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fig1 shows a balloon catheter that can be used to illustrate the features of the invention . the catheter 10 of the invention generally comprises an elongated catheter shaft 11 having a proximal section 12 , a distal section 13 , an inflatable balloon 14 on the distal section 13 of the catheter shaft 11 , and an adapter 17 mounted on the proximal section 12 of shaft 11 . in fig1 , the catheter 10 is illustrated within a greatly enlarged view of a patient &# 39 ; s body lumen 18 , prior to expansion of the balloon 14 , adjacent the tissue to be injected with therapeutic agents . in the embodiment illustrated in fig1 , the catheter shaft 11 has an outer tubular member 19 and an inner tubular member 20 disposed within the outer tubular member and defining , with the outer tubular member , inflation lumen 21 . inflation lumen 21 is in fluid communication with the interior chamber 15 of the inflatable balloon 14 . the inner tubular member 20 has an inner lumen 22 extending therein which is configured to slidably receive a guidewire 23 suitable for advancement through a patient &# 39 ; s coronary arteries . the distal extremity of the inflatable balloon 14 is sealingly secured to the distal extremity of the inner tubular member 20 and the proximal extremity of the balloon is sealingly secured to the distal extremity of the outer tubular member 19 . fig2 and 3 show transverse cross sections of the catheter shaft 11 and balloon 14 , respectively , illustrating the guidewire receiving lumen 22 of the guidewire &# 39 ; s inner tubular member 20 and inflation lumen 21 leading to the balloon interior 15 . the balloon 14 can be inflated by a fluid such as air , saline , or other fluid that is introduced at the port in the side arm 24 into inflation lumen 21 contained in the catheter shaft 11 , or by other means , such as from a passageway formed between the outside of the catheter shaft 11 and the member forming the balloon 14 , depending on the particular design of the catheter . the details and mechanics of the mode of inflating the balloon vary according to the specific design of the catheter , and are omitted from the present discussion . fig1 and 4 illustrate an embodiment of the catheter of fig1 with a vascular stent 16 mounted thereon . the stent 16 can be made in many ways . one method of making the stent is to cut a thin - walled tubular member , such as stainless steel tubing to remove portions of the tubing in the desired pattern for the stent , leaving relatively untouched the portions of the metallic tubing which are to form the stent . the stent also can be made from other metal alloys such as tantalum , nickel - titanium , cobalt - chromium , titanium , shape memory and superelastic alloys , and the nobel metals such as gold or platinum . it is preferred to cut the tubing in the desired pattern by means of a machine - controlled laser as is well known in the art . stents function to hold open a segment of a blood vessel or other body lumen such as a renal or coronary artery . at present , there are numerous commercial stents being marketed throughout the world . while some of these stents are flexible and have the appropriate radial rigidity needed to hold open a vessel or artery , there typically is a tradeoff between flexibility and radial strength and the ability to tightly compress or crimp the stent onto a catheter so that it does not move relative to the catheter or dislodge prematurely prior to controlled implantation in a vessel . currently , to secure a stent 16 on a balloon 14 , after the stent is crimped onto the deflated balloon such that the balloon partially protrudes through the stent struts . during this process , the balloon and stent are placed in a heated mold and pressurized . the balloon protrusions then acts as holds to secure the stent in place . in a typical procedure to implant stent 16 , the guide wire 23 is advanced through the patient &# 39 ; s vascular system by well known methods so that the distal end of the guide wire is advanced past the location for the placement of the stent in the body lumen 18 . prior to implanting the stent 16 , the cardiologist may wish to perform an angioplasty procedure or other procedure ( i . e ., atherectomy ) in order to open the vessel and remodel the diseased area . thereafter , the stent delivery catheter assembly 10 is advanced over the guide wire 23 so that the stent 16 is positioned in the target area . the balloon 14 is inflated so that it expands radially outwardly and in turn expands the stent 16 radially outwardly until the stent 16 bears against the vessel wall of the body lumen 18 . the balloon 14 is then deflated and the catheter withdrawn from the patient &# 39 ; s vascular system , leaving the stent 16 in place to dilate the body lumen . the guide wire 23 typically is left in the lumen for post - dilatation procedures , if any , and subsequently is withdrawn from the patient &# 39 ; s vascular system . as depicted in fig4 , the balloon 14 is fully inflated with the stent 16 expanded and pressed against the vessel wall , and thereafter the implanted stent 16 remains in the vessel after the balloon has been deflated and the catheter assembly and guide wire have been withdrawn from the patient . fig4 further illustrates a close up section of the balloon 14 showing the inner member 20 extending through the balloon &# 39 ; s working portion 63 to the shoulder 50 , taper portion 52 , and out the balloon &# 39 ; s distal end 54 . the soft tip 56 is located to the distal end of the inner member 20 . as can be seen , a support sleeve 58 is placed over the inner member 20 beginning at the axial location of the shoulder 50 and extending to the end of the taper portion of the balloon . the support sleeve 58 is preferably bonded to the inner member 20 and provides added stiffness to the balloon 14 through the taper portion 52 . the support sleeve 58 can extend into the working portion 63 of the balloon 14 and beyond the taper portion in the distal direction . however , an advantage of the support sleeve 58 terminating at the shoulder 50 of the balloon 14 is that a radio opaque marker band 60 can be located in abutment with the support sleeve 58 and the marker band 60 will have a distal end 62 that coincides with the precise location of the shoulder 50 . this allows the marker band 60 to indicate to a physician the precise location of the balloon &# 39 ; s taper portion 52 and promote more accurate placement of the balloon &# 39 ; s stent 16 . a similar support sleeve 59 can be applied to the proximal taper portion to locate a second opaque marker band 61 such that the two markers define the working portion 63 of the balloon . in another embodiment , the marker band 60 can be placed over the support sleeve 58 in the taper portion 52 of the balloon 14 to identify the taper portion 52 . a physician can then ensure that the stent is proximal to the radio opaque marker band 60 that lies in the taper section of the balloon . the support sleeve can be made of one or more materials so as to establish either a constant or an increasing force / stiffness profile as the transition between the soft tip 56 and the stent / working body portion 63 of the balloon 14 . for example , multiple rings 65 a , 65 b of materials increasing in stiffness can be joined together to create a multiphase transition across the sleeve 58 . alternatively , a support 59 made of a single material of varying thickness can be used to create a desired force profile . that is , the sleeve can be made thinner at the distal portion adjacent the soft tip to provide a more flexible area , while increasing in thickness in the proximal direction to ramp up to the more stiff stent / working portion 63 portion of the balloon 14 . various materials can be used to form the support sleeve , such as materials used to make the marker band ( tungsten , platinum / iridium ) and one or more polymers ( pebax , nylon , etc .). the marker band 60 and support sleeve 58 can be laser bonded to each other and to the inner member 20 , or heat bonding , swaging , adhesive , or other bonding methods can be used . while particular forms of the invention have been illustrated and described , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , it is not intended that the invention be limited except by the appended claims .	0
