire . the described sequence of wires ( 73 ) and ( 74 ) and the tubular support generate a redundant structure which supports the positive and negative load of the wing ( 2 ), and support further its torsion stresses . therefore , the tubular girder ( 53 ) is subject to flexion compression stresses . on the other hand , the ribs ( 34 ), through the “ t ” type profiles ( 65 ) and ( 66 ), linked through several aluminum rivets , generate the shape of the airfoil in the structure of support and compression among the girders ( 53 ). the leading edge ( b ) of the wing ( 2 ) is made by an aeronautical alloy aluminum tube ( 54 ) ( as all the other aluminum components ), which extends from the central region of the airplane , fixed as described , until it is interrupted on each side of the wing ( 2 ), beside the third right and left ribs ( 34 ), and the chord is defined starting from a bigger dimension immediately after this interrupted segments . the trailing edge ( f ) is made of aeronautical alloy aluminum plate ( 81 ), and the fixation of the ribs ( 34 ) is made with rivets . the wing ( 2 ) is coated with fabric ( 82 ) preferably of glued polyester , stretched and shrink - wrapped with no ultraviolet ( uv ) ray protection . with this construction , a wing ( 2 ) is achieved that , compared to the original project has a larger section , and this , besides the possibility of mass production , provides for increased efficiency and quickness , and improved sustentation of the airplane . the controls or commands ( 6 ) include the front axis ( 14 ) which receives , on the ends , the axes ( 14 a ) of the wheels , with said axes ( 14 ) having side supports ( 85 ) incorporated with fixation points for the brake device ( 86 ) which is a conventional one ; for that purpose , more to the center , arms ( 83 ) are provided to receive the ends of the axes ( 84 ) of the articulated pedals ( 87 ) which operate those brakes . the above mentioned front axe ( 84 ) is inserted in tubes ( 84 a ) ( one on each side ) where incorporated skirts ( 88 ) are provided , which receive the support ( 89 ) of the pedals ( 90 ) that operate the tail wheel ; for that purpose on the center area of the tubes ( 84 a ), between said pedals ( 90 ), vertical arms ( 91 ) are incorporated , with adjustment orifices ( 92 ), in which joints ( 93 ) are inserted , connected by means of adjustment threads to parallel rods ( 94 ) which extend up to lower transversal tubular axe ( 95 ) which is attached as a pivot to an upper parallel fixed axe ( 96 ) positioned immediately above and which is fixed on the lower tubes ( 12 ) by means of catches ( 97 ) which surround such lower tubes ( 12 ) and project parallel skirts ( 98 ) among which the ends of said fixed axe ( 96 ) are fitted and fixed by means of special screws of the type above referred . said lower transversal axe ( 95 ) has incorporated , aligned with the rods ( 94 ), flat plates ( 99 ) each of them with orifices for adjustment , which receive the joints ( 93 ) of said rods ( 94 ), while on the opposite side they project tensors ( 100 ) for the steel cables ( 101 ) which then are guided by two plastic pulleys ( 102 ) attached on a fixed transversal arm ( 103 ) which is attached by means of special catches ( 104 ), to the lower tubes ( 12 ) so that these steel cables ( 101 ) are guided by pulleys ( 101 b ) up to the tail wheel ( 105 ), where they have adjustments and are fixed on a small flat plate ( 106 ) with adjustment orifices ( 107 ), this tail wheel is articulated on its axe with bushing and a fork ( 108 ) passing before through guiding pulleys ( 101 c ). the transversal lower axis ( 95 ) receives , on the opposite ends , steel cable terminals ( 109 ) with adjustment threads , which are intended to operate the rudder , passing along pulleys ( 110 ) set on the side at the height of the lower tubes ( 12 ), going towards the pulleys from where they are guided to pulleys ( 112 ) laid under the lower tubes ( 12 ), and from there opening in a large angle for the opposite vortices of the tail ( c 1 ), so as to allow to fully operate it on a horizontal level , through the devices described above , and thus performing the function of a rudder . the joystick ( 113 ) is placed in front of the pilot as a lever , which is attached , so as to pivot , to a linear movement axis ( 114 ) inserted in the cylindrical tube ( 115 ) which can be rotated though the utilization of the arms ( 96 ) and ( 103 ) as bearings , while the other end of the axis ( 114 ) is attached to a fork ( 116 ) that , on its free end , has an articulated tubular element ( 117 ) around the axis configurated by the pin ( 118 ), and said tubular element ( 117 ) includes , in a position immediately above , pins ( 119 ) with free rotation bushings ( 120 ) positioned under substantially “ l ” shaped plates ( 121 ) which project obliquely from the transversal arm ( 103 ), to which they are fixed preferably thought welding . the articulate tubular element ( 117 ) receives , on the upper and lower ends , upper and lower steel cables ( 122 ), which extend in opposite directions , pass through the corresponding guide pulleys ( 123 ) on the upper tube ( 13 ) and lower tube ( 12 ), and pass before through pulleys ( 123 b ), until they reach the maximum upper point ( 124 ) and maximum lower point ( 125 ) of the tail ( c 1 ) to operate it as an elevator , that is to say , it pivots on the vertical axis upon command by the pilot , and to drive the crosspiece ( 30 ) as described . on the same joystick the pilot has the aileron command , which is totally new as regards the original demoiselle version . for that purpose , above the fixed transversal arm ( 103 ), a transversal tube ( 126 ) is laid , the ends of which are flat and attached by side catches ( 127 ) by means of special screws of the type described , and this transversal tube ( 126 ) receives a fixed substantially “ l ” shaped support plate ( 128 ), which has , at its ends , indentures , to attach the vertical movement transmissor ( 130 ) for the aileron ( 131 ) provided on the wing ( 2 ), with this vertical movement transmissor ( 130 ) attached , so as to pivot , to a horn ( 133 ), with points of adjustment with the shape of orifices ( 134 ) and this horn can turn around its axis upon side movement of the joystick to drive the aileron ( 131 ); this command is made from the vertical transmissor ( 130 ) which answers vertically to the turning of the horn ( 133 ). the upper end of the vertical transmissor ( 130 ) projects vertically a mechanical transmission harness , such as a steel cable ( 135 ) which extends inside the wing structure ( 2 ) until it attaches on the mechanical cylinder ( 136 ) which can in its turn pivot , by means of a kind of fork ( 137 ), to the support of a substantially “ l ” shaped aluminum plate ( 138 ), riveted on the structural part on the inside of said aileron ( 131 ). the empennages ( 3 ) include the so called tail set ( 33 ) built completely with the aeronautical alloy aluminum ( type 6061 t6 ) tubes with reduced diameter ( 132 ) interconnected by means of riveted aluminum plates ( 139 ); with this empennages ( 3 ) coated with glued shrink - wrapped and sealed polyester that , as in the case of the wings ( 2 ), has no uv protection . the empennages ( 3 ) are , as described above , fully mobile and rigidly linked by means of steel cables ; still , as already reported , they have horizontal and vertical pivoting on steel and aluminum bearings . because of the possible aerodynamical excitation of the wing ( 2 ) on the empennage ( 3 ), all the set is 100 % balanced on the horizontal and vertical axis . besides the components listed and described above , we stress as important elements of the invention the connection set ( 141 ) of the tail , substantially in the form of an elongated tube with end “ v ” shaped inverted derivations ( 142 ) and an intermediate orthogonal derivation ( 143 ). the catches mentioned along the text , in their basic constructions are : catch ( p 1 ) of the perforated cylinder core ( 144 ), skirts ( 145 ) in an axis orthogonal to that of the cylinder core ( 144 ), limited by a diameter smaller than that of said core ( 144 ), besides the orifices ( 146 ) aligned on both axis ; catch ( p 2 ) that has a cylinder core ( 147 ) with side skirts ( 148 ) that project in an angle , the skirts with aligned orifices ( 149 ); catch ( p 3 ) with a cylinder core ( 150 ), parallel skirts ( 151 ) and continuing as regards the diameter of said core ( 150 ), with aligned orifices ( 152 ); catch ( p 4 ) with cylinder core ( 153 ) and one single side skirt ( 154 ) with an orifice ( 155 ). the axis of the front wheel ( 14 a ) is provided with a cylinder section of longer extension ( 156 ), reduced and shorter length diameter sector ( 157 ), followed by another sector with a shorter diameter ( 158 ), from which an almost intermediate extension ( 159 ) projects , which have a quite reduced diameter , followed by another cylinder sector ( 160 ) with a diameter similar to that of sector ( 158 ), ending with a threaded end ( 161 ). although the tubular parts are not specified because they are different just as regards the dimensions , we make a special mention to the wing tube ( 162 ). the break ( 163 ) is also a specially designed device , which has a handle ( 164 ) and an almost semicircular end ( 165 ), an extension ( 166 ) and a perforated cylinder end ( 167 ), besides the approximately intermediate perforated cylinder insertion ( 168 ) on the side of the extension opposite to its end ( 167 ). the pulley ( 169 ) is made of nylon or any similar material and is to be used together with the axis ( 170 ) on the engine supporting set . the catch ( 171 ) is to be used also for the engine support , and is substantially “ u ” shaped with on aligned orifices ( 172 ). the invention includes further a substantially rectangular metal plate ( 173 ) with skirts ( 174 ) projected slopingly outwards on the longer sides of the rectangles and each of them with four orifices ( 175 ), while , on the shorter sides of the rectangle , two smaller skirts are inclined outwards ( 176 ) each of them with one single orifice ( 177 ). the part ( 178 ) is the base of the spindle that holds the wing ( 2 ), and is formed by a cylinder sector ( 179 ) and a cylinder sector which is chamfered on diametrically opposed segments ( 180 ) with a threaded orifice ( 181 ). the part ( 182 ) is a substantially triangular skirt , to fix the vertical tale , with its end opposite to the rounded vortex ( 183 ) and an orifice ( 184 ). the so called second set is formed by the components ( 103 ), ( 121 ) besides a plate with an orifice ( 185 ) on the component ( 103 ), for the tube ( 115 ), and reinforcements ( 186 ) and orifices ( 187 ) on the axis ( 103 ), are also shown . the second set lever ( 188 ) is a cylinder axis with threaded end seats ( 189 ) projected beyond the diameter dimensions of the axis , besides approximately intermediate and cylinder seats ( 190 ) projected outwards on diametrical opposed points of said axis , and in a position that is approximately symmetrical to the central axis and axially to the axis , there is an orifice ( 191 ). the second set shows , further , a catch ( 192 ) to fix it , which is substantially an inverted “ u ”, with elongated straight segments ( 193 ) and provided with orifices ( 194 ), one of them on the rounded part between the straight segments and the others on the ends of said straight segments ( 193 ). the propeller ( 140 ) is of the two blade type ( traction system ), while the airplane obtained , according to the described components has , as a function of prior specifications as well as a function of field tests that were performed , the following technical and performance characteristics :	1
in addition to conventional voice telephony service and data transmission , some of today &# 39 ; s mobile communication systems provide a closed user group service . by means of the closed user group service , several different restrictions concerning the internal and / or external telecommunications can be defined for a selected group of subscribers . for example , available call restrictions may include the barring of incoming or outgoing calls , or barring calls to certain numbers within the group . closed user groups are typically employed within companies , where it is desirable to restrict use of mobile devices for business - related calls only . in the call set - up process , closed user groups trigger additional checks , on the basis of which call set - up is either continued in conventional fashion or denied . the present invention expands upon this basic premise of closed user groups and extends the utilization to ad hoc user groups in communication over the ip network to share , among group members , information in the form of voice , data and video . fig1 illustrates an exemplary ( simplified ) architecture that may be utilized to provide this service in accordance with the present invention . as shown , the architecture comprises an ip backbone 10 , which is connected to various ip network devices and sub - networks not germane to the subject matter of the present invention and not shown in the illustration . in this case , a plurality of separate user groups are identified . a first closed user group ( cug ) 12 is shown as containing a plurality of mobile devices ( md ) 14 and a plurality of fixed devices ( fd ) 16 . this first cug 12 may comprise a “ business ” cug , where a number of fixed devices 16 are disposed at known work locations and the mobile devices 14 are carried by different personnel as they move from location to location . in the particular example as illustrated in fig1 , an individual associated with mobile device 14 - 1 is also associated with a second cug 18 , where this second cug may include family members that desire to remain in contact . a third cug 20 , in this case a stand - alone cug , is also shown in fig1 . in accordance with the present invention , a plurality of intelligent access devices 30 are configured to interface between ip backbone 10 and the plurality of cugs 12 , 18 and 20 in order to provide constant voice , data and video communication capabilities between the members of each group . as a result , the group members have an experience similar to being “ always on ” with the other members of his / her group . indeed , these closed user groups can be thought of as separate , autonomous “ ad hoc ” micro - networks operation ( in isolation ) as clusters of micro - networks within the larger ip network . each cluster within a cug consists of independent nodes that are enabled by intelligent access devices 30 to exchange voice , video conference and “ multicast ” services among the group members (“ participants ”). intelligent access devices 30 function to constantly “ discover ” group members within their communication domain , by broadcasting a group - specific “ ping ” and “ listening ” for responses from group members . thus , at any point in time , the various members of cug 12 may be extremely disparate , in terms of geography , and yet maintain contact between each other . in contrast to the “ follow me ”- type of telecommunications well - known in the prior art and used to forward a call to the location of a calling party , the group “ follows ” each other and remains apprised of each other &# 39 ; s location — without human intervention in terms of knowing where the members are , or the respective telephone numbers , emails or ip addresses where they can be reached . fig2 illustrates an exemplary intelligent access device 30 , including a discovery module 32 that functions to continuously broadcast a plurality of different “ ping ” signals , each ping associated with a separate one of the pre - defined cugs . in response , to the pings , each intelligent access device 30 receives updated location information from the various members of each group . for example , the ip addresses of various group members are constantly updated as the members move from location to location . a separate database 34 is contained within intelligent access device 30 and comprises a plurality of separate partitions 36 , each partition associated with different cug . database 34 thus interacts with discovery module 32 to update this ip address information . intelligent access device may also include authentication and security module 38 to ensure that only authorized group members are permitted to communicate with one another . discovery module 32 will also discover wifi users at associated hotspots , further increasing the coverage capabilities of the inventive ad hoc network . each cug participant , in accordance with the present invention , may chose from a variety of different services available to group members . in particular , in devices including video capabilities , the users may see each other on a defined “ messenger ” screen . at that time , they may elect to establish voice , video or data contact with the individuals identified on the messenger screen . indeed , a user may choose to “ automatically discover ” and exchange information with other group members . fig3 illustrates one exemplary database partition 36 identifying a plurality of different features associated with each group member . as shown , partition 36 includes a field 40 for storing the user id of each group member . if desired , a password field 42 may be included to store authentication information associated with each group member , thus utilizing the information contained within security / authentication module 38 to verify the “ membership ”. critical to the operation of the present invention is the ability to continuously monitor and update the ip address associated with each group member . field 44 of partition 36 is used to store / update this information . additional fields , as mentioned above , may be included to allow for a variety of different services to be available to group members . for example , a field associated with a member &# 39 ; s selected “ class of service ” ( cos ) for transmitting voice traffic over the ip network may be stored in field 46 . a similar cos priority level may be associated with the member &# 39 ; s data traffic and stored in field 48 . parameters of a particular service level agreement ( sla ) may also be stored , as shown in field 50 . conceptually , the inventive ad hoc closed user groups can be compared to an “ instant messaging ” service , except that the user groups of the present invention support voice and video , with the additional capability of proactively “ discovering ” users as they travel around in the global network . therefore , as long as group members stay within a communication zone of an intelligent network access device , they will remain in contact with other group members . such a service would thus support the vast majority of residential and business users who desire to remain connected most of the time with their friends or family , or “ on the move ” business partners .	7
an algorithm has been developed for determining the current operating mode of a gas turbine . accurately determining the operating mode is useful in conducting remote analyses of the gas turbine and for use in remote diagnostics of the gas turbine . fig1 is a highly - simplified schematic illustration of a gas turbine 10 and a control and monitoring system ( controller ) 12 . a remote monitor and control system ( remote controller ) 13 , e . g ., a computer system , may also provide some control and monitoring functions for the gas turbine . the gas turbine 10 includes an inlet duct 14 , a compressor 16 , combustor 18 , turbine 20 and exhaust duct 22 . the turbine 20 drives the compressor 16 via a rotor shaft 23 . the turbine also drives an output shaft 24 that may be coupled to a starter 26 via a starter transmission 28 . the output shaft may also be coupled to a load 30 via the transmission . combustion gas , e . g ., atmospheric air , is introduced into the gas turbine through the inlet duct 14 . compressed combustion gas , after flowing through the compressor 16 , is combined with the fuel in the combustion system 18 . the fuel and combustion gas are combined in a ratio that is known in the art and can be controlled via the controller 12 . the combustion gas is provided to the combustor 18 from the compressor 16 . the fuel is provided via a fuel manifold 32 and nozzles to the combustor 18 . the fuel flow to the manifolds and nozzles is controlled by fuel flow controls associated with the controller 12 . the combustion gas and the fuel are mixed and burned in the combustor 18 and supplied to a hot turbine 20 . hot combustion gases from the combustor 18 drives the turbine 20 which , in turn , drives the compressor via shaft 23 . the turbine also drives an output shaft 24 . the output shaft may be coupled to a starter 26 via a transmission 28 . the transmission may also couple the drive shaft to a load 30 , such as , for example , an electrical power generator . however , the present invention is not limited to the production of electrical energy and encompasses other forms of energy , such as , mechanical work and heat . the gas turbine 10 is typically controlled via various control parameters from an automated electronic controller 12 . the determination of the fuel heat content and changes in the fuel heat content can be supplied to the controller 12 to be used for control calculations or mathematical control model algorithms used to control the gas turbine system 10 . the operation of the gas turbine 10 may also be monitored and remotely controlled via a remote controller 13 that is in communication with the local gas turbine controller 12 via a wired or wireless link 32 . the remote controller 13 may allow a technician to determine the operating condition of the gas turbine , without visiting the site of the gas turbine . the remote controller may be a secondary controller to the local control system 12 , which provides primary control of the gas turbine and may be capable of operating independently of the remote controller 13 . the remote controller 13 should preferably be able to determine the current operating condition of the gas turbine . the current operating mode of a gas turbine is determined by monitoring many variable inputs whose values are available ether through the control system 12 or other sensors 36 on or around the turbine system 10 . these variable inputs are used to determine , among other things , current input conditions , current output conditions , current rotor speed and temperature conditions . these conditions are monitored to determine current values and current trends of the gas turbine with respect to recent conditions . fig2 is a flow chart showing an exemplary series of steps for classifying the operational modes of a gas turbine . the operation of the gas turbine is monitored 40 by sensors 36 that collect data regarding the operation of the gas turbine 10 . for example , fuel flow sensors obtain information regarding the amount and type ( e . g ., natural gas , fuel oil ) of fuel flowing to the combustion chambers of the gas turbine , speed sensors detect the rotation speed and acceleration of the rotor , thermocouples detect various temperatures of the gas turbine , power output sensors that detect the load on the gas turbine , inlet guide vane ( igv ) sensors determine the igv angle , and pressure sensors detect various pressure levels in the gas turbine . using the data collected by the sensors , the controller determines 42 the operational conditions of the gas turbine . similarly , the controller applies an algorithm to determine 44 the operating mode of the gas turbine based on the operational conditions 42 . the algorithm for determining the operating mode may be a look - up table ( see table i ) of various operating modes and sub - modes of a gas turbine . the look - up table and definitions of each of the modes and sub - modes stated in the look - up table may be stored in electronic memory of the controller . using the table and definitions , the controller determines which mode and sub - mode corresponds to the current operational conditions of the gas turbine . having determined the mode and sub - mode corresponding to the current operating condition of the gas turbine , the controller assigns 46 a value to the determined mode and sub - mode . the value may be set forth in the look - up table . the value for the mode may be transmitted 48 to a remote controller 13 . at the remote controller , a determination 50 may be made as to whether the gas turbine operational parameters are within normal ranges taking into account the current operating mode and sub - mode . the determination of the mode of operation of a gas turbine is required for many processes . the mode determination may provide , for example , information about turbine output relative to rated load of the gas turbine , temperature stability of the gas turbine , and operational stability of the gas turbine . in addition to stability determination , the range of gas turbine output relative to design or rated load may also be determined . the results of these determinations may be used to designate operational periods necessary to determine degradation or improvement of performance or health of the gas turbine unit , as well as collection of operational statistics that can be used for a variety of purposes . the current operating mode can be represented as a single value whose value can be represented by a binary number between 0 ( zero ) and 2 26 . the modes and values currently used for operating mode are shown in table 1 : the current operating mode is represented as a single value whose value can be represented by a binary number between 0 ( zero ) and 2 26 . the exemplary modes and values currently used for operating mode are shown in table 1 . the following processes are used to classify the basic operating conditions of the gas turbine operation cycle in terms of sub - modes as shown in table 1 . slow roll or cranking sub - mode may be defined as the following gas turbine operating conditions : ( i ) the control system zero speed signal is equal to zero ( 0 ) and the rotational speed of the rotor 23 is sufficiently slow ( the current preferred value is rotor speed less than or equal to 10 % of the rated speed of the gas turbine rotor where rated speed is the normal maximum speed for which the rotor is rated by its manufacturer ), or ( ii ) the control system cranking signal is set to one , which signifies that the rotor is being turned by a starter 26 to start the gas turbine . the control system cranking signal may be provided by a sensor 36 monitoring the starter drive coupling for the gas turbine , and the signal may be transmitted ( via wires , wirelessly or a network , e . g ., the internet ) to a remote monitoring station . accelerate means that the rotational speed of the rotor is accelerating such as from a slow roll or cranking condition to a full speed condition . the accelerate sub - mode may be defined as the following gas turbine operating condition : the rotor 23 rotational speed is greater than the slow roll or cranking speed ( the current preferred value is greater than 10 % of the gas turbine rated speed ), the rotor speed is less than full speed ( the current preferred value is less than 95 % of the rated speed ), and the control system accelerating signal ( if available ) is equal to one . the control system accelerating signal represents that the rotor 23 speed is accelerating at or above some predetermined threshold rate . if a control system accelerating signal is not available , then the acceleration rate of the rotor may be determined by comparing a rotor 23 speed average taken over a current time period ( the current preferred interval is 10 seconds ) of all available rotor speed values with the rotor speed average of all available rotor speed values over a prior time interval ( for example , for a 10 second period occurring 10 seconds in the past ). the accelerate low sub - mode and accelerate high sub - mode may be defined over specific rotor speed regions between slow roll / cranking and full speed . current preferred values are between 50 % and 95 % of the rated rotor speed of the turbine for accelerate high , and between 10 % and 50 % of the rated rotor speed for accelerate low . decelerate means that the rotational speed of the rotor is decelerating such as from a full speed condition to a slow roll or cranking condition . the decelerate sub - mode may be defined as the following gas turbine operating conditions : ( i ) the rotor 23 rotational speed is greater than the slow roll or cranking speed ( the current preferred value is greater than 10 % of the gas turbine rated speed ), the rotor speed is less than full speed ( the current preferred value is less than 95 % of the rated speed ), and the control system coast down signal ( if available ) is be equal to one . the control system coasting down signal represents that the rotor 23 speed is decelerating at or above some predetermined threshold rate . if a control system coasting down signal is not available then it may be substituted with : ( i ) the control system fired shut down signal being equal to 1 , or ( ii ) the control system shut down signal being equal to one , or ( iii ) a signal indicating that the rotor is decelerating . the deceleration rate of the rotor may be determined by comparing a rotor 23 speed average taken over a current time period ( the current preferred interval is 10 seconds ) of all available rotor speed values with the rot or speed average of all available rotor speed values over a prior time interval ( for example , for a 10 second period occurring 10 seconds in the past ). the decelerate low sub - mode and decelerate high sub - mode may be defined over specific rotor speed regions between slow roll / cranking and full speed . such speed regions may be between 50 % and 95 % of the rated rotor speed of the turbine for decelerate high , and between 10 % and 50 % of the rated rotor speed for decelerate low . the full speed no load ( fsnl ) sub - mode may be defined as the following gas turbine operating conditions : rotor speed is near rated speed ( the current preferred value is greater than 95 % of the rated speed ) the control system full speed no load signal is equal to one ( if available ), the control system sync signal ( if available ) is equal to one , the generator output is sufficiently low ( the current preferred value is less than 5 % of the rated load where rated load is the normal maximum energy or power output for which the gas turbine is rated by its manufacturer ). base load means that the gas turbine is operating within the conditions defined by its design temperature curves and the inlet guide vanes to the compressor are wide open . the base load may be the design base load under current ambient and performance conditions . the base load sub - mode may be defined as the following gas turbine operating condition : the rotor speed is near rated speed ( the current preferred value is greater than 95 % of the rated speed ), the absolute value of the difference between the temperature curve reference temperature , the corrected actual median exhaust temperature is sufficiently small ( current preferred value is less than 2 ° f . or 1 ° c . ), and the inlet guide vane angle is close to the full open design value ( current preferred value is within one half of a degree ( 0 . 5 deg ) of angle of full design open ). peak load means that the gas turbine is operating above base load . the peak load sub - mode may be defined as the following gas turbine operating conditions : the rotor speed is sufficiently near rated speed ( current preferred value is greater than 95 % of the rated speed ), the control system peak signal ( if available ) is equal to one , and the generator output is sufficiently greater than the rated output load ( the current preferred value is greater than 1 . 1 % of its rated load rated load where rated load is the normal maximum energy or power output for which the gas turbine is rated by its manufacturer ). if a control system peak signal is available , the peak load determination may be biased on the state of the peak signal . if the control system peak signal is not available then a comparison of generator output to rated load can be substituted for the condition “ control system peak signal is equal to one ” in the above definition of peak load . various load range sub - modes are determined so that information can be collected about the partial load operating statistics and conditions due to the operating state of a gas turbine . the overall load range sub - modes may be defined as the following gas turbine operating conditions : the rotor speed is sufficiently near rated speed ( the current preferred value is greater than 95 % of the rated speed ), the gas turbine power output is sufficiently high ( current preferred value is greater than or equal to 5 % of its rated load ), and the gas turbine is not operating in base load or peak load conditions . upon satisfying the overall load range definition , the individual load range sub - modes may be defined over specific gas turbine power or energy output ranges . these values may be between 5 % and 33 % of rated load for load range 1 , between 33 % and 60 % for load range 2 , between 60 % and 95 % for load range 3 , and greater than 95 % for load range 4 . load range 4 covers the condition where power or energy output is near or above rated load , but the gas turbine is not operating in the base load or peak load condition . the following processes are used to classify the basic operating conditions of the gas turbine operation cycle in terms of major modes as shown in table i . the startup / shutdown major mode may be defined as the following gas turbine operating conditions : the gas turbine is determined to be operating in the sub - modes of slow roll / cranking or accelerate low or accelerate high or decelerate high or decelerate low . a load transient is designated as a major mode of the gas turbine that occurs when the power or energy output of the gas turbine is changing sufficiently to effect steady - state operation of the gas turbine . the load transient major mode may be defined as the following gas turbine operating conditions : the rate of change of gas turbine power output over time ( dpower - output / dt ) is sufficiently large ( current preferred value is greater than one percent of the rated load per minute ), the rate of change of fuel input to the gas turbine ( dfuel - flow / dt ) is sufficiently large ( current preferred value is greater than 0 . 5 % per minute ), the rate of change of the inlet guide vanes ( dinlet - guide - vane - angle / dt ) is sufficiently large ( current preferred value is greater than one degree per minute ), and the rate of change of the fuel pressure ( dinterstage - fuel - pressure / dt ) is sufficiently large ( current preferred value is greater than 5 psi per minute ). a thermal transient is designated as a major mode of the gas turbine that occurs when temperature conditions within various components of the gas turbine are changing sufficiently to effect steady - state operation of the gas turbine . the thermal transient major mode may be defined as the following gas turbine operating conditions : the rate of change of any one or more of the turbine wheel space temperatures over time ( dwheelspace - temperature / dt ) is sufficiently large ( current preferred value is greater than 5 degrees f . per 15 minutes ), less than adequate time has elapsed since the gas turbine accelerated up to a full speed , and there exists a no - load operating condition ( current preferred value is less than 1 . 5 hours ). often there are multiple thermocouples used to measure temperatures within a given turbine wheelspace . these thermocouples each provide an individual temperature reading of the turbine wheelspace temperature . ideally , all thermocouples on a wheel should indicate the same temperature , but in reality there are differences among the temperature readings of a given wheelspace . to avoid falsely determining the thermal transient operating condition due to noisy wheelspace thermocouples the standard deviation of the temperature measurements is used to qualify the temperature measurements . those thermocouples ( current preferred value is the two thermocouples ) with the highest standard deviation over the recent past ( current preferred values is over the last 60 seconds ) are excluded from consideration in determining the thermal transient operating condition on gas turbine units where a sufficiency of wheelspace thermocouples are available ( current preferred value is greater then four wheel space thermocouples ). statistical characteristics of multiple independent measurements of a given operating condition are determined , such as for the thermocouple measurements . the standard deviation calculated over time for each independent measurement , may be used to reduce error in using the operating condition to categorize an operating mode of the gas turbine into one of the plurality of predetermined operating modes . steady state is designated as a major mode of the gas turbine that occurs when the gas turbine is determined to be operating in a steady state condition . by representing the operating condition major - mode and sub - mode values as number equal powers of 2 ( two ), then any single number , between 0 and 67108863 can be used to represent any number of operating condition values . for example , the number 520192 would represent in a single number all of the steady - state conditions shown in table ii : the ability to represent several different operating conditions with a single variable as shown in table ii is useful when evaluating operational parameters with regard to normal ranges or expected behavior . for example , gas turbine thermal performance operational parameters are well understood under steady - state operating conditions but are generally difficult to evaluate in other than steady - state conditions . by using the operating condition major - mode and sub - mode representation shown in table ii it is possible to describe a single algorithm that can evaluate thermal performance across all load ranges including base load and peak load but only under steady - state conditions . similarly it is possible to describe a single algorithm that can evaluate thermal performance operational parameters under the base load operating condition that encompasses all major - modes . while the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment , but on the contrary , is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	5
noises arise in the human body through movements and internal friction . these noises can say something concerning the inner condition of the body . in the description attention is particularly directed to bone and joint noises . first of all a principle methodology for the determination and evaluation of these noises will be described , which has been investigated in the practice of the applicant in the diagnosis of osteoporosis . then — building on this description — the present invention will be further explained with reference to fig4 to 10 . in diagnosing osteoporosis one is concerned primarily with the evaluation of the tapping noises ( longitudinal vibrations ) which are initiated with a device which always delivers the same pulses . one taps the selected measurement position ( tibia head anatomically hardly any soft tissue cover ) about 5 cm caudal . noises are basically longitudinal air vibrations which can be perceived by our ears . after reception they can be analyzed by the brain into a very broad spectrum . the human brain is able to recognize certain patterns from a sound — pattern recognition — or to sort out specific tones from it ( filtering ). all these abilities are in reality very complicated mechanisms which first become aware to us on attempting to realize these abilities artificially . precisely these problems have occupied scientists from all fields for decades . in the course of the years ever more powerful tools ( systems ) have arisen for the analysis or pattern recognition of sound signals . one can see this in the performance of modern speech recognition programs which have improved dramatically . before the discussion of the analysis of the signal starts the obtaining of the signals and the correct preparation of the signals should be described . the sounds which are of interest to us can arise in two ways . the one possibility is through movement . if one moves a joint in a specific direction , this leads to an internal friction in the joint which one can hear . the second possibility assumes there is an outer impact on the bone which brings it to oscillation which can again be listened to . in addition reference should be made to noises of the soft tissues , for example the musculature in the shoulder region , the special anatomic structure in the hand joint , etc . such noises can likewise be evaluated in accordance with the invention and lead to improve diagnoses of the corresponding components . the processing of the sounds in accordance with the invention is schematically illustrated in fig1 and can be used for all anatomic sounds or sound signals independently of how they arose . the first step in the signal processing is the detection of the sound signals . these are converted into electrically measurable values . sensors are generally used for such tasks . a sensor is a component which records a mechanical parameter and converts it after appropriate transformation into an electrical signal . this electrical parameter can be both the voltage and also the current or indeed the capacity . the sensor is however an analog component which signifies that it transmits time continuous signals which can have all desired values . for the signal analysis these must however first be digitized . this is brought about with an analog to digital converter adw . however , during the conversion , the signal spectrum must be restricted with the aid of a low pass filter so that the nyquist sampling condition remains satisfied . one can also imagine under an adw a sampler which samples or reads the analog signal in fixed time intervals and subsequently converts the analog value into a digital value by a quantizer . the precondition for this process is given by the nyquist sampling condition which requires a minimum sample rate ts of twice the bandwidth w of the signal . it should be furthermore pointed out that one can accommodate a plurality of sensors at different locations during the investigation . after the preparation of the digital signal the actual signal analysis can be started . for this a plurality of possibilities is available which , depending on the circumstances , can lead to the desired result . it should be emphasized that these tools are very different with regard to the complexity and the time required for the computation . when selecting the correct method a compromise must accordingly be found . at this point two methods of signal analysis should be presented which are frequently used in practice . the first method , which is simultaneously the simpler method consists in carrying out a fast fourier transform ( fft ) and subsequently comparing the frequency spectrum which is obtained in this way with other reference spectra ( see fig2 ). thereafter the signal which was originally set forth in the time zone is transformed in accordance with the equations into the frequency range . for this reason the method is also termed spectral analysis . the advantage of this method lies in the fact that the intensity of all spectra or frequencies of a time interval can be observed very quickly and simply . the fourier analysis ( fft ) is frequently used in the field of electrical communication technology and is concerned with a mathematic method for the analysis of complex wave forms or signals into a sequence of simple harmonic functions the frequencies of each are each an integral multiple of the basic frequency . the following applies : in the equation given above f ( t ) is the sound signal which is recorded as a function of the time ( t ). w signifies the basic frequency and fn ( f ) signifies the fourier transformation , i . e ., the result of the fourier analysis in the form of a sequence of the basic wave of the sound signal and its harmonics , with the respective amplitudes and phase shifts . α corresponds to infinity and the other symbols have the usual meaning . if the information which is sought is embodied in the spectral distribution of the signal then one can best read out this information with fft . the example of an osteoporotic bone is such a case . one can , by detailing the spectrum of the signals , rapidly determine whether this is a muffled sound or not . the second method is the method of the neural networks which is very powerful and very informative and has many different variations . one should adopt this method for the investigation of the more complex patterns in the signal and for the recognition of incomprehensible patterns in the time zone . neural networks are logical circuits which can be compared with the functionality of our brain . as is the case with the brain they are capable of learning and can first be used after a learning phase . this has a role to play for the selection of the suitable learning patterns . for the evaluation of the analysis one requires a reference with which one can compare the appropriate signal and then make a decision . this type of reference can be very different from case to case . it must however correspond with the method analysis . now that two possibilities for the signal analysis have been presented , a practical example should be set out with reference to the fig1 to 3 and with reference to the determination of osteoporosis which represents a relatively simple and practical application , as is shown in fig1 . the sound signal to be investigated is caused by an external action 10 on a bone 12 , for example on the tibia or on the head of the tibia by the blow of a doctors hammer . through this , the bone 12 starts vibrating and transmits a sound signal 14 . this sound signal 14 is picked up by a microphone 16 and is passed on as an electrical signal to a low pass filter 20 . after the low pass filter the signal runs into an analog to digital converter 22 consisting of a sampler 24 and a quantizer 26 . the output signal of the analog to digital converter 22 is a digital signal which is supplied to a device 30 which carries out an fft analysis which provides particulars of the frequency spectrum of the sound signal 14 , i . e . the base frequency which is present , its harmonics and the respective amplitudes . the microphone itself is a type of a sensor . other sensors , for example piezosensors can be considered and a plurality of sensors for example 16 and 16 ′ can be used . when other sensors such as 16 , 16 ′ are used their respective digitized signals can be fed with appropriate identification into the input channel 28 of the device 30 which carries out the fourier transformation . for some investigations it can also be advantageous to evaluate the signals of a plurality of sensors in order to make special diagnoses , for example at a knee joint . the identification makes it possible for the subsequent device 30 to respectively associate the signals of the various sensors with the latter . the low pass filter restricts the bandwidth to a desired range , for example from 0 to 10 khz . the device 30 is moreover laid out in order to compare the frequency spectrum of the digital signal with a reference pattern or with a plurality of reference patterns which are stored in a memory 32 termed a “ library ”. these reference patterns in the library 32 are based on earlier measurements , for example from the same patient , or from a patient of the same sex , same age , same weight or same body type . they can alternatively consist of reference patterns which are formed from measured values which originate from a group of patients who are comparable to the respective patient , for example with the criteria of same sex , same age , same weight or same body type , with such reference patterns also being subdivided into different classes depending on the degree of the osteoporosis . in order to carry out the comparison it is advantageous to compress the data , for which purpose one of the known data compression processes can be used . the carrying out of the comparison is schematically illustrated in fig2 . as a result of the comparison that is carried out one succeeds in determining whether the respective patient has osteoporosis and if so the degree of the illness . the devices 20 , 22 , 24 , 26 , 28 , 30 and 32 an be formed by a computer 34 as is indicated by the box in fig1 with the same reference numeral . the computer can for example have available a keyboard 36 for the inputting of patient data , time details and commands , a screen 38 for showing the result of the measurements and the reference pattern which is considered , or the reference patterns which have been considered , and also a printer 40 for printing out the results . in a practical version of the invention the sound signal can be passed on to the sound card of the computer which directly takes care of the filtering and digitalisation tasks and subsequently the analysis . the basic idea of this acoustic investigation of the osteoporosis is based on the concept that the human bone , just as any other object , should sound different depending on the enclosed content . that is to say the more porous the bone is the more muffled it should sound when tapped . this characteristic can be very well observed by way of a spectral analysis . this corresponds to an accumulation of the low frequency components of the spectrum . after the fft of the signal the shift of the spectrum in the low frequency range can be made visible . as a result of the investigations on previously and precisely diagnosed patients and healthy patients some examples will now be given which show that the above named method operates in a problem - free manner with osteoporosis . thereafter the plausibility of the method which has been presented will be shown with reference to healthy probands and osteoporosis patients pre - diagnosed by means of , for example , osteodensitometry . in addition , the theoretical possibilities of the diagnostic signal analysis will be shown with respect to the large joints . furthermore , references will be made to the theoretical possibilities of the diagnosis of soft tissue diseases . fig3 a shows the result of the measurement at a healthy bone of a 42 year old man . the x - axis specifies the frequency in hz whereas the y - axis delivers a potential value in v . the height of the base line , i . e . the start at the y - axis in v depends on the sound strength and does not appear to be dependent on the patient , it is thus probably unimportant for the evaluation . however the amplitudes at the individual frequencies , i . e . the relative amplitudes of the frequency peaks , compared to one another , deliver important information . in order to receive a clean signal the tibia is tapped several times . the signal was evaluated at the tenth time . as described above , the impulses were made with the doctors hammer on the ventral tibia approximately 5 cm below the knee joint gap , with the measurement being made at the tibia head . fig3 b shows the bone of an osteoporotic male patient ( 44 years ). the measurement was recorded as described above in connection with fig3 a but here for the first tap . although the patient is of a similar age to the healthy patient on which the measurement of fig3 a was carried out there are visible shifts of the spectrum into the low frequency ranges . the difference can be seen clearly : the 44 year old patient was previously diagnosed by means of osteodensitometry . the standard deviation amounted to 1 . 75 . fig3 c shows the bone of a 64 year old patient with an average degree of osteoporosis . according to the finding by densitometry the bone density reduction amounts to 10 – 15 percent . in this case the knocking sound was evaluated at the fourth time . fig3 d shows the measurement of a 72 year old patient with serious osteoporosis and having undergone several fractures , including compression fractures of the spine . in this case the sound was measured at the second time . the visible result is very impressive . fig3 e and 3f show the difference of the amplitude between a healthy bone ( patient in fig3 a ) and an osteoporotic bone ( patient in fig3 c ) even before the computer evaluation . notable is the width of the amplitude for a person with osteoporosis . for a healthy person the amplitude appears to be reduced in time ( if anything ) and peak - like . the above named examples were investigated or recorded by means of a normal microphone . it is to be assumed that when using the special sensors the results would appear even more impressive and more precise . that is to say the method presented functions in principle . further investigations of joints and bones have shown that in fact many noises can be associated with a number of specific illnesses . an important part of the work is the generation of reliable references , since the reliability of the decisions that are made depends strongly on the correct choice of references . it is however already certain , even without references , that a distinction can be made between healthy and osteoporotic bones . simply for this reason this method should find broad acceptance . by reliably excluding osteoporosis unnecessary x - ray investigations and diverse densitometric investigations can be avoided . the savings in expenses of the patient and of the health insurer can be enormous . the above named concept of the bone density measurement ( osteodensitometry by means of measurement of the longitudinal wave sound ) will also be able to be transferred to software without problem in the future . this relates also to the development of special programs with investigation of the joints and soft tissues as named above . the future of software manufacture will presumably enable in a short period of time osteoporosis investigation in every practice which is equipped with a computer . merely the simple confirmation or preclusion of osteoporosis without significant cost and work is to be regarded as an enormous step for the daily activity of the doctor in the practice . an internet transmission can also be involved in the investigation . for example a doctor &# 39 ; s practice can call up reference patterns from other sources ( doctor &# 39 ; s practices and the like ) via the internet . as an alternative the computer 34 can send the result of an actual measurement ( with or without prior evaluation ) via the internet to an evaluation center or computer center where the evaluation is carried out . the results of the evaluation can then be supplied online to the computer 34 to be displayed and / or to be printed out . in this manner the measurements of a large member of practices are available to form high quality reference patterns , above all when they are linked with the result of further measurements , such as osteodensitometry measurements on the same patient . it is also entirely conceivable for the reference patterns to be made available to individual doctors practices and other institutions stored on a storage medium , for example on a cd . the attached reference list contains details of literature sources which deliver information concerning signal analysis in general and which can be used for assistance if required . although the previous description is concerned with measurements on humans , the method of the invention and the apparatus of the invention can also be used in connection with animals , above all with race horses , for diagnoses , for example with respect to their suitability for racing and the danger of fracture . fig4 shows a schematic representation of the right hand knee joint of a human with fig4 a showing the illustration from the front with the femur bone 100 , the tibia 102 with the tibia head 104 and the fibula 106 . the reference numerals 108 and 110 point to the outer meniscus and the inner meniscus respectively . fig4 b shows the same representation seen from the outer side of the knee and additionally shows the knee cap or patella 112 . fig4 c likewise shows the knee cap 112 here in a representation corresponding to the longitudinal axis of the femur bone 100 , with the knee being shown axially in the bent position and with the femur sliding roll 107 being visible . this representation is a representation of a physiologically “ ideal ” knee joint , i . e . a joint in a good condition . the double arrow 114 indicates the movements which occur during bending and stretching of the knee joints . in contrast fig4 d shows a similar joint in which the condition of a medial osteoarthrosis is present , i . e . a wear of the inner joint gap which is shown at 116 . this arthrosis 116 makes itself notable in the noise spectrum when bending at the knee joint in accordance with the arrow 114 , which is also evident in the schematic illustration of fig4 d . an apparatus for recording the noises which arise on bending at the knee joint is shown in fig5 . this is an elastic stocking 120 which is drawn over the knee joint and which is equipped in this example with three microphones 122 which are coupled via lines 124 to a computer such as 34 . instead of using three microphones one can also operate with a single microphone and other sensors which pickup acoustic signals can also be used . it is also not necessary to connect the microphone to the computer via signal lines 124 but rather a wireless transmission could be selected . for this purpose a transmitter unit with appropriate batteries is incorporated into the stocking so that the signal transmission to the computer takes place by means of infrared signals or using another wireless transmission , with it naturally being necessary for a corresponding receiving unit to be associated with the computer 34 . in this example the knee joint is either ( actively ) moved by the patient himself or which is moved manually by a doctor or an assistant , i . e ., passively . it is however , best of all when the microphones are installed into an auxiliary device or orthosis which can be secured to the knee joint independently of the anatomic circumstances of the joint . the stocking 120 can form a part of this auxiliary device or the microphones can be mounted onto the auxiliary device in another way or means . the sense of the auxiliary device is to ensure that the sound pickup always takes place with a like movement of the knee joint so that the recorded sound signals are reproducible ; whereby , on the one hand , a comparison of the recorded signals of the respective patient or program with reference values on which were recorded under the same conditions is made possible , and , on the other hand , the comparison is also possible with other recordings for the same patient or proband , i . e . a comparison between recordings made at different times . one form of the auxiliary device would be a splint or brace which follows or forces the natural movement of the joint . for example , a splint can be used for the knee joint such as is used in hospitals for the post - operative movement of the knee joint of a patient who has , for example , suffered ripping of the cruciate ligaments which was cured surgically . with an apparatus of this kind the upper leg of the patient lies on a first splint whereas his lower leg lies on a second splint which is connected to the first splint via a polycentric joint and is driven relative to the first splint by a motor in order to force movements about the polycentric joint and to carry out corresponding movements of the knee joint of the patient . this splint can be operated for the purpose of the invention and also without any motor when the second splint is ( actively ) moved by the patient himself or ( passively ) moved by an assistant about the polycentric joint . an apparatus of this kind could be termed a capm orthosis ( continuous active / passive motion orthosis ). another possible design of the auxiliary device resembles a knee orthosis known per se such as for example shown in fig6 a . this is a knee orthosis such as is available from the company medi bayreuth in germany and is sold under the designation “ monarch ga ”. this orthosis consists of a fixing band 130 which is secured around the upper leg 132 of the proband , for example with the aid of a hook and loop fastener and also of two lower bandages 134 and 136 which are secured to the lower limb 138 and can likewise be provided , as an example , with a hoop and loop fastener . arms 140 and 142 which are in principle rigid and which are secured to one another at a joint 144 extend from the upper fastening band 130 , or from the upper fastening bands 130 if two are provided , which is also possible and from the lower two bands 134 and 136 . the joint executes a polycentric movement in accordance with the movement of the human knee joint and is aligned with the knee joint of the patient or of the proband . this arrangement of the two arms 140 and 142 can also be repeated at the left hand side of the lower leg in fig6 a , which is not shown here . in order to force passive movements of the knee joint a motor 150 can be secured to this orthosis as shown in fig6 b . this motor 150 drives a threaded spindle 152 in two alternative directions of rotation which are shown by the double arrow 145 . in this connection the threaded spindle extends , as shown in fig6 b , through a nut 156 , which is pivotally secured about the axis 158 to an arm 160 which is rigidly connected to the arm 142 . the motor 150 itself is pivotally hinged about the axis 162 to a further arm 164 which is firmly connected to the arm 140 . the motor can be controlled from the computer 34 via the lines 166 in order to turn the spindle 152 alternatively in the one or other arrow direction 154 . in this way a polycentric movement of the knee joint is forced in accordance with the design of the joint 144 and this movement is also precisely predeterminable via a computer 34 with respect to its amplitude , speed and frequency , so that the same movement is ensured for all probands or patients . for patients with knee problems a different amplitude of the movement of the knee joint can be preset optionally via the computer 34 or a special motor control so that they do not suffer unnecessary pain or indeed damage . the speed of the movements and the repetition frequency can also be selected correspondingly differently if required . the motor 150 , the spindle 152 and also the arms 160 , 164 which carry the spindle and the associated parts 156 , 158 , 162 are preferably so designed that they are easily removable . for example they can be secured to the orthosis by clipping them in place so that they can be removed “ with one click ”. in this manner the auxiliary device can easily be converted into a normal orthosis . fig7 a now shows in a three - dimensional representation the result of a recording of knee joint noises in a proband with a knee joint in good condition in accordance with fig4 a to 4c . this recording was made using a program for acoustic signal analysis which is commercially available as a tool for the most diverse acoustic signal analyses . this is the wave lab program which is obtainable from herrn steinberg or from miro computer products ag , cham , germany . the investigation is carried out with a special microphone connected to the computer . the sounds are recorded at specific joint positions . for the precise investigation it is , however , as already mentioned , necessary to use a special splint device or orthosis . the evaluation now takes place with a standard program for the frequency analysis , for example wave lab steinberg ( see above ). both mathematical data is stored , such as sound level , loudness , peak , and also a schematic representation is used . a totally inconspicuous joint without pathological noises of the soft tissues , of the cartilage and others is shown schematically in three dimensions in the form of a frequency analysis . three parameters are shown : frequency in hertz , amplitude and the time from 0 to the end of the investigation ( here after 8 seconds ). the joint is moved several times , on average five times . after fast fourier analysis the computer processes the acoustic joint situation . for an inconspicuous joint , as in this example , the levels marked in color are very regular , as schematically illustrated . the amplitude of the frequencies between 20 hz to about 30 hz is the highest ( the first three - dimensional structure on the left , i . e . with the signal color brown ). the next structure from about 40 hz to about 50 hz is on average smaller by half , i . e . with the signal color red . then follows again a structure which is smaller by one third at about 50 hz to about 80 hz , i . e . at the signal color orange . the next levels from 150 hz onwards are extremely low and are only indicated i . e . at the signal color yellow . at the frequency of about 3600 hz there is again a small rise , which is indicated with the signal color blue . the time plot on the levels is symmetrical , no differences from about 0 to 1 second and from about 0 to about 8 seconds ( depending on the length of the investigation ). the pathological joint shows itself to be different , independently of a specific diagnosis . an example is set out in fig8 a for a knee joint which has a medial osteoarthrosis . there is a very precise correlation between functional diagnosis and the schematic representation and the mathematical data . for example , with a medial osteoarthrosis significantly lower levels at 20 hz to 40 hz can be seen as in fig8 a , in contrast individual partly high and irregular peaks 171 are present at 115 hz . the determining factor is the frequency and the height of the levels between 200 hz to about 1000 hz ( here marked yellow ). the seriousness of the arthrosis , i . e . of the frictional processes of the damaged cartilage / bone structures is shown in this region . of less significance are , in this case , the structures at 3500 hz , 8000 hz and about 18000 hz . with relief of the joint parts ( effected either manually and with the already described rail ) or with the known orthosis ( monarch ga ) these parameters change . with this program the levels ( amplitudes ) at the frequencies between 200 hz to 650 hz are significantly smaller . the amplitudes of the lower frequencies are in contrast higher . from this diagnostic conclusions can be drawn ( as already described ). the computer shows a quite different picture and quite different but specific mathematical parameters for soft tissue diseases . for example for tendovaginitis stenosans of the thumb ( jerking thumbs ) the levels at 20 hz or 40 hz are extremely low . the yellow levels are also not present . the noise is very loud and has quite different characteristics from the joint noise . fig7 b shows how this three - dimensional frequency analysis can be reproduced , for example in form of a bar diagram . with a computer representation one can for example , call up the histogram or the three - dimensional representation as in fig7 a ( or both at the same time ) and these representations can also be shown in color so that the different colors are associated with the respective frequency ranges , as is indicated in fig7 a and 8a . thus the present invention enables , by evaluation of the noises which originate from a joint an unambiguous diagnosis of the condition of the joint and it is to be expected that the different signal evaluations will turn out so differently that one can diagnose all important medical problems in the region of the knee joint , also in connection with the soft tissues , such as the meniscuses , by different frequency spectra of the recorded signals . not only the frequency subdivision delivers useful information concerning the respectively present disease or change of condition of the knee . it is for example evident from fig8 a that the frequencies in the range of about 150 to about 1000 hz again have discrete peaks which are also characteristic for a knee with arthrosis in accordance with fig4 d . investigations in the practice of the applicant have shown that a justified hope really does exist of being able to make a diagnosis for all relevant knee joint diseases and indeed in a way and means which is not in principle painful for the patient and which can in any event under some circumstances prevent some unnecessary medical operations . the same also applies for all other joints of the human where movements of bones or soft tissues occur . the invention can however not only be used for diagnoses as described in connection with the fig4 to 8 but rather it can also be useful for therapeutic treatment of the respective joint . in order to give an example for this reference will once again be made to the representation of fig6 a . it has already been brought out above that this is an orthosis of the company medi from bayreuth . with an orthosis of this kind air chambers are built into the bands 130 , 136 , 124 and in the region of the joint 144 which can be pumped up by means of an air pump . it is possible in this manner or with a screw arranged in the region of the joint 144 to exert a lateral pressure onto the knee joint so that , for example , with wear effects of the joint in the region of an inner meniscus 108 , the knee joint gap at this position can be opened slightly and for this the knee joint gap in the region of the outer meniscus is if anything loaded more . through this relief of this damage point of the knee joint , by opening of the knee joint gap , a relief arises here which is reflected in the noise signal . thus the doctor , or an orthopaedic technician , can move the knee joint , optionally with the aid of the apparatus of fig6 b , but also without using the motor and can consider the frequency analysis until this shows that noises no longer occur in the region of the inner meniscus 108 . as soon as this is achieved he knows that an adequate relief of the knee joint has been achieved and the patient can move with the apparatus in the intended way and means while the effected joint portion recovers or is brought into a better condition by special medication or treatments . after the setting of the joint gap the motor 150 and the associated parts can be removed from the orthosis , as previously indicated . during the therapy the patient walks around , i . e . carries out his daily work with the attached orthosis , but without the motor 150 . when it is stated that the joint is moved without using the motor 150 then this is to be understood in the sense that the patient himself bends his knee , for example in that he carries out easy knee bends or walks , this would then be active movements of the knee joint . alternatively the patient can allow his knee joint to be moved manually by another person while sitting down or reclining , this would then be passive movements . when the therapy is ended , i . e . an initial improvement of the condition of a knee joint has arisen , the phase of the rehabilitation then begins . here the patient is either in the care of a physiotherapist or can himself go to a fitness studio and use the exercise machines which can be used there which are intended for a strengthening of the knee joint and the muscles associated with it . an apparatus of this kind is schematically shown in fig9 . here the patient 170 sits on a seat part 172 of an apparatus with a fixedly arranged but rotatable roller 174 which is arranged in the back of the knee of the patient and supports his knee . in this the feet of the patient engage beneath a cylindrical bar - like part 176 which is rotatable via a chassis or a frame 178 about the axis 180 of the roller 714 . the patient has to attempt to lift the part 176 with his foot , so that the chassis 178 pivots about the axis of rotation 180 ; in this arrangement a pivotal movement in the range between 0 ° and 90 ° would be usual , as is evident from fig9 b . such apparatus are designed so that the resistance to this rotary movement can be set . one can now imagine that the patient again pulls on the stocking of fig5 and that the acoustic signals are again recorded during this movement on the exercise machine . for example , it will then turn out , for example as a result of arthrosis in the region of the knee , that an unpleasant friction occurs in the knee joint in the angular range from , for example , 60 ° to 80 °, so that precisely in this region of the movement a resistance which originates from the exercise machine should be kept as small as possible . in contrast , in the range of movement between 90 ° and 80 ° and between 60 ° and 0 ° no poor points of the knee joint are loaded , so that one can operate here with an increased resistance so that the desired condition is achieved . in other words the resistance characteristic of the exercise machine is specifically set in accordance with the respective patient . the rehabilitation of the knee joint by building up the muscles then progresses as desired without the damaged portion of the knee joint , which has to be rehabilitated , being loaded . the exercise machines which are laid out in this way are not only to be used for rehabilitation but can also be used in leisure time for fitness training . here the example has also been given with reference to a knee joint . it is , however , self - evident that any other type of exercise machine which is intended to train special muscle regions can be designed accordingly in order to rehabilitate or to train the respective associated joint of the patient . instead of installing the sensors in a knee stocking they could also eventually be incorporated into the exercise machine itself and indeed the exercise machine could also be so designed that it automatically adjusts itself while evaluating the recorded sound of signals , so that damaged joint positions are protected and can be more quickly rehabilitated . once a specific setting of the exercise machine has been found for a specific patient then the setting can be stored specifically for the patient and can be retained for future exercises on the machine , so that it is not necessary for each renewed use of the exercise machine to determine the settings anew , or for the patient to again pull on a knee stocking with microphone . the invention however goes even further . one can imagine that the invention is used for the setting of ski boots or other devices used in the most diverse types of sport . this will be explained with reference to new ski boots . it is known that good skiers , such as for example hermann maier , can move far into the forward knee position , i . e . can bend the knee to an extreme degree without suffering pain or deterioration of the joint to a pronounced degree . in contrast there are other skiers who are older or who have a weaker musculature or have already damaged knees who could not practice such an extreme forward knee position as hermann maier . it will be good if in this case this ski boot could be designed so that , in a specific forward knee region , it either blocks or exerts a resistance against a further forwardly disposed position , i . e . further knee bending . for example this could take place by special spring arrangements in the boot or by swapping shin pads which are differently supported at the front part of the boot and thus restrict the forward knee position of the skier . one can now imagine that the skier who wishes to procure a new pair of boots goes into a shop , pulls on a stocking in accordance with fig5 and carries out knee bends , i . e . active movements under load ( for example with weights on the shoulders ). passive movements would also enter into question , i . e . the apparatus of fig6 a and 6b could also be used here . if now the acoustic signal analysis shows that the respective skier can easily achieve a forward knee position up to 30 ° but that a further going forward knee position beyond this angle leads to an undesired loading of the knee joint — determined by the changing knee sounds — then the respective sport shop knows that the boots suitable for him must be set or selected such that they block a forward knee position of 30 ° or make a movement beyond 30 ° substantially more difficult . this prevents the skier skiing in a forward knee position which is damaging for him . in order to realize this it is naturally necessary , which is also sensible with the embodiments described here , for the joint noises to be evaluated in an angle specific manner in accordance with the degree of bending of the joint , which also requires a device to be provided which measures the degree of bending . if the signals are recorded using an orthosis in accordance with fig6 b then an angular measuring device can for example be incorporated in the joint 144 , or the control signals for the motor 150 , can be used for this purpose . for example , the motor could be turned in one direction until the spindle 152 has been almost screwed out of the nut 156 so that the joint is located in its extended position . when the stop is achieved here this is assumed to be 0 ° of bending . if the motor 150 is for example designed as a stepping motor then a precise determination of the respective bending angle of the apparatus for each movement on the stepping motor and of the spindle can be found from the particulars of the pitch of the thread of the threaded spindle 152 and the geometry of the orthosis . a special feature of the present invention lies in the fact that an animation is possible which facilitates the diagnosis of the respectively present problem and is also easily comprehended by the patient or proband . with reference to the knee joint one can now imagine that the pictures which are shown in fig4 a to 4c appear schematically in the screen of the computer 34 , as shown in fig1 , and on the movement of the knee joint the corresponding movement of the joint parts is shown on the screen by an appropriate animation . here the angle signals which are discussed above can be useful for the purpose of the animation . in any event the signal evaluation can be used in order to indicate on the screen animation the regions where problem positions are to be found as a result of the signal evaluation . for example , the corresponding positions could be emphasized on the screen by a flushing representation or by a special coloring , so that the doctor can for example say to a patient “ look at that , your inner meniscus is damaged ” or “ you are suffering from arthrosis ”. this emphasizing of the damaged positions can either take place by a static representation of the joint images according to fig4 a to 4c or with a simultaneous movement of the joint members or , if the problem only occurs in a specific angular range in a representation which corresponds to this angular range , for example with an angular bending of the knee of 30 °, which could above all be indicated in accordance with the illustration of fig4 b . one possibility of realizing such representation is shown schematically in fig1 . here we see the above discussed computer 34 and it is illustrated schematically that the computer communicates via a data line 200 with two memory areas 202 and 204 . these memory areas 202 and 204 can be present in the computer itself or they can for example be realized in the external memories , for example remote memories . the data line 200 could for example also be understood as an internet connection so that the computer 34 stands in the doctor &# 39 ; s practice , whereas the memory regions which can be accessed by the computer 34 stand at a remote location . in the memory 202 there are then , for example , stored a series of histograms corresponding to fig7 b and 8b whereas in the region 204 corresponding representations of the knee are contained illustrating the respective problem . i . e . the computer 34 carries out a spectral analysis as a result of the respective recordings by the doctor , which are supplied to the computer via the line 18 , and accesses the correspondingly stored reference histograms or patterns from the region 202 and the matching pictures from the memory 204 and shows them on the screen . when the joint shown on the screen is moved in the context of the animation in accordance with the movement of the joint being investigated then this movement in the screen can take place substantially more slowly so that the problem areas can be more easily recognized by the viewer of the screen . although only four memory regions for frequency analysis and animation possibilities ( 202 a , 202 b , 202 c and 202 d and 204 a , 204 b , 204 c and 204 d ) are shown in fig1 , in practice a large number of different frequency analyses and animation possibilities or diagnoses is stored . fig1 is to be understood purely by way of example and applies not only for knee joints but rather for all other joints which come into question . summarizing it is emphasized that a computer program with a specific representation of the joint that is investigated will be relatively simple to produce . one can schematically represent every joint analogously to the above described scheme . problem zones such as , for example , frictional processes , trapping of soft tissues , trapping of meniscuses etc . could be shown schematically . in this way a particular person can observe his joint during the movement . in similar manner one can show soft tissues such as the point of trapping in the cause of the tendon . this would be a very important aspect in rehabilitation , performance sports etc . the bio feedback roll should also not be forgotten . for example , with pathological pressure of the patella on the upper limb sliding roll between , for example , 60 ° and 80 ° an exercise machine could be especially set ( analogously to the cybex 2 - apparatus ). in this way one could avoid the pathological friction processes in this range . a further example for the use of this method ( data bank , corresponding apparatus , corresponding joint splint with sensors or microphones ) would be the adaptation of the ski shoes with respect to the knee joint . a majority of skiers suffer retropatellar pain , such as for example chondropathic patella . the acoustic determination of the forward knee position of the shoe could take place depending on the pathological signals from the knee joint . it would be of great importance both for the performance skier and also for the recreational skier . with a physiological , non - damaged joint a very wide / soft forward knee position is naturally possible without restriction . with pathology a difficult forward knee position should be used in dependence on the acoustic signal . this is the only method where a picture yielding method comes about in orthopaedics from an acoustic signal . the advantage of this method is an active representation — for example bending and extension , which can be repeated as desired . an animation ( computer animation ) of the joint model controlled by acoustic waves from the real joint is realized , with this animation being capable of being used both in investigations , in therapy , in rehabilitation and / or during training . the possibility of diverse attachment of an auxiliary device to the whole or to part of the extremity should also be pointed out , with the auxiliary device being able to have one joint or several joints . moreover , the possibility of adjustable and measurable movements ( and force distribution ) in all planes should be pointed out coupled to adjustable main movement ; for example the possibility of additional distractions , compressions and rotations , for example of physiological end rotations also with knee extension , additional compression with fractures or after operations and utilization of the distraction relief or action on the whole joint , not just one sided pivoting opening or distraction , analogous to the methods of ilisarow , for example with bone extension .	0
the principles of the present invention are particularly useful in a respirator generally indicated at 1 in the figure . the respirator 1 receives respiratory gas on a line 2 , which is connected to an external gas source 40 . instead of the single gas line 2 , a plurality of such lines of various components of the gas can be provided . the respiratory gas is supplied to the patient 6 through a valve arrangement 3 as well as a tracheal cannula 4 connected thereto and the tracheal cannula 4 terminates tightly in the trachea 5 of the patient 6 . a cuff 7 can , for example , be provided for the termination of the trachea cannula 4 in the trachea 5 . an eduction or ejection valve 8 is also connected to the tracheal cannula 4 . the valve arrangement 3 , which produces a metered feed of respiratory gas received in the line 2 from the pressurized source 40 can , for example , be of a known type such as disclosed in the international patent application no . pct / se82 / 00063 ( w082 / 03014 ). however , it is possible to utilize an open cannula for spontaneous breathing . the open cannula has a thin additional cannula for the feed of the respiratory gas instead of a tracheal cannula terminating in the trachea and the eduction or ejection valve 8 . the emptying of the lungs then occurs directly over the open cannula . further , it is also possible to insert a thin cannula directly into the trachea in a surgical manner . the expiration then occurs over the natural breathing organs . in the two latter instances , a hfppv respiration method ( a high frequency positive pressure ventilation ) is then advantageously employed . the respirator 1 also includes a valve 9 which receives gas from an additional pressurized source 50 on a line 10 . compressed air is usually employed in the simplest case as the pressurized gas from the source 50 . a line 11 leads from the valve 9 to a plurality of closed chambers 12 consisting of flexible material . the closed chambers 12 are disposed around the chest and / or partially around the abdomen of the patient 6 . a hollow body 13 consisting of a rigid material which is matched to the shape of the thorax is situated around these chambers . a fluid can also be utilized for filling the chambers instead of pressurized gas . the eduction valve or ventilation valve 14 is again connected to the line 11 to enable exhaust or venting these chambers . the ventilator or respirator 1 further contains an amplifier 15 to which the signals of a sensor are supplied . in the embodiment which is illustrated , two ecg electrodes 36 and 37 are applied to the patient &# 39 ; s body and register the electrical heart signals and act as the sensor . these heart signals are processed by the amplifier and then applied to a detector 16 which detects the high electrical heart voltage during the systole and emit a pulse to an electronic circuit 17 or , respectively , a circuit 18 . the circuits 17 and 18 each contain means for setting a selectable delay of the pulse coming from the detector 16 . the valve arrangement 3 as well as the valves 8 , 9 and 14 are driven by pulse - shaping circuits 19 , 20 and 21 , respectively . the pulse - shaping circuits 19 - 21 can , for example , by one - shot multivibrators with different pulse widths . in addition , the pulse - shaping circuits should contain means for setting the pulse width . as illustrated , the output of the electronic circuit 17 goes to the pulse - shaper 20 whose output goes to both the pulse - shaper 21 and also to the valve 9 . from the pulse - shaper 21 , pulses go to the eduction valve 8 and also to the exhaust or eduction valve 14 . in a similar manner , the signal from the detector 16 is applied to the electronic circuit 18 , which has the time delay , and the output of the circuit 18 goes to the pulse - shaper 19 , which applies a pulse to the valve arrangement 3 . the schematic illustration of the figure also shows that the lungs 25 and 26 of the patient surround a large part of the heart of which the left ventricle 27 is shown . pressure on the heart will occur due to the expansion of the lungs 25 and 26 . under normal conditions , however , this pressure increase is slight since the volume of the thorax easily enlarges particularly due to the outwardly directed movement of the thorax wall 28 and partially due to the downward directing movement of the diaphragm 29 into the abdomen cavity . according to the invention , the thorax and the upper part of the abdomen are surrounded by a hollow body 13 which consists of a shapable envelope consisting of rigid material . this envelope is positioned around the body so that a certain expansion of the respiratory organs , i . e ., the lungs and the chest and / or the abdomen , is possible without the envelope significantly impeding this expansion . when due to the application of the respiratory gas , this expansion has reached a certain amplitude , further expansion is prevented by the envelope as a result of which an increased pressure will occur inside the envelope and thus inside the thorax and around the heart . the function of the respirator ventilator 1 and thus of the method utilizing the respirator is described in greater detail hereinbelow . the electrical activity of the heart at the beginning of the systole is registered by the electrodes 36 and 37 and initiates the feed of respiratory gas through the valve arrangement 3 . the psychological delay between the electrical heart signal for the systole ( the qrs complex ) and the mechanical contraction of the heart is exploited in order to fill the lungs in one breath through the fast action of the valve arrangement 3 . however , it is also possible to set a delay in the electrical circuits 17 and 18 so that the feed of the respiratory gas will occur during the systole that is related to the next following heartbeat . at the same time as the feed of the respiratory gas or nearly simultaneously therewith , the elastic chamber 12 is filled with pressurized gas through the valve 9 and the line 11 . the amount of gas supplied can also be regulated . an excess pressure will occur when the lungs expand because of the flow of the respiratory gas and this excess pressure is then amplified by the movement when the outwardly directed movement of the thorax wall 28 and / or downwardly directed movement of the diaphragm 29 , respectively , is partially arrested by the hollow body 13 and by the filled chambers 12 . this excess pressure is propagated through the cardiac wall so that the pressure on the blood enclosed in the heart will rise . by the correct setting of the electrical circuits such as 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 and 21 , the pressure increase on the heart will occur chronologically and synchronously with the pumping of the blood from the left ventricle into the large systemic aorta of the body . the blood in the systemic aorta 30 will then proceed to the important organs such as through additional artery 31 to the brain . the various delay times and pulse durations are set according to the following principle . the amount of respiratory gas supplied to the patient at each respiration is defined by means of setting the valve arrangement 3 and / or the pressure in the line 2 so that the ventilation of the lungs suffices for a good gas exchange . the hollow body 13 is applied around the patient so that it adapts to the external contour of the body without exerting high pressure on the body at the beginning of each respiration cycle . the supply of air to the closed chambers 12 is likewise controlled so that the movement of the walls of the thorax and the diaphragm 29 during the feeding of the respiratory gas are restricted to such a degree that a suitable intensification of the pressure around the heart is generated during its pumping process . the thorax itself is not compressed by the flexible chambers 12 to such a degree that the force exerted produces an inwardly directed movement on the thorax wall 28 . the flexible chambers 12 only fill out the cavity between the body surface and the hollow body 13 . the flexible chambers 12 serve to limit the outwardly directed movement of the body surface in a definable and controllable manner . moreover , they also serve to balance out certain inequities of the pressure on the body surface that could , for example , be produced by a rigid hollow body . the pressure on the lungs 25 and 26 which occurs due to the supplying of the respiratory gas is composed of the pressure required for the expansion of the lungs and of the thorax walls and of the pressure arising in the thorax due to the hollow body 13 and the pressure chambers 12 . the pressure gradient across the lung structure , however , does not exceed the gradient that occurs given a standard high - frequency ventilation in which experience has shown to be harmless . any kind of deforming force that could damage the thorax wall is prevented by the pressure equalization of the air - filled , flexible chambers 12 . an injurious effect on the blood circulation due to an impeded refilling of the heart ventricle is avoided in that every form of undesirable pressure on the thorax and in the thorax is prevented during the relaxation phase of the heart because the flexible chambers 12 are emptied through the exhaust valve 14 at the end of the systole . the lungs empty at the same time through the valve 8 . the electrical coupling according to the sample illustrated embodiment is as follows : the output signal of the detector 16 proceeds over the two delay circuits 17 and 18 , respectively , to the pulse - shaping circuits 19 and 20 , respectively . the pulse - shaping circuit 19 determines the chronological duration during which the respiratory gas is supplied to the patient through the valve arrangement 3 and also determines the point in time to which this feed is to begin . correspondingly , the circuit 20 determines when and how long the valve 9 should be opened . the point in time for opening the valves 14 and 8 , respectively , is determined through a further circuit 21 . at the same time it is presumed here that the valves 8 and 14 , respectively , are closed when the arrangement 3 or , respectively , the valve 9 is opened . the described sample embodiment is only of an explanatory nature . the support of the blood circulation strived for with the invention is also assured when the respirator is modified within the framework of the invention . for example , the sensors instead of being ecg electrodes could be connected to a heart pacemaker or a device which generates pulse to control the heart &# 39 ; s activity . to provide a dead space or variable volume for receiving co 2 exhaled from the lungs , the tube or cannula 4 may have an excess portion such as a loop 4a . although various minor modifications may be suggested by those versed in the art , it should be understood that we wish to embody within the scope of the patent granted hereon , all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of our contribution to the art .	0
referring to fig1 and 2 , a tool 1 according to the invention comprises two main parts , one represented by a handle 2 and the other by a dummy connector interface 3 intended to come in contact with a protection device 4 of a subsea electrical or optical fiber connector . a protection device is composed of a dummy connector 4 which may be assimilated to a cap covering the real connector . a dummy protection connector 4 is made of a cylindrical hollow body 5 comprising two cylindrical side protrusions 6 extending in opposite directions . in other words , the two protrusions 6 are diametrically opposite and are aligned along the same radial axis . the body 5 is closed at one of its ends by a plane circular wall 7 and may comprise a rope or a wire not represented on the figures , and which is used to handle said dummy protection connector 4 . the handle 2 is composed of a plurality of tubular elements 8 which are arranged together to be aligned in the same geometrical plane in order to be easily handled by a rov and not to be too cumbersome . more precisely , the handle 2 comprises a rectangular frame 9 made of for tubular elements 8 , said rectangular frame 9 being prolonged by two tubular elements 10 , 11 which meet to form a terminal point 12 . the dummy connector interface 3 comprises a cylindrical hollow body 13 with two side slots 14 which are diametrically opposite . each slot 14 is composed of a first straight part 15 which extends along a longitudinal axis of said body 13 and a second curvilinear part 16 which extends along the circumference of the body 13 . the first part 15 is achieved from an end edge of the body 13 , whereas the second part 16 is carried out inside said body 13 . the body 13 is prolonged at one of its ends by a tapered part 17 itself prolonged by the handle 2 . more precisely , the body 13 and the tapered part 17 are made one piece , and the terminal point 12 of the handle 2 is fixed to the shrunk end 18 of said tapered part 17 . a preloaded spring 19 is placed wherein the connection interface body 13 . without any external pressure , the preloaded spring 19 lies in a predetermined position inside the body 13 , and is locked by an abutments system . this way , the preloaded spring 13 can only be compressed a little more from said predetermined position . the tool 1 according to the invention is attached to a rov , and may be used in two different cases . the first case is concerning the installation of a dummy protection connector 4 without a handle . in this case , the tool 1 has a dummy protection connector 4 attached . the rov installs said dummy connector 4 into the receptacle in the subsea termination . then the rov turn the tool 1 little to disconnect said tool 1 from the dummy connector 4 , and finally said rov pulls out the tool 1 . the second case is concerning the recovery of the dummy connector 4 with a broken rope or wire , in this case , the connection interface body 13 slides over the dummy connector 4 in the subsea termination , so that each protrusion 6 slides along the first straight part 15 of each slot 14 . then the rov turns little said body 13 so that said each protrusion 6 abuts against the end of each curvilinear part 16 of said slot 14 . the spring 19 keeps the dummy connector 4 in position . finally , the rov pulls out the tool 1 with the dummy protection connector 4 attached . in a general way , the first straight part 15 of each slot 14 is used to compress or to release the preloaded spring 19 , and the second curvilinear part 16 is used to lock or unlock the dummy protection connector 4 inside the connection interface body 13 , in a position in which said spring 19 is a little more compressed .	7
in general , edm wire will cut more efficiently if it contains a surface with a higher zinc content on that eroding surface . for instance a zinc coated brass alloy wire will cut more efficiently than an uncoated brass alloy wire . however , the melting point of the coating is an important factor in determining the efficiency of any given coating &# 39 ; s performance . since unalloyed zinc has a relatively low melting point of 420 ° c ., alloyed coatings with higher melting points ( e . g . beta , gamma , or epsilon phase brass alloy coatings ) but with lower zinc contents can outperform unalloyed zinc coatings in some applications . the higher melting points of these alloys delays them from being removed from the eroding surface by the mechanical and hydraulic forces imposed upon it , and therefore a higher zinc content is available on the surface when it is needed for further erosion . unfortunately these higher zinc content alloy phases tend to be brittle and therefore are difficult and / or expensive be included on hard drawn edm wires as continuous coatings . the brass alloy phases commonly applicable to edm wires are alpha phase , beta phase , gamma phase , and epsilon phase . of the brass alloy phases , alpha phase has the highest melting point ( approximately 910 ° c . at its highest commercially feasible zinc content of 35 - 37 weight percent ), beta phase has the next highest melting point ( approximately 890 ° c . in a diffusion annealed coating with a typical 45 weight percent zinc content ), gamma phase has the next highest melting point ( approximately 800 ° c . in a diffusion annealed coating with a typical 65 weight percent zinc content ), and epsilon phase has the lowest melting point ( approximately 550 ° c . in a diffusion annealed coating with a typical 85 weight percent zinc content ). as the zinc content of these alloy phases increases , the ductility of the phases decreases proportionately and hence the resulting wire becomes more difficult to draw without damaging the coating . the ability to cold draw edm wire is important because edm wire needs to have an elevated tensile strength to sustain the tensile loads that are imposed on the wire to keep them accurately located as the process proceeds . because of their relatively low zinc content , beta phase coatings have been successfully applied to edm wires , even though they are brittle enough that a full sectioned beta phase wire would be difficult to cold draw . gamma phase coatings are even more brittle than beta phase coatings , and in point of fact , they are often so brittle that they produce discontinuous coatings where islands of gamma phase become embedded in the wire surface after being cold drawn . however even though the coating does not cover the full wire surface , the increased zinc content of the surface is enough that gamma phase coatings have been shown to outperform beta phase coatings . conventionally processed , epsilon phase coatings are even more brittle than gamma phase . in addition to the brittleness limitation , epsilon phase is very unstable making it difficult to control the process of converting a zinc coating to epsilon phase in a manner similar to that used for converting a zinc coating to gamma phase . the invention herein disclosed provides a process that allows the discontinuities present in brittle gamma phase coatings to be filled in with unalloyed zinc which is ductile enough to flow into these discontinuities and fill them with a material that has better flushing characteristics than the copper bearing substrate . although the lower melting point of zinc is generally considered to be a disadvantage of zinc coatings when compared to the alloy coatings , zinc still has value in filling in the discontinuities in the gamma phase because ( 1 ) it is ductile enough to be cold drawn and ( 2 ) it requires no heat treatment which potentially would convert the relatively unstable gamma phase to a less efficient form . the invention also discloses a process capable of converting such a zinc coating to a ductile form of epsilon phase brass which allows the higher melting point of the epsilon to be taken advantage of . in addition since the inventive process of forming epsilon phase may produce a ductile product capable of being cold drawn , the epsilon phase can be applied to any substrate , including those not containing gamma phase brass , thereby resulting in a more efficient coating produced at a lower manufacturing cost than other diffusion annealed coatings ( e . g . beta or gamma phase brass ). in the following example , edm wire was produced with a finish diameter of 0 . 25 mm by the outlined process . heat treatment temperature : 170 ° c . for 6 hours in nitrogen atmosphere referring to fig1 , a high brass core 12 is covered with a zinc coating 15 having an initial thickness of 10 μm . after heat treatment at 170 ° c . for 6 hours in a nitrogen atmosphere , the wire is depicted in fig2 , with a gamma phase brass coating 18 on the high brass core 12 . since a non - oxidizing atmosphere of nitrogen gas was employed during the heat treatment , the wire can be electroplated again with a zinc coating 15 having a thickness of 10 μm as depicted in fig3 where the gamma coating 18 and high brass core 12 are the same as depicted in fig2 . cold drawing the composite wire to its finish diameter of 0 . 25 mm causes the brittle gamma phase to fracture and form discrete particles 19 as depicted in fig4 . however the zinc coating 16 is ductile enough to flow around these particles and encapsulate them on the high brass core 12 . fig5 illustrates a cross section view of the wire produced in example 1 as examined in an optical microscope . features of the photomicrograph are labeled such that they can be compared to the schematic structure described in fig4 . fig6 illustrates the profile view of the ( a ) inventive wire as compared to ( b ) a conventionally processed gamma coated wire where both wires are viewed on a scanning electron microscope ( sem ). the conventionally processed gamma coated wire employed the same process as example 1 except the second zinc electroplate step after the gamma conversion heat treatment was omitted . this is essentially the same process as described in the prior art of u . s . pat . no . 5 , 945 , 010 . in profile , the discontinuities in the conventionally processed gamma phase coating appear as surface fissures . since most of these discontinuities have been filled in with zinc the inventive wire , there are far fewer of the distinctive fissure like surface features observed in its profile as illustrated by fig6 ( b ). it should be noted that the term “ core ” used throughout the description of the present invention is intended to denote the most general description of that portion of the wire that lies below the outer surface layer which may be composed of one or more distinctive metallurgical phases . the term “ core ” is not limited to a homogenous metal or alloy and may include a layered or stratified structure such as beta phase brass layer on a copper clad steel substrate . for example , the “ core ” may contain two layers covering a homogenous substrate , but other more complex structures containing multiple components are also contemplated . according to the invention , the core substrate preferably includes copper at or near its outer surface . thus , a variety of substrate materials are contemplated by the present invention . these contemplated substrate materials include , but are not limited to , pure copper , brass , brass on copper , copper clad steel , brass on copper clad steel , brass clad steel , and brass on brass ( e . g ., high zinc content brass on lower zinc content brass ). more specific examples include unalloyed copper with a layer of beta phase brass on its surface , a homogenous single phase brass alloy , a homogenous single phase brass alloy with a layer of beta phase brass on its surface and a copper clad steel with a layer of beta phase brass on its surface . all of these core constructions are contemplated by the present invention . for purposes of explanation , the core construction contemplated by the present invention shall be termed “ copper bearing ”. the invention herein described also allows the outer zinc coating to be converted to epsilon phase brass in a controlled manner thereby allowing the higher melting point of the alloy phase to be taken advantage of . such coatings can be employed as previously described to fill in the gaps of discontinuous gamma phase coatings or applied to other substrates to take advantage of their improved characteristics . since these coatings are processed at lower diffusion anneal temperatures than previously attempted ( 50 ° c .- 140 ° c . ), it has been discovered that zinc coatings can be converted to epsilon phase at very low temperatures where the epsilon phase is very stable . at these low temperatures , the process can be precisely controlled such that the metallurgical structure ( and therefore the mechanical properties ) of the wire is not modified and the resulting epsilon phase is ductile . the lower melting point of the epsilon phase is generally considered to be a disadvantage of epsilon phase coatings when compared to beta or gamma phase coatings . however , the higher zinc content of the epsilon phase has been found to offset that disadvantage such that epsilon phase coatings have been found to match the performance of beta phase coatings while being competitive with the performance of gamma phase coatings . therefore , the epsilon phase coating provides similar cutting performance while having a lower cost to manufacture than either beta or gamma phase . infiltrating the porous epsilon phase coating with graphite , e . g . by drawing the wire in a lubricant composed of a suspension of fine graphite particles in an aqueous medium , can further improve the performance of an epsilon phase coating . in the following example , edm wire was produced with a finish diameter of 0 . 25 mm and at a starting size and heat treatment as described . core : 65 cu / 35zn ; electroplated 10 μm of zinc at 0 . 9 mm diameter referring to fig1 , a high brass core 12 is covered with a zinc coating 15 having an initial thickness of 10 μm . after cold drawing and heat treatment , the wire is depicted in fig7 , with an epsilon phase brass coating 20 having a thickness that is less than or equal to the initial zinc thickness . since the zinc is not converted to epsilon phase until after the wire has been work hardened by cold deformation , the tensile strength of the wire electrode can be increased to a level suitable for edm wire electrodes by cold drawing prior to heat treatment . by converting the zinc coating to epsilon phase at the finish diameter using a very low temperature for diffusion annealing ( less than approximately 120 c .) it is possible to avoid altering the metallurgical structure of the core material or materials . also , since the epsilon phase is not deformed by wire drawing , the coating remains uniform and covers substantially all of the wire surface . it is also believed that the ductility of the epsilon phase formed at such low temperatures is ductile enough to allow the heat treated wire to be drawn again to a finish diameter while maintaining a substantially continuous coating of epsilon phase , thereby further improving the effectiveness of the coating . the added drawing step may create a non - uniform thickness in the coating due to the anisotropy of the coating &# 39 ; s properties . fig8 illustrates a cross section view of the wire produced in example 2 as examined in a scanning electron microscope ( sem ). fig9 illustrates the chemical composition of the coating , as analyzed by energy dispersive x - ray analysis ( edax ) on the sem , is a nominal k - ratio of 84 % zn / 16 % cu alloy . the palladium content shown in fig9 is a coating that is added in the process of performing the sem analysis . since the processing occurred at a relatively low temperature for a relatively long time ( compared to the time to cool to room temperature ), the sample can be considered to be processed under equilibrium conditions . universally accepted equilibrium phase diagrams for the binary system copper / zinc , e . g . constitution of binary alloys , by hansen et al ., pp . 649 - 655 , 1958 , will identify a 84 zn / 16 cu alloy phase as epsilon phase brass . as can be seen from the foregoing description , drawing a zinc coated , copper bearing core wire to its finish size and then heat treating the wire at very low temperature provides an edm wire with a substantially continuous epsilon phase brass coating while maintaining the mechanical properties of the core wire . the coating resulting from the diffusion anneal may be porous , allowing it to be infiltrated with graphite to further enhance its discharge properties . the resulting edm wire electrode can equal the cutting speed of beta phase coatings and remain competitive with the cutting speed of gamma phase coatings at a lower manufacturing cost than either of the other high zinc phase coatings . it is also believed that the epsilon coating is ductile enough to allow cold drawing of the heat treated wire while maintaining a substantially continuous or discontinuous coating of epsilon phase brass . the process of “ skim cutting ” to produce very accurate dimensional tolerances is an important aspect of many edm jobs . during this process a considerably lower gap voltage is employed to remove small increments of the part being machined . in order to precisely control the “ skim cut ,” the surface of the wire electrode employed should have be characterized by having a low and uniform thermionic work function . alloys or discontinuous coatings of alloys will have more non - uniform thermionic work functions than those of unalloyed or lower alloy content materials . therefore , unalloyed zinc and epsilon phase coatings ( the lowest alloy content , i . e . copper percentage , of the brass phase alloys ) will have very uniform thermionic work function characteristics . as such they will outperform standard brass ( 65 cu / 35 zn or 63 cu / 37 zn ), beta phase brass ( 55 cu / 45zn ) coated wires , or gamma phase coated ( 35 cu / 65zn which is discontinuous ) wires in “ skim pass ” cuts . while this invention has been described as having a preferred design , the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure . the appended claims are therefore intended to cover any variations , uses , or adaptations of the invention using its general principles as well as any 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 .	1
fig1 schematically illustrates a security system 20 . a remote signaling device 22 communicates with a system controller 24 . in an embodiment where the security system 20 is used to protect a vehicle , the remote signaling device 22 preferably is a key fob and the controller 24 preferably is mounted on or supported within the vehicle . the remote signaling device 22 includes one or more manually actuatable switches ( the illustrated embodiment has two switches 26 and 28 ), which can be used to control a door lock and trunk lock of a vehicle , respectively , for example . actuation of either switch 26 or 28 causes the remote signaling device 22 to transmit a remote signal , schematically illustrated at 30 , to the controller 24 . the remote signal 30 transmitted from the remote signaling device 22 to the controller 24 can be a radio frequency signal , infrared signal or any other desirable short range signal . the remote signaling device 22 includes a first module 40 , a second module 42 , a third module 44 , and a fourth module 46 . the system controller 24 includes a first module 50 , a second module 52 , a third module 54 , a fourth module 56 , and a fifth module 58 . the various modules schematically illustrated in fig1 are shown for discussion and illustration purposes only . given this description , it will become apparent to those skilled in the art that the various functions performed by the various modules disclosed in this specification can be accomplished through a single microprocessor , dedicated circuitry and / or custom designed software . choosing an appropriate implementation of hardware or software to realize the various portions of the system 20 is within the capability of those skilled in the art who have the benefit of this specification . in one embodiment the remote signaling device 22 includes a first memory module 40 that contains command information , which is used to instruct the controller 24 on what action is to be taken within the system . a second memory module 42 includes a look up table of a plurality of preselected random numbers . the term &# 34 ; random numbers &# 34 ; as used in this specification refers to a series of numbers that have no mathematical or algorithmic correlation . a plurality of random numbers can be generated , for example , by observing radioactive decay or astronomical noise . a significant advantage to using random numbers in a security system designed according to this invention is that random numbers prevent a potential thief from performing any analysis on signals captured from the remote signaling device 22 that would lead to an accurate prediction of a valid subsequent command signal . the third module 44 of the remote signaling device 22 in this embodiment preferably is an encrypting module that accesses the first and second memory modules . the encrypting module 44 preferably uses a cyclic redundancy code to combine the command information with the random number , which becomes the transmitted signal 30 . in this embodiment , the fourth module 44 preferably serves as a counter or position indicator that keeps track of which of the random numbers from the second memory module 42 have been selected and used in generating a remote signal . in the most preferred embodiment , the second memory module 42 is a one - time pad provided with enough random numbers so that each number is used in only one transmitted signal . providing enough random numbers so that each one is used only once , depends on available resources in technology and cost . assuming a 10 - year system lifetime with 10 transmissions per day and 29 bits per transmitted signal , the second memory portion 42 would require 132 , 403 bytes . even though commercially available flash memory chips have such capacity , memory of this size may be too large to implement in some remote signaling devices 22 . in one example , 577 random numbers preferably are provided assuming the same number of transmissions per day and the same signal size . this reduces the required memory capacity down to 2 , 092 bytes . in this example , each random number is used approximately once per month in a cyclical fashion . with such an embodiment , a potential thief would need to capture and monitor several transmitted signals , perform a cryptographic analysis and then wait approximately one month before potentially being able to obtain unauthorized access to the system 20 . as can be seen , there is a generally linear relationship between the size of the memory module containing the random numbers , the cost of the system , and the level of security that will be provided . a designer of a system according to this invention can choose what considerations are most important in a given implementation . the controller 24 also includes a memory module 50 that has the same plurality of preselected random numbers . a decrypting module 52 deciphers the remote signal that is received by the controller 24 . in situations where command information is transmitted with a random number , the decrypting module 52 separates the command information from the random number . the decrypting module 52 preferably unscrambles the transmission by performing a reverse cyclic redundancy code operation . a comparator module 54 then compares the received random number with the plurality of random numbers in the control memory module 50 . once a match is determined , the activation module 58 causes an appropriate action within the system 20 that is responsive to the command information contained within the transmitted signal . the fourth module 56 in this embodiment preferably serves as a counter or position indicator that keeps track of which of the random numbers from the control memory module 50 have been matched . the counter or position indicator modules 46 and 56 provide the system with the ability to expect what the next transmitted random number will be . the preferred embodiment further includes a &# 34 ; look - ahead &# 34 ; capability to compensate for situations where the remote signaling device 22 is inadvertently activated out of range of the controller 24 . when a random number within a transmitted signal does not match the next expected random number in the memory module 50 , the controller 24 &# 34 ; looks ahead &# 34 ; through subsequent random numbers , within a preselected range , to try and find a match . if no match is achieved , then the controller 24 preferably performs a conventional error correction technique or simply assume that an inappropriate signal 30 has been transmitted and received . fig2 schematically illustrates the contents of a transmitted message 60 from this embodiment . a first portion 62 of the signal 30 includes the encrypted data , which comprises the random number . in some cases , separate command information may be appended to the random number . a second portion 64 contains information corresponding to the position of the random number within the appropriate memory module . a third portion 66 includes a parity or error correction field , which facilitates detecting whether the transmitted signal is of an appropriate form . in another embodiment , the various modules of the remote signaling device 22 and the controller 24 perform different functions compared to those described above . in this embodiment , the first module 40 contains command information associated with each of the switches 26 and 28 , for example . the second module 42 preferably comprises a random number generator . the random number generator 42 will randomly generate a number from within a preselected range of numbers each time that one of the switches 26 or 28 is actuated . the third module 44 is a modifying module that modifies the signal , which includes the command information . the modifying module can utilize a non - linear algorithm , for example , to manipulate the signal in a predictable fashion . the fourth module 46 , serves as a counter that monitors the number of modifications performed by the modifying module 44 . in this embodiment , each time that a switch is actuated , the random number generator 42 generates a number within a preselected range ; between 1 and 64 , for example . the most recently transmitted signal , which preferably is stored in memory in the first module 40 , is then modified within the modifying module 44 a number of times corresponding to the random number that was just generated . this procedure is schematically illustrated in the flow chart 80 of fig3 . first , a random number r is generated at 82 . the most recently transmitted signal is determined at 84 . the modifying algorithm is then applied to that signal r times . this results in a new signal that is transmitted at 88 . the controller 24 in this embodiment includes the ability to calculate a series of expected signals within a preselected range or sync window . in one example , the controller 24 calculates the next 256 expected signals and compares them with the signal received from the remote signaling device 22 . if the received signal 30 matches any of the next 256 expected signals generated within the controller 24 , then the message within the signal is accepted and the system is appropriately activated . in the preferred embodiment , the range of available random numbers generated within the remote signaling device 22 is far less than the size of the sync window of the controller 24 to ensure that the generated signal falls within the sync window . in another embodiment , the remote signaling device 22 includes a memory module that is a one - time - pad containing a plurality of random numbers . in the most preferred embodiment , enough random numbers are provided so that throughout the lifetime of the system 20 each number is used only once . the controller 24 is provided with the same list of random numbers . when either switch 26 or 28 is actuated , data ( i . e ., a random number ) from specific locations in the remote signaling device memory module will be transmitted . the specific locations preferably are stored in pointers corresponding to each switch or command . a pointer corresponding to the most recently activated switch is thereafter adjusted to a next location so that no random number is reused for the anticipated life of the system . whenever controller 24 receives data that matches data within the control memory module 50 , then the implicit command indicated by the memory location of the random number is authenticated and an appropriate action is performed by the controller 24 . it is possible to have separate memory modules for each of the functions associated with the switches 26 and 28 . in the preferred embodiment , however , only one memory module is used for all of the random numbers . alternatively , no pointers are necessary when another method is implemented to indicate that a random number has been used . for example , an additional &# 34 ; used &# 34 ; bit may be appended to each memory location . another , more preferred , alternative is to zero out a random number once it is used . fig4 illustrates , in flow diagram form , a method 90 of using the latter embodiment . the random number at a current pointer location is transmitted at 92 . after the transmission the pointer in the remote signaling device 22 is relocated at 94 . the controller 24 receives the signal at 96 and determines whether the transmitted random number matches any of the numbers in the control memory module at 98 . if a match has been found , the pointer in the control memory module is then relocated so that it corresponds to the relocated pointer position in the remote signaling device 22 . since the two memory modules have the same preselected random numbers in the same order , upon receipt of a signal , the receiver 24 &# 34 ; expects &# 34 ; the received random number to be in the current location of the pointer within the controller 24 . to compensate for situations where the remote signaling device 22 is inadvertently actuated outside the range of the controller 24 , the controller 24 includes a &# 34 ; look - ahead &# 34 ; feature as described above . the controller 24 will examine the random numbers within the control memory module at subsequent locations to the current pointer position within a preselected range until a match is found or , when the preselected range is exceeded , a determination is made that the received signal is not acceptable and no further action is taken . the foregoing description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature . variations and modifications to the disclosed embodiments may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the purview and spirit of this invention . for example , minor modifications may be implemented to make a security system designed according to this invention better suited for a vehicle or a building security system . accordingly , the following claims must be studied to determine the scope of legal protection afforded this invention .	7
the following is a description of embodiments of the present invention , with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig2 a is an enlarged view of a part including a metal film of a semiconductor device of one embodiment of the present invention . fig2 b is an enlarged view of a part including a thicker metal film of a semiconductor device of another embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig2 a , a semiconductor device 1 has an electrode pad 13 formed on a chip 10 made mainly of silicon . the electrode pad 13 is made of aluminum , for instance . a barrier metal layer 15 made of metal is disposed on the electrode pad 13 . a passivation film 16 as a protection film is disposed in an area where the barrier metal layer 15 does not exist . the barrier metal layer 15 is made of nickel formed by electroless plating . the passivation film 16 is made of silicon oxide , for instance . the peripheral end portion 15 a of the barrier metal layer 15 is in contact with the passivation film 16 . the peripheral end portion 15 a is thicker than the central portion of the barrier metal layer 15 , which is entirely flat . the flat portion has a thickness of about 1 μm , which is substantially the same as the passivation film 16 , while the peripheral end portion 15 a is about 2 μm in thickness , for instance . a solder bump 17 is disposed on the barrier metal layer 15 . the bump 17 contains no lead , but may be made mainly of tin and also containing silver ( sn : ag = 97 : 3 ), for instance . another semiconductor device 2 shown in fig2 b differs from the semiconductor device 1 shown in fig2 a in that a barrier metal layer 25 of the semiconductor device 2 is slightly thicker than the barrier metal layer 15 , and has a peripheral end portion 25 a . in fig2 b , the same components as in fig2 a are denoted by the same reference numerals . as shown in fig2 b , the peripheral end portion 25 a of the barrier metal layer 25 covers the inner peripheral end portion of the passivation film 16 . this is the effect of having the thicker barrier metal layer 25 , which is achieved by prolonging the time of the electroless plating process . even with the thicker barrier metal layer 25 , the peripheral end portion 25 a is thicker than the central portion . the flat central portion of the barrier metal layer 25 has a thickness of about 2 μm , while the peripheral end portion 25 a is about 3 μm in thickness , for instance . as described above , the barrier metal layers 15 and 25 have the thicker peripheral end portions 15 a and 25 a , respectively . since tin has digestion and diffusion properties , it invades the peripheral end portions 15 a and 25 a . when this happens , the thick peripheral end portions 15 a and 25 a cause the tin to diffuse inside them , thereby maintaining the bonding state . thus , the prior art problem of incomplete connection and removal of a bump and a barrier metal layer from an electrode pad can be effectively avoided . fig3 is a flowchart of a process of forming the barrier metal layer 15 as a metal film on the electrode pad 13 . in this flowchart , the process is carried out for the semiconductor device 1 having the electrode pad 13 made of aluminum on the chip 10 , and the passivation film 16 formed outside the electrode pad 13 . in step s 10 , etching is performed on the aluminum electrode pad 13 of the semiconductor device 1 . more specifically , the semiconductor device 1 is immersed in 500 ml / l of sulfuric acid solution at 70 ° c . in step s 20 , the semiconductor device 1 is thoroughly washed . in step s 30 , the surface of the electrode pad 13 of the semiconductor device 1 is activated . this is a preparation step for the following step of obtaining the barrier metal layer 15 having the thicker peripheral end portion by electroless metal plating . an activation solution used here is shown in fig4 . the activation solution shown in fig4 is a chelating solution containing 0 . 6 mmol / l of palladium chloride and 0 . 1 mol / l of glycine . palladium serves to coordinate amino groups . in fig4 , the activation solution used for producing the conventional semiconductor devices shown in fig1 a and 1b is also shown for reference . the activation solution of the prior art contains ammonia , while the activation solution of the present invention contains glycine . the glycine in the solution can restrict homogeneous precipitation of the palladium , so that the palladium can be prevented from being precipitated uniformly from the solution . the glycine serves to precipitate a large amount of palladium on the peripheral end portion of the aluminum electrode pad and an appropriate amount of palladium in the remaining area . in step s 40 , the semiconductor device 1 is thoroughly washed . in step s 50 , electroless metal plating is performed on the surface of the aluminum electrode pad 13 to form a metal film . here , the electroless metal plating may be electroless nickel plating , for instance . a nickel plating solution used in the nickel plating is shown in fig5 . in the step s 50 , the surface of the aluminum electrode pad 13 is immersed in the nickel plating solution for about 3 minutes . a nickel metal film having a thickness of about 1 μm is thus uniformly formed on the surface of the aluminum electrode pad 13 , except the peripheral end portion 15 a has a thickness of about 2 μm . the peripheral end portion 15 a is thicker than the rest of the barrier metal layer 15 , because a large amount of palladium is precipitated on the peripheral end portion of the aluminum electrode pad 13 in the activation step . the nickel is precipitated with the palladium as nuclei to form the metal film . accordingly , the barrier metal layer 15 , which is a nickel film , has a greater thickness on its peripheral end portion . in step s 60 , the semiconductor device 1 is again thoroughly washed . in step s 70 , the semiconductor device 1 is then dried , and the process of forming the barrier metal layer 15 comes to an end . it should be understood that the barrier metal layer 15 of the semiconductor device 1 shown in fig2 a is formed in the flowchart of fig3 . in the case of the semiconductor device 2 having the barrier metal layer 25 , which is thicker than the barrier metal layer 15 , the time for immersing the aluminum electrode pad 13 in the nickel plating solution should be about 6 minutes to form a nickel metal film having a thickness of about 2 μm uniformly on the surface of the aluminum electrode pad 13 in the step s 50 . here , the peripheral end portion 25 a covers the inner peripheral end portion of the passivation film 16 , having a thickness of about 3 μm . the bump 17 is placed on the barrier metal layer 15 or 25 of the respective semiconductor device 1 or 2 . the bump 17 may be a solder bump made of tin and silver at a ratio of 97 : 3 ( sn : ag ). after being placed on the barrier metal layer 15 or 25 , the solder bump is heated at 270 ° c . as a result , the solder bump melts and adheres to the entire surface of the barrier metal layer 15 or 25 . it should be understood that a solder bump is not necessarily placed on the barrier metal layer in advance . it is possible to produce a solder bump separately and attach the solder bump to the barrier metal layer when the semiconductor device is bonded to an external electrode . in such a case , the semiconductor device has an oxidation resistant film , such as a gold - plated metal film , placed on the barrier metal layer having the thicker peripheral end portion . as shown in fig6 an au film 18 , for instance , can be formed on the surface of the barrier metal layer 15 by electroplating . fig7 shows the results of comparison tests of barrier metal layer removal resistance between semiconductor devices of the prior art and semiconductor devices of the present invention . the test conditions are also shown in fig7 . the semiconductor device 200 shown in fig1 b was used as the semiconductor device of the prior art , and the semiconductor device 2 shown in fig2 b was used as the semiconductor device of the present invention . accordingly , the central portion of each barrier metal layer formed on the electrode pad was 2 μm in thickness . the semiconductor devices of the present invention each had the peripheral end portion having a thickness of about 3 μm . a solder bump containing sn and ag at a ratio of 97 : 3 was fixed onto each barrier metal layer , and was subjected to a heating process under the conditions shown in fig7 up to 5 times . a probe was driven 10 μm above the surface of each semiconductor device at 30 μm / s to apply a shearing force to the side surface of the solder bump . as shown in fig7 % of the semiconductor devices of the prior art had detachment of the respective aluminum electrode pads from the barrier metal layers . on the other hand , no detachment or exfoliation occurred on the semiconductor devices of the present invention until the fourth heating process . however , the detachment occurred on 60 % of the semiconductor devices in the fifth heating process . as can be seen from the results , the bond between the electrode pad and the barrier metal layer is stronger in the present invention than in the prior art . accordingly , the semiconductor devices of the present invention have higher durability . fig8 shows a semiconductor device of the present invention integrally fixed to a substrate via solder bumps . in this figure , a flip - chip semiconductor device 3 is fixed to a substrate 4 via solder bumps 37 . the present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments , but variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . the present application is based on japanese priority application no . 11 - 189280 , filed on jul . 2 , 1999 , the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference .	7
surprisingly it has been found that a stable composition of killed cells with substantially retained immunogenic properties can be prepared comprising of killed cells , at least one intracellular cryo preservative at least one extra cellular cryo preservative and excipients . the intracellular cryo preservative is selected from carbohydrates such as monosaccharides and diasaccharides . surprisingly it has been found that trehalose as intracellular cryo preservative for maximizing intact cell recovery yields highest cell recovery . the carbohydrate as an intracellular cryo preservative used is between 1 to 10 % w / v concentration . the extra cellular cryo preservative is selected from amphipathic substances such as hydroxyethylstarch ( hes ), dextran and polyvinylpyrrolidone ( pvp ) and ploysorbates . surprisingly the amphiphathic polymer polyvinylpyrrolidone ( pvp ) has been found to be improving intact cell recovery as extra cellular cryo preservative . the pvp used as an extra cellular cryo preservative is between 0 . 1 to 5 % w / v concentration . the molecular weight of pvp used is in the range 30 to 50 kilo daltons , surprisingly the amphiphathic polymer hydroxyethylstarch ( hes ) has been found to be improving intact cell recovery as extra cellular cryo preservative . the hes used as an extra cellular cryo preservative is between 0 . 1 to 5 % w / v concentration . the molecular weight of hes used is in the range 30 to 50 kilo daltons . surprisingly the amphiphathic polymer dextran has been found to be improving intact cell recovery as extra cellular cryo preservative . the dextran used as an extra cellular cryo preservative is between 0 . 1 to 5 % w / v concentration . the molecular weight of dextran used is preferably in the range of 30 to 50 kilo daltons . surprisingly the amphiphathic polymer polysorbate has been found to be improving intact cell recovery as extra cellular cryo preservative . the polysorbate used as an extra cellular cryo preservative is between 0 . 1 to 5 % w / v concentration . the amphiphathic polymer polysorbate used as extra cellular cryo preservative is selected from polysorbate 20 , polysorbate 40 , polysorbate 60 , polysorbate 65 , polysorbate 80 preferably polysorbate 80 in accordance with the invention the process of preparing a stable composition of killed cells with substantially retained immunogenic properties is in following steps the lyophilisation solution buffered at ph of 7 . 4 by dulbecco &# 39 ; s phosphate buffered saline ( dpbs — without calcium chloride and magnesium chloride ), the components of which were potassium phosphate monobasic ( 0 . 20 g / l ); potassium chloride ( 0 . 20 g / l ); sodium chloride ( 8 . 00 g / l ) and anhydrous sodium phosphate dibasic ( 1 . 15 g / l ). the lyophilisation buffer contains a final concentration of about 5 % weight by volume of a non reducing disaccharide , preferably trehalose and a final concentration of about 1 % weight by volume of a polymer , preferably polyvinylpyrrolidone ( mol . weight . 44k ). the morphological preservation , integrity and retention of immunogenicity even on prolonged storage of killed cell composition were analyzed as follows 1 . morphological profiling ( size ):— flow cytometry . pkh26 for integrity of ell membrane . hematoxylin and eosin staining for cytoplasmic and nuclear membrane integrity 2 . physiochemical profiling :— confirming cell death uses topro3 iodide dye . 3 . granularity assay :— facs fsc / ssc 4 . cytogenetic analysis 5 . dna profiling : facs dna content analysis . 6 . dna extraction and agarose gel electrophoresis to assess dna integrity 7 . immunophenotyping :— hladr molecules 8 . immunological profiling :— cd4 + . cytotoxic evaluation of cd8 + and nk cells with cyto - toxic determinants : perforin and granzyme . 9 . functional assay :— facs effector function assay using pkh26 and topro3 iodide to identify / confirm and enumerate dead target cells . quantification of ifnγ and il - 2 producing splenocytes . lymphocyte proliferation assay using pkh 26 . 10 7 cells / ml of cancer cells were treated with mycobacterium w ( mw ). percentage cell death was determined employing trypan blue dye exclusion principle . cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . the supernatant was discarded and control pellet was resuspended in dpbs . the total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . treatment group pellet was re - suspended in lyophilisation buffer solution containing 1 % pvp w / v . each aliquot was subjected to snap chilling in liquid nitrogen ( below − 100 ° c .) followed by lyophilisation . treatment group percent intact cell recovery , estimated after reconstitution of lyophiliates , was 19 . 125 ± 3 . 275 10 7 cells / ml of cancer cells were taken and treated with mw . percentage cell death was determined employing trypan blue dye exclusion principle . cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded and control group cell pellet was resuspended in dpbs . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . treatment group cell pellet was resuspended in lyophilisation buffer solution containing 5 % trehalose w / v . each aliquot was subjected to snap chilling in liquid nitrogen ( below − 100 ° c .) followed by lyophilisation . treatment group percent intact cell recovery upon reconstitution of lyophilate in dpbs , estimated using hemocytometer , was 15 . 27 ± 0 . 64 . 10 7 cells / ml of cancer cells were taken and treated with mw . percent cell viability was determined using trypan blue exclusion assay . cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded and control group cell pellet resuspended in dpbs . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . treatment group cell pellet was resuspended in lyophilisation buffer containing 0 . 05 % polysorbate 80 v / v . each aliquot was subjected to snap chilling in liquid nitrogen ( below − 100 ° c .) followed by lyophilisation . treatment group percent intact cell recovery upon reconstitution of lyophilate in dpbs , estimated using hemocytometer , was about 0 . 9 . 10 7 cells / ml of cancer cells were treated with mw . percentage cell death was determined employing trypan blue dye exclusion principle . cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded and control group cell pellet resuspended in dpbs . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . treatment group cell pellet was resuspended in pvp at final concentration of 1 % w / v ( in dpbs ). cell suspension was incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . subsequently , trehalose was added at final concentration of 5 % w / v ( in dpbs ) followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 15 min . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . prior to lyophilisation , each aliquot was subjected to snap chilling in liquid nitrogen ( below − 100 ° c .). treatment group percent intact cell recovery , upon reconstitution of lyophilate in dpbs was 28 . 08 ± 3 . 63 10 7 cells / ml of cancer cells were treated with mw . percent cell viability was determined using trypan blue exclusion assay . cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded and control cell pellet resuspended in dpbs . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . treatment group cell pellet was resuspended in trehalose at final concentration of 5 % w / v ( in dpbs ) followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 15 min . subsequently pvp was added at final concentration of 1 % w / v and cell suspension was incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . prior to lyophilisation , all aliquots were subjected to snap chilling in liquid nitrogen ( below − 100 ° c .). treatment group percent intact cell recovery was 55 . 61 ± 4 . 35 . 10 7 cells / ml of cancer cells were treated with mw . percentage cell death was determined employing trypan blue dye exclusion principle . cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded and control group cell pellet resuspended in dpbs . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . treatment group cell pellet was resuspended in dextrose at final concentration of 5 % w / v ( in dpbs ) followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 15 min . subsequently hes was added at final concentration of 1 % w / v and cell suspension was incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . prior to lyophilisation , all aliquots were subjected to snap chilling in liquid nitrogen ( below − 100 ° c .). post lyophilisation , treatment group percent intact cell recovery was ˜ 54 . 88 , but cellular morphology was disturbed . 10 7 cells / ml of cancer cells were treated with mw . percent cell viability was determined using trypan blue exclusion assay . cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded and control group cell pellet was resuspended in dpbs . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . treatment group cell pellet was resuspended in glycerol at final concentration of 5 % v / v ( in dpbs ) followed by incubation for 15 min . at 37 ° c . subsequently hes was added at final concentration of 1 % w / v and cell suspension was incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted prior to lyophilisation . all aliquots were subjected to snap chilling in liquid nitrogen ( below − 100 ° c .). post lyophilisation , treatment group percent intact cell recovery was ˜ 46 . 19 , albeit cellular morphology was disturbed . 10 7 cells / ml of cancer cells were treated with mw . percentage cell death was determined employing trypan blue dye exclusion principle . cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded and control group cell pellet was resuspended in dpbs . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . treatment group cell pellet was resuspended in sucrose at final concentration of 5 % w / v ( in dpbs ) followed by incubation for 15 min . at 37 ° c . subsequently hes was added at final concentration of 1 % w / v and cell suspension was incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted prior to lyophilisation . all aliquots were subjected to snap chilling in liquid nitrogen ( below − 100 ° c .). post lyophilisation , treatment group percent intact cell recovery was ˜ 47 . 25 , but cellular morphology was disturbed . 10 7 cells / ml of cancer cells were treated with mw . percent cell viability was determined using trypan blue exclusion assay . cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded and control group cell pellet was resuspended in dpbs . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . treatment group cell pellet was resuspended in pvp at final concentration of 1 % w / v ( in dpbs ) followed by incubation for 15 min . at 37 ° c . subsequently , trehalose at final concentration of 5 % w / v was added , followed by additives ( nicotinic acid 0 . 75 mm ; glutamine 0 . 75 mm ; mgcl 2 0 . 49 mm and histidine 5 mm ) at final concentration of 1 %. cell suspension was incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . cells in each aliquot were counted prior to lyophilisation . all aliquots were subjected to snap chilling in liquid nitrogen ( below − 100 ° c .). post lyophilisation , treatment group percent intact cell recovery was ˜ 11 . 0 10 7 cells / ml of cancer cells were treated with mw . percentage cell death was determined employing trypan blue dye exclusion principle . cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded and control group cell pellet was resuspended in dpbs . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . treatment group cell pellet was resuspended in trehalose at final concentration of 5 % w / v ( in dpbs ) followed by incubation for 15 min . at 37 ° c . subsequently , pvp at final concentration of 1 % w / v was added , followed by additives ( nicotinic acid 0 . 75 mm ; glutamine 0 . 75 mm ; mgcl 2 0 . 49 mm and histidine 5 mm ) at final concentration of 1 %. cell suspension was incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . cells in each aliquot were counted prior to lyophilisation . all aliquots were subjected to snap chilling in liquid nitrogen . post lyophilisation , treatment group percent intact cell recovery was ˜ 48 . 9 1 × 10 7 cells / ml were treated with mw . percentage cell death , employing trypan blue dye exclusion principle , was 60 %. 5 aliquots were made and cells were pelleted down by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . of the 5 cell pellets obtained , 1 each resuspended in 100 μl of 50 × trehalose followed by incubation for 15 min . at 37 ° c . final volume made upto 1 ml with dpbs . from each aliquot 200 μl distributed in glass vials labeled appropriately and cells in each aliquot were counted . all aliquots were subjected to slow freezing viz . at 8 ° c . for 1 hr , 4 ° c . for 2 hr , − 20 ° c . for 4 hr and finally at -− 70 ° c . for 8 hrs . except for one freezing control , rest all aliquots subjected to lyophilisation for approx 48 hrs . lyophilates reconstituted with 200 μl of dpbs and total no of intact cells counted using haemocytometer . freezing control yielded 13 % intact cells while lyophilisation resulted in 2 % recovery . 1 × 10 7 cells / ml were treated with mw . percentage cell death , employing trypan blue dye exclusion principle , was 60 %. 5 aliquots were made and cells were pelleted down by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . of the 5 cell pellets obtained 1 each resuspended in 100 μ1 of 10 × pvp followed by incubation for 15 min . at 37 ° c . final volume made upto 1 ml with dpbs . from each aliquot 200 μl distributed in glass vials labeled appropriately and cells in each aliquot were counted . all aliquots were subjected to slow freezing viz . at 8 ° c . for 1 hr , 4 ° c . for 2 hr , − 20 ° c . for 4 hr and finally at − 70 ° c . for 8 hrs . except for one freezing control , rest all aliquots subjected to lyophilisation for approx 48 hrs . lyophiliates reconstituted with 200 μl of dpbs and total no of intact cells counted using haemocytometer . freezing control yielded 32 % intact cells while lyophilisation resulted in 5 % recovery . 1 × 10 7 cells / ml were treated with mw . percentage cell death , employing trypan blue dye exclusion principle was 60 %. 5 aliquots were made and cells were pelleted down by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . of the 5 cell pellets obtained 1 each resuspended in 100 μl of 10 × dextran sulfate followed by incubation for 15 min . at 37 ° c . final volume made upto 1 ml with dpbs . from each aliquot 200 μl distributed in glass vials labeled appropriately and cells in each aliquot were counted . all aliquots were subjected to slow freezing viz . at 8 ° c . for 1 hr , 4 ° c . for 2 hr , − 20 ° c . for 4 hr and finally at − 70 ° c . for 8 hrs . except for one freezing control , rest all aliquots subjected to lyophilisation for approx 48 hrs . lyophilized cell pellets reconstituted in 200 μl of dpbs and total no of intact cells counted using haemocytometer . freezing control yielded 5 % intact cells while no intact cell was observed after lyophilisation . though several intra - cellular and extra - cellular cyropreservatives were capable of preserving the morphology and intactness of killed cells , trehalose and pvp appear advantageous over others . 1 × 10 7 b16f1 cells / ml treated with mw . percentage cell death , employing trypan blue dye exclusion principle was 25 %. cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded . cell pellets were resuspended in either 100 μl of 50 × trehalose or 100 μl 10 × pvp and incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . final volume was made upto 1 ml with dpbs . five aliquots of 200 μl each were made and cells in each aliquot were counted prior to lyophilisation . samples snap freezed in liquid nitrogen . except one freezing control , rest all samples were subjected to lyophilisation for approx 48 hrs . lyophilates reconstituted with 200 μl of dpbs and total no of intact cells counted using haemocytometer . freezing control yielded 39 % intact cells while lyophilisation resulted in 9 % intact cell recovery . a combination of the two cryopreservatives appears advantageous over either of them alone . hek - 293 , at a concentration of 1 × 10 7 cells / ml , was treated with mw . percentage cell death , employing trypan blue dye exclusion principle was 80 %. cells pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded . cell pellets were resuspended in 5 ml of dpbs and total volume was distributed in 5 aliquots of 1 ml each . cells in each aliquot were counted followed by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . cell pellets were resuspended in 100 μl of 50 × trehalose and incubated at 37 ° c . for 30 min . 100 μl 10 × pvp was added subsequently , and samples again incubated at 37 ° c . of 30 min . final volume was made upto 1ml with dpbs . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 200 μl each . all aliquots were snap freezed in liquid nitrogen and except one freezing control rest all subjected to lyophilisation for approx 48 hrs . lyophilates reconstituted with 200 μl of dpbs and total no of intact cells counted using haemocytometer . freezing control yielded 67 % intact cells while lyophilisation resulted in 49 % intact cell recovery . a combination of the two cryopreservatives appears advantageous over either of them alone . the addition of pvp to trehalose leads to a higher recovery of intact cells (˜ 50 %) as opposed to either of them alone or addition of trehalose to pvp . b16f10cells , at a concentration of 1 × 10 7 cells / ml , were treated with mw . percent cell death , determined using trypan blue exclusion assay , was 31 %. total volume was distributed into 10 aliquots of 1 ml each and number of cells in each aliquot was counted before processing . cells pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . cell pellets were resuspended in 100 μl of 50 × trehalose and incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . 100 μl 10 × hes was then added and samples were again incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . final volume was made upto 1 ml with dpbs . 200 μl was distributed in glass vials labeled appropriately . samples were snap freezed in liquid nitrogen and except one freezing control rest all subjected to lyophilisation for approx . 48 hrs . lyophilates reconstituted with 200 μl of dpbs and total number of intact cells counted using hemocytometer . freezing control yielded 95 % intact cells while lyophilisation resulted in 70 % intact cell recovery but significant amount of cells were clumped together . trehalose + pvp seem to be best among all other tested combinations of different cryopreservatives . flow cytometry can provide information about the cellular size and granularity from homogeneous or heterogeneous tissue / cell suspension in medium . cellular size is measured as the diffracted laser light generated from the cell membrane ; and granularity is the measure of the reflected and refracted light that is emitted upon targeting the granules of a cell . cellular size is measured on the forward scatter ( fsc ) scale of the dotplot ; and granularity on the side scatter ( ssc ) scale of the dotplot . assessment of the lyophilized cells indicate two distinct population , as shown in fig1 . population p1 appears at a lower fsc and ssc population that population p2 , suggesting that population p2 are larger in size and posses more granules compared to population p1 . lyophilized cells were stained with cell membrane lipid binding molecule pkh26 . pkh26 is excited by the blue laser and absorbs light at 551 nm and emits light at 567 nm . fig2 shows that both p1 and p2 population uptake the pkh26 dye . lyophilized cells stained with the pkh26 dye , 90 . 7 % of p1 population and 96 . 3 % of p2 population are pkh26 + ve . cell death was evaluated by propodium iodide ( pi ) dye , which penetrates into cells with compromised cell membrane . fig3 shows that both p1 and p2 uptake the pi dye , suggesting that both the population are dead . lyophilized cells stained with pi dye . 78 . 3 % of p1 population and 97 . 8 % of p2 population are pi + ve . the formulation was stained with hematoxylin and eosin to assess cytoplasmic and nuclear membrane integrity . intact cells with intact nucleus were observed ( fig4 ). miapaca 2 cells , at a concentration of 1 × 10 7 cells / ml , were treated with mw . percentage cell death , determined using trypan blue exclusion assay , and was 100 %. total volume was distributed into 2 aliquots of 5 ml each and number of cells in each aliquot was counted before processing . cells pelleted by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . cell pellets were resuspended in 100 μl of 50 × trehalose and incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . 100 μl 10 × pvp was added subsequently , and aliquots again incubated at 37 ° c . of 15 min . 200 μl was distributed in glass vials labeled appropriately and were snap freezed in liquid nitrogen . one set of vials were lyophilized for approx . 48 hrs . lyophilates reconstituted with 200 μl of dpbs and cell suspension was injected in balb / c mice on day 1 and 21 . non - lyophilized formulated cells were administered in control group on day 1 and 21 . on day 28 , all mice were sacrificed and the splenocytes were isolated . interferon gamma elispot was performed to assess immune response . the lyophilized cells showed equal number of cells producing interferon gamma indicating retained immunogenicity , infect little better . ( fig5 ). killed 10 7 cells / ml of cancer cells were pellated by centrifugation at 1500 rpm for 10 min . supernatant was discarded . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . treatment group cell pellet was re - suspended in trehalose at final concentration of 5 % w / v ( in dpbs ) followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 15 min . subsequently pvp was added at final concentration of 1 % w / v and cell suspension was incubated at 37 ° c . for 15 min . total volume was distributed into aliquots of 1 ml each and cells in each aliquot were counted . prior to lyophilisation , all aliquots were subjected to snap freezing in liquid nitrogen . cells were reconstituted in dpbs . a smear was prepared on a glass slide ; air dried and fixed using acetone . blocking for 1 hour with blocking buffer containing 5 % bsa , serum , and 2 % triton - x 100 in pbs . incubated 1 hour with primary antibody targeted against a cell surface marker was used for detection at 1 : 100dilutions . wash with pbs containing triton . incubated with anti mouse igg - fitc labeled secondary ab ( 1 : 1000 ). wash with pbs containing triton . the surface proteins are detected under florescent microscope as depicted in fig6 . the method can be used for the transport of samples tissue killed or live and later use them for diagnosis or forensic . both intra - cellular and extra - cellular cyropreservatives are capable of preserving the morphology of mw treated cells . pvp and trehalose appear advantageous over both dextran and polysorbate - 80 wherein the cells appeared to be clumped . a combination of the two cryopreservatives appears advantageous over either of them alone . the addition of pvp to trehalose leads to a higher recovery of intact cells ( approx 50 %) as opposed to either of them alone or addition of trehalose to pvp . the method of preservation by lyophilisation can be used for preserving whole cells vaccine candidates with retained immunogenicity , intact structure and nucleic acid . the method can also be used to preserve cell samples for forensic applications and diagnostic purposes .	0
the present invention provides a system and method that can be used for integrated circuit testing in computer test systems by providing fine tuning of a coarse timing edge input signal . this fine tuning is provided by programmable capacitance on the internal node of a buffer and controlling the charging current into the programmable capacitance . this finely placed edge is useful in any measurement of stimulus application . in accordance with the present invention , the architecture comprises a pseudo - nmos buffer , which is made up of two pseudo - nmos inverters with a programmable capacitance added to an internal node between the inverters . the pseudo - nmos circuit provides fine tuning of a negative timing edge of an input signal . the gates of the pmos fets of the pseudo - nmos inverters are driven by the output signal ( pcntrl ) of a variable width current mirror digital - to - analog converter ( dac ). as discussed in related application ser . no . 786 , 690 , an independent variable n is a digital input signal to the dac and the transfer function between the output signal of the current mirror and the digital input signal is inversely dependent on n . since the dac is referenced to a stable fixed current source , the pcntrl signal automatically adjusts with temperature and power supply variations . therefore , temperature and power supply compensation is provided for the pseudo - nmos inverters . the control voltage pcntrl regulates the charging current ( current mirrored from the dac ) into the variable capacitance and is used for adjusting the delay of the buffer . for the present invention , the control voltage pcntrl is used for nulling process variations and thus obtaining a nominal delay regardless of process . the control voltage pcntrl is driven by the variable width current mirror dac . by changing the mirror ratio of the dac , the charging current changes . therefore , the delay element delay is modulated . the time to charge the internal node is inversely proportional to the charging current . however , the charging current is inversely proportional to the dac fet width . therefore , the end result is that the delay increases proportionately to the dac fet width . the variable capacitance in connection with the present invention is obtained by modulating the gate - source voltage ( v gss ) of an nmos fet . the gate of the nmos fet is connected to the internal node of the buffer . the source and drain electrodes are shorted together . the gate capacitance is effectively switched in or out of the circuit by driving the source drain node to the negative or positive supply voltage , respectively . several of these capacitors are attached to the internal node . thus , small finely controlled amounts of capacitance can be added to the internal node via digital control . as is evident to those skilled in the art , the size of the capacitor fet is chosen corresponding to the fine timing resolution required by an application of the present invention . the number of capacitors attached to the internal node is determined by the dynamic range requirements . since the delay of the element is linearly dependent on the capacitance of the internal node , this technique offers a linear relationship between the programmed capacitor setting and the delay of the circuit . for the present invention , the higher order capacitors are implemented as capacitor banks in order to reduce non - linearities . this pseudo - nmos implementation is utilized for delaying negative timing edges . further embodiments of the present invention include pseudo - pmos circuits for controlled delay of positive timing edges . see fig2 for example . still further embodiments of the present invention include pseudo - nmos / pmos circuits for controlled delay of both negative and positive edges . this particular delay can be accomplished by either alternating a pseudo - pmos element and a pseudo - nmos element or by constructing an element with both pmos and nmos control voltages . in brief , the present invention is a system and method for precisely controlling the delay of a buffer ( delay element ). this precise control is achieved by controlling the charging current into the programmable capacitance on the internal node of the buffer , so as to provide a finely controlled delay on a coarse timing edge input signal in order to finely control the output . the present invention is shown at a high level architectural perspective in fig1 . referring now to fig1 a logic diagram is shown of the structure comprising a preferred embodiment of a pseudo - nmos ( pnmos ) delay element 100 of the present invention . the pnmos delay element 100 comprises an inverter 102 and an inverter 104 , and various capacitor banks 106 , driven by a decode circuitry 107 and connected in parallel to an internal node 108 . the inverter 102 comprises a pmos fet 110 . the gate electrode of fet 110 is connected to a bus 112 which carries a control signal pcntrl . the pmos fet 110 always remains on , but its conductance is adjustable by changing voltage of the pcntrl signal . the pcntrl signal is an adjustable voltage that is adjusted so as to modulate the charging of the capacitance on the internal node 108 . the inverter 102 also comprises an nmos fet 114 . the nmos fet 114 receives a data input signal in on line 116 connected to its gate . the pmos fet 104 and the nmos fet 114 function together to invert the data input signal 116 . an inverted output signal from the inverter 102 is delayed on node 108 by the previously mentioned various capacitor banks 106 that are connected in parallel to the node 108 . the lower order capacitor banks ( fet banks comprised of less than 8 fets ) are rendered active by control signals g1 - g3 . once active , i . e ., turned on , the transistors act like capacitors and sink charge from the node 108 to thereby delay a signal propagating from inverter 102 to inventor 104 . control signals g1 - g3 are boolean coded to apply additional capacitance to the node 108 in a linear fashion . the higher order bits ( fet banks comprised of 8 or more fets ) are rendered active by control signals g4 and g5 . the control signals g4 and g5 are thermometer encoded to minimize device mismatch due to process tolerances . see the above incorporated copending application ser . no . 07 / 786 , 690 for a further discussion of thermometer decoding . a first capacitor bank 118 comprises one nmos fet with its gate connected in parallel to the node 108 as well as a short - circuited source - drain node which is controlled by a gate - control input signal g1 on line 120 which is logically inverted and buffered by an inverter 121 . the input signal g1 is the least significant bit ( lsb ) of the control word comprising input signals g1 - g5 . a gate - control input signal g2 on line 122 is inverted and buffered by an inverter 123 and controls the short - circuited source - drain node of a pair of parallel connected fets forming the capacitor bank 124 . the capacitor bank 124 is connected to the node 108 so as to control the next significant bit on the node 108 . a gate - control input signal g3 on line 126 ), which is inverted by an inverter 127 , controls a group of four fets forming a capacitor bank 128 , which is connected in parallel , via the gates of capacitor bank 128 , to the node 108 so as to control the next significant bit of the node 108 . a logical nor 129 of a gate - control input signal g4 on line 130 and gate - control input signal g5 on line 132 controls the source - drain node of a capacitor bank 134 , comprising eight nmos fets , that provide the next significant bit of delay to node 108 . an inverter 135 provides an inverted output signal 136 of the gate - control input signal g4 . output signal 136 controls the source - drain node of a capacitor bank 138 , comprising eight nmos fets that provide a capacitance delay for the next significant bit on the node 108 . gate - control input signals g4 and g5 are applied to respective inputs of a logical nand 140 . an output signal 142 of logical nand 140 controls the source - drain node of a capacitor bank 144 . the capacitor bank 144 comprises eight nmos fets that provide a capacitance delay for the msb ( most significant bit ) to node 108 . note that the fet of the first four capacitor banks are arranged in a binary fashion , ( 1 , 2 , 4 , 8 ) so as to achieve the programmed capacitance capabilities offered by a binary decode provided to inputs g1 through g3 . the two msbs , g4 and g5 , are decoded in a thermometer fashion such that capacitor bank 138 consists of eight nmos fets instead of the next binary equivalent of sixteen . the thermometer decode is such that the three 8 fet capacitor banks , 134 , 138 and 144 , turn on monotonically as the input signal g4 and the input signal g5 increase from a binary zero ( 00 2 ) to a binary three ( 11 2 ). the delayed output signal on node 108 provided by the capacitor banks 106 connected to node 108 is a data input signal to the gate of an nmos fet 146 of the inverter 104 . the inverter 104 comprises the nmos fet 146 and a pmos fet 148 , with the pcntrl signal connected to the gate of the pmos fet 148 so that its conductivity is adjustable by changing the pcntrl signal . the delayed data input signal on node 108 is then reinverted to provide a data output signal out on line 150 that is logically consistent with the data input signal in on line 116 . referring now to fig2 a pseudo - pmos delay element 200 has the input in connected to the gate of the p - channel fet 110 of the first inverter 102 . the output 108 of the first inverter 102 is connected to the gate of the p - channel fet 148 of the second inverter 104 , and the control signal 112 is connected to the gate of the n - channel fets 114 and 146 . this reversal of the control signal and input signals permits controlled delay of positive timing edges . while various embodiments of the present invention have been described above , it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example , and not limitation . thus the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above - described exemplary embodiments , but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents .	7
having generally described this invention , a further understanding can be obtained by reference to certain specific examples which are provided herein for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting unless otherwise specified . the apparatus employed for the examples is schematically shown in fig1 in which numeral 1 designates a roving feeding device ; 2 , a vat for adhesive treatment ; 3 , a drying oven ; 4 , an extrusion molding machine ; 5 , cooling water ; 6 , a take - off unit ; and 7 , a shearing unit . the roving feeding device 1 feeds four rovings of glass fibers having a diameter of 14μ and treated with an aminosilane under the trade name a1100 of dow chemical . the rovings were continuously dipped in the adhesive treatment vat 2 containing a solution composed of 1 . 0 part by weight of an epoxy resin of the bisphenol a glycidylether type under the trade name epikote 828 of shell chemical , 0 . 34 part by weight of 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diaminodiphenylsulfone , and 100 parts by weight of acetone , and dried in the drying oven 3 . the dipping time was about 0 . 1 second , and the drying time was from 30 seconds to one minute . the tacky adhesive - coated rovings were introduced into wire coating dies in the extrusion molding machine 4 continuously . nylon 66 under the trade name leona 1300s of asahi chemical was supplied through a hopper on the molding machine 4 to coat the rovings . fig2 is a sectional view of the die portion of the molding machine . the extrusion molding machine 4 comprises an ordinary extrusion molding unit 41 , of which only the molten resin outlet is shown , a die 43 secured to the outlet of the molding unit 41 by bolts 42 , and having a nozzle 43a and a strand guide 43b , and a spacer guide 45 mounted across the inner wall defining the nozzle 43a . the die 43 is provided centrally with an open space 46 into which the molten resin is received . the nozzle 43a has the shape of a funnel connected with the open space 46 . the nozzle 43a includes an inclined wall portion formed with a shoulder against which the spacer guide 45 is secured . the spacer guide 45 is centrally provided with a guide hole , and is also formed adjacent to its periphery with four holes defining passages for the resin . the strand guide 43b has four small through holes . the four rovings pass therethrough , and through the guide hole in the spacer guide 45 , and leaves the nozzle 43a . the molten resin is fed from the molding unit 41 into the open space 46 in the die 43 , passes through the central guide hole and the four peripheral holes in the spacer guide 45 for continuous extrusion through the nozzle 43a , and is cooled into a strand . thus , the four rovings are buried in the resin completely separately from each other . the strand extruded from the nozzle 43a is rapidly cooled by cooling water 5 . during the extruding operation , the adhesive is heated for a period of 0 . 1 to 0 . 2 second . the strand is collected by the take - off unit 6 , and the solidified resin strand is cut by the shearing unit 7 into pellets having a length of 3 to 4 mm . the pellets thus obtained contained 30 % of glass fibers . one of the pellets is shown in fig3 . the pellet 8 comprises four rovings 81 of glass fibers , an adhesive layer 82 surrounding each roving , and a mass of nylon 66 resin 83 enclosing the rovings and the adhesive layers therein . the pellets were molded by a blend feeder type injection molding machine at a resin temperature of 280 ° c . into a tensile test specimen conforming to the specifications of astm . the molded product was found to have a tensile strength of 2 , 000 kg / cm 2 . despite the use of the tacky epoxy resin as the adhesive in the pellet , there did not occur any leakage of the adhesive resulting in adherence to the outer surface of the pellet . there did not occur any undesirable gathering of the fibers during the injection molding operation . this means that the adhesive did not cure during the extrusion molding operation . pellets of the composition known in the art were likewise injection molded . they comprised glass fiber reinforced nylon 66 containing 30 % of glass fibers , treated with an aminosilane alone , and not containing any adhesive . the molded product thus obtained was found to have a tensile strength of 1 , 710 kg / cm 2 . glass fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthalate pellets were prepared by a process which was substantially identical to that employed in example 1 . polybutylene terephthalate under the trade name tufpet n1000 of toyo spinning - mitsubishi rayon was fed into the extrusion molding machine through its hopper , while four adhesive - coated rovings of glass fibers were continuously introduced into the wire coating die , whereby a resin strand was extrusion molded . the strand was cooled immediately , and cut into pellets having a length of 3 to 4 mm . the pellets were molded by an injection molding machine at a resin temperature of 250 ° c . into a tensile test specimen conforming to the specifications of astm . the molded product contained 30 % of glass fibers , and had a tensile strength of 1 , 560 kg / cm 2 . pellets of the composition known in the art were likewise injection molded . they comprised glass fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthalate treated with an aminosilane alone , and not containing any adhesive . the molded product was found to have a tensile strength of 1 , 340 kg / cm 2 . rovings of glass fibers having a diameter of 13μ treated with an epoxysilane under the trade name a186 of dow chemical and continuously dipped in an adhesive treatment solution comprising 1 . 0 part by weight of an epoxy resin of the bisphenol a glycidyl ether type under the trade name epikote 828 of shell chemical , 0 . 26 part by weight of 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diaminodiphenylmethane and 100 parts by weight of acetone , dried , and introduced into a strand guide in the extrusion molding machine , whereby glass fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthalate pellets were prepared . the pellets were entirely free from any disadvantage due to tackiness , or the like , as had been the case with the pellets obtained in example 1 . when the pellets were injection molded , the molded product was free from any disadvantage , such as gathering of the fibers . the molded product containing 30 % of glass fibers showed a tensile strength of 1 , 530 kg / cm 2 . for the sake of comparison , pellets of the composition known in the art were likewise injection molded . they comprised glass fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthalate containing 30 % of glass fibers , treated with an epoxysilane alone , and not containing any adhesive . the molded product showed a tensile strength of 1 , 300 kg / cm 2 . rovings of glass fibers having a diameter of 14μ and treated with an aminosilane under the trade name a1100 of dow chemical were continuously dipped in a treating solution comprising 1 part by weight of a novolac resin prepared from phenol formaldehyde in the presence of a concentrated hydrochloric acid catalyst , 0 . 1 part by weight of hexamethylenetetramine , and 100 parts by weight of acetone , and dried , substantially as described in example 1 . polyoxymethylene under the trade name duracon m270 of polyplastics was employed as a thermoplastic resin , whereby glass fiber reinforced polyacetal pellets were prepared . the pellets were injection molded , and evaluated as in example 1 . there was not observed any disadvantage such as tackiness of the pellets , or gathering of the fibers . the molded product showed a tensile strength of 1 , 000 kg / cm 2 . it contained 20 % of glass fibers . for the sake of comparison , pellets of the composition known in the art were likewise injection molded . they comprised glass fiber reinforced polyacetal containing 20 % of glass fibers , treated with an aminosilane alone , and not containing any adhesive . the molded product had a tensile strength of 800 kg / cm 2 . five grams of a dimer acid modified polyglycidyl ester under the trade name epikote 871 of shell chemical and 0 . 6 g of diaminodiphenylmethane ( reagent of wako junyaku ) were dissolved in 1 , 000 ml of acetone to prepare a glass fiber treating solution . rovings of 2 , 000 glass fibers each having an average diameter of 13μ , and treated with an aminosilane under the trade name a1100 of dow chemical were continuously dipped in the treating solution , dried , and introduced into a crosshead die in an extrusion molding machine . polybutylene terephthalate under the trade name tufpet n1000 of toyo spinning - mitsubishi rayon was supplied through the hopper of the molding machine , and extruded at a resin temperature of 250 ° c . to coat the roving continuously . the strand thus obtained was cooled rapidly , and cut into pellets . the pellets were molded by an injection molding machine into a tensile test specimen conforming to the specifications of astm . the molding conditions included a cylinder temperature of 230 ° c . to 250 ° c ., an injection pressure of 700 kg / cm 2 , and a mold temperature of 60 ° c . the reinforced thermoplastic polyester molding thus obtained had a very smooth surface , and did not present any defect , including coloration . it had a tensile strength of 1 , 570 kg / cm 2 . the molded product contained 30 parts by weight of glass fibers and 0 . 3 part by weight of epoxy resin per 100 parts by weight of thermoplastic polyester resin . glass fiber reinforced polybutylene terephthalate containing glass fiber rovings treated with an aminosilane , but not containing any uncured epoxy resin was likewise injection molded . the molded product showed a tensile strength of 1 , 340 kg / cm 2 . a treating solution was prepared by dissolving 10 g of bisphenol a glycidyl ether under the trade name epikote 828 of shell chemical and 3 . 4 g of diaminodiphenylsulfone in 1 , 000 ml of acetone . the procedures of example 5 were repeated for composite formation , molding and evaluation . the reinforced thermoplastic polyester molding thus obtained showed a tensile strength of 1 , 560 kg / cm 2 . it contained 30 parts by weight of glass fibers and 0 . 5 part by weight of epoxy resin per 100 parts by weight of thermoplastic polyester . a treating solution was prepared from 15 g of novolacepoxy resin under the trade name epikote 154 of shell chemical , 2 . 1 g of diaminodiphenylsulfone , and 1 , 000 ml of acetone . the procedures of example 5 were repeated for composite formation and injection molding , whereby a reinforced thermoplastic polyester molding was obtained . it had a tensile strength of 1 , 520 kg / cm 2 . it contained 30 parts by weight of glass fibers and 0 . 6 part by weight of epoxy resin per 100 parts by weight of thermoplastic polyester resin . a treating solution was prepared by dissolving 10 g of a bisphenol a glycidyl ether type epoxy resin under the trade name epikote 834 of shell chemical and 2 . 7 g of diaminodiphenylsulfone ( reagent of wako junyaku ) in 1 , 000 ml of acetone . rovings of 2 , 000 glass fibers each having a diameter of 13μ , and treated with an aminosilane under the trade name a1110 of dow chemical were continuously passed through the treating solution , dried , and introduced into the crosshead die of an extrusion molding machine . nylon 66 under the trade name leona 1300s of asahi chemical was introduced through the hopper of the molding machine , and extruded to cover the rovings at a resin temperature of 270 ° c . the strand thus obtained was cooled rapidly , and cut into pellets . the pellets were molded by an injection molding machine into a tensile test specimen conforming to the specifications of astm . the molding conditions included a cylinder temperature of 250 ° c . to 280 ° c ., an injection pressure of 800 kg / cm 2 , and a mold temperature of 80 ° c . the reinforced polyamide resin molding thus obtained did not reveal any surface defect , such as exposure of glass fibers , but presented a very smooth surface . the molded product thus obtained was immediately placed in a desiccator , kept at 23 ° c ., and subjected to a tensile test . the tensile test was conducted with a chuck distance of 100 mm and a pull speed of 10 mm / min . by employing an autograph . the product showed a tensile strength of 1 , 850 kg / cm 2 . it contained 42 parts by weight of glass fibers and 1 part by weight of epoxy resin per 100 parts by weight of nylon 66 . glass fiber reinforced nylon 66 containing glass fiber rovings treated with an aminosilane , but not containing any uncured epoxy resin was likewise injection molded . the molded product showed a tensile strength of 1 , 600 kg / cm 2 . it contained 43 parts by weight of glass fibers per 100 parts by weight of nylon 66 ( and did not contain any epoxy resin ). a treating solution was prepared by dissolving 10 g of bisphenol a glycidyl ether under the trade name epikote 828 of shell chemical , and 2 . 6 g of diaminophenylmethane ( reagent of wako junyaku ) in 1 , 000 ml of acetone . glass fiber rovings treated with an aminosilane were continuously dipped in the treating solution , and dried substantially as described in example 8 , and were introduced into the crosshead die of an extrusion molding machine . nylon 6 under the trade name amilan 1001n of toray was introduced through the hopper of the molding machine , and extruded at a resin temperature of 270 ° c . to cover the rovings . the strand thus formed was cooled rapidly , and cut into pellets . these pellets were molded by an injection molding machine into a tensile test specimen conforming to the specifications of astm . the molding conditions included a cylinder temperature of 250 ° c . to 280 ° c ., an injection pressure of 800 kg / cm 2 , and a mold temperature of 80 ° c . the reinforced polyamide resin molding thus obtained presented a very smooth surface which was free from any surface defect . the molding was subjected to a tensile test as described in example 8 . it showed a tensile strength of 1 , 710 kg / cm 2 . it contained 42 parts by weight of glass fibers and 0 . 7 part by weight of epoxy resin per 100 parts by weight of nylon 6 . nylon 6 containing as the reinforcing material glass fiber rovings treated with an aminosilane alone was likewise injection molded . the molded product showed a tensile strength of 1 , 550 kg / cm 2 . it contained 42 parts by weight of glass fibers per 100 parts by weight of nylon 6 . a treating solution was prepared by dissolving 10 g of a dimer acid modified polyglycidyl ester under the trade name epikote 871 of shell chemical , 3 . 5 g of methylhimic acid anhydride under the trade name kayahard mcd of nippon kayaku and 0 . 12 g of benzyldimethylamine ( reagent of wako junyaka ) in 1 , 000 ml of acetone . the procedures of example 9 were repeated , except that the treating solution was changed , whereby pellets were prepared . these pellets were formed into a reinforced polyamide resin molding . the molding was free from any surface defect , and showed a tensile strength of 1 , 750 kg / cm 2 . it contained 42 parts by weight of glass fibers and 1 . 2 parts by weight of epoxy resin per 100 parts by weight of nylon 6 . a 300 cc glass reactor was charged with 50 parts by weight of a carboxyl - terminated 1 , 4 - polybutadiene - acrylonitrile copolymer under the trade name ctbn 1 , 300 × 13 of ube industries , 50 parts by weight of a glycidyl ether type epoxy resin under the trade name epikote 828 of shell chemical and 0 . 1 part by weight of triphenylphosphine . the contents of the reactor were heated at 130 ° c . for three hours in oil bath while they were being stirred , and degassed for one hour by a water jet pump , whereby there was obtained an epoxy - terminated 1 , 4 - polybutadiene - acrylonitrile copolymer . added into 10 parts by weight of the reaction product thus obtained were 2 parts by weight of diaminodiphenylsulfone as a chain extender ( crosslinking agent ), and 1 , 000 parts by weight of methyl ethyl ketone as a solvent , whereby a surface treating solution was prepared . five rovings spun with a silane coupling agent , a lubricant , etc . were continuously introduced into a stainless steel container holding the treating solution , and dipped therein for about 0 . 2 second . each roving was composed of 800 glass fibers having an average diameter of 13μ . the rovings were squeezed by ceramic rollers , and introduced into a drying oven , in which the methyl ethyl ketone was removed . the rovings thus treated were tacky , but were , as they were , introduced into the crosshead die continuously , whereby they were coated with a polyamide resin . the rovings were coated with 1 part by weight of rubber per 100 parts by weight of glass fibers . the extrusion molding machine was set at a cylinder termperature of 260 ° c ., and a crosshead die temperature of 265 ° c . nylon 66 under the trade name leona 1300s of asahi chemical was extruded into the crosshead die at a temperature of 260 ° c . in order to prevent any curing reaction , control was made to ensure that the rovings be coated in the crosshead die within 0 . 1 second before being cooled rapidly . the nylon 66 coated rovings were , then , cut into pellets . the pellets were molded by an injection molding machine into an tensile test specimen conforming to the specifications of astm . the molding conditions included a cylinder temperature of 270 ° c ., a mold temperature of 80 ° c . and n injection pressure of 1 , 000 kg / cm 2 . the molded product was immediately placed in a silica gel desiccator , and maintained in an absolutely dry condition . the molded product thus obtained presented a smooth surface having no discoloration , and had the glass fibers uniformly distributed therein . it had a glass fiber content of 30 . 1 % as determined by combustion . the mechanical properties of the molded product were examined at a chuck distance of 100 mm , a pull speed of 10 mm / min . and a temperature of 23 ° c . it showed a tensile strength of 1 , 750 kg / cm 2 , an elongation at break of 6 . 7 % and a tensile elastic modulus of 41 , 000 kg / cm 2 . for the sake of comparison , rovings each composed of 800 glass fibers having an average diameter of 13μ as used in example 11 were not treated in accordance with this invention , but were merely dried . they were introduced into the crosshead die , and coated with nylon 66 . the procedures of example 11 were thereafter repeated for composite formation , molding and evaluation . the test specimen presented a smooth appearance comparable to the product of example 11 , and ahd a glass fiber content of 30 . 4 % by weight . the molded product showed a tensile strength of 1 , 710 kg / cm 2 , an elongation at break of 4 . 5 % and a tensile elastic modulus of 42 , 000 kg / cm 2 . a treating solution was prepared by incorporating 1 part by weight of a glycidyl ether type epoxy resin under the trade name epikote 834 of shell chemical as a chain extender , 0 . 01 part by weight of benzyldimethylamine as a catalyst and 1 , 000 parts by weight of methyl ethyl ketone as a solvent into 10 parts by weight of an epoxy - and carboxyl - terminated liquid chloroprene rubber under the trade name denka lcr - ce of denki kagaku as a rubber oligomer . glass rovings were treated with this treating solution , as described in example 11 . the rovings were coated with 1 part by weight of rubber per 100 parts by weight of glass fibers . the glass rovings were continuously introduced into the crosshead die , coated with nylon 6 under the trade name amilan 1001n of toray , cooled rapidly , and cut into pellets continuously , as described in example 11 . the extrusion molding machine , in which the rovings were coated with nylon 6 , had been set at a cylinder temperature of 240 ° c . and a crosshead die temperature of 245 ° c . the pellets were molded as described in example 11 . the molding conditions included a cylinder temperature of 240 ° c ., a mold temperature of 80 ° c ., and an injection pressure of 1 , 000 kg / cm 2 . the molded product presented a smooth surface having no discoloration , and had the glass fibers uniformly distributed therein . it had a glass fiber content of 30 % by weight as determined by combustion . the mechanical properties of the molded product included a tensile strength of 1 , 620 kg / cm 2 , an elongation at break of 7 . 0 % and a tensile elastic modulus of 37 , 000 kg / cm 2 . for the sake of comparison , glass rovings not treated with any rubber solution were introduced into the crosshead die , coated with nylon 6 , and cut into pellets . the pellets were molded as hereinabove described . the molded product presented a smooth appearance , and had the glass fibers uniformly distributed therein . it had a glass fiber content of 30 . 2 % by weight . it showed a tensile strength of 1 , 650 kg / cm 2 , an elongation at break of 5 . 2 %, and a tensile elastic modulus of 39 , 000 kg / cm 2 . having now fully described the invention , it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that many changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth herein .	1
the first embodiment of the invention is illustrated by fig1 a to fig1 i , which represent cross - sectional views of processes for manufacturing thin film transistor panels . it should be noted that the invention is illustrated by one thin film transistor structure and one transparent electrode on silicon substrate . anyone who is familiar with this technique should understand that it is possible for a plurality of thin film transistor structures and a plurality of transparent electrodes to be formed on the silicon substrate by the same manufacturing method . as illustrated in fig1 a , a transparent insulator 12 is formed on the front surface of the silicon substrate 10 . the transparent insulator 12 can be a thick film used as buffer layer . the desired thickness of the transparent insulator 12 is less than one micrometer . the material of the transparent insulator 12 can be sio x sin x or other materials with suitable transparent insulating properties . subsequently , a patterned transistor thin film 14 is formed on the transparent insulator 12 . the transistor thin film 14 is used as a conducting channel for the thin film transistor . the material of the transistor thin film 14 can be polycrystal silicon ( p - si ) polycrstal germanium ( p - ge ) polycrystal silicon germanium ( p - sige ) crystal silicon ( c - si ) crystal germanium ( c - ge ) crystal silicon germanium ( c - sige ) or other suitable semiconductor materials . the method of the invention is to form a thin film transistor on a silicon substrate , so a high temperature process can be used to obtain a transistor thin film 14 with high uniformity and high electron mobility . a doping process is performed on the transistor thin film 14 to form a suitable source region and drain region . the doping process is well known by those who are familiar with this technique , so it is not described in detail here . as illustrated in fig1 b , form a gate insulator 16 on the transistor thin film 14 . form a transparent electrode 18 and a gate electrode 20 on the gate insulator 16 by a sputtering process . the transparent electrode 18 can be an indium tin oxide ( ito ) transparent electrode . the gate electrode 20 can be metal or poly - gate . the transparent electrode 18 can be formed before the gate electrode 20 , or the gate electrode 20 can be formed before the transparent electrode 18 . referring to fig1 c , an interlayer 22 is formed on the transparent electrode 18 the gate electrode 20 and the gate insulator 16 . as showed in fig1 d , photolithographic and etching processes can be performed to create a contact via exposing the transparent electrode 18 and the transistor thin film 14 . form a suitable metal contact layer 24 on the interlayer 22 for conduction between the transparent electrode 18 and the transistor thin film 14 , and between the transistor thin film 14 and other external devices . at this point , the thin film transistor structure and its corresponding transparent electrode are formed on the silicon substrate 10 . referring to fig1 e , form a passivation layer 26 on the metal contact layer 24 . this passivation layer 26 can be silicon oxide or silicon nitride . a color filter used in color display panels can be applied to the invention . as shown in fig1 f , a color filter layer 28 is formed on a portion of the passivation layer 26 corresponding to the transparent electrode 18 . the manufacturing process of the invention can also be performed without the color filter layer 28 . referring to fig1 g , bond a transparent substrate 30 onto the front surface ( the side with the transistor ) of the silicon substrate . the transparent substrate 30 can be glass substrate , polymer substrate or other suitable transparent material . referring to fig1 h , remove the non - transparent silicon substrate 10 from the back surface of the silicon substrate 10 to expose the bottom surface of transparent insulator 12 . referring to fig1 i , etch away the transparent insulator 12 and the gate insulator 16 to expose the contact via of the transparent electrode 18 . after these process mentioned above , the first embodiment of the invention is completed . light can penetrate through the thin film transistor panel because the non - transparent silicon substrate has been removed . according to the embodiment of the invention for manufacturing thin film transistor panels , as illustrated in fig1 b , an alignment mark can be formed on the silicon substrate ( over the gate insulator 16 ) when the gate electrode 20 is being formed . the top view is shown in fig2 . hence , an alignment mark 32 can be exposed from the transparent insulator 12 side of the thin film transistor panel . photolithographic processes can then be easily performed on the transparent insulator 12 side of the thin film transistor panel . according to the invention , these processes can also be performed without the color filter 28 . as shown in fig3 form a black matrix 34 on the passivation layer 26 before bonding the transparent substrate 30 . the black matrix can be used to define the range of pixels on the thin film transistor where light is able to penetrate , and mask the portion of the thin film transistor panel where light - leakage could possibly occur . the black matrix 34 can be a photo mask in the etching process for exposing the transparent electrode . in this case , a back exposure process is used ( light 38 exposure from the transparent substrate side 102 of the thin film transistor panel ). the positive photo - resist 40 on the bottom surface of the transparent insulator 12 will be exposed without an additional photo mask . a subsequent photolithographic process can be performed to generate a suitable contact via on the portion of the transparent insulator 12 corresponding to the transparent electrode 18 . the contact via allows the transparent insulator side 101 of the thin film transistor panel to be exposed . hence , traditionally complicated processes are simplified and productivity is increased . additionally , according to the method of the invention for manufacturing thin film transistor panels , the transparent electrode layer and the color filter can also be formed on the transparent electrode side of the thin film transistor panel . the black matrix can be applied to the manufacturing process . refer to fig4 a ˜ fig4 j , which show cross - sectional views of another embodiment of the invention . as illustrated in fig4 a , a transparent insulator 12 is formed on the silicon substrate 10 . the transparent insulator 12 can be a thick film used as a buffer layer . the material of the transparent insulator 12 can be sio x sin x or other materials with suitable transparent insulating properties . subsequently , a patterned transistor thin film 14 is formed on the transparent insulator 12 . the transistor thin film 14 is used as a conducting channel for the thin film transistor . the material of the transistor thin film 14 can be polycrystal silicon ( p - si ) polycrstal germanium ( p - ge ) polycrystal silicon germanium ( p - sige ) crystal silicon ( c - si ) crystal germanium ( c - ge ) crystal silicon germanium ( c - sige ) or other suitable semiconductor materials . as illustrated in fig4 b , form a gate insulator 16 on the transistor thin film 14 . form a gate electrode 20 on the gate insulator 16 by a sputtering process . the gate electrode 20 can be metal or poly - gate . referring to fig4 c , an interlayer 22 is formed on the transparent electrode 18 the gate electrode 20 and the gate insulator 16 . as showed in fig4 d , photolithographic and etching processes can be performed to obtain a contact via corresponding to the transistor thin film 14 . form a suitable metal contact layer 24 on the interlayer 22 for conduction from the source region and drain region to external devices . at this point , the thin film transistor structure is formed on the silicon substrate 10 . referring to fig4 e , form a passivation layer 26 on the metal contact layer 24 . this passivation layer 26 can be silicon oxide or silicon nitride . form a patterned black matrix 34 on the passivation layer 26 . as shown in fig4 f , bond a transparent substrate 30 onto the front surface ( the side with the transistor ) of the silicon substrate 10 . the transparent substrate 30 can be glass substrate , polymer substrate or other suitable transparent material . as shown in fig4 g , the back of the silicon substrate ( the side without the transistor ) is then polished by chemical mechanical polishing , or etched to remove the non - transparent silicon substrate . as shown in fig4 h , form a suitable color filter 28 on the bottom surface of the transparent insulator 12 at the transparent insulator side 101 of the thin film transistor panel . form a contact via 36 of the metal contact layer 24 on the transparent insulator side 101 . referring to fig4 j , a transparent electrode 18 is formed on the color filter 28 . the transparent electrode 18 connects with the metal contact layer 24 by the contact via 36 , and thus electrically conducts with the transistor thin film 14 . the transparent electrode 18 can be an indium tin oxide ( ito ) transparent electrode . the manufacturing process can also be performed without the color filter 28 and by forming the transparent electrode 18 on the bottom surface of the transparent insulator 12 . another embodiment of the invention is to bond a transparent substrate ( e . g . glass substrate ) onto the back of the silicon substrate . etch away a certain thickness of the silicon substrate to form a crystal silicon thin film which thickness is reduced to about one micrometer . then manufacture those thin film transistors and transparent electrodes on the silicon thin film . this process is illustrated by fig5 a ˜ fig5 g . referring to fig5 a , bond a transparent substrate 30 onto the back surface of the silicon substrate 10 . the transparent substrate 30 can be glass substrate , polymer substrate or other suitable transparent material . also , a thick film can be formed on the back of the silicon substrate 10 to act as a buffer layer before bonding the transparent substrate . it is also possible to not include this buffer layer . after that , as illustrated in fig5 b , chemical mechanical polishing or etching processes can be used to reduce the non - transparent silicon substrate 10 to generate a crystal silicon thin film 42 . the thickness of the crystal thin film can be controlled while the thickness reduction process is being performed . if the thickness of the crystal silicon thin film 42 is limited to around one micrometer it is helpful for subsequent processes , though the thickness of the crystal silicon thin film 42 need not be limited as such . as shown in fig5 c , form a thin film transistor structure layer on the crystal silicon thin film 40 . firstly , for a suitable source region 43 and drain region 44 ( n + or p + heavily doped region ), form a gate insulator 16 on the crystal silicon thin film 42 . form a suitable gate electrode 20 on the gate insulator 16 . referring to fig5 c , an interlayer 22 is formed on the gate electrode and the gate insulator 16 . photolithographic and etching processes can be performed to obtain a contact via exposing the source region 43 and the drain region 44 . form a suitable metal contact layer 24 on the interlayer 22 for conduction from the source region 43 and drain region 44 to external devices . at this point , the thin film transistor structure is formed on the crystal silicon thin film 42 . referring to fig5 e , etch the interlayer 22 gate insulator 16 and the crystal silicon thin film 42 to obtain a suitable contact via 46 . referring to fig5 f , form a planarization layer 48 to cover the thin film transistor structure and the contact via 46 . the planarization layer 48 is used to smooth the surface of the thin film transistor panel and increase reliability of the produced thin film transistor panel . moreover , the planarization layer 48 is able to filter color if a color filtering material is used as the planarization layer 48 . referring to fig5 g , etch the planarization layer 48 to obtain a contact via for exposing the metal contact layer 24 . form a transparent electrode 18 corresponding to the pixel via 46 on the planarization layer 48 . the transparent electrode 18 connects with the metal contact layer 24 by the contact via of the metal contact layer . at this point , this embodiment of the invention for manufacturing thin film transistor panels is completed . the invention being thus described , it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims .	7
detailed description will be given in the examples below with reference to accompanying drawings . as shown in fig2 , a variable optical attenuator of a first embodiment of the invention comprises a collimator 11 , a variable optical attenuator chip 12 , an optical filter 13 , and a photoelectric detector 14 . the collimator 11 comprises a lens 111 and an optical fiber holder 112 . the variable optical attenuator chip 12 is disposed between the lens 111 and the optical fiber holder 112 . the optical fiber holder 112 comprises a first optical fiber 1121 and a second optical fiber 1122 . the optical filter 13 is disposed at the front end of the lens 111 , and operates to split light . part of light is transmitted by the optical filter 13 and then received by the photoelectric detector 14 . in this embodiment , the photoelectric detector 14 is a photodiode . in the first embodiment of the invention , light exiting the first optical fiber 1121 of the optical fiber holder 112 is attenuated by the variable optical attenuator chip 12 , and then reaches the optical filter 13 via the lens 111 . most of the light is reflected by the optical filter 13 and focused onto the second optical fiber 1122 of the optical fiber holder 112 , and the rest of the light is transmitted to the photoelectric detector 14 by the optical filter 13 . thus , as the variable optical attenuator chip 12 operates , the photoelectric detector 14 is capable of detecting attenuation change of the variable optical attenuator , and real - time monitoring and feedback are implemented . as shown in fig3 , the variable optical attenuator of a second embodiment of the invention comprises a collimator 21 , a variable optical attenuator chip 22 , an optical filter 23 , and a photoelectric detector 24 . the collimator 21 comprises a lens 211 , a first optical fiber holder 212 and a second optical fiber holder 213 . the variable optical attenuator chip 22 is disposed between the lens 211 and either the first optical fiber holder 212 or the second optical fiber holder 213 . the optical filter 23 is disposed at the front end of the lens 211 , and operates to split light . part of light is transmitted by the optical filter 23 and then received by the photoelectric detector 24 . in this embodiment , the photoelectric detector 24 is a photodiode . in the second embodiment of the invention , light exiting the first optical fiber 2121 of the first optical fiber holder 212 is attenuated by the variable optical attenuator chip 22 , and then transmitted to the optical filter 23 via the lens 211 . most of the light is reflected by the optical filter 23 , and then focused onto the second optical fiber 2131 of the second optical fiber holder 213 , and the rest of the light is transmitted to the photoelectric detector 24 via the optical filter 23 . thus , as the variable optical attenuator chip 22 operates , the photoelectric detector 24 is capable of detecting attenuation change of the variable optical attenuator , and real - time monitoring and feedback are implemented . as shown in fig4 , the variable optical attenuator of a third embodiment of the invention comprises a collimator 11 , a variable optical attenuator chip 12 , an optical filter 13 , and a photoelectric detector 14 . the collimator 11 comprises a lens 111 and an optical fiber holder 112 . the variable optical attenuator chip 12 is disposed between the lens 111 and the optical filter 13 . the optical filter 13 is disposed at the front end of the lens 111 , and operates to split light . part of light is transmitted by the optical filter 13 and received by the photoelectric detector 14 . in this embodiment , the photoelectric detector 14 is a photodiode . in the third embodiment of the invention , light exiting the first optical fiber 1121 of the optical fiber holder 112 is transmitted via the lens 111 , attenuated by the variable optical attenuator chip 12 , passed onto the optical filter 13 . most of the light is reflected by the optical filter 13 , and then focused onto the second optical fiber 1121 of the optical fiber holder 112 , and the rest of the light is transmitted to the photoelectric detector 14 by the optical filter 13 . thus , as the variable optical attenuator chip 12 operates , the photoelectric detector 14 is capable of detecting attenuation change of the variable optical attenuator , and real - time monitoring and feedback are implemented . as shown in fig5 , a variable optical attenuator of a fourth embodiment of the invention comprises a collimator , an optical filter 13 , and a photoelectric detector 14 . the collimator comprises a lens 111 and an optical fiber holder 112 . the optical filter 13 is disposed at a front end of the lens 111 , and operates to split light . part of light is transmitted by the optical filter 13 and then received by the photoelectric detector 14 . in this embodiment , the photoelectric detector 14 is a photodiode , and the optical filter 13 is a rotable optical filter . in the fourth embodiment of the invention , light exiting the lens 111 via the first optical fiber 1121 of the optical fiber holder 112 is attenuated by the optical filter 13 . most of the light is reflected by the optical filter 13 , and then focused onto the second optical fiber 1122 of the optical fiber holder 112 , and the rest of the light is transmitted to the photoelectric detector 14 via the optical filter 13 . thus , the photoelectric detector 14 is capable of detecting attenuation change of the variable optical attenuator , and real - time monitoring and feedback are implemented . as shown in fig6 , a variable optical attenuator of a fifth embodiment of the invention comprises a collimator 11 , a variable optical attenuator chip 12 and a photoelectric detector 14 . the collimator 11 comprises a lens 111 and an optical fiber holder 112 . the variable optical attenuator chip 12 is disposed at a front end of the lens of the lens 111 , and operates to split light . part of light is transmitted by the variable optical attenuator chip 12 and then received by the photoelectric detector 14 . in this embodiment , the photoelectric detector 14 is a photodiode . in the fifth embodiment of the invention , light exiting the lens 111 via the first optical fiber 1121 of the optical fiber holder 112 is attenuated by the variable optical attenuator chip 12 . most of the light is reflected by the variable optical attenuator chip 12 , and then focused onto the second optical fiber 1122 of the optical fiber holder 112 , and the rest of the light is transmitted to the photoelectric detector 14 via the variable optical attenuator chip 12 . thus , as the variable optical attenuator chip 22 operates , the photoelectric detector 14 is capable of detecting attenuation change of the variable optical attenuator , and real - time monitoring and feedback are implemented . the variable optical attenuator of the invention detects its own attenuation change via the variable optical attenuator chip . thus , real - time monitoring and feedback are implemented , and the attenuation performance of the variable optical attenuator is improved . while particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects , and therefore , the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention .	6
the essential components of the polymeric polyols in accordance with this invention are para - methylstyrene and a polyol . suitable para - methylstyrenes contain at least about 90 weight percent of the para - isomer . preferably , the para content is 95 percent or more , and most preferably 97 percent or more with less than about 0 . 1 percent of the meta - isomer . para - methylstyrenes useful in this invention can be prepared by the conventional dehydrogenation of ethyl toluenes described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 086 , 287 to kaeding et al which is incorporated herein by reference . the polyols suitable for production of the reactive compositions can be hydroxyl - terminated polyesters , polyhydroxyalkanes , polyphenols , polyoxyalkylene polyols , or the like , having a molecular weight of about 500 and the corresponding mercapto derivatives . such polyols are described in detail in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 383 , 351 which is incorporated herein by reference . among the polyols which can be employed are one or more polyols from the following classes of compositions ; minor amounts of polyhydroxyalkanes can be present : ( d ) alcohols derived from mono - and polyamines by addition of alkylene oxides ; illustrative alkylene oxide adducts of polyhydroxyalkanes include , among others , those adducts of ethylene glycol , propylene glycol , 1 , 3 - dihydroxypropane , 1 , 3 - dihydroxybutane , 1 , 4 - dihydroxybutane , 1 , 4 -, 1 , 5 -, and 1 , 6 - dihydroxyhexane , 1 , 2 -, 1 , 3 -, 1 , 4 -, 1 , 6 -, and 1 , 8 - dihydroxyoctane , 1 , 10 - dihydroxydecane , glycerol , 1 , 2 , 4 - trihydroxybutane , 1 , 2 , 6 - trihydroxyhexane , 1 , 1 , 1 - trimethylolethane , 1 , 1 , 1 - trimethylolpropane , pentaerythritol , xylitol , arabitol , sorbitol , mannitol , and the like having a molecular weight of at least 500 ; preferably the adducts of ethylene oxide , propylene oxide , epoxybutane , or mixtures thereof . two particularly suitable classes of alkylene oxide adducts of polyhydroxyalkanes are the ethylene oxide , propylene oxide , butylene oxide , or mixtures thereof , adducts of dihydroxyalkanes and of trihydroxyalkanes . the reactive compositions are products by polymerizing the para - methylstyrene in the selected polyol at a temperature of from about 40 ° c . to 150 ° c . in the presence of a catalytically effective amount of a conventional free radical catalyst known to be suitable for the polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated monomers . the concentration of the catalyst can vary from about 0 . 001 to about 5 percent , preferably from about 0 . 2 to about 0 . 5 percent . however , any effective catalytic amount is satisfactory . illustrative catalysts are the well - known free radical type of vinyl polymerization catalysts , for example , the peroxides , persulfates , perborates , percarbonates , azo compounds , etc ., including hydrogen peroxide , dibenzoyl peroxide , acetyl peroxide , benzoyl hydroperoxide , t - butyl hydroperoxide , di - t - butyl peroxide , and lauroyl peroxide . the polymerization can also be carried out with an inert organic solvent present . illustrative thereof are toluene , benzene , acetonitrile , ethyl acetate , hexane , heptane , dicyclohexane , dioxane , acetone , n , n - dimethylformamide , n , n - dimethylacetamide , and the like , including those known in the art as being suitable solvents for the polymerization of vinyl monomers . the only requirement in the selection of the inert solvent and the reactive solvent is that they do not interfere with the polymerization reaction . when an inert organic solvent is used , it is preferably removed by conventional means . additional monomers other than methylstyrenes can be present during the polymerization reaction . it is preferred that such monomers comprise a minor proportion of the monomer mixture relative to the methylstyrene . suitable monomers are described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 383 , 351 . the polymer polyols can be converted into polyurethane and or polyisocyanurate resins and resin foams in the known manner by reaction with polyisocyanates . to a 3 - necked , one liter flask equipped with nitrogen sparge , addition funnel , agitation shaft with half - moon blade , and reflux condenser , 321 g of a poly ( oxypropylene ) polyol is added . the polyol is heated to 115 ° c . with a glas - col mantle while under oxygen - free nitrogen sparge . to this polyol a mixture containing 159 g of polyol , 120 g of para - methylstyrene , and 3 . 0 g of azobisisobutyronitrile is added at a uniform rate over a 2 - hour interval . the temperature is maintained at 115 ° c . for 30 minutes after monomer addition is completed . unpolymerized monomer is removed from the dispersion via a rotary evaporator at a pressure of less than 10 mm at approximately 100 ° c . the polymer polyol is stripped for 4 hours . this example illustrates the preparation of a polyurethane foam using a polymer polyol in accordance with this invention . the polymer polyol of example 1 , surfactant , and tdi in the proportions listed below , are weighed into an eight liter , baffled , stainless steel beaker and mixed 60 sec at 2000 rpm with two 2 . 5 in . 6 - blade turbine stirrers , ( blades placed 2 . 5 in . apart from base of shaft ). the mixing is interrupted 15 sec to degas , mixed 5 sec , and a water amine catalyst solution added . the system is then mixed 5 sec , and stannous octoate catalyst is added . after an additional 5 sec mixing at 2000 rpm , the foam mixture is poured into a 24 × 24 × 20 in . paper - lined box . the foam is allowed to cure at ambient temperature overnight . ______________________________________component parts by wt . ______________________________________polymer polyol 100water 3 . 5surfactant ( l - 520 ) 1 . 0bis -( dimethylaminoethyl ) ether 0 . 10stannous octoate 0 . 35tolylene diisocyanate ( tdi ) 35 ( 80 / 20 mixture of 2 , 4 and2 , 6 isomers ) ______________________________________ although the present invention has been described with preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to , without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention , as those skilled in the art will readily understand . such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the appended claims .	2