hereinafter , an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings . fig1 illustrates a single - axis numerical control system including a speed monitoring device of the present invention . in addition , fig2 illustrates a block diagram showing a speed monitoring device 8 shown in the block diagram of fig1 . further , fig3 illustrates a flowchart showing a processing operation by a microcomputer 10 shown in the block diagram of fig2 . still further , fig4 illustrates a flowchart showing contents of a speed determination processing routine shown in step 8 of fig3 . in fig1 , when a rotation shaft of a servomotor 3 rotates , a ball screw mechanism 2 directly connected to the rotation shaft causes a table 1 to move linearly . on the servomotor 3 , a 250 pulse per revolution encoder 4 serving as a position sensor is mounted and detects an amount of revolution of the rotation shaft and outputs the result as a signal pos . a numerical control device 5 controls a motor current based on speed information obtained by converting the output signal pos from the encoder 4 and then controls the speed and position of the servomotor 3 . in addition , the numerical control device 5 performs , for example , positioning control of the table 1 according to position information of the table 1 obtained by converting the output signal pos from the encoder 4 and an nc program which is input in advance . a safety switch 7 unlocks a guard 6 based on an unlock signal ul from the numerical control device 5 . further , when the guard 6 is open , the safety switch 7 outputs a signal op indicating that the guard 6 is open . further , the speed monitoring device 8 detects a speed of the table 1 serving as a moving element from the output signal pos from the encoder 4 , and if a moving speed exceeds the safe speed , outputs an over - speed signal ov to the numerical control device 5 . if both of the over - speed signal ov from the speed monitoring device 8 and the controlled speed for the table 1 are equal to or less than the safe speed , the numerical control device 5 outputs the unlock signal ul , to thereby allow the guard to be opened . further , if the unlock signal ul is output , and the speed monitoring device 8 outputs the over - speed signal ov , the numerical control device 5 determines that it is a dangerous state and causes the servomotor 3 , etc . to make an emergency stop to thereby ensure security . in addition , if the signal op indicating that guard is open is input while the unlock signal ul is not output , the numerical control device 5 also causes the servomotor 3 , etc . to make an emergency stop to thereby ensure security . in fig2 , the speed monitoring device 8 is composed of an encoder interface 9 , a microcomputer 10 , and a random access memory 11 . the encoder interface 9 converts the output signal pos provided based on pulses from the encoder 4 to positional data po serving as numerical information . here , because a ball screw lead of the ball screw mechanism 2 is 50 mm and the position sensor is 250 pulses per revolution , the resolution of the positional data po is 0 . 2 mm . for each time , the microcomputer 10 performs processing shown in the flowcharts in fig3 and 4 at 10 ms per cycle ( t = 10 ms ). in step 1 , a previously - read parameter gs indicating that the guard is open is stored in a parameter gso . in step 2 , the unlock signal ul is read into the parameter gs . while the unlock signal ul = 0 indicates a locked state , the unlock signal ul = 1 indicates an unlocked state . in step 3 , if it is the unlocked state ( gs = 1 ), steps 4 and 5 are carried out , while if it is the locked state ( gs = 0 ), steps 6 and 7 are carried out . in steps 4 to 7 , a parameter m indicating the number of repeats of speed calculation processing ( described below ) and a parameter mmax indicating a maximum number of repeats are set . specifically , if it is an unlocked state at present ( gs = 1 and yes in step 3 ) and it is also an unlocked state last time ( gso = 1 and no in step 4 ), values of the previously set parameters m and mmax are maintained without changes . if it is an unlocked state at present ( gs = 1 and yes in step 3 ) and it was a locked state last time ( gso = 0 and yes in step 4 ), the open and closed states of the guard 6 change between last time and this time , and speed monitoring is restarted . in this case , a parameter m is set to 1 , and then a parameter mmax is set to 500 . meanwhile , if it is a locked state at present ( gs = 0 and no in step 3 ) and it was also a locked state last time ( gso = 10 and no in step 6 ), values of the previously set parameters m and mmax are maintained without changes . if it is a locked state at present ( gs = 0 and no in step 3 ) and it was an unlocked state last time ( gso = 1 and yes in step 7 ), the open and closed states of the guard 6 change between last time and this time . in this case , the parameter mmax is set to 20 . after completion of the setting of these parameters m and mmax , a speed determination processing routine in step 8 is carried out . the speed determination processing routine is carried out according to the steps shown in fig4 . that is , in step 9 of fig4 , time t is updated by adding a cycle t to a parameter of time t . in step 10 , positional data po output by the encoder interface 9 is read out , and the data is set as a parameter p ( t ) in the random access memory 11 . during steps 11 , 12 , and 13 , 1 is added to the parameter m , and only if the parameter m exceeds the parameter mmax , processing is carried out such that the parameter m is set to be the parameter mmax so that the parameter m does not exceed the parameter mmax . in step 14 , a parameter n is set to 1 and a permitted movement margin is set as a parameter vcn . in step 15 , a parameter vc indicating a comparison distance is added to the parameter vcn . the parameter pm indicating the permitted movement margin is set for 1 , 000 mm in advance . further , if the moving element moves at 2000 mm / min , a distance of 0 . 333 mm over which the moving element moves in 10 ms is set as a comparison distance for the parameter vc . in steps 15 , 16 , 17 , and 18 , an absolute value of p ( t )− p ( t − nt ) indicating a movement amount in time nt is compared with the parameter vcn , and as long as the movement amount in time nt does not exceed vcn (= vc * n + pm ), a single n continues to be added to repeat the processing in steps 15 , 16 , 17 , and 18 m times . if the movement amount in time nt does not exceed vcn even once , in step 19 , the over - speed signal ov is set to 0 and output . further , if the movement amount in time nt exceeds vcn at least once , in step 20 , the over - speed signal ov is set to 1 and output . although , in step 15 , the parameter vcn is calculated by addition processing as the calculation is simple , the parameter vcn may also be calculated by multiplication , vcn = vc * n + pm . further , in steps 3 to 7 in fig3 , the speed determination processing is carried out by switching values of the parameter mmax between two modes , one for a guard - locked state and the other for a guard - unlocked state . because whether the speed exceeds the safe speed limit is monitored while the guard is open , it is necessary to detect the safe speed accurately in order to ensure safety . the greater the parameter m becomes , the better the speed detection accuracy becomes . in contrast , whether the speed becomes equal to or less than the safe speed at which the guard is unlocked is monitored while the guard is locked . it is not determined that the speed is within the safe speed limit even if the speed is equal to or less than the safe speed limit during an m − 1 cycle , unless m cycles have not elapsed that is a case where the parameter m is large and the moving element moved at a high speed m cycles ago . therefore , if the parameter m is large , there is the problem of delay in opening the guard , resulting in deterioration of workability . when the speed is monitored to be equal to or less than the safe speed limit at which the guard is unlocked , there is no problem in making the parameter m small even if the speed exceeds the safe speed limit to some extent , as long as the speed can be instantly reduced to the safe speed after the guard is open , to thereby ensure safety . further , when the speed is monitored to be equal to or less than the safe speed limit at which the guard is open , a controlled speed is also monitored to be equal to or less than the safe speed limit , and therefore , the moving element does not exceed the safe speed limit or make an emergency stop when the guard is unlocked , unless there is a malfunction on the numerical control device side . accordingly , the processing in fig3 includes two modes , one for monitoring whether the speed exceeds the safe speed limit while the guard is open , and the other for monitoring whether the speed is reduced to the safe speed limit while the guard is locked . when the mode for monitoring the speed is reduced to the safe speed limit is selected , a small value of m is set to the mode for monitoring whether the speed exceeds the safe speed limit , to thereby improve responsiveness in opening the guard . as such , although , when m = 500 , the guard is unlocked at least 5 seconds after the safe speed is achieved , when m = 20 , the guard can be opened within 0 . 