fig1 was described with reference to the prior art . fig2 a illustrates a transmitter and receiver communication system 90 via buffers 100 and 110 in accordance with the present invention . in the context of the present invention , it should be understood that the terms “ transmitter ”, “ host ” and “ source ” can be used interchangeably and refers to devices capable of sending out signals that can control some other device as well as receive signals from that device . also , it should be understood that “ slave ”, “ receiver ” and “ sink ” can also be used interchangeably and refers to a device that is controlled by a transmitter via signals and can send out signals to the transmitter . fig2 a depicts a default mode in that , at system startup , switches 120 and 130 are connected to i 2 c buses 100 and 110 , located on transmitter 140 and receiver 150 respectively . other default modes are also available . logic 160 sends a signal over ddc wires 170 and reads register 180 . contained within register 180 , there is a control bit 190 and a status bit 200 that contain information on what the receiver 150 is capable of . depending on that information , logic 160 will direct control 210 to keep switches 120 and 130 in their default positions or switch to translators 220 and 230 . this is one example of how the proper mode to use is determined . this example and others will be fully explained subsequently . if switches 120 and 130 are left in their default modes , improvements are still evident over prior art systems due to the presence of the buffers 100 and 110 and firewall setting 240 . by buffering , the length of the ddc wires can be extended . on the transmitter 140 , switch 120 can be placed at firewall setting 240 by logic 160 . when firewall setting 240 is selected , access to the transmitter 140 via ddc wires 170 is cut off . advantageously , this provides greater security on the transmitter 140 since access via the ddc wires 170 can be controlled and is no longer in a perpetually connected state . additionally , in the context of the present invention , it should be understood that the terms “ protocol ” and “ mode ” can be used interchangeably and refer to a specified format of data communication or data transfer . fig2 b illustrates a transmitter and receiver communication system 90 via translators 220 and 230 in accordance with the present invention . switches 120 and 130 , located on transmitter 140 and receiver 150 respectively , are connected to translators 220 and 230 . in this particular example , logic 160 directed control 210 to connect switches 120 and 130 to translators 220 and 230 due to information contained in register 180 . specifically , control bit 190 and status bit 200 indicated that the receiver is capable of using the new protocol . this is one example of how the proper mode to use is determined , and this and other examples will be more fully explained subsequently . when the new protocol can be employed , more efficient signaling can be used to improve transmission speed , extend wire length and improve security by encryption . some example signaling techniques include well - known tcp / ip , differential signaling , ethernet and current loop . any of these signaling techniques can additionally be encrypted . translator 220 converts the i 2 c signal into the new protocol and transmits it over ddc wires 170 . translator 230 then converts the new protocol back into an i 2 c signal for use on the receiver 150 . since the pre - existing ddc wires 170 are used to transmit the old as well as new protocols , compatibility with legacy hardware is achieved . additionally , a firewall setting 240 is available on transmitter 140 and operates in the same manner as firewall setting 240 of fig2 a . it should be understood that the receiver 150 could also send information to the transmitter 140 . it will also be appreciated that , in some circumstances , the receiver 150 can initiate communications with the transmitter . in an additional embodiment , both default and new modes ( as shown in fig2 a and 2b ) can be used simultaneously in a manner that is similar in concept to dsl ( digital subscriber line ). in dsl , a high speed internet connection is transmitted on the same wire or sets of wires as an old - style telephone signal by separating the two signals in the frequency spectrum . the same technique can be used for the present invention . the switch 120 , in this case , would act as a mixer and blend the two signals for transmission on the ddc wires 170 . switch 130 would then act as a separator and on the receiving side . besides a frequency spectrum separation of the signals , a voltage separating technique could also be used . fig3 a illustrates a flow diagram for a “ negotiate and set ” process 390 in accordance with the present invention . the negotiate and set process 390 is one example of how logic 160 and logic 320 function . in an operation 400 , the legacy mode or old style of communication over a set of ddc wires is used . at operation 410 , the capabilities of the receiver ( for example receivers 150 or 310 ) are determined . this is accomplished by reading bit registers 180 and 340 or by reading an edid prom 70 . it can also be accomplished if the operation fails which is an indication that the receiver does not have the new mode capabilities defined . if it is determined that the receivers 150 or 310 can only understand the legacy mode protocol , then the legacy mode will be used at operation 420 . if it is determined that some devices located on the transmitter can use the new mode , the rest of the devices are polled at operation 430 determine if they all can do so . if not , control is passed to operation 420 and the legacy mode is used . conversely , if all the devices can support the new mode , then the mode of operation at the receiver will be switched at operation 440 and the new mode will then be used via operation 450 . fig3 b illustrates a flow diagram for a “ set and test ” process 460 in accordance with the present invention . the set and test process 460 is another example of how logic 160 and logic 320 function . at an operation 470 , the new mode of communication is set . at operation 480 , the receiver / interface is tested to see if the new mode is understandable . if the test fails , the old mode of communication is used via operation 490 . if the test succeeds , the new mode will be used for communications via operation 500 . fig3 c illustrates a flow diagram for a “ snoop and test ” process 510 in accordance with the present invention . the snoop and test process 510 is yet another example of how logics 160 and 320 can function . at operation 520 , the default protocol is used . at an operation 530 , the bus is monitored for a response in any format other than the default protocols . once a transmission is received , it is determined if it differs from the default protocols , at operation 540 . if a different protocol is not detected at operation 540 , then the transmission will continue to be monitored via operation 530 . if a different protocol is detected , then it is decided if the different protocol is recognizable at operation 550 . if it isn &# 39 ; t , then the transmission will continue to be monitored via operation 530 . if it is recognized , then the new protocol will be used via operation 560 . fig4 illustrates a translator 220 in accordance with the present invention . translator 220 is also a mirror image of translator 230 . sda ( serial data line ) and scl ( serial clock line ) are the two components of the i 2 c bus that are connected to the i 2 c port 580 where sda and scl are converted into internal blocks of data . the data is then translated at the translation logic block 590 and connected to the ddc wires 600 via the phy ( physical interface ) 610 . some examples of translation logic are ethernet , tcp / ip , current loop , differential signaling and cryptographic encryption / decryption logic . fig5 illustrates an implementation of a buffer for one line of an i 2 c bus 100 in accordance with the present invention . two of these circuits are needed to fully buffer an i 2 c bus — one for scl and one for sda . buffer 100 is a mirror image of buffer 110 . the buffer functions in a way such that data can flow in either direction simultaneously . in order to control the flow of data , a switch is usually necessary but can be difficult to implement . another way of doing this is to sense the direction a current is flowing and then help it flow in the correct direction . fig5 achieves this function . when a signal at 630 is flowing left to right , node 630 is pulled towards a zero voltage . a positive voltage will then result across the resistor 640 which will in turn be sensed by operational amplifiers 650 and 660 . operational amplifier 650 leaves its output transistors 670 in an off - state and operational amplifier 660 turns on its output transistors which in turn brings a signal at 690 down to about a zero voltage as well . if a signal was flowing right to left , an opposite process will occur . fig6 illustrates a legacy mode of operation in relation to the receiver in accordance with the present invention . the receiver 700 does not have a buffer 100 or a translator 220 as shown on the transmitter 140 . in this situation , the switch 120 is kept connected to the buffer 100 by the logic 160 , as the receiver can not support the new style protocols . selection of a firewall 240 on the transmitter 140 is still possible , however . fig7 illustrates a legacy mode of operation in relation to the transmitter in accordance with the present invention . the transmitter 760 does not have a buffer 110 or a translator 230 as shown on the receiver 150 . in this situation , the switch 130 is kept connected to the buffer 110 as defined in the default mode . the present invention provides a method and apparatus for a two - wire serial command bus interface . the re - mapping allows for high - speed data transmission , data security and is not constrained by length issues . additionally , a transmitter - side firewall prevents unauthorized access . an advantage of the present invention is that it is fully compatible with legacy hardware . it intelligently detects whether a device can support new or old protocols and adjusts accordingly . additionally , even in the absence of new protocol compatibility , it improves upon legacy systems by increasing available cable length and also by providing a transmitter - side firewall . while this invention has been described in terms certain preferred embodiments , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that certain modifications , permutations and equivalents thereof are within the inventive scope of the present invention . it is therefore intended that the following appended claims include all such modifications , permutations and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention .	7
as shown in fig1 through 1 d , a putter is generally designated 50 . the putter 50 includes a club head 52 having a body 54 with a front face 56 with a recess 58 therein . the club head 52 also includes an insert 60 disposed within the recess 56 . the insert 60 extends along most of the face 56 from a heel 62 of the club head 52 to a toe 64 of the club head 52 , and from a sole 66 of the club head 52 to a crown 68 of the club head 52 . a face plate 75 is co - molded with insert as discussed below . the club head 52 also has a hosel 70 for connection to a shaft 72 . opposite of the front face 56 of the club head 52 is a rear 74 of the club head 52 . the body 54 of the club head 52 is preferably composed of a metallic material such as stainless steel . other metallic materials include titanium , aluminum , tungsten , zinc , magnesium , and alloys of stainless steel and tungsten . however , those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize that the body 54 may be composed of other materials without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention . further , the non - insert portion of the face 56 may be smooth or textured to provide a consistent or non - consistent surface with the exterior surface of the insert . additionally , the body 54 may be specifically weighted to provide a specific center of gravity and inertial properties for the putter 50 . fig2 - 4c illustrate various embodiments of putters 50 . each of the putters 50 of fig2 - 4c has a club head 52 with a body 54 , an insert 60 disposed within a recess 58 of the body 54 , and a face plate 75 . the putters 50 illustrated in fig1 - 4c are flanged blade , mallet and semi - mallet putters , however , those skilled in the art will recognize that other similar putter designs may be utilized without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention . in a preferred embodiment , each of the club heads 52 weigh approximately 328 grams ± 7 grams . further , in a preferred embodiment , the recess 58 of each of the club heads 52 has a depth of approximately 0 . 205 inches ± 0 . 010 inches . referring specifically to fig1 , the recess 58 of the body 54 is defined by a recess face wall 80 which is substantially parallel with the insert 60 , and a recess edge wall 82 which is substantially perpendicular to the recess face wall 80 . the recess face wall 80 defines the depth of the recess 58 that will determine the thickness of the polymer insert 60 . the recess edge wall 82 , as shown in fig1 , is composed of a bottom recess edge wall 82 a , a heel recess edge wall 82 b , a top recess edge wall 82 c and a toe recess edge wall 82 d . the recess edge wall 82 defines the shape of the recess 58 , and the length of the recess edge wall 82 is determined by the depth of the recess 58 . in a preferred embodiment , the insert 60 will engage the recess edge wall 82 as described below . the putter 50 of fig1 - 1d is a flanged blade style putter . the rear 74 of the club head 52 has a rear wall 75 and a flanged portion 77 . the insert 60 of this embodiment occupies approximately 67 . 90 % of the face area of the club head 52 . the insert 60 also occupies approximately 20 . 71 % of the volume of the club head 52 . yet further , the insert 60 of this embodiment is approximately 3 . 95 % of the weight of the club head 52 . the putter 50 of fig2 - 2c is also a blade style putter , however , it has an offset hosel 70 , and an insert 60 with a panhandle portion 60 a . the insert 60 is one - piece , including the panhandle portion 60 a . it is apparent from fig2 that this putter 50 has a larger area of the non - insert portion of the face 56 than the embodiment shown in fig1 a . the insert 60 of this embodiment occupies approximately 69 . 22 % of the face area of the club head 52 . the insert 60 also occupies approximately 20 . 33 % of the volume of the club head 52 . yet further , the insert 60 of this embodiment is approximately 3 . 86 % of the weight of the club head 52 . fig2 d illustrates a enlarged view of a cross - section of the putter 50 . the putter 50 of fig3 - 3c is a half - mallet style putter with an offset hosel 70 . the insert 60 has a trapezoidal shape with parallel sides and a curved bottom portion . it is apparent from fig3 that the toe end and heel end of the face 56 of this putter 50 has a large area of the non - insert portion . the insert 60 of this embodiment occupies approximately 68 . 27 % of the face area of the club head 52 . the insert 60 also occupies approximately 17 . 15 % of the volume of the club head 52 . yet further , the insert 60 of this embodiment is approximately 3 . 08 % of the weight of the club head 52 . the putter of fig4 - 4c is a mallet style putter , however , it does not have an offset hosel 70 . the insert 60 of this embodiment occupies the largest amount of the face area of the club head 52 , approximately 70 . 38 %. however , the insert 60 occupies the smallest volume of the club head 52 , approximately 16 . 24 %. yet further , the insert 60 of this embodiment is the lightest , weighing approximately 2 . 46 % of the club head 52 . fig5 - 9 illustrate an extended mallet type putter - type golf club head 20 with an alignment system such as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 471 , 600 , issued on oct . 22 , 2002 , which relevant parts are hereby incorporated by reference . in a preferred embodiment , the insert 60 is composed of a thermoplastic polyurethane material , preferably an injection moldable thermoplastic polyurethane . a preferred thermoplastic polyurethane is available from bayer under the tradename desmopan ku2 - 88956 . the shore d hardness of the thermoplastic polyurethane material for the insert 60 preferably ranges from 40 to 70 shore d , more preferably from 50 to 65 shore d , and is most preferably approximately 60 shore d . the thickness of the insert 60 may vary depending on its application . a preferred thickness for a putter 50 is in the range of 0 . 125 to 0 . 500 inch . a preferred range of thickness is 0 . 188 inch to 0 . 200 inch . a preferred thickness is 0 . 198 inch . the thickness of the insert 60 is increased or decreased to influence the feel to the golfer during impact with a golf ball . the face plate 75 is preferably composed of a metal material . such metal materials include stainless steel , steel , other steel alloys , titanium , titanium alloys , amorphous metals , aluminum , aluminum alloys , magnesium , magnesium alloys , bronze , and other like metal materials . the face plate 75 preferably has a thickness ranging from 0 . 020 inch to 0 . 075 inch , and more preferably ranging from 0 . 035 inch to 0 . 045 inch , and most preferably having a thickness of 0 . 040 inch . the face plate 75 preferably has a height , hf , that ranges from 0 . 30 inch to 0 . 80 inch , more preferably from 0 . 50 inch to 0 . 70 inch , and most preferably 0 . 60 inch . the face plate 75 preferably has a trapezoidal shape with a bottom width , wf , ranging from 1 . 0 inch to 2 . 0 inches , more preferably from 1 . 20 inches to 1 . 75 inches , and most preferably 1 . 27 inches . the top width , w ′ f , of the face plate 75 preferably has a length ranging from 0 . 50 inch to 1 . 5 inches , more preferably from 0 . 70 inch to 1 . 25 inches , and most preferably 0 . 88 inch . the face plate 75 preferably is positioned at the center of the face of the putter 20 . the face plate 75 preferably covers less than 90 % of the exterior surface of the insert 60 , and more preferably less than 60 % of the exterior surface of the insert , and most preferably covers between 25 % to 50 % of the exterior surface of the insert 60 . the insert 60 has a plurality of tabs spaced substantially equidistant apart . in a preferred embodiment , the distance “ d ” is 0 . 41 inches . however , those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize that the value of d may be adjusted for various embodiments . the plurality of tabs lie on a perimeter of the insert 60 . the perimeter defines the thickness of the insert 60 . a most preferred thickness is 0 . 198 inches , however the thickness may preferably range from 0 . 125 to 0 . 50 inches . the insert 60 has an interior surface and an exterior surface . the interior surface faces the recess face wall 80 while the exterior surface forms a portion of the face 56 of the club head 52 . the face plate 75 is preferably co - molded with a first insert and second insert portion to form the final insert 60 . as illustrated in fig1 , a general method for co - molding the insert 60 is designated 200 . at block 202 , a metal face insert 75 a is formed from a sheet of metal and machined to become a machine face insert 75 b as shown in fig1 - 13b . the metal face insert 75 b is generally formed into a trapezoidal shape . at block 204 , a first polymer insert 95 is co - molded about the metal face insert 75 b , as shown in fig1 and 14 a . at block 206 , the second polymer insert 99 is co - molded about the first polymer insert body 95 and the metal face insert 75 b to form the final insert 60 . a more specific method 300 is illustrated in fig1 . at block 302 , a metal face insert 75 a is stamped from a sheet of metal , preferably stainless steel . the metal face insert 75 a is as shown in fig1 and 12 a . the metal face insert 75 a preferably has a thickness of approximately 3 . 2 millimeters , a length of approximately 55 millimeters and a height of approximately 18 millimeters . at block 304 , the metal face insert 75 a is machined and an exterior surface 173 is textured to form the machined metal face insert 75 b . as shown in fig1 , 13a and 13 b , a toe flange 170 a and a heel flange 170 b are formed during the machining of the metal face insert 75 a . a body 165 of the machined metal face insert 75 b extends above the toe flange 170 a and the heel flange 170 b . the machined metal face insert 75 b preferably has a thickness of approximately 3 . 2 millimeters , a length of approximately 41 millimeters and a height of approximately 14 millimeters . each of the toe flange 170 a and the heel flange 170 b has a thickness of approximately 0 . 8 millimeters . the toe flange 170 a and the heel flange 170 b provide a locking mechanism for securing the face insert 75 within the polymer insert 60 . at block 306 , the metal face insert is sand blasted for providing better adhesion of the metal the polymer . at block 308 , an interior surface 171 of the machined metal face insert 75 b is coated with an adhesive material , preferably chemlock 213 . at block 310 , a first polymer insert body 95 is co - molded about the machined metal face insert 75 b to form a combined metal face insert / first polymer insert body 93 . the first polymer insert body 95 is preferably composed of a thermoplastic polyurethane such as bayer desmopan ku2 - 88956 . as shown in fig1 and 14 a , the first polymer insert body 95 is co - molded around the interior surface 173 of the machined metal face insert 75 b and around the toe flange 170 a and the heel flange 170 b thereby securing the machined metal face insert 75 b within the first polymer insert body 95 . the body 165 of the machined metal face insert 75 b extends above a front surface of the first polymer insert body 95 . at block 312 , the combined metal face insert / first polymer insert body 93 is heat treated , preferably by baking the combined metal face insert / first polymer insert body 93 in an oven at an oven temperature ranging from 100 to 150 degrees celsius , and most preferably 120 degrees celsius , for a time period ranging from one to two hours , most preferably one and a half hours . at block 314 , the second polymer insert body 99 is co - molded about the combined metal face insert / first polymer insert body 93 to form the final insert 60 . as shown in fig1 and 15 a , the second polymer insert body 99 is preferably co - molded about the first polymer insert body 95 . an exterior surface of the second polymer insert body 99 is preferably flush with the exterior surface 173 of the machined metal face insert 75 b . the second polymer insert body 99 preferably is co - molded against the side walls of the body 165 of the machined metal face insert 75 b . the co - molding preferably includes forming a plurality of tabs 100 on the perimeter of the insert 60 . at block 316 , the final front insert 60 is finished , preferably by painting or coating the exterior surface with a durable top coat . at block 318 , the insert 60 is attached within the recess of the golf club head . from the foregoing it is believed that those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize the meritorious advancement of this invention and will readily understand that while the present invention has been described in association with a preferred embodiment thereof , and other embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings , numerous changes , modifications and substitutions of equivalents may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention which is intended to be unlimited by the foregoing except as may appear in the following appended claims . therefore , the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined in the following appended claims .	0
referring now to the drawings , fig1 shows a view of two mounting elements 10 , 12 which are each used as a side mounting for two louvers of a louvered roof ( not shown ) and which succeed one another in the lengthwise direction of the roof . the position of the mounting element 12 with respect to the lengthwise direction of the roof is located farther forward than the mounting element 10 . this view is an intermediate position in which the louvered roof is opened and whereby the two mounting elements 10 , 12 and the louvers attached thereto are swung out of their neutral position upward and are in part pushed on top of one another in the manner of a packet . in the closed position , the holding element 16 would be located on the rear , i . e . right end of a curved guideway 14 , while in the completely opened position it would be located on the front , i . e . left end of the fin - like guideway 14 . proceeding from the closed position in which the louvers are adjacent to one another and form a flat combination , adjacent mounting elements are coupled by force - fit to one another in the open direction first of all via a driver function ( not shown ). the advancing opening motion , however , causes the louvers to gradually swing out upward , this proceeding from the rearmost louver . starting from a certain relative swing angle between the adjacent louvers , the driver function is released and the front mounting element 12 can then be moved along its guideway with respect to the rear mounting element 10 . conventionally , after the driver means ( not shown ) disengages , another driver function over a short section of the displacement path is maintained by the contact of the back end 18 of the front mounting element 12 with the corresponding contact surface 20 on the back end of a lock rocker 22 . the entire rear area of the mounting elements 10 , 12 forms one crank element 24 , 26 at a time which is provided with a curved guideway 14 which projects fin - like from the side surface 28 and has two essentially plane contact surfaces 30 , 32 which run parallel to one another and which engage the corresponding opposing surface 34 , 36 which are formed on one slide element 38 . the slide element 38 is pivotally mounted in the holding element 16 around an axis which is perpendicular to the plane in which both the holding element 16 and the crank element 26 move . as shown in fig2 - 4 , the slide element 38 is made essentially cylindrical and is pivotally mounted in a corresponding circular receiver in the holding element 16 . the contact surfaces 34 , 36 are formed by a slot 40 by which the guideway or the guide fin 14 is guided to slide . the dimensions of the slot 40 are chosen such that the guide fin 14 in the vertical direction has no significant play . as shown in fig4 the slot can be provided on both ends each with two opposing projections 42 which form the actual opposing surface for the contact surfaces 30 , 32 of the guide fin 14 . the crank element 26 is made such that the lower contact surface 32 of the guide fin 14 passes into the lower boundary surface 44 of the crank element 26 , i . e . the guide fin 14 with the crank element 26 forms an l - shaped configuration , the guide fin 14 forming the short leg , i . e . the guide fin 14 is made only on one side of the crank element 26 . the holding element 16 , i . e ., the bearing shell for the slide element 38 , is likewise provided with a slot 46 in the lengthwise direction of the roof which is wider than the slot 40 of the slide element 38 in order to allow rotation of the slide element 38 with the guide fin 14 routed through in a certain angular area . the lateral guidance , i . e ., the guidance in the transverse direction of the roof , of the crank element 26 is achieved by a corresponding contact surface on one steady 48 and on the other side by the contact of the end face 50 of the guide fin 14 with the contact surface 52 which forms the base of the slot 40 in the slide element 38 . alternatively , the contact on the side of the transverse direction of the roof between the crank element 26 and the holding element 16 can also be achieved by the corresponding contact surfaces outside of the slot 40 and the guide fin 14 in the top half of the slide element 38 . the guide fin 14 , like the entire crank element 26 , and the holding element 16 are preferably made of metal , while the slide element 38 is preferably made of plastic . preferably , the slide element 38 is injected into the circular receiver of the holding element 16 , and by means of a shrinking process , after the slide element 38 is injected suitable play is automatically established between the receiver in the holding element 16 and the slide element 38 such that the connection between them is accurate to provide for a smooth performance . since the guide fin 14 can be made much thinner than a corresponding guide channel , on the one hand the sensitivity of the guide to tolerances is much less and on the other hand the construction height in the vertical direction of the crank element 26 can be reduced . as a result of the curvature of the guideway 14 the sliding displacement of the crank element 26 with respect to the holding element 16 causes the crank element 26 and the mounting element 12 to swing out with respect to the mounting element 10 . the resulting relative turning is balanced essentially without increasing the friction force between the slide element 38 and the guide fin 14 by turning the slide element 38 in the circular receiver in the holding element 16 . in this way , with ease of production a compact , easy and reliable adjustment mechanism insensitive to tolerances for the mounting elements of a louvered roof is formed . although an exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above , those skilled in the art readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing form the novel teachings and advantages which are described herein . accordingly all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention .	1
the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 , and 7 illustrate a camera using a film with a magnetic memory portion in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig1 the camera has a camera body 1 which has a surface 1a to which a camera back member 2 is attached , screw holes 1b for attachment of the camera back member 2 , surfaces 1c to which a film pressure plate 11 is attached , and which also serve as outer rails , screw holes 1d for attachment of the film pressure plate 11 , inner rails 1e , and an aperture 1f . a cut - out portion 11a is provided in the film pressure plate 11 . as shown in fig2 the cutout portion 11a includes receiving surfaces 11b and 11 against which received portions 3a and 3b of a lid 3 attached to the cut - out portion 11a are brought into abutment . a magnetic head 14 for writing a magnetic signal in a magnetic memory portion of a film 17 is also attached to the film pressure plate 11 . the film pressure plate 11 is fixed on the camera body 1 with screws 20 driven into the screw holes 1d of the camera body 1 through screw holes 11d . the film 17 is passed through a gap ( tunnel ) 30 formed between the film pressure plate 11 and the camera body 1 . in this embodiment , the cutout portion 11a is formed parallel to the writing magnetic head 14 along the direction in which the film 17 moves and on the film take - up spool 9 side of the magnetic head 14 . a film cartridge 18 in which the entire film 17 including the film leader is accommodated is set in a cartridge chamber 4 . then , a cartridge chamber lid 5 pivotally supported on a shaft 4a so as to be able of open and close the cartridge chamber 4 is closed , thus loading the camera with the film cartridge 18 . a positioning pin 6 for positioning the film cartridge 18 is urged in a pressing direction by a spring ( in an urging structure not shown in detail ) to urge the film cartridge 18 . the film 17 is pushed out of the film cartridge 18 through a port 18a of the same to move into the tunnel 30 and to be taken up by a film take - up spool 9 in a spool chamber 10 . the camera of this embodiment further has a release button 7 , a finder 8 , a photographing lens 12 , a shutter 13 and other ordinary camera parts . referring then to fig7 the film with a magnetic memory portion has perforations 17a for indicating positions of the film . each perforation 17a is detected with an optical element such as a photoreflector ( not shown ) provided on the camera side to determine a film feed position . the film 17 has a photographic frame area 17b which has a size approximately equal to that of the aperture 1f of the camera body 1 . the arrow in fig7 indicates the direction in which the film 17 moves . the film 17 has a magnetic recording portion 17c , and the magnetic head 14 is disposed at such a position as to be able to write a magnetic signal from the magnetic recording portion 17c or to read a magnetic signal from the magnetic recording portion 17c . a checking tool 15 shown in fig2 is used to check the state of a magnetic signal written by the writing magnetic head 14 . the checking tool 15 has a reading magnetic head 16 attached to its extreme end . the operation of the thus - constructed camera will next be described . in an adjustment step in a camera assembly process , after the film pressure plate 11 has been fixed by driving screws 20 into the screw holes 1d of the camera body 1 through screw holes 11d of the film pressure plate 11 , an end surface 15a of the writing state checking tool 15 is brought into abutment against the receiving surfaces 11b and 11c of the cut - out portion 11a of the film pressure plate 11 , whereby the front end gap of the reading magnetic head 16 is brought into contact with the magnetic recording portion 17c of the film 17 . thus , the reading magnetic head 16 is set in such a position as to be able to read a magnetic signal from the recording portion 17c . on the other hand , the writing magnetic head 14 , provided in the camera and mounted in the film pressure plate 11 to write photography information in the magnetic recording portion 17c of the film 17 , has an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the front end gap of the writing magnetic head 14 so that the front end gap contacts the magnetic recording portion 17c at a correct angle , i . e ., a correct rolling angle , azimuth angle or the like . when the position of the writing magnetic head 14 attached to the film pressure plate 11 is adjusted , a magnetic signal for adjustment , for example , is written in the magnetic recording portion 17c of the film 17 with the writing magnetic head 14 , and the magnetic signal written in the magnetic recording portion 17c with the writing magnetic head 14 is simultaneously read out with the reading magnetic head 16 of the checking tool 15 under the same feed conditions , i . e ., in the same film 17 feed direction ( winding direction ) and at the same feed speed , thereby checking whether the magnetic signal output is at a prescribed level . if the azimuth angle or the like of the writing magnetic head 14 is not correct , the read output level of the magnetic signal written with the writing magnetic head 14 is reduced . in such a situation , the writing magnetic head 14 is adjusted so that the level of the magnetic signal output is equal to or higher than the prescribed output level . when the adjustment operation according to the result of magnetic signal checking is finished , the received portions 3a and 3b of the lid 3 are brought into abutment against the receiving surfaces 11b and 11c of the cut - out portion 11a of the film pressure plate 11 to close the cut - out portion 11a with the lid 3 . the lid 3 is fixed by screwing , bonding , welding , press - fitting or the like . an end surface 3c of the lid 3 is formed so as to be flush with or slightly recessed from the surface of the film pressure plate 11 on the film 17 path side so as not to impede the travel of the film 17 . thereafter , the camera back member 2 is fixed by driving screws 21 into screw holes 1b of the camera body 1 through its screw holes 2a . in the above - described first embodiment , when a magnetic signal is written in the magnetic recording portion 17c of the film with the writing magnetic head 14 under constant film feed conditions , the attachment adjustment of the writing magnetic head 14 can be simultaneously performed while the written magnetic signal is being read with the reading magnetic head 16 . it is therefore possible to reduce the time required for the step of adjusting the writing magnetic head as well as to achieve more reliable adjustment . the second embodiment of the present invention will next be described . fig3 is a cross - sectional view of a camera using a film with a magnetic memory portion in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention . in fig3 the same components as those of the first embodiment are indicated by the same reference characters . in the embodiment shown in fig3 a cut - out portion 21a through which a magnetic head 16 of a checking tool 15 is passed is formed in a film pressure plate 21 parallel to a writing magnetic head 14 along the direction in which film 17 moves and on the cartridge chamber 4 side opposite from that in the first embodiment . also , receiving surfaces 21b and 21c against which received portions 3a and 3b of a lid are to be brought into abutment are provided in the film pressure plate 21 . the other portions or components , which are the same as those of the first embodiment , are indicated by the same reference characters , and the description for them will not be repeated . as in the first embodiment , the end surface 15a of the checking tool 15 is brought into abutment against the receiving surfaces 21b and 21c of the cut - out portion 21a of the film pressure plate 21 . the reading magnetic head 16 is thereby set in such a position as to be able to read out a magnetic signal . when the film 17 is wound around the take - up spool 9 , a magnetic signal for testing , for example , is written in the magnetic recording portion 17c with respect to each frame with the writing magnetic head 14 . after the film has been fully wound around the film take - up spool , the film 17 is rewound and the magnetic signal is collectively read out during rewinding to check the output from the reading magnetic head 16 . the writing magnetic head 14 is adjusted on the basis of the result of checking . the assembly process after checking is the same as that of the first embodiment . according to the second embodiment , as described above , reading and checking of the magnetic signal with the reading magnetic head 16 can be performed in sequence while the film 17 is being fed continuously and stably to be rewound , thereby enabling a writing non - uniformity or the like to be immediately checked . the third embodiment of the present invention will next be described with reference to fig4 and 5 . fig4 is a perspective view of a camera using a film with a magnetic memory portion in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention . fig5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the camera shown in fig5 . in fig4 and 5 , the same components as those of the above - described embodiments are indicated by the same reference characters . as shown in fig4 and 5 , a camera back member 102 is fixed to a camera body 101 , and a cut - out portion 102a having receiving portions 102b and 102c ( shown in fig5 ) is provided in the camera back member 102 , and a lid 103 is attached to the cut - out portion 102a . in a film pressure plate 111 fixed to the camera body 101 , a cut - out portion 111a is provided at a position corresponding to that of the cut - out portion 102a of the camera back member 102 . the film passes a gap ( tunnel ) 30 formed by the film pressure plate 111 and the camera body 101 . a reading magnetic head 116 for reading out a magnetic signal is provided on an extreme end of a tool 115 for checking the writing state of writing magnetic head 14 . in this embodiment , the cutout portion 102a is positioned parallel to the writing magnetic head 14 along the direction in which the film 17 moves and on the cartridge 4 chamber side of the magnetic head 14 . the other components identical to those of the first embodiment are indicated by the same reference characters and will not be specially described . the operation of the arrangement shown in fig4 and 5 will be described . in a state where the camera is nearly completed by fixing the camera back member 102 to the camera body 101 , an end surface 115a of the checking tool 115 is brought into abutment against the receiving surfaces 102b and 102c of the cut - out portion 102a of the camera back member 102 . the reading magnetic head 116 is thereby set in such a position as to be able to read out a magnetic signal . when the film 17 is wound around the take - up spool 9 , a magnetic signal is written with the writing magnetic head 14 . after the film has been fully wound around the film take - up spool , the film 17 is rewound and the magnetic signal is collectively read out during rewinding to check the output from the reading magnetic head 116 . when the operation of checking the magnetic signal is completed , the lid 103 is brought into abutment against the receiving portions 102b and 102c provided in the cut - out portion 102a of the camera back member 102 to close the cut - out portion 102a so that no light can leak . the lid 103 is fixed by screwing , bonding , welding , press - fitting or the like . an end surface 103a of the lid 103 is formed so as to be flush with or slightly recessed from the surface of the film pressure plate 111 on the film 17 path side by considering the travel of the film 17 . according to the third embodiment , as described above , the magnetic signal can be collectively checked during rewinding of the film 17 in a state where the camera is nearly completed by attaching the camera back member 102 . it is therefore possible to easily check the magnetic signal when the camera is nearly completed or during maintenance operation . the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described . fig6 is a cross - sectional view of a camera using a film with a magnetic memory portion in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention . in fig6 the same components as those of the first embodiment are indicated by the same reference characters . as shown in fig6 a camera back member 101 is fixed to the rear end of a camera body 101 , and has a cut - out portion 202a in which receiving portions 202b and 202c against which a lid 103 ( identical to that illustrated in fig4 ) are provided . the cutout portion 202a is provided parallel to the writing magnetic head 14 along the direction in which the film 17 moves and on the film take - up spool 9 side of the magnetic head 14 . in a film pressure plate 211 fixed to the camera body 101 , a cut - out portion 211a is provided at a position corresponding to that of the cut - out portion 202a of the camera back member 202 . the film passes a gap ( tunnel ) 30 formed by the film pressure plate 211 and the camera body 101 . the other components , which are the same as those of the third embodiment , are indicated by the same reference characters and the description for them will not be repeated . the operation of the arrangement shown in fig6 will be described . a reading magnetic head 116 provided on an extreme end of a checking tool 115 is passed through the cut - out portion 202a of the camera back member 202 and the cut - out portion 211a of the film pressure plate 211 so as to be brought into contact with the magnetic recording portion 17c of the film 17 , with an end surface 115a of the tool 115 brought into abutment against the receiving surfaces 202b and 202c of the cut - out portion 202a of the camera back member 202 . the reading magnetic head 116 is thereby set in such a position as to be able to read out a magnetic signal . a magnetic signal is written on the film 17 with the writing magnetic head 14 . during film winding , immediately thereafter , the magnetic signal is read out with the reading magnetic head 116 to check the output from the magnetic head 116 . when the checking operation is completed , the lid 103 is brought into abutment against the receiving portions 202b and 202c provided in the cut - out portion 202a of the camera back member 202 to close the cut - out portion 202a so that no light can pass therethrough . the lid 103 is fixed by screwing , bonding , welding , press - fitting or the like . in the fourth embodiment , as described above , the cut - out portion 202a is formed in a film pressure plate 211 on the film take - up spool side of the writing magnetic head 14 opposite from that in the third embodiment . accordingly , a magnetic signal written with the writing magnetic head 14 when the camera is in a nearly completed state is read out for output checking during film winding immediately after writing . in the above - described embodiments , the magnetic head of the checking tool is used to read out information . however , it may be for writing information or both for reading out and writing information . in such a case , the tool is adapted to check the reading performance or both the writing performance and the reading performance of the magnetic head . the reading performance of the magnetic head may be checked with the tool by reversing the relationship between the magnetic head and the tool in the above - described embodiments . examples of checking the performance of the magnetic in the assembly process have been described with respect to the embodiments of the invention . needless to say , the present invention can be applied to performance checking of the magnetic head after the completion of assembly , for example , when the magnetic head is malfunctioning . the present invention can also be applied to any image recording medium other than photographic film . the present invention can also be applied to any recording system other than the systems using electrical , optical and magnetic means for recording information on a film or reading out information from the film . while the present invention has been described with respect to what is presently considered to be the preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments . to the contrary , the invention is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims . the scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions . the individual components shown in schematic or block form in the drawing are all well - known in the camera arts and their specific construction and operation are not critical to the operation of best mode for carrying out the invention . further , according to the present invention , the above - described embodiments of technical elements may be combined as desired . the present invention also comprises an arrangement in which the entire of a part of the claimed construction or the construction of the embodiments forms one unit , combines with other units , or constitutes a unit . the present invention can also be applied to various kinds of cameras , such as single reflex cameras , lens shutter cameras and video cameras , optical apparatuses other than cameras , other kinds of apparatuses , apparatuses applicable to such cameras , optical apparatuses and apparatuses , and constituents of such cameras or apparatuses .	6
example embodiments , as described below , may be used to automatically detect motion disturbance and provide automatic alerts . it will be appreciated that the various embodiments discussed herein need not necessarily belong to the same group of exemplary embodiments , and may be grouped into various other embodiments not explicitly disclosed herein . in the following description , for purposes of explanation , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various embodiments . although the present embodiments have been described with reference to specific example embodiments , it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the various embodiments . fig1 a - 1b is a system view illustrating an interaction flow , according to one or more embodiments . in one or more embodiments of the method disclosed herein , a protection device 102 may be configured to automatically detect a motion disturbance of a movable tangible personal property 104 and automatically alert a system and / or a user . as used herein the term “ motion disturbance ” may refer to a predefined degree of displacement from a given position . the protection device 102 may be operatively coupled to the movable tangible personal property 104 . in one or more embodiments , the protection device may be wirelessly coupled to the movable tangible personal property . examples of the movable tangible , personal property may include , but is not limited to , a laptop , a mobile phone , a wallet , a book , a portable electronic device , a multimedia player , a vehicle , a watch , and the like . in one or more embodiments , the protection device 102 may be coupled to a host data processing system 106 ( e . g ., a remote server or a local server ) through a wired interface and / or a wireless interface . a network ( e . g ., a wireless network 108 , or a wired network , and the like ) may be accessed through the host data processing system . in one or more embodiments , the data processing system may be an internal processing component of the movable tangible personal property 102 . in one or more embodiments , the protection device 102 may be linked to the movable tangible personal property through a physical proximity to the movable tangible personal property 104 , a tethering to the movable tangible personal property 104 , a predefined geospatial distance to the movable tangible personal property 104 , a magnetic attachment to a part of the movable tangible personal property 104 and / or a physical attachment to a part of the movable tangible personal property 104 . in one or more preferred embodiments , the physical proximity to the movable tangible personal property 104 may be for example , no more than a radius of three meters from the protection device 102 . the protection device 102 may be activated . the activation may be an automatic activation ( e . g ., the protection device 102 may get automatically activated on being associated with the movable tangible personal property ) or manual activation by the user of the movable tangible personal property . unique identifier information may be determined for the protection device 102 on activation . in one or more embodiments , a preferred sensor may be associated with the unique identifier information . the protection device 102 may be configured with the preferred sensor . examples of the preferred sensor may include but is not limited to an accelerometer sensor , a tilt sensor , a gyroscopic sensor , an infrared sensor , a laser sensor , a camera sensor , an ultrasonic distance sensor and the like . in addition , a designated user account 114 may be associated with the unique identifier information . the designated user account 114 may be accessible from a server through a network . the designated user account 114 may also be accessible from a wired or wireless interface through the protection device 102 . a metadata ( e . g ., volume of sound alert of a sensor associated with the protection device 102 ) associated with the given protection device 102 may be stored in the designated user account 114 . the user may be permitted to specify a set of user - specified preferences 110 associated with the protection device 102 in the designated user account 114 . examples of the user - specified preferences 110 may include but are not limited to , a threshold of motion disturbance , a preferred mode of alert ( e . g ., via email , or via message ), volume of a siren , and the like . in one or more embodiments , the designated user account 114 may be accessed through a device having a capability of accessing the internet 128 . the device having the capability of accessing the internet 128 may be one or more of the mobile device 120 , the smart phone device 122 , the data processing system 124 , a music device , and the like . in one or more embodiments , an indicator may be automatically generated to a user interface of the device having the capability of accessing the internet 128 when a confirmed motion disturbance is detected . the indicators may include , for example , indicator 112 a , indicator 112 b , indicator 112 c , indicator 112 d , of the mobile device 120 , the smart phone device 122 , the data processing system 124 , and the website 126 respectively as illustrated in fig1 a - 1b . the protection device 102 may be activated / or deactivated through the device having the capability of accessing the internet 128 . the activation may be a remote activation and / or a local activation . in one or more embodiments , the protection device 102 may be activated and / or deactivated remotely through a gesture on one or more of the mobile device 120 , the smart phone device 122 , an input device of the data processing system 124 , an output device of the data processing system 124 , an infrared remote , a custom - designed remote configured for a particular protection device 102 , a website 126 synched with the designated user - account 114 associated with the particular protection device 102 , a radio frequency identification ( rfid ) tag configured to the particular protection device 102 , and any device accessing the internet 128 . examples of the input device of the data processing system may include , but are not limited to one or more of a touch screen display of a user interface ( e . g ., a graphical user interface ), a keyboard , a mouse , a sensor synched with the data processing system , and the like . also , examples of the output device of the data processing system may include , but are not limited to one or more of a monitor display of the user interface , the touch screen display of the user interface , and the like . fig2 illustrates automatic motion disturbance detection and alerting in accordance with one or more embodiments . in one or more embodiments , a motion disturbance 202 of the movable tangible personal property 104 may be detected , through a sensor 116 in the protection device 102 . in one or more embodiments , when an intensity of the motion disturbance 202 exceeds a minimum threshold of a sensitivity associated with the protection device 102 , an automatic response may be provided based on the set of user - specified preferences . for example , if a laptop constituting a movable tangible personal property is displaced to a certain distance away ( minimum threshold of the sensitivity of the protection device ) from an initial position , the protection device associated with the laptop may automatically generate and transmit a message alert ( user - specified preference ) to a mobile phone of the user . further , in one or more embodiments , a set of real - time information associated with the given protection device 102 may be automatically updated to the designated user account 114 . in one or more embodiments , an automatic indicator may be generated on a user interface associated with the designated user account 114 when the sensor 116 detects the confirmed motion disturbance . in one or more embodiments a confirmed motion disturbance 202 of the movable tangible personal property may be relayed to a user of the protection device 102 . in one or more embodiments , an indicator may be automatically generated on a user interface of the device having the capability of accessing the internet when a confirmed motion disturbance 202 is detected . the designated user account 114 may be managed through the device having the capability of accessing the internet 128 . the set of preferences associated with the designated user account 114 may include but are not limited to one or more of a preferred indicator , a preferred sensitivity of the protection device 102 , a preferred response of the protection device 102 , a preferred response time of the protection device 102 , a preferred voice alert , a user - recorded voice alert , a preferred alarm , a choice of the protection device 102 , a preferred alert on the host interface , a preferred alert on a set of devices associated with the designated user account 114 through a wireless capability , a preferred alert on a user - specified communication channel , a preferred volume of an alarm on the protection device 102 , a preferred speed of the alarm on the protection device 102 , a preferred siren on the protection device 102 , a set of options associated with a flashing led light capability on the protection device 102 , a set of options associated with an audio recording capability on the protection device 102 , a set of options associated with a photographic capability on the protection device 102 , a set of options associated with a video recording capability on the protection device 102 , a set of options associated with a odor emanating capability of the protection device 102 and a set of options associated with a gps tracking capability of the protection device 102 . examples of the preferred indicator may include but are not limited to one or more of an electronic mail ( email ) 204 to the personal account of the user , a text message 206 on a cellular phone , an email accessible through a smart phone , a text message accessible through a smart phone , a voice alert 212 on a cellular phone , a voice alert 212 on the smart phone , a telephone call to the cellular phone , a telephone call to a law enforcement agency ( e . g ., a call to police 208 ), a telephone call 210 to an individual associated with a current geospatial location of the protection device 102 , and the like . the preferred sensitivity of the protection device 102 may include but is not limited to one or more of a time period of sensitivity of the sensor 116 in the protection device 102 , a geographical radius of sensitivity around the sensor 116 in the protection device 102 , a fault tolerance associated with the sensitivity of the sensor 116 in the protection device 102 and a level of sensitivity of the sensor 116 in the protection device 102 . examples of the preferred response of the protection device 102 may include but is not limited to one or more of a communication through the preferred indicator ( e . g ., an email , a message ), an audible siren 214 emitted through the protection device 102 , an audible voice alert 212 emitted through the protection device 102 , a flashing led light 216 emitted through the protection device 102 , a photographic shot of an environment executed through the protection device 102 , an audio recording 218 executed through the protection device 102 , a video recording 220 executed through the protection device 102 , an odor emanation 224 through the protection device 102 and an activation of a gps tracker 226 linked to the protection device 102 . the set of options associated with a flashing led light capability may be one or more of an intensity of the led lights , a frequency of flashing of the led lights , a color of the led lights and a pattern of the led lights . the set of options associated with the audio recording capability of the protection device 102 may be one or more of a recording time , a recording frequency , a recording pattern and an automatic transmission of a recorded audio byte to the user . the set of options associated with the photographic capability of the protection device 102 may be one or more of camera angle of the protection device 102 , a frequency of photographic captures and an automatic transmission of the photograph to the user . the set of options associated with the video recording capability of the protection device 102 may be one or more of a camera angle of the video recorder , a recording time , a frequency of video recording , a video recording pattern and an automatic transmission of the video file to the user . also , the set of options associated with the odor emanating capability of the protection device may be one or more of a type of odor to be emanated , an emanation frequency , an emanation pattern and an emanation intensity . further , the set of options associated with the gps tracking capability of the protection device 102 may be one or more of an automatic transmission of a set of data associated with the current geospatial location of the protection device 102 and a frequency of updates associated with the gps tracker . in one or more embodiments , the movable tangible personal property 104 may be protected through the automatic response of the protection device 102 . in one or more embodiments , an active state of the protection device 102 may be signaled , through an array of flashing led lights 216 . the array of flashing led lights 216 may be configured through the set of preferences associated with the designated user account 114 for the protection device 102 . in one or more embodiments , the protection device 102 may be charged , through an electrical outlet associated with the movable tangible personal property 104 . a battery power stored inside the protection device 102 may be automatically switched when the electrical outlet is unavailable . the protection device 102 disclosed herein may include a sensor 116 to detect a motion disturbance associated with a movable tangible personal property 104 . the protection device 102 may also include a circuitry coupled with the sensor 116 to communicate through at least one of a wired interface and a wireless interface , the motion disturbance to a host data processing system 106 . in one or more embodiments , the protection device 102 may also include a siren to be activated when an intensity of the motion disturbance exceeds a minimum threshold of a sensitivity associated with the protection device 102 . in one or more embodiments , the protection device 102 may also include a set of flashing led lights to be activated when the intensity of the motion disturbance exceeds a minimum threshold of a sensitivity associated with the protection device 102 . in one or more embodiments , the protection device 102 may also include an audio recorder to commence recording when the intensity of the motion disturbance exceeds a minimum threshold of a sensitivity associated with the protection device 102 . furthermore , in one or more embodiments , a camera component may be coupled to the protection device 102 to capture photographs of a surrounding environment when the intensity of the motion disturbance exceeds a minimum threshold of a sensitivity associated with the protection device 102 . in one or more embodiments , the protection device 102 may also include a video recorder to commence recording when the intensity of the motion disturbance exceeds a minimum threshold of a sensitivity associated with the protection device 102 . in one or more embodiments , the protection device 102 may also include a gps tracker component to be activated when the intensity of the motion disturbance exceeds a minimum threshold of a sensitivity associated with the protection device 102 . in one or more embodiments , the protection device 102 may also include an odor emanating component to emanate an odor when the intensity of the motion disturbance exceeds a minimum threshold of a sensitivity associated with the protection device 102 . the system disclosed herein may include a protection device 102 to detect a motion disturbance of a movable tangible personal property 104 . the system may also include a host data processing system 106 . the host data processing system may be configured to receive , through one or more of a wired interface and a wireless interface , a set of information associated with the motion disturbance of the movable tangible personal property 104 . the system may further include a tracking component in the host data processing system 106 configured to monitor the set of information associated with the motion disturbance of the movable tangible personal property 104 . in addition the system may include a link to a network having a set of user - specified preferences 110 associated with a sensitivity of the protection device 102 . the system may further include a circuitry in the host data processing system 106 to automatically communicate to the protection device 102 when an intensity of the motion disturbance exceeds a minimum threshold of a sensitivity associated with the protection device 102 . in one or more embodiments , the system may further include a designated user account 114 to store a set of metadata associated with the protection device 102 and the set of user - specified preferences 110 associated with a sensitivity of the protection device 102 . in one or more embodiments , the system may further include a set of devices configured with the host data processing system 106 to receive an indicator when a sensor 116 in the protection device 102 detects a confirmed motion disturbance and to activate and deactivate the protection device 102 remotely . the set of devices configured with the host data processing system 106 to receive the indicator may include one or more of a mobile device , a smart phone device , an input device of a data processing system , an output device of a data processing system , an infrared remote , a custom - designed remote configured for a particular protection device 102 , a website synched with the designated user - account associated with the particular protection device 102 and an rfid tag configured to the particular protection device 102 . fig3 a - 3d is an interaction flow illustrating an example scenario of automatic motion disturbance detection and alerting , according to one or more embodiments . as illustrated in fig3 a , a user 302 configures a protection device 102 to protect a movable tangible personal property ( e . g . laptop 304 ). the configuration may include data associated with the user 302 , that the protection device 102 may use to authenticate the user 302 ( e . g ., data associated with the facial features of the user 302 ), one or more thresholds ( e . g ., extent of displacement of the laptop 304 from a given position ) for activating an alerting mechanism ( e . g ., siren ) of the protection device 102 , mode of alerting the user 302 , and the like . during configuring the protection device 102 , the user 304 operatively couples the protection device 102 with the laptop 304 wirelessly . once the protection device 102 is configured and coupled to the laptop 304 , the protection device is activated through a mobile phone 306 as illustrated in fig3 b to protect the laptop 304 in the absence of the user 302 . the activated protection device 102 monitors the laptop 304 continuously based on the configuration . in the absence of the user 302 , if a robber 308 tries to displace the laptop 304 from a current position as illustrated in fig3 c , the activated protection device 102 automatically detects a motion disturbance and captures an image of the robber 308 . a host data processing system ( e . g ., a remote server ) coupled to the protection device matches a data associated with the captured image with the data associated with the facial features of the user 302 in a designated user - account and determines dissimilarity . the host data processing system then actuates an alert mechanism within the protection device 102 and the protection device 102 gives out a siren to alert the user 304 as illustrated in fig3 d . although the present embodiments have been described with reference to specific example embodiments , it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the various embodiments . accordingly , the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense .	6
embodiments of the present invention will be described below referring to the attached drawings . fig1 a and 1b illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention , in which fig1 a shows a state before folding and fig1 b shows a state after folding . in fig1 a and 1b , a flexible wiring board 10 has a characteristic impedance control circuit , that is , an impedance control line 20 having a folded portion 20 a extending in a straight state along the substantial center in its width direction and having a planar shape before folding in the s - shape at the substantial center in the longitudinal direction . as shown in fig1 a , in the s - shaped portion constituting the folded portion 20 a , its center portion includes a portion parallel to a folding line ( shown by an imaginary line ) set in the direction diagonal to the flexible wiring board 10 and also crossing it . as a result , as shown in fig1 b , when the flexible wiring board 10 is folded along the folding line , the planar projection mage of the folded portion 20 a is in relation to make an arc shape with the folding line as a tangent . therefore , the entire planar projection image of the impedance control line 20 after the flexible wiring board 10 is folded is configured so that a portion tangent to the folding line is in an arc state and the ends of the impedance control line 20 arranged in the relation crossing each other are connected at the arc - state portion . here , a connected portion between the straight portion and the arc - state portion of the impedance control line 20 is folded as smoothly as possible . for that purpose , such a measure may be taken that the position of the impedance control line 20 is brought close to one side in the width direction of the flexible wiring board 10 , the size of an arc of the folded portion 20 a is set appropriately or a curvature of the arc is varied continuously . that is , the arc state refers to a shape including a literal circle having a single curvature and also a case where circles with different curvatures are sequentially continued . since the arc continues to the straight portion , it is needless to say that the connection portion has a curvature different from that of the arc . when the straight portions of the impedance control line are arranged at a right angle by folding the flexible board 10 along the folding line in this way , since the straight portions are connected by the arc - state portion , a smooth planar shape is obtained without making a sharp bending in its entirety . since the flexible wiring board 10 is folded along the folding line and overlapped , it is actually folded also in the thickness direction , and the folded portion 20 a is folded in a three - dimensional manner . however , the folding in the thickness direction is slight , which can be ignored in practice . thus , the impedance control line 20 is configured in a folded shape hardly affecting the entire characteristic impedance including the folded portion 20 a . fig2 a and 2b show a second embodiment of the present invention and an example in which the folding line crosses the flexible wiring board 10 in the width direction so that the flexible wiring board 10 is folded in the longitudinal direction . here , the folded portion 20 a is configured as the s - shape formed by continuing substantial semi - circles in opposite directions so that a planar projection shape substantially becomes a circle ( see fig2 b ) after folding as shown in fig1 a . in this case , too , it is configured so that a connection portion between the folded portion 20 a and the straight portion of the impedance control line 20 is folded smoothly . for that purpose , the position of the straight portion may be displaced to one side in the width direction of the flexible wiring board 10 . fig3 a and 3b show a third embodiment of the present invention , in which the s - shape of the folded portion 20 a is made small and the straight portions on both sides of the folded portion 20 a are displaced to one side in the width direction of the flexible wiring board 10 ( fig3 a ). by this configuration , referring to the state after folding shown in fig3 b , as shown in fig3 b , the straight portions crossing each other are connected by a substantial ¼ arc . thus , the impedance control line 20 configures a planar projection shape including only one folding portion , including the folded portion 20 a . fig4 a and 4b show a fourth embodiment of the present invention , in which the s - shape of the folded portion 20 a is made small and the folding line is set so as to cross the width direction of the flexible wiring board 10 at a right angle as in the second embodiment . here , the folded portion 20 a makes a semi circle connecting two straight portions arranged in parallel . fig5 a and 5b show a fifth embodiment of the present invention , in which in order to fold the impedance control line 20 in a three - dimensional manner , a reinforcing member 30 is provided inside the folded portion of the flexible wiring board 10 so as to realize gentle folding . by this configuration , the folding degree of the impedance control line . 20 becomes gentle , and local stress concentration to the flexible wiring board 10 and the impedance control line 20 can be prevented . fig6 a and 6b show a sixth embodiment of the present invention and a configuration of the folded portion 20 a when a plurality of impedance control lines 20 are arranged in parallel . by this configuration , even if the plurality of impedance control lines 20 are provided on a single flexible wiring board 10 , the characteristic impedance of each impedance control line 20 is hardly affected .	7
referring now to fig1 reference numeral 1 indicates a refrigeration system employing a valve 2 of this invention . the refrigeration system 1 includes a compressor 3 , having a high pressure side 4 and a low pressure or suction side 5 . the high pressure side 4 is connected to a first end 80 of a condensing coil 6 . the condensing coil 6 converts the high pressure gas to a high pressure liquid . a second end 81 of the coil 6 is connected to the inlet side of the valve 2 . the outlet side of the valve 2 is connected to a first end 82 of an evaporator coil 7 . as is apparent , fluid flow to the evaporator 7 is controlled by valve 2 operation . a second end 83 of the coil 7 is connected to the low pressure side 5 of the compressor 3 . a control means 8 includes a plurality of sensors 9 for monitoring operation of the system 1 . the control means 8 functions to regulate the electrical input to the valve 2 , as later described in greater detail . the condenser , evaporator , compressor and valve are interconnected with one another along a refrigerant line 10 in a conventional manner . fig2 illustrates a heat pump system 11 which employs the valve 2 of this invention . like parts bear like reference numerals in fig2 where appropriate . as there shown , the compressor 3 has its discharge or high pressure side 4 connected to a four - way reversing valve 12 . the valve 12 has a working line 13 connected to the end 80 of coil 6 , and a working line 14 connected to the end 83 of the coil 7 . the second end 81 of the coil 6 is connected to end 82 of the coil 7 through the valve 2 . the low pressure or suction side 5 of the compressor 4 is attached to the reversing valve 12 . the reversing valve 12 operates to alternate the function of the coils 6 and 7 . for example , in the air conditioning mode , the coil 6 may be the condenser , while in the heating mode the coil 6 functions as an evaporator , coil 7 having opposite functions in those respective modes . in any event , the valve 2 has a drain means 15 connected to the low pressure or suction side of the compressor 3 . referring now to fig3 it may be observed that the valve 2 includes a body portion 20 . the body portion 20 has a passage 21 through it . a pair of connectors 22 and 23 , respectively , are mounted to the body 20 and communicate with the passage 21 . attachment between the connectors and body may be made by any convenient method , and welding or brazing works well , for example . the passage 21 has an internal wall 24 having a threaded portion 25 formed in it . a valve seat 26 has an externally threaded surface , the threads of that surface being complimentary with the threads 25 of the wall 24 . valve seat 26 has an axial opening 27 through it . the opening 27 includes a restriction 28 defining the valve port for the valve 2 , the restriction 28 being positioned along an end 29 of the valve seat 26 . an end 30 of the seat 26 has an adjustment slot 31 formed in it , the function of which is described hereinafter . a valve stem 33 is movably mounted within the body 20 . stem 33 has a first end 34 and a second end 35 . the end 35 defines a dual angle valve pin 58 . in the embodiment illustrated , the valve pin 58 portion of the stem 33 has two distinct slope parts , a first formed with a thirty degree slope angle , and a second formed with a sixty degree slope angle . the dual angle valve pin stabilizes valve 2 operation at low rates of flow through the passage 21 . the valve stem 33 has a ring seal 36 about its circumference at some point along the length of the valve stem positioned within the valve body 20 , between the passage 21 and the mounting location on the valve body 20 of a heat motor 40 . the ring seal 36 functions to minimize leakage of the refrigerant from the passage 21 to the heat motor 40 along the stem 33 . valve body 20 may have a groove 61 formed in it , sized to receive the ring 36 in a conventional manner . an interference fit retainer 63 may be mounted within the groove 61 on the heat motor side of the ring seal 36 to maintain ring 36 position . heat motor 40 includes a casing or enclosure 41 . the casing 41 , in the embodiment illustrated , is defined by a top 42 and a bottom 43 which are intermountable with one another to delimit a chamber 44 . the bottom 43 is attached to the body 20 of the valve 2 in a conventional manner . again , usual welding or brazing techniques may be employed , if desired . the end 34 of the valve stem 33 is positioned within the chamber 44 . an electrically operable means 45 is mounted to the valve stem 33 along the end 34 of the stem . the electrically operable means 45 includes a plurality of bimetallic discs 46 interleaved between a plurality of heater elements or means 47 . each of the bimetallic discs 46 are annular in plan , having a central opening 48 through them . the bimetallic discs 46 conventionally comprise a first metal disc 49 and a second metal disc 50 having substantially different coefficients of expansion , which are bonded along their mating surfaces by any convenient method . the heater element 47 , in the embodiment illustrated , is a film of insulating material having a resistive element deposited on it , and enclosed in a second film of insulating material . the material is provided with openings in it , so that it may be folded upon itself for interleaving with the discs 46 . the electrically operable means 45 and disc 46 arrangement is similar to that disclosed in copending behr united states application , ser . no . 761 , 291 , filed jan . 21 , 1977 , now u . s . pat . no . 4 , 086 , 983 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention . details of the electrically operable means structure not set out herein are intended to be incorporated by reference . the discs 46 and heater element 47 are mounted over the end 34 of the valve stem 33 , between a support 51 and a support 52 and secured with a retaining ring 64 . a spring 53 is biased between the retaining ring 64 and a stop 54 remote from the end 34 of the valve stem , the stop 54 being positioned within the chamber 44 . stop 54 may comprise a variety suitable structural arrangements mounted within the chamber 44 for providing the required support for the spring 53 . in the embodiment illustrated , stop 54 has a central spring retainer 57 supported from a plurality of arms 59 . the arms 59 are engaged frictionally at their radially outer ends by the top 42 of the casings 41 . other structural arrangements are compatible with the broader aspects of this invention . four terminals 55 extend through the top 42 of the casing 41 . two of the terminals are electrically connected within the chamber to the heater element 47 along suitable conductors 62 . the terminals 55 also are electrically connected to the control means 8 of the systems shown in fig1 and 2 . the bottom 43 of casing 41 has a scavage port 60 formed in it . port 60 is connected to the chamber 44 of the heat motor 40 , on one end thereof , and to a connector 16 on a second end thereof . the connector 16 and port 60 define the drain means 15 of the preferred embodiment of this invention . operation of the valve 2 is relatively simple to understand . as shown in fig1 and 2 , the valve is compatible with both conventional refrigeration and heat pump applications . it may be observed , in fig3 that a chain of bimetallic disc and heater elements of the electrically operable means 45 are in abutting relationship and with the supports 51 and 52 and retaining ring 64 . the retaining ring 64 in turn , is mechanically coupled to the valve stem 33 . the spring 53 biases the valve stem towards its closed position . fluid flow through the connector 22 , for example , will be restricted as long as the force exerted by the spring 53 is not overcome . the spring force is overcome both by the pressure on the valve stem exerted by the fluid in the valve 2 , and by the operation of the heat motor 40 . as indicated , the terminals 55 are connected to the control means 8 which senses operation of the system in which the valve finds application by means of the sensors 9 . the control means 8 activates the heater means 47 whenever a predetermined condition is sensed . application of electrical energy to the heater means 47 causes it to radiate thermal energy as the electrical energy dissipates in the heater elements . that is to say , the amount of voltage applied to the heater means 47 will increase or decrease the heat supplied to the discs 46 . the alternating relationship of the bimetallic discs 46 and the heater means 47 components ensures that excellent heat transfer occurs between those parts . since the discs 46 comprise two different metal discs 49 and 50 , expansion of the metal used for the discs occurs at different rates . consequently , the discs 46 tend to become bow - shaped with respect to one another . that is , the discs will expand axially causing the support 52 to move upwardly , upwardly being referenced to fig3 . such movement , against the bias of the spring 53 , moves the valve stem 33 away from the restriction 28 , permitting fluid flow through the valve . in refrigeration systems , flow through the valve normally is from the connector 22 to the connector 23 . that is to say , connector 22 is connected to the high pressure side of the system . opening of the valve stem 33 would connect the high pressure side of the valve to the low pressure side of the valve , and the fluid tends to pass freely through the valve . in the heat pump application of fig2 however , high pressure may build up within the valve body 20 on the connector 23 side of the restriction 28 . high pressure in this portion of the valve tends to force refrigerant fluid along the valve stem , into the chamber 44 of the heat motor 40 . introduction of excessive refrigerant into the heat motor chamber 44 affects the operation of the electrically operable means 45 by drawing heat from the discs 46 , thereby adversely affecting valve operation . to decrease or lessen the chance of fluid leakage into the chamber 44 , the valve 2 of this invention has the seal 36 positioned along the valve stem 33 . in addition , the drain means 15 is provided in the valve structure so that the port 60 may be connected to a source of low pressure , which vents the chamber 44 and keeps it free of refrigerant fluid by permitting the connection of the chamber 44 to the low pressure side of the refrigerant system . as indicated , the restriction 28 is threadedly engaged within the body 20 , and the operating point of the valve can be adjusted by simple screwdriver adjustment along the slot 31 to vary the biasing force of the spring 53 , thereby adjusting the operating point of the valve . from the foregoing , it may be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all the ends and objects herein set forth , together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure . numerous variations , within the scope of the appended claims , will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description and accompanying drawings . thus , the silhouette of the valve may vary in other embodiments of this invention . while particular structural arrangements were illustratively described as preferred , other structural combinations may be utilized , if desired . the number of bimetallic or heater elements used in conjunction with the heat motor , and their relative position may vary in embodiments of this invention . the heat chamber 44 may include temperature sensing means , indicated by the numeral 90 in fig3 for sensing the temperature of either or both the heater elements 47 and the discs 46 . additional electrical conductors between the sensor 90 and control means 8 which are intermounted via the terminals 55 are employed in this situation . the location of the port 60 may be varied in other embodiments of this invention . likewise , the location of ring seal 36 may be changed . for example , the ring seal 36 may be attached directly to the stem 33 along some suitable notch formed in the shaft , if desired . these variations are merely illustrative .	8
the reasons for specifying the chemical composition and the microstructure of base metal of the abrasion resistant steel will be described . hereafter , every expression in the unit % is on a percent by mass basis . c : 0 . 05 % to 0 . 35 % an element c is effective for increasing the hardness of the matrix in the microstructure of base metal to improve the abrasion resistant property , as well as for forming ti carbide serving as a hard second phase ( hereafter may be referred to as a hard phase ) to improve the abrasion resistant property . to obtain such effects , it is necessary that the content is 0 . 05 % or more . on the other hand , if the content of c exceeds 0 . 35 %, the carbide serving as the hard phase become coarse , and cracking occurs during bending while the carbide serves as a crack initiation site . consequently , c is specified to be within the range of 0 . 05 % to 0 . 35 %. preferably , c is 0 . 15 % to 0 . 32 %. elements ti and c are important , and ti is an indispensable element which forms ti carbide serving as a hard phase contributing to improvement of the abrasion resistant property . to obtain such effects , it is necessary that the content is 0 . 1 % or more . fig1 shows an effect of the amount of addition of ti on the abrasion resistant property . fig2 shows an effect of the amount of addition of ti on the tensile properties ( yield strength : ys , tensile strength : ts ). in fig1 , the vertical axis indicates the abrasion resistance ratio , where the amount of abrasion in a rubber wheel abrasion test is compared with the abrasion weight loss of a mild steel ( ss400 ). if the amount of addition of ti is 0 . 1 % or more , characteristics in which the abrasion resistant property is higher than or equal to that of a common abrasion resistant steel are obtained and ts is reduced to 800 mpa or less . that is , the formability can be improved while the abrasion characteristics equal to the known abrasion resistant steel , which has been subjected to a quenching heat treatment , is maintained . the test steel in the rubber wheel abrasion test was produced by rolling a steel slab containing 0 . 33 % c - 0 . 35 % si - 0 . 82 % mn - 0 . 05 % to 1 . 2 % ti to 19 mmt and , thereafter , conducting air - cooling at a cooling rate of 0 . 5 ° c ./ s . the resulting steel was subjected to tensile tests and abrasion tests . regarding the tensile test , a jis no . 5 test piece was taken on the basis of the stipulation of jis z2201 , and the tensile test was conducted to determine the tensile properties ( yield strength : ys , tensile strength : ts ). regarding the abrasion test , the rubber wheel abrasion test was conducted on the basis of astm g65 , and the test results were organized in terms of the abrasion resistance ratio that is the ratio of the amount of abrasion weight loss of the mild steel ( ss400 ) to the amount of abrasion weight loss of each test steel . the larger abrasion resistance ratio corresponds to better abrasion characteristics . for the purpose of a comparison test , the same test as the above - described test was conducted regarding an abrasion resistant steel produced by a common heat treatment . the obtained results are shown as a known steel in fig1 and fig2 . the common abrasion resistant steel refers to a steel which is a material produced by hot rolling a steel having a composition of 0 . 15 mass % c - 0 . 35 mass % si - 1 . 50 mass % mn - 0 . 13 mass % cr - 0 . 13 mass % mo - 0 . 01 mass % ti - 0 . 0010 mass % b , conducting reheating to 900 ° c . and , thereafter , conducting a quenching heat treatment , and which has a brinell hardness of about 400 hb . on the other hand , if the ti content exceeds 1 . 2 %, the hard phase ( ti based carbide ) becomes coarse , and cracking occurs during bending while the coarse hard phase serves as a crack initiation site . consequently , ti is limited within the range of 0 . 1 % to 1 . 2 %, and preferably 0 . 1 % to 0 . 8 %. an element si is effective as a deoxidizing element . to obtain such an effect , it is necessary that the content is 0 . 05 % or more . furthermore , si is an element which forms a solid solution in a steel to contribute to an increase in hardness because of solid solution strengthening . however , if the content exceeds 1 . 0 %, problems occur in that , for example , the ductility and the toughness deteriorate and the inclusion content increases . therefore , preferably , si is limited within the range of 0 . 05 % to 1 . 0 %. more preferably , si is 0 . 05 % to 0 . 40 %. an element mn contributes to an increase in hardness because of solid solution strengthening . to obtain such an effect , it is necessary that the content is 0 . 1 % or more . on the other hand , if the content exceeds 2 . 0 %, the weldability deteriorates . therefore , preferably , mn is limited within the range of 0 . 1 % to 2 . 0 %. more preferably , mn is 0 . 1 % to 1 . 60 %. an element al acts as a deoxidizing element . such an effect is observed if the content is 0 . 0020 % or more . however , a large content exceeding 0 . 1 % allows the cleanness of the steel to deteriorate . therefore , preferably , al is limited to 0 . 1 % or less . at least one element of 0 . 1 % to 1 . 0 % of cu , 0 . 1 % to 2 . 0 % of ni , 0 . 1 % to 1 . 0 % of cr , 0 . 05 % to 1 . 0 % of mo , 0 . 05 % to 1 . 0 % of w , and 0 . 0003 % to 0 . 0030 % of b . an element cu improve the hardenability because of solid solution . to obtain this effect , it is necessary that the content is 0 . 1 % or more . on the other hand , if the content exceeds 1 . 0 %, the hot formability deteriorates . therefore , preferably , cu is limited within the range of 0 . 1 % to 1 . 0 %. more preferably , cu is 0 . 1 % to 0 . 5 %. an element ni improve the hardenability because of solid solution . such an effect becomes remarkable if the content is 0 . 1 % or more . on the other hand , if the content exceeds 2 . 0 %, the material cost increases significantly . therefore , preferably , ni is limited within the range of 0 . 1 % to 2 . 0 %. more preferably , ni is 0 . 1 % to 1 . 0 %. an element cr exerts an effect of improving the hardenability . to obtain such an effect , it is necessary that the content is 0 . 1 % or more . however , if the content exceeds 1 . 0 %, the weldability deteriorates . therefore , preferably , cr is limited within the range of 0 . 1 % to 1 . 0 %. more preferably , cr is 0 . 1 % to 0 . 8 %. further preferably , cr is 0 . 4 % to 0 . 7 %. an element mo improves the hardenability . to obtain such an effect , it is necessary that the content is 0 . 05 % or more . on the other hand , if the content exceeds 1 . 0 %, the weldability deteriorates . therefore , preferably , mo is limited within the range of 0 . 05 % to 1 . 0 %. more preferably , mo is 0 . 05 % to 0 . 40 %. an element w improves the hardenability . to obtain such an effect , it is necessary that the content is 0 . 05 % or more . on the other hand , if the content exceeds 1 . 0 %, the weldability deteriorates . therefore , preferably , w is limited within the range of 0 . 05 % to 1 . 0 %. more preferably , w is 0 . 05 % to 0 . 40 %. since mo and w form solid solutions in tic , an effect of increasing the amount of hard phase is also exerted . an element b segregates at grain boundaries , strengthen grain boundaries , and contributes to improvement of the toughness effectively . to obtain such effects , it is necessary that the content is 0 . 0003 % or more . on the other hand , if the content exceeds 0 . 0030 %, the weldability deteriorates . therefore , preferably , b is limited within the range of 0 . 0003 % to 0 . 0030 %. more preferably , b is 0 . 0003 % to 0 . 0015 %. di * ( hardenability index ) is defined as di = 33 . 85 ×( 0 . 1 × c ) 0 . 5 ×( 0 . 7 × si + 1 )×( 3 . 33 × mn + 1 )×( 0 . 35 × cu + 1 )×( 0 . 36 × ni + 1 )×( 2 . 16 × cr + 1 )×( 3 × mo + 1 )×( 1 . 5 × w + 1 ), where c = c − 1 / 4 ×( ti − 48 / 14n ), mo = mo ×( 1 - 0 . 5 ×( ti − 48 / 14n )), and w = w ×( 1 − 0 . 5 ×( ti − 48 / 14n )), and satisfies di & lt ; 60 . here , c , si , mn , cu , ni , cr , mo , w , ti , and n represent contents ( percent by mass ). fig3 shows an effect of di * on the abrasion resistant property . fig4 shows an effect of di * on the tensile properties ( yield strength : ys , tensile strength : ts ). in fig3 , the vertical axis indicates the abrasion resistance ratio , where the amount of abrasion in the rubber wheel abrasion test is compared with the amount of abrasion of the mild steel ( ss400 ). the larger abrasion resistance ratio corresponds to better abrasion characteristics . as is recognized from fig3 and fig4 , in the case where di * is less than 60 , the amount of abrasion is at a level equal to that of a common abrasion resistant steel regardless of low strength , that is , ts is 800 mpa or less . on the other hand , if di * is 60 or more , excellent abrasion resistant property is exhibited , however , the tensile strength is 800 mpa or more and the formability is poor . the reason is estimated that in the case where di * is 60 or more , a ferrite and bainite structure results . the test steel in the rubber wheel abrasion test was produced by rolling a steel slab containing 0 . 34 % c - 0 . 22 % si - 0 . 55 % mn - 0 . 22 % ti on a percent by mass basis and at least one element of cu , ni , cr , mo , and av , where di * is 40 to 120 , to 8 mmt and , thereafter , conducting air - cooling ( cooling rate : 1 . 2 ° c ./ s ). the resulting steel was subjected to tensile tests and abrasion tests . regarding the tensile test , a jis no . 5 test piece was taken on the basis of the stipulation of jis z2201 , and the tensile test was conducted to determine the tensile properties ( yield strength : ys , tensile strength : ts ). the rubber wheel abrasion test was conducted on the basis of astm g65 , and the test results were organized in terms of the abrasion resistance ratio that is the ratio of the amount of abrasion of the mild steel ( ss400 ) to the amount of abrasion of each test steel . the above - described components constitute the basic components and an excellent abrasion resistant property is obtained . a hard second phase is formed and nb and v , which are elements contributing to the abrasion resistant property , can be included as selective elements to further improve the abrasion resistant property . an element nb is added in combination with ti , forms a complex carbide (( nbti ) c ) of ti and nb , and disperses as a hard second phase , to contribute to an improvement of the abrasion resistant property effectively . to obtain such an effect of improving the abrasion resistant property , it is necessary that the content is 0 . 005 % or more . on the other hand , if the content exceeds 1 . 0 %, the hard second phase ( complex carbide of ti and nb ) becomes coarse , and cracking occurs during bending while the hard second phase ( complex carbide of ti and nb ) serves as a crack initiation site . consequently , in the case where nb is added , preferably , nb is limited within the range of 0 . 005 % to 1 . 0 %. more preferably , nb is 0 . 1 % to 0 . 5 %. in a manner similar to that in the case of nb , an element v is added in combination with ti , forms a complex carbide (( vti ) c ) of ti and v , and disperses as a hard second phase , to contribute to an improvement of the abrasion resistant property effectively . to obtain such an effect of improving the abrasion resistant property , it is necessary that the content is 0 . 005 % or more . on the other hand , if the content exceeds 1 . 0 %, the hard second phase ( complex carbide of ti and v ) becomes coarse , and cracking occurs during bending while the hard second phase ( complex carbide of ti and v ) serves as a crack initiation site . consequently , in the case where v is added , preferably , v is limited within the range of 0 . 005 % to 1 . 0 %. more preferably , in the case where nb and v are added in combination , the same effect of improving the abrasion resistant property is exerted merely except that the hard second phase becomes ( nbvti ) c . in the case where n is contained , a carbonitride may be formed in addition to a carbide , but the same effect is obtained . however , in the case where the amount of addition of n exceeds 0 . 01 %, the proportion of n in the carbonitride increases , the hardness of the hard second phase decreases , and deterioration of the abrasion resistant property is concerned . therefore , it is preferable that the amount of addition of n is specified to be 0 . 01 % or less . regarding the abrasion resistant steel , a microstructure of base metal is specified to be a microstructure in which a base phase is a ferrite and pearlite structure , and a hard phase ( hard second phase ) is dispersed in the base phase . the base phase means that the volume fraction thereof is 90 % or more . two phases , i . e ., ferrite and pearlite , constitute 90 % or more of the whole . furthermore , it is desirable that the volume fraction of the ferrite phase is 70 % or more , among them , and the ferrite phase has an average particle diameter of 20 μm in terms of an equivalent circle diameter . preferably , the base phase has a brinell hardness of 300 hb or less in consideration of the formability . it is preferable that the hard phase is a ti based carbide , e . g ., tic . examples thereof can include tic , ( nbti ) c , ( vti ) c , and tic which mo and / or w is dissolved in . the size of the hard phase is not specifically limited . however , from the viewpoint of the abrasion resistant property , about 0 . 5 μm or more , and 50 μm or less is preferable . furthermore , it is preferable that the dispersion density of the hard phase is 400 particles / mm 2 or more from the viewpoint of the abrasion resistant property . regarding the size of the hard phase , the area of each hard phase is measured , an equivalent circle diameter is calculated from the area , the resulting equivalent circle diameters are arithmetically averaged , and the average value is assumed to be the size ( average particle diameter ) of the hard phase in the steel . regarding the abrasion resistant steel , preferably , a molten steel having the above - described composition is melted by a known melting method and steel materials , e . g ., a slab , having a predetermined dimension is produced by a continuous casting method or an ingot making - blooming method . to adjust the size and the number of the hard phase at predetermined values , for example , in the case where the continuous casting method is used , preferably , the cooling is adjusted in such a way that the cooling rate of a cast slab having a thickness of 200 to 400 mm in a temperature range of 1 , 500 ° c . to 1 , 200 ° c . becomes 0 . 2 ° c ./ s to 10 ° c ./ s . in the case where the ingot making method is used as well , there is a need to adjust the size of the ingot and the cooling condition in such a way that the size and the number of the hard phase become predetermined values , as a matter of course . the steel material ( cast slab or ingot ) is hot rolled immediately without cooling or the above material is cooled , reheated to 950 ° c . to 1 , 250 ° c ., and hot rolled , to produce a steel having a predetermined sheet thickness . after the hot rolling , cooling is conducted at an average cooling rate of 2 ° c ./ s or less without a heat treatment . if the cooling rate exceeds 2 ° c ./ s , the ferrite and pearlite structure is not obtained , the tensile strength becomes 800 mpa or more , the forming load in the steel bending increases , and the formability deteriorates . therefore , the cooling rate is specified to be 2 ° c ./ s or less . the hot rolling condition is not specifically limited , insofar as the steel having predetermined size and shape can be produced . however , in consideration of the toughness which is a performance necessary to the steel , it is necessary that the rolling reduction rate at a steel surface temperature of 920 ° c . or lower is specified to be 30 % or more and the rolling finishing temperature is specified to be 900 ° c . or lower . the abrasion resistant steel can be used for various purposes in which bending is required to the hot - rolled steel with no need to conduct a heat treatment after the hot rolling . a molten steel having the composition shown in table 1 was melted in a vacuum melting furnace to produce a small steel ingot ( 50 kg ) ( steel material ). thereafter , heating to 1 , 050 ° c . to 1 , 250 ° c . and hot rolling were conducted so that a test steel having a sheet thickness of 6 to 100 mm was produced . regarding each test steel , a microstructure observation , a tensile test , an abrasion test , a charpy impact test , and a bend test were conducted . a test piece for the microstructure observation was polished and etched with nital . regarding the site at a position 1 mm under the surface layer , the microstructure was identified by using an optical microscope ( magnification ratio : 400 times ), and the ferrite grain diameter and the size and the number of the hard phase were measured . the microstructure constituting 90 % or more of the observation field of view was assumed to be a base phase , and an average particle diameter determined by the above - described method was assumed to be the size of hard phase . a jis no . 5 test piece was taken on the basis of the stipulation of jis z2201 , and the tensile test was conducted on the basis of the stipulation of jis z2241 , to determine the tensile properties ( yield strength : ys , tensile strength : ts ). our steels are specified to be within the range of a tensile strength ( ts ) of less than 800 mpa and a yield strength ( ys ) of less than 600 mpa . a test piece was t ( sheet thickness )× 20 × 75 ( mm ) and the rubber wheel abrasion test was conducted by using abrasion sand on the basis of the stipulation of astm g65 . after the test , the amount of abrasion of the test piece was measured . the test results were evaluated on the basis of the abrasion resistance ratio =( amount of abrasion of mild steel )/( amount of abrasion of each test steel ) with reference to the amount of abrasion ( 1 . 0 ) of the mild steel ( ss400 ). the larger abrasion resistance ratio corresponds to better abrasion property . the range is specified to be an abrasion resistance ratio of 4 . 0 or more . a v notch impact test piece was taken from the position at ¼ in the plate thickness direction toward an l direction on the basis of the stipulation of jis z2202 . the charpy impact test was conducted at a test temperature of 0 ° c . on the basis of the stipulation of jis z2242 , to determine charpy absorbed energy . the number of test pieces was three , and an average value was determined . test pieces were taken on the basis of the stipulation of jis z2204 . the width was 50 mm and in the case where the plate thickness of the test steel was 45 mm or more , the thickness was reduced to 25 mm by cutting from one surface side . in the case where the plate thickness of the test steel was less than 45 mm , the plate thickness was not changed . the bend test was conducted on the basis of the stipulation of jis z2248 . the bend test was conducted by a pressing bend method at a pressing bend radius r of 1 . 5t . table 2 shows the results of the microstructure observation , the tensile test , and the abrasion test . invention examples ( steel nos . 1 to 6 and steel nos . 8 and 9 ) are steels having a very excellent abrasion resistant property in spite of the tensile strength ( ts )& lt ; 800 mpa and the yield strength ( ys )& lt ; 600 mpa . furthermore , the charpy absorbed energy was 27 j or more in the case where the rolling finishing temperature was 900 ° c . or lower . on the other hand , comparative examples are inferior in the abrasion resistant property to invention examples , or inferior in the bending form ability because ys and ts are high even if the abrasion resistant property is at an equal level .	2