2 seconds after the safe speed is achieved . in step 5 of fig3 , when the guard is changed from the locked state to the unlocked state , the parameter m is once changed to 1 . if a value of the parameter m is large , a past movement at a high speed while the guard was locked is also evaluated in the determination processing in step 16 . therefore , even if the safe speed is secured after the guard is unlocked , there is the problem that an over - speed is detected erroneously due to the past positional data obtained before the guard is unlocked . for this reason , immediately after speed monitoring is started , m = 1 is adopted , and the parameter m is set to be sufficiently smaller than the parameter mmax so as not to evaluate the positional data which was obtained during the high speed movement before the monitoring starts . another method of addressing this problem is replacing the past positional data p ( t − nt ) obtained m cycles ago with p ( t ) immediately after speed monitoring is started , using the parameter m which is always fixed to the parameter mmax . however , this method has the disadvantage of time - consuming processing in replacement of the past positional data with p ( t ). here , if the number of pulses of the encoder corresponds to a resolution of 250 pulses per revolution and the ball screw lead is 50 mm , as in the single - axis numerical control system in fig1 , a minimum detectable value of the distance is 1 / 250 * 50 mm = 0 . 2 mm . if a movement distance during a sampling cycle t = 10 ms is less than 0 . 2 mm , that is , if the moving speed is less than 0 . 2 mm * 100 * 60 = 1200 mm / min , positional data can never be detected during a short cycle of one sampling cycle ( 10 ms ), and as a result , no speed can be obtained . in other words , if the safe speed is less than 1200 mm / min , the encoder of a low resolution of 250 pulses per revolution cannot determine whether the safe speed is exceeded , and as a result , monitoring cannot be carried out accurately . however , because , during speed monitoring , the single - axis numerical control system shown in fig1 evaluates and monitors the speed based on a movement amount every 10 ms , from 10 ms to 5 seconds , an actual speed resolution is 0 . 2 mm *( 60 / 5 )= 2 . 4 mm / min . in addition , because the single - axis numerical control system determines the speed by adding a permitted movement margin of 1 mm which is over an encoder &# 39 ; s resolution of 0 . 2 mm , the system is not affected by digital errors caused by the insufficient resolution of the encoder . further , even if slight but sudden distance changes occur due to , for example , mechanical backlash or impact , there is no problem of false detection of over - speed , as long as the movement is sufficiently less than 1 mm . even if the speed of a sudden movement of approximately 1 mm far exceeds the safe speed limit , safety can be fully secured , as long as the positional change is within such a level . still further , if the moving element suddenly moves over 1 mm in 10 ms , the movement can be instantly detected as an over - speed , and therefore , it is possible to detect a dangerous state with a high speed response .	6
referring now to the drawings , the cathode assembly is designated in its entirety by the numeral 10 and is mounted horizontally in an evacuable coating chamber 11 . the coating chamber is substantially rectangular and is composed of a bottom wall 12 , top wall 13 , opposite end walls 14 and 15 and side walls ( not shown ). the bottom and top walls 12 and 13 are suitably joined to the end walls 14 and 15 at the hermetic seals 16 and 17 respectively . the side walls are similarly sealed to the top and bottom and end walls . a vacuum pump 18 is provided to evacuate the coating chamber 11 to the desired pressure . should it be desired to inject gases into the chamber , it may be done through a conduit 19 controlled by a valve 20 . the cathode assembly 10 comprises an elongated , cylindrical tubular member 21 mounted in the coating chamber 10 and in the lower portion of which is mounted the magnetic means 22 . the the tubular member 21 is formed of a suitable non - magnetic material such as , for example , brass or stainless steel and is of a diameter , wall thickness and length required for the operation to be performed . the tubular member 21 is closed at its opposite ends by the inner and outer end walls 23 and 24 respectively . the inner end wall 23 is supported by a trunnion 25 received in a bracket 26 secured to the end wall 14 of the coating chamber by machine screws or the like 26a . the tubular member is supported at its outer end in a bushing 27 in the end wall 15 of coating chamber 11 . sealing collars 28 and 29 surround the tubular member 21 and are secured to the end wall 15 of the coating chamber by screws 30 . as stated above , it has been customary to apply the coating material directly to the outer surface of the tubular member . however , according to this invention , a plurality of individual target strips 31 are provided , with each strip having applied to the outer surface thereof a desired coating material 32 to be sputtered . the target strips may be of any preferred width and extend lengthwise of the tubular member substantially the length thereof . the target strips are arranged in spaced parallel relation to one another around the periphery of the tubular member . the target strips 31 are removably secured to the tubular member by clamping bars 33 located between adjacent target strips and secured to said tubular member by machine screws 33a . the target strips are received in recesses 34 in the tubular member and are provided along opposite side edges with flanges 35 which are engaged by the clamping bars 33 to securely hold them in place . it will thus be evident that when the coating material on any one target strip has been depleted , the strip can be readily removed by removing the screws 33a and a new strip with fresh coating material easily and quickly substituted therefor . the operation of the coating appararus can then be resumed , while the removed strip can be cleaned and fresh coating material applied thereto . in this way , a major saving in time and cost of operation of the apparatus can be achieved . to provide for the requisite cooling of the cathode assembly during operation , there is provided a coolant conduit 36 also made of a suitable non - magnetic material and extending longitudinally within the lower portion of the tubular member 21 and from which the magnetic means 22 is suspended by hanger straps 37 . the inner end of said conduit 36 is provided with a trunnion 38 supported in the end wall 23 of the tubular member . the outer end portion of the coolant conduit extends through an opening in the end wall 24 of the tubular member 21 and is closed by a cap 39 . a cooling medium , such as water , is introduced into the outer end of the coolant conduit 36 through a pipe 40 and exits therefrom through openings 41 in said conduit . after circulating through the cathode , the cooling medium is discharged therefrom through a pipe 42 into a receptacle or the like 43 . the coolant conduit 36 is maintained in a fixed position and for this purpose there is provided a locking bar 44 secured at its lower end to the coolant conduit and at its upper end to the top wall 13 of the coating chamber by a rod 45 passing through the locking bar 44 and threaded in said top wall 13 of the coating chamber . the magnetic means 22 comprises an array of u - shaped permanent magnets 45 arranged in two straight parallel rows a and b that extend lengthwise within the tubular member 21 . the magnets in the two rows are disposed at an angle relative to one another as shown in fig2 and are secured to the coolant conduit by the aforementioned hanger straps 37 . the magnets 45 extend axially substantially the length of the tubular member and a limited distance circumferentially thereof . the outer legs 46 of the magnets in each of the rows of magnets a and b engage a longitudinally extending , relatively narrow strip 47 of a suitable magnetic material , such as hot rolled mild steel , while the inner legs 48 of the magnets engage a similar magnetic strip 49 arranged parallel with strips 47 . the magnets 45 are secured to the magnetic strips 47 and 49 by screws 50 and 51 respectively . the bottom surfaces 52 of the magnetic strips 47 and 49 are shaped to conform to the curvature of the inner surface of the tubular member and are positioned closely adjacent thereto . the magnets are preferably disposed so that the north poles thereof engage the outer magnetic strips 47 are the south poles engage the magnetic strip 49 . it is to be understood , however , that other types of permanent magnets or even electromagnets may be substituted for the permanent u - shaped magnets . by rotating the tubular member 21 , the desired target strip or strips can be brought opposite the magnets and in position for sputtering . the rotation or indexing of the tubular member may be accomplished either automatically or manually , as desired , such as by means of an operating lever 53 secured to an annular collar 54 which , in turn , is secured to the end wall 24 of the tubular member 21 by screws 55 . it is preferred that when employing the array of u - shaped magnets illustrated in fig3 the target strips be considered as three pairs a - b , c - d and e - f respectively , with each pair containing a different coating material . thus , each time the tubular member is indexed one pair of target strips will be brought into sputtering position in relation to the magnets . the invention , however , contemplates a different arrangement of magnets that will allow for the sputtering of only one target strip at a time . a cathode potential sufficient to cause sputtering to occur is supplied to the tubular member 21 from a d . c . power source ( not shown ) through an electrical contact 56 connected to the power source and having rolling or sliding contact with said tubular member . the apparatus may be grounded in any suitable manner . the substantially planar substrates s to be coated are supported upon and carried through the coating chamber 10 beneath the cathode assembly 11 by a conveyor means including rollers 57 and 58 keyed to a horizontal shaft 59 journaled in bearing blocks 60 and 61 supported on the bottom wall of the coating chamber . it will be understood that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the appended claims .	7
fig1 is a functional block diagram of a first embodiment of a pwm amplifier 1000 . pwm amplifier 1000 includes a volume control block 1010 , an oversampler 1020 , a delta - sigma modulator 1030 , a pwm mapper 1040 , a filter 1050 , and an offset addition block 1060 . pwm amplifier 1000 receives at its input a digital audio signal as pulse - code modulated data pcm_data , and receives a volume control signal vol_con , and outputs an amplified output signal aud_out . volume control block 1010 includes a volume table 1011 and a multiplier 1015 . volume table 1011 stores in a memory volume data vol_data corresponding to each value of vol_con . vol_data is a digital code ( e . g . if vol_con is 4 - bit data -& gt ; volume table stores 16 values for vol_data ). in operation , volume table 1011 receives the volume control signal vol_con and in response thereto generates a corresponding value for vol_data which it outputs as the volume . the value of the volume is then applied to multiplier 1015 in order to adjust the level of pcm_data to output a volume - controlled audio signal vd . offset addition block 1060 includes an offset generator 1061 and an offset combiner 1062 . in one embodiment , offset generator 1061 stores in a memory ( e . g ., in a table ) offset data offset_data corresponding to each value of the volume output by volume table 1011 . offset_data is a digital code ( e . g . if volume is 4 - bit data -& gt ; offset generator 1061 stores 16 values for offset_data ). in operation , offset generator 1061 receives the volume and in response thereto generates a corresponding value for offset_data which it outputs as the offset . the value of offset is then applied to combiner 1062 in order to adjust the level of pcm_data to output an offset - adjusted volume - controlled audio signal od . as will be explained in greater detail below , the value of offset is chosen so that , when the volume of the audio signal is not at a maximum value , then the duty cycle of the audio signal is increased so as to increase the operating efficiency of pwm amplifier 1000 . fig3 illustrates a block diagram of oversampler 300 which is one possible embodiment of oversampler 1020 . oversampler 1020 oversamples the offset - adjusted volume - controlled audio signal od which is the output by offset addition block 1060 and outputs an oversampled signal dsm_in . fig4 illustrates a block diagram of delta sigma modulator 400 which is one possible embodiment of delta sigma modulator 1030 . delta sigma modulator 1030 quantizes the oversampled signal dsm_in to produce an output signal dsm_out having a fewer number of bits . pwm mapper 1040 converts a received pcm signal to an output pwm signal . pwm mapper 1040 modulates the width of the pulse in the pwm signal in proportion to the amplitude of the input signal . fig5 illustrates an operation of pwm mapper 1040 in the case where a three - bit pcm signal is converted to a one - bit pwm signal . low pass filter ( lpf ) 1050 is a filter that passes low frequency signals ( i . e ., the required amplified signal ) and removes unwanted spectral components ( i . e ., signals at the pulse frequency ). beneficially , lpf 1050 is made with theoretically lossless components like inductors and capacitors . in fig1 , pcm_data , vd , od , dsm_in , dsm_out , pwm_out are all digital signals . pcm_data , vd , od , dsm_in , and dsm_out are all pcm signals , and pwm_out is a pwm signal . aud_out is an analog signal . fig1 is a flowchart illustrating operation of the pwm amplifier 1000 of fig1 . as seen in fig1 , there are some differences in the operation of pwm amplifier 1000 between when the volume of the audio signal is at a maximum value and when it is not at its maximum value . when the volume of audio signal is at a maximum value , then the pwm region is fully used by the audio signal and the amount of static current is negligible as compared with dynamic current . in contrast , when the volume of the audio signal is not at a maximum value , then the audio signal is shifted by an offset value so as to remove a portion of the pwm region comprising smaller pwm values ( e . g ., values 1 - 7 ) that would otherwise be unused . accordingly , the duty cycle of the pwm audio signal is increased and the static current is decreased . fig1 is a diagram illustrating exemplary signals in the pwm amplifier 1000 of fig1 . in particular , fig1 shows an exemplary 16 - bit od signal at 48 khz , an exemplary oversampled 16 - bit dsm_in signal at 64 * 48 khz , and an exemplary delta - sigma modulated oversampled 4 - bit dsm_in signal at 64 * 48 khz . fig1 illustrates how various signals in the pwm amplifier 1000 of fig1 are varied as the volume is changed for an exemplary pcm_data input signal . as can be seen in fig1 , as the volume decreases from it maximum value ( e . g ., 0 db ) to lower values ( e . g ., − 20 db ), then the amplitude of the volume - controlled signal vd is reduced , but the duty cycle is maintained at 1 : 1 . in order to increase the duty ratio of the audio signal to decrease the static current in pwm amplifier 100 , as the volume decreases from it maximum value ( e . g ., 0 db ) to lower values ( e . g ., − 20 db ) offset addition block 1060 adjusts the offset value from 0 toward a minimum offset value ( b − a ), where b is one half of the dynamic range of the volume - controlled signal vd , and a is a modulation margin that insures that the audio signal does not fold back upon itself and become distorted . the offset is added to the volume - controlled signal vd to produce the offset - adjusted signal od shown in fig1 . after oversampling and delta - sigma modulation , the input signal to the pwm mapper 1040 is dsm_out as shown in fig1 fig1 illustrates exemplary signals in the pwm amplifier of fig1 in the case where the input signal is not at a maximum value . fig1 shows how an unused pwm region in the range 1 - 7 is removed as a result of the offset being added to the volume - controlled audio signal . in the example illustrated in fig1 , the volume is adjusted so that the audio signal ranges from (− max / 2 ) to (+ max / 2 ), in which case the duty ratio is adjusted to be 1 : 3 . fig1 illustrates some operating principles of a pwm amplifier of fig1 . in fig1 , the volume of the audio signal is set at a value below its maximum . the signals on line ( a ) in fig1 correspond to an example where an offset has not been applied , as in the conventional art pwm amplifier 200 of fig2 , and the signals on line ( b ) correspond to an example where an offset has been applied to the audio signal , as in pwm amplifier 1000 in fig1 . in fig1 : v 1 represents the range of pwm pulse width fluctuations when the volume of the audio signal is set at a value below its maximum ; vm represents the range of pwm pulse width fluctuations when the volume of the audio signal is at its maximum value ; c 1 / c 1 ′ and c 2 / c 2 ′ indicate the centers of the peak - to - peak swing for the audio signals on line ( a ) ( conventional art with no offset ) and line ( b ) ( pwm amplifier with offset ), respectively ; and p 1 , p 2 indicate unused pwm regions for the audio signals on line ( a ) and line ( b ), respectively . fig1 illustrates one variation in operation of the pwm amplifier of fig1 . when the offset value changes dramatically according to a change in the volume , the change in the pwm pulse width results in a “ tic - noise .” to reduce this tic - noise , beneficially the minimum step ( st 2 ) in the value of the offset is made smaller than the minimum step ( st 1 ) in the value of the volume . accordingly , as shown in fig1 , if the volume is changed by one step , the offset is controlled to change in multiple steps . beneficially , in one embodiment his feature of controlling the minimum step of the offset can be provided to offset addition block 1060 . fig1 is a functional block diagram of a second embodiment of a pwm amplifier 1700 . pwm amplifier 1700 is similar to pwm amplifier 1000 of fig1 , and so for the sake of brevity , only the differences will be explained here . whereas pwm amplifier 1000 includes oversampler 1020 following offset addition block 1060 , pwm amplifier 1700 includes