the apparatus shown schematically in the drawings can be operated in steps that are examples of the elements recited in the method claims , and has parts that are examples of the elements recited in the apparatus claims . the following description thus includes examples of how a person of ordinary skill in the art can make and use the claimed invention . it is presented here to meet the requirements of enablement and best mode without imposing limitations that are not recited in the claims . the various parts , as shown , described , and claimed , may be of either original or retrofitted construction as required to accomplish any particular implementation of the invention . the parts that are shown schematically in fig1 include a burner 10 in an industrial heating plant 12 for which the exhaust emissions are subject to governmental regulation . such plants include , for example , boilers , steam generators , dryers , and process heaters . the burner 10 is part of a combustion system 14 that is operative to fire into a combustion chamber 15 containing the load ( not shown ) to be heated . a flue 17 discharges the exhaust from the combustion chamber 15 to the atmosphere . a fuel source 20 , which is preferably a supply of natural gas , and an oxidant source 24 , which is preferably an air blower , provide the burner 10 with streams of those reactants . the burner 10 communicates with the fuel source 20 through a fuel control valve 30 . the blower 24 communicates with the ambient atmosphere through an oxidant control valve 32 . other parts of the combustion system 14 include a controller 40 that is operatively associated with the valves 30 and the 32 , and a sensor 50 that is operatively associated with the flue 17 . the controller 40 has hardware and / or software that is configured for operation of the burner 10 . the controller 40 may thus comprise any suitable programmable logic controller or other control device , or combination of control devices , that is programmed or otherwise configured to perform as recited in the claims . as the controller 40 carries out those instructions , it actuates the valves 30 and 32 to initiate , regulate , and terminate flows of reactant streams that cause the burner 10 to fire into the combustion chamber 15 . the controller 40 provides the burner 10 with reactant streams at controlled flow rates . in an ordinary mode of operation , the flow rates of the reactant streams are controlled to be appropriate for the amount of available heat needed for the industrial heating process to be performed in the chamber 15 , and also to have a fuel - to - oxidant ratio within a target range . available heat is defined as the gross quantity of heat released within a combustion chamber minus both the dry flue gas loss and the moisture loss . it represents the quantity of heat remaining for useful purposes and to balance losses to walls , openings , or conveyors , etc . the target range of fuel - to - oxidant ratios is determined with reference to predetermined flow rate data indicating that the exhaust produced by combustion of the reactant streams will contain oxides of nitrogen ( nox ) at levels that are likewise within a target range . the target range of nox levels is below a threshold alarm level which , in turn , is below a maximum level permitted in compliance with an applicable governmental regulation . the sensor 50 is responsive to the composition of the exhaust in the flue 17 . the sensor 50 could sense and indicate nox content directly . alternatively , the sensor 50 could sense a different component of the exhaust , such as oxygen , and thus indicate nox content by implication . in the latter case , the controller 40 would be configured to infer the nox content of the exhaust based on a known relationship of nox to total oxygen . in either case , the controller 40 measures the nox content of the exhaust based on input from the sensor 50 , and compares the measured nox content with the target range of nox levels that are expected to result from the target range of fuel - to - oxidant ratios at the burner 10 . if the measured nox level is above the target range of nox levels , the controller 40 generates an alarm signal . in addition to the alarm signal that indicates nox above the target range , the controller 40 is further operative to generate alarm signals that indicate other alarm conditions . as shown schematically in fig2 , the controller 40 is operatively associated with other sensors in addition to the sensor 50 as described above . that sensor 50 provides the controller 40 with input that directly or indirectly indicates the amount of nox in the exhaust in the flue 17 . at least one other sensor 60 similarly provides the controller 40 with input that directly or indirectly indicates the amount of a different exhaust component such as , for example , co . the controller 40 measures the co content of the exhaust based on input from the other sensor 60 , and compares the measured co content with a target range of co levels that are expected to result from the target range of fuel - to - oxidant ratios at the burner 10 . if the measured co level is above the target range of co levels , the controller 40 generates an alarm signal . the additional sensors that are shown as examples in fig2 include a fuel composition sensor 70 , a fuel flow rate sensor 80 , and an oxidant flow rate sensor 90 . also shown in fig2 is an exhaust temperature sensor 100 . these sensors 70 , 80 , 90 , and 100 , as well as the sensors 50 and 60 described above , are known devices . the exhaust sensors 50 , 60 and 100 are operatively associated with the flue 17 , as indicted by the sensor 50 shown in fig1 . the other sensors 70 , 80 and 90 can be installed in the apparatus of fig1 at any suitable locations known in the art . in accordance with the claimed invention , the controller 40 can generate an alarm signal if input from the fuel composition sensor 70 indicates an unacceptable change in fuel composition . the controller 40 can also generate an alarm signal indicating an unacceptable change in a reactant flow rate through a control valve 30 or 32 , as indicated by input from the corresponding flow rate sensor 80 or 90 . input from the exhaust temperature sensor 100 might also prompt an alarm signal from the controller 40 . moreover , the controller 40 can generate an alarm signal in response to input from any of the sensors 50 - 100 , or from any other device with which the controller 40 is operatively associated in the combustion system 14 , if that input indicates a malfunction of the respective device . the alarm signal generated by the controller 40 might indicate that the detected alarm condition is relatively minor . for example , an alarm signal responding to input from the exhaust content sensor 50 might indicate that the measured level of nox in the exhaust exceeds a specified threshold alarm level that is higher than the target range but complies with the governmental regulation . if so , the controller 40 continues to fire the burner 10 in the ordinary operating mode by providing the burner 10 with reactant streams having fuel - to - oxidant ratios within the target range . however , the alarm signal generated by the controller 40 might indicate that the measured level of nox in the exhaust approaches or exceeds the maximum compliant level . if so , the burner 10 continues to be fired without a shutdown interruption , but the controller 40 shifts from the ordinary operating mode to an assured compliance mode in which the exhaust generated by the burner 10 contains nox at levels below the specified threshold alarm level . the controller 40 can shift the combustion system 14 into an assured compliance mode by reducing the available heat in the chamber 15 such that nox production will be reduced to a level below the level at which the alarm signal was generated . the controller 40 can measure available heat in a known manner , and the reduction can be accomplished by any operating technique or condition that is known to reduce available heat . for example , the controller 40 can calculate available heat from input received from the exhaust oxygen sensor 50 , the fuel flow rate sensor 80 , and the exhaust temperature sensor 100 . additional input from the other sensors 60 , 70 , and 90 also could be used in the calculation of available heat in a known manner . techniques for reducing the available heat include delivering steam or recirculated flue gas to the burner 10 as a diluent . this could be accomplished by the use of a flue gas recirculation ( fgr ) line 102 with an fgr valve 104 . in a preferred implementation of the claimed invention , the reduction in available heat is accomplished by actuating the fuel and oxidant control valves 30 and 32 to reduce the fuel - to - oxidant ratio at the burner 10 . that ratio is reduced to a value below the target range sufficiently to reduce the nox content of the exhaust to a compliant level that is below the specified threshold alarm level , and is thus well below the maximum compliant level . for example , the reduced level of nox content could be about 75 % of the maximum compliant level . shifting into an assured compliance mode enables the burner 10 to continue firing into the combustion chamber 15 without a shut - down interruption that otherwise would be necessary to avoid nox emissions above the maximum compliant level . the industrial heating process performed by the plant 12 can then be continued without a shut - down interruption while the operator examines the plant 12 to identify a cause for the non - compliant level of nox . if the cause can be corrected without shutting down the combustion system 14 , the assured compliance mode enables the heating process to be continued still further without a shut - down interruption while the operator makes a correction and , in this example , subsequently actuates the controller 40 to shift the combustion system 14 back from the assured compliance mode to an ordinary operating mode by increasing the fuel - to - oxidant ratio at the burner 10 to a value within the target range . the foregoing example proposes that an assured compliance mode can be reached by reducing the available heat in the chamber 15 to a value at which the exhaust nox is well below the maximum compliant level . in order to shift into an assured compliance mode in this manner , the controller 40 would require a predetermined reference value of low available heat to which the measured value of available heat must be reduced . the reference value of low available heat would preferably be established empirically . in the given example it could be established by first specifying a low compliant level of nox to be produced in the assured compliance mode . the burner 10 would then be fired in a preliminary operating mode in which a low range of available heat is identified . specifically , the burner 10 would be fired with reactant flow rates that produce nox at or below the specified low compliant level , as measured by the controller 40 with input from the sensor 50 at the flue 17 . the available heat in the chamber 15 would be measured at those flow rates to identify a low range of available heat at which nox production will not exceed the specified low compliant level . accordingly , that low range of available heat could then serve as the reference to which the measured available heat can be reduced to accomplish a shift into the assured compliance mode . in the foregoing example , the preliminary mode of operation that establishes the reference range of available heat is performed by the same combustion system 14 that later uses the reference range in an assured compliance mode . however , it is not considered necessary to use a single combustion system as both the reference system and the user system . a suitable reference system could be operated in the preliminary mode to establish a low range of available heat for an assured compliance mode in one or more other user systems . the heating plant 12 can be constructed such that the combustion system 14 is originally configured to operate with an assured compliance mode . alternatively , a heating plant with an existing combustion system that is not configured to operate with an assured compliance mode can be retrofitted to do so . this could be accomplished by operating either the existing combustion system or a different reference system in a preliminary operating mode to establish an assured compliance mode in the manner described above . the existing combustion system could then be configured to operate in an ordinary operating mode with the capability of shifting into the assured compliance mode that was established in the preliminary operating mode . the patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims , and may include other examples of how the invention can be made and used . in this regard , the schematic illustration of fig1 shows a burner system in which two reactant streams are delivered to a single burner 10 , but the claimed invention can be practiced with a burner system that includes a plurality of burners , and the fuel - to - oxidant ratio could be defined in whole or in part by staged reactants . moreover , a particular heating process may include operating modes in which some or all of a plurality of burners are cycled on and off in accordance with predetermined conditions of time , temperature and / or other heating process parameters . the assured compliance mode for any particular heating process can include any such burner firing interruptions without including a shut - down interruption of the burner system that would terminate the heating process . such other examples , which may be available either before or after the application filing date , are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural or method elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims , or if they have equivalent structural or method elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims .	5
referring to fig1 a microphone 9 is used to convert a speech signal into an analog electrical signal which signal is directed to an amplifier 10 . amplifier 10 provides gain to the analog signal and directs the amplified signal to a speech clipper 20 . in operation , the speech clipper 20 , which preferably is an infinite clipper , limits the amplitude excursions of the analog signals while simultaneously squaring up the slope of the analog signal to form a digital signal . the digital signal is then directed to a sample and hold register 30 where it is sampled and held at a 25 khz rate under control of the sample clock signal smpck to thereby provide a binary signal conversion of the original speech signal . when 16 samples are held in register 30 they are clocked out to a current samples register 40 . the next group of 16 samples is directed to the current samples register 40 to become the current samples and the previous 16 samples are directed to a previous samples register 50 . under control of a shift clock signal sftck and the clocking signal lclk2 the samples from the current samples register 40 and the previous samples register 50 are directed to the inputs of an and gate matrix 70 ( see fig3 ) such that the previous 16 samples and the current 16 samples are binary multiplied ( 1 bit in width ) 16 bits at a time by the and gates 70 . each pulse of the shift clock signal sftck causes the production of 16 results , with the results being directed to an autocorrelation result register 80 . the bits from the previous samples register 50 are also directed to a holding register 60 . the holding register 60 converts the parallel 16 bits , received on its inputs , into a serial bit stream which is inputted to the current samples register 40 to serially shift the bits received by the current samples register 40 . an eight bit counter 90 is connected to receive the output of the autocorrelation result register 80 and to interface with a 256 × 8 ram 100 . the counter 90 , in conjunction with the ram 100 , performs an autocorrelation accumulation . in operation , the cumulative results stored in ram 100 are read out and incremented with the autocorrelation results in counter 90 and the incremented results are stored back in ram 100 . when 256 sixteen bit frames of autocorrelation calculations are accumulated in the ram 100 they are presented to a first - in , first - out ( fifo ) storage register 110 . in the preferred embodiment of the invention , the signals stored in register 110 may be further utilized by a computer 130 . if such is the case , a buffer 120 provides buffer control to control the signals from and to the computer to properly interface with the register 110 . if the computer 130 is dedicated to the present system then the register 110 and the buffer 120 can be eliminated and the output from the ram 100 can be directed , as a direct input , to the computer 130 . referring now to fig2 a , 2b , and 2c , assembled according to the map of fig2 the output of the speech clipper 20 , which is digital in form , is directed to the jk inputs of an eight bit , serial - in parallel - out , shift register 31 . the eighth output of shift register 31 , labeled q 7 , is coupled to the jk input of an identical shift register 32 so as to form a sixteen bit , serial - in , parallel - out , shift register corresponding to the samples holding register 30 of fig1 . the parallel output bits from shift register 31 are directed to corresponding inputs of a , parallel - in , parallel - out , shift register 41 which shift register , also in response to signals on its jk input , serially shifts the parallel inputs at a rate determined by the transition of the signal on the cp input . in a like manner , the parallel - in , parallel - out , shift register 42 receives the parallel outputs of the shift register 32 . shift registers 41 and 42 form the current samples register 40 , shown in fig1 . the sixteen output signals from registers 41 and 42 are labeled sb1 - sb16 and are connectable to one like labeled input of a respective and gate 72 , shown in fig3 . in addition , the outputs of registers 41 and 42 are directed to the inputs of registers 51 and 52 respectively . these two registers form the previous samples register 50 , shown in fig1 . in the preferred embodiment , these registers are , parallel - in , parallel - out , registers which are under the control of the clocking signal lclk2 . the outputs from these registers are labeled i 1 through i 16 , each of which corresponds to a preceding sample , and which is directed to a like labeled input of a corresponding and gate 72 , shown in fig3 . additionally , the outputs from register 51 are also directed to the d labeled inputs of a holding register 61 . the outputs from register 52 are directed to the d labeled inputs of a holding register 62 . the holding register 62 has its jk inputs connected to ground and its last output stage , labeled d7 , connected to the jk inputs of register 61 . the bits appearing at input terminal d 0 are stepped through shift register 62 in a leftwards direction , flowing into shift register 61 , through shift register 61 , and out terminal d 7 to the jk inputs of the parallel - in , parallel - out , serial shift register 42 . the last output stage of shift register 42 is designated q7 and is connected to the jk inputs of the shift register 41 so as to cause a serial shifting of the bits appearing on the parallel inputs labeled d0 - d7 . the input bits are shifted at a rate determined by the rate of the signal appearing on the cp input . the serially shifted bits appear on the outputs labeled q 0 - q 7 . a signal por /, generated by the circuit shown in fig7 is applied to the reset inputs , labeled mr , of registers 31 , 32 , 41 , 42 , 51 , and 52 to clear the registers to an initial condition upon system power up . the signal lclk2 which is applied to the cp labeled inputs to registers 51 and 52 is derived from the chip 284 , shown in fig1 b . in operation , the clipped speech signal , appearing at the jk inputs of the shift register 31 , are sampled at a rate determined by the clock signal smpck appearing at the cp input . the clock signal smpck is derived from a portion of the circuitry shown in fig8 a . when sixteen samples have been loaded into the registers 31 and 32 combined they are distributed to the inputs of registers 41 and 42 . a shift clock signal sftck is applied to the cp inputs of shift registers 41 , 42 , 61 and 62 . the shift clock signal , which is generated by a portion of the circuitry shown in fig9 clocks the sampled bit signals into registers 41 and 42 . the and gate network 70 of fig3 receives the sb labeled inputs , corresponding to current samples , and the i labeled inputs , corresponding to previous samples and performs a binary multiply ( 1 bit in width ), between the previous sixteen samples and the current sixteen samples to provide a product which is labeled irx where the letter x identifies the particular sample , 1 - 16 . equation 1 illustrates the results obtained : where : x equals the bit position or shift interval ; ix is a previous group of speech samples ; and sbx is the current group of speech samples . each shift clock pulse sftck produces sixteen results , ir1 through ir16 . the registers may be 74199 8 bit bidirectional universal shift registers of the type manufactured by national semiconductor corporation . referring now to fig4 a , 4b and 4c assembled according to the map of fig4 the autocorrelation result register 80 is shown comprised of , two parallel - in , serial - out , shift registers 71 and 72 , connected in tandem , such that the output of the shift register 71 is connected to the jk input of the shift register 72 . the binary multiplied outputs ( ir1 through ir16 ) are directed , in groups of eight , to the d7 through d0 labeled inputs of shift registers 72 and 71 , respectively . the serial output , from register 72 , is taken from the output labeled q7 and is directed through gate 74 to the input of counter 90 under the control of an inverted clocking signal mclk appearing at the output of inverter 73 . within the counter 90 , gate 93 , under control of a signal calen , gates the signal from gate 74 to an input of an or gate 94 . the calen signal is generated by a portion of the circuitry shown in fig1 b . the or gate 94 receives as a gating signal the signal lclk3 . the gated output signal from the or gate 94 , is applied to the input labeled cp of a counter 91 and a like labeled input of a counter 92 . counters 91 and 92 are 4 - bit counters which interface with the ram unit 100 to provide to the ram a count accumulated signal which accumulated signal may then be withdrawn from the ram and upgraded within the counter 90 with a new count signal coming from the autocorrelation result register 80 . this upgrading continues within each frame of counts but ends at the last count for a frame . the 4 - bit outputs from counter 91 and counter 92 are directed to inputs , labeled d0 - d7 , of a buffer ( latch ) 105 . the outputs of buffer 105 , labeled q0 - q3 , are directed as data inputs to an addressable ram section 106 . the outputs labeled q4 - q7 are directed as data inputs to a ram section 107 . the ram 100 is addressed by the signals cadro - cadr4 , appearing on the inputs labeled a0 - a4 on ram unit 106 . a 4 - bit output is taken from ram unit 106 at the outputs labeled q0 - q3 . those outputs are directed to the inputs labeled d0 - d3 of counter 91 and to the corresponding inputs of the fifo unit 110 , shown in fig5 . likewise , the outputs labeled q0 - q3 , from the ram unit 107 are connected to the inputs labeled d4 - d7 of the fifo unit 110 , shown in fig5 and to the inputs labeled d4 - d7 of counter 92 . the 4 bits from the ram unit 106 correspond to the lower order data bits d0 - d3 . the 4 bits from the ram unit 107 correspond to the higher order data bits d4 - d7 . an and gate 95 receives as inputs the signals por / and l4 . the l4 signal is generated with the circuit of fig1 . the signal at the output of and gate 95 is directed to the reset terminals labeled mr of counters 91 and 92 . an inverter 109 and the latch 105 receive the signal l2 from the circuit of fig1 and pass the signal to the oe / and oe labeled inputs of buffer 105 and ram sections 106 and 107 . when oe / is low the data in the buffer 105 appears at the outputs ; when oe / is high , the outputs are in a high impedence state - disconnected from the ram inputs d0 - d7 . a read / write signal r / w , when appropriate , is applied to the ram sections 106 and 107 at the we labeled inputs via , an inverter 108 . referring now to fig5 the fifo register 110 receives the data inputs labeled d0 - d7 and under control of the signals i / o / rw and i / o rdy , provides these signals on a first - in , first - out basis at its outputs labeled q0 - q7 , to the inputs of a buffer tri - state bus driver 120 . the buffer 120 provides at its outputs , the accumulated samples that are received in successive group frames of 16 members for each frame . these members correspond to the accumulated autocorrelation sums that have been stored in the ram 100 . the group members may be directed to a computer 130 for further processing , such as would be required to formulate a speech recognition system . an and gate 111 receives the signals hold / and por / and provides at its output a reset signal which is directed to the mr labeled input of the fifo 110 . the i / o rdy signal is gated from the fifo by an and gate 112 under control of the gating signal l6 /. two serially connected inverters 113 and 114 provide the sample roy signal from the signal appearing at the or labeled output of the fifo . a read signal , when appropriate , is applied to the fifo input labeled so . in operation register 80 , counter 90 , fifo 110 , and ram 100 are used to accumulate partial sums of an auto correlation calculation . register 80 holds the value of a partial autocorrelation that is shifted out of register 80 serially . the number of &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; bits is counted by counter 90 , thus summing up the partial autocorrelation . it should be noted that the counter could be pre - loaded with a previous partial sum . the previous partial sum would then be &# 34 ; added to &# 34 ; by incrementing the counter with the autocorrelation value contained in register 80 . register 105 provides a temporary holding of the partial sum which will be written into ram 100 at the proper address as signified by cadro - cadr4 . after all partial sums of autocorrelation values are determined ( they are now present in ram 100 ), the final autocorrelation values are read from ram 100 and presented to fifo 110 via the data bus d0 - d7 in the i / o read / write cycle of the firmware ( address f thru 15 ). referring to fig6 a buffer 115 , is adapted to be connected to the i / o bus of the computer 130 to stop the binary autocorrelation processor when desired . this is achieved by using the bit idbo to generate the signal hold /. the hold / signal performs this function by being directed to the reset and start flip - flop 224 , shown in fig8 a and to the mr labeled input of the fifo 110 , shown in fig5 . referring to fig7 the circuit 116 provides a power on reset function by insuring that the signals por and por / are not generated until a time t after the application of the + 5 v to the circuit . the time t is approximately equal to 1 / rc where r = 2 . 2k and c = 4 . 7 uf . schmitt triggers 117 and 118 sense the voltage level on the cathode of the 2n4401 transistor and provide at their outputs the signals por and por / respectively . referring now to fig8 the 25 khz . clock signal is derived from the clocking circuit 200 . the clocking circuit is comprised of ; a 25 mhz . crystal oscillator 202 , for providing a 25 mhz sinusoidol signal , an inverter 204 which squares the sinusoidal signal from oscillator 202 into a digital signal , and a divider chain comprised of dividing circuits 206 , 208 , and 210 . the output of the divider 210 is the 25 khz . signal . the digital signal at the output of inverter 204 is the system master clock signal labeled mclk . in the preferred embodiment of the invention , the divider 206 is a 7490 counter circuit with pins 12 and 1 connected together to provide an output mclk2 to an inverter 212 . the output of inverter 212 is the clocking signal mclk1 /. the 25 khz . signal is directed to a frame counter 220 and more specifically , to an and gate input 222 . the enabling input to and gate 222 is provided by the signal on the q output of a jk flip - flop 224 which enables gate 222 upon the occurrence of a start signal appearing at the input labeled cp . the gate 222 may be disabled by applying either the hold / signal or the signal por / to an and gate 223 . the output signal from the and gate 222 corresponds to the sampling clock signal smpck . that signal is directed to the inputs of a pair of synchronous binary counters 226 and 228 . in the preferred embodiment , the counters , 226 and 228 , are 4 - bit ls161 counters . the counter 226 is reset with the signal por / applied to the mr labeled input . the counter 228 is reset by the signal appearing at the output of an and gate 230 . the and gate 230 , at its inputs , receives the signal por / on one input and the gating signal l7 on its other input . the output signal from the and gate 230 is also applied to the cd input of a jk flip - flop 232 . flip - flop 232 receives the output count signal from the counter 226 on its input labeled cp . the output signal from flip - flop 232 labeled bufen is taken from the terminal labeled q . the output from counter 228 is taken from the carry output terminal labeled tc and is the signal eofr . in operation , the counters 226 and 228 count units of sixteen bit frames until 256 sixteen bit frames are counted . when 256 counts are reached , the signal eofr changes state . referring now to fig9 a jk flip - flop 253 is set by the signal calen applied to its input labeled cp . the calen signal is also applied to the master reset input of a 4 - bit synchronous counter 252 . the counter 252 receives at its input , labeled gp , the signal mclk . the counter clocks the mclk signal and provides at its output a clocking signal stk . that signal is also applied to the c labeled input of the jk flip - flop 253 and to an input of an or gate 254 . the or gate additionally receives at its other input the signal labeled lclk1 . the output from the or gate 254 is the signal sftck . the signal present at the q output of flip - flop 253 is directed as an input to an or gate 255 . the or 255 gate additionally receives the signal l6 /. the output of the or gate 255 is directed to the cep and cet labeled inputs of a synchronous binary counter 256 . the terminal count of the counter 256 is directed to the jk inputs of a flip - flop 259 which flip - flop receives as its clocking signal , on the input labeled c , the signal lclk4 . that signal is also directed to the input labeled cp of the counter 256 . an and gate 258 receiving as its inputs the signal por / and the signal l5 and provides at its output a master reset signal to the cd labeled input of flip - flop 259 and the mr labeled input , of counter 256 . the signal at the q labeled output of flip - flop 259 is the signal cadr4 . the counter 256 provides at its q0 - q3 outputs the signals cadr0 - cadr3 , respectively . referring now to fig1 , the control circuitry 270 is shown comprised of a number of elements for causing the automatic operation of the overall system . a microprogram sequencer 272 receives , as data inputs , on the terminals labeled d0 - d3 , the signals badr0 , badr1 , badr2 and badr3 , respectively . sequencing control is accomplished through the gating circuits 285 , 286 and 287 , wherein 285 is an or gate having as its inputs the signals i / o rdy and cadr4 . the outputs from or gate 85 is directed to an input of an or gate 286 , which or gate also receives as an input the signal stk . the output signal from or gate 286 is directed to the sequencer input labeled pup and to an input of a nor gate 287 . the other input of nor gate 287 is a constant + 5 volts , current limited by a 1k resistor . the output of the nor gate 287 is directed to the sequencer input terminal labeled fe /. an and gate 289 receives as an input the signal eofr , which signal is gated to its output under control of the signal from an and gate 290 . the and gate 290 receives as its inputs the signals cadr4 and radr4 . the output signal from and gate 289 is directed to the input terminals labeled op0 - op3 of the microprogram sequencer 272 . the microprogram sequencer outputs , labeled y0 - y3 are directed as address inputs a0 - a3 , respectively to a rom circuit 274 . the rom circuits 274 , 276 and 278 comprise the firmware store for the system of the present invention . fig1 is a table indicating the programming for the roms . the data output lines , q0 - q7 , of rom 274 are directed to the data input terminals , d0 - d7 , of an 8 - bit latch 280 . the latch 280 is comprised of eight d - type flip - flops ( not shown ) which on the positive transition of a clock signal , appearing on its c input , causes the q output to be set to the logic states that were set up at the d inputs . two additional , 8 - bit latches , 282 and 284 , are provided for roms 276 and 278 , respectively . the clocking signal mclk1 / is directed to the clocking terminal labeled c of each of the latches 280 , 282 , and 284 . the outputs from the latches 280 and 282 are directed to the inputs of a branch address circuit 300 shown in fig1 . the outputs from the latch 284 are directed as inputs to the register select circuit shown in fig1 . referring now to fig1 , the branch address circuit 300 is shown comprised of a 2 : 1 multiplexer 302 which multiplexes between the signals , radr0 - radr3 , and the signals , bad0 - bad3 , under control of the signal appearing at the output of an or gate 306 which is applied to the s labeled input of the multiplexer 302 . the input signals to the or gate 306 are the signals stk and i / o rdy . the multiplexed outputs , from multiplexer 302 , appear at the output terminals labeled , y0 - y3 , and are directed to one set of inputs of a 2 : 1 multiplexer 304 . multiplexer 304 receives as another set of inputs the signals , bad0 - bad3 . under control of the signal cadr4 , applied to the s labeled input , multiplexer 304 multiplexes the signals on its inputs to the outputs labeled , y0 - y3 . the signals at these outputs are labeled , bar0 - badr3 . the output signals , badr0 - badr3 , select the appropriate branch address signals to be applied to the microprogram sequencer 272 , shown in fig1 . referring now to fig1 , the select register 320 is a 3 to 8 line decoder which is permanently enabled by the signals applied to the terminals labeled e1 , e2 and e3 . the inputs to the decoder are the signals ls0 - ls2 . the decoded outputs appear at the terminals labeled 0 - 7 correspond to the signals l0 - l7 . the signal l6 is inverted by the inverter 322 to provide the signal l6 /. the foregoing hardware description of the invention is in such detail that any person skilled in the art will be able to make the invention without undue experimentation . the use of the tables of fig1 a and 11b will enable the programming of the rom &# 39 ; s of fig1 b and the duplication of applicants &# 39 ; results . while there has been shown what is considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention , it will be manifest that many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the essential spirit of the invention . it is intended , therefore , in the annexed claims , to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true scope of the invention .	6
this invention relates generally to airless spray nozzles and more particularly to airless spray nozzle tips . further , this invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming a circular spray pattern of a liquid coating material sprayed at a low flow rate at a particular distance from the nozzle tip , with the coating material being evenly distributed across the spray pattern . the invention is applicable to nozzle tips of differing constructions . as representative of the invention , fig1 illustrates a nozzle tip 10 that is a first embodiment of the invention . the nozzle tip 10 is supported in a nozzle body 12 to form a nozzle 20 . the nozzle tip 10 is brazed to the nozzle body 12 at an annular seat 22 . in use , the nozzle body 20 is connected to a source of pressurized coating material such as a spray gun ( not shown ). the nozzle tip 10 as shown is a cylindrical disc , preferably a sintered tungsten carbide cylindrical disc . the nozzle tip 10 has a pressurized side , or back side surface , 24 and a non - pressurized side , or front side surface 26 . the disc that forms the nozzle tip 10 has a diameter of , for example , about 0 . 203 ″ and a depth of , for example , about 0 . 080 ″ between the front side 26 and the back side 24 . orifices in the nozzle tip 10 shape the spray pattern of coating material directed from the spray gun . three orifices are formed in the nozzle tip 10 . specifically , a first orifice 30 , a second orifice 32 , and a third orifice 34 extend through the nozzle tip 10 . the orifices 30 - 34 are formed generally in the manner shown in the above - identified u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 346 , 849 and 4 , 579 , 286 , the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference ; that is , by a plurality of intersecting grooves . each one of the grooves is preferably formed by a grinding wheel ( not shown ) having a wedge - shaped or frusto - conical cutting edge . the included angle of the cutting edge determines the slope of the side walls of the respective grooves . in the nozzle tip 10 , a first or back side groove 40 extends inwardly from the back side 24 of the nozzle tip . the first groove includes two sidewalls 42 and 44 which join together at a substantially straight edge 46 . the back side groove 40 preferably extends approximately halfway through the tip 10 from the back side 24 to the non - pressurized front side 26 . a second groove 50 , which is a first front side groove , is formed in the front side 26 of the nozzle tip 10 . the second groove 50 has the cross - sectional configuration generally of an isosceles trapezoid . the second groove 50 includes a bottom or base 52 and two sidewalls 54 and 56 . the side walls 54 and 56 extend upwardly and outwardly from the base 52 . the second groove 50 extends perpendicular to the back side groove 40 . a third groove 60 , which is a second front side groove , is formed in the front side 26 of the nozzle tip 10 . the third groove 60 has the cross - sectional configuration generally of an isosceles trapezoid . the third groove 60 includes a bottom or base 62 and two sidewalls 64 and 66 . the side walls 64 and 66 extend upwardly and outwardly from the base 62 . the third groove 60 extends parallel to the second groove 50 and perpendicular to the back side groove 40 . a fourth groove 70 , which is a third front side groove , is formed in the front side 26 of the nozzle tip 10 . the fourth groove 70 has the cross - sectional configuration generally of an isosceles trapezoid . the fourth groove 70 includes a bottom or base 72 and two sidewalls 74 and 76 . the side walls 74 and 76 extend upwardly and outwardly from the base 72 . the fourth groove 70 extends parallel to the second and third grooves 50 and 60 , and perpendicular to the back side groove 40 . as shown in fig2 , to the extent that the bases 52 , 62 and 72 of the front side grooves 50 , 60 and 70 , respectively , intersect the back side groove 40 and extend below its top edge 46 , the three orifices 30 - 34 are created . the dimensions of the orifices 30 - 34 are defined by , among other factors , the included angle of the grinding wheel used to form each groove , the length ( l ) and width ( w ) of the formed orifices , and the chordal distance between the two walls of a groove at a given distance from the bottom edge or base of the groove . the nozzle tip 10 of the present invention is designed to provide a circular spray pattern of material at a low flow rate . the flow rate of a nozzle is increased by increasing the size of the orifices through the nozzle . the size and shape of the spray pattern , however , are a function of flow rate , orifice length , and the angle of the back side groove , and the number and placement of orifices . the nozzle tip 10 of the present invention is useful to obtain a relatively large circular spray pattern at a low flow rate with the material being evenly distributed across the spray pattern . the spray patterns formed by the three orifices 30 - 34 are fan - shaped streams which overlap each other and which are aligned with each other along the long axis of each spray pattern . the streams combine to form one circular spray pattern . one application for the nozzle 20 of the present invention ( of the many possible applications ) is rivet repair in pull - tab can ends . for this application , a circular spray pattern is desired , ranging in size up to about one inch . this pattern is preferably obtained with the workpiece being at a distance of from about one inch to about three inches from the nozzle tip 10 . the pattern is preferably obtained at a flow rate of under about 0 . 045 gallons per minute of spray lacquer , which may be solvent - based or water - based . nozzle tips of the present invention could be used at flow rates as low as , for example , 0 . 01 gallons per minute . a higher flow rate in this application is not desired , although it may be desired for other applications , in which case nozzle tips in accordance with the present invention could be provided to produce circular spray patterns as described herein . using a dual cut nozzle made according to the disclosure in stoudt u . s . pat . no . 4 , 579 , 286 , one can not reliably obtain this pattern under these spray conditions . for example , it is necessary to increase the separation between the two cuts in order to produce a larger pattern at a given distance from the nozzle tip . however , as the cuts are moved farther apart , the two fluid streams separate and do not produce the desired circular pattern . fig4 illustrates the spray pattern 80 obtained from a prior art dual cut nozzle at a flow rate of 0 . 045 gallons per minute . the spray pattern has a pattern width ( vertical dimension as shown in fig4 ) of about 13 / 16 ″, but shows significant widening at the center . such a material distribution is unsuitable for the score repair application described above because of the large deviation from the desired circular pattern . fig5 shows a spray pattern 82 formed using a nozzle 20 having a three orifice nozzle tip 10 in accordance with the present invention . the flow rate of this nozzle 20 was about 0 . 03 gallons per minute . the spray pattern 82 has a width of about one and one - eighth inches at one inch from the nozzle tip 10 . as shown in fig5 , the spray pattern 82 is significantly better than the spray pattern 80 shown in fig4 . this spray pattern 82 shows a distribution which is acceptable for most applications requiring a circular spray pattern at a low flow rate . fig6 shows another spray pattern 84 formed using another three orifice nozzle tip 10 in accordance with the present invention , with different orifice dimensions . the flow rate of this nozzle tip 10 was about 0 . 03 gallons per minute . the spray pattern 84 has a width of about 15 / 16 of an inch at one inch from the nozzle tip 10 . as shown in fig6 , the spray pattern 84 is significantly better than the spray pattern 80 shown in fig4 . fig7 shows a spray pattern 86 formed using another three orifice nozzle tip 10 in accordance with the present invention , with different orifice dimensions . the flow rate of this nozzle tip 10 was about 0 . 045 gallons per minute . the spray pattern has a width of about one inch at 10 inches from the nozzle tip 10 . as shown in fig7 , the spray pattern 86 is significantly better than the spray pattern 80 shown in fig4 . this spray pattern 86 shows a good even distribution which is acceptable for most applications requiring a circular spray pattern at a low flow rate . fig8 shows a spray pattern 88 formed using another three orifice nozzle tip 10 in accordance with the present invention , with different orifice dimensions . the flow rate of this nozzle tip 10 was about 0 . 045 gallons per minute . the spray pattern has a width of about one inch at one inch from the nozzle tip 10 . as shown in fig7 , the spray pattern 88 is significantly better than the spray pattern 80 shown in fig4 . this spray pattern 88 shows a good even distribution which is acceptable for most applications requiring a circular spray pattern at a low flow rate .	1
while the invention is capable of embodiment in several different forms , there is shown in the drawing a preferred embodiment of the invention . it should be understood , however , that the invention is not limited to the embodiment illustrated and that variations may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . as illustrated in fig1 the disposal system of the present invention comprises a transporting device 10 and a disposal container 11 . as seen in fig1 the transporting device 10 comprises a relatively small , flat bottomed cup 12 with a top cover 13 having grid - like openings 14 and an elongated slot 15 . partially filling the cup 12 is a solid material 16 , preferably styrofoam . the cover 13 can be glued or otherwise secured to the cup 12 . the transporting device 10 may also contain a stabilizing weight 17 in its bottom ( seen only in fig2 ). still referring to fig1 a syringe 19 is seen which has a needle 18 which extends through one of the openings 14 into the solid material 16 . with the syringe 19 and needle 18 thus positioned , the combination can be safely transported without fear of accidental contamination or injury . the slot 15 is used in a similar manner to transfer disposable scalpels ( not shown ) or other contaminated devices that will not fit through an opening 14 . as seen best in fig2 the solid material 16 does not completely fill the cup 12 so that a barrier can be provided to inhibit the movement of contaminants from the solid material 16 to cover 13 . in the embodiment of fig2 the barrier is an air space 20 which prevents contaminants in the solid material 16 from contaminating the cover 13 . in place of the air space 20 it may be desired to fill the space between the bottom of the cover 13 and top of the material 16 with a solid barrier , such as an absorbent material containing a decontaminant . in fig1 , 4 , 5 and 6 , the preferred disposal container 11 is seen in detail . referring to fig1 and 4 , it can be seen that the disposal container 11 is comprised of two main components , a receptacle 21 and a lid 22 . as seen in fig1 , 5 and 6 , the lid 22 and receptacle 21 are provided with coacting flanges 22a and 21a , respectively , that help secure the lid 22 to the receptacle 21 . if desired the disposal container 11 could be constructed so that the lid 22 and receptacle 21 are an integral unit which cannot be separated by the user . however , a separate lid 21 and receptacle 22 which can be nested can provide storage and transportation advantages . turning now to fig3 it can be seen that the lid 22 has an aperture 23 which is provided with a hinged door 24 which can be secured in a closed position by snap fasteners 25 as seen in fig1 and 3 or opened to receive sharps as shown in fig3 and in fig4 ( dotted lines ). referring now to fig3 and 4 , it can be seen that a paddle wheel 26 is mounted in the aperture 23 in the lid 22 . as seen in fig4 the paddle wheel 26 has four radial vanes 27a , 27b , 27c and 27d which are mounted on an axle 28 . the axle 28 is journalled at one end 28a in the side wall 29 of the lid 22 and extends through the other side wall 30 where it operatively engages a knob - like handle 31 . the handle 31 is used to rotate the paddle wheel 26 . in some embodiments , the handle 31 can be omitted provided the paddle wheel 26 freely rotates when a used medical device is placed on a vane . the operation of the disposal system of the present invention will now be described . in a hospital room or other location where sharps might be used and disposed of , the disposal container 11 can be placed either on a table or floor or mounted on a wall with a bracket 32 as seen in fig1 and 5 . when any sharps item , such as the hypodermic syringe 19 and needle 18 , is desired to be discarded , it is first placed in the transport device 10 as seen in fig1 and 2 and carried to the disposal container 11 . the hinged door 24 of the lid 22 is opened by unsecuring the snap fasteners 25 and the hypodermic syringe 19 and needle 18 combination is removed from the transport container 10 and laid horizontally on the surface of one of the vanes 27a - 27d . the combination is positioned with the needle 18 on the area of the vane opposite the legend &# 34 ; place sharps in this area &# 34 ; seen only in fig3 . next the handle 31 is rotated , preferably counterclockwise , whereupon the sharps item falls by gravity from the vane into the receptacle 21 . when the disposal container 11 is no longer needed or it is full as can be ascertained by looking through the transparent wall area 33 or as signaled by the vanes of the paddle wheel 26 encountering resistance from the discarded sharps in the receptacle 21 the hinged door 24 is closed and secured with the fasteners 25 . the disposal container 11 is then removed from the bracket 32 by lifting it vertically as seen in fig6 . it can then be safely destroyed , preferably by incineration . the transport device 10 is inexpensive and intended for single patient use . because of the air space 20 ( seen only in fig2 ) between the top surface of the solid material 16 and the bottom of the cover 13 contamination of the cover by contaminants in the solid material is unlikely . the apertured cover 13 can be cleaned by wiping it with a disinfectant swab ( not shown ) after each use . the transport device 10 can be destroyed in a similar manner as the disposal container 11 . all the components of the disposal system can be made of a biodegradable material or one that can be incinerated . the preferred material for all components , except the solid material 16 , is a tough polypropylene resin which resists penetration by the discarded sharps . the solid material 16 is preferably a dense polystryene foam which securely retains the sharps after the piercing or cutting parts of the sharps are jammed into it . the entire disposal system of the present invention can be safely disposed of in accordance with recommended procedures , depending upon its contents . for example , if required , a disposal container with contagious medical waste may have to be autoclaved , if necessary , prior to final disposal . an improved sharps disposal system has been described which protects health service personnel from puncture wounds and nicks which are the most prevalent hospital accidents . the disposal system of this invention provides for the safe transport and storage and the intact disposal of a wide variety of medical devices . while this invention has been described in relation to a preferred embodiment , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein can be varied considerably without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , in some instances it may be desired to use a single vane paddle wheel . in addition , in some embodiments the handle can be omitted provided the paddle wheel freely rotates under the weight of the used device when it is placed upon the vane . therefore , it is intended that the invention not be limited except by the claims .	0
a biomolecule - bound substrates of this invention can be prepared by placing a plurality of unmodified biomolecules on an unmodified surface of a support made of a suitable organic polymer ; and irradiating the unmodified biomolecules and the unmodified surface with ultraviolet light . in this method , the ultraviolet light has a center wavelength ranging , for example , from 254 to 365 nm . the irradiation duration is chosen so as to effect binding without degrading the biomolecules and the organic polymer molecules . to practice this invention , one can employ ultraviolet light of different wavelengths for different irradiation durations , and also employ different distances between the ultraviolet light source and the unmodified surface of the support . these parameters vary depending on the organic polymer and the biomolecules . they can be determined empirically . in general , an organic polymer support used herein is resistant to ultraviolet irradiation and analysis conditions . the support can be made in any shape ( e . g ., a sheet , a tube , or a bead ), and may include etches , ridges , or grids on its surface to create a patterned substrate . additionally , it can be opaque , translucent , or transparent . the support can also include wells or grooves . supports of different colors may be obtained by including different additives such as dyes . a white support is suitable for use in a color detection - based assay and a black support is suitable for use in a fluorescence detection - based assay . a support can also be transparent , as transparency facilitates detection of color or fluorescence under a microscope , before immobilization of biomolecules onto an unmodified surface of the support , it is preferred that the surface be cleaned , e . g ., first with 70 % alcohol and then with acetone . a biomolecule used to practice this invention can be prepared using any convenient methodology . for example , where the biomolecule is a nucleic acid , it can be prepared chemically ( e . g ., using dna / rna synthesizer ) or enzymatically ( e . g ., amplified from a polymerase chain reaction ), or prepared from a biological source . a nucleic acid can be a synthetic oligonucleotide , a genomic dna , a cdna , an rna , or a peptide nucleic acid ( pna ). the synthetic oligonucleotide and pna are generally at least 10 or 20 nucleotides in length . the dna or the rna may be as long as 200 , 2000 , or 5000 nucleotides or longer . where the biomolecule is a polypeptide , it can be synthesized by a peptide synthesizer or by recombinant methods . according to this invention , unmodified biomolecules can be immobilized onto an unmodified surface of an organic polymer support either randomly or in an order . preferably , the biomolecules are arranged into an ordered array , i . e ., a rectangular matrix . the array can contain a number of different biomolecules . such an array can be used to detect an analyte in a sample . more specifically , a sample suspected of containing an analyte of interest is contacted with the array under conditions sufficient for the analyte to specifically bind to a biomolecule in the array . the binding can be detected through use of a signal production system such as an enzymatic , isotopic , or fluorescent label present on the analyte . the array may have a plurality of addresses . for example , it can have a density of at least 10 , 100 , 1000 , 10000 , or more addresses per cm 2 ; the number of addresses is at least 5 , 50 , 100 , 500 , 1000 , 5000 , 10000 , or more ; the center - to - center distance between addresses is 5 cm , 10 mm , 1 mm , 1 μm , 1 nm , 0 . 1 nm or less , or any distance in between ; and the longest diameter of each address is 1 cm , 1 mm , 1 μm , 1 nm , 0 . 1 nm or less , or any length in between . each address can contain 1 mg , 1 μg , 1 ng , 100 pg , 10 pg , 0 . 1 pg , or less of a biomolecule , or any amount in between . alternatively , each address can contain 100 , 10 4 , 10 6 , 10 8 , or more biomolecules , or any amount in between . different addresses ( e . g ., different demarcated regions ) may have the same or different amounts of biomolecules . each address can be directly adjacent to at least one another address . alternatively , the addresses can be separated from each other , e . g ., by a ridge or by an etch . the addresses can be distributed on the unmodified surface of an organic polymer support in one dimension , e . g ., a linear array ; or in two dimensions , e . g ., a rectangular array . an organic polymer support with a planar surface can be used to generate an array of a diverse set of biomolecules . in one exemplary application , oligonucleotides of different sequences are positioned on an unmodified surface to form an array . such an oligonucleotide array can be used to analyze a complex sample containing multiple analytes , each of which may hybridize to one or more oligonucleotides within the array . this technique is useful for gene discovery , differential gene expression analysis , sequencing , or genomic polymorphism analysis . another exemplary application is a polypeptide array , e . g ., an array of antigens or antibodies . the specific examples below are to be construed as merely illustrative , and not limitative of the remainder of the disclosure in any way whatsoever . without further elaboration , it is believed that one skilled in the art can , based on the description herein , utilize the present invention to its fullest extent . all publications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . a nucleic acid biochip was prepared and used in a hybridization reaction following the procedures described below : probe sequences were selected from 5 ′ ends of uncoded regions of enterovirus genes . 25 - mers of thymines were attached to the 5 ′ terminus of the sequences . three probes were designed : an acrylic support ( i . e ., acrylic resin ) was used for immobilizing nucleic acids . the acrylic support was cut into a size of about 8 mm × 15 mm . each of the three probes described above was dissolved in a 0 . 05 % sodium dodecyl sulfate ( sds ) solution at a concentration of 2 μm . a 0 . 3 μl aliquot of each probe - containing solution was then spotted on the unmodified surface of the acrylic support . in addition , a m13 universal primer was used as a negative control . after air - drying , ultraviolet irradiation ( 254 nm ) of the surface was performed from a distance of 1 . 5 cm for 3 minutes to produce a biochip , i . e ., an acrylic substrate with the probes immobilized on its surface . primers were selected from sequences of untranslated regions at the 5 ′ terminus of enterovirus genes . biotins were labeled at the 5 ′ end of each primer . forward and reverse primers were , respectively , as follows : rna ( 10 μl ) of enterovirus was added to rt - pcr reverse transcription - polymerase chain reaction reagents ( ready - to - go , amersham pharmacia biotech ) in a tube . primer r - cev 2 ( 2 μm , 1 μl ) was then added to the tube , heated to 70 ° c . for 10 minutes , and ice bathed for 2 to 3 minutes . diethyl pyrocarbonate ( depc )- treated - water was added to the tube to obtain a 50 μl solution . the solution was kept at 42 ° c . for 45 minutes , heated to 70 ° c . for 10 minutes , and then ice - bathed to room temperature . before pcr , the other primer , f - cev 2 , was added to the solution . the pcr reaction conditions were : 94 ° c . for 3 minutes , 94 ° c . for 40 seconds , 54 ° c . for 40 seconds , and 72 ° c . for 40 seconds for 35 cycles , and finally 72 ° c . for 10 minutes . the biochip obtained above was placed on a support in a container . a hybridization buffer ( 5 × ssc , 0 . 1 % n - lauroylsarcosine , 0 . 02 % sds , 1 % blocking reagent ( boehringer mannheim )) was pre - heated at 45 ° c . the pcr product ( 2 . 5 μl , about 10 ng / μl ) was added to the hybridization buffer ( 5 ml ) to obtain a dna - containing solution . the dna - containing solution was added to the container . the hybridization reaction was carried out at 45 ° c . for 20 minutes . after the hybridization , the biochip was washed with 2 × ssc / 0 . 1 % sds twice , for 1 minute each time . it was rinsed with a maleic acid buffer . ( 0 . 1 m maleic acid , 0 . 15 m nacl , ph 7 . 5 ), reacted with streptaridin - alkaline phosphatase ( a stock solution was diluted in 0 . 1 m maleic acid , 0 . 15 m nacl , 1 % blocking , ph 7 . 5 by 2000 times ) for 20 minutes , and then washed with the maleic acid buffer twice , for 1 minute each time . for detection , the biochip was equilibrated with a detection buffer ( 100 mm tris - hcl , 100 mm nacl , 50 mm mgcl 2 , ph 9 . 5 ) for 2 minutes . a detection solution was produced by adding 200 μl nitroblue tetrazolium / 5 - bromo - 4 - chloro - 3 - indolyl - phosphate ( boehringer mannheim ) to 10 ml of the detection buffer . after incubating with the detection solution for 10 minutes , the biochip was washed with water for 5 minutes . all three probes gave hybridization signals , and the negative control did not . thus , the results indicate that the hybridization signals of the three probes are specific . furthermore , three duplicated experiments showed that the same hybridization signal intensity was obtained for each probe . nucleic acid biochips were prepared employing different ultraviolet irradiation for various durations . the procedures were the same as those in example 1 , except that various ultraviolet irradiation durations were employed : 10 seconds , 20 seconds , 30 seconds , 1 minute , 3 minutes , and 5 minutes . all three probes gave hybridization signals when immobilized by ultraviolet irradiation for all durations except the 10 - second duration . further , the signal intensity increased as the irradiation duration increased . nucleic acid biochips were prepared by employing ultraviolet irradiation at different wavelengths . the procedures were the same as those in example 1 , except that two ultraviolet lights , i . e ., 254 nm and 312 nm , were , respectively , applied for 6 minutes or 10 minutes . all three probes were effectively immobilized on the acrylic support when ultraviolet irradiation was performed at 254 nm for either 6 or 10 minutes . however , at 312 nm , cevprobe 2 was immobilized on the support only when the irradiation was applied for 10 minutes , but not for 6 minutes . the other two probes were immobilized on the support when the irradiation at 312 nm was applied for either 6 or 10 minutes . nucleic acid biochips were prepared on various organic polymers . the procedures were the same as those in example 1 , except that various supports were used : a polystyrene 96 well plate , rubber , latex , polypropylene , polyethylene , and 3m scotch tape ( which consists of a matte - finish cellulose acetate carrier and an acrylic polymer adhesive ). the results showed that all three probes were immobilized on all of the supports . two protein biochips were prepared following the procedures described below : porcine blood serum was 10 - time series diluted by phosphate - buffered saline . five microliters of the diluted blood serum solution was spotted on two acrylic supports . after the solution on the support was air - dried , one support was irradiated with ultraviolet light ( 254 nm ) from a distance of 1 . 5 cm for 3 minutes to produce a biochip , i . e ., an acrylic substrate with the serum proteins immobilized on its surface . another support was only air - dried , not irradiated with ultraviolet light , to produce another biochip . both biochips were incubated in a solution containing mice anti - swine antibody conjugated with alkaline phosphatase at a temperature of 37 ° c . for 30 minutes . the biochips were then washed with a maleic acid buffer twice , 1 minute each time . for detection , each biochip was equilibrated with a detection buffer ( 100 mm tris - hcl , 100 mm nacl , 50 mm mgcl 2 , ph 9 . 5 ) for 2 minutes . a detection solution was produced by adding 200 μl nitroblue tetrazolium / 5 - bromo - 4 - chloro - 3 - indolyl - phosphate ( boehringer mannheim ) to 10 ml of the detection buffer . after incubating with the detection solution for 10 minutes , each biochip was washed with water for 5 minutes . the results indicated that the proteins were effectively immobilized on both acrylic supports . the biochip obtained by ultraviolet irradiation generates stronger hybridization signals than the one obtained without irradiating with ultraviolet . all of the features disclosed in this specification may be combined in any combination . each feature disclosed in this specification may be replace by an alternative feature serving the same , equivalent , or similar purpose . thus , unless expressly stated otherwise , each feature disclosed is only an example of a generic series of equivalent or similar features . from the above description , one skilled in the art can easily ascertain the essential characteristics of the present invention , and without departing from the spirit and scope thereof , can make various changes and modifications of the invention to adapt it to various usages and conditions . thus , other embodiments are also within the claims .	1
the friction clutch which is shown in fig1 and 2 comprises a housing or support h and a pressure plate 11 which is installed in the interior of the housing h and is axially movably but non - rotatably secured to the latter by several leaf springs 111 . the housing h comprises a counterpressure plate 15 and a combined distancing and coupling element 16 which connects the counterpressure plate 15 with a substantially disc - shaped carrier 9 of the housing . the clutch further comprises a clutch disc or plate 14 with two friction linings 13 between the counterpressure plate 15 and the pressure plate 11 , a diaphragm spring 4 which is installed between the carrier 9 and the pressure plate 11 , a substantially plate - or disc - shaped release member 1 which is separably coupled to the diaphragm spring 4 , an actuating rod 3 , which is movable in and counter to the direction indicated by the arrow x and is in engagement with a cupped central portion 2 of the release member 1 , and a flange 117 which is provided on the crankshaft 17 of the engine in a motor vehicle and is secured to the central portion of the carrier 9 by bolts , screws 18 or analogous fastener means . the release member 1 preferably constitutes a plate made of sheet metal and having a constant thickness . this plate is suitably deformed so as to be provided with the aforementioned cupped central portion 2 for the tip of the actuating rod 3 as well as with additional portions in the form of abutments 22 and 23 which are respectively provided at the second side 1b and at the first side 1a of the release member . the second side 1b faces counter to the direction of movement of the rod 3 ( arrow x ) which is necessary to disengage the clutch , and the first side 1a faces in such direction . the release member 1 is separably coupled to the radially innermost portion of the diaphragm spring 4 in that its marginal portion 19 is disposed between a set of first elastic prongs 5 and a set of second elastic prongs 6 which extend radially inwardly from two circumferentially complete marginal portions 7 and 10 of the diaphragm spring . in the illustrated diaphragm spring 4 , the number of first prongs 5 greatly exceeds the number ( three ) of second prongs 6 . the prongs 6 are equidistant from each other , as considered in the circumferential direction of the diaphragm spring 4 , and extend to one side of the general plane of the two circumferentially complete outer marginal portions 7 and 10 of the diaphragm spring . the prongs 6 are axially offset relative to the prongs 5 . this can be readily seen in the upper portion of fig2 . the radially outermost portion 7 of the diaphragm spring 4 reacts against the adjacent annular portion 8 of the carrier 9 . the other circumferentially complete portion 10 of the diaphragm spring 4 is located radially inwardly of the portion 7 and bears against the lobes 12 of the pressure plate 11 when the friction clutch is engaged . this causes the pressure plate 11 to bear against the adjacent friction lining 13 and urges the other friction lining 13 against the counterpressure plate 15 which rotates with the crankshaft 17 because it is connected thereto by the flange 117 , fasteners 18 , carrier 9 and distancing element 16 . the hub 114 of the clutch disc 14 then transmits torque to the input shaft of a change - speed transmission ( not shown ) in the motor vehicle in which the improved friction clutch is installed . in order to disengage the clutch , the actuating rod 3 is moved in the direction of arrow x so as to cause the release member 1 to depress the radially innermost portions 5a of the prongs 5 by way of the abutments 23 whereby the diaphragm spring pivots in the region of its radially outermost portion 7 and moves its portion 10 in a direction to the right , as viewed in fig2 in order to relax the bias upon the pressure plate 11 which , in turn , relaxes the pressure against the adjacent friction lining 13 so that the housing h can rotate relative to the clutch disc 14 and vice versa . the diaphragm spring 4 is installed in prestressed condition so that its portion 10 normally bears against the lobes 12 of the pressure plate 11 , i . e ., the diaphragm spring reengages the clutch as soon as the rod 3 is retracted in a direction to the left , as viewed in fig2 or the prongs 5 of the diaphragm spring 4 are free to push the entire release member 1 counter to the direction which is indicated by the arrow x . the means for non - rotatably securing the radially outermost portion of the combined distancing and coupling element 16 to the radially outermost portion of the carrier 9 is shown at 116 . as can be readily seen in fig1 and 3 , the marginal portion 19 of the release member 1 is formed with radially inwardly extending openings 21 in the form of radially inwardly tapering slots which also extend into the adjacent portion or region 20 of the release member . one such opening 21 is provided for each second prong 6 of the diaphragm spring 4 . the openings 21 are dimensioned in such a way that each thereof can permit passage of a second prong 6 , as considered in the axial direction of the diaphragm spring 4 . the second side 1b of the release member 1 is further provided with the aforementioned equidistant abutments 22 each of which can constitute a round protuberance ( see fig4 ) which is obtained by embossing the corresponding portion of the release member and each of which has a convex ( preferably hemispherical ) exposed surface ( 22a ) for engagement with the corresponding second prong 6 , namely with the radially innermost portion 6a of such prong , when the release member 1 is properly coupled to the diaphragm spring 4 . the first side 1a of the release member 1 is formed with the aforementioned abutments or protuberances 23 preferably having convex ( most preferably hemispherical ) exposed surfaces 23a ( see fig4 ) for engagement with the radially innermost portions 5a of the first prongs 5 . the reference character 24 denotes a circle on which the abutments 22 and 23 at the opposite sides 1b and 1a of the release member 1 are located . the openings 21 extend radially outwardly as well as radially inwardly beyond the circle 24 . the convex or spherical configuration of exposed surfaces of the abutments 22 and 23 considerably reduces the friction which must be overcome when the release member 1 must be turned relative to the diaphragm spring 4 in order to move the second prongs 6 into positions of register with the respective openings 21 or into positions of engagement with the respective abutments 22 . such configuration of the abutments 22 , 23 considerably reduces the extent of wear to which the parts 1 and 4 of the improved friction clutch are subjected , not only during attachment or separation of the release member 1 but also when the friction clutch is in actual use . it will be noted that the abutments 22 and 23 extend in the opposite directions , as considered axially of the friction clutch . in order to enhance the retaining action of the prongs 5 and 6 upon the marginal portion 19 of the release member 1 , the normal axial distance 26 ( see fig3 ) between the common plane of the tips of the abutments 22 and the common plane of the tips of the abutments 23 is slightly less than the distance 25 ( fig3 ) between such planes when the release member 1 is properly engaged with the diaphragm spring 4 in that the portions 6a of the second prongs 6 engage the corresponding abutments 22 at the second side 1b of the release member . in other words , when the release member 1 is rotated from a position ( see fig3 ) in which its openings 21 register with the respective second prongs 6 to a position ( see fig3 a ) in which the second prongs 6 engage the corresponding abutments 22 , the axial distance between the prongs 5 on the one hand and the prongs 6 on the other hand increases to an extent which equals the difference between the distances 25 and 26 in fig3 so that the prongs 5 and 6 are stressed and bear against the respective sides of the release member . fig3 shows the position of one second prong 6 by broken lines . the prong 6 assumes such position prior to turning of the release member 1 from a position in which such prong is in register with the corresponding opening 21 to the position ( fig3 a ) in which the prong 6 engages the convex or spherical exposed surface 22a ( fig4 ) of the corresponding abutment 22 . it has been found that the release member 1 can be properly held if the difference between the distances 25 and 26 is in the range of between 0 . 1 and 1 mm . in order to facilitate the assembly of the release member 1 with the diaphragm spring 4 , the second side 1b of the release member is preferably further provided with elongated ramps 27 each of which slopes in a direction from the respective opening 21 toward the corresponding abutment 22 so as to facilitate gradual flexing of a prong 6 while such prong slides along the preferably convex exposed surface of the respective ramp 27 or vice versa . the angle of inclination of one of the ramps 27 is shown in fig3 as at 32 . the angle 32 can be a relatively small acute angle . the ramps 27 contribute significantly to the ease of axial spreading of the first and second prongs 5 and 6 away from each other in response to angular displacement of the release member 1 in a direction to move the openings 21 out of register with the respective second prongs 6 and to move the exposed surfaces of the abutments 22 into engagement with the radially innermost portions 6a of the corresponding second prongs . the improved friction clutch is further provided with detent means which serves to prevent accidental disengagement of the abutments 22 , 23 from the respective prongs 6 , 5 when the clutch is fully assembled and is in actual use . such accidental separation of the release member 1 could take place as a result of vibration of the friction clutch when the motor vehicle in which the clutch is installed is in motion . the detent means which serves the just mentioned purpose preferably further serves as a means for centering the release member 1 with reference to the diaphragm spring 4 when the parts 1 and 4 are properly coupled to each other . the detent means comprises male detent members in the form of substantially wart - shaped protuberances 28 which are provided on the release member 1 and extend axially from its first side 1a . when the release member 1 is properly coupled to the diaphragm spring 4 , each of the male detent members or protuberances 28 extends into a complementary female detent member 30 which is a slot provided between pairs of neighboring prongs 5 on the diaphragm spring 4 . the male detent members 28 are preferably disposed at the same distance from the axis of the diaphragm spring 4 as the abutments 22 , 23 . that region ( as considered radially of the release member 1 ) in which the abutments 22 , 23 are located at the opposite sides of the release member is shown in fig2 as at 29 . it will be noted that the radial dimensions of the male detent members 28 can equal or approximate the width of the region 29 . in the illustrated embodiment , the number ( three ) of second prongs 6 matches the number of male detent members 28 and the number of female detent members 30 . in order to facilitate the making of the release member 1 as a piece of sheet metal , the radially extending openings 21 are preferably provided with radially innermost portions 31 which extend in the circumferential direction of the release member ( see particularly fig1 ) so that each ramp 27 and the adjacent abutment 22 of the release member 1 together constitute a substantially l - shaped section or portion of the release member , and such section is disposed slightly radially inwardly of the circumference of the major part of the release member 1 . it will be noted that each of the ramps 27 is disposed radially outwardly of the innermost portion 31 of the respective radial opening 21 in the marginal portion 19 of the release member 1 . such configuration of the sections including the ramps 27 and the adjacent abutments 22 facilitates the bending of the ramps 27 in a manner as shown in fig3 so that the surfaces of the ramps 27 which serve as guides or tracks for the inner end portions 6a of the respective second prongs 6 make with the general plane of the release member the aforementioned acute angles 32 . the deformation of the ramps 27 in a manner as shown in fig3 is facilitated still further if the marginal portion 19 of the release member 1 is formed with three radially extending slots or notches 33 . as can be seen in fig1 each of the ramps 27 is disposed between a notch or slot 33 and the respective radially inwardly extending opening 21 . each notch or slot 33 is disposed at that side of the respective abutment 22 which faces away from the corresponding ramp 27 and opening 21 . the notches or slots 33 are sufficiently deep to extend radially inwardly and outwardly beyond the aforementioned circle 24 . as can be best seen in fig1 the angular distribution of male detent members 28 , of radially extending openings 21 , of abutments 22 and of female detent members 30 , as considered in the circumferential direction of the diaphragm spring 4 or release member 1 , is such that when the second prongs 6 are caused to pass axially through the corresponding openings 21 , the male detent members 28 abut against third elastic prongs 5b of the diaphragm spring 4 . this can be seen in the lower left - hand portion of fig1 which shows the angular position of the release member 1 relative to the diaphragm spring 4 at the time when each second prong 6 is in register with the corresponding opening 21 . when the angular displacement of the release member 1 relative to diaphragm spring 4 ( and / or vice versa ) is completed so that the inner end portions 6a of the second prongs 6 engage the corresponding abutments 22 , the male detent members 28 automatically snap into the corresponding female detent members 30 to hold the release member 1 against undesirable angular movement with reference to the diaphragm spring 4 . such positions of the detent members 28 and of the inner end portions 6a of the second prongs 6 are shown in the upper portion of fig1 . when the release member 1 is rotated in a direction to move the inner end portions 6a of the second prongs 6 into engagement with the corresponding abutments 22 , the detent members 28 slide along the corresponding third prongs 5b and cause an axial separation of the prongs 5b and 6 , i . e ., the axial distance between the tips of the prongs 5b and 6 increases . all of the prongs 5 , 6 and 5b are elastic , at least to a certain extent . therefore , when the movement of the end portions 6a of the prongs 6 into engagement with the corresponding abutments 22 is completed , the axially stressed prongs 5 and 5b move toward the respective side 1a of the release member 1 which causes the detent members 28 to snap into the adjacent female detent members 30 and to thus establish a reliable connection between the parts 1 and 4 . the inner end portion 6a of the second prongs 6 are moved axially of the clutch and away from the prongs 5 and 5b ( while the release member 1 rotates in a direction to move the second prongs 6 from positions of register with the openings 21 into engagement with the corresponding abutments 22 ) by the ramps 27 so that such ramps also contribute to axial stressing of the prongs 6 and hence also of the prongs 5 and 5b . the axial distance between the prongs 6 on the one hand and the prongs 5 and 5b on the other hand is reduced as soon as the male detent members 28 snap into the corresponding female detent members 30 . the detent members 28 not only hold the release member 1 against undesirable angular movements relative to the diaphragm spring 4 but they also accurately center the release member in the friction clutch . the prongs 5 , 5b and 6 remain axially stressed when the movement of the release member 1 to the angular position shown in the upper portion of fig1 is completed , i . e ., even after the male detent members 28 are free to snap into the corresponding female detent members 30 . in order to reduce the effort which is necessary to turn the release member 1 relative to the diaphragm spring 4 or vice versa , it is advisable to properly select the elasticity or resilency of the prongs , as considered in the axial direction of the diaphragm spring . it is preferred to construct and / or dimension the second prongs 6 in such a way that their elasticity , as considered in the axial direction of the diaphragm spring 4 , exceeds the elasticity of the first prongs 5 . for this purpose , the width of the second prongs 6 , as considered in the circumferential direction of the diaphragm spring 4 , is preferably less than the width of the first prongs 5 . furthermore , it is desirable to make the third prongs 5b more elastic than the prongs 5 and / or prongs 6 . as can be seen in the upper portion of fig1 the median portion 34 of each third prong 5b is narrower than the adjacent prongs 5 , as considered in the circumferential direction of the diaphragm spring 4 . such median portions 34 are disposed between the radially innermost portions ( which engage with the male detent members 28 during assembly of the release member 1 with the diaphragm spring 4 ) and the radially outermost portions ( namely those portions which are integral with the circumferentially complete portion 10 of the diaphragm spring ) of the third prongs 5b . the pronounced or highly pronounced elasticity of the third prongs 5b reduces the magnitude of the effort which is required to flex the prongs 5b by the corrsponding male detent members 28 during movement of the release member 1 from the angular position in which the second prongs 6 are in register with the corresponding openings 21 to the position in which the second prongs 6 engage the respective abutments 22 . if desired , the elasticity of the prongs 6 and / or 5b with reference to the elasticity of the first prongs 5 can be reduced by reducing the thicknesses of the prongs 6 and / or 5b , as considered in the axial direction of the diaphragm spring 4 . furthermore , combinations of the aforementioned undertakings are possible in order to ensure that the difference between the elasticities of the prongs 5 and 6 as well as between the elasticities of the prongs 5b and 5 will be sufficiently pronounced . an important advantage of the improved release member 1 , of the improved diaphragm spring 4 and of their connection is that they contribute very little to the axial dimensions of the friction clutch . furthermore , the assembly of the release member 1 with the diaphragm spring 4 and its disengagement from the diaphragm spring are relatively simple operations which take up little time . another important advantage of the parts 1 and 4 and their connection is that , when the friction clutch is in actual use , the extent of relative movement between the inner end portions 5a and 6a of the prongs 5 and 6 on the one hand and the adjacent abutments 23 and 22 of the release member on the other hand is minimal so that the clutch can stand extensive periods of use without excessive wear upon the release member and / or diaphragm spring . the inner end portions 5a and 6a of the prongs 5 and 6 actually roll ( rather than slide ) relative to the corresponding abutments 23 and 22 which contributes significantly to a reduction of wear and hence to longer useful life of the release member 1 , of the diaphragm spring 4 and of the entire friction clutch . the placing of abutments 22 at the same radial distance from the axis of the diaphragm spring 4 as the abutments 23 , as well as the provision of convex or spherical external surfaces on such abutments , also contributes to a reduction of wear upon the parts 1 and 4 . a further important advantage of the improved friction clutch is that the assembly of the release member 1 with the prongs 5 and 6 of the diaphragm spring 4 is surprisingly simple and requires the exertion of a relatively small effort . furthermore , such assembly can be carried out without resorting to specially designed tools . all that is necessary is to introduce the prongs 6 into the corresponding openings 21 of the release member 1 so that the end portions 6a of the prongs 6 are adjacent to the second side 1b of the release member , and to thereupon turn the release member so that the end portions 6a slide along the suitably inclined ramps 27 toward engagement with the convex or spherical exposed surfaces of the corresponding abutments 22 . the difference between the aforediscussed distances 25 and 26 suffices to ensure that the end portions 5a and 6a of the prongs 5 and 6 remain in requisite engagement with the corresponding abutments 23 and 22 . the magnitude of the force which is required to turn the release member 1 relative to the diaphragm spring 4 depends upon the extent to which the abutments 23 and 22 project beyond the respective sides 1a and 1b of the release member 1 as well as on the length and the inclination of the ramps 27 . it has been found that the inclination of the ramps 27 is quite satisfactory if the angle 32 ( see fig3 ) is between 10 and 35 degrees , preferably approximately or exactly 15 degrees . as mentioned above , the release member 1 can be made as a simple stamping from a sheet or plate consisting of metallic material . this also contributes to the simplicity and reasonable cost of the release member 1 as well as of the entire friction clutch . the abutments 22 , 23 and the male detent members 28 can constitute simple embossed projections of the release member 1 . while it is also possible to employ other types of detent means , the illustrated detent means 28 , 30 are preferred at this time because of their simplicity , compactness and low manufacturing cost . furthermore , and as mentioned above , the detent means 28 , 30 can perform the additional function of accurately centering the release member 1 relative to the diaphragm spring 4 when the prongs 6 of the diaphragm spring properly engage the corresponding abutments 22 . in addition , while it is possible to reduce the number of prongs 6 and detent members 28 to less than three or to increase the number of prongs 6 and detent members 28 beyond three , it has been found that the illustrated number is normally sufficient to ensure adequate centering of the release member 1 as well as proper retention of such release member in its normal operative angular position . the provision of the circumferentially extending radially innermost portions 31 of the openings 21 in the marginal portions 19 of the release member 1 contributes significantly to the simplicity of the making of ramps 27 . thus , it is not necessary to gradually increase the thickness of the ramps 27 in order to ensure the establishment of a slope which results in gradual flexing of second prongs 6 during movement from a position of register with the respective openings 21 toward engagement with the exposed surfaces of the respective abutments 22 . instead , and due to the provision of the radially innermost portions 31 , it is possible to simply bend the ramps 27 in a manner as best shown in fig3 and to thereby provide the required inclination ( angle 32 ) for smooth and gradual flexing of the prongs 5 and 6 during the aforementioned angular displacement of the release member 1 between its two end positions . the provision of radially extending notches or slots 33 adjacent to those sides of the abutments 22 which face away from the respective ramps 27 also contributes to the ease of properly shaping the ramps 27 so that the angles 32 will be within the aforementioned ranges . as mentioned above , the axial distance between the prongs 5 and 6 is slightly reduced when the male detent members 28 are permitted to snap into the corresponding female detent members 30 . however , the remaining axial stressing of the prongs 5 and 6 suffices to ensure that such parts of the diaphragm spring 4 continue to contribute to proper retention of the release member 1 in accurately centered position when the end portions 6a of the prongs 6 engage the corresponding abutments 22 at the second side 1b of the release member . it will be noted that the axial distance between the set of prongs 5 and the set of prongs 6 increases gradually during angular movement of the release member 1 with reference to the diaphragm spring 4 in a direction to move the end portions 6a of the prongs 6 into engagement with the corresponding abutments 22 , and that such distance is slightly reduced when the angular movement of the release member in the just - mentioned direction is completed . the residual axial stressing of the prongs 5 and 6 suffices to ensure that such prongs also contribute to proper retention of the release member 1 in desired angular position . the elasticity of the prongs 5 , 6 and / or 5b can be readily selected in such a way that the angular movements of the release member 1 relative to the diaphragm spring 4 and / or vice versa require the exertion of an effort which is selected by the manufacturer of the friction clutch . it has been found that the improved diaphragm spring 4 and the improved release member 1 can be used with particular advantage in friction clutches of the type shown in fig1 and 2 , namely in clutches wherein the radially outermost portion 7 of the diaphragm spring bears against a portion of the housing h and a second circumferentially complete annular portion 10 of the diaphragm spring bears against the adjacent portions 12 of the pressure plate 11 . the pressure plate 11 is movable axially in the housing h including the parts 9 , 15 and 16 but is held against rotation relative to the housing h by the leaf springs 111 . 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 and specific aspects of my contribution to the art and , therefore , such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the appended claims .	5
advantageously , the wall is a roughly flat cover placed immediately above the wafer ( s ) advantageously , the mixture used is a gas mixture , the mixture preferably being a mixture of hydrogen and argon , the proportion of each of them in the mixture being adjustable . in an advantageous embodiment , the wall is constituted by an interior quartz plate which is very suitable for being in contact with the reactive gas , and a metal exterior wall . said space is constituted by a spacing formed between the quartz plate and the metal wall . the exterior wall is a good heat conductor , and thus the thermal resistance of the assembly depends above all on the characteristics of the mixture fed into the narrow space . so as to obtain a thermal profile producing depositions of a constant thickness , the space is divided into a plurality of portions to which gas is supplied independently and individually . the following description which is given by way of non - limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings will make it better understood how the invention can be carried into effect . so as to enable the realization of a drawing to a larger scale , fig1 shows only little more than half a reactor . the part not shown can easily be derived from the elements shown , with the aid of fig2 . the wafer support is formed by a fixed graphite disk 5 in which holes are made to admit a gas by means of which the wafer supporting disks can be lifted slightly and be caused to rotate . the disk 5 carries a main spin disk 4 having a diameter of approximately 25cms and , in its turn , this disk carries a plurality of secondary spin disks 3 on each of which a semiconductor wafer or slice is placed . a tube 21 through which floating gas can be fed penetrates into the stationary disk 5 . this device is described in detail in fr - a - 2 596070 which may be consulted as an example for producing such a device . the vessel of the reactor is constituted by a cylindrical member 19 having a vertical axis 32 of a round cross - section onto which a cover 8 and a bottom 7 are sealed . this member is cooled by a helical arrangement of tubes 2 soldered thereto and in which water circulates . the member is made of stainless steel . the bottom of the vessel is formed by a simple round quartz plate 7 whose width is approximately 4mm . the seal is ensured by 2 0 - rings between which a groove 43 is made which is evacuated . infrared tubular lamps 38 provided with reflectors 39 which supply infra - red radiation which passes through the bottom 7 and heat the graphite support 5 , are disposed on the bottom 7 . the use of a plurality of lamps renders it possible to modulate their relative power to obtain a perfectly regular heating from the centre to the exterior of the disk . the cover is formed by a quartz disk 8 ( fig1 ) whose width is approximately 4mm and which is applied on o - rings 20 between which a groove 33 is made similar to the groove 43 at the interior part . the central part of the cover is a funnel shaped inlet 28 . reactive gas can be fed into this funnel shaped inlet via the tube 38 . the interior of the funnel shaped inlet 28 is provided with two further concentric funnel shaped inlets 26 and 27 . the lower portions of these inlets are funnel - shaped with the flared end facing downwards . each inlet 26 and 27 is in connection with a reactive gas source via tubes 36 and 37 , respectively . the inner tube 36 may convex , for example , arsine or phosphine prediluted in hydrogen ; the second tube 37 may convey , for example , hydrogen , and the second exterior pipe 38 may convey , for example , a mixture of an organometallic substance diluted in alcohol . the reactive gasses flow into the space 2 between the wafers 1 and the cover 8 , thereafter flow through slits 40 made in a quartz ring 17 which surrounds the support 5 , thereafter through an annular space between the ring 17 and a further quartz ring 18 , and finally are discharged via tubes ( 29 in fig2 .) these reactive gases produce a deposit on the wafers , which is a desired effect , but also on the interior wall of the cover 8 . in the long run these deposits accumulate and then flake off and particles fall on the wafers during processing , causing a large number of defects at their surface . as regards the metal portion of the member 19 and the graphite bottom side of the support of the wafers , the deposits , which are here less annoying than on the cover , can be avoided by preventing contact with the reactive gas . for this the member 19 is provided with an additional quartz wall 18 , and hydrogen is fed into a cylindrical groove 42 and enters into the vessel while passing through the space between the member 19 and the wall 18 , creating a counter - flow of hydrogen . similarly , a tube ending 14 provided near the lower end of the support 5 creates there a counter - flow of hydrogen which sweeps the bottom side of the support . in fig2 which shows the reactor with raised cover , the arrangement of the several tubes which pass through the member 19 is shown : the feed tube 21 for the floating gas which ends in the graphite block 5 , the tube 31 which ends in 14 for having the gas flow under the wafer support assembly , the tube 31 which ends in 13 to supply the floating gas for the main spin disk 4 , the hollow tube 16 in the stationnary portion of the wafer support which conveys the gas intended for the secondary disks , the tube 41 conveying gas into the annular groove 42 , and the tubes 29 for discharging the reactive gas . the main spin disk 4 shown here supports five secondary disks 3 having a diameter of 7 . 62cms . it is not possible to prevent the reactive gas from contacting the cover 8 which bounds the space where the epitaxy is produced ; moreover , it is nevertheless possible to prevent the formation of deposits there , as it has been stated that these deposits form at certain temperatures and not at others . for the low temperatures of the interior surface of the cover there are , for example , using the gases that have been mentioned deposits of arsenic or phosphor . if , however the temperature is high , deposits of gallium arsenide are formed , or other iii - v compounds . on the other hand it was found that , at an intermediate temperature , of the order of 450 ° c ., only a very small deposit is produced , in this case of the iii - v compounds . the assembly of the wafers 5 , 4 , 3 and the wafers 1 themselves is heated ( by the lamps 38 ) and radiates heat ; this radiation is sufficient to elevate the temperature of the cover 8 , which is very near , and for that reasons means are provided in the prior art for controlling the temperature thereof . in contrast thereto , the invention proposes a control of the temperature by adjusting the conductivity across the wall to an optimum value . the cover 8 ( fig1 ) is held under a metal member 9 which causes it to bear against the member 19 . between the metal member 9 and the cover 8 a space 34 is formed which , to control the temperature of the cover , can be filled with a suitable fluid , via the tubes 10 and 11 . the sealing of the space is effected by means of 0 - rings 22 , 23 , 24 . an annular member 25 is provided which is capable of sliding member relative to the piece 9 and has for its object to prevent breaking of the quartz cover during mounting . the metal member 9 is cooled at its exterior side by means , not shown , which may , for example , be water pipes similar to the tubes 12 , or hollow passages made in the member 9 through which water is caused to circulate . the interior surface of the cover 8 , which is formed of a quartz plate , is located opposite to and at a slight distance from the wafers . the cover 8 is heated by radiation from members 1 , 3 and 4 . the metal member 9 is a good heat conductor and is cooled by water circulation . a space 34 separates cover 8 from metal member 9 . the space 34 separating these two members 8 and 9 has a thickness of approximately 0 . 3 to 0 . 5mm . this space is very thin and consequently the transfer of heat to the exterior via this space is basically effected by conduction and not by convection and depends on the thermal conduction coefficient of the fluid with which it is filled . the fluid used here is a gas mixture of gases . since argon has an approximately ten times poorer conduction than hydrogen , a mixture of these two gasses can have a thermal conduction which varies in a ratio of ten according to the proportions used in the mixture . it is therefore sufficient to have the proportions of argon and hydrogen fed forward by the fill tubes 10 , 11 vary to obtain a controllable thermal conduction by means of which it is possible to adjust the temperature of the inner surface of the cover to around 450 ° c . it should be noted that this fluid is not a cooling fluid ( which removes calories because of its calorific powers associated with a fluid flow ) but only constitutes a wall with variable conductivity . it is therefore of no use to provide a flow for this fluid , except to replace it when one wants to vary its composition . to this end a fluid outlet must be provided , preferably in a position diamatrically opposite that of the tubes 10 , 11 , i . e . for the situation shown in fig1 in the right - hand portion , not shown . in order to improve the uniformity of the thickness of the deposited material , the space 34 is divided into several portions . in the present example , the metal member 9 has a round rib 35 which touches the upper surface of the quartz cover 8 and splits the space 34 into two concentric portions , each fed by a separate tube 10 or 11 . it is consequently possible to supply a mixture having a different thermal conductivity in each of these portions . this renders it possible to vary the temperature profile along a diameter of the quartz wall 8 . in addition , when the gasses heated to an elevated temperature by a previous contact with the support 4 rise thereafter towards the cover , the interior rim of the wall which separates the gas inlet funnels 27 and 28 is flattened to form a ring 45 , so as to prevent the flow coming from the funnel 28 to be conveyed directly to the support 4 . this ring 45 may alternatively be made of metal ( molybdenum ) and may be fitted on the quartz cone formed of the funnel shaped inlet of the cover 8 .	2
fig1 illustrates an x - ray generator 1 where an x - ray x is generated having an energy range of 10 to 500 kev , preferably up to 140 kev , and is reflected . this x - ray x penetrates through an object 2 located in the path of the beam . the object 2 has various components 3 , which may be made of different materials . due to the different absorption properties of the individual materials of these components 3 in the path of the beam , an x - ray x ′ with an altered spectral composition and a reduced intensity strikes a detector arrangement 4 , which is illustrated in the figure in cross - section . a plurality of detectors of the same design of detector arrangement 4 preferably form a detector line 20 , as illustrated in fig2 ( to be explained below ). the individual detector arrangement 4 , designed here as a detector pair , is composed of a first front detector 5 and a second rear detector 6 . the first detector 5 is a low energy detector and absorbs mainly the low energy range or part of the attenuated x - ray x ′, while the second detector 6 is a high energy detector and absorbs the high energy range or part of the attenuated x - ray x ′. depending on the type of material and the thickness of the material of components 3 , x - ray x ′ strikes the detector arrangement 4 ( or the detector line 20 ) in attenuated form , generating signals characteristic of the absorption properties of the materials of components 3 in a known manner . these are sent as individual signals to an analyzer unit 10 and analyzed , and may also be displayed as an image on a monitor 11 ( fig2 ). to obtain more specific information about a material in automated determination of the type of material , it must be possible to separate the energies or energy ranges analyzed . this is accomplished through a purposeful choice of detector material 8 of the low energy detector 5 in coordination with detector material 9 of the high - energy detector 6 . this detector 6 is preferably made of a pressed ceramic containing at least one element having an atomic number of more than 60 , such as gadolinium oxysulfide gd 2 o 2 s ( se ) doped with at least one rare earth element se selected from , for example , ce , pr and tb . the thickness of detector material 9 of the detector 6 preferably amounts to 1 . 0 to 2 . 0 mm . a coordinated detector material 8 for the low energy detector 5 used on this detector material 9 is preferably made of a scintillation material containing at least one element with an atomic number of 30 to 40 , but not containing any element with a larger atomic number . it has been found here that good separation of the energy ranges can be achieved with a detector material 8 made of zinc selenide with tellurium doping znse ( te ). this zinc selenide was used in a thickness of 0 . 2 to 1 . 0 mm . other advantages of this combination of materials include a lack of sensitivity to moisture and the fact that the emission wavelengths of the scintillation light are adapted to the spectral sensitivity of traditional photodiodes . this controlled choice of detector material 8 for the low energy detector 5 , by taking into account the detector material 9 for the high energy detector 6 , also permits controlled use of coordinated low - persistence scintillation materials and detector materials 8 , 9 for the low energy detector 5 as well as the high energy detector 6 . zinc selenide , in particular , as well as gadolinium oxysulfide each have a short persistence , each being smaller than the period of time between two detector readings . consequently , more relevant measurement results and displays with a sharp contour are achieved and displayed . to do so , the attenuated x - rays x ′ are converted to visible radiation in detector layers 8 , 9 and then converted by semiconductor photodiodes 13 , 14 , which correspond to detector layers 8 , 9 , into a current signal which is then sent for analysis to analyzer unit 10 of a computer unit ( not shown ) of an x - ray testing device or system . in the case of a linear or flat arrangement of detector arrangement 4 to this detector line 20 , the detector or scintillation material 8 , 9 is segmented into individual pixels to avoid the known phenomenon of optical crosstalk between the side - by - side detector arrangements 4 . the separation is accomplished by a reflective layer 12 , which consists of titanium oxide or aluminum oxide , for example , and is introduced between the segmented pixels . for further separation of the energies or energy ranges of the attenuated x - ray x ′, a filter 7 such as that illustrated in fig1 may be placed between the two detectors 5 and 6 . this filter is preferably made of copper and has a thickness of 0 . 2 to 1 . 0 mm , so that low energy components remaining in x - ray x ′ after passing through the detector 5 are absorbed . this detector arrangement 4 may be integrated into an x - ray apparatus ( not shown here ) for nondestructive materials testing , for food testing and for inspection of baggage and freight . it is self - evident that changes are possible within the scope of the inventive idea presented here . for example , detector arrangement 4 is not limited to two detectors . the invention being thus described , it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims .	6