instead oversampler and audio effects block 1770 preceding volume control block 1010 . fig1 is a functional block diagram of a third embodiment of a pwm amplifier 1080 . pwm amplifier 1800 is similar to pwm amplifier 1000 of fig1 , and so for the sake of brevity , only the differences will be explained here . whereas pwm amplifier 1000 includes offset addition block 1060 following volume control block 1010 , pwm amplifier 1800 includes instead offset addition block 1060 following oversampler 1020 . fig1 illustrates the relationship between the static current and the total current consumption in the pwm amplifiers of fig1 , 17 and 18 . as can be seen in fig1 , when the amplitude of the signal ( i . e ., the volume of an audio signal ) is at its maximum value , then the load current ( i . e . the dynamic current ) which is passed by the low pass filter and transferred to the load ( i . e ., the loudspeaker ) is the greatest portion of the total current consumption of the amplifier . as the amplitude ( volume ) of the audio signal decreases , then the dynamic ( load ) current decreases . however , in contrast to the conventional pwm amplifier performance illustrated in fig6 , in the pwm amplifiers 1000 , 1700 and 1800 , the static current consumed in the low pass filter also decreases when the amplitude ( volume ) of the audio signal decreases , dues to the offset value added to the audio signal . as a result , at volume levels that are less than the maximum volume , the total current consumption of the pwm amplifiers 1000 , 1700 and 1800 is reduced compared to the total current consumption of pwm amplifier 200 . although the principles of adding an offset to a signal in a pwm modulator have been explained in the context of an amplifier , and particularly an audio amplifier , in general the same principles may apply in other devices employing a pwm modulator to modulate a signal , for example , a motor control system . while preferred embodiments are disclosed herein , many variations are possible which remain within the concept and scope of the invention . such variations would become clear to one of ordinary skill in the art after inspection of the specification , drawings and claims herein . the invention therefore is not to be restricted except within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	7
fig1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implantable stimulation system 10 for alleviation of urinary incontinence . as shown in fig1 , system 10 includes an implantable optical pressure sensor 12 , implantable stimulator 14 and external programmer 16 shown in conjunction with a patient 18 . pressure sensor 12 senses a pressure level exerted by urinary sphincter 22 on urethra 20 proximate the neck 23 of bladder 24 , and transmits pressure information based on the sensed pressure level to at least one of stimulator 14 and programmer 16 by wireless telemetry . stimulator 14 or programmer 16 may record the information , generate adjustments to electrical stimulation parameters applied by the stimulator , or both . fig2 is an enlarged schematic diagram illustrating implantable optical pressure sensor 12 . as shown in fig1 and 2 , pressure sensor 12 includes a sensor housing 26 , an optical fiber 28 , and a flexible tube section 30 . flexible tube section 30 is positioned for engagement with urinary sphincter 22 , and is sealed from the environment . tube section 30 contains a reflective , flexible diaphragm that deflects in response to pressure changes within the tube section . tube section 30 may be filled with air or other optically transmissive media . optical fiber 28 transmits light to the diaphragm and receives reflected light from the diaphragm . when the diaphragm deflects , the properties of the reflected light change , indicating a change in pressure within the flexible tube and , in turn , a change in the pressure of urinary sphincter 22 . sensor housing 26 contains a light emitter that transmits light through optical fiber 28 and a light detector that detects the reflected light received from the optical fiber , as will be described in further detail . the light emitter and detector are positioned adjacent to a proximal end of optical fiber 28 . if a single optical fiber is used for both transmission of light and reception of reflected light , an optical coupling element may be provided in sensor housing 26 to couple the emitter and detector to the optical fiber 28 . in other embodiments , separate optical fibers can be used for transmission or reception . in either case , the light detector generates an output signal that varies according to the properties of the reflected light . sensor housing 26 further includes electronics to generate pressure information based on the output signal , and telemetry circuitry for wireless transmission of the information to stimulator 14 , programmer 16 or both . as further shown in fig1 and 2 , sensor housing 26 may reside within bladder 24 . sensor housing 26 may be temporarily or permanently attached to an inner wall 27 of bladder 24 , such has the mucosal lining , as will be described . alternatively , housing 26 may be implanted sub - mucosally . optical fiber 28 extends away from sensor housing 26 and through an inner lumen defined by the bladder neck proximate urinary sphincter 22 . in this manner , flexible tube section 30 is positioned to directly sense the pressure level exerted by urinary sphincter 22 . yet , optical fiber 28 and tube section 30 may be sufficiently thin to avoid significant obstruction of urethra 20 or disruption of the function of urinary sphincter . as a further alternative , housing 26 may reside outside bladder 24 , in which case optical fiber 28 and tube section 30 may extend into bladder 24 and through urinary sphincter 22 through a hole formed in the bladder . in this case , housing 26 may be surgically or laparoscopically implanted within the abdomen . fiber 28 and tube section 30 may be surgically or laparoscopically guided through a hole in the wall of bladder 24 . a cystoscope may be used to grab tube section 30 and pull it downward through urinary sphincter 22 and urethra 20 . in some embodiments , housing 26 and its contents may be integrated with stimulator 14 , in which case optical fiber 28 and tube section 30 extends from the stimulator housing and into bladder 24 , much like leads carrying stimulation or sense electrodes with further reference to fig1 , implantable stimulator 14 includes an electrical lead 15 ( partially shown in fig1 ) carrying one or more electrodes that are placed at a nerve site within the pelvic floor . for example , the electrodes may be positioned to stimulate the sacral nerve and thereby innervate urinary sphincter 22 . in particular , electrical stimulation may be applied to cause urinary sphincter 22 to increase closing pressure to avoid involuntary leakage from bladder 24 . alternatively , if voluntary voiding is desired by patient 18 , electrical stimulation may be suspended or reduced to reduce the closing pressure exerted by urinary sphincter 22 on urethra 20 at the bladder neck . for spinal cord injury patients who cannot perceive a sensation of bladder fullness , sphincter pressure sensed by pressure sensor 12 may be transmitted to external programmer 16 , with or without an accompanying stimulator 14 , to advise the patient when urinary sphincter pressure is high , indicating bladder fullness . in this case , the advice may be in the form of a audible , visual or vibratory stimulus . in response to the advice , the spinal cord injury patient is able to catheterize the urethra 20 and bladder 24 to voluntarily relieve urine . implantable stimulator 14 delivers stimulation therapy to the sacral nerve in order to keep the sphincter 22 constricted and keep contents of bladder 24 from leaking out through urethra 20 . at predetermined times or at patient controlled instances , the external programmer 16 may program stimulator 14 to interrupt the stimulation to allow the sphincter to relax , thus permitting voiding of bladder 24 . upon completion of the voiding event , external programmer 16 may program stimulator 14 to resume stimulation therapy and thereby maintain closure of urinary sphincter 22 . in addition , adjustment of stimulation parameters may be responsive to pressure information transmitted by implantable optical pressure sensor 12 . for example , external programmer 16 or implantable stimulator 14 may adjust stimulation parameters , such as amplitude , pulse width , and pulse rate , based on pressure information received from implantable sensor 12 . in this manner , implantable stimulator 14 adjusts stimulation to either increase or reduce urinary sphincter pressure based on the actual pressure level exerted by urinary sphincter 22 . pressure sensor 12 may transmit pressure information periodically , e . g ., every few seconds , minutes or hours . in some embodiments , pressure sensor 12 may transmit pressure information when there is an abrupt change in sphincter pressure , e . g ., a pressure change that exceeds a predetermined threshold . in addition to parameter