the following describes a preferred embodiment of the present invention which is purely exemplary for the sake of understanding the invention and non - limiting to the protective scope . in all the figures , like reference numerals represent like features . further , when in the following it is referred to “ top ”, “ bottom ”, “ upward ”, “ downward ”, “ above ” or “ below ” and similar terms , this is strictly referring to an orientation with reference to the seabed , where the seabed is horizontal and at the bottom . it should also be understood that the orientation of the various components may be otherwise than shown in the drawings , without deviating from the principle of the invention . additionally , the present invention is explained with reference to a j - tube , within which there is a protective tube , which is telescopically movable with respect to the j - tube . this protective tube is essentially an hdpe tube , but can consist of other suitable materials . it should be understood , that the present invention embraces all such arrangements of two or more tubular members which are capable of being arranged telescopically for forming a continuous conduit for a subsea cable to pass through . the cables which are proposed to be installed and protected by the apparatus of the present invention , essentially extend from other offshore or on - shore structure ( s ), on or embedded into the seabed near a foundation resting on the seabed , then into the foundation and up to the structure supported by the foundation . in most of the figures only one j - tube and one protective tube are shown for the sake of convenience . there can be a plurality of such j - tubes and protective tubes within the foundation according to the present invention . this is true for the various other associated components described . the j - tube and the protective tube may each be a single tube or each may be a number of tubes , attached together to form a j - tube and a protective tube of the present invention . fig1 is a view of the general arrangement of major components of the apparatus when the protective pipe 1 has not been extracted out to the seabed 5 from the j - tube 2 , but still resides within the outer j - tube 2 . it shows the foundation 3 , which in this example is a gravity based structure ( gbs ) resting on the seabed 5 . the foundation 3 supports a topside structure ( not shown ) at its top end 4 . the topside structure may be a windmill extending upwards from the water surface 31 . within the foundation 3 is already pre - installed the apparatus of the present invention , which is now to be described . in this example it is a j - tube 2 , preferably made of a non - flexible material , such as steel , glass fibre reinforced plastic ( grp ), carbon fibre reinforced resin or other suitable material , extending downwards from the top end 4 . the j - tube has a conical portion 2 b and a curved portion 2 a , which has a greater diameter than an upper straight portion 2 c . the protective pipe 1 is accommodated within the curved portion 2 a of the j - tube 2 , between the end 7 of the j - tube and its conical portion 2 b . the protective pipe 1 is slidable with respect to the j - tube 2 . thus , it is a telescopic assembly and the protective pipe 1 can be pulled out of the j - tube 2 beyond the end portion 7 , by a horizontal pulling force . the protective pipe 1 is generally made of a somewhat flexible material like high density polyethylene ( hdpe ) which allows it to be inserted into and bent according to the shape of the j - tube 2 and will below sometimes be referred to as hdpe pipe 1 . other materials , such as carbon fibre reinforced resins may also be used . the fig1 also shows the end portion ( bell mouth 30 ) of the retracted hdpe pipe 1 , which is seen coinciding with the end portion 7 of the j - tube 2 . a stopping means 6 ( explained in detail below ) can also be seen which prevents the hdpe pipe from being inadvertently extracted , or retracted once it is installed on the seabed 5 . this stopping means 6 is provided in close proximity to the end portion 7 . the conical section 2 b forms a transition between the curved portion 2 a and the straight portion 2 c , with a smaller diameter than the curved portion 2 a , of the j - tube 2 . fig2 a , 2 b , 2 c and 2 d are detailed views of the end portion 7 of the j - tube 2 , showing a preferred embodiment of the stopping means 6 . the stopping means 6 prevents extraction or retraction of the protective tube 1 beyond a certain pre - defined limit . it comprises a plate 8 a provided near said point of exit , which can slide along vertical stands 8 b for engagement with complementary grooves 9 in the outer surface of the protective tube . the grooves 9 are provided at specific points on the protective pipe 1 where it is desired to retain it with respect to the j - tube 2 . when the pipe 1 has been pulled out the desired length , the sliding plate 8 a , whose rounded profile matches with the diameter of the groove 9 , can be inserted into the appropriate groove 9 and lock the movement of the pipe 1 . the sliding plate 8 a may fall into the groove 9 by gravity or by spring force or may be operated manually by a remotely operated vehicle ( rov ) or an actuator ( not shown ). with this mechanism , the pipe 1 is locked in position with the j - tube 2 and can neither move forward or backward . this would be particularly clear from the front views 2 a and 2 c which shows two consecutive stages , in the first stage the sliding plate 8 a is approaching the grooves 9 but is yet to become engaged . in fig2 c the two are in engagement with each other . this would be clear from fig2 d as well , of which fig2 c is a front view . it shows clearly the engagement between the grooves 9 and the sliding plate 8 a . disposition of grooves 9 along various lengths of the pipe 1 provides the option to selectively predetermine the length of the pipe 1 that will be extracted out of the j - tube . in a separate detail view in fig2 c , the plate 8 a is shown separated from the rest of the stopping mechanism . fig3 shows another embodiment of the stopping means 6 . this comprises a restraining wire 10 is attached to a ring 35 attached to the protective pipe 1 . the ring is in turn connected to a cover 18 by a connection wire 36 . the cover 18 prevents entry of unwanted material like soil or small rocks into the pipe 1 during installation . the restraining wire 10 is at its opposite end secured to a pad eye 19 fixed to the foundation 3 . the restraining wire 10 restrains the protective pipe 1 from extracting out of the j - tube 2 . a safety wire 12 is also connected between the ring 35 and the pad eye 19 . the safety wire has a length corresponding with the desired extraction length of the pipe 1 . fig3 also shows a clamp 11 near the protective pipe 1 for clamping the same in order to prevent the pipe from retracting into the j - tube when it has been extracted to the desired length . fig4 a is an enlarged view of the clamp 11 which is of the hinged type , having a hinge 16 . fig4 b is an enlarged view of the clamp 11 in operation which shows a t - bar 17 a for engagement by an rov , a right hand thread bar 17 b , a stopper plate 17 c welded to the thread bar 17 b , a plate 17 d with an oblong hole ( not shown ) to allow the thread bar to pass through , and a left hand thread bar 17 e . referring back to fig3 , the cover 18 is equipped with a handle 14 for attachment by a pull - out line ( to be explained later ) for pulling out the protective pipe 1 . fig3 also shows a pull - in line 13 , which is used to pull in a cable inside the fully extracted protective pipe 1 , as will be explained later , and a monkey fist rov grab 15 attached to the outer end of the pull in line 13 . fig5 a and 5 b show another alternative embodiment of the stopping means as well as a different embodiment of the means for extracting the pipe 1 . here a friction clamp 20 is preinstalled at the outer end 7 of the j - tube and adapted to clamp the pipe 1 , to ensure that after the pipe 1 has been extracted to a desired length , it does not retract back inside j - tube , particularly when the cable 29 ( shown in fig9 ) is pulled in through the protective pipe 1 . the clamp 20 is explained in detail in fig5 c . fig5 a and 5 b also shows a hinged pull - out bar 21 that is attached to the outer end of the pipe 1 and is to be used for pulling out pipe 1 . the hinged pull - out bar 21 is attached to the pipe 1 in close proximity to the end portion 7 , and just behind the bell mouth 30 . it also shows the cable pull - in wire 13 , which in this embodiment is attached to the hinged pull - out bar 21 by a sacrificial wire sling 23 . the overall length of the pull - in wire 13 , which is , e . g ., 20 to 25 meters , may be arranged on a bracket reel ( not shown ) located at the upper end of the j - tube . a restraining wire sling 10 is connected to the end portion 7 of the protective pipe 1 to prevent the pipe 1 it from accidentally sliding out during transport and installation of the structure 3 . a safety wire 12 is secured to the pad eye 19 fixed to the foundation 3 and is also connected to the pull - out bar 21 . the safety wire has a length corresponding with the desired extraction length of the pipe 1 . once fully extracted , through the possible zone of scouring for the foundation 3 , the protective pipe 1 cannot retract into the j - tube 2 as it is arrested by the friction clamp 20 . fig5 c is a close view of the friction clamp 20 that is used to arrest the motion of the pipe 1 after it has been pulled out . this is actually a tong like arrangement with friction linings on the inner faces . the two arms 20 a and 20 b are hinged at one end 20 c and at the other end threaded bar and nut arrangement 20 d are provided for closing the two arms 20 a , 20 b . this threaded bar and nut arrangement 20 d can be operated by an rov . on activation , the device firmly clamps the pipe 1 , without damaging it . fig6 shows an exemplary arrangement to facilitate the pull - out of the protective pipe 1 from the j - tube 2 . it shows two sets of j - tubes 2 and protective pipe 1 within the foundation . in practice , there can be several j - pipes , as explained above . a sling wire 24 is attached to the hinged pull - out bar 21 ( shown in fig5 a and 5 b ) or to the handle 14 of the cover 18 , which is fixed to the pipe 1 near the outer end thereof , and is passed through a pulley held near the seabed with a clump weight 25 . the pulling wire 24 is attached to a constant tension winch 26 placed on a vessel 27 on the water surface 31 . the pulling wire 24 can thus provide a substantially horizontal pull to the hinged bar 21 and thus to the pipe 1 for smooth extraction from the j - tube 2 . fig7 is a view of a stage when the protective pipe 1 has been pulled out of the j - tube 2 awaiting placement of sand bags , filter bags or other types of relatively soft material that is able to protect the pipe 1 from the rocks of the scour protection . fig8 is a view of the stage subsequent to what is shown in fig7 . filter bags 27 have been placed over the protective pipe 1 and is now awaiting application of scour protection . it also shows the bell opening 30 of the fully extracted protective pipe 1 which is outside the possible zone of scour protection . now scour protection for the foundation 3 is next to be applied . fig9 is a view of a stage when scour protection 28 has been applied and the cable 29 is about to be pulled into the bell mouth 30 with the help of the cable pull - in wire 13 ( shown in fig3 and 5 a ). the above figures are again referred to now for the purpose of explaining the operation of installation of the apparatus and the cables so that the functioning of each component , as described hereinbefore is understood . at the first stage on - shore preparation of foundation 3 for offshore installation is done . first , the protective pipe 1 is inserted into the j - tube 2 and placed within the foundation 3 . in this configuration , the protective device 1 is itself protected and does not get in the way of marine operations . this arrangement is shown in fig1 . the components shown in fig1 have been explained in detail before with reference to fig1 and are not repeated . the foundation 3 with the j - tube 2 and protective pipe 1 so installed are now towed to the offshore location . the sacrificial hold back sling 23 , connected to the end portion of the protective pipe 1 shown in fig3 or 5 a , ensures that the protective pipe 1 does not accidentally slide out of the j - tube 2 during towing . the foundation 3 is thereafter suitably installed on the seabed 5 . the installation of the foundation will not be described in detail here , as this procedure is known to persons skilled in the art . after installation of the foundation 3 on the seabed 5 , the hold back sling 23 is cut ( preferably by an rov ). now one end of the sling wire 24 is attached to the hinged pull - out bar 21 or the handle 14 . the bar 21 or the handle 14 is fixed to the pipe 1 ( as shown in fig3 and 5 a ) close to the end thereof . the other end of the sling wire 24 is passed through a pulley held near the seabed with a clump weight 25 and attached to a constant tension winch 26 placed on a vessel 27 on the water surface 31 . this provides a substantially horizontal pull to the pipe 1 , so that the pipe 1 is smoothly extracted from j - tube 2 . as shown in fig7 , the pipe 1 is pulled out in the direction of the arrowhead along the seabed 5 . fig8 shows the bell mouth 30 of the fully extracted protective pipe 1 . the bell mouth 30 is now outside the application zone of scour protection . further , it would be clear from fig7 and also from fig8 and 9 , that the j - tube 2 and the fully extracted protective pipe 1 form a continuous conduit for cables from the top portion 4 of the foundation 3 to the seabed , through the zone of scour protection . for that purpose , it is vital that the length of extraction of the protective pipe 1 is predetermined accurately . on reaching the desired length of pull - out , the protective pipe 1 is locked in position by suitable stopping means 6 , as explained with reference to fig2 a , 2 b , 2 c , 2 d , 5 a and 5 c . this stopping means 6 ensures that once the maximum length of extraction of the protective pipe 1 is reached , it neither retracts back , say during cable pull - in through the extracted protective pipe 1 and j - tube 2 , nor accidentally slides further out of the j - tube . it needs to be explained further with reference to the pull - out of the protective pipe 1 as explained in the preceding paragraphs , that while the pipe 1 is pulled beyond the intended scour protection area on the seabed 5 , it simultaneously pulls the cable pull - in wire 13 along with it . the cable pull - in wire 13 is attached to the hinged pull - out bar 21 with a sacrificial sling 23 as shown in fig5 a or is prevented to escape into the pipe 1 by the cover 18 , as shown in fig3 . the cable pull - in wire 13 thereby passes through the j - tube 2 and protective pipe 1 . actually prior to pull - out of the pipe 1 , this wire 13 is made to pass through the j - tube 2 and the pipe 1 such that one end of this wire extends out of the outer end of the pipe 1 while the other end extends out of the j - tube at its upper end . after the scour protection 28 is applied , the cable 29 , which may already be placed near the bell mouth 30 , may be inserted into the bell mouth 30 . for that purpose , the pull - in wire 13 is attached to the cable 29 and pulled in through the bell mouth 30 through the extracted protective pipe 1 and up the j - tube 2 , pulling the cable 29 with it . thus cable installation is achieved after the scour protection has been applied . the need for removal of scour protection is effectively eliminated . this is possible because the protective tube can be pulled out of the j - tube to a pre - determined length . this length is so adapted that the end with the bell mouth 30 of the extracted pipe 1 is beyond the scour protection 28 . at this length the pipe 1 will be locked relative to the j - tube . thus it is always ensured that the pull - out of the pipe 1 is always unidirectional and maintains the desired , pre - calculated length . further , as the hdpe pipe 1 is pre - installed in the j - tube 2 and both are installed on the seabed 5 along with the foundation 3 , the entire operation is very weather robust . the present invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment and some drawings for the sake of understanding only and it should be clear to persons skilled in the art that the present invention includes all legitimate modifications within the ambit of what has been described hereinbefore and claimed in the appended claims . as an alternative to the relatively flexible pipe 1 , the pipe may also be stiff but curved to correspond with the curvature of the curved portion 2 a of the j - tube 2 . this means that the pipe 1 will curve upwards when it has been extracted . however , after full extraction , the pipe may be rotated through 90 ° so as to lay flat on the seabed . this will require a somewhat longer pipe 1 , as the pipe will extend in a curve through the scour protection zone . it is also conceivable to have the pipe 1 telescopically received on the outside of the j - tube 2 instead of on the inside . it is also evident that other means for preventing the pipe 1 from sliding inadvertently out of or into the j - tube 2 may be used . instead of rov operated means , remotely operated actuators may be attached to the foundation , pipe 1 and j - tube 2 .	7
referring to fig1 wherein the numeral 1 is used to designate an integrated wheel and wheel hub assembly , complete , that can be used for connection to a vehicle ( not illustrated for purposes of simplicity ), wheel 2 , illustrated as a non - driving wheel ; only the half section of assembly 1 is represented given the symmetrical design of the assembly , with respect to wheel axis 2 , designated with a . assembly 1 includes , added to wheel 2 , hub wheel 3 , idle , brake rotor 4 as part of brake assembly 39 , conventional , mount 5 of suspension 6 , conventional , and rolling bearing 7 to connect in a rotary way wheel hub 3 to mount 5 . wheel 2 includes rim , defined by an annular gear with axis a as the symmetry axis , tire 11 , carried by rim 10 , and wheel flange 12 , connected rim 10 to wheel hub 3 ; the wheel flange 12 is substantially radial and symmetrical with respect to axis a , and , according to the first aspect of the invention , is prepared as an independent element of rim 10 . referring to the figures , and to the example illustrated in fig1 because they are prepared as separate means , rim 10 and wheel flange 12 can be prepared with or without identical materials ; in particular , flange 12 illustrated in fig1 is made , either by fusion or stamping , of a light alloy . referring to the figures , and to the example illustrated in fig2 flange 12 is substantially star - shaped , and presents an annular central section , 12 , three rays , indicated by 14 , placed at a distance of 120 ° of the other , and an external annular gear ( more clearly indicated in fig1 ) coaxial to axis a and integral to the ends of the rays , 14 . rim 10 ( that , as described above , can be made in light alloy or sheet steel ) includes an annular radial flange , 18 , to which is secured with screws 19 to annular gear 15 . it is clear that , according to an embodiment that is not illustrated here , gear 15 can also be missing and rim 10 can be secured on the rays 14 , directly . hub 3 presents cylindrical section 24 ( cup - shaped ). central section 13 of wheel flange 12 is mounted on this section , via slotted or rotary coupling 25 , or via an interference coupling ( not illustrated ). section 24 of hub 3 also includes annular projection 27 , defining the first shoulder of axial arrest for central section 13 . annular axial end 28 of the cup - shaped body is bent by rolling on a border of central section 13 opposite to the stopping border on projection 27 , creating a second axial arrest that , together with the first , ensures the axial block of wheel flange 12 . according to another embodiment of the present invention , not illustrated here , the radial and axial coupling between wheel flange 12 and wheel hub 13 can be obtained with a welding cord on both the peripheral contact borders of central section , and cup - shaped section 24 . wheel hub 3 also presents as an opposite band of end 28 with respect to projection 27 , cylindrical section 31 with a diameter inferior to the external diameter of cup - shaped section 24 ; an internal track of bearing 7 and seat 32 are found on cylindrical section 31 , which houses annular semi - element 33 , with a second internal track of bearing 7 . according to the second embodiment of the present intention , illustrated by a dotted line , cylindrical section 31 can present seat 34 of larger dimensions than seat 32 , that , other than semi - element 33 , also houses additional semi - element 35 , that includes the first track , instead of cylindrical section 31 . bearing 7 includes , other than the internal tracks defined above , external ring 36 , that includes two corresponding external rolling tracks , for corresponding friction body crowns 37 , engaged in the sad tracks and the internal tracks ; in the illustrated unlimiting representation , ring 36 is integral with mounting section 5 of suspension 6 , but can , in general , simply be connected to the latter , in a dismountable or secured way . brake group 39 , in this case a disc brake , includes rotor brake 4 , defined by a coaxial disc on axis a , integral with wheel 2 , and braking member 40 , defined by a clip - type member , integral with mounting section 5 ( in known way , not illustrated for purposes of simplicity ) and designed to operate in known way with disc 4 . as illustrated in fig2 flange 12 of wheel 2 includes , between rays 13 , empty spaces 60 , through which , given the angular dimensions and the axial position of wheel flange 12 with respect to brake group 39 , it is possible to access braking member 40 , to slide it radially from disc 4 during maintenance or repair . brake rotor 4 in brake group 39 could , alternatively , be constructed without any variations to the previously described ( resulting in the loss of some of the advantages ), by a known type drum element , as opposed to a disc element . disc 4 includes internal annular flange 41 presenting radial section 42 around projection 27 , in particular , projection 27 defines a cylindric centering seat for the radially internal edge of radial section 42 . moreover , radial section 42 is coupled with screws 43 , as illustrated in fig1 directly to central section 13 of flange 12 . assembly 1 in fig3 differs from assemble 1 in fig2 in terms of the wheel structure , the shape of the wheel hub and the type of coupling used for the wheel flange , the wheel hub and the brake rotor . constituent parts of assembly 1 similar or identical to parts already described are indicated , for purposes of simplicity , by designated reference numerals . the wheel , designated with numeral 2 &# 39 ;, includes rim 44 and wheel flange 45 , prepared as independent parts in sheet steel , and coupled with screws 46 . the wheel hub , designated by numeral 3 &# 39 ;, includes , instead of projection 27 , annular radial flange 47 , defining an axial supporting seat , for respective annular radial section 48 of wheel flange 45 . moreover , other than the base , radial flange 47 also includes step 49 , on which is coupled in a secured , angular way , with grooved coupling 50 , radial section 42 of disc 4 . wheel flange 45 includes axial extension annular section 51 , with a small diameter , mounted in a secured , angular way with slotted or rotary coupling 52 , or with an interference coupling ( not illustrated ) on cup - shaped body 24 . annular section 51 is also secured axially , as known in the previous case , between supporting seat 28 , obtained through plastic deformation of a corresponding edge of wheel hub 3 &# 39 ; and supporting seat 47 , defined above . annular section 48 of wheel flange 45 , annular flange 47 of hub 3 &# 39 ; and radial section 42 of flange 41 are axially block - secured with several rivets , 53 , to create an angularly and axially secured and fixed coupling between wheel 2 &# 39 ;, hub 3 &# 39 ; and rotor brake 4 . the block - secured coupling can , ( embodiment not illustrated here ) be provided with dismountable threaded parts , such as a screw - dice couple ( bolt ), and wheel flange 12 can be secured , on wheel hub 3 by welding . fig4 illustrates an integrated wheel and wheel hub 12 assembly , an additional embodiment of assembly 1 in fig1 . in this case , similar or equal sections or those described previously and indicated for simplicity , designated by numerals . assembly 1 &# 34 ; includes wheel 2 &# 34 ;, in his case a driving wheel otherswise identical to wheel 2 , and hub 3 &# 34 ;, fitted onto in known way on slotted propeller shaft 54 . flange 3 &# 34 ; differs from flange 3 in that the cup - shaped body presents , between support means 28 , sufficient space to contain , axially , central section 13 of wheel flange 12 , and radial section 42 of flange 41 of disc 4 . more particularly , cup - shaped body 24 presents primary centering cylindrical edge 55 , on which is secured , in fixed , angular manner , through slotted or rotary coupling 57 , or by way of an interference coupling ( not illustrated ), central section 13 , and secondary cylindrical edge 56 , with diameter superior to the preceding one , on which is mounted , in fixed and angular manner , through a second slotted coupling , 58 , radial section 42 . sections 13 and 42 are also bloc - secured on supporting seat 27 by way of the plastic deformation of the edge opposite edge wheel hub 3 &# 34 ;, to create supporting seat 28 . according to aspects described above , in all the embodiments described , the wheel flange is prepared as an independent element both of the rim and of the wheel hub , and is axially and angularly secured in a solid and fixed way to the wheel hub , and can be secured to and separated from the rim . these characteristics guarantee numerous advantages for various types of assembly , part of the present invention . firstly , the possibility to dismount the rim - tire assembly from the rest of the wheel , already known for industrial type vehicles , allowing , for instance , faster and easier tire replacement . moreover , solutions suggested are also valid for wheels with sheet metal components , or components in light alloy , and even make it possible to provide composite wheels with light alloy casted or molded hub and sheet steel rim . another advantage is the fact that the brake assembly is protected from wearing . the connection between the dismountable and the fixed section , provided with screws , is distant from the interface with the brake assembly . consequently , the brake assembly is not subjected to efforts that are inevitably present during the mounting of the dismountable section , due to deformations caused by screw tightening . embodiments in which the empty flange is star - shaped also make it possible to carry out the final preparation operation of the braking packing , with the brake already assembled on the wheel hub , and , therefore , more accuracy . lastly , embodiments proposed allow weight limitations and are less expensive , given that the wheel flange is provided as an independent element , not immediately integrated with the wheel hub , making it possible to fix it to the latter whilst being able to separate it later . it is clear that changes and variants can be applied to the integrated wheel / wheel hub assembly provided here , without necessarily going beyond the object of the present invention .	1
referring to fig1 , three semiconductor memory chips 1 , 2 , 3 belonging to a “ lane ” are serially interconnected with each other by a signal wiring run of a signal line bus for control and address signals . the arrangement of the semiconductor memory chips 1 , 2 , 3 should be in accordance with the last three semiconductor memory chips within the lane , in accordance with the direction of the signal propagation indicated by the arrow tips , running from bottom to top in fig1 . each semiconductor memory chip 1 , 2 , 3 is provided with a re - drive unit 13 arranged between the corresponding connecting nodes 12 . the unit 13 includes a direct electrical connecting line 10 between the pertinent connecting nodes 12 , one series connection of receiver 4 and transmitter 5 switched in parallel to the direct electrical connecting line 10 , and a terminating resistor 6 . for example , in the semiconductor memory chip with the reference number 1 , a switch 7 in closed position , e . g ., a transistor , is provided in the electrical connection line 10 , directly connecting the two connecting nodes 12 , the switch taking care that the electrical signal , for example , the address and control signal , supplied to the semiconductor memory chip 1 is passed through the series connection of receiver 4 and transmitter 5 , whereby a signal conditioning can be achieved . at the same time , the terminating resistor 6 prevents undesirable signal reflections . although not shown in fig1 , the control and address signals supplied to the semiconductor memory chip 1 are relatively simultaneously passed to a logic ( not shown ) of the semiconductor memory chip 1 for processing / analysis / evaluation , wherein the signal conditioned by the series connection of receiver 4 and transmitter 5 is preferably supplied . subsequently , the electrical signals conditioned by the semiconductor memory chip 1 , such as control and address signals , are supplied to the semiconductor memory chip with the reference number 2 by the signal line 11 of the signal line bus . the semiconductor memory chip 2 is provided with a switch 8 in closed position ( e . g ., a transistor ) for the terminating resistor 6 and a switch 9 ( e . g ., transistor ) in closed position , in the signal line direction behind the transmitter 9 so that the electrical signal , such as a control and address signal , supplied to the semiconductor memory chip 2 is supplied by the direct electrical connection line 10 to the connected semiconductor memory chip with the reference number 3 . although not shown in fig1 , the electrical signals , such as control and address signals , supplied to the semiconductor memory chip 2 are relatively simultaneously supplied to a logic ( not shown ) of the semiconductor memory chip 2 for processing / analysis / evaluation , wherein the signal conditioned by the series connection of receiver 4 and transmitter 5 is preferably supplied . finally , the electrical signals , for example , the control and address signals , are supplied to the semiconductor memory chip with the reference number 3 , by the signal line 11 of the signal line bus , for example , for control and address signals . the semiconductor memory chip 3 is provided with a switch 7 being in closed position ( e . g ., a transistor ) for the direct electrical connection line 10 and with a switch 9 in closed position ( e . g ., a transistor ) in the direction of the signal line behind the transmitter 9 so that no re - drive of the supplied electrical signal , such as a control and address signal , takes place . moreover , the terminating resistor 6 prevents an undesirable signal reflection . although not shown in fig1 , the electrical signals , such as control and address signals , supplied to the semiconductor memory chip 3 , are simultaneously supplied to a logic ( not shown ) of the semiconductor memory chip 3 for processing / analysis / evaluation , wherein the signal conditioned by the series connection of receiver 4 and transmitter 5 is preferably supplied . 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 . for example , some or all of the subject matter may be embodied as software , hardware or a combination thereof . accordingly , it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents .	6
in the following description , for the purpose of explanation , specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the invention . it will be apparent , however , to one skilled in the art that the invention can be practiced without these details . one skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments of the present invention , described below , may be performed in a variety of ways and using a variety of means . those skilled in the art will also recognize that additional modifications , applications , and embodiments are within the scope thereof , as are additional fields in which the invention may provide utility . accordingly , the embodiments described below are illustrative of specific embodiments of the invention and are meant to avoid obscuring the invention . reference in the specification to “ one embodiment ” or “ an embodiment ” means that a particular feature , structure , characteristic , or function described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention . the appearance of the phrase “ in one embodiment ,” “ in an embodiment ,” or the like in various places in the specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment . furthermore , connections between components or between method steps in the figures are not restricted to connections that are affected directly . instead , connections illustrated in the figures between components or method steps may be modified or otherwise changed through the addition thereto of intermediary components or method steps , without departing from the teachings of the present invention . in this document the terms “ variation ” and “ mismatch ” are used interchangeably . “ puf elements ” and “ puf devices ” include physical , chemical , and other elements recognized by one of skilled in the art . fig1 is a histogram of an exemplary measured distribution of vgs mismatch approximating a distribution of threshold voltage mismatches in mos devices that have been manufactured in a 0 . 18 um semiconductor process , according to various embodiments of the invention . mismatch in puf elements may be caused by a number of factors , including variations in doping concentrations , gate oxide thickness , and tolerances in geometry that result from imperfect semiconductor manufacturing processes during the manufacturing of the mos devices . mismatch distribution 100 is measured at an ambient temperature of 25 ° c ., for example , at wafer sort . the horizontal axis represents mismatches in threshold voltage for 8988 measured data points . the vertical axis represents the frequency of occurrence of a given threshold voltage mismatch . as shown in fig1 , the distribution 100 is normalized and calculated to have a standard deviation of 5 . 4 mv . that is , about 68 % of the mismatch population falls within a +/− 5 . 4 mv data variation . fig2 illustrates a distribution of temperature coefficients for the measured mismatch values corresponding to fig1 . as used in this example , temperature coefficient is defined as an offset voltage over a temperature range divided by that temperature range . assuming that the operating temperature of the measured 8988 physical devices in fig2 ranges from − 40 ° c . to 25 ° c . and from 25 ° c . to 125 ° c ., a drift of about 700 μn in offset voltage is expected over the 100 ° c . temperature range . the standard deviation , sigma , of the temperature coefficient is then about 0 . 7 mv /° c . when normalized to vgs , this corresponds to a confidence level of 0 . 13 σ , as shown in table 300 in fig3 . table 300 in fig3 shows exemplary expected utilization rates of puf elements as a function of error rate according to various embodiments of the invention . ideally , the error rate , i . e ., the probability of mis - reading a single bit that is caused by a change in polarity , for example due to environmental effects , is zero . as can be easily calculated from table 300 , about 10 . 3 % of the total puf elements within a given population need to be excluded from the gaussian distribution in order to achieve an error rate of about 0 . 16 ( i . e ., the probability that the mismatch falls outside of the 1 a limit is 16 %), resulting in an overall utilization rate of 89 . 7 %. in order to reduce the error rate , for example , to allow for operation within a wider temperature range , an increasing number of puf elements must be discarded from the distribution to ensure stable puf bits . however , the improvement in error rate comes at the expense of a reduction in the number of usable puf elements that can are capable of generating puf bits . intuitively , the more puf elements located close to the center of the distribution are used , the smaller will be their mismatch and the more unrepeatable puf bits will be included in the selection , resulting in a larger error rate . therefore , it would be desirable to have systems and methods to avoid this trade - off between utilization and error rate . it is noted that the methods and systems presented herein are independent of the type of specific statistical distribution of any sampled group of actual components . fig4 generally illustrates a paring process of mismatch values using a gaussian distribution to generate puf key bits according to various embodiments of the invention . assuming mismatch values ( e . g ., threshold voltages ) of measured puf elements are distributed according to gaussian distribution 400 , similar to fig1 , in one embodiment , mismatch values are combined by pairing them in the following manner . first , a value m 404 is determined based on an expected variation in threshold voltage due to temperature , time , voltage drift , etc ., and an acceptable error rate that corresponds to a certain discard window . second , value − a 1 405 , located on the negative side of distribution 400 is determined in a manner such that the area under curve 400 in first region 406 from − a 1 405 to zero 407 is equal to the area under curve 400 in positive second region 408 that extends from m 404 to +∞, i . e ., that covers the far right positive numbers of distribution 400 . first and second region 406 , 408 represent a number of mismatch pairs that can be assigned to a first bin ( shown in column 1 in table 500 in fig5 ). combining pairs from regions 406 , 408 provides for a unique 1 - to - 1 mapping between puf elements whose difference is a relatively large number that , by definition , is greater than or equal to the value of m 404 . by ensuring that the difference between mapped pairs is larger than a minimum value , a safety margin is built - in to account for changes to the associated puf elements that might occur due to environmental variations negatively affecting the repeatability of the generation of puf key bits . next , the width of first region 406 is used to determine the width of third region 410 adjacent to second region 408 . the width of third region 410 is used to find value − a 2 412 , which defines fourth region 414 that is paired with third region 410 . next , mismatch values that are located in regions adjacent to third and fourth region 410 , 414 , respectively , are paired , etc . this process of pairing and grouping puf elements is repeated until entire distribution 400 is covered with pairs of puf elements that can be characterized as having a minimum distance between them , thereby , achieving maximum utilization of puf elements . in one embodiment , the pairing of mismatch values is accomplished by performing a subtraction on pairs of mismatch values selected from distribution 402 , wherein each mismatch value represents an amplified offset voltage to obtain a difference value associated with the pair . in any given population , it is desirable to find and utilize as many puf elements as possible . in example in fig4 , pairing of mismatch values results in progressively smaller bin sizes of puf elements ( i . e ., the area of region four 414 is smaller than first region 406 ). however , this is not intended as a limitation on the invention . in fact , while a typical semiconductor process generates statistical variations having a gaussian distribution , the various embodiments of the invention are not limited to any specific statistical distribution . for example , depending on the various gradients that the semiconductor process may generate on a wafer , aging processes , and the like , any other statistical distribution may be employed to pair mismatch values . table 500 in fig5 illustrates exemplary bins that ensure a minimum distance between paired mismatch values of puf elements according to various embodiments of the invention . table 500 demonstrates that for an exemplary gaussian distribution of 256 puf elements , a minimum distance between any two puf elements of at least 1 . 3 times the standard deviation allows for a 100 % utilization of puf elements in the distribution . the selection of an m value , which determines the minimum separation of a pair of puf elements , depends on expected variations due to drift mechanism caused by , e . g ., temperature , time , and voltage shifts etc . m should be selected in a manner so as to provide for an acceptable bit error rate . once m is determined within the confines of the acceptable bit error rate , the mismatch distribution dictates the details of the binning process , i . e ., which puf elements fall into which region in the distribution in fig4 . the resolution of the binning in fig5 is selectable , e . g ., 500 μn , but should not be too small so as to limit the number of elements in the bins so much that some bins would contain no elements at all . in practice , m should be chosen sufficiently large to accommodate the desired safety margin in separation for the 128 pairs , but not so large as to result in an insufficient number of samples in the bins , whose sizes get progressively smaller , as discussed above , because it could result in a scenario in which less than the entire distribution is covered . it has been found that an m value of as large as 1 . 3 times sigma can ensure 100 % utilization of the distribution , as shown in table in fig5 from which the gaussian distribution of fig4 may be reconstructed . it is noted that a 100 % utilization of puf elements is not required for purposes of the invention . advantageously , systematic errors do not affect the outcome , as these errors are inherent to the entire system and apply equally to all mismatch pairs . errors caused by noise are also negligible when compared with the magnitude of the differences being detected . fig6 illustrates an exemplary bi - modal distribution of paired mismatch data resulting from a transformation of the gaussian distribution shown in fig4 . each sample in bi - modal distribution 600 is derived from a set of paired mismatch data points that are associated with each other using the above method . distribution 600 displays an exclusion range around its center that satisfies the criterion for a minimum separation of pairs of puf elements intended to ensure the generation of stable puf bits . the effect of pairing puf elements in this manner is to convert the normal distribution of the vgs mismatch of fig1 into bi - modal distribution 600 that comprises no vgs values between +/− 7 mv (+/− 1 . 3 * 5 . 4 mv ). considering 700 μv of total temperature drift over a temperature range from − 40 ° c . to + 125 ° c ., this +/− 7 mv separation corresponds to about 10 times the standard deviation of vgs mismatch and a greatly improved expected error rate of 7 . 62 * 10 − 24 . fig7 illustrates a system to generate stable puf key bits according to various embodiments of the invention . system 700 includes physical device 702 , sensing element 704 , analog - to - digital converter ( adc ) 706 , register 708 , selection circuit 710 , memory 712 , and key bit generator 714 . sensing element 704 is a device that detects or measures variations in a characteristic of physical device 702 . the characteristic may be associated with a mismatch in current , charge , voltage , etc ., in two or more puf elements . in operation , sensing element 704 converts the measured physical property into analog data ( e . g ., an amplified mismatch value ) representing the measured quantity . the analog data may be provided to adc 706 that converts the measured information into digital data for subsequent storage into register 708 , which may be either off - chip or on - chip temporary memory . the digital data represent the measured mismatch in the characteristic of the puf elements and have a similar statistical distribution . selection circuit 710 accesses register 708 to process the data therein by selecting and quantifying differences in mismatch values between pairs of devices . this may be accomplished by assigning a numerical value to the difference between each pair . in one embodiment , the numerical values comprise pairing information that are stored in on - chip non - volatile memory 712 . selection circuit 710 may be implemented , for example , as an internal or external microcontroller , state - machine logic , or in software . key bit generator 714 receives the stored information and generates a random number therefrom . ideally , the random number has no patterns associated with it and is unaffected by environmental parameters , such as temperature , that affect the semiconductor device . in addition , the random number should be very difficult to detect , i . e ., it should not be stored in a flash memory type device that can be processed to retrieve previously stored data . in one embodiment , during an initial test operation , the mismatch distribution is determined and puf elements are assigned to bins to generate pairing information based on the mismatch distribution . in this mode , register 708 receives measured mismatch data from adc 706 and stores it , for example , in one or more registers . i . e ., register 708 comprises sensitive information from which keys may be reconstructed . for security reasons , in one embodiment , the information stored in register 708 is erased once pairing information has been stored in memory 712 as the output of adc 706 does not to be re - read . by having access to mismatch pairing information alone , no sensitive information is revealed about the mismatch distribution that was output by adc 706 and kept in temporary register 708 . no key is generated at this time . in other words , without the raw mismatch data a potential adversary would not be able to uncover or replicate the data to be paired that is necessary to generate the key . in one embodiment , in a normal operation mode , the mismatch distribution is not being analyzed . adc 706 re - measures the mismatch information via sensing element 704 , for example at power - up , and key bit generator 714 generates the key using the adc outputs based on the pairing information , for example , by retrieving mismatch pairs based on information stored in memory 712 and subtracting the two mismatch values of each pair in order to generate a key . one advantage of system 700 is that it is not vulnerable to attack by potential hackers , because even if an attacker obtains pairing information from memory 712 , the pairing information alone would not reveal the keys and , thus , render the attack fruitless . another advantage is that variations due to environmental effects are accounted for by virtue of selection of an appropriate value for m , thus , ensuring the repeatable and reliable generation of a unique key . one skilled in the art will appreciate that adc 706 may be replaced with any other conversion circuit , including an operational amplifier , comparator , or digitization circuit . mismatch information of puf elements existing in physical device 702 may be obtained in various forms , such as the form of electrical , magnetical , or optical information . system 700 may comprise additional components that convert , amplify , process , and secure data , including logic devices and power sources known in the art . in one embodiment , in order to restore the key , mismatch information of puf elements is re - measured and processed with pairing information retrieved from memory 712 , for example by subtracting two mismatch values , in order to generate a puf key . the inventors envision that mismatch values are processed by any mathematical operation , for example , multiplication . in addition , any number of mismatch values may be selected and combined for processing . for example , three mismatch values may be multiplied to generate a puf key . in addition , different algorithms may be used on different physical devices in order to decrease detectability and , thus , enhance security . fig8 is an exemplary implementation of a system to generate a stable 128 bit puf key according to various embodiments of the invention . system 800 includes puf element array 802 , control element 804 , adc 806 , registers 810 , 832 and 834 , summation element 836 , selection circuit 816 , non - volatile memory 820 , and key generation element 840 , which generates key 842 . puf element array 802 comprises 16 × 16 bits representing 256 measured samples . adc 806 digitizes the mismatch of each puf element . register 810 is a 256 address register that should be stored off chip as should selection circuit 816 . in this example , non - volatile memory 820 is a 256 address memory . it is noted that not all addresses 822 of memory 820 are populated with numbers . in this example , the generation of a 128 bit puf key 842 requires 256 puf elements 802 , because selection circuit 816 combines two paired elements to generate one puf bit . in other words , only half of addresses 822 in memory 820 will be occupied and selected in order to avoid losing complete information about the pairing . alternatively , memory 820 may comprise only 128 addresses and two banks of registers associated with each address . the two banks may contain addresses elements paired by selection circuit 816 . in operation , in an initial testing phase , mismatches of all 256 puf elements of puf element array 802 are determined , for example by a sensing device ( not shown ), and forwarded to adc 806 . the output of adc 806 is then temporarily stored in register 810 , such that register 810 contains all 256 mismatches in digital form in address 812 . address 812 of register 810 corresponds to puf elements 0 to 255 in puf element array 802 . register 810 stores the equivalent of the exemplary gaussian distribution shown in fig4 . mismatches are represented by a number , here , a voltage difference . the content of address 0 in register 810 represents the mismatch associated with element number 0 ; mismatch data of puf element 1 is stored at address 1 , and so forth . from the 256 sampled mismatch data points a mathematical distribution can be established and a standard deviation can be calculated for its variation . in one embodiment , the standard deviation is used to determine the size of bins into which the mismatch values are then assigned . this may be accomplished by using the method to pair mismatch values according to fig4 in order to obtain bin sizes as shown in fig5 . in this example , the number of parts per bin is not kept equal , but rather decreases with distance from the center due to the requirement of a minimum distance between pairs . comparing the data stored in register 810 to the bin locations specified in the table , the pairing information can be obtained and stored into memory 820 . in example in fig8 , the content of address 0 of register 810 is paired with the content at address 78 , such that the difference between the contents of two paired addresses is greater than a predefined value m . the resulting pair is stored at address 0 in memory 820 . similarly , address 1 of register 810 is paired with the content at address 154 , etc ., such that the difference between the content of two paired addresses is always greater than a certain value . in one embodiment , in regular operation adc 806 re - reads the 256 mismatch data points of puf element array 802 , for example at every power - up event . once all the mismatch values are stored in register 810 , the puf key bits can be generated per the following equation : k ( i )= r ( i )− r ( nvm ( 0 ), for i = 0 to 255 , where k ( i ) is the i th bit of the puf key , r ( i ) is the content of register 810 at the address 812 i and nvm ( i ) is the content of memory 820 at address 822 i . after all the keys are generated , the contents of register 810 is erased . again , knowing the contents of memory 820 does not reveal any information regarding the puf keys associated with the part . it only shows the pairing information that is applicable to that particular part only . the pairing information is different from part to part . since the measured data are unique to each part , this approach desensitizes the puf key bits to the variations over different parts , wafers , lots or packages , etc . in one embodiment , control circuit 804 causes adc 806 to re - read the mismatch data points of puf element array 802 and sequentially store them into register 832 , 834 according to control circuit 804 , instead of consecutively storing the data into memory 810 . the contents of temporary register 832 , 834 , which is , e . g ., a 8 - bit register , are then subtracted by summation element 836 and forwarded to key generation module 840 to generate the puf key bits of key 842 . for example , the content of address 0 of register 820 is stored in register a 832 , while the content of paired address 78 is stored into register b 834 . then address 1 of register 820 is stored in register a 832 , and element 154 stored in register b 834 , etc . storing the data in dedicated registers that are used , for example , for subtraction purposes only , has the added advantage that register 832 , 834 is constantly rewritten , which prevents writing the same address in the same location . this automatic scrambling of data eliminates potential memory imprint issues and , thus , further increases system security . it is understood that the various embodiments of the invention can be applied to any physical property with a natural variation , such as threshold voltage , oscillation frequency , resistance , capacitance , etc . in one embodiment , different characteristics of element pairs are combined to create the mathematical operation ( e . g ., vt mismatch and capacitance mismatch ). further , one skilled in the art will appreciate that other memory structures can be used to store the pairing information generated by selection circuit 816 . fig9 is a flowchart illustrating a process to generate pairing information according to various embodiments of the invention . in one embodiment , in a testing phase preceding a normal phase that involves the actual generation of a key , pairing information is generated from raw mismatch data that has a statistical distribution associated with it . the process to generate pairing information starts at step 902 when mismatch of puf elements are measured , for example , by an adc . the measured data may be stored in on - chip or off - chip temporary storage device . at step 904 a puf element mismatch distribution is determined from the measured data . at step 908 puf elements are assigned to bins , for example in a non - volatile memory , in order to establish pairing information . at step 908 in order to increase system security , puf raw mismatch data is erased to prevent access to mismatch information from which a key may be re - produced . fig1 is a flowchart illustrating a process to generate stable puf key bits according to various embodiments of the invention . in one embodiment , during a normal phase of operation , e . g ., at start - up , some of the steps for analyzing the mismatch distribution presented in fig9 are skipped . at step 1002 in fig1 , mismatch of puf elements is measured to generate measured mismatch data . at step 1004 mismatch pairs are generated from the puf elements , for example , by reading pairing information from a non - volatile memory and reconstructing mismatch pairs according to the pairing information . finally , at step 1006 one puf element mismatch values of a mismatch pair are subtracted from each other to generate puf key bits at step 1008 . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that fewer or additional steps may be incorporated with the steps illustrated herein without departing from the scope of the invention . no particular order is implied by the arrangement of blocks within the flowchart or the description herein . it will be further appreciated that the preceding examples and embodiments are exemplary and are for the purposes of clarity and understanding and not limiting to the scope of the present invention . it is intended that all permutations , enhancements , equivalents , combinations , and improvements thereto that are apparent to those skilled in the art , upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings , are included within the scope of the present invention . it is therefore intended that the claims include all such modifications , permutations , and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention .	7
an autonomous personal service robot will now be described . in the following exemplary description numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention . it will be apparent , however , to an artisan of ordinary skill that the present invention may be practiced without incorporating all aspects of the specific details described herein . in other instances , specific features , quantities , or measurements well known to those of ordinary skill in the art have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the invention . readers should note that although examples of the invention are set forth herein , the claims , and the full scope of any equivalents , are what define the metes and bounds of the invention . referring to fig1 , one embodiment of the pra includes basic monitoring functions with limited safety and convenience features . pra 100 includes frame 101 which may be either open or closed . the figure shows a closed design , which hides most of the robot &# 39 ; s inner workings . this represents a simpler design which may appeal to certain groups . a more open design will give easier access to the robot &# 39 ; s components and provide space for additional features included in other embodiments . the housing may be plastic , wood , metal or other appropriate materials . the basic design could be made to look like furniture to blend into a typical home ; high tech or futuristic ; or anthropomorphic to better convey the idea of a companion . the design and shape of each pra is based on the target market . in one embodiment , the pra is round when looking at it from the top . this shape enables the robot to turn in place enabling it to get out of any position and minimizing the chance for it to get stuck . other shapes may also be used , but use different navigation software and algorithms . another factor affecting the overall shape is stability . if the robot is tall it may be prone to tipping over if people lean on it . such an embodiment may utilize weight near the base or a drive system optimized for stability . larger robots are more stable and have space to house various features , but a larger size makes it more difficult to navigate through cluttered rooms or narrow openings . users of the system may therefore opt for one model over the other based on their particular environment . the drive system includes two independent drive wheel assemblies 102 located symmetrically on either side and at the center of the robot . each drive wheel operates independently enabling the robot to move forward and backward . if they are turning in opposite directions , the pra rotates in place . if they are going in the same direction , but at different speeds , the pra turns along an arc . this embodiment uses one or more casters or skid plates 103 to provide stability . each wheel is large enough to enable the pra to climb the thresholds and floor transitions in a typical house . the wheel itself may be a single part , an assembly including a hub and a rubber rim or any other wheel configuration . each wheel is turned by an electric motor powered by a battery , not shown . alternatively , the robot could be powered by a fuel cell or other means . utilizing a two drive wheel system enables the pra to turn in place , further minimizing the chances of getting stuck . a typical automotive or remote control car drive system uses a single motor to spin two wheels ( either the front or the rear ) while a second , motor or servo turns the wheels around the vertical axis . this and other drive configurations may also be used on the pra . while being simpler to implement , this configuration does not have as much maneuverability as the two drive wheel configuration . alternatively , treads can be used instead of the drive wheels and casters in a design similar to a tank . another embodiment may utilize a drive mechanism known as a holonomic drive wheel system . this system is a three drive wheel system using “ omni wheels ” where each wheel is located at 120 degrees relative to the other wheels and is driven by a motor . an omni - wheel is a wheel that can turn around two perpendicular axes simultaneously . transverse spinning mini - wheels are arranged around the perimeter of the main angle of motion . these side spinning wheels enable the main wheel to spin in a direction other than the direction of motion without dragging . using proper control algorithms , the three wheels can be used to make the vehicle go in virtually any direction including directly sideways . regardless of the specific drive implementation , the system may further comprise providing encoder data , indicative of movement of the pra . the pra uses cmos or ccd cameras as sensors to “ see ” the environment . in one or more embodiments , the pra uses one pair of stereo cameras 104 . multiple pairs of cameras may be used in other embodiments . adding cameras increases the amount of information the navigation system can use when navigating , which might enable it to better map and manipulate through cluttered areas . the cameras in this embodiment are rotated 45 degrees with respect to the pra &# 39 ; s direction of travel , roll . one or more embodiments of the invention may utilize a single camera , or may utilize a pair of cameras horizontally mounted , vertically mounted or mounted at any angle between horizontal or vertical ( between 0 and 90 degrees ) with respect to the horizontal . the benefit of the angled axis feature is described in the inventors co - pending application ser . no . 10 / 710 , 512 entitled “ angled axis machine vision system and method ”, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference . in addition , the pra system may include a base - station , not shown . this robot docks on the base - station , which is plugged into the wall to charge . in addition , the base - station may include a connection to the internet or a wireless telephone base . the base station may comprise inductive charging allowing for the pra to locate itself on or near the base station and charge without physically connecting to the base station through a hard wire connection . one embodiment of the pra includes reading light 105 . the robot may also use this light to help it navigate through dark rooms . the top of pra 106 in this embodiment is a tray , which may be used by its owner to transport objects . for example , an elderly or disabled person might be able to make a meal or a snack , but may be unable to carry it to a different room if they use a walker or wheel chair . in this embodiment the user may place food on the tray , and the pra then may follow the user to a dining area . other people might use this feature because they have too much for them to carry in one trip . the pra may also comprise telephone 107 . this is one means for the robot to communicate with the owner &# 39 ; s family , doctors or emergency services . the pra comprises user interface ( ui ) 108 for communicating with its owners . the ui may include a pixel - type lcd screen capable of showing pictures or video , or just a text display . it may also include a speaker for voice communication . in order to input commands , the ui may use a micro - phone and voice activated controls , a touch screen or a keypad . the display and speakers may be used for functions other than just controls such as showing television or videos or for reading audio books . the pra may include safety , medical or convenience features such as medicine dispenser 109 shown in the figure . in addition to the cameras used for navigation , the pra may include one or more additional cameras 110 to track and monitor its owner . these cameras identify a person using algorithms to recognize the owner &# 39 ; s face , gate , clothes , voice , routines , etc , and track them as they move throughout the house . it is important for the robot to be able to identify and track its owner if there are multiple people in the house . for example , these software routines enable the pra to determine whether it is the owner or the guest that has left . if the owner remains , everything runs as normal . if the owner leaves , the owner &# 39 ; s routines and schedules that the pra has learned are not applicable to the remaining individual and the system may be programmed not to track them at all . while the navigation cameras may track the person , dedicated cameras may be located in a better position to see the person . such a position may be higher than the navigation cameras as in the embodiment shown in the figure . the cameras may also use a different focal length or include an adjustable zoom to enable the pra to accurately track the person from a variety of distances . in addition , the dedicated cameras may move , rotate and look up - an - down , so it can keep the person without having to move the entire robot . in addition , the user may utilize an rfid tag in order to aid in the tracking of the user . environmental conditions may affect both the navigation and monitoring cameras &# 39 ; ability to analyze images to extract information . various features enhance the robot &# 39 ; s functional ability in these conditions . for example , a light enables the robot to better see in the dark . the robot could include an infra - red light which is invisible to humans . the pra could shine this light at their owner to add in tracking and monitoring without blinding them . another condition which may impair the robot &# 39 ; s performance is when the environment includes both very bright and very dark areas , which can overwhelm the dynamic range of digital cameras and other image sensors . the robot will have difficulty recognizing its owner if they are sitting in front of a light or bright window , which is something people like to do . the pra may incorporate algorithms described in the inventor &# 39 ; s pending patent application ser . no . 10 / 100 , 221 entitled “ system and method to increase the effective dynamic range of image sensors ” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference . the robot also includes both high level and low level electronics , not shown . the high level electronics could be a standard personal computer , other micro - processor , dsp or other system enabling the pra to process the information from the cameras and other sensors for navigation , monitoring and task performance . the processor may be internally mounted in the frame of the pra or externally located and communicate through a communications interface coupled with the pra . the low level electronics may include a pic or other micro - processor to control individual mechanical features such as providing a pulse width modulating pwm signal the power to enable the drive mechanism to work at a variety of speeds ; to turn on and off lights ; to read encoder information from the wheels ; etc . in another embodiment , the high - and low - level electronics are incorporated into a single electrical package . in still another embodiment , a remote personal computer networked to the pra performs the functions of the high level electronics . fig2 shows an alternative embodiment for a monitoring - only pra . this embodiment 200 includes a housing 201 , and stereo cameras for navigation 202 , a camera for tracking the owner 203 and a user interface 204 . while the embodiment shown in fig1 is approximately the size of a small table , roughly 18 inches in diameter and 24 - 36 inches tall , the embodiment shown in fig2 is significantly smaller , roughly 14 inches in diameter and 12 inches tall . the small size makes it more maneuverable through a house and enables the robot to be less intrusive because it could position itself virtually out of sight . this embodiment employs a tread system 205 instead of wheels , but , like the larger version , could incorporate any of several different drives . the smaller pra also has a light 206 and a telephone 207 . because the robot is small , it relies on voice communication and has a powered speaker 208 and a remote control 209 which the owner may carry . the smaller pra also recharges at its base - station , not shown . sensitized bumpers or touch sensors may be incorporated either partially or totally around the perimeter of the pra and may extend its full height , length and width . the bumpers detect whether the robot runs into an object in the room . these touch sensors or other sensors , which may be incorporated into the pra , serve to augment the camera system by providing additional information regarding the environment , the owner or the state of the pra to aid in mapping , tracking , navigation and task performance . in order to appeal to some of the elderly population , the pra is extremely user friendly , non - threatening and easy to install . the setup procedure is shown in fig3 . in one embodiment , the robot monitoring system comes in two parts , the pra and the base - station . the hardware setup comprises connecting the base station to a power plug and telephone outlet 301 and positioning the pra on the base - station to charge 302 . other embodiments that derive power without a base station are in keeping with the spirit of the invention and these embodiments may comprise use of a wireless link on the pra instead of directing communications through a base station . the user programs emergency contacts such as family members or doctors 303 either into the base station or into the pra depending on the embodiment . depending on the features included in the pra , there may be no other setup required . however , some optional features may also require setup and programming 304 , for example if the system includes a medicine dispenser it must be filled and the schedule programmed , or rf tags may attached to remote controls , glasses , books or other objects that may be tracked or retrieved by the robot . the pra may include x10 or bluetooth capability to control household lights and appliances that may also require programming . in an alternative embodiment , the owner wears a radio frequency tag or other beacon to identify themselves to different sensors . in this embodiment , the algorithms required to track the owner are significantly simpler and the robot may be less expensive . however , the beacons become more invasive whether they are a necklace , pin , bracelet or other object , which the owner may either forget or elect not to wear . during setup , these beacons must be put on by the owner . once the robot is charged , it will learn to identify its owner 305 , begin to explore the house 306 and begin general operation including tracking and monitoring its owner 307 . exploration is the process by which a representation of the environment is created and updated from sensor data and preprogrammed input . there are many well - known systems and algorithms to map and navigate , often collectively referred to as slam or simultaneous localization and mapping any of which may be used in one or more embodiments of the invention . the pra may create and store several maps having different levels of resolution , stability and / or coordinate systems including a probabilistic two - dimensional ( 2d ) or 3d map of the robot &# 39 ; s environment . a static map of the environment &# 39 ; s outer perimeter ( i . e . room walls or yard boundaries ) may also be created . the maps are stored in ram or non - volatile memory . the pra may explore the house before it begins its functional tasks , as it operates or in a combination of the two . previously unmapped areas of the house , such as rooms that had their doors closed will be mapped as they are encountered . parts of the house that have changed may be re - mapped as necessary . the iterative mapping process essentially comprises the steps of moving to a new position , collecting sensor data of the objects and obstacles in the immediately surrounding area , performing localization , and updating the map to incorporate information derived from the new sensor data . during exploration and the pra &# 39 ; s general operation , the robot identifies objects , such as certain pieces of furniture , and rooms 308 to provide additional information used in monitoring or performing functions . for example , the robot will understand the basic characteristics of a bed and know that beds are found in bedrooms . it may also recognize refrigerators as being part of the kitchen , and couches and chairs as a typical place for a person to sit down . the robot monitors and tracks its owner using a variety of software algorithms such as facial or gate recognition . the owner may also wear a beacon such that the robot may track them even when they are out of sight . using a neural network or other learning algorithms , the pra combines general monitoring rules with owner specific habits to determine whether the owner is in trouble . for example , people generally sleep at night in the bedroom . the pra will observe that the owner typically goes to bed at 10 and wakes at 7 the next morning . if the owner has not gotten out of bed by 9 or 10 , the robot may attempt to wake them or call one of the emergency contacts . similarly , the pra will recognize a bathroom and understand that people may spend some period of time taking a shower with the door closed . it will recognize that its owner may have a problem if they remain in the bathroom for some period of time greater than normal . the process of learning and adapting the monitoring system is iterative and one or more embodiments of the invention update and refine the operational plan and emergency thresholds and response 309 . there are many well known localization and navigation algorithms that may be incorporated into the pra . the speed and accuracy at which the robot may be able to move through a room is determined by the task requirements and the computational power of the high level electronics . generally , the most computationally intensive part of localization is for the mobile robot to track its own position as it moves . one embodiment of the pra uses cameras as the primary ( optical ) sensors . the pra tracks its position using dead reckoning combined with any combination of one or more localization algorithms utilizing landmarks or other available information . other embodiments can use sonar , radar , lidar , and infrared sensors , in addition to , or in place of the optical sensors . similarly , the pra can use any known localization method or a combination of methods rather than the dead reckoning and landmark recognition described above . in monitoring a person , the robot will generally follow and / or observe them from a distance . therefore , it may not be essential that it precisely know its location . the key criteria may be that it moves quickly while avoiding obstacles . in this embodiment , the pra does not need an accurate map and may operate in rooms for which it has not previously explored . this system would require less computational capacity to travel at the same speed as a version of the system that localizes to a greater precision . the process of monitoring a person primarily using vision is described in fig4 . during the initial setup , the pra learns to recognize its owner 401 . the pra is “ introduced ” to its owner either directly by its owner , or with the help of an assistant . this involves having the user or patient look into the tracking , and / or monitoring cameras for a few seconds while moving their head naturally . additionally , the robot may watch and listen to the person while they are engaged in conversation . the pra may also watch the person walk to learn their gate . optionally , the owner may wear a beacon that may have a distinctive appearance or send out a radio signal . finally , the pra can recognize its owner by its clothes . during its introduction it identifies the color and pattern of the clothes its owner is wearing , which it will track . the pra observes the clothing each time it sees its owner and updates the clothing list in case the person has changed clothes . after the introduction , the pra is ready to begin its normal tracking and monitoring operation 402 . there are several simple and well know motion tracking algorithms for following the person . use of more than one robot in performing functions is described in the inventors &# 39 ; u . s . pat . no . 6 , 374 , 155 entitled “ autonomous multi - platform robot system ” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference . using more than one robot to share user status , environment status or mapping information is in keeping with the spirit of the instant invention . the robot monitors its owner based on his / her position , and facial , voice , gate and clothing recognition . should the robot determine a potentially crisis condition 403 , it will attempt to confirm by interacting with its owner or notify monitoring service 404 if an emergency situation is determined to exist . for example , if the person is mostly stationary , the robot may find an out of the way spot to watch him / her . depending on time of day and position of patient , there is a threshold that could indicate an emergency if the person is completely still or mostly still for longer than some thresholds . should the person remain still beyond the thresholds , the pra will attempt to interact , notify the monitoring service and / or other emergency contacts with which it has been programmed . the pra monitors its owner in normal mode until it has detected the need to confirm the identity or reacquire tracking . there are several situations that might cause the pra to lose track of its owner 406 . the person has moved to a spot where the robot cannot see him / her . the person may go outside , go into a different room and shut the door , go up or down stairs , or move into another area where the robot does not have access for any other reason . after the robot determines that it has lost track of its owner 406 , it goes into acquire search mode 407 . the robot searches the patient &# 39 ; s home every so often to attempt to find the patient . searching continues until a human is found . objects are recognized as humans using one of the many standard recognition algorithms . once a human is encountered , the pra uses facial , gate and last known clothing recognition to determine whether the person is its owner . if so , the robot begins tracking and monitoring its owner . if the face is not the face of its owner , the current search is aborted and is retried later . if the system includes voice recognition , or the person is wearing a beacon , those signals may be used to augment the search and recognition algorithms . based on the map of the house and the habits that the robot has learned , the pra may vary its search routine . if the person has gone into an area , which the robot believes has no other exit , the pra positions itself at that area as much as possible and patrol less frequently . this is the situation if the person enters room and closes door . the pra will give its owner privacy , but will also keep track of how long he / she is in the room and notify the monitoring service if patient doesn &# 39 ; t come back out for a certain length of time . also , the pra will attempt to determine whether the disappearance is part of a known routine , such as showering , sleeping or even leaving the house to get the newspaper or groceries . if it is a known behavior , the robot will also alter its search algorithms in order to optimize the likelihood of reacquiring its owner at the end of the activity while still providing for finding them if the current disappearance is in fact not the known behavior . visitors in the house may also cause the robot to lose track of its owner . when people come to visit the patient 408 , the robot will generally position itself out - of - the - way such that it can watch the people . from this position , the robot may not be able to continuously monitor its owner . because there are other people present , the pra &# 39 ; s algorithms may assume the visitors are capable of recognizing an emergency and allow less direct monitoring of its owner . as long as the robot may detect more than one person or a great deal of movement , it may remain in this visitor mode 409 . when the movement ceases , or the guest apparently leaves , the pra goes checks if owner tracking is lost 406 and possibly to acquire search mode 407 . once its owner is detected and recognized , the robot returns to normal tracking and monitoring 402 . in addition to monitoring individuals , the pra may perform a wide variety of other tasks . a partial list of service functions is shown in fig5 . the services that the pra may provide include the monitor functions 501 partially described above . while some of these functions may appeal to many individual and to parents with young children , these functions are targeted at supporting the elderly and infirmed . this group of individuals often requires specialized medical attention that the pra may also provide 502 . for example , the robot may house a medicine dispenser that tracks when medication is due and brings it to the person regardless of their location . this service eliminates the problem of the person simply forgetting to take their medication . the pra could also track compliance and report it to a doctor , nurse or other caregiver . this compliance monitoring is important because research shows that 50 % or more of the elderly patients either unintentionally or knowingly do not comply with their medication schedule . knowing their performance may improve their treatment and health . the pra could also house equipment to test blood pressure or blood sugar as well as providing initial dementia screening and other medical tasks . in one embodiment , the medicine dispenser is a commercially available appliance such as the medport medglider ™ pill reminder and dispenser system . the pill system may be directly linked to the pra to schedule the medicine doses . at the proper time , the robot will approach its owner and remind them of their medication . alternatively , the pra may not communicate directly with the pill reminder / dispenser system . the robot may be programmed directly , or it may recognize the reminders and / or alarms integrated into the system . one function of the monitor is to contact a caregiver if there is an emergency . the telephone may also have other uses 503 . the pra may simply house a standard telephone . since the robot may always be near its owner , the phone will always be near , so they neither have to find it or even get up to answer a call . any function included in any telephone could also be built into the system . the pra may also be equipped with sensors and programmed to respond to environmental emergencies 504 . mobile smoke and carbon monoxide detectors would be located near the household occupants increasing their reliability . a thermometer would enable the pra to detect whether the heat or air conditioning has failed before conditions can become critical . the robot may also act as a mobile sentry to detect intruders . in addition to monitoring and safety features , many people want convenience that the pra may perform tasks similar to those of a personal butler 505 . it can detect when it is getting dark and turn on lights . it may include an internet , television or radio connection to act as a personal media center . such a system could download audio books and other media content . adding an arm further increases the pra &# 39 ; s capabilities 506 . the robot could then track and pick - up , or retrieve objects such as books , keys , remote controls , etc . the pra could also get food or drink from the refrigerator . the potential tasks are almost unlimited . a pra with an arm is shown in fig6 . the pra 600 includes a base unit 601 that may reflect one of the embodiments shown above or have a different design . the arm 602 should be long enough to perform its desired task . in one embodiment , the arm may pick - up objects off the ground , reach wall switches to turn on and off lights , and be able to reach into the refrigerator . if the arm is mounted near the top of a 30 inch tall base , the arm should be at least 3 feet long . the arm could be shorter if it is mounted lower . the end of the arm is equipped with a “ hand ” or grabbing mechanism 603 , the complexity of which is dependent on the tasks to be performed . if the pra is required to handle delicate objects , a hand comprising significant dexterity may be utilized , but if it only turns on switches , picks up soda cans and books , and finds remote controls or glasses , the hand utilized may be of a simple vise - like design . 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 intent of the invention . many variations to the basic design are possible in other embodiments . the scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description . all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope .	6
the state of prior knowledge regarding the interaction of te ( iv ) halides and esters with water may be summed up by the following quotation : “ te ( iv ) compounds such as tex 4 and te ( or ) 4 interact readily with nucleophiles , ( and ) . . . may . . . eventually hydrolyze to teo 2 in aqueous solution ( albeck , a ., et al ., inorganic chemistry , 37 ( 8 ): 1704 - 1712 ( 1998 ), see page 1705 , col . 1 , lines 17 - 20 ). if , however , in the process of the invention ( for example , see above ), the starting materials merely hydrolyze to teo 2 and an organic moiety , then it should follow that since the organic moieties are not biologically active in the present context , the biological activity of teo 2 and the formed aqueous solution should be identical under comparable conditions . the fact that this is not the case ( see e . g . examples 13 , 14 and 16 , infra ) support the existence of the present complexes , and contradict the possibility that the aqueous solutions contain merely teo 2 and an organic moiety . the existence of the complexes is further illustrated by the differing solubilities in phosphate buffer solution ( pbs ) at ph7 , of the starting materials for the present process , compared with tecl 4 and teo 2 ( stated in mg te / 100 ml pbs , see below for identity of starting materials ): moreover , the product of preparation 3 cannot be formed by merely mixing the components , teo 2 and ethane - 1 , 2 - diol , which must be refluxed together for reaction to take place . while the present invention is not to be regarded as limited by any theory , nevertheless , unpublished studies by the present inventors demonstrate that , e . g ., teo 2 and ethane - 1 , 2 - diol from the hydrolysis in aqueous solution of the product of preparation 1 , can form a thermodynamically stable complex , which is a well defined species in aqueous solution ( see the illustrative model depicted in fig1 ), and that the ammonium moiety associated with this complex at a n — te distance of about 3 . 5 å ( see the illustrative model depicted in fig2 ), has a stabilizing effect on the non - ammonium form of the complex of about 39 kcal / mole . the discussion in the preceding paragraph is not to be regarded as excluding the possibility that other entities could be present in the aqueous solution of complex resulting from hydrolysis of the starting materials . the complexes of the invention may be administered to mammals for treatment of cancer , immune deficiencies , autoimmune diseases neurodegenerative diseases and infectious diseases using amounts that are effective in each condition . the treatment will alleviate the symptoms of these diseases by causing the mammalian body to produce increased amounts of lymphokines . the invention also includes the in vitro production of increased amounts of cytokines such as lymphokines and or their receptors and the use of these materials and / or as therapeutic agents to be administered to mammals for the alleviation of cancer , immune deficiencies neurodegenerative diseases and infectious diseases . it is contemplated that the composition of the invention may be used in combination with other anti - cancer chemotherapeutic agents such as cyclophosphamide . the term cancer is used to include leukemia and solid tumors that arise spontaneously , by contact with a carcinogenic agent , by irradiation or by oncoviruses . these conditions are well known to those who are skilled in the art and include such conditions as adrenal tumors , bone tumors , gastrointestinal tumors , brain tumors , breast tumors , skin tumors , lung tumors , ovarian tumors , genitourinary tumors and the like . the merck manual 13th edition , merck & amp ; co . ( 1977 ) describes many of these conditions . pages 647 - 650 ; 828 - 831 ; 917 - 920 ; 966 ; 970 - 974 ; 1273 , 1277 , 1371 - 1376 ; 1436 - 1441 ; 1563 ; 1612 - 1615 of the publication are incorporated herein by reference . the term immunodeficiency diseases is used to describe a diverse group of conditions such as acquired immunedeficiency syndrome ( aids ) characterized chiefly by an increased susceptibility to various infections with consequent severe acute , recurrent and chronic disease which result from one or more defects in the specific or nonspecific immune systems . pages 205 - 220 of the merck manual 13th edition describe many of these conditions and they are incorporated herein by reference . the term “ autoimmune diseases ” includes disorders in which the immune system produces autoantibodies to an endogenous antigen , with consequent injury to tissues . pages 241 - 243 of the merck manual 13th edition describe these conditions and they are incorporated herein by reference . neurodegenerative diseases include disorders of movement , see e . g . the merck manual 17 th edition , sec . 14 , ch . 179 , which is incorporated herein by reference . the term “ infectious diseases ” includes those pathologic conditions that arise from bacterial , viral or fungus organisms that invade and disrupt the normal function of the mammalian body . pages 3 - 149 of the merck manual 13th edition describe these conditions and they are incorporated herein by reference . the aqueous solutions of the invention may be administered orally , parenterally , topically or by contacting mucous membranes . the complexes may be administered orally in capsules or tablets that may be prepared using conventional excipients , binders , disintegrating agents and the like . the parenteral route is presently preferred and compositions may be prepared by utilizing the complex in a suitable solvent such as an aqueous buffer and dimethyl sulfoxide or glycerol . the parenteral route may be intramuscular , intraverious , intradermal using a sustained release carrier or subcutaneous . the concentration of the complexes in combination with a pharmaceutical carrier is not critical and is a matter of choice . remington &# 39 ; s practice of pharmacy , 9th , 10th and 11th ed . describe various pharmaceutical carriers and is incorporated herein by reference . the dosage of the complexes of the invention , in the form of aqueous solutions , used to stimulate lymphokine production or treat the specific disease condition described herein , may be varied depending on the particular disease and the stage of the disease . generally an amount of the complex may be administered which will range from 0 . 05 × 10 − 3 to 1 × 10 − 3 g / kg of body weight and preferably from 0 . 1 × 10 − 3 to 0 . 5 × 10 − 3 g / kg of body weight . for example a dosage of 1 - 3 mg per day for a 75 kg mammal is contemplated as a sufficient amount to induce lymphokines production but the dosage may be adjusted according to the individual response and the particular condition that is being treated . in addition to treating the mammalian disorders described hereinabove , the complexes may be utilized for veterinary purposes in the treatment of viral and immune diseases that afflict horses , ungulates and fowl . these disorders may be treated using quantities of the complex that may be used in treating the mammalian disorders described hereinabove . for in vitro use , cells may be stimulated to produce lymphokines by use of 1 × 10 − 8 to 1 × 10 − 4 , preferably 1 × 10 − 7 to 1 × 10 − 5 g of complex per 10 6 cells / ml . preliminary toxicity studies in mice have established an ld 50 of 300 μg / 25 g of body weight in 6 week old mice for the complex of example 1 . the complexes may be used as anti - bacterial or anti - viral agents in plants or in animals . virus infections such as west nile virus infections in mice are susceptible to the complex of the example 1 at a dose of 10 μg / day / mouse . plant bacterial infections such as crown gali caused by agrobacterium tumefaciens may be treated or prevented by the application of a 0 . 1 % solution of complexes of the invention . the invention also contemplates a method for preparing the complexes of the invention in an aqueous vehicle . this method comprises the use of ultrasound or mechanical agitation for an extended period of time which will dissolve the starting material , such as a compound claimed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 761 , 490 . generally ultrasound is produced by a transformer which transforms 50 / 60 hertz , line voltage ac into high frequency electrical energy which is coupled to a transducer . by using piezoelectric ceramics , electrical frequency is converted into mechanical vibration . typical amplitudes of 0 . 0003 for 40 k hz equipment and 0 . 00007 to 0 . 001 for 20 k hz equipment are useful . the transducer may be provided with a booster that is connected to a horn that has means for conducting the ultrasound to a container that holds the liquid for dissolving the compounds to be converted to the complexes of the invention . useful devices include small scale ultrasonic cleaners such as the bronson instrument . it has been found that solutions containing about 5 mg / 100 ml of the complex of the invention may be prepared by applying ultrasound for a sufficient period of time to provide an aqueous liquid containing the complex . the time required for this is usually 3 hours to 24 hours . high speed mechanical shakers such as a tutenhauer shaker or waring blenders may be used for this purpose . the use of an electrically operated agitator will cause the compounds to be converted to the complexes to form a solution or dispersion after about 3 to 4 hours of agitation . it has been discovered that pharmaceutically acceptable water - miscible liquids e . g . glycerol may be used in the preparation of aqueous liquids that contain the complex . these preparations are then diluted with an aqueous injectable diluent such as water , saline solution etc . the preferred diluent is pbs . it has been found that the complex - containing aqueous solutions in accordance with the present invention can be stored for long periods of time under ambient conditions , e . g . for at least five years . the following examples are given to illustrate the invention and it is understood that they do not limit the scope of the invention . 0 . 01 mol of ethylene glycol and 0 . 01 mol of tellurium tetrachloride were dissolved in 35 ml of dry acetonitrile and placed in a flask fitted with a reflux condenser and a magnetic stirrer . the reaction mixture was refluxed for six hours . the solution was filtered while hot through a sintered glass filter . the filtrate was collected and allowed to reach room temperature which resulted in the formation of a white precipitate . the precipitate was filtered and collected on a sintered glass filter and washed with cold acetonitrile . it was dried for 10 hours under vacuum of 0 . 05 mm / hg . the mp ( d ) was ca . 200 ° c . 0 . 01 mol of ethylene glycol was added to 0 . 01 mol of tellurium tetrachloride in 50 ml of dry benzene in flask fitted with a reflux condenser and a magnetic stirrer . the reaction mixture was refluxed for 16 hours and filtered while hot through a sintered glass filter and worked up as in example 1 using benzene as a wash liquid to give the compound of formula ii where n = 0 . the mp ( d ) was ca . 250 ° c . tellurium dioxide ( 0 . 5 mole ) was suspended in 250 ml 1 , 2 - ethanediol ( excess ) and the mixture was heated under reflux at 90 ° c . under a slight vacuum for 16 hours . a white crystalline product was obtained . the material was separated by filtration , dried and then purified by sublimation at 150 ° c . ( 0 . 25 mm hg ) mp 206 . degree .— 210 ° c ., cf . jacs 103 , 2340 - 2347 ( 1981 ). anal . calc . for c 4 h 8 o 4 te : c , 19 . 2 ; h , 3 . 3 ; o , 25 . 07 ; te 51 . 2 . found : c , 19 . 91 ; h , 3 . 12 ; o , 24 . 98 ; te , 49 . 99 . ms m / e 250 . this compound has the structure depicted above . to a stirred solution of tecl 4 ( 0 . 015 mol ) and 1 , 2 - propanediol ( 0 . 03 mol ) in tetrahydrofuran ( 70 ml ) at − 40 ° c . was added dropwise triethylamine ( 0 . 06 ) in 30 ml of tetrahydrofuran . the white precipitate of triethylamine hydrochloride was removed by filtration . the filtrate was concentrated at room temperature and white oily crystals were obtained and purified by sublimation at 120 ° c . ( 0 . 25 mm hg ) m . s . m / e = 204 , 278 . this compound has the structure ii ( n = 0 , y = methyl , z = h ). using the procedure of preparation 1 , the following compounds were made using tellurium tetrachloride and the corresponding diol : a solution of the equimolar complex of teo 2 and ethylene glycol , nh 4 cl salt (“ complex of example 1 ”), was prepared as follows : 5 mg of the product of preparation 1 was placed in a volumetric flask to which was added 100 ml of a solution of 40 % dimethyl sulfoxide ( dmso ) and 60 % phosphate buffer saline ( pbs ) solution resulting in a concentration of 10 μg / 0 . 2 ml . if the solution becomes turbid , it is centrifuged at 2000 rpm for ten minutes and the clear supernatant portion is used . the test animals were balb - c , male , mice , 6 to 8 weeks of age . all injections were made intraperitoneally using 0 . 2 ml of the solution of the complex of example 1 using 25 gauge ⅝ ″ hypodermic needle . the animals received the following injections : ( a ) control ( no injection ) ( b ) control ( 0 . 2 ml dmso ) ( c ) 1 μg of the complex of example 1 in 0 . 2 ml dmso / pbs solution ( d ) 10 μg of the complex of example 1 in 0 . 2 ml dmso / pbs solution each of groups a , b , c and d consisted of 21 animals . the animals were sacrificed daily from 24 h to 7 days after injection . on each day , spleen cells from three of the animals from each control group were pooled together and processed by passing the spleen cells through a 60 mesh stainless steel net in a 5 mm petri dish containing pbs in order to separate the cells . the cells were collected and centrifuged at 1000 rpm for 10 minutes . the supernatant was discarded and the cells were treated for two minutes with 5 ml of hypotonic buffer ( 0 . 15m nh 4 cl , 0 . 01m khco 3 dissolved in double distilled water , ph 7 . 2 ) to kill the erythrocytes . thereafter , pbs was added to the cells and the cells were centrifuged for 10 minutes at 1000 rpm . the cells were washed twice with pbs and counted in a hemocytometer using trypan blue to test for viability . the cells were brought to a concentration of 10 7 cells / ml using enriched rpmi containing 10 % fetal calf serum ( ser lab , sussex , england ); 5 × 10 − 5 m 2 - mercaptoethanol and 3 % of d - glutamine ( bio lab israel ); ( stock solution 2 mm × 1000 nonessential amino acids ) ( bio lab , israel ); ( stock solution × 100 ) and sodium pyruvate ( bio lab , israel ); ( stock solution 1 mm × 100 ). an additional three animals from each of the experimental groups were sacrificed and each of the spleens was processed separately using the same procedure . ( a ) cells at a concentraton of 10 7 cells / ml enriched rpmi to which was added concanavalin - a ( con a ) ( difco , batch 352 ) 2 μg / ml . these cells were incubated in 5 mm petri dishes ( nunc ) for 24 hours at 37 ° c ., 7 . 5 % co 2 . supernatants were collected , centrifuged at 1 , 600 rpm for 10 minutes and stored at 4 ° c . until used . these supernatants were assayed for interleukin - 2 ( il - 2 ) and colony stimulating factor ( csf ) activity . ( b ) cells at a concentration of 10 7 cells / ml enriched rpmi which were incubated at 37 ° c ., 7 . 5 % co 2 for 96 h ., without addition of con a . supernatants were collected , centrifuged and stored at 4 ° c . until used . these supernatants were assayed for csf activity . prior to incubation of the cells , samples were removed from culture plates and smears of the cultures were made by cytocentrifugation . slides were stained with may - grunwald - giemsa ( 1 : 10 ) solution and evaluated morphologically . a radioactive thymidine assay was used to determine il - 2 activity . 1 . supernatants were tested for il - 2 activity by the proliferation of the il - 2 dependent cell line ctld . the il - 2 assay is based on the growth dependence of these cultured t - cell lines on il - 2 . t cells harvested from il - 2 dependent culture , washed and placed back in culture in the absence of il - 2 invariably die within 24 hr . by using tritiated thymidine incorporation ( 3 h - tdr ) as an index of cultured t - cell replication , the il - 2 microassay provides a highly reproducible and quantitative indication of the amount of il - 2 activity in the supernatant prepared hereinabove . 2 . to assay a condition medium for il - 2 activity , a sample containing 5 × 10 4 ctld cells , 10 % fetal calf serum and 50 % of supernatant in question , all were suspended in a final volume of 1 ml rpmi . aliquots of 0 . 2 ml from each sample were placed in four replicate wells of 96 microwell tissue culture plates ( nunc ). conditioned medium was obtained from cultures of charles river rat spleen cells stimulated with con a that contained a known amount of il - 2 as a reference in all assays . 3 . the microwells were incubated for 24 hr . at 37 ° c . after which 1 microcurie / well of 3 h - methylthymidine was added . cells were then further incubated overnight , harvested with a cell harvester , and counted in a beta scintillator . the results , in counts per minute ( cpm ) were as follows and indicate the relative quantity of il - 2 that is present in the supernatants . ( a ) control ( no injection ) ( b ) control ( 0 . 2 ml dmso ) ( c ) 1 μg of complex of example 1 ( in 0 . 2 ml dmso / pbs solution ) ( d ) 10 μg of complex of example 1 ( in 0 . 2 ml of dmso / pbs solution ) this example describes the stimulation of il - 2 production from human mononuclear cells by the use of the complex of example 1 . venous whole blood ( with heparin , evans : 10 iu / ml blood ) was diluted with rpmi in a ratio of 1 : 1 . the diluted blood was gently placed on lymphoprep ( nylgard & amp ; co ., oslo , norway , density 1 . 077 g / ml ) two parts of diluted blood on one part of lymphoprep . each tube was provided with 3 ml lymphoprep and 6 to 7 ml diluted blood . the tubes were centrifuged 30 minutes at 1600 rpm at room temperature . after the centrifugation , mononuclear cells were collected from the interphase fraction and washed with rpmi three times . the cells were resuspended in rpmi , counted on a hemocytometer , using trypan blue to test for viability and brought to a concentration of 1 × 10 6 cells per ml in enriched rpmi . varying concentrations of the complex of example 1 ranging from 50 pg / ml to 5 pg / ml were added in a volume of 10 % of cell mixture . aliquots of 0 . 2 ml from each sample were placed in wells of microplates ( nunc ) ( triplicates ). the microplates were incubated for 72 hours at 37 ° c . after which 3h - methylthymidine , 1 μci / well ( nuclear research center , israel ) was added to the cultures . cells were further incubated overnight and harvested with a cell harvester . proliferation of human mononuclear cells was increased by 5 to 6 fold in the range of 1 to 10 ng / ml of cells of the complex of example 1 thus suggesting that the complex of example 1 either induced the production of il - 2 in a subset of the mononuclear cells resulting in the observed proliferation and / or the induced receptor formation in a given population which would also result in proliferation . this example illustrates the in vivo effect of the complex of example 1 on an experimentally induced tumor . a solution of 0 . 2 % of methylcholanthrene ( mca , sigma , usa ) was prepared by dissolving 2 mg of the carcinogen in 1 . 0 ml of olive oil ( ref : petra , et al ., cancer 19 : 302 , 1961 ) with continuous shaking at 37 ° c . for 30 minutes . six to eight week old c 3 heb mice were injected with 0 . 6 mg mca / 0 . 3 ml of solvent / mouse subcutaneously in the rear right thigh . after 21 - 30 days the induced tumor was surgically removed and pushed through 60 mesh stainless nets to obtain isolated cells . these cells were then further injected subcutaneously into the rear right thigh of c 3 heb mice 5 to 8 weeks of age , at a concentration of 10 6 cells / 0 . 3 ml pbs / mouse / hypodermic needle 25 gauge , ⅝ ″ to further induce tumor formation . five days after injection of the tumor cells , a palpable tumor was induced . the animals were thereafter treated as follows : ( a ) control ( 0 . 2 ml 40 % dmso 60 % pbs , ip 1 day after the induced tumor was palpable ). ( b ) 10 μg of complex of example 1 , ip to 5 mice ( in 0 . 2 ml 40 % dmso 60 % pbs , 3 days after the induced tumor was palpable and a second injection of 10 μg of complex in the same solvent was administered 5 days after the first injection to 3 of the 5 mice . the tumors were excised after 13 days and the volume was determined and is reported in the table . all animals expired 35 to 38 days after the initial inoculation . balb - c mice , age 7 weeks were injected with methylcholanthrene to induce the formation of fibrosarcoma cells according to the procedure of example 3 . the test animals were divided into two groups . ( a ) control ( 0 . 2 ip of 40 % dmso and 60 % pbs ); ( b ) 10 pg of the complex of example 1 ( in 0 . 2 ml 40 % dmso 60 % pbs , ip at intervals shown in table 2 ). 1 day 39 marked the start of an increased dosage regimen to determine the toxicity of the complex of example 1 . the mortality results for group ( b ) were 0 % until just after the increased dosage regimen . this example describes the in vitro production of il - 2 and csf from mouse spleen cells using the complex of example 1 as the extrinsic stimulating agent . spleens were removed from 15 , male balb - c mice 6 to 8 weeks of age . the spleen cells were pushed through stainless steel 60 mesh ( u . s . standard ) nets resting in 5 mm petri dishes containing pbs in order to separate the cells . the cells were then collected into centrifuge tubes and spun at 1000 rpm for 10 minutes . the supernatant was discarded and cells were treated with 5 ml of hypotonic buffer ( 0 . 15m nh 4 cl ; 0 . 01m khco 3 dissolved in double distilled water , ph 7 . 2 ) for exactly two minutes . thereafter , pbs was added to the cells and the test tubes were centrifuged for 10 minutes at 1000 rpm . the cells were rinsed twice and counted in a hemocytometer using trypan blue to test for viability . the cells were brought to a concentration of 10 7 viable cells / ml . the cells were contacted with varying amounts of the complex of example 1 in 1 ml of 40 % dmso 60 % pbs . table 3 shows the induction of il - 2 activity and colony stimulating factor that was obtained with varying amounts of the complex of example 1 . human mononuclear cells were obtained as described above and cultured for 72 hours at a concentration of 10 6 cells / ml enriched rpmi , in the presence of varying concentrations of the complex of example 1 . culture supernatants were collected , centrifuged and tested for il - 2 activity by using 50 % of the volume of the supernatant assaying their ability to support the proliferation of the il - 2 dependent cell line ctld . table 4 reports the results of this assay . ( a ) a solution of the equimolar complex of teo 2 and ethylene glycol ( complex of example 7 ( a )) was prepared as follows : 5 mg of the product of preparation 2 was placed in a volumetric flask to which was added 100 ml of a solution of 40 % dimethyl sulfoxide ( dmso ) and 60 % phosphate buffer saline ( pbs ) solution resulting in a concentration of 10 μg / 0 . 2 ml . if the solution becomes turbid , it is centrifuged at 2000 rpm for ten minutes and the clear supernatant portion is used . the stimulation of il - 2 production from human mononuclear cells by the use of the complex thus produced will now be described . venous whole blood ( with heparin , evans : 10 iu / ml blood ) was diluted with rpmi in a ratio of 1 : 1 . the diluted blood was gently placed on lymphoprep ( nylgard & amp ; co ., oslo , norway , density 1 . 077 g / ml ) two parts of diluted blood on one part of lymphoprep . each tube was provided with 3 ml lymphoprep and 6 to 7 ml diluted blood . the tubes were centrifuged 30 minutes at 1600 rpm at room temperature . after the centrifugation , mononuclear cells were collected from the interphase fraction and washed with rpmi three times . the cells were resuspended in rpmi , counted on a hemocytometer , using trypan blue to test for viability and brought to an enriched rpmi . varying concentrations of the complex ranging from 50 μg / ml to 1 ng / ml were added in a volume of 10 % of cell mixture . aliquots of 0 . 2 ml from each sample were placed in triplicate wells of microplates ( nunc ). the microplates were incubated for 72 hours at 37 ° c . afterwards with 3 h - methylthyrmidine , and 1 μci / well ( nuclear research center , israel ) was added to the cultures . cells were further incubated overnight and harvested with a cell harvester . proliferation of human mononuclear cells was increased by 10 fold in the range of 1 to 10 ng of the complex of this example / ml cells thus suggesting that the complex either induced the production of il - 2 in a subset of the mononuclear cells resulting in the observed proliferation and / or the induced receptor formation in a given population which would also result in proliferation . ( b ) by proceeding similarly to the first paragraph of example 7 ( a ), an aqueous solution of the equimolar complex of teo 2 and ethane - 1 , 2 - diol was prepared from the product of preparation 3 . whereas in example 7 ( a ) the hcl liberated by hydrolysis may be expected to aid complex formation and / or stabilization , this is not the case where the starting material is that of preparation 3 ( cf also the differing biological results shown in the second table in example 13 , below ). ( c ) by proceeding similarly to the first paragraph of example 7 ( a ), an aqueous solution of the equimolar complex of teo 2 and propane - 1 , 2 - diol was prepared from the product of preparation 4 . to a 100 ml solution of pbs ( see table ) is added 5 . 0 mg of the compound of preparation 1 using sterile conditions . the mixture is placed in a sonicator , and is sonicated for 4 hours . after the 4 hour period , the compound is dissolved to give a concentration of 10 μg / 0 . 2 ml of the complex of example 1 . using 100 ml of the pbs of example 8 , 5 . 0 mg of the compound of preparation 1 is dissolved by shaking in an electrically operated shaker for 4 hours , using sterile conditions to obtain a 10 μg / 0 . 2 ml solution of the complex of example 1 . using stirring , 5 . 0 mg of the compound of preparation 1 is dissolved under sterile conditions in 20 ml of glycerol . thereafter 80 ml of pbs is added to form a solution containing 10 μg / 0 . 2 ml of the complex of example 1 . moreover , it has been determined that the compound of preparation 1 will dissolve in glycerol / pbs as follows : 6 . 0 g / l in 40 % glycerol / 60 % pbs ; 1 . 3 g / l in 20 % glycerol / 80 % pbs ; 1 . 0 g / l in 10 % glycerol / 90 % pbs . this example demonstrates the effect of oral administration of the complexes of example 1 and 7 ( a ) on the induction of lymphokines . aqueous solutions were prepared by dissolving the compounds of preparations 1 and 2 in pbs at a concentration of 50 μg / ml pbs and diluting the resulting solution to the desired concentration ( 10 μg / ml of water and 1 μg / ml of water for the compound of preparation 1 and 25 μg , 10 μg and 1 μg / ml of water for the compound of preparation 2 ). the complexes were administered in these dilutions , as drinking water , to male balb - c mice , 6 - 8 weeks of age over a 4 day period . the exact amount of liquid intake was recorded daily . after 4 days the mice were sacrificed and spleens removed and processed as described in example 1 . the cells were incubated at a concentration of 10 7 cells / ml in enriched rpmi containing 2 μg / ml of con - a for 24 hours at 37 ° c . the supernatants were collected and tested for il - 2 content . this experiment shows that the complexes of examples 1 and 7 ( a ) are active for inducing lymphokine production when given orally in an aqueous diluent . by proceeding in the manner described in example 1 , above , there were prepared aqueous solutions of the ammonium salts of the equimolar complexes of teo 2 and ( a ) propane - 1 , 2 - diol , ( b ) butane - 2 , 3 - diol , ( c ) propane - 1 , 3 - diol and ( d ) butane - 1 , 4 - diol , starting with the products of preparation ( a ), ( b ), ( c ) and ( d ), respectively . this example shows the stimulative effect of the complexes of examples 1 , 7 ( a ), 7 ( b ), 12 ( a ), compared with teo 2 alone , on the induction of il - 2 receptors of human mononuclear cells . human mnc were brought to a concentration of 10 6 cells / ml . rpmi + 10 % fcs . aliquots of 0 . 2 ml . were placed in duplicate wells of microdishes and plates were incubated at 37 ° c . for 24 hrs . thereafter wells were rinsed twice with rpmi and cells were resuspended with 20 i . u ./ ml recombinant il - 2 in rpmi and 10 % fcs . plates were further incubated for 48 hrs . and labeled with 3 h thymidine 24 hrs . before harvesting . the proliferation was measured by 3 ht uptake as described by gillis et al , j . immunol . 120 , 2027 ( 1978 ). the results are expressed in counts per minute . y cell plus recombinant il2 ( human ) biogen 1 . 5 × 10 − 6 units − 3260 cell plus recombinant il2 ( human ) biogen 1 . 5 × 10 − 6 units this example shows the stimulative effect of the complexes of the invention on the proliferation of human mononuclear cells . human mononuclear cells were obtained by layering heparinized blood over a ficoll / hypaque gradient . the mononuclear cells were resuspended in enriched rpmi , rinsed three times and brought to a concentrations of 5 × 10 5 cells / ml enriched rpmi . varying concentrations of the complexes of ex . 1 and ex . 7 ( a ), ranging from 0 . 005 μg to 5 μg / cell mixture were added to the cells . aliquots of 0 . 2 ml of each sample were placed in wells of microplates ( triplicates ). microplates were incubated for 72 hours at 37 ° c . after which they were labelled with 3 h methyl - thymidine 1 μci / well for an additional 24 hours . cells were then harvested with a cell harvester . * the concentrations that induced proliferation range from 5 × 10 − 1 to 1 × 10 − 1 μg . no significant effect was found for teo 2 at any concentration that was tested . using the procedure of example 4 , human mononuclear cells were tested for their ability to produce il - 2 after induction with pha or in unstimulated cells from normal donors and from patients suffering from systemic lupus erthyrematous . the il - 2 content was tested according to the procedure of example 3 using the ctld il - 2 dependent cell line . the results are reported in table 5 . this example provides an assay to detect the presence of receptor sites for il - 2 . human mononuclear cells were incubated for 24 hours in the presence of the complex of example 1 and teo 2 . the cells were washed twice with pbs and then incubated with a specific fluoresceinated antibody against il - 2 receptors as described in uchiyama et al , j . immunol . 126 , 1398 ( 1981 ) the results were that in the control 2 % of the cells were positive ; in the presence of pha 80 % of the cells were positive and with 1 μg / ml of the complex of example 1 , 20 % of the cells were found to be positive . it was found that teo 2 gave 5 % positive cells at a level of 1 μg / ml . the effect of the complex of example 1 on an infection with west nile virus ( wnv ) was determined . wnv is a toga virus of the flavivirus group , a positive single stranded rna virus , which when injected ip to mice usually kills them within 5 - 8 days as a result of extensive damage to the central nervous system . for this study icr mice ( 3 wks of age ) were injected ip with the virus at the concentration of 10 3 or 10 4 ld 50 units / mouse . injections of 10 μg / 0 . 2 ml pbs / mouse of the complex of ex . 1 were given on day − 1 ( one day prior to injection of virus ) and 6 days after injection of virus . table a shows preliminary results of one such experiment . as can be seen , after 8 days all animals injected with the virus alone died , whereas three out of five animals receiving treatment with the complex of ex . 1 remained alive . in a second experiment , mice were injected with 10 3 ipld 50 virus and received injections of the complex of example 1 ( 10 μg / 0 . 2 ml pbs / mouse ) on days − 1 , 1 , 2 and 4 . preliminary results of one such experiment on day 8 after injection are shown in table b . as seen on day 8 all animals injected with virus alone died whereas 3 out of 5 receiving the complex of ex . 1 remained alive . two out of the remaining three survived an additional 8 days , whereas the third remained alive without any manifestations of clinical symptoms . this example shows that the interaction of wnv with cultures of icr mouse macrophage results in a productive infection . varying amounts of the complex of example 1 ( 5 μg , 1 μg , 0 . 1 μg ) were incubated with a monolayer of mouse macrophages for 24 h . after 24 h macrophages incubated with 5 μg of the complex of example 1 died whereas others remained unaffected . all cultures were then infected with 10 4 pfu / plate . after 72 h incubation the supernatants were collected and the virus was titrated against vera cells . table a shows preliminary results of one such experiment . as can be seen , incubation of macrophage cultures with 1 μg of the complex of example 1 resulted in a 40 - fold reduction of virus yield , whereas incubation with 0 . 1 μg of the complex of ex . 1 plate resulted in a ten - fold reduction in virus yield . to test the efficacy of the complex of example 1 as a potential cancer therapy agent , independent of its cytokine - increasing effect in the animal body , the inhibition of growth of ha - ras transformed nih - 3t3 cells was assessed . 5 × 10 2 cells were plated per 60 mm dish and incubated with different concentrations ( 0 . 005 - 5 μg / ml ) of the complex in pbs . a week later , the cells were stained with gimsa and clones were counted . similar experiments were conducted using v - mos transformed nih - 3t3 cells , and also using ph 2 tecl 2 and ph 3 tecl , with both types of transformed cells . ( a ) there was a major reduction in the number of colonies of ha - ras transformed nih - 3t3 cells treated with the present complex , compared with control , whereas ph 2 tecl 2 and ph 3 tecl did not inhibit their growth ; ( b ) none of the complex , ph 2 tecl 2 or ph 3 tecl inhibited the growth of v - mos transformed nih - 3t3 cells , ( c ) there was a consistent correlation between the extent of inhibition of ha - ras transformed nih - 3t3 cells treated with the present complex , and the concentration of complex used , the maximum effect being attained with a concentration of 0 . 05 μg / ml . the tested complex inhibits growth of ha - ras transformed nih - 3t3 cells independently of its cytokine increasing characteristics , and is thus a potential cancer therapy agent . the lack of similar biological activity by ph 2 tecl 2 or ph 3 tecl is presumably due to the fact that these compounds , in aqueous media , are structurally incapable of giving rise to the present complexes . additionally , the fact that the complex did not inhibit the growth of v - mos transformed nih - 3t3 cells , suggests that the antiproliferative effect of the complex may be mediated via p21 ras protein . while particular embodiments of the invention have been particularly described hereinabove , it will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited thereto , since as will be readily apparent to skilled persons , many modifications or variations can be made . such modifications or variations which have not been detailed herein are deemed to be obvious equivalents of the present invention .	0