adjustments , or alternatively , adjustment may involve on and off cycling of the stimulation in response to pressure levels indicative of a particular bladder fill stage . for example , stimulation may be turned off until the pressure level exceeds a threshold indicative of a particular fill stage of the bladder , at which time stimulation is turned on . then , stimulation parameters may be further adjusted as the sensed pressure level changes . external programmer 16 may be a small , battery - powered , portable device that accompanies the patient 18 throughout a daily routine . programmer 16 may have a simple user interface , such as a button or keypad , and a display or lights . patient 18 may initiate a voiding event , i . e ., a voluntary voiding of bladder 24 , via the user interface . in some embodiments , the length of time for a voiding event may be determined by pressing and holding down a button for the duration of a voiding event , pressing a button a first time to initiate voiding and a second time when voiding is complete , or by a predetermined length of time permitted by programmer 16 or implantable stimulator 14 . in each case , programmer 16 causes implantable stimulator 14 to temporarily terminate stimulation so that voluntary voiding is possible . in some embodiments , stimulator 14 may immediately recommence stimulation upon completion of a voiding event , and thereafter adjust stimulation parameters based on pressure information generated by implantable sensor 12 . alternatively , stimulator 14 may terminate stimulation upon initiation of a voiding event , and recommence stimulation only after implantable pressure sensor 12 measures a decrease of pressure in the urethra 20 that corresponds to bladder 24 being empty . as a further alternative , following completion of the voiding event , stimulator 14 may wait to recommence stimulation until pressure sensor 12 detects generation of an inadequate pressure level by urinary sphincter 22 , which could result in involuntary leakage . in this case , stimulator 14 recommences stimulation to enhance urinary sphincter pressure . implantable stimulator 14 may be constructed with a biocompatible housing , such as titanium or stainless steel , or a polymeric material such as silicone or polyurethane , and surgically implanted at a site in patient 18 near the pelvis . the implantation site may be a subcutaneous location in the side of the lower abdomen or the side of the lower back . one or more electrical stimulation leads 15 are connected to implantable stimulator 14 and surgically or percutaneously tunneled to place one or more electrodes carried by a distal end of the lead at a desired nerve site , such as a sacral nerve site within the sacrum . in the example of fig1 and 2 , sensor housing 26 of implantable pressure sensor 12 is attached to the inner wall 27 of bladder 24 near bladder neck 23 . however , the attachment site for sensor housing 26 could be anywhere with access to urinary sphincter 22 . with a relatively long optical fiber 28 , for example , sensor housing 26 could be positioned at a greater distance from bladder neck 23 . also , in some embodiments , sensor housing 26 could be attached within urethra 20 , e . g ., downstream from urinary sphincter 22 , although attachment of the sensor housing within bladder 24 may be desirable to avoid obstruction of the urethra . fig3 is an enlarged , cross - sectional side view of the implantable pressure sensor 12 of fig1 and 2 . as shown in fig3 , sensor housing 26 receives the proximal end of flexible optical fiber 28 . a sensing element 34 is mounted within sensor housing 26 to sense a urinary sphincter pressure level via optical fiber 28 . sensing element 34 may be coupled to a circuit board 38 within sensor housing 26 , and includes an optical emitter 35 and a detector 37 . optical emitter 35 may be a light emitting diode ( led ). detector 37 may be a photodiode . in the example of fig3 , optical fiber 28 includes two optical fibers , i . e ., a transmit fiber 39 coupled to emitter 35 and a receive fiber 41 coupled to optical detector 41 . each optical fiber 39 , 41 extends into flexible tube section 30 . sensor housing 26 may be made from a biocompatible material such as titanium , stainless steel or nitinol , or a polymeric material such as silicone or polyurethane . another material for fabrication of sensor housing 26 is a two - part epoxy . an example of a suitable epoxy is a two - part medical implant epoxy manufactured by epoxy technology , inc ., mixed in a ratio of 10 grams of resin to one gram of activator . in general , sensor housing 26 contains no external openings , with the exception of the opening to receive optical fiber 28 , thereby protecting sensing element 26 and circuit board 38 from the environment within bladder 24 . the proximal end of optical fiber 28 resides within sensor housing 26 while the distal end resides outside of the sensor housing . the opening in sensor housing 26 that receives the proximal end of optical fiber 28 may be sealed to prevent exposure of interior components . the core and cladding of optical fiber 28 may be formed from any of a variety of conventional glass or polymeric materials . in addition , single mode or multi - mode fibers may be selected . in some embodiments , a protective , a flexible sheath ( not shown ) may be formed over optical fiber 28 . the flexibility of optical fiber 28 permits it to bend and conform to contours within bladder neck 23 , facilitating placement of flexible tube section 30 within urethra 20 proximate urinary sphincter 22 . flexible tube section 30 may be formed from any of a variety of flexible , biocompatible materials such as polyurethane or silicone . the material should be sufficiently flexible to permit deform in response to pressure exerted on urethra 20 by urinary sphincter 22 at bladder neck 23 . flexible tube section 30 preferably is sealed to define a compartment . so that deformation produces volumetric changes and pressure changes within the compartment . accordingly , flexible tube section 30 may have a closed distal end and a sealed proximal end that is sealed about fiber 28 . the compartment may contain a gaseous medium such as air . during operation , urinary sphincter 22 exerts pressure inward against the outer wall of urethra 20 . in turn , the inner wall of urethra 20 exerts pressure inward against the outer wall of flexible tube section 30 , causing the wall of the tube section to deform and compress inward . in some embodiments , flexible tube section 30 may be coated to avoid calcification . inward deformation of flexible tube section 30 causes a mechanical deflection of the membrane mounted inside . as light is transmitted onto the membrane by optical fiber 39 , some of the reflected light received by optical fiber 41 is refracted to a varying degree based upon the deformation of the membrane . when the reflected light is detected by light detector 37 , the light detector generates an output signal that is influenced by the physical properties of the detected light . circuitry within sensing element generates pressure information based on the reflected light detected by detector 37 . the physical property may be simply an intensity of the received light , which is influenced by the degree of deflection of the membrane . in this case , an increase or decrease in the intensity of reflected light can be use to produce a urinary sphincter pressure level . alternatively , physical property may be a wavelength of the reflected light , relative to a wavelength of the transmitted light . as the membrane deflects , changes in the wavelength of the reflected light can be used to produce a urinary sphincter pressure level . in other embodiments , the membrane may be formed with an interference pattern or grating that aids in wavelength differentiation between the reflected light and the transmitted light . based upon the differences in amplitude , wavelength , or other optical properties , sensing element 34 generates a pressure signal that represents the pressure on flexible tube section 30 . electronics on circuit board 38 generate pressure information based on the pressure signal . optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 may be provided with different dimensions selected for patients having different anatomical dimensions . in particular , implantable pressure sensor 12 may be constructed with an optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 having different lengths and diameters . different tube lengths may be necessary given the distance between the attachment site of sensor housing 26 and urinary sphincter 22 , either to ensure that flexible tube section 30 reaches the sphincter or does not extend too far down urethra 20 . multiple diameters may also be necessary to allow a dysfunctional sphincter 22 to close completely or to allow optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 to be placed into a narrow urethra 20 . the dimensions may be fixed for a given pressure sensor 12 , as a complete assembly . alternatively , fluid tubes of different sizes may be attached to a pressure sensor housing 26 by a physician prior to implantation . in general , for male patients , optical fiber 28 and tube section 30 may have a combined length of less than approximately 9 cm and more preferably less than approximately 7 cm . for female patients , optical fiber 28 and tube section 30 may have a combined length f less than approximately 7 cm and more preferably less than approximately 5 cm . in some embodiments , optical fiber 28 and tube section 30 may have a combined length of approximately 0 . 