with reference to the drawings , fig1 and 2 show a rectangular pad 10 having an upper , body supporting surface 12 extending between a head end 14 , foot end 16 and two sides 18 . the pad 10 is made of a resilient synthetic foam material selected from various such foams in current use for similar applications . in fig1 and 4 the pad 10 is shown to have an integral head - elevating raised shelf 22 , and the foot end has a sloping surface which tapers from the top surface 12 to an edge 16 . the sloping surface 24 relieves pressure against the heels of a person p lying on the pad 10 as shown in fig4 of the drawings . the central area of the top surface 12 has an opening 20 centered between the sides 18 and located so as to underlie the coccigeal area of an average individual lying in a normal supine position on the pad surface 12 , as in fig4 . the opening 20 will also underlie the hip bone projection of the same individual lying on his or her side and stretched generally along the center - line of the pad between the two sides 18 . the opening 20 is to relieve pressure against the bony protrusions of the coccyx and the hip bone of a person confined to bed rest for protracted periods of time , to avoid breakdown and ulceration of the skin over these bony protrusions . the opening 20 is the top aperture of a frustoconical through - hole defined by interior walls 30 and shown in vertical cross section in fig2 . the hole 30 extends fully through the thickness of the pad 10 between the top surface 12 and the bottom surface 26 of the pad . both top and bottom openings 20 , 28 are circular , but the top opening 20 is substantially smaller than the lower opening 28 . consequently , the cross sectional dimension or area of the hole increases from top to bottom and the interior wall 30 of the through - hole is frustoconical . the wall 30 recedes outwardly away from the edge of the top opening 20 with increasing depth away from the top surface 12 , thereby undercutting a circumferential zone 32 of the pad surface 12 immediately adjacent to the edge of the top opening 20 . the radial extent of the zone 32 is a function of the angle of the interior wall 30 and the pad thickness . because of the slope angle of the inner wall 30 , the thickness of foam material underlying the surface 12 diminishes with proximity to the edge of the top opening 20 , beginning at a point on surface 12 overlying the rim of the bottom opening 28 , on the undersurface 26 . generally , the zone 32 defines a gradient of diminishing support at the surface 12 as a function of proximity to the opening 20 . beginning at some point sufficiently removed from the top opening 20 , the frustoconical through - hole 30 has negligible effect and the resilience and yielding characteristics of the foam pad are dictated by the nature of the material and the thickness of the pad . as the edge of hole 20 is approached , the deformation of surface 12 under load will be increasingly influenced by the internal geometry of the through - hole 30 and the region 32 of support surface 12 surrounding the through - hole yields with increasing ease . the lack of foam material directly underlying the hole edge allows the foam material to roll inwardly into the hole under loading , as illustrated in fig3 . the present invention reduces shear force on skin tissues at the edge of the hole by undermining the support available at the surface 12 in the vicinity of the edge of the top opening 20 . this diminished support is achieved by modifying the interior geometry of the hole or cavity . in particular this may be achieved by slanting the interior wall 30 of the cavity or hole outwardly so as to form an acute angle , i . e ., less than 90 degrees , between the wall 30 and the surface 12 at the hole edge . fig3 illustrates typical response of the support surface 12 under load around the opening 20 . the load ( not illustrated ) is indicated by arrows f and is approximately evenly distributed around the opening 20 on surface 12 , as might be applied by the body of a person resting on the surface 12 , particularly with an anatomical protuberance projecting into the opening 20 . such a condition is illustrated in fig4 where the coccyx projection of the person p is shown overlying the opening 20 of the cavity 30 . under load , the circumferential region 32 of surface 12 rolls into the cavity 30 and the edge of the top opening 20 is depressed below its normal , unloaded condition shown in dotted line in fig3 . the edge of opening 20 is deprived of underlying resiliency to an extent controlled by the interior geometry of the hole and the shear effect against any overlying anatomy is diminished accordingly . since the area of surface 12 immediately adjacent to the hole 20 is pushed down more readily , there is less opportunity for anatomical tissues to extrude into the cavity 30 at the cavity edge . the reduced support gradient around the opening 20 allows any anatomical protuberance and surrounding anatomy to more easily shape and depress the surface 12 around the opening 20 into a depression to a shape generally conforming to the anatomy with relatively low shear and extrusion at the opening 20 . low edge - shear openings in the pad surface 12 as just described can be achieved with a variety of cavity geometries , some of which are shown in fig5 and 6 . the cavity 30 in fig2 has straight , outwardly slanting inner walls which , for a circular top and bottom openings will define a frustoconical through - hole in the pad . the openings 20 , 28 , however , need not be circular but may assume an arbitrary shape , with corresponding changes in the interior wall 30 . for example , square openings 20 , 28 may be employed with trapezoidal interior walls connecting corresponding sides of the top and bottom openings , resulting in a pyramidal shaped cavity . fig5 shows a low edge - shear cavity where the interior widens at a non - uniform rate with increasing depth so that in cross - section the inner wall 30 &# 39 ; is convexly curved . the rate of curvature at different depths of the cavity can be tailored and adjusted to obtain specific characteristics of the support gradient in the zone 32 adjacent to the top opening 20 . thus , a convex curvature shaped as in fig5 will provide an initial drop - off in support at a point somewhat removed from the edge of the hole 20 with a lesser subsequent reduction as the edge of the hole 20 is approached because the walls near the top , i . e ., near the edge of the hole 20 , more closely approach a straight , vertical wall and provide firmer support at the hole rim . conversely , a softer edge can be obtained by increasing the slant of the curve away from the vertical near the edge , i . e . a more acute angle between wall 30 &# 39 ; and surface 12 at the hole edge . fig6 shows yet another variation where the interior cavity wall 30 &# 34 ; is concavely curved between the top opening 20 and bottom opening 28 . the wall deviates from the vertical most pronouncedly near the top opening 20 and then curves towards the vertical as it approaches the bottom surface 26 . consequently , the degree of support provided to the surface 12 in region 32 diminishes rapidly as the edge of the opening 20 is approached , producing a very soft , easily deformable zone near the opening edge , with rapidly firmer support being encountered as the distance away from the opening 20 increases . the curved walls 30 &# 39 ; and 30 &# 34 ; in fig5 and 6 respectively provide variations from a more linear gradation in support characteristics provided by the straight sloping wall 30 of fig2 . it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular shapes and configurations here described or illustrated in the drawings , and that many slopes and elevational curvatures of the cavity wall 30 can be implemented to achieve various support gradient characteristics around an opening 20 in the support surface 12 of the pad 10 . further , the sloping cavity wall need not extend about the entire circumference or perimeter of the top opening 20 . for example , a half - circular portion of the top opening 20 may be supported by a straight , vertical inner wall , while the opposite half circle 20 may have a sloping underlying wall 30 . in a rectangular opening , two opposite sides may be associated with slanted interior walls while the remaining two sides may be associated with vertical cavity walls . still other combinations of straight sloping , concave , or convex cavity walls may be provided in a single cavity of arbitrary shape . the dimensions of the openings are not critical and may vary to suit their purpose . for a coccigeal opening such as illustrated in the drawings , the top opening may be two inches in diameter and the bottom opening may be four inches in diameter in a pad about three inches thick . in the pad 10 several cavities 30 with top and bottom openings as shown can be grouped in a straight line to accomodate the coccygeal region of different sized users . various factors , which may be experimentally determined , will influence the dimensions of the cavity and the slope and shape of the cavity walls . in particular , the cavity design will take into account the resilience of the particular foam material , which are available in a variety of hardnesses and resiliencies . the top opening 20 may also be vanishingly small , so that the support surface is essentially uninterrupted , but will overlie a cavity shaped as described above , e . g ., a conical cavity having a pointed apex at the supporting surface . such a cavity will provide generally similar benefits to those having an open top . the surface 12 over the cavity will yield to accomodate anatomical protrusions and will offer a pressure gradient around the cavity which will depend on the size and shape of the cavity , as well as on the resiliency characteristics of the foam material . the improvement of this invention does not require that the cavity have a bottom opening 28 at an under surface 26 of the pad 10 . the bottom of the cavity may be closed by a second layer of foam adhesively affixed to the under surface 26 of a top pad layer . in the alternative , the cavity may be formed so as to have a closed bottom in a single layer of foam . these and other combinations and modifications to the present invention will become apparent to those possessed of ordinary skill in the art in light of the foregoing description and attached drawings which are for purposes of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation of the scope of the following claims .	0
fig1 shows a prior art arrangement of a vcma , as also shown in n . s . barker and g . m . rebeiz , “ distributed mems true - time delay phase shifters and wideband switches ,” ieee trans . microwave theory tech ., vol . 46 , pp . 1881 – 1890 , november 1998 . more specifically , fig1 shows a cross section of a quartz substrate 1 that contains a coplanar waveguide transmission line , having a center conductor 2 and ground plane gaps 3 . a gold bridge 4 is fabricated over the center conductor 2 , connected to a ground metal 5 . as a voltage difference is applied between the center conductor 2 and the ground , the bridge 4 is attracted electrostatically to the center conductor 2 , thus deforming the bridge 4 . the result is a capacitance increase between the center conductor 2 and ground . the variation of the capacitance can be controlled by controlling the applied voltage difference . fig2 a and 2b show a mathematical model corresponding to the arrangement of fig1 . according to this model , the vcma arrangement can be modelled as a parallel plate capacitor “ on a spring ”, that is with the top plate of the capacitor attached to a spring , as shown in fig2 a . with reference to the model of fig2 a , the substrate containing the rf circuitry ( for example a phase shifter ) is indicated by numeral 11 . the metallized membrane or gold bridge is indicated at 12 . the membrane 12 can be imagined to be connected to supports 13 through springs 14 . the zero bias position of the membrane 12 along the x vertical axis shown in the figure is indicated with x 0 . as soon as a bias voltage v bias is applied between the membrane 12 and the substrate 11 , an electrostatic force f moves the membrane 12 downwards . movement of the membrane 12 causes rf capacitance changes in the bottom circuit that will tune the resonant frequency of individual resonators and the coupling coefficients between resonators . the relationship between the position of the membrane 12 on the x axis and the applied v bias voltage is shown in fig2 b . from that figure it can be seen that in absence of applied voltage the position of the membrane 12 is x 0 ( i . e . x / x 0 = 1 ). as soon as the applied voltage v bias raises , the membrane 12 moves toward the substrate 11 . however , when the bias voltage reaches a value v max ( i . e . v bias / v max = 1 ), the membrane 12 ( upper plate of the capacitor ) snaps down , shorting out the lower plate of the capacitor ( rf substrate 11 ). this snapping occurs at a position x = ⅔x 0 ( i . e . x / x 0 = 0 . 66 ). thus the plate spacing cannot be reduced below this value without the plates shorting out . this means that the capacitance tuning range is limited to the value of 33 %, as already pointed out in the introductory part of the present application . fig3 shows a schematic perspective view of the variable capacitance membrane actuator according to the present invention . a first substrate or wafer 15 ( for example a micromachined wafer ) is shown , on which a pattern 16 of conductive material , preferably gold , is disposed . on this pattern 16 the electronic circuit whose capacitance has to be tuned , for example a phase shifter , is formed . such circuit is not shown in fig3 , for clarity purposes . the first wafer 15 and the pattern 16 form a first layer of the structure according to the present invention . a second layer of the structure according to the present invention comprises a flexible membrane 17 and a pattern 18 of conductive material , preferably gold , disposed under the flexible membrane 17 . the second layer is placed above the first layer . the first and second layer are separated through precision spacers 31 . the precision spacers 31 are formed by depositing a uniform layer of an insulator ( for example polymide ) or metal of a specified thickness . this polymide or metal is then selectively etched , using standard photolithographic techniques , to form precise spacers of any desired shape . as a consequence , the second layer is bonded to the first layer , with the spacers 31 keeping a precise distance between the two layers . a third layer of the structure according to the present invention comprises a second substrate or wafer 19 and a pattern 20 of conductive material , for example gold , disposed under the wafer 19 . the third layer is placed above the second layer . the second and third layer are separated through a micromachined portion of a third wafer 32 . alternatively , polymide spacers like the spacers 31 can be used to separate the second layer from the third layer . preferably , polymide spacers are used when the gap between the second and third layer is small (& lt ; 25 μm ), while micromachined portions of a wafer are used as spacers when the gap is large (& gt ; 25 μm ). the flexible membrane 17 may be defined using photolithography techniques . in particular , the wafer 32 is coated with a film of suitable material ( for example polymide ) of specific thickness , which is then patterned with a conductive material ( for example gold ). the wafer is then selectively etched away , leaving the polymide intact . thus , flexible , conductive membranes are formed in the places where the substrate has been removed . in the device according to the present invention , micromachining is preferred in order to produce small membranes in silicon or glass while maintaining very tight tolerances . in this way a parallel plate capacitor is formed between the second and third layer . the conductive layer 18 under the flexible membrane 17 forms the lower plate of the capacitor , while the conductive layer 20 under the second wafer 19 forms the upper plate of the capacitor . this parallel plate capacitor is separate from the capacitor formed between the first and second layer . applying a dc bias voltage v bias between the plates 18 and 20 of the upper capacitor produces an upward electrostatic force on the membrane 17 and causes the membrane 17 to deform , thus forming the variable capacitance membrane actuator . the movement of the membrane 17 causes rf capacitance changes in the bottom rf circuit . these changes will tune the resonant frequency of individual resonators and the coupling coefficients between resonators . the value of the capacitance depends on the distance between the metal layers 18 and 20 , and increases as the distance is reduced . thus , moving the membrane changes the distance between the metal layers 18 and 20 , and the capacitance varies as a result . in prior art embodiments , the circuit to be tuned is placed at the same level with the lower plate of the capacitor , as shown in fig1 and 2a . according to the present invention , both the lower and upper plate of the capacitor are above the circuit to be tuned . therefore , the apparatus disclosed in fig3 allows a much higher capacitance variation than traditional approaches that apply dc bias to the rf substrate to create the electrostatic force . in fact , the absence of the circuit to be tuned between the plates 18 and 20 allows the distance between the plates 18 and 20 to be much greater than the distance between the plates of prior art arrangements . it follows that a quite high change of rf capacitance can be obtained also with a small spacing between the first layer and the second layer , because the change of capacitance depends on the distance between the second layer and third layer . placing the actuating circuitry above the circuit to be tuned allows a quite high change of capacitance , using a small spacing between the substrate and the membrane 17 ( first and second layer ) and a large spacing between the membrane 17 and the second wafer 19 ( second and third layer ). in fact , a large upper plate spacing gives increased travel and therefore high rf capacitance change . in this way , large resonator tunings can be created with a reasonable tuning voltage range while maintaining the dc bias for the second - third layer capacitor and rf circuitry completely separate . fig4 shows a mathematical model corresponding to the arrangement of fig3 . the first layer containing the rf circuitry ( for example a phase shifter ) is indicated with 21 . the membrane is indicated with 22 . the membrane 22 can be imagined to be connected to supports 23 through springs 24 , similarly to what shown in fig2 a . differently from the prior art , a third layer 25 is now placed over the membrane 22 . the actuating dc voltage v bias is applied to the upper capacitor formed between the membrane 22 and the third layer 25 . as soon as the voltage v bias is applied , an electrostatic force f is created in the upward direction . in this way , the membrane 22 is forced upward , thus changing the proximity of the membrane 22 to the lower substrate 21 that contains the rf circuitry . the change in proximity changes the rf capacitance in the rf circuitry of layer 21 . applications are known that subject the device to high accelerations ( high values of shock , mechanical vibration , etc ). these accelerations , when combined with the present invention , could cause membrane movement , and therefore capacitance variation . the result would be an increase in rf noise due to mechanical vibrations ( this is commonly termed “ microphonics ”). one way of overcoming this problem is to use a feedback control system to control the membrane position . with this scheme , the membrane capacitance is sensed ( using additional circuitry ) and the value is fed to the membrane position controller . if an external force attempts to change the membrane position , the change in capacitance is detected , and the position is corrected by the feedback control system . since the position is maintained by applying attractive electrostatic forces ( these forces are always attractive ), it may be sometimes necessary to apply an attractive force in both directions ( up and down ) in order to control the membrane position . fig5 shows an embodiment where the position of the membrane is controlled by means of the above described feedback control system . more specifically , fig5 shows a side view of the apparatus shown in fig3 . the electric signal representing the membrane capacitance taken from the conductive elements 18 and 20 is used to control the frequency of a high frequency voltage controlled oscillator ( vco ) 51 . the frequency of the oscillator 51 is compared to the frequency of a stable reference oscillator 52 . the comparison is made using a mixer 53 . the output of the mixer 53 is filtered by means of a low - pass filter ( lpf ) 54 . the lpf 54 is designed so that the frequency of the mixer output falls outside the passband edge of the lowpass filter during normal operation . thus , if the output frequency of the vco 51 is too high , the output voltage amplitude of the lpf 54 will be low . the output of the detecting device 55 has a signal strength which is proportional to the mixer output amplitude . the detecting device 55 output signal strength is compared to a control voltage level differential amplifier 56 , whose output adjusts the membrane bias . in this way , membrane movement creates changes in membrane capacitance , which in turn creates a shift in the vco frequency . this shift produces an error voltage at the mixer output which is fed back to the membrane bias . thus , varying the control voltage varies the nominal plate spacing of the membrane capacitor . a second way of overcoming the mechanical vibration problem of the membrane is that of forcing the membrane in both directions . more specifically , a bias voltage can be applied both to the top layer and to the bottom layer . this is important in applications where the membrane position is sensed and this information is fed back to the bias circuitry . in this manner the membrane position can be accurately held by a closed loop servo mechanism . fig6 shows a mathematical model of such an arrangement , where a first bias voltage v bias1 ( first and second layer ) and a second bias voltage v bias2 ( second and third layer ) are applied . fig7 shows a further alternative embodiment of the present invention , in which the movement of the membrane 22 is mechanically adjusted by means of a micrometer 26 comprising a micrometer rod 27 connected to the membrane 22 . in this embodiment the membrane can be forced in both directions . moreover , only two substrates are needed . therefore , the distance between the membrane 22 and the electronic circuit to be tuned can either be greater or shorter than the distance between the membrane 22 and the electronic circuit to be tuned during the static condition of the membrane 22 . a still further embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig8 . the embodiment of fig8 is similar to the embodiment of fig5 . the major difference is the presence of a magnetic element , for example a voice coil 60 attached to the membrane 17 , which allows movement of the membrane 17 by magnetic actuation and not by electrostatic force or mechanical actuation , as shown in the previous embodiments . membrane movement is accomplished by running a current through the coil . therefore , upon application of a bias voltage to the magnetic element or coil 60 , a magnetic force is produced , causing the membrane to deform , thereby varying the distance of the membrane from the circuit and tuning the circuit . preferably , the membrane can be moved either upwards only or both upwards and downwards . in all embodiments ( electrostatic , magnetic and mechanical ), the movement of the metallized membrane above the rf circuit board changes the electrical properties on the rf board , namely the capacitance . whether the membrane movement is accomplished by direct contact , magnetically or electrostatically , the result is a varying capacitance . a still further embodiment of the present invention eliminates the need for precision spacers as shown in fig9 . in this embodiment , a first substrate or wafer 100 is selectively etched down a controlled distance ( e . g . 40 microns ) in an area near the center of the substrate creating a first cavity 102 large enough to accommodate the circuit to be tuned , for example a microwave circuit , and the first pattern of conductive material 104 . a second wafer 106 is also selectively etched down a controlled distance ( e . g . 40 microns ), creating a second cavity 108 . the second cavity 108 contains a second pattern 110 of conductive material . the membrane 112 is located between the first wafer 100 , and the second wafer 106 . further , a third pattern of conductive material 114 contacts the membrane 112 . the operation of the embodiment of fig9 is similar to that of fig3 , where the circuit is tuned by adjusting the bias voltage between the conductive materials 110 and 114 forming respective upper and lower plates of a capacitor . also in this case , an additional downward movement of the membrane can also be obtained , by adjusting the bias voltage between the conductive materials 114 and 104 . the vcma actuator according to the present invention can be fabricated using photolithographic and wet etch techniques , i . e . wafer level packaging techniques . the layers shown in fig3 can , for example , be made from photoetchable glass , such as foturan ™ ( by mikroglas ) or from silicon . herebelow , the process used for silicon will be described . the foturan ™ process is similar . fig1 – 19 show a process for fabricating a membrane for use with the present invention . note that the membrane shown in the previous figures may be fabricated by processes other than those depicted in the following figures . further , while the following figures depict multiple separate fabrication steps , alternative fabrication processes may allow several separate steps to be combined into fewer steps . finally , alternative fabrication processes may use a different sequence of steps . fig1 shows a first step , where a substrate or silicon wafer 200 is provided . protective layers 201 , 202 , made , for example , of sin , are disposed on both sides of the wafer 200 . fig1 shows a second step , where a metal film layer 203 , for example a ti — au layer , is deposited over the protective layer 201 . the thickness of layer 203 is preferably about 0 . 5 μm . fig1 shows a third step of the method , where the metal layer 203 is patterned to form a pad 204 . the dimensions of the metal pad 204 are preferably chosen to be slightly smaller ( for example about 100 μm ) than the final membrane dimensions . this ensures that the metal layer 204 protects most of the exposed membrane in the step shown in fig1 , while enabling the final removal of the pad 204 in the step shown in fig1 . fig1 shows a fourth step , where the protective layer 202 on the wafer backside is patterned to form a mask for the silicon etch , thus forming a window 205 between regions 202 ′ and 202 ″. the window 205 is aligned to the metal pads on the front side using an infrared mask aligner . fig1 shows a fifth step , where polymide is spinned on the wafer to obtain a polymide film 206 . if necessary , the polymide is spinned with an adhesion promoter . the spinning speed can be , for example , in the range between 1500 and 5000 rpm . the thickness of the polymide film 206 can range , for example , between 5 and 15 μm . in a sixth step of the method , the polymide is cured at an elevated temperature , preferably between 200 ° c . and 450 ° c ., and more preferably about 350 ° c . fig1 shows a seventh step of the method , where a metal film layer 207 is deposited on the cured polymide 206 . the layer 207 is usually a ti — au layer , having a preferred thickness of about 1 μm . the layer 207 will eventually be patterned into an electrode , as later shown in fig1 and 19 . fig1 shows an eighth step of the method , where a photoresist layer is spinned , patterned to a pad 208 and hard baked on the metal layer 207 to act as a protective layer against the metal etchants . fig1 shows a ninth step of the method , where the silicon layer 205 is etched from the backside , for example by mounting the wafer in a customized wafer holder and immersing in koh solution at 100 ° c . fig1 shows a tenth step of the method , where the protective layer 201 and the ti — au layer 207 are etched away , for example by successively immersing the wafer in buffered oxide etchant ( boe ) and au etchant . in this way , the metal pad 204 is removed and a ti — au electrode 209 is patterned on the membrane 206 . fig1 shows a tenth step of the method , where the residual photoresist 208 is removed by spraying with acetone and spin drying . in this way a polymide membrane together with an electrode is fabricated . the sin layer 201 serves as an etch stop layer when etching the si wafer , typically with koh etchant . the sin layer 202 is used to form etch windows in order to etch the silicon . other materials can be used instead of the sin . one possibility is to use ethylene diamine pyrocatechol ( edp ) etchant together with sio 2 . however , the use of sin / koh combination is preferable , because it is more effective than sio 2 / epd when etching silicon wafers with high resistivity . additionally , the etch by - products when using edp tend to get deposited on the rest of the sample , thus burdening the cleaning process . the step of depositing the sin layers can be performed using pecvd ( plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition ) or lpcvd ( low pressure chemical vapor deposition ) techniques . while several illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown and described , numerous variations and alternative embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art . such variations and alternative embodiments are contemplated , and can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims .	7
referring to fig1 - 3 there is shown a drill bit 1 for drilling a borehole into an earth formation , the drill bit having a pilot section 1 a provided with fluid nozzles lb and a cutting structure 1 c similar to the cutting structure of a regular drill bit . pilot section 1 a is of a diameter slightly smaller than the pass - through diameter of an entry part of the borehole , for example as defined by a casing tube ( not shown ) present in an upper part of the borehole . furthermore , the drill bit has a shank 2 provided with a thread 3 to connect the drill bit to a drill string ( not shown ). the pilot section l a is fixedly connected to a tube 6 which is axially slidably received in the shank 2 , the tube 6 being equipped with a piston 7 . thus the pilot section 1 a , the tube 6 and the piston 7 can axially slide relative to the shank 2 . the shank 2 is provided with two opposite lips 8 , each lip 8 having a flat inner surface 8 a ( fig3 ) extending against a corresponding flat outer surface 8 b of the pilot section 1 a when the pilot section 1 a is in the uppermost position relative to the shank 2 ( fig2 ). the drill bit 1 is further provided with cutting arms in the form of under - reaming arms 9 connected to the shank 2 via pivot means in the form of hinges 10 supported by the lips 6 . each under - reaming arm 9 is rotatable around a respective hinge 10 between a radially retracted position in which the under - reaming arm 9 is substantially flush with the pilot section 1 a , and an expanded position in which the under - reaming arm 9 extends to a larger diameter than the pilot section 1 a . the shank 2 is at the lower end thereof provided with an annular lock - ring 12 which snugly fits in a corresponding annular groove 14 provided at each under - reaming arm 9 when the arm 9 is in its radially expanded position . furthermore , the lock - ring 12 and the grooves 14 are provided with teethed profiles ( shown in fig4 ) so as to allow the cutting torque generated during operation of the drill bit 1 to be transmitted from the under - reaming arm 9 to the shank 2 via said teethed profiles . instead of a teethed profile , any suitable profile can be provided to the lock - ring 12 and the grooves 14 to transmit loads and torques between the arms 9 and the shank 2 , for example a stepped profile . the piston 7 defines two annular chambers in the shank 2 , whereby a chamber 16 below the piston is connected to the bore of the tube 6 via a port 18 . this port 18 is closable by the shank 2 when the piston 7 is in its lowermost position . a chamber 19 above the piston 7 is connected to the wellbore annulus ( not shown ) formed between the drill bit 1 and the borehole , via port 20 . when a drilling fluid is circulated through the bit 1 , the pressure drop across the fluid nozzles 1 b causes a net upward force on the tube 6 because the annular piston area is larger than the area of the tube 6 . in case the two under - reaming arms 9 are symmetrical , the bit 1 has a force balanced cutting structure for any position of the arms 9 . the outer surface of the lips 8 of the shank 2 can be provided with a wear resistant layer to provide additional lateral stabilization of the bit . when drilling an over gauge hole with a casing in an earth formation , the running procedure is as follows : the bit 1 is run through the casing with the pilot section 1 axially extended from the shank 2 and the under - reaming arms 9 in their respective retracted positions ( as shown in fig1 ). the pilot section 1 a is kept in the axially extended position by means of a shear pin 22 provided in the shank 2 , which prevents upward movement of the tube 6 in the shank 2 . the drill bit 1 is further run into the open hole underneath the casing to enable the drilling assembly to be locked in the lower part of the casing . then the casing with drilling assembly is run to the bottom of the hole . during this operation mud circulation is possible without activating the under - reaming arms 9 because the port 18 in tube 6 is closed by the shank 2 when the piston is in lowest position . once the pilot bit tags the bottom of the hole , the tube 6 is moved upwards relative to the shank , thereby breaking the shear pin 22 , whereafter port 9 opens . the pressure drop across the bit nozzles will tend to close the bit . by closing the bit the under - reaming arms 9 will move outwards , and end up in their expanded position such as is schematically depicted in fig2 . still referring to fig2 , when the arms 9 are in fully expanded position the lips 8 of the shank 2 snap around the flat outer surfaces 8 b of the pilot section 1 a . at the same time the lock - ring 12 at the lower end of the shank 2 snaps in the grooves 14 in the under - reaming arms 9 . the cooperating lock - ring 12 and the grooves 14 of the under - reaming arms 9 prevent rotation of the arms 9 relative to the shank 2 in the direction of rotation of the bit . once the pilot bit is in its upward most position , resulting in the under - reaming arms 9 being in their fully expanded position , the drilling torque of the pilot bit is transmitted via the lips 8 to the shank 2 and subsequently to the drilling assembly via the threaded connection 3 . the weight on the pilot section 1 a is transferred via the under - reaming arms 9 and the lock - ring 12 to the shank 2 and subsequently via the threaded connection 3 to the drilling assembly . the weight on the under - reaming arms 9 is transferred via the lock - ring 12 to the shank 2 and the torque of the under - reaming arms 9 is transferred via the teethed sections of the lock - ring 12 to the shank . thus , once the arms 9 are in expanded position the expansion mechanism is not exposed to the drilling loads which makes the bit very robust . in fact , the object experiences the expanded bit like a single piece solid bit body . the drill bit can also be used to drill - out the previous casing shoe provided with a bell , or drilling - out of a previous casing shoe as part of conventional casing drilling operations . in this case the procedure is as follows . after the drilling assembly is locked in the casing , the casing is run into the cased hole until the top of the cement is tagged . then port 18 is open by a movement of the pilot section 1 a upwards relative to the shank 2 . upon circulation of the drilling fluid , such as mud , an axial contraction force is applied and the bit tends to close thereby pushing the under - reaming arms 9 outwards . during rotation of the bit the under - reaming arms 9 will open the hole until the cutting elements on the under - reaming arms 9 contact the steel of the previous casing installed already . these cutting elements should be designed such that they do not cut steel . this can be achieved for instance by using cutting elements with large negative rake angle similar to that applied for bi - centre bits . while drilling out the cement from the casing shoe the under - reaming arms 4 scrape the cement from the inner wall of the installed casing or the bell area of the installed casing . once the under - reaming arms 4 extend into the open hole below the previous casing the cutting structure will enable the hole to be opened up further to enable the arms 9 to reach their fully expanded position as shown in fig2 and 3 . a design feature required for drilling - out of the casing shoe is that the pilot section 1 a is lockable in bit rotation direction relative to the shank 2 of the bit for any position of the piston 7 . this can be achieved by extending the length of the lips 8 and the size of the flat sections 8 b at the gauge of the pilot section 1 a so that they are engaged at all times . alternatively the top part of tube 6 can be equipped with splines that slide in the top part of the shank 2 as to prevent rotation of the pilot section 1 a relative to the shank 2 . during the drilling - out of a casing shoe the drilling torque from the under - reaming arms 4 is transferred to the shank 2 via the hinges 10 . alternatively the interface between the under - reaming arms and the pilot section can be equipped with radial slots which transmit the torque from the arms to the shank . in summary , the invention provides an expandable bit , which can drill in several positions . in expanded position the under - reaming arms are locked in place by a hydraulic force . once the arms are locked the drilling forces including the torque on bit and / or the weight on bit are transmitted directly from the cutting elements to the shank of the bit thereby unloading the hinges of the under - reaming arms . this way the bit is seen by the formation as a regular bit with a potential drilling capability similar to that of regular bits as well . this feature combined with the appropriate cutting structure on the under - reaming arms 4 should make the drill bit suitable for a wide range of formations including the harder rocks . by virtue of the provision of the support means , the pivot means is relieved from taking the full torque load . it is thereby achieved that the pivot means is less vulnerable to damage due to transmission of high loads , without loosing reliability of switching the drill bit from the retracted to the expanded position and vice versa . in another aspect , the invention provides a hydraulic system for driving a pivoting movement of a pivotable tool arm between a radially retracted position and a radially expanded position , the hydraulic system comprising a cylinder and piston means slidably arranged in the cylinder forming a drive chamber on one side of the piston means and a return chamber on the other side of the piston means , the piston means having a forward and a rearward position in the cylinder whereby the piston means is activatable to its rearward position by causing the drive force acting on the piston as a result of pressure in the drive chamber to exceed the return force acting on the piston as a result of pressure in the return chamber , which piston means is coupled to the pivotable tool arm for driving the tool arm from the retracted position to the expanded position when the piston is driven into its rearward position , whereby the piston means is coupled to gate means with is arranged such that the return force acting on the piston as a result of pressure in the return chamber exceeds the drive force acting on the piston as a result of pressure in the drive chamber when the piston means is in or near its forward position whereas the opposite is the case when the piston means is in a position other than in or near its forward position . when the tool arm is in its retracted position , the piston means can be positioned in or near its forward position where the gate means is switched such as to bias the piston means to its forward position . when the piston means is mechanically moved out of its forward position , the gate means is switched because it is coupled to the piston means , which results in the drive force acting on the piston as a result of pressure in the drive chamber exceeding the return force acting on the piston as a result of pressure in the return chamber . consequently , the tool arm is pivoted to its expanded position and held in that position by the piston means . the starting situation , whereby the piston means is again biased in its forward position can be restored by mechanically forcing the piston means to its forward position , or by provision of additional gate means for regulating the pressures inside the drive chamber and return chamber such as to move the piston means forward on command . among other features that may be included in the drill bit are : a gripping device for locking the tube once the arms have reached the fully expanded position by hydraulic actuation via the piston and tube . this way the bit is locked in expanded position . at the end of a bit run the bit can be collapsed by pulling the drilling assembly into the casing again . this pulling force should enable shear pins that hold the gripping device to fail so that the tube is released again and the bit opens and the under - reaming arms can move to the retracted position . nozzles can be put in the pilot section of the bit in such a way that the jets out of these nozzles point towards the under - reaming arms to provide effective cleaning and cooling . the expandable bit can also be used for conventional over gauge drilling with drill pipe rather than casing . in this case the shank of the bit is preferably provided with water ways to enable mud to be circulated while the arms are in retracted position . multiple sets of under - reaming arms can be included in the above described hydraulic locking - mechanism . the hydraulic locking mechanism described above can be applied in a more general sense as well to achieve a specific functionality of other expandable down hole components , such as expandable stabilisers for application in over gauge drilling .	4
with reference to fig1 and 2 , the method and apparatus of the invention are embodied in a system for receiving molten glass of at least two different color components , after the raw glass material has been heated to a molten state by furnaces 12 and 14 , and for so combining these molten glass components to produce a continuous elongate sheet 16 of ornamental , variegated glass . in this case , two separate glass components 15 and 17 are withdrawn in a molten state from furnaces 12 and 14 , respectively , by a compound forehearth 18 , including a primary channel 20 and a side channel 22 which merge their respective streams in a downstream section of channel 20 to form a confluent of molten glass 24 . channels 20 and 22 of forehearth 18 are made of a refractory material and are covered as indicated by structures 26 and 28 to maintain the elevated temperature of the glass , as it flows from furnaces 12 and 14 . additional heat is introduced into the covered forehearth by a series of gas burners 30 ( shown schematically ) mounted at spaced intervals along the side walls of channels 20 and 22 . the confluent 24 is subjected to controlled , limited stirring in a downstream section of primary channel 20 that extends between the location , generally indicated by arrow 32 , at which the stream of molten glass 17 from side channel 22 flows into the stream of glass 15 in primary channel 20 , and a discharge end of the forehearth , indicated by arrow 34 . a succession of stirring operations is performed by a coarse stirring device 36 , a gas bubble injector 38 ( see fig4 ), and an operator manipulated implement 40 , the latter for imparting a fine stirring motion to the molten glass adjacent discharge end 34 of forehearth 18 . located immediately downstream of discharge end 34 is a pair of counter - rotating forming rollers 42 and 44 which define a nib 46 therebetween into which the molten glass is fed and thereby pressed into a ribbon that forms sheet 16 . as sheet 16 emerges from the downstream side of rollers 42 and 44 , it is still soft and pliable . while in this state , sheet 16 is received and advanced downstream by a conveyor 48 , where it passes into and through a conventional annealing lehr , the specific construction and operation of which are well known , and for this reason are not shown or further described . as more fully disclosed hereinafter , primary channel 20 of forehearth 18 is for most of its length substantially narrower than rollers 42 and 44 ( and thus sheet 16 ) and diverges adjacent discharge end 34 to match the width of the rollers . also adjacent end 34 , channel 20 is provided with structure forming a shallow weir 50 over which the stirred confluent 24 of molten glass must either flow , or be impelled by external means , such as implement 40 , in order to reach the feed side of rollers 42 and 44 . now with specific reference to the construction of forehearth 18 , primary and side channels 20 and 22 , respectively , are constructed of refractory brick to form shallow , channel - shaped flow troughs that are inclined downwardly in the direction away from furnaces 12 and 14 so that the molten glass flows by gravity toward discharge end 34 of channel 20 . to establish the above - mentioned &# 34 ; plug flow &# 34 ; it has been found necessary to reduce the width of the primary flow channel 20 to a dimension that is substantially less than the nominal width of the rollers 42 and 44 ( and thus less than the desired width of the resulting sheet 16 ) and increase the downslope of the channel in the direction of flow so that the depth of the flowing glass is minimal and is approximately the same as in a wider channel , but the velocity of flow is significantly greater to compensate for the reduced channel width and still meet the feed requirement of the forming rollers which is fixed by other factors such as the rate at which the glass cools as it is being formed . as a result , the velocity profile of the flowing glass is more uniform when measured at different points across the channel . the more uniform velocity in turn means that the bulk of the molten glass is moving as a cohesive unit along the channel , in which no one segment of the flow cross section has a substantially different velocity than any other flow segment . this uniform velocity profile has been referred to as a &# 34 ; plug flow &# 34 ; and has been a critical factor in achieving a needed reduction and uniformity in the &# 34 ; residency &# 34 ; time of the molten glass as it passes from the location in the forehearth where the different color components are combined to the forming rollers . as an example , for a length of channel 20 between the point of confluence 32 and discharge end 34 of 8 feet , a residency time of approximately 5 minutes has been achieved , whereas the flow in a channel having a width equal to the rollers and a lesser downslope may exhibit a residency time of as much as 15 minutes for slower flowing glass adjacent the channel sides . the structures 26 and 28 which cover channels 20 and 22 are made of a refractory brick and are constructed so that structure 26 commences with channel 20 at furnace 12 and extends from furnace 12 to an end 52 , which terminates short of discharge end 34 of the forehearth . covering structure 28 extends from furnace 14 to a junction ( not shown ) with structure 26 adjacent an end 54 of side channel 22 . as best shown in fig2 primary channel 20 is extended beyond the termination end 52 of covering structure 26 by a block 56 of refractory material that has side wall portions 58 which diverge laterally outwardly in the direction of flow so as to widen the flow channel to match the width of rollers 42 and 44 and thus the desired width of sheet 16 , and has parallel side wall portions 60 which extend downstream from side wall portions 58 and terminate generally at the nib 46 of forming rollers 42 and 44 . block 56 includes structure that defines weir 50 , and also mounts a series of vertically oriented pipes which constitute parts of bubble injector 38 . covering structure 26 for primary channel 20 terminates at end 52 , corresponding to the upstream edge of block 56 so that the molten glass is exposed as it flows through the diverging channel formed by block 56 , enabling an operator to monitor the adequacy of the flow and use implement 40 , in addition to its use for fine stirring , to augment the movement of the molten glass over weir 50 to the feed side of rollers 42 and 44 . with reference to fig3 coarse stirring device 36 includes a rigid l - shaped , hollow , water cooled rod 70 having a horizontally disposed portion 70a extending transversely of channel 20 from an actuator 72 located to one side of channel 20 , and a bent end portion 70b that projects downwardly from an end of portion 70a and that mounts a stirring paddle 74 . rod 70 and paddle 74 are disposed for reciprocation in a vertical plane oriented transversely to channel 20 and disposed just downstream of location 32 at which the streams of glass merge in primary channel 20 . actuator 72 may be constructed in any suitable fashion for automatically moving rod 70 in a series of successive horizontal and vertical movements to trace out a rectangular path indicated by dotted line 76 . path 76 includes a stirring stroke 76a , during which paddle 74 is submerged in molten confluent 24 , that extends from the side of channel 20 adjacent end 54 of channel 22 to the opposite side of channel 20 adjacent actuator 72 , and a return stroke 76b which returns paddle 74 , while elevated above molten confluent 24 , to the side of channel 20 adjacent end 54 of channel 22 . at the end of stirring stroke 76a , rod 70 is raised to lift paddle 74 out of the molten glass , and at the end of return stroke 76b , rod 70 is lowered to submerge paddle 74 in confluent 24 . actuator 72 continuously moves rod 70 and its associated paddle 74 through the above - described cyclical path thereby effecting a coarse stirring action of the confluent which periodically displaces the stream of glass component 17 that originated from side channel 22 and furnace 12 , across the width of the stream of molten glass component 15 in channel 20 that originated in furnace 14 . the stirring action of device 36 thereby produces a serpentine - shaped distribution of the components of molten glass which are initially combined at location 32 . the relative narrowness of channel 20 ( as described above ) aids in this coarse stirring operation by allowing device 36 to intermix the streams of glass components 17 and 15 while they are concentrated in channel 20 , using a relatively short cross channel stirring stroke , whereafter the mixed confluent 24 spreads outwardly to the desired width at the discharge end 34 of the channel . any number of available mechanisms and devices may be used for implementing the above - disclosed functions of actuator 72 . for example , the abovedescribed rectangular path 76 of paddle 74 is readily achieved by combining two , successively operated , double acting , air cylinders , a first of which is arranged to reciprocate rod 70 in the horizontal strokes 76a and 76b , and a second of which is arranged to displace rod 70 in the up and down strokes that occur , respectively , at the end of horizontal strokes 76a and 76b . with reference to fig4 a second stirring action is achieved at a location downstream of coarse stirring device 36 , by a bubble injector 38 which includes a plurality of gas discharge ports 80 arrayed in spaced relation across the bottom section of primary flow channel 20 that is defined by block 56 . in this instance two transversely oriented rows of ports 80 are provided ( see fig2 ). these ports are connected by conduits 82 which extend downwardly through the refractory material that forms block 56 to a manifold 84 which connects the plurality of ports to a common source of pressurized gas 86 . ports 80 have a reduced size relative to conduits 82 so as to meter the quantity of gas that is injected into the confluent 24 of molten glass at a preselected rate , which in turn determines the size and frequency of the gas bubbles 88 which develop in the molten glass . these bubbles 88 rise slowly in the viscous confluent 24 and in so doing , the discrete color domains which are partially mixed by the coarse stirring operation are further broken up and dispersed into smaller , but still discrete domains of color . the upper extremity of bubbles 88 tends to push color domains that are initially adjacent bottom 81 of channel 20 upwardly into and through different color domains , while the trailing portions of the bubbles tend to entrain other color components upwardly to the surface of confluent 34 . the result is a more even distribution of the color domains , without causing excessive mixing or blending . with reference to fig5 and 6 , the final stirring operation is effected by implement 40 , which in the presently disclosed embodiment is manipulated by an operator that monitors the flow of molten glass as it passes from the covered section of channel 20 and traverses the diverging channel section formed by block 56 and flows toward forming rollers 42 and 44 . in particular , as shown in fig6 implement 40 includes an elongate handle portion 40a and a bent , downwardly oriented end portion 40b which mounts a paddle 90 . the fine stirring action of implement 40 is effected by reciprocating paddle 90 back and forth across channel 20 while concurrently agitating paddle 90 up and down so as to insure substantially uniform dispersal of the broken - up , discrete domains of color throughout the entire molten body of confluent 24 . the coarse stirring action of mechanism 36 , and the dispersement effected by bubbles 88 from injector 38 , may still leave unacceptably large pockets of homogeneously colored glass , and the fine stirring action of implement 40 is needed to stir different color components into and through these homogeneous pockets . additionally , as discussed in greater detail below , implement 40 is used as depicted in fig5 to scoop and shovel additional quantities of molten glass , available in a reservoir of the glass behind weir 50 , up over weir 50 , to supplement transient shortfalls of inadequate amounts of glass for feeding forming rollers 42 and 44 . for mixing purposes , implement 40 and paddle 90 thereof are manipulated in a generally transversely oriented and concurrent up / down movement at a location upstream of weir 50 as shown by the dotted line position of paddle 90 in fig6 . to move supplementary quantities of glass over to rollers 42 and 44 , paddle 90 is displaced from the dotted line position in fig6 to the solid line position in fig6 thereby shoveling a glob of molten glass from the reservoir behind weir 50 up over weir 50 and over to the feed side of rollers 42 and 44 . fig5 illustrates the movement of paddle 90 , in pushing a glob of glass over weir 50 , looking upstream from the location of the rollers . the structure on block 56 which defines weir 50 has an associated flat upper surface 51 that extends downstream from the top of weir 50 to the discharge end 34 of channel 20 at which surface 51 is blended into a rounded terminal edge 53 . the flowing , molten glass traverses surface 51 and flows over rounded edge 53 , and drops onto the forwardly rotating , upper surface of lower roller 44 and thence into the nib 46 between the rollers . as best shown in fig6 the lower portion of block 56 at discharge end 34 is formed with arcuate contour 55 mated to the cylindrical surface of lower roller 44 . similarly , the upper structure of the block that forms side walls 60 is shaped with arcuate contours 61 mated to the cylindrical surface of upper roller 42 . with the structure of block 56 so shaped and mated to rollers 42 and 44 , the molten glass is constrained to flow from the discharge end 34 of the forehearth into the nib 46 between the rollers . the above - described apparatus is designed so that the flow of molten glass in forehearth 18 can be adjusted to a minimal , volumetric rate , just sufficient to supply adequate glass to forming rollers 42 and 44 for producing a sheet 16 having a uniform , predetermined width . by so adjusting the flow rate , and establishing the above - characterized &# 34 ; plug flow ,&# 34 ; it has been found possible to substantially eliminate certain undesirable characteristics , such as excessive diffusion of colors due to stagnation , and excessive mixing of colors due to back eddy currents . excessive diffusion and overmixing occur in a high - level (&# 34 ; non - plug &# 34 ;) flow process used for roll forming transparent or homogeneously blended , single color glass as discussed more fully hereinafter . also , the &# 34 ; plug flow &# 34 ; that must exit in practicing the present invention has the added advantage of constantly purging the bottom and sides of the forehearth channel of color contaminates , left over from earlier , excessive concentrations of one or more components of added , colored glass . to create the &# 34 ; plug flow &# 34 ; as described above , it has been found necessary as described above to reduce the width of the channel in which confluent 24 flows , increase the velocity of the flow and maintain the overall volumetric rate of flow just marginally sufficient to meet the independently set feed rate of the rollers . in particular , it has been determined that the width of primary flow channel 20 in the section in which the glass components are combined must be no greater than a maximum of ten ( 10 ) inches , and the depth of the confluent between bottom wall 81 of channel 20 and the surface of the molten glass must be no greater than a maximum of two ( 2 ) inches . to provide a sufficient volumetric flow of molten glass for making sheet 16 of a commercially acceptable width , e . g ., approximately 24 inches , it has been found that the minumum width of channel 20 is five ( 5 ) inches , and the minimum depth of the confluent 24 is one ( 1 ) inch . the downslope of the channel should have a drop of between 1 / 16 &# 34 ; and 3 / 16 &# 34 ; per 1 foot of channel length and preferably have a 1 / 8 &# 34 ; drop per foot . within these constraints , a &# 34 ; plug flow &# 34 ; can be maintained at a flow rate within the range of 18 - 36 pounds per minute for glass temperatures within the range of 2 , 100 to 2 , 500 degrees fahrenheit and a viscosity of approximately 10 3 poises . having established the desired conditions for &# 34 ; plug flow ,&# 34 ; it has further been found that due to frictional effects , inertia and other flow characteristics of the highly viscous molten glass , there is a tendency of the glass to exhibit transient flow deficiencies at the feed side of forming rollers 42 and 44 . in particular , with the &# 34 ; plug flow &# 34 ; being intentionally adjusted to provide the minimum amount of molten glass required by rollers 42 and 44 for forming sheet 16 , the rollers become intermittently and temporarily starved for molten glass . this shortfall of glass is only transient and is eventually satisfied by the continuing flow of confluence 24 toward the rollers . however , during these transient periods , the shortfall of glass causes forming rollers 42 and 44 , which are necessarily operated at a constant feed rate , to produce a sheet of glass that is of erratic width , necking down to undesirably small widths when the rollers are starved for more glass . in accordance with the invention , this deficiency is overcome by the provision of weir 50 which develops a reservoir of molten glass that is readily available for supplementing temporary shortfalls at nib 46 of the rollers . for this purpose , paddle 90 of implement 40 as depicted in fig5 and 6 is used to scoop , push or draw globs of the stirred glass from the reservoir behind weir 50 and displace it over surface 51 into feed relation with nib 46 of the forming rollers so that a sheet 16 of uniform width is produced . the intentionally low - volumetric &# 34 ; plug flow &# 34 ; rate of the molten glass as depicted in fig5 and 6 , is contrasted with a conventional high - level , high - volumetric rate feed process 100 as depicted in fig7 . glass forming process 100 as shown is typical of an older , but common technique for rolling homogeneously blended , molten glass by feeding a relatively high level of glass 102 , at a relatively rapid volumetric rate toward a discharge end 104 of a forehearth channel . at end 104 , a pair of counter - rotating forming rollers 106 and 108 are positioned for pressing the molten glass into a sheet 110 . because of the high flow level of glass 102 , excess glass backs up behind rollers 106 and 108 and forms a large back eddy 114 in which the molten glass circulates in a counter - clockwise direction , as indicated by arrows 116 in fig7 . when the resulting glass sheet 110 is to be transparent , or of a homogeneously blended single color , the large back eddy 114 is not undesirable , and in fact assists in the blending of the glass by the agitating action of back eddy currents 116 . however , in the environment of the present invention , the excessive back eddying of the glass overmixes the discrete color domains , and interferes with the otherwise controlled , limited stirring performed by mechanism 36 , bubble injector 38 and implement 40 . another undesirable characteristic of process 100 in the environment of the present invention is that the back eddy 114 accentuates the rate of flow of material that lies immediately adjacent the surface of molten glass 102 , while retarding the rate of flow of the molten glass adjacent the bottom 118 of channel 112 . as a result , the glass near bottom 118 tends to stagnate , and remain in the forehearth channel 112 for a disproportionately longer time than molten glass near the surface . if process 100 is used to make variegated glass , then the disproportionately longer &# 34 ; residency time &# 34 ; of glass near bottom 118 produces overblending of the color domains for a large segment of the reservoir of glass waiting to be fed into forming rollers 106 and 108 . further still , because of the more rapid flow of material adjacent the surface of molten glass 102 , if process 100 is used to make variegated glass , there is a tendency to rapidly stir the upper level of flow in order to achieve the desired amount of color dispersion . in so doing , the more stagnate glass adjacent bottom 118 is over - stirred . the foregoing deficiencies of the conventional , high - level , rapid feed process 100 when applied to a continuous method of making variegated glass , as shown in fig7 are substantially eliminated in the present invention by establishing the low - level , &# 34 ; plug flow &# 34 ; in primary channel 20 and by providing the shallow weir 50 adjacent the discharge end 34 of such channel . the height of weir 50 is critical . it cannot be so high relative to the bottom 81 of channel 20 , as shown in fig6 that the depth of the &# 34 ; plug &# 34 ; of molten glass 24 behind weir 50 is greater than the above - mentioned maximum depth of two ( 2 ) inches . the minimum height of weir 50 relative to bottom 81 must be such as to form an adequate reservoir of molten glass for supplementing , on a short term basis , transient shortfalls of material at forming rollers 42 and 44 . given these constraints , it has been found that the height of weir 50 must be within a range of 1 / 4 to 3 / 4 of the average depth of confluent 24 above bottom 81 of channel 20 . the dimension of surface 51 in the longitudinal direction of channel 20 is not critical , but in general should be as short as possible to place weir 50 as close as possible to rollers 42 and 44 . weir 50 provides an additional advantage in enabling implement 40 to stir and thus disperse the color components in confluent 24 at a level 120 as shown in fig6 that is below the upper edge of weir 50 . the top of weir 50 and the associated surface 51 thereof define the level of draw of the molten glass in its flow toward the forming rollers . in other words , in the absence of weir 50 , the molten glass would flow directly along bottom surface 81 into feed relationship with rollers 42 and 44 , causing the bottom surface of the &# 34 ; plug &# 34 ; of molten glass to develop certain undesirable surface effects . namely , these undesired surface effects occur in the form of continuous longitudinal striae , caused by the frictional contact of the lower surface of the &# 34 ; plug &# 34 ; flow with the bottom 81 of the forehearth channel . however , the provision of weir 50 interrupts this continuous , longitudinal frictional interaction between the lowermost layer of the &# 34 ; plug &# 34 ; flow and bottom 81 of channel 20 , and instead causes the major portion of the glass , existing above the lowermost layer , to be drawn off over weir 50 and along surface 51 into feed relationship with rollers 42 and 44 . substantially all of the molten glass that is advanced over weir 50 and directly into feed relationship with the rollers , comes from the upper 90 % or more of the confluent 24 , where the color domains are most distinct , and not from the thin , lowermost layer of glass adjacent bottom 81 . this bottommost layer of glass has the undesirable , longitudinally continuous striae as described above , and also exhibits undesirable overblending and color diffusion due to the frictional drag between the flowing glass and bottom 81 which increases the &# 34 ; residency time &# 34 ; of such layer and gives it a &# 34 ; muddy &# 34 ; appearance . in this regard , it is noted that the &# 34 ; plug &# 34 ; flow that is established does not totally overcome excessive residency time at the bottommost layer of molten glass , but it does reduce to a very minimum , the volume proportion of glass in confluent 24 that has a greater &# 34 ; residency time &# 34 ; due to the friction caused , velocity gradient immediately adjacent bottom 81 . but the bottommost layer of glass which is unavoidably overblended and is thus dull or &# 34 ; muddy &# 34 ; in appearance , is blocked by weir 50 from passing directly into and through rollers 42 and 44 and rather is deflected into and constantly absorbed by the bulk of the molten glass thereabove . thus , the overblended &# 34 ; muddy &# 34 ; glass adjacent the bottom of confluent 24 is not allowed to pass in concentrated form through rollers 42 and 44 and thereby ruin the bottom surface of the resulting glass sheet 16 . an example of the variegated glass sheet 16 is shown in cross section in fig8 . as illustrated therein , the dispersed domains of color components 15 and 17 are discrete , each domain exhibiting an abrupt color transition at the interface with another domain of color . since the glasses are usually translucent , and because the color domains tend to stratify ( i . e ., form superimposed layers ), an esthetic effect is achieved when light is caused to pass through the sheet , thereby producing an infinite mixture of shades and color tones , that vary as the number , relative thickness and relative depth of the multiple strata of domains varies . in other words , the domains of color remain in themselves discrete , but the superpositioning of the randomly arranged layers of individually discrete colors cause the light passing through the sheet to mix the colors in an infinite number of ways . while the foregoing description pertains to appratus and method for forming confluent 24 by flowing two streams of molten glass into the primary flow channel 20 of forehearth 18 , the invention can also be carried out by adding further side channels similar to channel 22 for introducing three or more color components into the primary channel . also , the invention can be practiced by establishing a first stream of flowing molten glass , such as in primary channel 20 , and then adding a stream or intermittent batches of a differently colored glass component or components in the form of color concentrated frit , i . e ., a raw material used in glass making available as granulated or broken glass particles . in such case , frit of selected color or colors is discharged into a stream of glass in a primary forehearth channel , and is quickly melted by the larger bulk of already hot , molten glass . to achieve the variegated effect desired by the invention , the frit is introduced into the already molten glass as a stream or in intermittent batches so that the resulting confluent is similar to two or more individual streams of already molten glass flowing together as in the case of the previously described embodiment . downstream of the location at which the frit is introduced , the succession of stirring operations is performed in the same manner as described above , by a coarse stirring device 36 , a bubble injector 38 and a fine stirring implement 40 ( fig1 and 2 ). having described in both general and detailed terms , the principles of the invention and its practice , it is now appropriate to set forth a specific example in accordance with the invention . for a primary flow channel 20 ( fig1 ) having a length of 8 feet between the location 32 of confluence of the glass components and the discharge end 34 , and a width of 9 inches diverging to a width of 25 inches at the forming rollers , the following parameters have been successfully used : 1 . two differently colored , soda - lime - silica glass components were mixed including a white opal consisting of si0 2 64 . 2 %, na 2 o 15 . 4 %, cao 7 . 5 %, f 7 . 3 % and al 2 o 3 5 . 6 % ( by weight ), and a blue glass consisting of sio 2 69 . 6 %, na 2 o 0 . 17 %, cao 9 . 5 %, b 2 o 3 0 . 65 %, al 2 o 3 0 . 66 %, f 1 . 97 %, cu 2 o 0 . 60 %, and coo ( cobaltic oxide ) 0 . 04 % ( by weight ). 2 . the white opal was prepared in furnace 12 and introduced into channel 20 , while the blue component was prepared in furnace 14 and introduced into side channel 22 ( fig1 ) at a rate such that the confluent 24 of the glass components downstream of the location 32 at which the components are combined flowed at approximately 22 . 5 pounds per minute ( or 0 . 150 ft . 3 / min . volumetric rate ). ( the precise ratio between the color components was varied , and is not critical .) 3 . the forming rollers were approximately 4 . 80 inches in diameter and were rotated at a rate selected to cause the glass sheet 16 to be discharged at approximately 7 . 5 running feet per minute , taking into account an approximately 8 % slippage in the rotation of the roller versus the velocity of the produced sheet 16 . sheet 16 was approximately 1 / 8 inch thick and had a nominal width of 24 inches and typically varied between 25 and 26 inches in width , enabling the sheet to be subsequently trimmed to the commercial standard of 24 inches in width . 4 . the temperature at the location 32 ( fig1 ) where the glass components are combined was 2500 ° f ., dropping to 2300 ° f . at the forming rollers , while the viscosity centered around 10 3 poises . 5 . the depth of confluent 24 upstream of weir 50 was 3 / 4 of an inch . 6 . coarse stirring device 36 was driven at a stirring rate that took approximtely one second per horizontal stroke ( each of stroke paths 76a and 76b ), and approximately 1 / 3 of a second for the vertical movements ( strokes 76 ). 7 . bubble injector 38 was charged with air pressure in the range of 1 / 4 to 5 pounds per square inch above atmosphere , and 9 bubble discharge ports were used causing each port to produce approximately 1 / 2 to 2 bubbles per second . 8 . the fine stirring implement 40 was manually reciprocated at a rate of approximately one cross - channel stirring stroke per second . successive strokes of implement 40 displace paddle 90 back and forth across the channel in the region of divergence formed by side walls 58 ( fig2 ). while only a particular embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein , it will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art that numerous changes and modifications to the method and apparatus described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention .	2
the present invention may be used in a number of different environments and for a variety of purposes including , but not limited to all physiological uses of peristaltic or other pump for aspiration and irrigation including , ivus , oct , angioplasty , endortarectomy , cardiac stent placement , vessel treatment , diagnosis and repair , surgical placement of non - cardiac stents , insertion of pig - tail catheters , ear rinsers , etc . the following detailed description is exemplary of possible embodiments of the invention . referring to fig1 a schematic representation of the invention shows the basic components of the device necessary for implementation . the core fluid exchange or activation system maintains a substantially closed loop system with the target site for fluid exchange , e . g . the site within the body where aspiration and irrigation are applied . the irrigation component of the invention is conveniently provided by a dedicated irrigation reservoir 1 , particularly when the fluid exchange system is the mechanical embodiment described in greater detail below . the exchange site is in fluid communication with the fluid exchange system via the irrigation lumen 2 and the aspiration lumen 3 which have exit or entry ports ( not shown ) at the distal end of each lumen . the aspiration component may also feature an aspiration reservoir 4 in fluid communication with the aspiration lumen 3 and aspiration ports ( not shown ) such that fluids removed from the exchange site are stored in the aspiration reservoir 4 . as is apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art , the irrigation 1 and aspiration 4 reservoirs may be controlled electronically by valves or pumps to provide the controlled fluid exchange ratios described herein . thus , while the embodiments of the invention featuring fluid exchange apparatus that are mechanically controlled by the user are preferred in certain versions of any system , controlled rate of fluid exchange at a target site may be used in a system of the invention . alternatively , fluids in the aspiration reservoir 4 may be discarded . in one embodiment of the invention , fluids communicated from the target exchange site through the aspiration component of the invention are analyzed for chemical or particulate content to determine a level of removal of fluids or solid matter from the exchange site . referring again to fig1 an optional configuration of the . components includes a flow valve 6 that produces a minimum lower threshold for irrigation flow . this minimum delivery flow is beneficial to ensure a minimum amount of exchange flow when the clinical indication dictates maintaining a minimum flow through the irrigation catheter . the flow threshold insures that the fluid exchange does not fall below a predetermined ratio as described herein . for example , although 1 : 1 fluid exchange rates are provided in several embodiments described herein , the exchange ratio may be altered such that a larger volume of fluid is aspirated compared to that which is used for irrigation or vice versa . under such circumstances , the fluid exchange ratio would vary to , for example , a 1 : 2 irrigation to aspiration ratio under circumstances where a larger volume of liquid is desired to be removed from the exchange site . the components of the invention could also incorporate an upper flow rate of exchange or flow ceiling 6 . when conditions dictate that there is motivation to limit the velocity or overall flow parameters during a usage , a configuration that provides an upper limit may be provided . accordingly , this embodiment would apply where a larger volume of fluid was desired to be inserted by irrigation compared to that which is removed by aspiration and the corresponding irrigation to aspiration exchange ratio would be increased to , for example , 2 : 1 . the combination of a flow threshold and flow ceiling capability provide a flow rate bandwidth yielding a range of values between two extremes . in this embodiment , the exchange site can be irrigated and aspirated at a consistent level that is either fixed or varies within a range . this may also allow the activation system to sustain a change in the pressure level at the exchange site while delivering irrigant fluid or removing aspirant fluid at a steady rate or within a range of rates . as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art , the irrigation side of the system of the invention requires active force provided by the fluid exchange apparatus such that irrigant fluid flow is established at the target site . however , while the aspiration side may also be controlled through application of force to withdraw fluid from the target site , the aspiration side may also be passive such that the inherent pressure at the target site propels the aspirant fluid . the inherent pressure is typically provided both by the fluid pressure inside the body , e . g . the blood pressure within a vessel , and the pressure of the irrigant fluid entering the target site . this characteristically passive flow may be described as an efflux flow , see u . s . pat . no . 4 , 921 , 478 which is specifically incorporated by reference herein . the passive flow of aspirant fluid is one way through the aspiration lumen and the fluid pathway is comprised of one - way valve , such as conventional duck bill valves having a minimal cracking pressure to allow passive fluid flow while preventing retrograde flow through the aspiration side of the system . this capability provides for constant extraction of embolic particles throughout a clinical procedure while irrigant fluid flow is maintained and / or when fluid existing at the target site flows from endogenous body pressure . [ 0066 ] fig2 a is a cross - section of a catheter element 7 of the invention at the exchange site . the irrigation lumen 2 in this configuration terminates at or proximate to the distal end of the catheter element . while the aspiration lumen 3 terminates proximally and both lumens terminate with exit ports 8 , 9 . fig2 b depicts the insertion of fluid into an exchange region at a terminal lumen . the irrigation port 6 in this depiction is dislodging a terminal occluding clot . the terminal occlusion may include but is not limited to a clot , lesion , abscess , a ball of wax or an ear canal . in such situations , simple aspiration may not eliminate the lesion and a non - traumatic irrigation of the lesion with a therapeutic formulation , in concert with aspiration after an improved treatment methodology . for example , even if the irrigation fluid is able to produce a substantial breakdown of a terminal occlusion , the occlusion itself must still be cleared . moreover , the combination of irrigation and aspiration to yield fluid exchange after the ability to introduce pharmaceutical agents proximate to the occlusion and the ability to remove the agents before they enter the bloodstream . a specific example of this is a thrombolytic agent used to remove the occlusion or potentially dangerous thrombus , wherein the thrombus or occlusion must be both treated and removed to treat the condition and wherein the necessary dosage of the agent exceeds that which could otherwise be introduced without drug - related toxicity . [ 0067 ] fig2 c is a cross - section of the catheter element of the system incorporated with a proximal occlusion balloon 11 to establish a defined region of fluid exchange . this configuration may be useful for , but is not limited to , occluding flow , limiting a diagnostic agents field of deployment or limiting the bodies exposure to a high intensity agent . a dedicated balloon lumen 12 is provided for inflation of the occluding device . fig2 d is the catheter element of the system of the invention having an occlusion member 11 to aid in establishing an exchange site and having irrigation and aspiration functions distal to the occluding member wherein the arrows depict the general direction of fluid flow , distal to proximal , relative to the occluding member 11 . [ 0068 ] fig3 a is the device incorporated with a combined aspiration lumen 3 and occluding element 11 integral in the same catheter element with the irrigation driven by a separate catheter 2 to aid in defining a target site or field of fluid exchange . the irrigation lumen &# 39 ; s 2 independent travel affords a means of adjusting the location of the fluid exchange site while maintaining the occlusion at a predetermined location . furthermore , a treatment , diagnostic or imaging tool ( not shown ) can also be affixed to the irrigation catheter 2 . this is productive where the resident fluids are desired to be replaced with a dye or contract agent and then removed in turn prior to re - establishing normal blood flow . in optical coherence tomography ( oct ), for example , it is advantageous to introduce and remove a low attenuating fluid . fig3 b is a fluid isolated region that is maintained by irrigation occurring through ports 8 located both proximal and distal to the aspiration port 9 . this configuration presents a means of maintaining a controlled introduced field of fluid between the proximal and distal irrigation ports 8 . as in the embodiment of fig3 a , a treatment , diagnostic or imaging tool could be attached or moved along in concert between the irrigation ports . referring to fig3 c , a catheter element ( not shown ) that merely inserts and removes fluid from a vessel achieves only laminar flow in the direction of the arrows and with velocity illustrated by the size of the arrows . near the vessel wall the total fluid flow approaches zero such that fluid containing emboli at the walls is not disturbed and loosely affixed emboli remain in place . fig3 d is a preferred embodiment of the catheter element of the invention having orthogonally disposed aspiration ports 8 located at the distal end of the catheter element 7 . the region “ a ” experiences turbulent flow , while region “ b ” experiences a flow profile that is in transition from turbulence to laminar flow . fig3 e shows a series of irrigation ports 8 spaced at intervals along the length of the distal end of a catheter 7 such that either turbulent flows , designated as “ a ” or regions where turbulence is transitioning to laminar flows , designated as “ b ” are established along a length of the catheter 7 to substantially eliminate areas of laminar flow . fig3 f shows a configuration wherein the irrigation ports are provided as a perforated region 8 ′ at the distal end of the catheter 7 . the arrows indicate the direction and magnitude of flow showing that the perforated region establishes turbulence in a defined region , and as the distance away from the perforated portion 81 increases , the flow reverts to a laminar flow at a certain distance along the length of the vessel . [ 0069 ] fig4 a is an embodiment of the device 10 that produces pulsatile flow through the application of a mechanical force to an apparatus that propels fluid through the catheter element of the invention . in use , the action of a trigger 20 pulled toward a handle 21 exerts a force on a dedicated irrigant piston 22 that compresses the irrigant reservoir 1 thereby reducing the volume of the irrigant reservoir 1 and forcing fluid through the irrigant lumen ( not shown ) and simultaneously withdraws the dedicated aspirant 23 piston of the aspirant reservoir 4 to accomplish the fluid exchange at the target site . actuation of the trigger 20 may cause the relative motion of the pistons 22 , 23 by connection handle to a ratchet or other gear mechanism that provides the exertion of force in an incremental amount based on the actuation of the handle in a cyclical fashion . see e . g . fig1 below and accompanying text . as shown in fig4 a , the irrigant and aspirant reservoirs may advantageously be provided by conventional syringes or similar devices that provide for fluid containment and the controlled application of fluid flow . the syringes of fig4 a are merely examples of the use of replaceable cartridges that may be readily inserted and removed from the device . such cartridges are particularly useful when pharmaceutically active solutions are pre - filled and used in specific clinical procedures where medicaments are provided to a body conduit or vessel by the system of this invention . in this respect , the use of this invention allows the selective introduction of pharmaceutical compositions of any type during the performance of an ordinary irrigation and aspiration operation . in the embodiment of fig4 a , the syringes comprising the irrigant reservoir 1 and aspirant reservoir 3 may be removably inserted into the hand - held fluid exchange apparatus 10 and used to both provide and expel a predetermined volume of fluid through the target exchange site . in this manner , both the volume and content of the irrigant fluid can be controlled by exchanging syringes and the contents of the aspirant reservoir can be retained and analyzed for fluid or particular content . the operation of preferred embodiments of the hand - held embodiment of the invention is also described at fig7 - 10 below and the accompanying text . [ 0070 ] fig4 b is an example of interchangeable fluid cartridges 24 a 24 b , similar to the syringes described in other embodiments , for irrigation and aspiration . as described in greater detail herein , the irrigant 1 and / or aspirant 3 fluid reservoirs may be provided by cartridges or reservoirs of differing sizes to accomplish the predetermined volume exchange ratio desired for the particular clinical indication . in the embodiment of fig4 b , the irrigant fluid cartridge 24 a has double the volume of the aspirant cartridge 24 b thereby providing a 2 : 1 fluid exchange ratio of irrigant to aspirant at the target site . in this respect , the loop established by the fluid exchange system is not a completely closed loop , but is described as a substantially closed loop , in that a difference exists between the volume expelled through the irrigant reservoir 1 via the irrigant lumen 2 and into the exchange site versus the difference in the aspirant volume taken up through the aspirant lumen and into the aspirant reservoir 40 although the volumes are not identical , the volumes are predetermined and known with certainty as is the volume of fluid that remains at the target site , which is the difference between the volume of the irrigant fluid introduced to the site and the volume of the aspirant fluid removed therefrom . as in the embodiment of fig4 a , the irrigant fluid cartridge 24 a has a dedicated piston 22 for expelling fluid from the cartridge . the aspirant cartridge 24 b similarly has a dedicated piston 23 for collecting fluid introduced to the aspirant reservoir via the aspiration lumen 3 . in this specific embodiment , more irrigant fluid is introduced due to the larger cross - section of the irrigant cartridge 24 a while the overall length of the cartridge that fits into the fluid exchange apparatus remains constant . this technique for providing varying fluid cartridge volumes is advantageous when the irrigant and aspirant cartridges are replaceable in a fluid exchange device . [ 0071 ] fig5 a is a revolving cartridge 25 that can rapidly provide a series of irrigant solutions . this revolver - style orientation of irrigant solution is advantageous for delivery of a sequence of different fluids or for delivery of a pharmaceutical composition at an intermediate point during a procedure . in use , the revolving cartridge 25 is oriented such that the series of irrigant fluids 24 b , 24 c , 24 d are positioned in line with the dedicated irrigant reservoir piston 22 to expel the selected irrigant solution placed in line with the piston 22 . under certain clinical circumstances , the application of the system of the invention may provide an ordinary rinsing solution such as saline at the beginning of a procedure to clear resident fluids and / or emboli from a site , followed by the introduction of a pharmaceutical solution , followed by the removal of the pharmaceutical solution and the subsequent introduction of a neutral solution . in such a use , the saline solution would be confined in the first irrigant reservoir 24 b , which would be infused by actuating the handle 20 as in the embodiment of fig4 a described above . subsequently , the contents of the second irrigant reservoir 24 c , such as a thrombolytic agent , dye , contrast agent or other formulation , is inserted by rotating irrigant reservoir 24 c in line with the irrigant reservoir piston 22 , and similar actuation of trigger 20 . once the desired effect provided by the solution of reservoir 24 c has been achieved , the solution may be rinsed from the vessel by rotating the dedicated irrigant reservoir 24 d into place and actuating the fluid exchange system as above . similarly , a variety of aspirant chambers ( not shown ) can be used to facilitate collection and testing of the aspirant fluid by segregating discrete volumes into containers that can be processed for analysis . [ 0072 ] fig5 b is an embodiment where two different irrigant fluids can be delivered at equal time and measure in a pair of cartridges 243 , 24 f that are designed to be delivered through one or a pair of irrigant lumens 2 , 2 ′ such that one irrigant lumen 2 delivers fluid distal to a predetermined point at the target site and the other irrigant lumen 2 ′ delivers fluid proximal to a predetermined point at the target site . in such a case , each of the two irrigant lumens 2 , 2 ′ has a dedicated irrigant port or ports located at the distal end of the catheter element . the division of the irrigant reservoir 1 into two components 24 e , 24 f allows for the selective introduction of irrigant fluids , which may be the same solutions or different solutions at two or more points within the target site . the predetermined point in the target site that separates the proximal and distal delivery of irrigant fluid may be an aspirant port located therebetween ( as in the embodiment of fig2 d ) or any other structure where separation of irrigant fluid is desired . for example , some irrigants may mix advantageously only at the exchange site and could not be combined outside the body based on their chemical reactivity . [ 0073 ] fig6 is a tabletop version of the fluid exchange device of the invention . as is described elsewhere herein , the fluid exchange apparatus of the invention may be controlled by the simple mechanical operation of a device by a user or by an electronic system that controls a mechanical or electrical pump - or valve - driven system to control the irrigant 1 and aspirant 4 reservoirs . in the embodiment of fig6 a variable position lever 30 drives the stroke of a dedicated piston 22 , 23 that forces fluid from the irrigant reservoir and draws fluid into the aspirant reservoir . as with the embodiments described above , the cycle and the volume of the reservoirs or motion of the pistons can be altered to match the fluid exchange volume needed for any flow in the vessel or body conduit . because the rotation of the individual levers is variable , the ratio of fluid exchange can be achieved by different positioning of the lever arms 31 , 32 rather than by altering the volume of the individual irrigant 1 and aspirant 4 reservoirs . although this embodiment shows the mechanical application of force through levers , a tabletop version of the apparatus of the invention is advantageous when electronically controlled pumps are provided to control the fluid exchange and fluid exchange ratios . the embodiment of fig6 also may include an in - line air trap 33 for the irrigant reservoir 1 and / or a filter 34 for the aspirant reservoir 4 . as it may be advantageous to eliminate debris upon extraction of irrigant fluid and / or prevent air upon entry of irrigant fluid , the inclusion of a filter or trap 33 , 34 for air and / or emboli is appropriate in some cases . [ 0074 ] fig7 a and 7b show the internal structure and function of a fluid exchange device 40 where a pair of reservoirs control fluid flow via the force exerted by pistons or plungers following the action of a trigger 20 and handle 21 connected to or integral with a lever 36 that rotates about a pivot 35 . in this embodiment , the actuation of the trigger 20 rotates the level 36 about pivot 35 and forces the irrigant reservoir piston 22 into the irrigant reservoir 1 and simultaneously withdraws the aspirant reservoir piston 23 out of the aspirant reservoir . from the relaxed position ( fig7 a ), the trigger 20 can be activated to drive the pistons 22 , 23 through either a direct coupling or a mechanism for incremental cycles . if desired , the trigger 20 can return to the relaxed position after a cycle from spring action in the handle or pivot 35 other automatic return mechanism . the reservoirs may be integral to the device 10 or the volume of the reservoir 1 may be attached to a separate reservoir ( not shown ) together with the appropriate lumens , and preferably in - line one - way valves , to facilitate the exchange between the separate reservoir and the chamber of the device . in the former embodiment , the reservoirs are integral to the handle - operated device such that the piston exerts a direct force on the irrigant 1 and / or aspirant 4 reservoir to exert the force necessary for fluid exchange . in the above embodiment , the internal structure of the device acts as an in - line chamber that is intermediate between the separate reservoir and the lumen such that irrigant fluid residing in a separate reservoir is drawn into the chamber prior to being expelled from the chamber through the irrigation lumen . in this embodiment , a pair of lumens are required , a first intermediate lumen connecting the separate reservoir to the chamber , and a second lumen communicating the irrigant fluid from the chamber through the irrigant lumen and via the irrigant ports to the target exchange site . [ 0075 ] fig8 is a preferred embodiment of the invention having a trigger 20 that is squeezed by the hand to operate a syringe that acts as the aspirant reservoir 54 and the irrigant reservoir ( not shown ). as the trigger 20 moves toward the body of the handle 21 , the force is transmitted both to the piston 55 dedicated to the aspirant reservoir 54 and a separate piston ( not shown ) dedicated to the irrigant reservoir . although the internal configurations can be varied to incorporate other mechanical expedients , the orientation of the lever 56 and pivot 62 of the present embodiment provide an advantageous mechanism for a 1 : 1 ratio fluid exchange . the action of trigger 20 is communicated to a lever 56 that is connected to the trigger 20 by a first terminal lever connector 58 a . when the trigger 20 moves toward the body of the handle 21 , the force exerted on the lever 56 rotates the lever 56 around pivot 57 to exert a force , via a second terminal lever connector 58 b that is attached to an irrigant carriage 52 . simultaneously , the motion of the trigger 20 exerts force on a second lever ( not shown ) that is connected to the aspirant carriage 51 in a similar matter as for the irrigant carriage 52 . the motion of the trigger 20 provides a simultaneous but opposite force on the aspirant cartridge 51 compared to the irrigant cartridge 52 . the simultaneous forces that are applied to the pistons dedicated to the irrigant reservoir and aspirant reservoir 54 , respectively , occur in opposite directions to yield a substantially equivalent volume exchange into the aspirant reservoir 4 and out of the irrigant reservoir 1 via the aspirant and irrigant lumens 4 , 2 respectively . the motion of the irrigant carriage 52 is translated to the piston dedicated to the irrigant reservoir by virtue of a connector 53 that is noncompressible and that is aligned with the length of the irrigant reservoir 1 . as noted specifically with the embodiments described at fig4 a herein , the irrigant and aspirant reservoirs 1 , 4 may be interchangeable syringes or cartridges that can be inserted and removed to introduce specific solutions or fluid volumes . in a preferred embodiment , the irrigant and aspirant reservoir 1 , 4 may be molded into the body of the device such that the fluid volumes for the irrigant and aspirant reservoirs are separately filled via a fixture that acts as an input valve to the irrigant and / or aspirant reservoir . the irrigant and aspirant reservoirs 1 , 4 preferably have removable fixtures at the output 60 thereof for attachment of the respective lumens 2 , 3 . the motion of the trigger 20 is rendered linear and reproducible by slots 61 cut into a portion of the trigger 20 that are engaged by the first pivot 57 and the second pivot 61 such that the body of the handle 21 and / or the trigger 20 slidingly move about either of the pivot structures . a second lever 63 operates parallel to the lever 56 to enable the trigger 20 to travel smoothly along its path . this configuration provides for reproducible motion of the trigger 20 relative to the body of the housing 21 and also facilitates attachment of a spring 62 that biases the trigger in the forward position so that actuation of the trigger 20 relative to the handle 21 produces a complete cycle that translates into a defined movement of both the irrigant cartridge 52 and the aspirant cartridge 51 . the volume exchange ratio provided by the device of this invention may be altered by changing the relative lengths of the lever 56 relative to the pivot 57 or by altering a ratcheting mechanism disposed at the connection point between the lever 56 and the irrigant cartridge 52 such that a complete cycle of the trigger 20 from the forward most position when moved toward the body of the handle 21 constitutes a complete cycle that moves the irrigant 52 and / or aspirant cartridge by fixed distance . the spring tension automatically returns the trigger 20 to the forward most position to prepare for a second cycle . [ 0078 ] fig9 a is an embodiment where the travel of the lever in the fluid exchange device is adjustable so that the amount of fluid displaced in a single cycle can be controlled , and both the distance traveled and the force generated can be adjusted by relative positions of the trigger 20 and the handle body 21 . the embodiments of fig9 a and 9b illustrate the ability to alter the fluid flow parameters of the fluid exchange device by changing the configuration of the mechanical components that exert force on the irrigant reservoir 1 and aspirant reservoir 4 , respectively . fig9 b illustrates the adjustment of the pivot point 57 a to produce different flow ratios and peak pressures based on the relative position of the pivot point 57 a about which the trigger 20 rotates . in such an embodiment , if more fluid flow is desired the apparatus can be easily adjusted to accomplish a variable number of flows for a given grip cycle . the travel distance provided by the motion of the trigger 20 as exerted at the point of attachment by the second terminal lever connector 58 c dictates the amount of fluid flow expelled from the irrigant and / or aspirant reservoir 1 , 4 based on the action by a syringe or aspirant reservoir piston or carriage as described above . accordingly , an increase in the motion of a piston compressing fluid in an irrigant or aspirant reservoir or chamber , due to changing the pivot point , results in an increased exchange rate for a given activation of the trigger 20 . as is shown in fig9 a and 9b , the adjustment to the degree of travel of the trigger 20 relative to the handle 21 , when combined with aspiration 51 and irrigant 52 carriages and reservoirs as described in , for example fig8 above , produces the variable fluid flow of this embodiment . as with the embodiments described above , the mechanical movement of the trigger 20 relative to the handle 21 is translated into fluid flow from an irrigant reservoir 1 , via irrigation lumen 2 , aspiration lumen 3 , and aspirant reservoir 4 by the configurations described herein . [ 0079 ] fig1 is a hand - held fluid exchange apparatus of the invention wherein a ratchet mechanism provides for incremental movement of a piston , in this embodiment , a general set of pistons 71 , 71 a for driving fluid out of the irrigant reservoir 1 and into the aspirant reservoir 4 , respectively . as in the embodiment of fig8 the motion of a trigger 20 relative to a body handle 21 completes one cycle . this embodiment may also contain a mechanical or electrical counter that provides a readout indicating the number of cycles that have been performed , the volume of fluid introduced or removed , or the amount of fluid present , or remaining in either reservoir . in this embodiment , the motion of the dedicated , geared piston 71 in the irrigant reservoir 1 is controlled by the ratchet mechanism which is comprised of the trigger 20 , a pivot 70 , about which the trigger 20 rotates , and gear 70 b that engages a first ratchet wheel 77 . preferably , the ratchet mechanism is one - way such that motion of the trigger 20 toward the body handle 21 rotates the first ratchet wheel 72 that rotates to advance or contract the piston 71 . in the example of fig1 , actuation of the trigger 20 about pivot 70 a translates to rotation of the first ratchet wheel 72 via gear 70 b . the rotation of the first ratchet wheel 72 is translated to the geared piston 71 and this rotation is in turn translated to a second ratchet wheel 73 that rotates in the opposite direction to the first ratchet wheel 72 that is in turn connected to a geared piston 71 a in the other reservoir . in the embodiment of fig1 , the device is designed to be hand - operated such that the manual actuation of the trigger 20 causes automatic motion of the two ratchet wheels 72 , 73 and the geared pistons 71 . the equivalent dimensions of the reservoirs 1 , 4 , pistons 71 , 71 a , and the two ratchet wheels 72 , 73 shown in fig1 yields an approximate 1 : 1 fluid exchange ratio . in addition to altering the dimensions of the aspirant 4 or irrigant 1 reservoirs , the alteration of the fluid exchange ratio can be achieved by altering the dimensions of the ratchet wheels 72 , 73 . [ 0081 ] fig1 shows the principles of a fluid exchange device with a segregated irrigant 75 and aspirant chambers 76 each having a dedicated inflow and outflow line . in this embodiment , the inflow line of the irrigation chamber 75 is an irrigation inflow line 2 ′ that communicates fluid held in the irrigation reservoir 1 to the irrigation chamber 75 . the fluid is drawn into irrigation chamber 75 by the dedicated piston 22 and is subsequently expelled through the irrigation lumen 2 into the target site for fluid exchange as described previously . similarly , fluid is drawn from the target site through the aspiration lumen 3 and into the aspiration chamber 76 by operation of the dedicated piston 23 whose motion both pulls fluid through the aspiration lumen 3 and into the aspiration chamber 76 , but also expels fluid from the aspiration chamber 76 to the aspiration reservoir 3 , via the aspiration reservoir outflow line 3 ′. this embodiment of the invention operates much like a two - stroke engine wherein fluid is pulled into the irrigation 76 and aspiration 75 chambers and . subsequently expelled through the appropriate lumen . to control the flow of fluids , each of the dedicated inflow and outflow lines for each chamber have valves 77 a , b , c , d that control the fluid flow . for example , when fluid is drawn into the irrigation chamber 75 , a valve 77 a on the chamber inflow line 2 ′ is opened while the piston 22 is pulled back . subsequently , the inflow valve 77 a closes and an outflow valve 77 b that is in line with the irrigation lumen is opened while the irrigation chamber piston 22 is forced into the irrigation chamber 75 to expel fluids through the irrigation lumen 2 . similarly , when the action of the aspiration chamber piston 23 is used to draw out fluid into the aspiration chamber 70 via aspiration lumen 3 , an inflow valve 77 d on the aspiration chamber inflow line 3 is opened and the in - line valve 77 b in the aspiration chamber outflow line 3 ′ is closed . to expel fluid from the aspiration chamber 76 through the outflow line 3 ′ and into the aspiration reservoir 4 , the in - line valve 77 d on the aspiration lumen 3 is closed and the in - line valve 77 c on the aspiration reservoir outflow line 3 ′ is opened . as for the embodiments described above , the action of the individual pistons 22 and 23 used to cause the fluid flow throughout the system can be controlled manually by mechanical expedients affixed to the pistons . alternatively , electronic circuitry can control the speed motion and cycle parameters of both pistons such that the fluid flow is electronically controlled according to a user interface or a predetermined fluid exchange profile . as will be apparent to one of skill in the art , the cycling action of this embodiment produces a pulsatile flow with the relative motion of both pistons 22 , 23 . moreover , the particular minimum and maximum pressures in each pulsatile flow can be controlled by the relative action of the pistons 22 , 23 . in another embodiment , the in - line valves are not actively controlled , but are provided as simple one - way valves that only allow fluid inflow from the irrigation 1 reservoir into the irrigation chamber 75 and , likewise only allow fluid outflow from the irrigation chamber 75 through the irrigation lumen 2 . on the aspiration side of the system , one - way valves allow fluid flow only from the aspiration . lumen 3 to the aspiration chamber 76 , and from the chamber 76 to the aspiration reservoir 4 . in use , when the device is activated , the piston plunger in either chamber will produce a positive flow through the lumen . when the lever begins to relax , the one - way valve will close and the irrigation reservoir 1 will fill the chamber . on the aspiration side , one - way valves on both the lumen 3 and the reservoir 4 ensures that the aspirant fluid is purged into the reservoir and , during relaxation , the aspirant is extracted from the exchange site via the aspiration lumen 3 . actuation of the pistons simultaneously causes simultaneous fluid flow to and from the target site while a ½ cycle out of phase yields a transient pressure increase within the system . [ 0083 ] fig1 a and 12b show a hand - held fluid exchange apparatus configured as a compressible handball with the internal volume divided into irrigant and aspirant aspirant chambers 78 , 79 in series with dedicated inflow and outflow lines connecting irrigation 1 and aspiration 4 reservoirs , respectively . with a fluid impermeable wall disposed between the irrigant 78 and aspirant 79 chambers , the collapse of the ball under force will circulate the fluids appropriately . referring to fig1 a , the apparatus is divided into an irrigation chamber 78 and an aspiration chamber 79 by a fluid impermeable barrier 80 that completely segregates the two chambers 78 , 79 within the device . the expansion and contraction of the irrigant chamber 78 causes fluid flow through a dedicated inflow line 2 ′ between the irrigation reservoir 1 and the irrigant chamber 78 and out to the target exchange site via the irrigation lumen 2 and terminates at the target site as in the other embodiments described herein . similarly , aspirant fluid is drawn in through the aspiration lumen 3 into the aspiration chamber 79 and out through the dedicated aspiration chamber outflow line 3 ′ and into the aspiration reservoir 4 . as in the embodiment of fig1 , one - way flow valves are advantageously disposed in each inflow and outflow line between the lumen and chamber , and chamber and reservoir . thus , a one - way flow valve 81 a allows fluid flow only in the direction from the irrigation reservoir , via inflow line 2 ′, into the irrigation chamber 78 . the fluid inside the irrigation chamber 78 may only flow in the direction through one - way valve 81 b and out through the irrigation lumen 2 . aspiration fluid entering aspiration chamber 79 via aspiration lumen 3 may enter only in the direction through one - way valve 81 c and aspiration fluid inside the aspiration chamber 79 may pass only in the direction of the aspiration reservoir 4 through one - way valve 81 d . referring to fig1 b , pressure exerted on the compressible structure of the device , as indicated by the bold arrows in fig1 b , compresses both irrigant chamber 78 and aspirant chamber 79 such that fluid flows in the direction of the arrows i . e . irrigant fluid flows through one - way valve 81 b , through irrigation lumen 2 and to the target exchange site . aspirant fluid flows from the aspiration chamber 79 through the one - way valve 81 d and into the aspiration reservoir 4 . fluid flow is prevented by one - way valves 81 c and 81 a from entering either the aspiration lumen 3 or the irrigation reservoir 1 . upon relaxation , the outer surface of the handball moves in a direction opposite to the bold arrows in fig1 b and the flow is reversed . thus , fluid flows from the irrigation reservoir 1 through the one - way valve 81 a and into the irrigation chamber 78 . likewise , fluid flows from the aspiration lumen 3 , through one - way valve 81 c , and into the aspiration chamber 79 . this configuration is similar to the embodiment of fig1 because a chamber 78 or 79 is provided at an intermediate position between the exchange site and the reservoir such that a volume of fluid is held at an intermediate position between each reservoir 78 , 79 and the exchange site for purposes of exerting control over a discrete volume of fluid separate from the irrigation and aspiration reservoirs 1 , 4 . however , the compressible handball configuration can be constructed to allow direct manipulation of the irrigation reservoir 1 to expel fluid while simultaneously collecting aspirant fluid within the discrete structure of the handball itself . fig1 a and 13b show a handball pump configured with an internal reservoir of irrigant and a flexible barrier 82 to separate the irrigant and aspirant reservoirs 1 , 4 , which are disposed inside the handball . referring to the embodiment of fig1 a , prior to connection of this embodiment of the invention to a catheter element , the irrigant reservoir 1 is preferably filled with fluid to substantially encompass the entire internal volume of the handball . the flexible and fluid impermeable barrier 82 deforms towards the outer wall of the handball to accept irrigant solution and to simultaneously minimize the internal volume of the aspirant reservoir 4 . when used in a clinical setting , the irrigant reservoir 1 is filled with the pharmaceutically acceptable composition to be used as the irrigant and the apparatus is sealed and may be sterilized while intact . before using , the device is connected to the irrigation lumen 2 and aspiration lumen 3 which may be filled with fluid to establish the substantially closed loop as described previously . as in the embodiment of fig1 a and 12b , one - way valves 83 a , 83 b are positioned in - line between the irrigant reservoir 1 and the irrigation lumen 2 , and between the aspiration lumen 3 and the aspirant reservoir 4 . as the handball is compressed , fluid flow generally occurs in the area of the arrows to force fluid out of the irrigant reservoir 1 , through the irrigation lumen 2 and into the target site while any backflow is prevented by the one - way valve 83 a . accordingly , aspiration fluid is drawn through the aspiration lumen 3 and collects in the aspirant reservoir 4 . fig1 b shows an embodiment of the invention wherein approximately half of the irrigant solution has been expelled through the irrigation lumen 2 , exchanged at the target site , and collected back in the aspirant reservoir 4 via aspiration lumen 3 . as above , fluid flow generally occurs in the direction of the arrows as the internal irrigant volume is exchanged between the irrigant reservoir 1 and the aspirant reservoir 4 . as noted above , the principal of the invention may be achieved by both user operated , generally mechanically controlled embodiments of the invention , or through electronically controlled apparatus that usually require electronically controlled pumps and / or valves . in the embodiment of fig1 c , a volume metric pump 86 with an internal balloon 85 is provided to achieve the fluid exchange function of the invention . generally , the device is comprised of a housing 84 that is preferably substantially rigid and which contains an internal irrigant reservoir 1 and aspirant reservoir 4 connected to dedicated irrigation and aspiration lumens 2 , 3 , as described previously . volumetric control is achieved by selectively expanding an internal balloon 85 within the housing 84 to be positioned in either the irrigant reservoir 1 or aspiration reservoir 4 . as with the embodiments of fig1 a and 13b , at a preliminary point in the use of the device the irrigant reservoir 1 is generally full and the internal volume balloon 85 is confined in the aspirant reservoir such that the internal volume of the balloon 85 is maximized within the aspiration reservoir 4 and does not displace a substantial volume of the irrigant reservoir 1 . this allows the maximum amount of irrigation fluid to exist within the irrigant reservoir 1 prior to use of the device . as the fluid exchange process occurs , the volumetric pump 86 functions by forcing a portion of the internal volume of the balloon 85 into the irrigant reservoir 1 . the volumetric pump 86 may be controlled by the user or through an electrical circuitry that provides an output reading to dictate the volumes or relative percentage volumes between the reservoirs 1 , 4 . as the volume exchange process continues , the internal volume of the balloon 85 is transferred to a greater and greater degree from the aspirant reservoir 4 to the irrigant reservoir 1 to displace the internal volume of the irrigation fluid . at a half - way point , the internal volume of the balloon is equally disposed between the two reservoirs ( assuming that the beginning volume of the two reservoirs is equal ) and the volumes of the fluid contained in both the irrigant 1 and aspirant 4 reservoirs is equal . as described previously , a simple modification of the dimensions of the apparatus allow variation of the volume exchange ratio from a 1 : 1 value to any prescribed ratio dictated by the clinical circumstances . [ 0087 ] fig1 shows a side view of the device where the irrigation 90 and aspiration 91 fluid impermeable chambers are contained in the same , preferably rigid housing 92 and are separated by a centrally disposed piston 93 that engages the interior of the housing 92 about the entire periphery thereof to segregate the irrigant fluid from the aspirant fluid and allows the piston 93 to slide within the housing 92 . by moving the piston 93 within the interior of the housing , typically from one extreme end to another , the irrigant is forced out of the irrigant chamber 90 and into the irrigation lumen 2 . fluid exchanged at the target site is collected through the aspiration lumens and into the aspirant chamber 91 . thus , in the example of fig1 , when the piston 93 slides from one end to the other , the irrigant chamber 90 expels irrigant , while the aspirant chamber 91 simultaneously draws in aspirant fluid . then , as the piston 93 is moved back in the other direction , the irrigant chamber 91 refills itself with fluid from the irrigant reservoir 1 while the aspirant chamber 91 expels its contents into the aspiration reservoir 4 . as in other embodiments described herein , this simple , compact arrangement allows for simultaneous irrigation and aspiration and yield a pulsatile flow . although shown as a cylindrical housing 92 , the construction and arrangement of the input , output , reservoir and piston elements could be altered without departing from the spirit of the invention . in the embodiment of fig1 , the piston is designed to move repeatedly and reproducibly within the housing to expel and collect a defined volume of fluid with each operation cycle . the volume of fluid exchanged at the target site with each cycle of the piston 93 is substantially equivalent to the internal volume of the housing 92 assuming that the piston 93 is moved from one extreme to another extreme inside the housing 92 during each cycle of the operation of the device . this embodiment also demonstrates , as in the foregoing embodiments , that the fluid exchange device of the invention is readily adapted to be controlled either manually , in this case through the application of force to a handle 94 attached to the piston 93 , or by electronic control , which in this embodiment would be provided by a simple pump or electrical or magnetic force to move the piston 91 within the housing 92 . the separation of the irrigant and aspirant reservoirs 1 , 4 from an irrigant and aspirant chamber 90 , 91 permits the device to be repeatedly cycled to draw a defined volume into each chamber 90 , 91 for propulsion through the irrigation lumen 2 and collection through the aspiration lumen 3 . in an alternate embodiment , the entirety of the irrigant fluid to be exchanged at the target site would begin contained within an aspirant reservoir that is entirely located within the housing such that movement of the piston 91 from one extreme of the housing 92 to the other would communicate the entire volume of the irrigant reservoir 1 through the irrigation lumen 2 , to the target exchange site , and back into the aspirant reservoir 4 via the aspiration lumen 3 . a further example of this embodiment is shown in fig1 below , having an alternate mechanical expedient for propelling fluid from the irrigant reservoir 1 into an aspirant reservoir 4 . in the embodiment of fig1 , the irrigant and aspirant reservoirs 1 , 4 are separated by a fluid impermeable barrier 95 that is movable about a threaded axis 97 or other structure that passes within a slidable member 96 that rotates and slides about the threaded axis 97 to move the barrier 95 along the axis 97 to propel the irrigant fluid . ideally , the slidable member 96 provide for a high rate of translation , while the member 97 provides for fine travel about the threaded axis 97 . the sliding element can be selectively disengaged from the threads to allow it to slide rapidly along the threaded axis for gross adjustment . when engaged , the sliding element can be rotated for fine adjustment . interior to the sliding element is a mechanism which permits this selective thread engagement by retracting the thread contact when activated . referring to fig1 , this embodiment of the fluid exchange device is comprised of two main elements to achieve a configuration that allows for the body or cylinder actuation of both syringes in the desired and opposite manner . essentially , a unitary body 101 connects of one syringe element 102 a and is connected rigidly to the piston 103 b of the other syringe element . a slidable element 104 engages the unitary body 101 and slides reproducibly in engagement therewith . as shown in fig1 , the slidable element 104 is also attached to the cylinder 103 a of one syringe and the piston 102 b of the other . motion of the slidable element 104 exerts a force withdrawing one piston while advancing the other and braces the application of force by the attachment of the body 101 or element 104 to the cylinder or body of each syringe 102 a , 103 a . the design could incorporate existing syringes or have the syringe elements molded into the piece . there are several distinct advantages to this embodiment . one is that it ensures a 1 : 1 exchange ratio in terms of travel distance between the syringes . another is that the geometric arrangement allows for a balancing of the forces involved in the device . finally , the realization of the complex mechanics through just two moving parts is a significant advantage for the manufacturing and efficiency of the device . as described above , the element of turbulence is important to the efficacy of the device . since fluids tend to assimilate to laminar flow , proximity of the irrigant ports or perforations that facilitates turbulence is important for optimal rinsing of the interior of a body structure . for this reason , translation of the catheter element may accompany the irrigation or aspiration or both . all embodiments described herein can be manually translated by means of the operator &# 39 ; s hand . additionally , the catheter can be translated using an automated translation system similar to those used in ivus and similar applications . alternatively , the catheter could be translated by an element incorporated into the fluid delivery device . referring to fig1 a a simple mechanism that could be used to realize this self - advancing aspect . when the catheter 7 element is moved to the left in the direction of the arrows in fig1 a , the round engaging element 110 slides up in the slot 111 and engages the catheter 7 to move it to the left as well . [ 0092 ] fig1 b shows the same mechanism . once the catheter element 7 is slid to the right the round engaging element 110 slides down in the slot 11 and allows the catheter element 7 to slide freely to the right in the direction of the arrow without interacting or affecting the catheter &# 39 ; s position . this allows for the selective retraction or advancement of the catheter 7 by a predetermined amount with each squeeze of the device . there are many ways in which this element could be realized . the simplest would be an apparatus that selectively grasps the catheter when moving one direction and idles or does not grasp when moving in the opposite direction . a guiding track that biases the element could be used to apply pressure and grasp the catheter moving in one direction and then release and allow idle sliding to the reset position in the other direction . this element could be selectively engaged by the operator when needed , and could be developed to allow for selection between advancement and retraction of the catheter . in the present preferred embodiment of the fluid exchange device , it is necessary to have a reset force supplied by an element such as a spring inherent in the device . this reset force is added to the resistance in the system that must be overcome by the operator to utilize the device . in some cases , an embodiment where this force was minimized or eliminated would allow more of the force generated by the operator to be directed to the work the device is performing and not to overcoming the reset force element . referring to fig1 a - 18c , this function could be achieved through the use of a staged device . fig1 a shows a simple mechanical way in which the two sides of the device could be linked mechanically . it is important in this embodiment that the two sides be linked mechanically so that they behave in an equal and opposite manner . this is necessary so that the trigger can be actuated repeatedly in the same manner but engage just one of the sides while still driving the entire system . this allows the benefit of having the operator not realize the changes occurring internally in the device . the squeezes would not feel substantially different . in this embodiment , the first squeeze would activate the two chambers and the second squeeze would reset the two chambers . a simple mechanical setup could achieve this result . similar mechanisms are commonly used in objects such as retractable ball point pens . essentially , an element attached to the trigger element would be slightly biased to selectively engage one side or the other of the device . fig1 b shows a top view of the track layout that would guide the selectively engaging element of the trigger . with the two sides linked mechanically to travel in equivalent and opposite manners as described elsewhere , the force of the trigger element could always be applied in the same manner with varying effect . with the aid of the minimal return force element , the trigger is brought back to its full and extended position and biased to one side so that it will slip into the opposite track for the next actuation of the trigger . after that actuation , as the trigger is returning to its default position , it will be biased to one side of the device and slip easily into the track of the opposite side . [ 0094 ] fig1 c is a diagram of how the system could be achieved such that each time the trigger is expanded , it engages the other side of the device and pulls it back when squeezed . many features have been listed with particular configurations , options , and embodiments . any one or more of the features described may be added to or combined with any of the other embodiments or other standard devices to create alternate combinations and embodiments . although the examples given include many specificities , they are intended as illustrative of only a few possible embodiments of the invention . other embodiments and modifications will , no doubt , occur to those skilled in the art . thus , the examples given should only be interpreted as illustrations of some of the preferred embodiments of the invention .	0
broach pulling machine tools may take a variety of forms , and may have a plurality of work stations or spindles . as the inventive concepts are practiced at an individual spindle the disclosure of the invention is with respect to a single spindle and it will be understood that in multiple spindle machines each spindle will be constructed in accord with the described disclosure . the machine frame is represented at 10 and includes a cylindrical bore 12 , and an annular extension 14 extends toward the spindle head as will be apparent from the drawings . a pair of roller bearing assemblies 16 are mounted within the frame bore 12 and rotatably support the tubular spindle tube 18 which supports the spindle 20 . the spindle tube 18 includes a radial flange 22 having a blind hole 24 formed therein , and the other end of the spindle tube is threaded at 26 to receive the threaded collar 28 whereby tightening of the collar will firmly axially position the spindle tube within the bearings 16 , and also aid in maintaining the bearings within the machine frame . a lock washer 30 held in position by screw 32 prevents accidental rotation of the collar 28 . the spindle 20 includes an enlarged head 34 having a coaxial socket 36 which intersects the spindle outer end . a pin 38 is defined within a hole in the head 34 and is received within the spindle tube hole 24 to lock the spindle tube and spindle against relative rotation about the spindle axis . the spindle 20 is threaded at 40 for receiving the annular threaded collar 42 which bears against the end of the spindle tube 18 and maintains the assembly of the spindle and spindle tube , and rotation of the collar 42 is controlled by the thread lock structure 44 . four radial openings 46 are defined in the spindle head 34 intersecting the socket 36 . the openings 46 are spaced at 90 degree intervals and each receives a radially displaceable jaw 48 . a slot 50 is defined in each opening 46 having a shoulder 52 , and a pin 54 mounted in each jaw has an end received within a slot 50 to limit inward movement of the jaws 48 . at its inner end , each jaw 48 is formed with an oblique surface 56 , and at its outer end each jaw 48 is provided with an oblique cam surface 58 and a cylindrical surface 60 corresponding with the bore of the cam sleeve as will be later apparent . the spindle head 34 is also provided with a pair of radial openings 62 diametrically related to each other . the openings 62 each slidably receive a jaw 64 , and the openings are each provided with a slot 66 for receiving a jaw mounted pin 68 to limit inward movement of the jaws 64 . at its outer end , each jaw 64 is provided with an oblique surface 70 , and at its inner end each jaw includes oblique surfaces 72 and 74 . the spindle head includes a cylindrical surface 76 upon which the annular cam sleeve 78 is axially slidable . the cam sleeve 78 includes a bore slidably received on surface 76 , and an annular recess 82 is defined within the cam sleeve intersecting the bore 80 . the recess 82 includes a tapered cam surface 84 . the cam sleeve 78 also includes a plurality of axially extending bores 86 for receiving compression springs 88 , and the other end of the compression springs engage the head recesses 90 . an annular cap 92 is bolted upon the end of the spindle head by bolts 94 , and the purpose of the cap 92 is to limit outward movement of the cam sleeve upon the spindle head . the broach machine includes a stop ring 96 , fig3 which is mounted upon the machine frame in alignment with the cam sleeve surface 98 , and upon the spindle being axially displaced to the right such that the stop ring 96 engages the surface 98 , the cam sleeve 78 will be axially displaced with respect to the spindle head . relative rotational movement of the spindle head 34 relative to the cam sleeve 78 is prevented by the utilization of a keyway 100 defined in the spindle head , fig4 and a keyway 102 defined in the cam sleeve , both of which receive the key 104 bolted within keyway 100 . a typical broach tool as used with the aforedescribed apparatus is disclosed in fig1 and 3 . the broach tool 105 is of an elongated form having broach teeth defined thereon , not shown , and the broach is of a conventional construction including a cylindrical end region 106 which terminates at an end 108 . a cylindrical recess 110 is located in the end region 106 and is defined by an annular conical shoulder surface 112 adjacent the end 108 and a similar conical shoulder surface 114 adjacent the end region 106 . also , the broach includes a conical bevel surface 116 intersecting the end 108 . it is to be understood that the frame 10 , and the entire spindle assembly , is mounted upon a slide or equivalent apparatus which permits the spindle to be displaced in an axial direction , and such apparatus for mounting the spindle frame is conventional and forms no part of the present invention . upon the spindle assembly being moved to its right the maximum extent , the cam sleeve surface 98 will engage the stop ring 96 and further movement of the spindle will push the spindle head 34 &# 34 ; through &# 34 ; the cam sleeve 78 wherein the components will be as disclosed in fig3 . in this relationship the surfaces 58 of the jaws 48 will be engaging the cam sleeve surfaces 84 , and the outer end of the jaws 64 will be in alignment with the recess 82 . thereupon , upon insertion of the broach tool end region 106 into the spindle socket 36 the tool surface 116 will engage the surface 72 of the jaw 64 and displace the same outwardly . further insertion of the broach into the socket 36 causes the surface 116 to engage the oblique surface 57 defined on the jaws 48 forcing the jaws 48 outwardly permitting the broach end region 106 to be fully received within the socket 36 to the extent shown in fig3 . the spindle assembly is then moved to the right permitting the cam sleeve 78 to move to the right on the head surface 76 under the influence of the compression springs 88 . such relative movement between the cam sleeve 78 and the spindle head , first , radially displaces the jaws48 inwardly as the jaw surfaces 58 are engaged by the cam sleeve surface 84 . further movement of the cam sleeve relative to the spindle causes the jaw surfaces 60 to align with and be engaged by the cam sleeve bore 80 thereby locking the radial position of the jaws 48 . at such time the cam surfaces 56 will be in firm engagement with the broach stop shoulder 112 . further relative movement of the cam sleeve 76 on the spindle head causes the cam surface 84 to engage the oblique surfaces 70 on the jaws 64 forcing the jaws 64 inwardly until the jaw surfaces 72 engage the broach tool stop shoulder 114 . this engagement of the surfaces 72 and 114 terminates inward movement of the jaws 64 , which have not &# 34 ; bottomed &# 34 ; on the recess 110 , and prevents further movement of the cam sleeve 78 under the influence of the compression springs 88 . the engagement of the jaws 48 with the broach tool surface 112 provides the positive metal - to - metal engagement between the spindle and the broach tool to permit the broaching action to occur as the spindle assembly is drawn to the left , fig1 . the engagement of the surface 72 of the jaws 64 with the broach stop shoulder 114 , and the inward force imposed upon the jaws 64 by the springs 88 , places an axial biasing force on the tool 105 to the right , fig1 insuring a firm engagement between the surfaces 56 of the jaws 48 with the broach surface 112 . thus , the use of the jaw set 64 eliminates any axial lost motion or play between the broach tool 105 and the spindle , as previously occurred when only the jaws 48 were used . of course , it is necessary that torque forces be transferred from the spindle to the broach tool , and for this purpose the broach tool 105 is provided with keyways or splines for association with complementary surfaces defined in the spindle head 34 , not shown . when it is desired to remove the broach 105 from the spindle socket 36 the spindle assembly is moved to the right for engagement with the stop ring 96 as shown in fig3 to align the jaw surfaces 58 of jaws 48 with the cam sleeve surface 84 , and the jaws 64 will be in alignment with the recess 82 . thereupon , upon withdrawal of the tool 105 from the socket 36 sequential engagement of the stop shoulder 112 with the jaws 48 and 64 will radially displace the jaws outwardly and the tool may be readily removed from the spindle socket . it will therefore be appreciated that by the use of the set of jaws 48 and the set of jaws 64 that play and axial lost motion between the broach and spindle assembly may be completely eliminated , and the biasing force imposed upon the jaws 64 by the compression springs 88 will insure zero clearance permitting a broaching tool constructed in accord with the invention to operate at much closer tolerances than previously possible . it is appreciated that various modifications to the inventive concepts may be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	1
unlike other available methods discussed above , the embodiment disclosed introduces two high frequency electronic wave - forms (“ feed signals ”) into the body non - invasively through a single proprietary disposable pad placed on the skin opposite the pain site (“ opposite pad ”) as shown in fig3 . the feed signals pass through the body to a second proprietary disposable pad at the treatment site (“ pain site pad ”) as shown in fig4 . the feed signals are exponentially multiplied by materials within the body giving rise to a low frequency component , the beat frequency , in the form of an electric field within the volume of tissue defined by the geometry of the body between the electrodes . the size of the volume of tissue affected can be changed and is dependent upon electrode placement , geometry and materials , as well as the amplitude of the feed signal . the two electrode pads are placed opposite one another on the patient &# 39 ; s body with the pain site located on a line vector in between the electrode pads . prior electro - therapy technology applications require placement of the electrode pads ( typically two or more ) adjacent and in the same plane as the pain site but not in an opposing placement . the ratio of the area of the pad sizes used in conjunction with one another is important in the shaping of the electric field gradient and in determining the current density through the target volume . the ratio of the area of the opposite pad to the area of the pain site pad must be at least 2 : 1 . the pad size ratio depends upon the application and location of the pads on the body . the application of physiologically high frequency feed signals ( 1 khz - 100 khz ), introduced through spatially opposed electrodes gives rise to a spectrum of frequencies as a consequence of the nonlinear operations performed by polarized structures , for example nerve membranes , along the path between the electrodes , within the volume of tissue around and beneath the treatment site . this nonlinear operation yields both sum and difference frequencies from the two original feed signals . one of the frequencies generated , the difference between the feed signals , is called the beat frequency and is within the range ( 1 hz - 250 hz ) that has been determined to have a therapeutic effect with respect to pain suppression , pain management and range of motion . the inventors have discovered and developed a novel way to electronically block pain in the body non - invasively . pain signals from receptors that are large enough to exceed the trigger threshold for the exchange of sodium and potassium ions across a nerve cell membrane do so through changes in the ion permeability of this membrane . this ion exchange causes a polarity change across and along the cell wall of the nerve fiber affecting the transmission of pain information along certain c type fibers as shown in part a of fig1 . the inventors believe that there are several mechanisms of action caused by the beat frequency to reduce pain , namely ( 1 ) frequency conduction block ( also called hyperpolarization ), ( 2 ) gate control , ( 3 ) increased blood flow and ( 4 ) the release of endorphins or other opiate - like analogs . frequency conduction block . in part b of fig1 , with the low frequency electric field in place , the membranes of c fibers that fall within the electric field are hyperpolarized . as a result , the sodium / potassium ion exchange is inhibited and the cell wall is prevented from changing polarity ( from a negative potential to a positive potential ) thus impeding the transmission of action potentials . as a result , pain impulses along the c fibers are blocked — similar in action to local chemical anesthesia , except without any deleterious side effects . a further explanation of the therapeutic hyperpolarization mechanism is that the resulting beat frequency , its signal morphology and current densities within the volume of tissue around and below the return electrode , causes an alteration in the nerve cell membrane &# 39 ; s sodium / potassium ion concentrations or ion exchange kinetics . as a result , the charge polarity of the nerve cell wall is prevented from changing and is therefore unable to transmit pain impulses . empirically , the difference signal does not affect the sensory fibers , however , after a prolonged period of exposure to the difference signal and / or after exposure to the difference signal at high amplitudes , some sensory anesthesia can be achieved . generally though , the resulting difference signal does not affect the transmission of touch , vibration , pressure or location awareness ( proprioception ). as a result , while the pain signal is blocked , patients still have sensory awareness and little numbness . gate control . gate control focuses on interactions of four classes of neurons in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord as shown in fig2 : ( 1 ) c fibers which are umnyelinated , ( 2 ) a □/ a □ fibers which are myelinated , ( 3 ) projection neurons whose activity results in the transmission of pain information , and ( 4 ) inhibitory interneurons which inhibit the projection neuron , thus reducing the transmission of pain information . the projection neuron is directly activated by both a □/ a □ and c fibers . however , only the a □/ a □ fibers activate the inhibitory interneuron . thus when a □/ a □ fibers are stimulated by the beat frequency from the electric field , the inhibitory interneuron is activated and prevents the projection neuron from transmitting pain information to the brain . the c fiber is left in a state analogous to an open electrical circuit so that transmission of the sensation of pain is suppressed . increased blood flow . an additional mechanism of action is that the resulting low frequency currents passing to the pain site pad cause the formation of an electrical field that can accelerate any charged species under its influence . this may lead to an increase in local blood flow . medical studies have shown that proper blood flow is required for the healing of any wound or injury . with the treatment application of the apparatus , there appears to be a concomitant increase in blood flow in the volume of tissue where the electric field is present that accelerates healing . clinical evidence shows there is also a concomitant increase in range of motion for up to 24 hours following the treatment . release of endorphins or other opiate - like analogs . empirical evidence suggests that residual pain relief and an increase in range of motion can last for up to 24 hours following a twenty ( 20 ) minute treatment . the residual effect involves either a refractory mechanism involving the membrane itself or the local release of endorphins , enkaphlins or other opiate - like analogs . primary residual and secondary residual effects . in the preferred embodiment of the electrotherapeutic apparatus , a series of sinusoidal feed signals are generated and applied either individually or electronically summed to a patient via a single feed electrode . these feed signals or signal appear at the return electrode as a series of signals representing the sum , difference and original input frequencies . the potential difference between the inside and outside of a nerve membrane is around — 75 millivolts . due to the potential difference and differences in ion mobility , activity and half - cell electrical potential , a nerve cell membrane can be modeled as a weakly rectifying junction . weakly is used to describe the nerve cell membrane &# 39 ; s performance because of large deviations in its behavior from an ideal diode . deviations in the nerve cell membrane &# 39 ; s behavior arise due to shunt capacitance and leakage conductivity arising from membrane &# 39 ; s aqueous ion environment . the membrane is still capable of exponential response to an electrical signal . as a result the membrane acts as a device causing mixing of the feed signals , and yields a distribution of synthesized sum and difference frequencies among which is a therapeutic low frequency equivalent to a beat frequency of the feed signals . the feed signals , that are generated by the oscillators in the electrotherapeutic apparatus , form within the body , a complex combination of the sum and differences of such signals . the sum signals are at a frequency far from the capture range or physiological effect range ( physiological effect range & lt ;& lt ; 1 khz ) of the nerve membranes of nerve fibers that control pain signal transmission . however , the difference signal ( beat frequency signal ), when the initial feed signal frequencies are set properly , is within the therapeutic range ( 1 hz to 250 hz .) and interacts with nerve membranes at the rate of this low frequency beat . depolarization of afferent a - fibers , is believed to switch - on an inhibitory neuron that inhibits the action of a projection neuron at the dorsal horn of the spine . this effectively disconnects the pain receptors ( c fibers ) from the brain . this is known as the gate control mechanism and is well known and accepted by the neuroelectrophysiology community . additionally , it is possible that the driven polarization / depolarization afforded by the electro - therapeutic apparatus saturates the nerve &# 39 ; s ability to transmit information to the spine . the exact effect is not absolutely known . the effect of the signal on pain is the perception of numbness or dulling without loss of heat or mechanical response to external stimuli . the method has an effect that appears to last longer than the time of the application of the electrical fields . empirical evidence suggests the primary residual effect can last for up to 60 minutes before nerve membrane cells can begin changing polarity again and allow transmission of some pain signals . the secondary residual effect involves either a refractory mechanism involving the membrane itself or the local release of endorphins , enkaphlins or other opiate - like analogs and empirical evidence has shown this effect to last up to 24 hours . both primary residual and secondary residual effects described above , ( which can be referred to as “ flywheeling ”), affords the electrotherapeutic apparatus some additional capabilities . among these capabilities include large area pain control . if one properly multiplexes or switches between several feed and / or return electrodes at a rate of 10 - 50 hz , the flywheel effect will fill in the gap when a particular area is not under the influence of the electric field . this proper multiplexing includes the timing corresponding to the zero crossing of the sine wave so as not to induce spikes in the signals due to abrupt current collapse in the output transformers or inductor - based filter network ( if they are used ). this allows the apparatus to synthesize a large effective area without the need for a much more complex apparatus or physically moving the electrodes which would cause the area not under the field &# 39 ; s influence to feel sensation again . the electro - therapeutic apparatus disclosed is unique in that it can mimic multi - electrode ( more than two or a pair ) apparatuses with much greater precision and control , and additionally and more importantly , can interrupt the transmission of a pain signal , or more generally , place an ac signal within the body using only one feed electrode and one return electrode . in simple terms , the electro - therapeutic system is either turning off a particular pain fiber , proximal to the treatment site , or inhibiting pain signal transmission via the stimulation of inhibitory neurons that control pain transmission to the dorsal horn of the spine and brain . as is well known in the art , all pain signals travel first through the dorsal horn of the spine and then onto the brain . current tens type apparatuses in use rely on either pulse operation or multiple signal application to affect nerve fibers . in tens type apparatuses a unipolar or bipolar pulse is applied to the target area . these pulses are of short duration and can cause undesired stimulation of other tissues especially muscle . multiple signal application requires that two or more feed ( signal ) electrodes be placed at different points on the body so that the resulting electric field and current can be summed at the return electrode thereby causing the desired effect . tens type apparatuses suffer from the need for multiple electrodes and power amplifiers for each signal channel . as the number of signals increases , so do the demands on electrode placement and circuit design . the disclosed electrotherapeutic apparatus is an “ instant system ” because the sinusoidal signals of the desired frequencies are electronically summed in the power amplifier stage . if desired , the signals can be individually amplified and the resulting high - level signals summed at the pad ( s ) through load leveling resistors . there are several advantages to the “ instant system ” design . there is need for only one feed electrode regardless of the number of signals to be summed . if one assumes that the relative amplitudes and in turn the signal envelope morphology is known for a given target region , a more precise control of the final field at the return electrode is afforded . this is because the path lengths and interposed electrical properties of the tissues along this path appear nearly the same to the feed signals . in a system with feed signals fed through multiple feed electrodes the paths can vary greatly , altering the fidelity and bioelectric characteristics of the resultant signal . for instance , current for each feed signal can differ widely due to variations in path length and the chemical / anatomical environment along such a path . degradation of individual feed signals can also be caused by the need for multiple signal electrodes . no electrode / body interface is perfect . each electrode attachment introduces impedance that differs from place - to - place where the attachments take place . this is due to a myriad of factors such as skin moisture / ion content , skin mechanical condition and surface shape , site prep and electrode manufacturing variability . the use of a single signal feed causes the outcome of these variables to impact all the desired signals in parallel . this effectively nullifies the problems that arise from the differential effects that arise when multiple variables impact multiple signals independently . the use of a single feed also reduces the computational burden and circuit complexity of a feedback mechanism that is used in the disclosed apparatus . feedback and fuzzy logic computation enables the output of the apparatus and the resulting field to be maintained within limits that afford much greater patient comfort and in turn compliance and results in the use , on average , of the minimum signal amplitudes required for the desired effect . this differs importantly from apparatuses with no physiological ( i . e . body impedance ) feedback process . in these systems any instantaneous variability in impedance can cause a rapid rise in applied signal amplitude that can be extremely unpleasant to the patient . the side effect of this is the patient altering the output to eliminate the signal change and eventually , when the impedance changes again , not having the correct amplitude to cause the desired level of pain control . since the electro - therapeutic apparatus generates a set of sine waves or an admixture of sine waves of arbitrary frequency , its concept can be extended to generate an arbitrary waveform of any intensity and harmonic content . the arbitrary waveform generation ( see also discussion of direct digital synthesis ) is a consequence of the fourier series where a subset of a basis set of sine waves can be algebraically summed to generate any waveform . this technique can be used to tailor a pulse that can be usefull in pacemaker or cardioverting applications . studies have shown that variations in patient posture and blood flow can alter the impedance seen by the device . these impedance changes can cause the voltage of the applied signal to increase . this effect is due to the non - ideal output regulation of the device . some patients perceive this instantaneous increase in applied voltage as an unpleasant sensation . in order to insure patient compliance with the proper use of the device it is necessary that some form of feedback be employed to insure that the applied signal levels are appropriate for a given load . the feedback network consists of two functional parts : 1 ) a circuit ( hardware ), that monitors the patient - applied current and voltage and 2 ) software that determines if the values measured require an output level change ( software ). the parameter derived from the current and voltage is the impedance across the patient - applied electrodes . this parameter has been found by studies to be essentially invariant at a particular frequency ( frequency interval for this device ) and over the range of applied potentials used clinically . further , any impedance change due to a change in patient position essentially disappears when he or she either returns to the position held before the impedance change or after there is a equilibration of blood flow . in the preferred embodiment of the electrotherapeutic apparatus , the feed signals are summed at a low level before the power amplifier . an alternative would be to send each feed signal separately from the output ( s ) of the power amplifier ( s ) and cause them to be mixed at the pad itself . the electrotherapeutic apparatus allows the amplitude of the feed signals to be adjustable and controlled by the patient so that treatment level and comfort can be customized to each individual patient . the electrotherapeutic apparatus also has an optional automatic mode setting that memorizes the amplitude settings of the feed signals during the course of the entire treatment . the apparatus stores this information in memory for a given treatment location and creates an auto feed signal profile for the patient . the patient then has the option during future treatments to run the electrotherapeutic apparatus in an automatic mode so that they do not have to manually increase the amplitude of the feed signals . the auto profile would be updated with each new set of data points that were manually generated . the pads that connect the instrument to the body are of a certain conductive material that allows propagation of the physiologically high frequency signal . the connection between the lead wire and the electrodes is of a unique low profile design that allows for easy connection and comfortable use under clothing . the electro - therapeutic apparatus can be useful in any situation where either an ac field , within a physiologically active frequency range , is needed ( pacemakers , part of pain control , local healing , bone growth , cartilage regeneration ) or where information transmission , i . e . sensory prosthetics , would be useful ( vision , sound , touch ). fig5 - 9 illustrate the structure of an electro - therapeutic apparatus ( apparatus ) as discussed above . fig5 illustrates the control and generation of the frequencies used in the apparatus . a high integration micro controller 12 supervises the entire operation of the apparatus . the microcontroller 12 is responsible for interpreting operator commands and for displaying system status on the lcd display panel 14 . additionally , the processor controls the frequencies of the signal sources , their levels and compensates for any variation in system load . this last function is important since changes in patient electric load can affect the signal level and the perceived sensation of the apparatus effect . the micro controller uses feedback to control signal levels by comparing the immediate electrical load to previously “ learned ” characteristic rules for a particular patient . the micro controller receives a clock signal from a clock generator 16 . in addition the micro controller 12 receives operator instructions from an operator keypad 18 . as discussed above and shown in fig6 , the micro controller provides instructions to various portions of the signal generation system . the signal system generates two signals , signal 1 44 and signal 2 46 . the reference frequency for the synthesis of the signals ultimately applied to the patient is derived from the micro controller clock 16 . this clock source is a crystal oscillator with an error of 50 ppm and slow aging characteristics . an exemplary clock frequency is 6 mhz . in a two signal system ( these methods are easily extended to multiple signals ) one frequency is fixed to the output of a divider chain 20 of the system clock 16 . the clock 16 is coupled to the input of the divider chain 20 . the derived frequency can be set anywhere within the apparatus &# 39 ; s exemplary operation frequency range of 1 hz to 150 khz . the output of divider 20 is coupled to a precision limiter 24 to generate a square wave of a limited value . the output of precision limiter 24 is designated signal 1 44 and is coupled the output circuitry described in fig6 and 7 below . outputs of the clock 16 and micro controller 12 are also coupled to elements of circuitry that generates any frequency between 2 hz and 200 khz 42 . the clock signal is coupled to a “ divide by n pll reference ” block 22 that is coupled a first input a “ phase lock loop block ” 26 . the phase lock loop 26 is controlled by two loops . the first loop comprises an output coupled to the switched capacitor 5th order dc corrected low pass filter 28 which has its output coupled to the phase locked loop 26 . a second loop comprises an oscillator output of phase locked loop 26 which in turn is coupled to a combination of a pre - divider 34 , a programmable divide by 2 to 65535 divider 32 and a post divider 30 each of which are coupled to an output of microprocessor 12 . the output of post divider 32 is coupled to a feedback input of the phase lock loop . this subsystem 42 generates any frequency between 2 hz and 200 khz with a 1 hz resolution . the oscillator output of phase lock loop 26 is coupled to a divide by two block 36 providing a filter clock and a combination of a divide by 100 block 38 and precision limiter 40 . the precision limiter 40 provides a limited signal output 46 similar to signal 1 44 . in situations where a variable range for signal 2 is not necessary a divider system as outlined for signal 1 can be substituted for the pll network . this option necessitates the use of a non - standard custom crystal for the main clock so that the proper frequency separation can be maintained . the second method used to develop an arbitrary waveform morphology involves the method of direct - digital - synthesis ( dds ). with this subsystem the above phase - locked - loop , frequency divider and filter sections discussed below , are not used . the dds instead involves downloading to the apparatus a binary representation of the desired waveform from a host computer that calculates these coefficients as a table . these values transferred to the apparatus &# 39 ; s memory space are saved in eeprom and are used as a lookup table to drive , at a rate determined by a micro controller derived clock a high - speed precision digital - analog controller ( dac ). the dac converts the calculated values into analog form ( either voltage or current ) that is subsequently low - pass filtered to eliminate any high frequency content in the synthesized signal . this high frequency content is a consequence of the discrete nature of the reconstructed signal . the output of the dds system is a low distortion representation of an arbitrary waveform . the dds is used in any embodiment of the apparatus where a limited number of sine &# 39 ; s or cosines will not adequately lead to the formation of the desired signal morphology . fig6 a illustrates a sub - system for converting signal 1 and signal 2 to sine wave signals . as discussed above the ultimate output signals of an electrotherapy need to be as close to a pure sine wave as possible . signal 1 and signal 2 are initially logic level square - type waves . these signals are limited to 0 . 6v amplitude by the transistor limiters 24 and 40 shown in fig5 . the outputs of these limiters are applied independently to high order low pass filters ( switched capacitor type 2nd or 8th order depending on required signal distortion levels ) 52 and 54 . the filter clock output of “ divider by 2 ” 36 is coupled to each of the filters . these filters suppress the higher order harmonics present in the limited square waves leaving a low distortion sine wave at the reference frequencies . these sinusoidal signals are amplified and applied to electronic attenuators or programmable amplifiers 56 and 58 ( under microprocessor 12 control ) to control the level of the signal applied to the power amp stage , discussed below , and ultimately to the patient . the signals from above are buffered 60 and 62 and applied to a power gain stage . the power stage consists of one or more amplifiers 67 , 69 capable of supplying a wide range of voltages into any physiological and electrode load over the frequency ranges used . depending on the desired level of system integration and / or portability required , this amplifier stage can be either of the linear classes a or ab 1 or the nonlinear switching class d type . for the linear amplifiers a high power operational amplifier is operated in either a ground - referenced mode or in a bridge configuration . in the bridge configuration the load is connected differentially to the outputs of two power amplifiers that operate 180 degrees out - of - phase with respect to one another . in either configuration the amplifier &# 39 ; s dc offset is nulled by a servo correction amplifier . since the amplifiers are also setup as ac coupled amplifiers essentially no dc current flows to the load . in the ground referenced mode higher output voltages are developed by passing the amplifiers output to a high efficiency transformer ( s ). in the bridge topology the amplifiers , when in balance , generate essentially no net dc current . additionally , this composite amplifier can swing an output level twice that of the individual amplifiers . this , amplifier topology will , in most circumstances , eliminate the need for an output transformers ) and its weight , circuit board real estate requirements and power losses . factors very important to a small , portable and lower battery current embodiment of the apparatus . the second class of amplifiers , which also improves performance in a portable system , is that of class - d 70 , such as seen in fig6 b . for this amplifier a high - speed comparator varies the pulse width of a switching power transistor ( mosfet type ). this modulation is called pulse width modulation and is driven by the original signal &# 39 ; s frequency , amplitude and desired gain . the sampling of the reference signal , derived from either the pll reference or dds , is sampled at a rate at least one order of magnitude higher than the highest frequency component in said reference . the output of the power transistor is lowpass filtered by a passive lc network to yield the amplified signal . the mode of amplifier operation is particularly attractive since power conversion efficiencies of over 90 % can be obtained as opposed to the efficiencies of linear amplifiers that are around 40 %. the micro controller sets , via electronic switching 68 , whether the signals are summed at an amplifier to create the mixed signal or applied individually to the power stage and thereby allow the mixing to take place within the patient &# 39 ; s body . additionally , one or more channels and / or return signal paths can be multiplexed with electronic power switching during zero crossing of the sine wave signals ( via processor control ). this multiplexing or switching allows multiple electrodes to be fed from the amplifiers or connected to the analog return . this is done to synthesize a larger effective target region on or within the patient . the patient is electrically isolated from leakage to power mains by the isolated plastic housing of the apparatus and by the use of a battery power supply . to monitor and subsequently control the signals applied to the patient a set of multiplexed ammeter and voltmeter circuits 86 as illustrated in fig7 are used . the rms amplitudes of the feed voltage and current for each channel are digitized 84 ( as illustrated in fig7 ) and read by the micro controller 12 . this enables the processor to measure dynamically the load impedance , delivered power and , in the case of multiplexed electrode sites , energy applied to the patient . all of these parameters along with system state ( i . e . electrode configuration , frequencies , battery condition and amplifier configuration ) are continuously available via an rs - 232 port . this serial port can be connected to a pc and these data logged for later analysis ( other communication protocols can be easily substituted for rs - 232 such as usb or firewire ). the information derived as to patient impedance load or power delivered is compared by the microprocessor to reference values taken during system setup . this comparison allows the system to vary the amplitude of the output signals to eliminate any load induced variations in the perceived signal levels thereby affording greater patient comfort . fig8 illustrates the coupling of sine wave 1 and sine wave 2 to the electrodes when the apparatus is constructed around ground reference ( local apparatus ground ) linear power amplifiers . the sine wave signal is coupled from the junction of current monitor 76 or 78 and voltage monitor 80 or 82 to a dc isolation capacitor 88 or 92 . this capacitor removes any remaining dc component on the sine wave signal . the sine wave signal is coupled to transformer 90 or 94 . the output of the transformer 90 is coupled to the patient electrodes . one output of each transformer 96 or 100 is coupled to a large signal electrode and the other to a small return electrode 98 or 102 . the transformer provides voltage gain and patient / apparatus isolation . with bridged amplifiers or in class d operation no such transformers are required . as discussed above , the opposite pad electrode has a much larger surface area contacting the patient than the pain site pad return electrode . this size ratio of the opposite pad electrode to the pain site pad electrode is at least 2 : 1 . a feedback system is illustrated in fig1 as 200 . the current level through the patient is monitored by a precision 5 ohm resistor 202 . a voltage is developed by the current through this resistor and is differentially detected by an amplifier 204 . this signal level is further amplified by gain block 209 . coincident with this measurement the voltage across the electrodes 206 is sampled by a buffered attenuator 208 to set its value to within the range of the analog - to - digital ( adc ) circuit . an analog multiplexer 210 is used to select either the current or voltage representations for digitization . this selection is under the control of the cpu . the output of the multiplexer is applied to a precision rms to dc converter 212 whose output is a dc level approximately equal to the rms value of the applied signal . the output from 212 is digitized to 12 bits by the adc 214 and passed to the cpu . the same digital attenuator that is used to set the output level from the patient adjustable control makes any changes to the output level that might be required by the feedback subsystem . the second section of the feedback control network is the software controller 220 . this collection of routines determines if the measured impedances require any change to the device &# 39 ; s output level to maintain patient comfort . the flow chart in fig1 outlines the logic of the software function . on power up or hard reset 222 the software waits until the output level is of sufficient amplitude ( about 3 % of full power ) 224 to assure accurate measurement of the voltage and current across and through the patient . when this level is achieved the software collects 16 samples of both the current and voltage 224 and performs an averaging of the derived impedances . previous experiments have helped to define a set of rules as to what ranges of impedance variability can be expected when the patient load can cause an alteration of applied field that can cause an unpleasant sensation for the patient . additionally , the rules encompass the range of impedance values that can be expected when the patient load tends toward that initially encountered . these rules are used to predict what impedance range can be expected when the device output is altered via the patient adjustable control . if the impedance value is not within those set by the rules the output is reduced by an amount dictated by another set of rules derived for the particular output level currently being used . the effect is a reduction in the applied field and the elimination of any unpleasant sensations . if the impedance values at this new field level trend back to within the stored “ normal ” range the output is restored to its value held previous to the impedance change . the rate at which this takes place is set by another set of rules that are derived as a function of the absolute difference between the desired output and the feedback - set output . this assures that the device effect on the patient is restored as quickly as possible with little perception , by the patient , of the increasing field . if the impedance never achieves the values set by the originally derived rules the patient is informed that the electrodes and / or their interfaces with the body have been compromised . if the electrodes appear correct or if there are no unpleasant side effects accompanying the impedance change the patient can tell the system to use the new impedance values to derive a new set of rules to govern device operation . however , if no action is taken within a prescribed period of time the device will automatically shutdown the output amplifier and signal an error on the display . fig1 details the progress of the software system determining the impedance levels within the patient and shutting down the system or maintaining a proper output level depending upon the impedance of the patient . this includes establishing impedance bounds as well measuring over numerous measurements and determining an average impedance . fig9 depicts a power supply 110 for the present invention . two 12 - volt batteries in series are currently used to supply differential input power 112 for the system . the 7 - volt feed is developed by a high efficiency step - down switching regulator and is used to supply linear regulators 116 that power low voltage subsystems such as the micro controller and low voltage analog components . the 12 volts is also inverted by inverters 114 and regulated to supply the negative low voltage used by some analog components . the 12 - volt supply is used directly for some higher voltage analog components and is also stepped up and / or inverted to supply up to +/− 50 volts for the power stage . the battery pack is recharged by a dc wall pack supply 120 that supplies a switching - type recharging circuit 118 . additionally , the apparatus can be operated and / or recharged by connecting a cable between the apparatus and the accessory connector within a car , boat or plane . battery state is monitored , during apparatus operation , by an analog - to - digital converter that is polled by the micro controller from time - to - time . this value is indicated as a battery bar graph on the display panel . if for some reason the voltage level drops below a useful level the micro controller automatically generates a global reset effectively shutting down the system thereby turning off the output signals . many applications of electro - therapy require portability . treatments are more efficiently administered by a wearable apparatus , preferably hand held or attached to the belt or other location on the body . the design of the apparatus is such that one embodiment of the apparatus is easily packaged in an apparatus that the patient can use in a wearable / portable manner . such applications for an ambulatory apparatus include use while walking , working , sitting at a desk ; use at home , while watching tv , sitting in a car , or in a manner prescribed by the physician . the programming capability permits the company or the physician to program the portable apparatus to fit the patient &# 39 ; s needs . this may include an elapsed timer within the apparatus , to limit the patient &# 39 ; s use if that is desirable from a medical point of view . in addition to pain relief , other significant effects resulting from the generation of a low frequency electric field in deep tissue are increased blood flow in the volume of tissue where the electric field is present as well as an increase in opiatelike analogs such as endorphins , serotonin and enkaphlins . empirical results from clinical trials suggest that either hyperpolarization of nerve cells or gate control is the likely mechanism of action for pain relief while the apparatus is on and the electric field is present . increases in range of motion are believed to be a consequence of increased blood flow at the joint or source of pain . the residual effect of both pain relief and increased range of motion are possibly due to an increase in the concentrations of aforementioned opiate analogs . additionally , at excitation frequencies above 4 hz ( sinusoidal ), muscle tension holds at a fixed level . this tension acts to hold a muscle in stretch thereby possibly conditioning it . this effect is similar to isometric exercise where a fixed load is presented to a muscle group held in place . this effect also helps explain why the current embodiment of the invention causes little or no uncomfortable muscle twitch as seen with pulse - type ( tens ) devices : it is quite likely that some combination of these three mechanisms all produce the efficacious results acquired in clinical studies . fig1 - 15 are various waveforms illustrating features of the device . fig1 illustrates a waveform representing the current flow form the device in a simple dual sine wave mode into a 1 . 2k ohm resistive load . fig1 illustrates a waveform of the a recording of the mixed signal after it is passed through a high speed filter , followed by a 1 μfd . capacitor acting as a filter . this simulates the morphology of the effective signal . fig1 illustrates a waveform of the magnitude of the peak current of the difference signals developed within the human body . the current measured is from one electrode placed at the lowest abdominal quadrant and the other is placed 10 cm left of l 5 on the back in an adult male subject . the second harmonic at 244 hz is depressed by − 45 db relative to the primary therapeutic signal at 122 hz . fig1 illustrates a waveform of the sum signal derived in the same setup as fig1 . as can be seen the signal frequency is well separated from the physiologically important frequency range . c . reduction in the dosages of or elimination of the need for morphine and other narcotics ; d . residual pain control and increased range of motion for up to 24 hours ; g . reduction of risk by eliminating potential chemical allergic reactions and drug interaction problems ; there are a number of pain applications for the system including , but not limited to , acute and traumatic pain , chronic and arthritic pain , surgical pain , postsurgical pain , and cancer pain . specific locations on the body which can be treated include : face , jaw , neck , back , shoulders , hips , arms , elbows , wrists , hands , fingers , legs , knees , ankles , feet , toes . electronic epidural for childbirth . for childbirth , the electronic epidural system has in addition to the benefits of the pain control apparatuses , other important attributes as well : c . mother retains tactile awareness and can assist normally with the delivery while the epidural is in place ; d . electronic epidural can remain in place for the entire birthing process until the baby is delivered ; and e . electronic epidural allows pain control for birth in parts of the world where conventional epidurals are not readily available . electronic anesthesia for dermatological procedures . the system can be used to provide local anesthesia for skin surgery , wart removal , electrolysis , shaving , application of tattoos and other dermatological procedures . acceleration of bone growth . it has been known for quite some time that the application of an electric field through implanted electrodes can stimulate the rate of bone growth and rates of healing of bone . the electro - therapeutic apparatus can be used to deliver a precise electrical field non - invasively of the proper frequency content to a targeted region . this action would take place with better control of the electrochemically driven reactions around the targeted region . the system can be used to accelerate osseointegration non - invasively , i . e . reduce the time required for bone to grow into and bond with prosthetic apparatuses including dental implants , knees , and hips while simultaneously reducing postoperative pain . the apparatus also has the potential to accelerate the healing of broken bones non - invasively . cartilage regrowth . clinical studies have been performed at university of nebraska medical center and at johns hopkins university school of medicine which have shown that tens devices can cause cartilage growth in the knee . since , unlike tens , the disclosed system is able to deliver low frequency signals into deep tissue , it should in theory be able to cause cartilage growth much more effectively than tens devices and as a result be much more efficacious . advanced hearing aid systems . the disclosed technology can be used in the audio frequency range and be tailored to deliver audio information to the cochlea in a safe and effective manner . current cochlea - implanted hearing aid systems use pulsed dc signals to deliver the representation of audio information . pulsed dc signals leads to nerve and cell damage over time . the disclosed technology allows information to be delivered into a volume of tissue including the cochlea with a dc - suppressed ac signal that significantly lessens the potential for nerve damage . in this embodiment of the apparatus , the use of a pll system allows the apparatus to have one channel modulated while another is fixed ( fm modulation ). the frequency modulation of the nth reference frequency allows the signal or envelope to convey information into the body of the patient . additionally , the use of a slowly varying difference signal may lessen any effect of habituation if it is found during chronic use . information exchange could be another big factor in the utility of the apparatus . currently , cochlea implants for deafness rely on pulse stimulation to convey auditory information to the brain . these pulses , even with the use of dc blocking , still have a considerable dc component . this component can cause irreversible tissue damage via the production of chemical intermediates arising from the electrochemical effect of the dc current . however , the disclosed apparatus is a suppressed - dc ac signal generator whose resultant field should not have little or no net electrochemical effects . one way to affect the auditory informational transfer is to hold one frequency fixed and use the ambient audio level to vary the input level to the phase locked loop voltage control oscillator . the resulting signal would contain the auditory information . theoretically , the nerves within the cochlea could operate on the signals and extract from the modulated beat the information that is a representation of an electrically converted acoustical field . accelerated and targeted drug delivery . a consequence of the disclosed technology is that it causes increased blood flow in the volume of tissue at and beneath the treatment site . this technology might be employed as an adjunct to a chemical drug delivery system to accelerate and target the delivery of certain drugs into deep tissue . the present invention can be embodied in the form of computer implemented processes and apparatuses for practicing those processes . the present invention can also be embodied in the form of computer program code containing instructions embodied in tangible media , such as floppy diskettes , cd - roms , hard drives , or any other computer - readable storage medium , wherein , when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer , the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention . the present invention can also be embodied in the form of computer program code , for example , whether stored in a storage medium , loaded into and / or executed by a computer , or transmitted over some transmission medium , such as over electrical wiring or cabling , through fiber optics , or via electromagnetic radiation , wherein , when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer , the computer becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention . when implemented on a general - purpose microprocessor , the computer program code segments configure the microprocessor to create specific logic circuits . while the invention has been described with reference to preferred 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 embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for this invention , but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims .	0
in one method a preferred monomer from the above defined class of unsaturated bis - quaternary organic compounds can be synthesized by reacting a 1 - chloro - 2 - hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium halide ( e . g ., chloride , bromide , fluoride or iodide ) with dimethylaminopropylacrylamide or with dimethylaminopropylmethacrylamide . the synthesis can be conducted conveniently by dissolving the reactants in water or other inert polar solvent such as alcohols including methanol , ethanol , isopropanol , and butanol , benzene , toluene , xylene , acetonitrile , dimethylformamide , tetrahydrofuran , acetone , dioxane , and the , like . mixtures of water and one of the organic solvents mentioned , whether miscible with the water or not , may be used . preferably the reaction mixture is heated to a temperature in the range from about 40 ° c . up to the refluxing temperature of the reaction mixture . the time of reaction varies between several minutes and several hours depending mainly on the reaction temperature . the reactants are usually employed in approximately equimolar proportions . it is advantageous to maintain the ph of the system at about 7 so as to prevent hydrolysis of amido groups in the compounds . it is a particular advantage of the present invention compounds that they do not contain easily hydrolyzable ester groups . by the method of synthesis described above , there are produced compounds of structural formula i in which the anions are of the halide type . these anions can be replaced with other anions by conventional techniques such as by contacting the quaternary halides with an appropriate ion exchange resin . examples of various anions for x and y include hydroxide , nitrate , sulfate , sodium acid sulfate , chromate , phosphate , methyl sulfate , acetate , formate , oxalate , sulfamate , acrylate , and the like . the unsaturated bis - quaternary monomeric compounds of the present invention are readily polymerizable , and the aqueous solutions resulting from the above - described synthesis can be employed directly for this purpose . any known polymerization initiator of the free radical type may be selected for use , such as t - butyl hydroperoxide , ammonium persulfate , alkali metal persulfates , the tetra sodium salt of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid ( edta ), and 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- azobis ( 2 - amidinopropane ) hydrochloride and mixtures thereof . the initiator is usually effective in quantities between about 0 . 01 % and 5 % by weight , based on the weight of the unsaturated bis - quaternary monomer . a redox initiator system can be provided by including a reducing agent such as sodium hydrosulfite in the initiator system . these new unsaturated bis - quaternary compounds can be co - polymerized with any other polymerizable olefinically unsaturated monomer , preferably in aqueous solution and emulsion polymerization systems with redox initiation . highly preferred co - polymers of the present invention , which exhibit outstanding properties for application as flocculants and electroconductive aids , are those comprising acrylamide co - polymerized with an unsaturated bis - quaternary compound of structural formula i . any other water soluble monomer can be co - polymerized with the monomer of formula i . preferred water soluble monomers include acrylic and methacrylic acid , hydroxyethyl acrylate or methacrylate , hydroxypropyl acrylate or methacrylate , n - methylol acrylamide , n - monoalkyl and - dialkyl acrylamides and methacrylamides . an alternative method for producing co - polymers containing the monomer of formula i is by reacting a polymerizable monomer such as the preferred acrylamide with dimethylaminopropylacrylamide or with dimethylaminopropylmethacrylamide . the co - polymer so produced , is then quaternized by reaction with 1 - chloro - 2 - hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium halide . the co - polymers can contain between about 0 . 1 % and 95 % of a co - monomer . however , the preferred range for most applications is limited to about 5 % and 70 % of a co - monomer , where water - solubility and high charge densities are controlling factors and require the presence of a high population of quaternary groups in the co - polymers . the polymers and co - polymers of the present invention are viscous to solid resinous materials of water - soluble character . they are generally also partially soluble or dispersible in polar organic solvents such as methanol , acetonitrile , tetrahydrofuran and the like . the molecular weight of the polymers and co - polymers is in the range from about 20 , 000 to 2 , 000 , 000 , and preferably , the molecular weight is at least 500 , 000 . it is an important feature of the present invention that the monomers having structural formula i do not contain ester linkages , and therefore homo - polymers and co - polymers thereof exhibit outstanding resistance to hydrolysis and chemical degradation . the polymer and co - polymers are therefore versatile in a wide range of applications under extreme conditions of temperature and chemical environment . a polymeric composition of the present invention can be incorporated into paper pulp to render it electroconductive for the production of paper stock for electrostatic image reproduction systems . a quantity of between about 0 . 1 % and 10 % by weight of the polymer , based on dry fiber weight , can be added to the wood pulp . pigments and other additives known and used in the paper art can be included . the polymeric compositions of the present invention are suitable for application for paper sizing and as wet strength agents . co - polymers containing between 0 . 1 % and 20 % by weight of bis - quaternary compounds of structural formula i are useful for forming films and coatings having resistance to development of electrostatic charges . the water - soluble polymeric compositions are generally useful as focculants , particularly the polymeric compositions containing at least 60 % by weight of the bis - quaternary compounds of structural formula i . the addition of between about 0 . 01 % and 10 % by weight of polymer , based on the weight of suspended solids ( e . g ., sewage sludge or paper pulp effluent ) serves to flocculate the suspended matter and facilitate fitration procedures . the following examples are futher illustrative of the present invention . the reactants and other specific ingredients are presented as being typical , and various modifications can be devised in view of the foregoing disclosure within the scope of the invention . to 255 g ( 1 . 5 moles ) of dimethylaminopropyl methacrylamide ( dmapma of texaco chemical co .) is added 578 . 6 g ( 1 . 5 moles ) of 50 . 2 % aqueous 1 - chloro - 2 - hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium chloride ( quat 188 of dow chemical co .). the resulting solution is heated at 70 ° c . for 4 hours . the resulting bis - quaternary monomer has a solids content of 74 . 6 % and a ph of 8 . 1 . the calculated monomer content is 65 . 4 %. to 255 g ( 1 . 5 moles ) dmapma is added 555 g ( 1 . 5 moles ) 51 . 5 % active quat 188 . the solution is heated at 80 ° c . for 4 hours with a nitrogen sparge during the last 20 minutes . to this is added 0 . 1 g tetra sodium salt of edta and 0 . 4 g 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- azobis ( 2 - amidinopropane ) hydrochloride ( v - 50 catalyst of crescent chemical co .) in 10 ml h 2 o . heating is continued at 80 ° c . under n 2 sparge for 4 hours . a total of 400 g of h 2 o is added during this time to reduce the viscosity . a second 0 . 2 g of 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- azobis ( 2 - amidinopropane ) hydrochloride in 5 ml h 2 o is added and heating is continued for 2 hours more at 80 ° c . under n 2 . another 100 g h 2 o is added during this period . on cooling a viscous , amber polymer solution results with a ph of 7 . 2 . the % nv is 47 . 2 % with a calculated polymer content of 40 . 8 %. the following is charged to a 2 liter 3 neck flask : the solution is sparged with n 2 for 20 minutes while heating to 80 ° c . 2 , 2 &# 39 ;- azobis ( 2 - amidinopropane ) hydrochloride , 0 . 2 g in 1 ml h 2 o , is added and heating is continued at 80 ° c . for 2 hours under n 2 . a total of 500 g h 2 o is added . a second 0 . 1 g of 2 , 2 &# 39 ; azobis ( 2 - amidinopropane ) hydrochloride is added and heating is continued at 80 ° c . for 2 hours more under n 2 . a total of 100 g h 2 o is added during the second heating period . on cooling a viscous , amber co - polymer solution with a ph of 6 . 9 results . the % nv is 22 . 7 % with a calculated polymer content of 20 %. to demonstrate the superior flocculation activity of polymers containing the monomers of the present invention , a homo - polymer of this invention is compared to a homo - polymer of the prior art . the homo - polymer of the prior art is based on the monomer ( u . s . pat . no . 3 , 766 , 156 ): ## str3 ## which contains a hydrolytically unstable ester linkage . both homo - polymers are evaluated on an erie iron ore slime for their clarification efficiency . a 100 ml cylinder is filled with the iron ore slime and the polymer dosage is added . after inverting 5 times , it is allowed to stand 5 minutes . an aliquot is then taken and the turbidity is measured in ppm using a hach model 2100a turbidimeter . ______________________________________erie slimes , turbidity in ppm amide baseddosage bis -- quat homopolymer ester basedppm example ii bis -- quat homopolymer______________________________________2 370 18404 340 4956 240 176______________________________________ it can be seen that the amide based bis - quat homo - polymers of this invention give superior clarity at lower dosage levels . the amide based bis - quat homo - polymer of example ii is compared versus a prior art amide based quat homo - polymer based on the monomer : ## str4 ## they are compared for their ability to inhibit the swelling of 100 mesh bentonite clay particles . to 90 ml of water containing a dosage of polymer is slurried 10 g of 100 mesh bentonite . the slurry is hot rolled at 150 ° f . overnight then sieved to isolate the bentonite . the bentonite is dried and weighed . for complete inhibition all the bentonite is recovered and its texture is much the same as that originally added . ______________________________________clay swell inhibition minimum usage level for complete inhibition______________________________________amide based bis - quat homo - polymer 1 %( example ii ) amide based quat homopolymer of 2 % prior art______________________________________ again the superior properties of polymers of this invention are demonstrated by their lower usage levels .	2
the present invention involves a unique component design for the control of the interior environment of a building . the basic components of the system as shown in fig1 and 3 are cooling towers 2 , cooling tower strainer or filter 4 , a refrigeration or chiller unit 6 which contains a condenser 8 , a cooler or evaporator 10 and a compressor 12 , a boiler 14 and automatic motorized temperature controlled three - way or butterfly valves 16 and 18 . each of these components is conventional in design and it is their placement from which the invention derives its advantages . in the system the chiller unit is never totally bypassed which allows conversation of existing installations . the refrigeration or chiller unit 6 can be of any well - known conventional design . for purposes of illustration the unit is shown comprised of a condenser 8 , a cooler or evaporator 10 and a compressor 12 . the system can contain a number of refrigeration units 6 in parallel or cascade arrangements depending upon the size of the units , the size of the building or the hot water system operating temperature required . the chiller unit 6 is usually electric driven , and may have a centrifugal or reciprocating compressor 12 . chiller units are comprised of three basic components , the condenser 8 , compressor 12 and cooler 10 . the compressor 12 moves the refrigerant gas from the cooler 10 to the condenser 8 and at the same time compresses the gas to a pressure which will allow it to liquify when cooled in the condenser 8 to within a few degrees of the condenser water temperature . the condenser 8 is a heat exchanger with refrigerant in the shell and warm water in the tubes usually ranging from 80 ° to 105 °. the refrigerant gas when cooled in the condenser returns to a liquid state to be piped back to the cooler . the cooler 10 likewise is a heat exchanger with refrigerant in the shell and chilled water in the tubes . the compressor 12 lowers the refrigerant pressure in this vessel which causes the liquid refrigerant to vaporize by absorbing the heat contained in the chilled water returned from the building system air handling equipment ( 55 ° to 60 °). the heat extracted from the cold water is moved by the compressor 12 to the condenser 8 thus cooling the leaving chilled water to approximately 45 °. cascade chiller arrangements could take the place of the single chiller to accomplish higher hot water supply temperature ( 130 ° f . ), or specially built heat recovery chillers which can achieve temperatures up to 200 ° f . the chilled water leaving temperature ( approximately 45 ° f .) is established by the chiller control system by modulating the compressor 8 capacity through inlet vanes , cylinder unloading , hot gas bypass or steam input . absorption type chillers may be considered for this type of system and would work well . however , absorption chillers require significant high temperature heat input which is not consistent with heat recovery design logic . air cooled chiller operation may also be used with the addition of a cooling tower , but heat recovery for distribution to hot water heating system is not possible except in the form of a desuperheater and recovery efficient is low . the chilled water pipes or system 20 pass through the cooler 10 . they also intersect water lines 22 and 24 which conduct water to and from the cooling towers 2 . at the intersection of line 24 and the chilled water system is a three - way temperature controlled valve or series of butterfly valves 18 . water line 24 is fed from line 26 which carries water from the cooling tower to the condenser . above the intersection of these two lines is a filter or strainer 4 which cleans the water prior to its introduction in the system . the strainer 4 may be a basket type or sand type depending on the required capacity . the strainer prevents damage to the components of the chilled and heated water circuits , the cooler and boiler due to contamination and foreign objects which are picked up in the cooling tower . return line 22 from the chilled water circuit feeds into the cooling tower return line 30 . valve 16 is a three - way temperature control valve or a series of butterfly valves . this valve is fed from the cooling tower water line and the condenser water bypass line 32 . it allows mixing of the cooling tower water from line 16 with the condenser water from the chiller or return from the hot water system through line 32 to maintain 70 ° to 95 ° water provided to the condenser . excess hot water from the hot water system 28 may be diverted to the cooling towers 2 through line 30 . the hot water circuit 28 may incorporate a boiler which may be electrical , oil or gas fired . the boiler receives water from the condenser and provides supplemental heating if necessary . in winter the valve 16 is closed and valve 18 is opened which prevents the water exiting the cooling tower from entering the condenser and allows water from the hot water circuit to circulate through line 32 and the condenser 8 . instead the water from the coolers 2 goes through the strainer 4 and directly into the chilled water circuit . this allows an energy saving since the condenser is not being utilized to provide cooling . the chilled water circuit 20 passes through the cooler where it gives up excess heat which is transferred to the hot water circuit 28 through the condenser 8 . this water may be further heated by the boiler if necessary . supplemental heating is only necessary in colder climates . this configuration allows transfer of heat from the cold water system 20 to the hot water system 28 thereby eliminating use of the boiler . by supplying the chilled water circuit 20 with water directly from the cooling towers 2 and transferring heat from the cooled water circuit 20 to the hot water circuit 28 to the buildings energy requirements are substantially reduced . during spring and fall when the outdoor wet bulb temperature is less than approximately 50 ° ( the exact temperature will vary due to the system requirements ) valve 16 controllably allows the introduction of cooling tower water directly into the cold water circuit . that is , the outside temperature is low enough that the condenser is partially bypassed and introduction of a portion of the cooling tower water into the chilled water line occurs . by the use of the combination approach substantial savings are rendered since the chiller unit 6 provides only a portion of the cooling requirements of the building . during the summer season the system operates as a conventional air conditioning unit . the cooling tower water is diverted in total into the condenser . the strainer 4 can be bypassed if desired since the contaminated cooling tower water will not usually effect the condenser 8 . in order to achieve maximum efficiency of the system the routing of the water within the system and opening and closing of valves can be controlled by a computer or automatic control system . the invention affects energy and fuel savings in several respects . during the winter season heat is transferred from the chilled water circuit directly to the hot water circuit through the chiller unit . this reduces the use of the boiler . also , the chiller does not have to operate to provide the requirements of the chilled water system . savings are also achieved during the spring and fall period when the chilled water system receives input directly from the cooling tower and reduces the cooling loan of the chiller . due to the systems unique configuration maximum utilization of heating and cooling capacity is achieved . the cooling tower reduces the load on the compressor by directly supplying chilled water to the cooling water circuit . heat from the cooled water circuit is transferred to the hot water system through a heat recovery connection to the chiller instead of rejected to the atmosphere . thus , the present invention effectively with minimal energy requirements heats and cools buildings . the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive , the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description , and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein .	5