5 cm to 3 cm . the length of optical fiber 28 and tube section 30 may vary according to the anatomy of the patient , and may vary between male , female and pediatric patients . in addition , tube 30 may have an outer diameter in a range of approximately 1 to 3 mm . the wall of tube 30 may be relatively thin to ensure sufficient deformation and conformability , yet thick enough to ensure structural integrity . as an example , the thickness of the wall of tube 30 may be in a range of approximately 0 . 1 mm to 0 . 3 mm . attaching implantable pressure sensor 12 to the mucosal lining of bladder 24 may be accomplished in a variety of ways , but preferably is completed in a manner that will not excessively injure bladder 24 . preferably , attachment should cause limited inflammation no adverse physiological modification , such as tissue infection or a loss in structural integrity of bladder 24 . however , it is desirable that implantable pressure sensor 12 also be attached securely to the attachment site in order to provide an extended period of measurement without prematurely loosening or detaching from the intended location . as an example , sensor housing 26 may contain a vacuum cavity 39 that permits a vacuum to be drawn by a vacuum channel 40 . the vacuum is created by a deployment device having a vacuum line in communication with vacuum channel 40 . the vacuum draws a portion 42 of the mucosal lining 44 of bladder 24 into vacuum cavity 39 . once the portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 is captured within vacuum cavity 39 , a fastening pin 46 is driven into the captured tissue to attach sensor housing 26 within bladder 24 . fastening pin 46 may be made from , for example , stainless steel , titanium , nitinol , or a high density polymer . the shaft of pin 46 may be smooth or rough , and the tip may be a sharp point to allow for easy penetration into tissue . fastening pin 46 may be driven into housing 26 and the portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 under pressure , or upon actuation by a push rod , administered by a deployment device . in some embodiments , fastening pin 46 may be manufactured from a degradable material that the breaks down over time , e . g . in the presence of urine , to release implantable pressure sensor 12 within a desired time period after attachment . in still another embodiment , implantable pressure sensor 12 may be attached without the use of a penetrating rod but with a spring - loaded clip to pinch trapped mucosal lining 44 within cavity 39 . a variety of other attachment mechanisms , such as pins , clips , barbs , sutures , helical screws , surgical adhesives , and the like may be used to attach sensor housing 26 to mucosal lining 44 of bladder 24 . fig4 is a schematic diagram illustrating placement of an implantable pressure sensor 12 with a flexible optical fiber 28 extending through the urinary sphincter 22 of a patient 18 . fig4 also illustrates flexible tube section 30 in greater detail . in the example of fig4 , optical fiber 28 , including transmit fiber 39 and receive fiber 41 , leaves bladder 24 through bladder neck 23 and passes through internal urinary sphincter 22 as it enters urethra 20 . in general , sphincter 22 is an annulus shaped muscle that surrounds the portion of urethra 20 below bladder neck 23 and constricts to make the urethral walls meet and thereby close urethra 20 to prevent involuntary urine leakage from bladder 24 . upon constriction of sphincter 22 , the walls of urethra 20 close onto flexible tube section 30 of optical fiber 28 to increase the internal pressure of the tube section , which provides a measurement of the closing pressure of sphincter 22 . as further shown in fig4 , flexible diaphragm 43 is mounted within flexible tube section 30 below optical fibers 39 , 41 . flexible diaphragm 43 includes an optically reflective surface on a side facing optical fibers 39 , 41 . in this manner , light transmitted via optical fiber 39 is reflected by diaphragm 43 and received via optical fiber 41 . flexible diaphragm may be substantially circular and bonded at its edges to an inner wall of flexible tube section 30 . for example , flexible diaphragm may be bonded to the inner wall of flexible tube section 30 by adhesives , ultrasonic welding , or other techniques . in some embodiments , tube section 30 may include an annular mounting ledge or other equivalent mounting structures to support at least an outer edge of the diaphragm 43 . flexible diaphragm 43 may be formed from any of a variety of flexible materials . the materials may be reflective . alternatively , a reflective coating may be formed on diaphragm 43 , e . g ., by vapor deposition , sputtering , dip coating , roll coating or the like . because optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 have circular cross - sections and a small diameter , a closed sphincter 22 will still be able to substantially seal urethra 20 around optical fiber 28 , flexible tube section 30 , or both . when sphincter 22 is relaxed , in some embodiments , implantable pressure sensor 12 may be used to measure the pressure of fluid in urethra 20 . the open sphincter 22 allows urine to be passed out of the urethra and patient 18 . optical fiber 28 is under the same pressure as the urethra and can allow implantable pressure sensor 12 to measure this urethral pressure . this may allow monitoring of urinary dysfunctions due to pressure during voiding events and may also be used by implantable stimulator 14 to detect the end of a voiding event by measuring decrease of urethral pressure as an indication of reduced urine flow . as shown in fig4 , the placement of optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 does not significantly interfere with normal bladder function . bladder function is unimpaired and fluid flow to urethra 20 can occur normally , as flexible tube section 30 allows enough room for urine to pass and exit bladder 24 via urethra 20 . due to varying sizes and shapes of patient anatomy , optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 may be manufactured in a variety of lengths and diameters . fig5 is functional block diagram illustrating various components of an exemplary implantable pressure sensor 12 . in the example of fig5 , implantable pressure sensor 12 includes a sensing element 34 , processor 48 , memory 50 , telemetry interface 52 , and power source 54 . sensing element 34 transforms measured changes in emitted light from optical fiber 28 into electrical signals representative of closing pressure of urinary sphincter 22 . again , optical fiber 28 may include a transmit fiber 39 and a receive fiber 41 , or a single fiber with an optical coupler for optical coupling to emitter 35 and detector 37 . the electrical signals may be amplified , filtered , and otherwise processed as appropriate by electronics within sensor 12 . in particular , sensor 12 may include circuitry to detect changes in light intensity or wavelength . in some embodiments , the signals may be converted to digital values and processed by processor 48 before being saved to memory 50 or sent to implantable stimulator 14 as pressure information via telemetry interface 52 . memory 50 stores instructions for execution by processor 48 and pressure information generated by sensing element 36 . pressure data may then be sent to implantable stimulator 14 or external programmer 16 for long - term storage and retrieval by a user . memory 50 may include separate memories for storing instructions and pressure information . in addition , processor 48 and memory 50 may implement loop recorder functionality in which processor 48 overwrites the oldest contents within the memory with new data as storage limits are met , thereby conserving memory space . processor 48 controls telemetry interface 52 to send pressure information to implantable stimulator 14 or programmer 16 on a continuous basis , at periodic intervals , or upon request from the implantable stimulator or programmer . wireless telemetry may be accomplished by radio frequency ( rf ) communication or proximal inductive interaction of pressure sensor 12 with programmer 16 . power source 54 delivers operating power to the components of implantable pressure sensor 12 . power source 54 may include a battery and a power generation circuit to produce the operating power . in some embodiments , the battery may be rechargeable to allow extended operation recharging may be accomplished through proximal inductive interaction between an external charger and an inductive charging coil within sensor 12 . in