the present disclosure relates generally to a machine for manipulating objects . it is understood , however , that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments , or examples , for implementing different features of the invention . specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure . these are , of course , merely examples and are not intended to be limiting . referring to fig1 , illustrated is one embodiment of a machine 100 equipped with a forklift apparatus 102 . the forklift apparatus 102 includes a lower mast 104 and an upper mast 106 . the lower mast 104 has two substantial portions , a car guide 108 and a structural support beam 110 . the car guide 108 is a front - facing , substantially flat plate and is coupled to the support beam 110 , which is a u - shaped beam . other configurations are also possible . for example , in some embodiments , the structural support beam 110 may be a box beam , i - beam , may comprise multiple beams , or may have any other suitable configuration . similarly , in other embodiments the car guide 108 may be a pair of equally - spaced rails or any other suitable structure . and in still other embodiments , the car guide 108 may be entirely absent . the car guide 108 and the structural support beam 110 are aluminum , but they may be made from any suitable material . for example , the car guide 108 and the structural support beam 110 may be another metal , including without limitation examples such as steel , iron , titanium , and tin ; wood ; plastic ; or any combination thereof . the car guide 108 may be coupled to the structural support beam 110 using any suitable technique , including for example threaded screws , nuts and bolts , welding , fusing , glue , or nails . in other embodiments , the car guide 108 and the structural support beam 110 may be cast or formed as a single integrated piece . the upper mast 106 similarly includes a car guide 112 and a structural support beam 114 . the design of these upper mast 106 components is preferably the same as their counterparts in the lower mast . the upper mast 106 couples to the lower mast 104 at a hinge 116 . the hinge 116 includes a pin 118 that passes axially through apertures in the structural support beams 110 and 114 . the hinge 116 provides an articulation point between the upper mast 106 and the lower mast 104 , allowing the upper mast 106 to rotate about the pin while the lower mast 104 remains relatively fixed in position . this articulation is further illustrated in the other figures . affixed to the pin 118 is an articulation gear 117 . a mast drive motor has a mast drive gear that meshes with the articulation gear 117 to cause the upper mast 106 to rotate about the pin 118 . in this way , the upper mast 106 may be raised and lowered . in other embodiments , the upper mast 106 may be raised and lowered in other ways , including for example by one or more pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders , one or more springs , one or more chains or pulleys , one or more permanent or electro - magnets , or any combination thereof . the forklift apparatus 102 further includes a carriage 120 that translates vertically along the car guides 108 and 112 . the carriage 120 includes two carriage guides 122 and 124 that extend behind the car guides 108 and 112 on the opposite side of the carriage 120 . the carriage guides 122 and 124 thus restrict the lateral movement of the carriage 120 and ensure that the carriage slides smoothly and only vertically . the carriage 120 is equipped with an attachment 126 . the attachment 126 includes two lower fixed prongs and an upper spring prong suitable for capturing and securing a horizontally oriented cylindrical object of appropriate size , such as a baton . in other embodiments , the carriage 120 may include other attachments , either in addition to or in place of the attachment 126 . example attachments include sensors ( including for example a magnetometer , microphone , or video or still image camera ), traditional forklift forks , a grasping claw or clamp , a platform , a drum carrier , or any other suitable attachment . the attachment 126 may be detachably attached to the carriage 120 via any suitable mechanism , including for example one or more screws , pins , bolts , latches , hooks , or any combination thereof . the carriage 120 may include a plurality of coupling mechanisms or otherwise be equipped with a plurality of attachments 126 . the carriage 120 is driven along the car guides 108 and 112 by a drive chain 128 . the drive chain 128 is a substantially continuous roller chain formed from interlocking links . the carriage 120 is preferably coupled to the drive chain 128 by a screw or bolt , but any other suitable coupling mechanism may also be used . the drive chain 128 situated to slide along the surface of car guides 108 and 112 , although preferably the drive chain 128 minimal contact — or even no contact — with them . at the upper extremus of the upper car guide 112 , the drive chain 128 engages with a sprocket 130 that is rotatably mounted to an axle 132 affixed to the upper structural support beam 114 . in another embodiment , the sprocket 130 may be affixed to the axle 132 which , in turn , is rotatably mounted to the upper structural support beam 114 . the sprocket 130 has teeth sized to match the links of the drive chain 128 and may be a 24 - tooth sprocket . the sprocket 130 may rotate freely under the engagement of the drive chain 128 as the drive chain 128 moves the carriage 120 up and down the car guides 108 and 112 . continuing to describe the path of the drive chain 128 , from the sprocket 130 the drive chain 128 next engages with a tensioning sprocket 134 rotatably mounted on an axle 136 affixed to a tensioning lever 138 . the tensioning sprocket 134 has teeth sized to match the links of the drive chain 128 and may be a 16 - tooth sprocket . the tensioning lever 138 is rotatably mounted to the upper structural support beam 114 using a pin hinge 140 . an elastically deformable loop 142 has a first end that exerts a biasing force on the axle 136 , and inducing a torque on the tensioning lever 138 about the pin hinge 140 . the torque on the tensioning lever 138 , in turn , biases the tensioning sprocket 134 toward the drive chain 128 and away from the upper structural support beam 114 . in this way , the tensioning sprocket 134 removes any excess slack in the drive chain 128 by lengthening the distance the drive chain 128 must traverse as it passes over the tensioning sprocket 134 . the elastically deformable loop 142 has a second end coupled to a fixed mounting point 144 . the fixed mounting point 144 is immovably affixed to the upper structural support beam 114 . in other embodiments , the fixed mount point 144 may be a point on the upper structural support beam 114 . the elastically deformable loop 142 may be any suitable material and should be chosen to provide an appropriate level of tension on the drive chain 128 . as one example , the elastically deformable loop 142 may be a rubber band of appropriate size and strength . in other embodiments , the elastically deformable loop 142 may be replaced with any other suitable biasing device , including , for example , a spring , pneumatic cylinder , or hydraulic cylinder . further in the description of the path of the drive chain 128 , the drive chain 128 next transits to a hinge sprocket 146 that is affixed to an axle 148 on a bracket 150 . the hinge sprocket 146 has teeth sized to match the links of the drive chain 128 and may be a 24 - tooth sprocket . the hinge sprocket 146 may be rotatably mounted to the axle 148 , or the axle 148 may be rotatably mounted to the bracket 150 , or potentially both . thus , the sprocket 146 may rotate freely under the engagement of the drive chain 128 as the drive chain 128 moves the carriage 120 up and down the car guides 108 and 112 . the axle 148 may also be mounted to a second bracket to provide improved support . in other embodiments , the hinge sprocket 146 may be rotatably mounted to the pin 118 . in still other embodiments , the sprocket 146 may be replaced with two sprockets , one each mounted to upper and lower structural supports 144 and 110 near the hinge 116 . following the hinge sprocket 146 , the path of the drive chain 128 continues to a sprocket 152 at the lower extremus of the lower car guides 108 . the sprocket 152 has teeth sized to match the links of the drive chain 128 and may be a 24 - tooth sprocket . the sprocket 152 is affixed to an axle that is further coupled to a gear 154 and chain drive motor 156 . the chain drive motor 156 meshes with the gear 154 to provide motive force to the gear 154 . the gear 154 , which is affixed to the axle , transfers the motive force to the sprocket 152 , causing the sprocket 152 to rotate and thereby move the drive chain 128 in either direction . the chain drive motor 156 is preferably a reversible dc drive motor , but any suitable type of motor may be used . in some embodiments , the gear 154 may be absent , and the chain drive motor 156 may couple directly to the axle . in still other embodiments , the chain drive motor 156 may couple to the sprocket 152 through a gearbox that couples to the sprocket 152 or otherwise transfers rotational power to the sprocket 152 . from the sprocket 152 , the path of the drive chain 128 continues along the surface of the lower car guide 108 and upper car guide 112 to the carriage 120 . thus , as previously noted , the drive chain 128 is a substantially continuous chain loop that is effective to transfer the rotational force provided by the chain drive motor to an axial force applied to the carriage 120 , thus inducing a vertical translation of the carriage 120 up and down the car guides 108 and 112 . by selectively applying power to the chain drive motor , the vertical position of carriage 120 can be adjusted as desired for any activity . the forklift apparatus 102 is mounted on a base 160 equipped with treads 162 . the treads 162 allow the machine 100 to be driven over a variety of even , semi - even , and uneven surfaces . in other embodiments , the base 160 may alternatively be equipped with any suitable locomotion mechanism , including for example any number of wheels or legs . the base 160 includes one or more suitable motors for driving the treads or other locomotion mechanism . in still other embodiments , the base 160 may be fixed in place . the base 160 further includes a control module 164 for controlling the operation of the forklift apparatus 102 and , optionally , the treads 162 or other locomotion mechanism . the control module 164 produces one or more signals to control the operation of the chain drive motor and the mast drive motor . the control module 164 may also provide control signals for other operations of the machine 100 . the control module 164 may include a programmable processor and a computer - readable memory storing instructions that , when executed by the programmable processor , produce the one or more signals that control the operation of the chain drive motor and the mast drive motor . the computer - readable memory may also be computer - writable . the control module 164 may further include a plurality of input , output , or input / output ports . thus , the control module 164 may also receive as input signals from one or more sensors located on or in the machine 100 . in one embodiment , the control module 164 includes a lego ® mindstorms ® nxt intelligent brick available from the lego group . the control module 164 may further include one or more wired or wireless communications interfaces to allow for remote control and programming of the machine 100 . for example , the control module 164 may include an 802 . 11b wireless communications adapter . in one embodiment , the control module 164 includes a samantha wi - fi ( ieee 802 . 11b ) module available in the first tech challenge program . in other embodiments , the communications adapter may use another protocol or medium , including for example zigbee , bluetooth , ieee 802 . 11 , radio frequency , infrared , microwave , sonic , electrical , optical , or any other communications protocol or medium . turning now to fig2 , illustrated is the machine 100 in a different position as compared to fig1 . in fig2 , the upper mast 106 has been lowered by rotating about the hinge 116 . when the upper mast 106 is in the lowered position , the drive chain 128 remains suitably taut due to the dynamic tension adjustment provided by the tensioning sprocket 134 , tensioning lever 138 , and elastically deformable loop 142 . fig2 also illustrates the carriage 120 located on the lower car guide 108 . it is understood , however , that the carriage 120 may remain on the upper car guide 112 when the upper mast 106 is lowered . with the upper mast 106 in the lowered position , the articulation gear 117 protrudes through an aperture in the lower car guide 108 . fig3 , 4 and 5 illustrate alternate perspective views of one embodiment of a forklift apparatus . these figures further illustrate the mechanical features of the articulation point between the upper mast 106 and the lower mast 104 . the articulation gear 117 is a generally large toothed wheel where a segment has been removed . the articulation gear 117 may be formed by cutting a segment off of a complete gear , or it may be directly formed in the appropriate shape . in one embodiment , the articulation gear 117 is formed from an 120 - tooth gear , that is , there would be 120 teeth on the articulation gear 117 except that there are in fact less because a segment and its corresponding teeth have been removed . the articulation gear 117 meshes with a mast drive gear 302 that is mounted to a mast drive motor 304 . the mast drive gear 302 is a 40 - tooth gear , and thus the mast drive gear 302 and the articulation gear 117 provide a 3 : 1 drive ratio . the mast drive motor 304 may be a reversible , 12 - volt dc drive motor with a maximum speed of about 152 rpm . at maximum speed , the mast drive motor 304 makes about 2 . 5 revolutions per second , or one revolution in about 0 . 4 seconds . since raising or lowering the upper mast 106 requires making a quarter revolution turn of the articulation gear 117 through the 3 : 1 drive ratio provided by the mast drive gear 302 , the mast drive motor 304 can theoretically raise or lower the upper mast 106 in approximately ( 0 . 25 revolution )×( 0 . 4 seconds / revolution )×( 3 : 1 drive ratio )= 0 . 3 seconds . in practice , the mast drive motor 304 begins from rest and thus does not immediately begin turning at 152 rpm . in addition , the mast drive motor 304 may achieve a maximum speed of less than 152 rpm due to the load imposed on it in raising or lowering the upper mast 106 . however , the inventors have found that in practice , the upper mast 106 may be readily raised or lowered in less than about 1 second . in other embodiments , any suitable type of motor may be used , and the mast drive motor 304 may engage the articulation gear 117 through a gearbox . thus , the speed of raising or lowering the upper mast 106 may be faster or slower as may be desired for any particular application . and in still other embodiments , the mast drive gear 302 and articulation gear 117 may be replaced with suitable sprockets coupled by a chain . the inventors have found that with the 3 : 1 drive ratio between the articulation gear 117 and mast drive gear 302 , the mast drive motor 304 alone provides sufficient braking force to maintain the upper mast 106 in any position . thus , once the upper mast 106 is moved to its raised position , there is no need to lock the upper mast 106 in position . similarly , the upper mast 106 may be stopped and held in any arbitrary position in between its raised and lowered positions . in some embodiments , however , it may be desirable ( for safety or other considerations ) to provide a mechanical support or brake to held the upper mast 106 in a position . alternatively , the mast drive motor 302 may be energized to provide a suitable force to counteract other forces , such as gravity , that may induce an undesirable movement of the upper mast 106 . the forklift apparatus 102 may be equipped with one or more sensors , each of which may be of a similar or dissimilar type . for example , the forklift apparatus 102 may include a camera , microphone , or both . as another example , the upper mast 106 may be equipped with a location sensor , which may operate to provide a signal indicative of the forklift apparatus 102 &# 39 ; s position using either relative or absolute positioning . in one embodiment , the location sensor may be a directional infrared sensor that detects the receipt of infrared energy transmitted by one or more fixed waypoints . in another embodiment , the location sensor may be a gps , glonass , or other suitable location sensor . the location sensor may provide one or more signals indicative of position to the control module 164 . various components of the machine 100 , including for example at least some of the sprockets , the drive chain 128 , and the drive motors , may be obtained from the lego group as part of their tetrix line of robotic components . as previously discussed , the machine 100 is equipped with a control module for controlling its operation . the control module preferably includes a programmable processor and a computer - readable memory storing instructions executable by the processor . the control module may include an input allowing instructions for controlling the machine 100 to be received from a remote location . the input may be via any suitable input interface , including for example a universal serial bus ( usb ), bluetooth , or ieee 802 . 11 interface . in this manner , the machine 100 may be remotely controlled through a wired or wireless connection . when instructions are received through the interface , a threshold filter may be applied to prevent initiating movement in response to a noise produced by the source of the instructions . for example , if the absolute value of the requested movement speed is less than a selected value , such as 10 , then the requested movement may be discarded as unintentional noise . as another example , the control module may ignore a request to move the carriage 120 when the upper mast 106 is in the lowered position or is otherwise not in the raised position . the control module may include instructions allowing the machine 100 to operate autonomously . for example , the instructions may include instructions for moving the carriage 120 in response to data provided by a sensor mounted on the carriage 120 . as one example , fig6 illustrates a method 600 for automatically moving the carriage 120 , when equipped with a magnetometer , into alignment with a target location identified by a magnetic field . as previously discussed , the carriage 120 may be equipped with one or more magnetometers to provide data indicative of the magnetic field near the carriage 120 . the method 600 begins in step 602 . at step 604 , the carriage is initialized by moving the carriage to a known location , for example , to the top or bottom of the forklift apparatus . in some embodiments , the step 604 may be omitted . next in step 606 , the magnetometer sensors are initialized by clearing out any previously read values and preparing the sensors to take new readings . then in step 608 , a measured value is read from the magnetometer sensors . if the carriage 120 is equipped with multiple sensors , each sensor reading may be read sequentially . the measured values from the sensors may be stored in a array . continuing to step 610 , the data obtained from the magnetometer sensors is analyzed to determine whether one or more of the measured values indicates the presence of a magnetic field . in one embodiment , each measured value is compared to a threshold value , which may be predetermined . the threshold value may be selected to correspond to a magnetic field of a particular strength , for example , the strength of a magnetic field within about 2 to 3 inches from a given type of magnet . in other embodiments , other forms of data analysis may be performed . then in step 612 , it is determined whether the data analysis performed in step 610 indicates that a magnet has been found . if no magnet has been found , then the process proceeds to step 614 , where the carriage is moved . the carriage may be moved in a uniform direction a predetermined distance or for a predetermined amount of time , although other possibilities are also contemplated . the carriage may be moved , for example , by activating the carriage drive motor to turn a sprocket engaged with the drive chain . after the carriage has been moved , the process returns to step 608 . in some embodiments , the steps 608 to 614 may occur simultaneously , such that data from the magnetometer sensors is substantially continuously analyzed as the carriage moves in a uniform direction . if in step 612 it is determined that a magnet has been detected , then the process proceeds to step 616 , where the process ends . in this way , the carriage may be automatically aligned with a target location identified by a magnet producing a magnetic field . in other embodiments , other types of sensors may be used , including for example , sensors providing indications of light , sound , distance , or temperature . the method 600 may be readily used with these other types of sensors to similarly automatically align the carriage with a target location identified by measurements taken from such sensors . the present disclosure has been described relative to a preferred embodiment . improvements or modifications that become apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art only after reading this disclosure are deemed within the spirit and scope of the application . for example , the forklift apparatus has been described as having a generally vertical orientation , but it is understood that the forklift apparatus may alternatively be mounted in a horizontal , inverted , or any other orientation . it is understood that several modifications , changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features . accordingly , it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention .	1
certain terminology used in the following description is for convenience only and is not limiting . the term “ phoneme ” is generally defined as a delineated portion of a spoken utterance , the delineation being defined and grouped in accordance with a phonological and phonetic / acoustic rule instruction set of a speech recognition system . the english language is generally considered to have 44 distinct phonemes . the present invention provides a speech recognition module ( srm ) for an audio - visual device , such as a digital set top box , to dynamically enable a textual account of a program in the case where no closed captioning information has been previously embedded in the audio - visual signal . an exemplary speech recognition module according to the present invention may operate in a speech independent mode ( si ), a speech dependent mode ( sd ) or a combination of both . referring now more specifically to the drawings , fig1 shows a high - level block diagram of a basic digital television ird ( integrated receiver and decoder ) 5 which recovers and processes television signals . the ird 5 includes a tuner and demodulator module 8 , a main data processor 10 , speech recognition module 12 , user interface 14 , on screen display ( osd ) and video processor 16 , and audio decoder 18 , and memory 22 . digital or analog audio - visual data flow is represented by the arrow from tuner and demodulator module 8 , to osd and video processor module 16 . the exemplary ird 5 receives and processes both analog and digital television signals . the digital television signals may , for example be encoded according to the standard specified by the advanced television systems committee ( atsc ). the exemplary system decodes the digital bitstream to present decoded audio and video output signals at respective output ports , 22 and 24 of the ird , respectively . typically , the ird 5 receives and demodulates digital television signals to recover the audio , video and data bitstreams for a particular program . the ird then performs real time audio and video decompression of various data streams ( bitstreams ) to recover the audio and video data as well as auxiliary data , such as closed captioning information , sent in the data bit stream for the program . an exemplary atsc decoder is described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 175 , 592 entitled frequency domain filtering for down conversion of a dct encoded picture . the exemplary ird 5 may also include a conventional analog television decoder , for example , an ntsc decoder , which demodulates and decodes analog television signals to provide analog audio and video output signals . the tuner and demodulator module 8 receives and demodulates the television signals that include the transmitted digital television bitstreams or analog television signals . if a digital television signal is being received , the tuner and demodulator 8 may also separate the transport packets relating to a desired television program and decode the transport packets to provide either elementary stream ( es ) or packetized elementary stream ( pes ) packets or fully decoded audio , video and data bit - streams to the audio processor 18 and the osd and video processor 16 . if the tuner and demodulator 8 is processing an analog television signal , it separates the audio and video components and provides the audio components to the audio processor 18 and the video components to the osd and video processor 16 . the main data processor 10 performs a plurality of control functions in accordance with control parameters of the control stream . specifically , the main data processor 10 provides control data to the osd and video processor 16 , manages access to memory 20 , and controls the display of decoded images of the data stream . the main data processor 10 may , for example , determine , responsive to a viewer selection , which television program is to be received , decoded and displayed . using this information the processor 10 controls the tuner and demodulator 8 to tune to the channel that contains the desired program , demodulate a baseband analog signal , when the channel contains an analog television signal ; or demodulate transport packets of a digital television signal and separate the audio , video and data transport packets for this program from the decoded packet data for the channel . the main data processor 10 may also control the osd and video processor 16 to adjust the brightness and color balance of the displayed image and to display predetermined text , for example , closed caption data or an operational menu to the viewer using the osd function of the processor . in an exemplary embodiment , user interface 14 includes infrared inputs for receiving data from a remote control device ( not shown ) and circuitry for receiving manual input of data from a control panel ( not shown ) of the audio - visual device . in response to the viewer using the controls on the control panel , this circuitry may , for example , send a message to the main data processor 10 , signaling it to display a control menu and then interpret further commands from the viewer as being related to the displayed menu . for example , the menu may be utilized to enable speech recognition module 12 to convert audio speech signals to closed - captioned text for display on the audio - visual device . similarly , the menu may be utilized to select a desired language , dialect or text font . the memory 20 may be , for example , a random access memory which stores the osd bit map and , for digital programs , the compressed data and one or more decoded images . in an exemplary embodiment , the memory 20 may also store srm data , such as preset hidden markov models for various languages or dialects or srm training segments which are to be used for training based srm embodiments ( described below ). the memory 20 may be partitioned into a plurality of buffers . a bitstream buffer that stores compressed data , an osd buffer that stores the osd bit map ( i . e ., menu functions , closed caption data and channel logos transmitted from audio visual devices and cable systems ), and frame buffers that store frames of decoded video images . in this way , osd and video processor 16 decodes the compressed data in memory 20 and reconstructs the image data for storage in the appropriate buffer . where the received signal is a digital television signal , the transmitted , compressed data may represent only information that has changed relative to a previously transmitted image . the resulting image is reconstructed by decompressing this residual data and adding it to a stored reference image . the osd information is displayed by overlaying the osd bit - map onto the image that is being displayed . as known to those in the art , a mixer ( not shown ) serves to selectively blend image data with osd pixel data ( i . e ., closed captioning ). the mixer displays each pixel at a location , an osd pixel , a pixel of an image , or a combination thereof . the output of the mixer is an analog video signal that is provided to the display device ( not shown ) which in turn , is connected to the ird 5 . an audio decoder 18 processes the digital or analog audio data provided by the tuner and demodulator 8 . when analog audio information is received , the audio processor may include an analog - to - digital converter ( adc ) that digitizes the audio data . the decoded audio data is passed to the audio decoder 18 , to the srm 12 , and the audio output 22 simultaneously . the srm 12 converts the audio speech signal portions to text , and sends this text to the main data processor 10 . the main data processor 10 sends this data to osd and video processor 16 . the osd and video processor 16 extracts the closed caption text , either from the vertical blanking interval of analog video signals or from the data program of a digital television program , and inserts the closed caption text into the video output signal . this closed - captioned text will then appear on a television monitor operably linked to video output 25 . the detailed operation of srm 12 is described below with reference to fig2 – 5 herein . fig2 shows an exemplary srm 12 suitable for use with the present invention . the srm 12 as described above is integrated into a digital television set top box 5 . the srm 12 is responsive to the input audio - visual signal to dynamically convert the audio data into captioned text for display by the video display device . this text is displayed on the screen in typical fashion as closed caption information . a summary of the operation of srm 12 is a s follows : the digitized audio data enters the srm 12 at an input thereof , the audio data is provided to the acoustic processor 26 . the acoustic processor 26 performs signal filtering to identify audio segments including speech components and separate the speech segments from the audio input . the speech signals are then sent to the phoneme generator 28 . the phoneme generator 28 processes the speech signals through filters to identify various components which are applied to hidden markov models that convert the audio input into “ phonemes ” or speech parts . the phonemes are sent to the word matcher 30 , which selects a matching word from a word database 32 based on the identified phonemes of each word . the selected database word is then output from the srm 12 as a text character signal for processing by the osd and video processor 16 for display on a video screen of the audio visual device as text data . the word database 32 may also include a context module that distinguishes between homophones such as “ to ,” “ too ” and “ two .” an exemplary srm suitable for use with the present invention is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 822 , 728 entitled multistage word recognizer based on reliably detected phoneme similarity regions . more specifically , as shown in fig2 , the exemplary srm 12 receives a digital audio input from audio decoder 18 of set top box 5 . in an exemplary embodiment , the audio input data may be separated into separate audio channels for each known source of audio speech data . for example , in the case of a live broadcast of a sporting event , the play - by - play and color commentator may be transmitted on separate channels so that the srm 12 would not be confused by simultaneous speech . srm 12 includes a secondary data processor 34 , an acoustic processor 26 , a phoneme generator 28 , a word matcher 30 and a word database 32 . the acoustic processor 26 includes filtering module 26 a and speech dependent segment filter 26 b . the filtering module 26 a performs audio data signal filtering to separate the speech signals from other audio data such as superimposed music and other background noise . in an exemplary embodiment , the filtering module 26 a utilizes a spectral subtraction method . the secondary processor 34 identifies and extracts the speech signals . this filter may , for example , use a fast fourier transform ( fft ) operation to decompose the speech signals into various frequency components . the frequency domain representation of the voice signals may be used , for example , to selectively suppress noise components for each frequency range or to selectively eliminate segments , such as very low tones or long tones , that are unlikely to include meaningful speech information . alternatively , filtering module 26 a may employ filter banks for separating and attenuating noise from frequency components . those skilled in the art recognize however , that any number of known filtering techniques can be employed for recognizing and separating speech signals audio data . speech dependent ( sd ) signal filter 26 b is provided for analyzing and classifying speech segments received from the acoustic processor 26 . this filter may , for example , analyze the frequency - domain representation of the speech signals to classify speech intervals as voiced or unvoiced consonant sounds or vowel sounds . in an exemplary embodiment , the sd filter 26 b may also be used to analyze and classify training segments that are periodically embedded into the audio data for use by the srm 12 . for example , prior to the broadcast of a live event , each speaker may generate an sd template for broadcast prior to the event to facilitate speech recognition in accordance with the present invention ( the generation of this template may , for example , consist of simply providing text data for a limited amount of scripted information that the speaker normally reads during the broadcast ). the training segments or sd templates are identified by audio decoder 18 by way of transmission indicia such as header information , including a time stamp , occurring before the text in the data program . the header information , for example , may identify the text data as corresponding to audio data , transmitted in the audio program and having the same time stamp . the header information may also indicate a particular language or dialect as well as a channel designation corresponding to a specific channel of audio speech data . the training segments are passed to speech dependent signal filter 26 b to be processed into speech characteristics that are then combined with the training data to produce a hidden markov model that is used by the phoneme generator 28 , as described below . in an exemplary embodiment , the sd mode can be used as the sole recognition mode , or , be used in conjunction with the si mode of the srm 12 . the training segment may be stored in memory 20 for use by srm 12 , the training segment corresponds to the speech traits of at least one source of the audio speech signals . in an exemplary embodiment , sd template data of memory 20 may be utilized when the sd mode is enabled to build or modify the hidden markov model used by the srm . alternatively , the digital television signal may include a hidden markov model or modifications to a default hidden markov model that aid speech recognition for a particular program . this information may be in the data program or embedded as user data in the audio or video programs . the phoneme generator 28 receives the analyzed speech signals from the sd filter 26 b as well as an indication of which hidden markov model is to be used to extract phonemes from these speech signals . where no language or dialect designation is available , device 5 uses a default language designation or the designation set by a user through user interface 14 . in one exemplary embodiment of the invention , the system may include multiple hidden markov models and the viewer may be able to cycle through these models to select the one that provides the best results for a given audio program . the phoneme generator 28 defines and parses the audio speech portions parts into speech parts , known as phonemes . in operation , the phoneme generator segments the incoming audio speech signal based on silence intervals and location of specific spoken utterances in relation to others . in an exemplary embodiment , a forward - backward scan may be utilized to process streams of incoming audio speech signals to make a fast initial forward pass to identify phonemes , the backward pass being more computation intensive for identifying phonemes not adequately identified in the forward scan . the scan process , such as the viterbi process enables the location and identification of phonemes by way of a corresponding instruction set of secondary data processor 34 for identifying words in word matcher 30 and word database 32 . where the sd mode has been enabled , a third scan may be performed to compare audio speech data to the stored training segment in order to generate or modify the hidden markov model that is used by the phoneme generator . the secondary data processor 34 operates in parallel with the acoustic processor 26 and phoneme generator 28 . the secondary data processor 34 controls the work matcher 30 to generate words that correspond to the stream of phonemes provided by the phoneme generator 28 . the processor 34 also formats these words for display as closed caption information and modifies the closed caption portion of the memory 20 accordingly . the data processor 34 also controls the components of the srm 5 , and provides i / o with other modules of the audio / visual device . for example , all accesses requests to memory 20 are made through the secondary data processor 34 . the word matcher 30 converts the generated phoneme into words by looking up a corresponding word containing the phonemes stored in the word database 32 . the word database 32 contains lists of words for a particular language or a selected one of a plurality of stored languages . the word database 32 may also include context information to aid in distinguishing homophones . the srm 12 is selectively engaged , to utilize embedded closed - captioned data of the audio signal when available , and use the speech recognition function only when the closed captioning data is not available . an exemplary control flow is shown in fig3 for selectively engaging srm 12 . as shown in fig3 , at step 300 , the main data processor 10 of ird 5 determines whether the closed captioning display option of the audio - visual device has been enabled . if the option has not been enabled , the process terminates at step 308 . the viewer may enable the closed captioning display option , for example , from a conventional control menu . if the closed captioning option is enabled , the process moves to step 302 , which determines if the television signal includes closed caption data . as described above , for analog television signals , closed caption data may be encoded in the vertical blanking interval of the video signal and for digital television signals , it may be transmitted in the data program portion of the television program . if , at step 302 , it is determined that the television signal includes closed caption information , then , at step 306 , the processor 10 enables the system to use the embedded closed captioning data . if , at step 302 , no closed caption data is included in the television signal then , the srm is used to derive closed caption information from the audio signal , at step 304 the processor 10 determines if speaker dependent hidden markov model ( hmm ) data is available . if no hmm data is available , at step 310 , the processor 10 enables the speaker independent ( si ) mode of the srm 12 and terminates the process at step 308 . if , however , at step 304 , the processor 10 determines that hmm data is available , then , at step 312 , it determines if training data is available . when training data is available , the processor 10 controls the srm 12 , at step 314 , to use the training data to generate or modify the hmm . after updating the hmm or , after step 312 if no training data is available , the processor 10 enables the speaker dependent ( sd ) mode for the srm 12 at step 316 and terminates the selection process at step 308 . conventional closed captioning data embedded within an audio - visual signal also includes formatting information for the osd and video processor 16 . this formatting data provides details of where to place each character on the screen of the audio - visual device and when to scroll a new line of data onto the screen . with the voice recognition based closed captioning system in accordance with the present invention , however , the formatting is generated by the secondary data processor 34 as shown in the flow chart of fig4 . the formatting instruction or third instruction set enables basic functionality to provide a two - line display , for example , at a bottom portion of an image signal as it is displayed on an audio - visual monitor viewing area . as shown in fig4 , the process begins at step 400 . at step 402 , the processor 34 determines whether another text string is available for display , if another string is available , at step 406 the length of the text strings is determined . where no further text string is available , at step 404 , the process determines whether a maximum amount of time ( e . g . one minute ) has passed since the last character was displayed . if the maximum time has not passed , the process returns to step 400 . if the maximum time has passed , the text is removed from the display at step 412 and the process returns to step 400 . in step 406 , when the number of characters of the next string exceeds the maximum threshold maxchars , at step 408 the current line on the display is scrolled , and at step 410 the next text string is displayed in the newly created area . where the next text string does not exceed maxchars in step 404 , the process continues to step 410 and places the next text string on the available display space for the current line . the process then returns to step 400 . thus , the process shown in fig4 executes periodically to determine what action ( if any ) needs to be taken . if the number of characters in the new closed captioned text string exceeds a predetermined threshold , the current line being displayed is “ scrolled ” upward to allow room for a new line of closed captioned data . it is recognized by those skilled in the art that the direction of the scrolling ( i . e ., upward or downward ) is a matter of design choice . an exemplary scrolling process is shown in fig5 . fig5 shows the process for displaying three text string lines , 1 – 3 . at time t , line 1 is displayed along a portion of a display device . at time t + 1 , line 1 and line 2 are displayed , all of the available space in the closed caption area is utilized to display line 1 and line 2 . at time t + 2 line 1 is removed from the display , line 2 is scrolled upward , and line 3 is placed at the bottom of the closed caption display area . while the exemplary system is described in terms of a combination of a hardware and software implementation , it is contemplated that it may be practiced entirely in software running on a computer . this software may be embodied in a carrier such as an integrated circuit , memory card , magnetic or optical disk or an optical , audio - frequency or radio frequency carrier wave . although illustrated and described above with reference to certain specific embodiments , the present invention is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown . rather , various modifications may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the spirit of the invention .	6
external service providers offer external services including networking as a service , storage as a service , virtual machine ( vm ) hosting as a service , vms as a service , load balancing as a service , virtual private network ( vpn ) as a service , and computation as a service ( e . g ., allowing for the offloading of processor - intensive vm or other processes ). offered external services include virtual and / or non - virtual ( e . g ., physically - based ) services . consumers , such as , virtualization managers , hypervisors , and vms can make use of these external services . by so doing , benefits can be accrued . for example , where such consumers are associated with a virtualization environment the use of such external services can allow the consumers to make use of functionality not natively offered by the virtualization environment . as another example , the use of external services can ease virtualization environment management and implementation by tasking an external service provider with the responsibility of handling , say , one or more networks of the virtualization environment . however , the use of external services typically necessitates that specificities of the external services — such as approaches to be followed ( e . g ., application program interfaces ( apis ) to be employed , interprocess communications to be employed , data elements to be provided , data formats to be employed , and / or protocols to be employed ) when interacting with the external services — be made a point of concern . as such , where a consumer is to make use of an external provider , the consumer &# 39 ; s operation is typically changed . this may necessitate modification of the consumer . switching of external providers may be viewed as a burdensome and unattractive affair due to , say , a concomitant consumer modification . as such , there may be a hesitance to commence making use of external providers , and / or an inertia against switching from an initially - selected external provider to a different external provider . in a similar vein there may be a hesitance to audition external providers . set forth herein are examples of approaches by which a consumer may make use of an external service while being shielded from the specificities of the external service . according to an example , a consumer may have at its disposal a configurable connector . the configurable connector may be a virtual interface ( e . g ., a virtual network interface card ( vnic )) or one or more code modules ( e . g ., instantiated objects ). a proxy may communicate with the external service and receive information therefrom . the proxy then may use the received information in configuring the connector . the consumer then may employ the connector in making use of the external service . the consumer may so employ the connector without the involvement of the proxy . with the consumer thusly making use of an external service while being shielded from the specificities of the external service , enjoyed , for instance , may be the avoidance of consumer modification and the easing of the employ of external service providers . the following description sets forth numerous specific details such as examples of specific systems , components , methods , and so forth , in order to provide a good understanding of several embodiments of the present invention . it will be apparent to one skilled in the art , however , that at least some embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without these specific details . in other instances , well - known components or methods are not described in detail or are presented in simple block diagram format in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention . thus , the specific details set forth are merely examples . particular implementations may vary from these example - only details and still be contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention . fig1 illustrates an example network architecture 100 in which examples of the present invention may operate . the network architecture 100 includes one or more host servers 103 coupled to clients 101 over a network 102 . the network 102 may be a private network ( e . g ., a local area network ( lan ), wide area network ( wan ), intranet , etc .) or a public network ( e . g ., the internet ). the host servers 103 may also be coupled to a host controller 107 ( via the same or a different network or directly ). host controller 107 may be an independent machine such as a server computer , a desktop computer , etc . alternatively , the host controller 107 may be part of the host servers 103 . in one example , the network architecture 100 , including host controller 107 , host servers 103 and clients 101 , may be referred to as a virtualization environment . the network architecture also includes one or more proxy servers 151 coupled over network 102 . proxy server 151 may be an independent machine such as a server computer , a desktop computer , etc . alternatively , the proxy server 151 may be part of the host servers 103 and / or part of the host controllers 107 . the network architecture additionally includes one or more external service providers 161 coupled over network 102 . external service provider 161 may be an independent machine such as a server computer , a desktop computer , etc . alternatively , the external service provider 161 may be part of the host servers 103 and / or part of the host controllers 107 . proxy server 151 may include proxy 153 a , host server 103 may include proxy 153 b , and / or host controller 107 may include proxy 153 c . in accordance with that which is discussed in greater detail hereinbelow , such a proxy may communicate with external service 163 a , external service 163 b , and / or external service 163 c , and receive information therefrom . in further accordance with that which is discussed in greater detail hereinbelow , such a proxy then may use the received information in configuring a connector . external service provider 161 may include external service 163 a , host server 103 may include external service 163 b , and host controller 107 may include external service 163 c . in accordance with that which is discussed in greater detail hereinbelow , external services include networking as a service , storage as a service , virtual machine vm hosting as a service , vms as a service , load balancing as a service , virtual vpn as a service , and computation as a service . in one example , the clients 101 may include computing devices that have a wide range of processing capabilities . some or all of the clients 101 may be thin clients , which serve as access terminals for users and depend primarily on the host servers 103 for processing activities . for example , the client 101 may be a desktop computer , laptop computer , cellular phone , personal digital assistant ( pda ), etc . the client 101 may run client applications such as a web browser . the client 101 may also run other client applications , which receive multimedia data streams or other data from the host server 103 and re - direct the received data to a local display or other user interface . host servers 103 may include server computers or any other computing devices capable of running one or more virtual machines 131 . each virtual machine 131 runs a guest operating system ( os ) that may be different from one virtual machine to another . the guest os may include microsoft windows , linux , solaris , mac os , etc . the host server 103 may include a hypervisor 132 that emulates the underlying hardware platform for the virtual machines 131 . the hypervisor 132 may also be known as a virtual machine monitor ( vmm ) or a kernel - based hypervisor . each virtual machine 131 can be accessed by one or more of the clients 101 over the network 102 and can provide a virtual desktop for the client ( s ) 101 . from the user &# 39 ; s point of view , the virtual desktop functions as a physical desktop ( e . g ., a personal computer ) and is indistinguishable from a physical desktop . each virtual machine 131 may be linked to one or more virtual disks . these virtual disks can be logical partitions of a physical disk managed by hypervisor 132 , can be cloud based storage devices , or can be some other type of virtual storage device . in one example , virtual disks may form a whole or part of a logical data center . in one example , virtual machines 131 and virtual disks , together with host servers 103 , may be collectively referred to as entities in a virtual machine system . the virtual machines 131 and virtual disks are managed by the host controller 107 . host controller 107 may manage the allocation of resources from host server 103 to virtual machines 131 . in addition , host controller may monitor the status of virtual machines 131 as well as the progress of commands and processes being executed by virtual machines 131 and / or on virtual machines 131 . the host controller 107 may include a virtualization manager 114 to perform management operations in the virtualization system , including for example allocating resources of host servers 103 to virtual machines 131 , monitoring the status of virtual machines 131 , monitoring the progress of commands and processes being executed by virtual machines 131 , etc . the host controller 107 may also maintain a management database 109 used by the virtualization manager 114 for the above management operations . in one example , host controller 107 also includes a package maintainer 112 to install , upgrade , or configure software packages on the host controller 107 in a consistent manner . in one example , package maintainer 112 is the rpm package manager from red hat , inc . for example , the package maintainer 112 may be used to install or upgrade the virtualization manager 114 on the host controller 107 . with further regard to fig1 , as an example a vm 131 , hosted by hypervisor 132 , may be a consumer , and the external service may be networking as a service . as another example hypervisor 132 may be a consumer and the external service may be storage as a service which may be employed by the hypervisor for accessing disk images of virtual machines hosted by the hypervisor . as a further example , virtualization manager 114 may be a consumer and the external service may be vm hosting as a service which may be employed by the virtualization manager as a source of virtual machine hosts to be subject to its management ( e . g ., hosts to which virtual machines can be deployed ). fig2 illustrates a flow diagram of one example of a method of configuring a connector . the method may be performed by processing logic that comprises hardware ( e . g ., circuitry , dedicated logic , programmable logic , microcode , etc . ), software ( such as instructions run on a processing device ), or a combination thereof . as one example , the method may be performed by a proxy running on a computing device . for instance , the method may be performed by proxy 153 a running on proxy server 151 , proxy 153 b running on host server 103 , and / or proxy 153 c running on host controller 107 . referring to fig2 , at block 201 processing logic becomes aware of an event in response to which the connector will be configured . as one example the event is an attempt of a consumer to access an external service . as another example the event a launch of a consumer . performance of block 201 might , for instance , be performed such that each attempt of the consumer to access the external service is considered an event , such that only a first attempt of the consumer to access the external service is considered an event , and / or that only one attempt , within a given time period , of the consumer to access the external service is considered an event ( e . g ., only one access attempt per quarter - hour might be considered an event ). at block 203 , processing logic dispatches an information request to an external service . the external service to which the request is dispatched may , for instance , be the external service to which a consumer access attempt was made or an external service to which the to - be - configured connector corresponds . as one example the processing logic includes in the request an indication of particular desired information which will allow for the connector to be configured . as another example the processing logic does not so include such indication , with it being the case that the external service will reply to the request with information which will allow for the connector to be configured . at block 205 , the processing logic receives from the external service an information - bearing reply . although so as to facilitate description a single information request dispatch is discussed in connection with block 203 and a single information - bearing reply is discussed in connection with block 205 , other possibilities exist . for instance , there may be a multitude of such requests and replies ( e . g ., before occurrence of that which is discussed hereinbelow in connection with block 207 ). at block 207 , the processing logic employs , in configuring the connector , the information which was borne by the reply . examples of the information include information regarding protocols and / or data formats ( e . g ., packet structure , message structure , and / or data flow control commands ), authentication , encryption , network address , network port , virtual local area network ( vlan ) identifier , and / or media access control ( mac ) address . with further regard to block 207 , as an example , where the connector is a virtual interface such configuration may involve the processing logic modifying a descriptor corresponding to the virtual interface ( e . g ., an extensible markup language - based ( xml - based ) descriptor ). as another example , where the connector is one or more code modules such configuration may involve the processing logic sending one or more interprocess and / or api communications to the connector . the interprocess and / or api communications might may involve the use of xml - remote procedure call ( xml - rpc ), representational state transfer ( rest ), qpid , and / or simple object access protocol ( soap ). having configured the connector , the processing logic ( e . g ., a proxy corresponding thereto ) might not further interact with the connector or the external service unless again becoming aware of an event of the sort discussed above , and / or the consumer may so employ the connector without the involvement of the proxy . returning to block 201 , with regard to the event being an attempt of the consumer to access the external service , as an example the configurable connector may be a virtual interface and in communication with the virtual interface may be a virtual tap ( e . g ., a virtual network tap ). the processing logic may employ the virtual tap to monitor communications of the virtual interface and , thereby , become aware of the access attempt . with further regard to the event being a consumer attempt to access the external service , as another example the configurable connector may be one or more code modules and in communication ( e . g ., interprocess and / or api communication ) with the one or more configurable connector code modules may be one or more monitor code modules which monitor communications ( e . g ., interprocess and / or api communications ) of the connector code modules ( e . g ., by virtue of being among code modules registered to receive communications of the connector code modules ). the processing logic may ( e . g ., via interprocess and / or api communications ) employ the monitor code modules to monitor communications of the configurable connector code modules and , thereby , become aware of the access attempt . with regard to the event being a launch of the consumer , as an example the configurable connector may again be a virtual interface having a virtual tap in communication therewith . the processing logic may , when the consumer is launched , sense the virtual tap as having a condition to be addressed — a disconnected output port . by virtue of sensing this to - be - addressed condition , the processing logic may become aware of the launch . with further regard to the event being a launch of the consumer , as another example the configurable connector may again be one or more code modules , and in communication ( e . g ., interprocess and / or api communication ) with the one or more configurable connector code modules may again be one or more monitor code modules . the processing logic may , by virtue of being in communication with the monitor code modules ( e . g ., via interprocess and / or api communication ), sense , when the consumer is launched , the monitor code modules as having a condition to be addressed — an undefined output target destination . by virtue of sensing this to - be - addressed condition , the processing logic may become aware of the launch . returning to block 203 , according to an example there may be call that the processing logic , in order to receive the information , provide information to the external service . examples of such information include a network port identifier associated with the consumer ( e . g ., with the network port identifier mapping to a network port to be employed by the consumer when using the external service ), and / or credentials . according to another example , the processing logic might receive the information without such provision . with further regard to block 203 , according to an example , the external service , having received the request , makes preparations to accommodate upcoming use by the consumer of the external service ( e . g ., the external service reserves one or more network ports and / or other resources ). according to another example , such preparation might not occur . according to an example , the processing logic may establish a connection to the external service . for instance , in the case of a virtual interface and a virtual tap , the processing logic may connect the output of the virtual tap to the external service such that the virtual tap — being connected to the virtual interface at its input and to the external service at its output — serves in interconnecting the consumer and the external service . so connecting the output of the virtual tap may involve modifying a descriptor ( e . g ., an xml - based descriptor ) corresponding to the virtual tap . for instance in the case of configurable code modules and monitor code modules , the processing logic may set the output target destination of the monitor code modules to the external service such that the monitor code modules — receiving input from the configurable code modules and having its output target destination set as the external service — serves in interconnecting ( e . g ., via interprocess and / or api communications ) the consumer to the external service . so connecting the output target destination of the configurable connector code modules may include sending one or more interprocess and / or api communications to the monitor code modules . fig3 illustrates a flow diagram of one example of a method of consumer employ of a configurable connector . the method may be performed by processing logic that comprises hardware ( e . g ., circuitry , dedicated logic , programmable logic , microcode , etc . ), software ( such as instructions run on a processing device ), or a combination thereof . as one example , the method may be performed by a hypervisor running on a computing device ( e . g ., hypervisor 132 running on host server 103 ), by a vm running on a hypervisor ( e . g ., a vm 131 running on hypervisor 132 , with hypervisor 132 in turn running on host server 103 ), and / or by a virtualization manager running on a computing device ( e . g ., virtualization manger 114 running on host controller 107 ). referring to fig3 , at block 301 processing logic causes an event in response to which the connector will be configured . as one example the event is an attempt of the consumer to access an external service . as another example the event a launch of the consumer . the functionality of block 301 may , in one aspect , be counterpart to the functionality discussed hereinabove with respect to block 201 . at block 303 , processing logic experiences configuration of the connector ( e . g ., by a proxy ). such configuration may involve experiencing the modification of a descriptor ( e . g ., an xml - based descriptor ) corresponding to the connector , and / or the receipt of one or more interprocess and / or api communications ( e . g ., from a proxy ). the functionality of block 303 may , in one aspect , be counterpart to the functionality discussed hereinabove with respect to block 207 . at block 305 , the consumer employs the connector in making use of the external service . for instance , where the connector is a virtual interface ( e . g ., a vnic ) the consumer employs the virtual connector in sending communication to and / or receiving communications from the external service ( e . g ., a network ). where for instance the connector is one or more code modules the consumer employs those code modules as a conduit for sending communications to and / or receiving communications from the external service ( e . g ., a network ). fig4 illustrates a flow diagram of one example of a method of configuring external service use . the method may be performed by processing logic that comprises hardware ( e . g ., circuitry , dedicated logic , programmable logic , microcode , etc . ), software ( such as instructions run on a processing device ), or a combination thereof . as one example , the method may be performed by a virtualization manager running on a computing device ( e . g ., virtualization manger 114 running on host controller 107 ). referring to fig4 , at block 401 external service information may be set . the set information may include external service name ( e . g ., a user - selectable name ), external service type ( e . g ., networking as a service , storage as a service , or vm hosting as a service ), external service plugin ( e . g ., where the external service supports plugins in the vein of the offered service ), external service location ( e . g ., uniform resource locator ( url )), and / or authentication information ( e . g ., username and / or password ). at block 403 proxy information may be set . the set information may include information employable in communicating with the proxy ( e . g ., via interprocess and / or api communication ) such as host name , host port , and / or authentication information ( e . g ., username and / or password ). at block 405 , a service instance may be established using the external service . the service instance establishment might associate the instance with a virtualization environment data center . the service instance establishment might not associate the instance with a virtualization environment data center . as one example a new service instance may be established . as another example an existing service instance which had previously been provided as other than an external service ( e . g ., a service instance which had been previously provided using local resources ), or which had been previously provided as a different external service ( e . g ., via a different external service provider ) may be transitioned to the at - hand external service . such transitioning may include the provision ( e . g ., via interprocess and / or api communication ) to the external provider of data describing the service instance ( e . g ., network parameters ) and / or the provision ( e . g ., via interprocess and / or api communication ) to the external provider of some or all of a descriptor ( e . g ., an xml - based descriptor ) corresponding to the service instance . discovery functionality may be provided in which information regarding available external services ( e . g ., networks ), for which service instances may be established , may be obtained ( e . g ., via interprocess and / or api communication between the virtualization manager and the external service ) and / or presented to a user ( e . g ., via a gui ). with further regard to block 405 , as an example of new service establishment where the at - hand service is networking as a service , information such as network name ( e . g ., a user - selectable name ), network identifier ( e . g ., vlan identifier ), whether or not tagging ( e . g ., vlan tagging ) should be employed , network privileges ( e . g ., an indication of devices and / or users allowed network access ), network type ( e . g ., vm network , storage network , and / or management network ) and / or network label ( e . g ., a color code ) may be set . with still further regard to block 405 , as an example of transitioning where the at - hand service is networking as a service , one or more established networks ( e . g ., vm logical networks , storage , networks , and / or management networks ) may be selected to be transitioned to the at - hand service . with additional regard to block 405 , as an example in the case of new service establishment where the at - hand service is storage as a service , the establishment may involve the selection of a certain quantity of storage entities and / or storage entity sizes . such storage entities may include disks , storage servers , and / or redundant arrays of independent disks ( raids ), and may include virtual and / or non - virtual ( e . g ., physical ) storage entities . as an example in the case of transitioning where the at - hand service is storage as a service , a storage entity configuration which had been previously in place ( e . g ., a selection of a certain quantity of storage entities and / or storage entity sizes ) may be transitioned to the at - hand service . at block 407 , a consumer may be set to use the external service . in one aspect , a particular consumer ( e . g ., a particular vm , hypervisor , or virtualization manager ) may be chosen to be a consumer for the at - hand external service . in another aspect , there may be , for the chosen consumer , indication of a configurable connector ( e . g ., a vnic ) of the consumer to be employed in accessing the service . with further regard to fig4 it is noted that , as an example , one or more of the discussed operations wherein information is specified or the like may , in whole or in part , involve user input ( e . g ., via a graphical user interface ( gui )). as another example such information specification may , in whole or in part , not involve user input ( e . g ., one or more automated processes may specify the information ). also with regard to fig4 , as an example automatic setup functionality may be provided . such automatic setup functionality may , for an external service , suggest one or more corresponding service instances and / or establishments of consumers to use the external service ( e . g ., there may be a suggestion of incorporating an externally - provided vm network into a virtualization environment data center and connecting it to one or more vms ). the suggestions may be based on a data store of common configurations ( e . g ., common network configurations ) and / or a configuration history store ( e . g ., a history of previous configurations — such as network configurations — used for in the at - hand data center ). the suggestions might then be accepted or rejected in whole or in part ( e . g ., by a user via a gui ) according to an example , one or more network ports and / or other resources may be created and / or removed on an external service . further according to the example , circumstances under which one or more network ports and / or other resources may be created include a consumer ( e . g ., a vm ) which is set to use the external resource being launched , and a configurable connector ( e . g ., a virtual interface ) which is set to provide connection to the external resource being added ( e . g ., hot plugged with respect to the external resource . still further according to the example , circumstances under which one or more network ports and / or other resources may be removed include the removal of a configurable connector ( e . g ., a virtual interface ) which had been set to provide connection to the external resource , a configurable connector ( e . g ., a virtual interface ), which had been set to provide connection to the external resource , being reconfigured ( e . g ., due to the modification of its descriptor ) so as to no longer provide connection to the external resource , the occurrence of a snapshot and / or preview operation which serves to establish a time point which may invalidate the relationship between the consumer and the external resource ( e . g ., the establishment of a time point at which the configurable connector , which had been set to provide connection to the external resource , no longer exists ), a consumer ( e . g ., a vm ) which had set to use the external resource ceasing to exist , and a virtualization environment data center , with which a consumer set to use the external resource had been associated , ceasing to exist ( e . g ., having being removed forcefully ). according to an example , a discussed - herein external service may be one which may support plugins in the vein of the offered service ( e . g ., network plugins — such as plugins offering virtual switch functionality , virtual bridge functionality , or virtual router functionality — in the case of the external service being networking as a service ). according to an example , the consumer , in accessing a network as a service external service , may connect to a virtual networking entity such as a virtual switch , a virtual bridge , or a virtual router . such a virtual networking entity may be part of a larger virtual network configuration ( e . g ., one or more virtual bridges , virtual switches , and / or virtual routers ). accordingly , the consumer &# 39 ; s connection to the virtual networking entity may serve as the consumer &# 39 ; s entryway to that larger virtual network configuration . according to an example , the proxy may be implemented as a hypervisor extension . according to another example , the proxy may be implemented in a fashion other than as a hypervisor extension ( e . g ., as one or more code modules running in a separate address space from a hypervisor but perhaps in interprocess and / or api communication with the hypervisor ). according to an example , scheduling ( e . g ., scheduling performed by a virtualization manger ) may take into account the availability — for instance temporarily unavailable / permanently unavailable / available status , performance level , and / or reliability level — of external services . for instance , scheduling with regard to a hypervisor cluster may take into account the availability of a network , provided as an external service , which provides access to that cluster ( e . g ., an external service - provided vm logical network ). ascertaining such external service availability may , according to an example , be possible ( e . g ., by the action of a virtualization manger ). according to another example , scheduling may not so take into account the availability of external services . for instance , scheduling might assume that external services ( e . g ., external service - provided networks ) do not fall into a state of unavailability . according to an example , editing of properties of external services may be possible ( e . g ., via a gui and / or via the action of a virtualization manger ). for instance , with respect to an external service - provided logical network , properties such as employed network elements ( e . g ., virtual switches , virtual bridges , and / or virtual routers ), network data rates , network protocols , network authentication , network subnets , and / or node connections may be editable . subnet properties may include subnet names , subnet classless internet domain routing ( cidr ) information ( e . g ., an ip address specifying the network name and the net mask prefix ), and ip version ( e . g ., ipv4 or ipv6 ). the subnet properties may be employed ( e . g ., by a virtualization manager ) in allocating ip addresses ( e . g ., to vms ). as examples , where there is a single subnet , ip address allocation candidates ( e . g ., vms ) may receive ip addresses from that subnet , where there is more than one subnet , ip address allocation candidates ( e . g ., vms ) may receive ip addresses from one of those subnets ( e . g ., in accordance with the directive of a user and / or the virtualization manager ), and where no subnets exist , ip address allocation candidates ( e . g ., vms ) may not receive ip addresses . the ip address allocation candidates may receive the ip addresses via dynamic host configuration protocol ( dhcp ) ( e . g ., via a corresponding os such as a guest os where the allocation candidate is a vm ). according to an example subnets may not be employed ( e . g ., in ip address allocation ). also , according to an example the deletion of external service instances — for instance the deletion of an external service - provided logical network — may be possible ( e . g ., via a gui and / or via the action of a virtualization manger ). moreover , according to an example functionality discussed herein may integrate with security groups . for instance , there may be integration with security group profiles , integration with the association of security groups with network ports , and / or integration with the association of security groups with configurable connectors ( e . g ., vnics ). moreover , there may be integration with internet protocol address management ( ipam ). fig5 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the example form of a computing device 500 within which a set of instructions , for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein , may be executed . in alternative examples , the machine may be connected ( e . g ., networked ) to other machines in a local area network ( lan ), an intranet , an extranet , or the internet . the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in a client - server network environment , or as a peer machine in a peer - to - peer ( or distributed ) network environment . the machine may be a personal computer ( pc ), a tablet computer , a set - top box ( stb ), a personal digital assistant ( pda ), a cellular telephone , a web appliance , a server , a network router , switch or bridge , or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions ( sequential or otherwise ) that specify actions to be taken by that machine . further , while only a single machine is illustrated , the term “ machine ” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines ( e . g ., computers ) that individually or jointly execute a set ( or multiple sets ) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein . the example computing device 500 includes a processing device 502 , a main memory 504 ( e . g ., read - only memory ( rom ), flash memory , dynamic random access memory ( dram ) such as synchronous dram ( sdram ) or rambus dram ( rdram ), etc . ), a static memory 506 ( e . g ., flash memory , static random access memory ( sram ), etc . ), and a secondary memory ( e . g ., a data storage device 518 ), which communicate with each other via a bus 508 . processing device 502 represents one or more general - purpose processors such as a microprocessor , central processing unit , or the like . more particularly , the processing device 502 may be a complex instruction set computing ( cisc ) microprocessor , reduced instruction set computing ( risc ) microprocessor , very long instruction word ( vliw ) microprocessor , processor implementing other instruction sets , or processors implementing a combination of instruction sets . processing device 502 may also be one or more special - purpose processing devices such as an application specific integrated circuit ( asic ), a field programmable gate array ( fpga ), a digital signal processor ( dsp ), network processor , or the like . processing device 502 is configured to execute the processing logic ( instructions 526 ) for performing the operations and steps discussed herein . the computing device 500 may further include a network interface device 522 . the computing device 500 also may include a video display unit 510 ( e . g ., a liquid crystal display ( lcd ) or a cathode ray tube ( crt )), an alphanumeric input device 512 ( e . g ., a keyboard ), a cursor control device 514 ( e . g ., a mouse ), and a signal generation device 520 ( e . g ., a speaker ). the data storage device 518 may include a machine - readable storage medium ( or more specifically a computer - readable storage medium ) 524 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions 526 embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein . the instructions 526 may also reside , completely or at least partially , within the main memory 504 , within the static memory 506 and / or within the processing device 502 during execution thereof by the computer system 500 , the main memory 504 , static memory 506 and the processing device 502 also constituting computer - readable storage media . while the computer - readable storage medium 524 is shown in an example to be a single medium , the term “ computer - readable storage medium ” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media ( e . g ., a centralized or distributed database , and / or associated caches and servers ) that store the one or more sets of instructions . the term “ computer - readable storage medium ” shall also be taken to include any medium other than a carrier wave that is capable of storing or encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention . the term “ computer - readable storage medium ” shall accordingly be taken to include , but not be limited to , solid - state memories , and optical and magnetic media . although the operations of the methods herein are shown and described in a particular order , the order of the operations of each method may be altered so that certain operations may be performed in an inverse order or so that certain operation may be performed , at least in part , concurrently with other operations . in another embodiment , instructions or sub - operations of distinct operations may be in an intermittent and / or alternating manner . it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative , and not restrictive . many other embodiments will be apparent upon reading and understanding the above description . although embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to specific example embodiments , it will be recognized that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described , but can be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims . accordingly , the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense . the scope of the invention should , therefore , be determined with reference to the appended claims , along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled . furthermore , the terms “ first ,” “ second ,” “ third ,” “ fourth ,” etc . as used herein are meant as labels to distinguish among different elements and may not necessarily have an ordinal meaning according to their numerical designation .	6
ratio si / al was determined by a pw1400 x ray fluorescence spectrometer xrf analysis ; xrd spectra were measured by a rigaku x - ray diffractometer using cu kα ( λ = 1 . 5418 å ) radiation ; isothermal nitrogen absorption - desorption curves were measured at − 196 ° c . using a micromeritics asap 2020m and 3020m system , wherein the sample was degassed for 10 h at 150 ° c . before being measured ; tem images were obtained on a jeol jem - 2100f electron microscope operated at 200 kv and jeol jem - 3010 instrument operated at 300 kv ; pore size distribution for mesopores was calculated using barrett - joyner - halenda ( bjh ) model ; and thermogravimetric analysis ( tg ) and differential thermal analysis ( dta ) were performed with sdt q600 v8 . 2 build 100 instrument in air with a heating rate of 10 ° c ./ min . now the present invention is described by reference to a specific example , which is provided to demonstrate the present invention only , rather than to limit the present invention in any way . in this example , all the reaction agents are of technical grade , wherein : the template is polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride ( aqueous solution with a solid content of 20 wt % and a molecular weight of 1 × 10 5 - 2 × 10 5 ) purchased from sigma - aldrich company , ltd . ( usa ); the base source is naoh and the aluminum source is naalo 2 , both of them were purchased from sinopharm chemical reagent co . ; benzene , benzyl alcohol , benzaldehyde , 2 - hydroxyacetophenone , phenol , tert - butyl alcohol and dodecane were purchased from aladdin industrial co ( china ); and in this example , single crystals of zeolite beta according to the invention were synthesized by use of pdadma chloride as template , wherein the silicon source calculated as sio 2 , the template calculated as cationic pdadma monomer , the aluminum source calculated as al 2 o 3 , the base source calculated as na 2 o and h 2 o were used at a molar ratio of 45sio 2 / 7 . 5pdadma / al 2 o 3 / 10na 2 o / 2258h 2 o . specifically , 0 . 08 g naalo 2 and 0 . 3 g naoh being dissolved in 12 . 1 ml deionized water , then 2 . 0 g pdadma chloride ( calculated on the basis of the aqueous solution with a solid content of 20 wt %) being added and stirring being continued for about 0 . 5 h to form a clear solution ; then , 0 . 935 g fumed silica being added to the clear solution and stirring being continued for 12 - 24 h to form a gel ; and the resultant gel being transferred into an autoclave to be crystallized at about 180 ° c . for about 96 h ; finally , the resultant crystallization product being filtered at room temperature , dried at about 100 ° c ., and calcined at about 550 ° c . for about 5 h to remove the template , thereby the zeolite product beta - ms being obtained . the zeolite product beta - ms was measured for xrd spectra , isothermal nitrogen absorption - desorption curves and tem images respectively . specifically : xrd spectra are shown in fig1 . it can be seen that the shown spectra are of typical zeolite beta , thus , it can be confirmed that the presently synthesized product is zeolite beta indeed ; isothermal nitrogen absorption - desorption curves are shown in fig2 . it can be seen that the isothermal nitrogen absorption - desorption curves exhibit a hysteresis loop at a relative pressure of 0 . 50 & lt ; p / p 0 & lt ; 0 . 90 , thereby the presence of meso - pores in the presently synthesized zeolite beta can be confirmed . tem images are shown in fig3 a - 3 d , wherein low magnification images ( fig3 a and 3 b ) show obvious mesopores in the sample , thus it is further confirmed that the presently synthesized zeolite beta is with a composite pore structure ; and wherein high resolution tem images ( fig3 c and 3 d ) show very ordered micropores in same direction and this is in good agreement with the characteristics of single crystals of zeolite beta , thereby it is determined that the presently synthesized zeolite beta with a composite pore structure is its single crystals , furthermore , this regard can be demonstrated by that the electron diffraction of zeolite beta particle , inserted at left bottom of fig3 b , is a single set of diffraction spectra , which indicated that zeolite beta particle is a single crystal rather than a nanocrystal aggregation . finally , for the presently synthesized zeolite beta with a composite pore structure , the following properties , i . e . ratio si / al of 10 . 2 , bet surface area of 724 m 2 / g , pore volume of 0 . 90 cm 3 / g , and the calculated central value of bjh pore size distribution of 7 nm , were obtained through further analyses and measurement . after being exposed to 100 % steam at 700 ° c . for 2 h , the synthesized zeolite product beta - ms has bet surface area of 538 m 2 / g , pore volume of 0 . 87 cm 3 / g , and the calculated central value of bjh pore size distribution of 11 . 4 nm . compared with the above - mentioned original data , it can be known that the presently synthesized zeolite beta - ms with a composite pore structure has good hydrothermal stability , i . e . keeping high bet surface area and large pore volume even after hydrothermal treatment . thus , the presently synthesized zeolite beta with a composite pore structure has a good properties for industrial applications . the presently synthesized zeolite beta ms with a composite pore structure is tested for its catalytic ability in comparison with the conventional zeolite beta , which conventional zeolite beta was purchased from nankai university and is with ratio si / al of 12 . 2 , bet surface area of 587 m 2 / g and pore volume of 0 . 36 cm 3 / g , and after hydrothermal treatment , i . e . after being exposed to 100 % steam at 700 ° c . for 2 h , is with bet surface area of 487 m 2 / g and pore volume of 0 . 36 cm 3 / g , that is to say , this conventional zeolite beta is with good hydrothermal stability and suitable for industrial application either . table 1 shows a summary about the properties of the presently synthesized zeolite beta ms with a composite pore structure and the conventional zeolite beta before and after hydrothermal treatment . all the zeolite samples used in the tests of catalytic ability are in hydrogen form . for this purpose , the zeolite samples were ion - exchanged with 1m nh 4 no 3 at 80 ° c ., then calcined at 500 ° c . for 5 h , and this procedure was repeated twice , thereby both zeolite beta ms with a composite pore structure and the conventional zeolite beta in hydrogen form were obtained . herein , the obtained zeolite beta ms with a composite pore structure and the conventional zeolite beta in hydrogen form were used in bulky molecular hydrocarbon conversions such as low - density polyethylene ( ldpe ) pyrolysis , alkylation of benzene with benzyl alcohol ( abb ), condensation of benzaldehyde with hydroxyacetophenone ( cbh ), and alkylation of phenol with tert - butyl alcohol ( apt ). firstly , low - density polyethylene ( ldpe ) pyrolysis was carried out in a henven hct - 3 ( beijing ) differential thermal balance under a nitrogen flow of 50 cm 3 / min and a reaction temperature ramping from 30 ° c . to 600 ° c . at a rate of 10 ° c ./ min , wherein the polymer powder and the zeolite were carefully weighed and intimately mixed at a mass ratio 10 : 1 in the α - al 2 o 3 crucibles of the differential thermal balance . fig4 shows the curves for conversions versus temperatures of pdpe pyrolyses over beta ms ( zeolite beta with a composite pore structure ) and beta ( conventional zeolite beta ) as well as without any catalyst ( blank ), wherein the conversions are determined from thermogravimetric data of ldpe . as can be known from fig4 , the presently synthesized zeolite beta ms with a composite pore structure has much higher catalytic activity than the conventional zeolite beta , specifically , zeolite beta ms with a composite pore structure can reach a relatively high conversion at a relatively low reaction temperature . of course , both zeolite beta ms and zeolite beta show significant catalytic activity over that without any catalyst ( shown as blank in fig4 ). furthermore , in alkylation of benzene with benzyl alcohol ( abb ), condensation of benzaldehyde with hydroxyacetophenone ( cbh ), and alkylation of phenol with tert - butyl alcohol ( apt ) ( their reaction formula are shown in fig5 ), the obtained products were analyzed by gas chromatography shimazu 2010c with a flame ionization detector ( fid ), wherein a column db - 1 ( 30 m ) was used , the flame ionization detector ( fid ) is at a temperature of 280 ° c ., and the separated product was determined by 1 h nmr technology . all the above - mentioned three reactions are carried out in a three - necked round flask equipped with a condenser and a magnetic stirrer , wherein the reaction temperature is ramping from an initial value of 80 ° c . to a final value of 280 ° c . at a heating rate of 10 ° c ./ min . in all the three reactions , a stirring rate of higher than 800 rpm and catalyst particles smaller than 400 mesh were required . specifically , the alkylation of benzene with benzyl alcohol ( abb ) was carried out by mixing 0 . 02 g catalyst with 57 mmol benzene and 2 . 9 mmol benzyl alcohol at about 80 ° c . for a time period of about 5 h ; the condensation of benzaldehyde with 2 - hydroxyacetophenone ( cbh ) was carried out by mixing 0 . 10 g catalyst with 14 mmol benzaldehyde and 7 mmol 2 - hydroxyacetophenone at about 150 ° c . for a time period of about 18 h ; and the alkylation of phenol with tert - butyl alcohol ( apt ) was carried out by mixing 0 . 15 g catalyst with 5 mmol phenol , 10 mmol tert - butyl alcohol , and 10 ml cyclohexane solvent at about 100 ° c . for a time period of about 4 h . the conversions of each reaction over the two catalysts are shown in table 2 . as can be known from the data in table 2 , in terms of alkylation of benzene with benzyl alcohol ( abb ), condensation of benzaldehyde with hydroxyacetophenone ( cbh ), and alkylation of phenol with tert - butyl alcohol ( apt ), the presently synthesized zeolite beta ms with a composite pore structure reached much higher conversions than the conventional zeolite beta . thus , the presently synthesized zeolite beta with a composite pore structure is much better than the conventional zeolite beta when being used as the catalyst for bulky molecular hydrocarbon conversions .	2
with initial reference to fig1 , a device for the harmonization of mechanical and electromagnetic oscillations according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is generally indicated 10 , and comprises an outer body 12 and an inner body 14 , both of which are axially symmetric with respect to the same axis of symmetry x . the outer body 12 has a shape which is substantially that of an inverted cup , with a base 16 extending perpendicular to the axis x and with a skirt 18 of cylindrical shape which extends downwards from the base 16 and defines inside it a cylindrical cavity 20 . the inner body 14 is substantially a solid cylindrical body and is interference - fitted into the cavity 20 so as to be firmly connected to the outer body 12 . on the outer lateral surface of the skirt 18 of the outer body 12 there is provided a plurality of circumferential grooves 22 ( preferably three in number ), which in the illustrated embodiment have depths differing from each other , in particular an increasing depth from the bottom to the top , in the sense that the lowermost groove 22 has the smallest depth , while the uppermost groove 22 has the greatest depth . similarly , on the outer lateral surface of the inner body 14 there is provided a plurality of circumferential grooves 24 ( preferably three in number ), which in the illustrated embodiment have different depths from each other . more specifically , in the illustrated embodiment the lowermost and uppermost grooves 24 have the same depth , which is less than the depth of the intermediate groove 24 . the grooves 22 and / or 24 could be omitted , but it has been found that their presence increases the efficiency of the device . the inner body 14 has a greater height than that of the cavity 20 , and therefore projects downwards with respect to the base of the outer body 12 . in the base 16 of the outer body 12 there is provided a cavity 26 , which is upwardly open and has a generally cylindrical shape with its axis coinciding with the axis x . one of the outer body 12 and the inner body 14 is made of steel and the other is made of copper . preferably , the outer body 12 is made of steel and the inner body 14 is made of copper , but the materials of the two bodies could be reversed . the steel used is preferably stainless steel . fig2 shows the values chosen for some of the characteristic dimensions of the device of fig1 , these values being taken from the latest version of the aforesaid musical system based on φ and π . for example , the outside diameter of the outer body 12 is equal to 10 , the diameter of the cylindrical cavity 20 is equal to 6 . 18034 , the diameter of the cavity 26 is equal to 6 . 47213 , the inside diameter ( minimum diameter ) of the upper groove 22 is equal to 7 . 5 , the inside diameter ( minimum diameter ) of the intermediate groove 24 is equal to 3 . 33333 , the distance between each pair of adjacent grooves 22 is equal to 2 , and so on . the measurements stated here represent values by which a basic measurement , advantageously equal to 7 . 2 mm , is to be multiplied . the table in fig3 shows the connections of some of the characteristic measurements of the aforementioned device 10 with the number φ and with some harmonic ratios , in particular 2 , 3 , 4 / 3 , 3 / 2 , 9 / 4 , 5 / 2 , 5 and 5 / 3 . the system of numbers in this table also shows connections with the number π . for example , the number 10 . 47214 is equal to the product of 6 . 47214 and φ as well as to the product of 3 . 33333 and π , and similarly the number 14 . 56231 is equal to the product of 6 . 47214 and 9 / 4 as well as to the product of 4 . 63525 and π , and so on . as shown in fig4 and 5 , the cavity 26 provided in the base 16 of the outer body 12 allows two or more devices 10 to be stacked on each other . in this connection , it has been found that when a plurality of devices is connected in series in the manner shown in fig4 and 5 the efficiency of the devices increases . fig4 shows the stacked arrangement of two devices 10 having identical dimensions , in which case the part of the inner body 14 of the upper device which projects downwards from the outer body 12 is received in the cavity 26 of the lower device . in the example of fig5 , on the contrary , the upper device is smaller than the lower one . in this case , the outer body 12 of the upper device is partially received in the cavity 26 of the lower device and the part of the inner body 14 of the upper device which projects downwards from the outer body 12 is received in a further cavity 28 , having a smaller diameter than that of the cavity 26 , provided in the base 16 of the device . fig6 and 7 , in which parts which are identical to , or correspond to , those of fig1 and 2 have been given the same reference numerals , show a further embodiment of the device according to the invention . in this further embodiment of the device 10 , the outer body 12 and the inner body 14 are also made as solids of revolution about the axis x . however , by contrast with the embodiment described above with reference to fig1 and 2 , the meridian curves which define the outer body 12 and the inner body 14 by revolution about the axis x are not straight lines but curved lines . in particular , in the proposed embodiment , both the outer body 12 and the inner body 14 are egg - shaped . alternatively , it is possible to provide a device having a cylindrical outer body and an egg - shaped inner body , or vice versa . the device according to the invention has been tested by the applicant in many different applications and has always proved highly effective in improving the behaviour of bodies and systems subject to mechanical and / or electromagnetic oscillations . for example , the application of one or more devices according to the invention to musical instruments ( whether acoustic or electric / electronic ), acoustic boxes , headphones , or electrical amplifiers provides a marked improvement in both the sound quality and the acoustic spectrum . the application of one or more devices according to the invention to electrical components such as connecting or power supply cables , transformers , mains supply units , printed circuits , computers or the like enables the performance of these components to be optimized . for example , the transfer of digital images from a hard disk to a screen is substantially improved , or the reproduction of the images is markedly clearer , if one or more devices according to the invention are applied to the hard disk , the connecting cable and / or the screen . in the case of cables , regardless of whether they are connecting cables or power supply cables , it is advantageous to use two devices , placed on diametrically opposite sides of the cable . naturally , the principle of the invention remaining the same , the embodiments and details of construction may be varied widely with respect to those described and illustrated purely by way of non - limiting example , without thereby departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the attached claims . for example , the device can be made as an integral part of a system subject to mechanical and / or electromagnetic oscillations . in this connection , the device can be made , for example , in the form of a screw , in which case the outer body of the device will form the head and the threaded shank of the screw and the inner body will be inserted into an axial hole provided inside the shank of the screw . the device can also be made , for example , in the form of a knob of a potentiometer of an amplifier or other electrical or electronic circuit .	6
many aspects of the invention can be better understood with the references made to the drawings below . the components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale . instead , emphasis is placed upon clearly illustrating the components of the present invention . moreover , like reference numerals designate corresponding parts through the several views in the drawings . fig1 is a front perspective view of a computer input device according to selected embodiments of the current disclosure . the computer input device 10 has a base 20 , stick 30 , and handle 40 . the handle 40 includes pad buttons 42 on the right side of the handle , as well as a plurality of handle buttons 41 located on the front side of the handle 40 . the base 20 of the computer input device 10 also includes buttons 21 . the fingers of the user &# 39 ; s hand that grasps the handle 40 of the computer input device 10 may press buttons 21 on the base 20 . it should be appreciated that the pad buttons 42 may instead or additionally be located on the left side of the handle such that the opposite hand may be used to interact with the computer input device . fig2 is a back perspective view of a computer input device according to selected embodiments of the current disclosure . the computer input device 10 has a base 20 , stick 30 , and handle 40 , where the stick 30 connects the handle 40 to the base 20 . a user grasps the handle 40 , which is horizontally oriented and perpendicular to the stick 30 . by moving the handle 40 forwards , backwards , sideways to the left , or sideways to the right , a user causes the angle of the stick 30 to change relative to the base 20 . this change in angle can be read in using sensors , such as potentiometers . fig3 is a front perspective view of a hand grasping a computer input device according to selected embodiments of the current disclosure . in this figure , a user &# 39 ; s left hand 90 grasps the handle 40 of the computer input device 10 . the user &# 39 ; s thumb is able to press any one of the plurality of pad buttons ( not clearly visible in this figure ) on the right side of the handle 40 . the fingers of the user &# 39 ; s hand 90 may press the handle buttons 41 ( not clearly visible in this figure ), or may extend downward to press the buttons 21 on the base 20 . note that the same finger may have access to multiple buttons . fig4 is a front perspective view of a user engaging buttons on the base of a computer input device according to selected embodiments of the current disclosure . a user &# 39 ; s hand 90 grasps the handle 40 , where the fingers of hand 90 are extended to depress , or activate , buttons 21 located on the base 20 of the computer input device 10 . fig5 is a schematic view of electrical components of a computer input device according to selected embodiments of the current disclosure . a user interacts with a 3d environment through moving the handle , which in turn moves the stick , of the computer input device . movement of the stick , or more specifically the angular displacement of the stick , is measured by stick sensors 31 . stick sensors 31 may be potentiometers , which are capable of translating the angle of the stick into an electrical signal . since there are two stick sensors , the angular displacement along two axes may be determined . the user may also press buttons 21 , handle buttons 41 , or pad buttons 42 . these buttons are electrically connected to a main board 15 . motors 50 are used to provide haptic feedback to the user . two motors in mechanical connection with the stick allow for force feedback applied on two axes . by appropriately varying the force applied by the motors , the computer input device can vibrate or rumble . a light emitting diode ( led ) 22 is used to provide visual feedback to users . the led 22 is located in the base of the computer input device . if the external surface of the base is opaque , then the led 22 should extend therethrough . fig6 is a diagram of the main electrical components of a computer input device according to selected embodiments of the current disclosure . the buttons 21 located on the main board 15 as well as led 22 , stick sensors 31 , handle buttons 41 , and pad buttons 42 located off of the main board 15 are in electrical connection with the main board 15 . motors 50 are in electrical connection with the motor driver 23 , which is located on the main board 15 . a central processing unit ( cpu ) 25 is also located on the main board 15 , and controls and processes signals from the electrical components of the computer input device . a data port , such as a universal serial bus ( usb ) 24 , provides a communication link with an external source , such as a personal computer . fig7 is a diagram of the connections between a computer input device and a game console connector according to selected embodiments of the current disclosure . input from the buttons is accepted through connections b 1 through b 16 . input from a mechanism to translate the relative angle ( or displacement angle ) of the stick into an electrical signal , such as a potentiometer , is accepted through connections c 1 and c 2 . the inputs from these connections are processed by the central processing unit 25 , which then provides output through a data port such as a universal serial bus 24 , or other similar means of communication , to an external device such as a computer , a game console , or other electronic device . motors are activated and controlled through connections m 1 and m 2 . input for controlling motors through m 1 and m 2 may be provided by a computer , game console , or other electronic device through universal serial bus 24 . as described above , the computer input device provides input for a computer or like device . the computer or like device may be a variety of electronic devices including without limitation , personal computers , mainframe computers , tablet computers , gaming consoles , and televisions . furthermore , the above referenced devices may also provide input to the computer input device , such as for providing haptic or visual feedback to the user . in addition to the buttons described above , one or more scroll wheels and / or throttle controls may be integrated therein . the scroll wheels or throttle controls may be accessible by a thumb or finger of the user . the handle in a horizontal orientation also has the benefit of providing a computer input device with a low profile . typical joysticks used in the gaming environment with vertical handles can be seven inches tall or more . the current invention , however , can be less than four and one - half inches ( 4½ ″) tall . thus , when the current invention is used in conjunction with a standard computer mouse , the difference in elevation between the user &# 39 ; s hands is much less than if the user was using a standard joystick with a vertical handle . the low profile of the current invention also results in a low center of gravity , which in turn reduces the required footprint of the device . to prevent the computer input device from tipping over , the base of the computer input device must be of a width and depth to resist such an occurrence under normal operating conditions . with a lower center of gravity , the tendency for the computer input device to tip over is reduced , thus requiring a smaller base size and overall footprint of the device . additionally , the user generally applies a downward force that also reduces the tendency for the computer input device to tip over . the computer input device of the current invention can receive input through movements of the handle and stick . in one embodiment , the stick has two axes of movement , for example , movement forward and back and movement from side to side . a second embodiment adds a third axis , wherein the stick may be rotated about its longitudinal axis in addition to forward and backward and side - to - side movement . in yet another embodiment , rotation about the longitudinal axis of the handle is measured , where this additional axis is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stick . the handle is allowed to rotate forward and backward on the stick , similar to the action of the throttle of a typical motorcycle . in an alternative embodiment , the computer input device transmits its input signals to a computer by means of a wireless connection instead of a wired connection . for example , the computer input device may operably connect to a computer by means of a bluetooth connection , wherein the data port would be the bluetooth network communication interface . another embodiment provides a computer input device with internal lights that provide visual feedback to the user . with a transparent or translucent covering , internal lights will shine through to indicate different situations to a user . for example , the computer input device can flash red when the user &# 39 ; s computer character is hit , change color depending on the user &# 39 ; s computer character &# 39 ; s health , change color to display the relative change in a stock market index ( such as red for a loss and green for a gain ), and / or flash when a message is received by the computer . in this fashion , the computer sends an input to the computer input device to cause such a color to display from the computer input device . the covering of the computer input device may be colored as well , wherein logos and / or advertisements may be affixed thereto . galvanic skin detection to detect perspiration from the user &# 39 ; s hand may be integrated into the computer input device . such a feature enables game manufacturers to more clearly understand and program for stressful areas of a game and to optimize game play accordingly . along this similar line of thought , heat sensor and / or heart rate monitors may be integrated as well , also to measure the stress of the user at various points in time . in yet a further embodiment , the computer input device can vibrate to provide tactile feedback to the user , through the use of one or more devices such as the motors described above . for example , the computer may send a signal to the computer input device to cause it to vibrate when the user &# 39 ; s character is injured . in another embodiment , a method is provided for aiding an individual in interacting with a computer , particularly three - dimensional environments rendered by a computer . first , an individual obtains a computer input device , where the computer input device has a base stick , and handle . the handle includes pad buttons on the right side of the handle , as well as a plurality of handle buttons located on the front side of the handle . the base of the computer input device also includes buttons . a user grasps the handle of the computer input device , and displaces or moves the stick around to provide directional input to the computer . the user may also depress one or more of the bottoms on either the handle or the base , either while the stick is displaced or some period of time before or after . in this manner , those with undeveloped dexterity ( such as children ), arthritis , carpal tunnel , tendinitis , or other joint ailments ( such as the elderly ), and others with reduced cognitive abilities ( such as individuals with autism or other mental disabilities ) may interact with a computer to achieve various tasks , including navigating two - dimensional and three - dimensional environments . it should be understood that while the preferred embodiments of the invention are described in some detail herein , the present disclosure is made by way of example only and that variations and changes thereto are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims , and a reasonable equivalency thereof , which claims i regard as my invention . all of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the united states and other countries . the copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure , as it appears in official governmental records but , otherwise , all other copyright rights whatsoever are reserved .	0

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