some embodiments , power requirements may be small enough to allow sensor 12 to utilize patient motion and implement a kinetic energy - scavenging device to trickle charge a rechargeable battery . in other embodiments , traditional batteries may be used for a limited period of time . as a further alternative , an external inductive power supply could transcutaneously power sensor 12 whenever pressure measurements are needed or desired . fig6 is a functional block diagram illustrating various components of an implantable stimulator 14 . in the example of fig6 , stimulator 14 includes a processor 56 , memory 58 , stimulation pulse generator 60 , telemetry interface 62 , and power source 64 . memory 58 stores instructions for execution by processor 56 , stimulation therapy data , and pressure information received from pressure sensor 12 via telemetry interface . pressure information is received from pressure sensor 12 and may be recorded for long - term storage and retrieval by a user , or adjustment of stimulation parameters , such as amplitude , pulse width or pulse rate . memory 58 may include separate memories for storing instructions , stimulation parameter sets , and pressure information . processor 56 controls stimulation pulse generator 60 to deliver electrical stimulation therapy and telemetry interface 62 to send and receive information . an exemplary range of neurostimulation stimulation pulse parameters likely to be effective in treating incontinence , e . g ., when applied to the sacral or pudendal nerves , are as follows : 1 . frequency : between approximately 0 . 5 hz and 500 hz , more preferably between approximately 5 hz and 250 hz , and still more preferably between approximately 10 hz and 50 hz . 2 . amplitude : between approximately 0 . 1 volts and 50 volts , more preferably between approximately 0 . 5 volts and 20 volts , and still more preferably between approximately 1 volt and 10 volts . 3 . pulse width : between about 10 microseconds and 5000 microseconds , more preferably between approximately 100 microseconds and 1000 microseconds , and still more preferably between approximately 180 microseconds and 450 microseconds . based on pressure information received from sensor 12 , processor 56 interprets the information and determines whether any therapy parameter adjustments should be made . for example , processor 56 may compare the pressure level to one or more thresholds , and then take action to adjust stimulation parameters based on the pressure level . information may be received from sensor 12 on a continuous basis , at periodic intervals , or upon request from stimulator 14 or external programmer 16 . alternatively , or additionally , pressure sensor 12 may transmit pressure information when there is an abrupt change in the pressure level , e . g ., at the onset of involuntary leakage . in addition , processor 56 modifies parameter values stored in memory 58 in response to pressure information from sensor 12 , either independently or in response to programming changes from external programmer 16 . stimulation pulse generator 60 provides electrical stimulation according to the stored parameter values via a lead 15 implanted proximate to a nerve , such as a sacral nerve . processor 56 determines any parameter adjustments based on the pressure information obtained form sensor 12 , and loads the adjustments into memory 58 for use in delivery of stimulation . as an example , if the pressure information indicates an inadequate sphincter closing pressure , processor 56 may increase the amplitude , pulse width or pulse rate of the electrical stimulation applied by stimulation pulse generator 60 to increase stimulation intensity , and thereby increase sphincter closing pressure . if sphincter closing pressure is adequate , processor 56 may implement a cycle of downward adjustments in stimulation intensity until sphincter closing pressure becomes inadequate , and then incrementally increase the stimulation upward until closing pressure is again adequate . in this way , processor 56 converges toward an optimum level of stimulation . although processor 56 is described in this example as adjusting stimulation parameters , it is noted that the adjustments may be generated by external programmer 16 . the adequacy of closing pressure is determined by reference to the pressure information obtained from sensor 12 . sphincter pressure may change due to a variety of factors , such as an activity type , activity level or posture of the patient 18 . hence , for a given set of stimulation parameters , the efficacy of stimulation may vary in terms of sphincter pressure , due to changes in the physiological condition of the patient . for this reason , the continuous or periodic availability of pressure information from implantable sensor 12 is highly desirable . with this pressure information , stimulator 14 is able to respond to changes in sphincter pressure with dynamic adjustments in the stimulation parameters delivered to the patient 18 . in particular , processor 56 is able to adjustment parameters in order to cause constriction of sphincter 22 and thereby avoid involuntary leakage . in some cases , the adjustment may be nearly instantaneous , yet prevent leakage . as an example , if patient 18 laughs , coughs , or bends over , the resulted force on bladder 24 could overcome the closing pressure of urinary sphincter 22 . if pressure sensor 12 indicates an abrupt change in sphincter pressure , however , stimulator 14 can quickly respond by more vigorously stimulating the sacral nerves to increase sphincter closing pressure . in general , if sphincter 22 is not constricting enough to effectively close urethra 20 , processor 56 may dynamically increase the level of therapy to be delivered . conversely , if sphincter 22 is consistently achieving effective constriction , processor 56 may incrementally reduce stimulation , e . g ., to conserve power resources . as in the case of sensor 12 , wireless telemetry in stimulator 14 may be accomplished by radio frequency ( rf ) communication or proximal inductive interaction of pressure stimulator 14 with implantable pressure sensor 12 or external programmer 16 . accordingly , telemetry interface 62 may be similar to telemetry interface 52 . also , power source 64 of stimulator 14 may be constructed somewhat similarly to power source 54 . for example , power source 64 may be a rechargeable or non - rechargeable battery , or alternatively take the form of a transcutaneous inductive power interface . fig7 is a schematic diagram illustrating cystoscopic deployment of an implantable pressure sensor 12 via the urethra 20 using a deployment device 66 . pressure sensor 12 may be surgically implanted . however , cystoscopic implantation via urethra is generally more desirable in terms of patient trauma , recovery time , and infection risk . in the example of fig7 , deployment device 66 includes a distal head 68 , a delivery sheath 69 and a control handle 70 . deployment device 66 may be manufactured from disposable materials for single use applications or more durable materials for multiple applications capable of withstanding sterilization between patients . as shown in fig7 , distal head 68 includes a cavity that retains sensor housing 26 of implantable pressure sensor 12 for delivery to a desired attachment site within bladder 24 . sensor housing 26 may be held within cavity 72 by a friction fit , vacuum pressure , or a mechanical attachment . in each case , once distal head 68 reaches the attachment site , sensor housing 26 may be detached . sheath 69 is attached to distal head 68 and is steerable to navigate urethra 20 and guide the distal head into position . in some embodiments , sheath 69 and distal head 68 may include cystoscopic viewing components to permit visualization of the attachment site . in other cases , external visualization techniques such as ultrasound may be used . sheath 68 may include one or more steering mechanisms , such as wires , shape memory components , or the like , to permit the distal region adjacent distal head 68 to turn abruptly for access to the mucosal lining of bladder 24 . a control handle 70 is attached to sheath 69 to aid the physician in manually maneuvering deployment device 66 throughout urethra 20 and bladder 24 . control handle 70 may have a one or more controls that enable the physician to contort sheath 69 and allow for deployment device 66 to attach pressure sensor housing 26 to the mucosal lining of bladder 24 and then release the sensor housing to complete implantation . a vacuum source 74 supplies negative pressure to a vacuum line within sheath 69 to draw tissue into the vacuum cavity defined by sensor housing 66 . a positive pressure source 76 supplies positive pressure to a drive a fastening pin into the tissue captured in the vacuum cavity . deployment device 66 enters patient urethra 20 to deliver pressure sensor 12 and implant it within bladder 24 . first , the physician must guide distal head 68 through the opening of urethra 20 in patient 18 . second , distal head 68 continues to glide up urethra 20 and past the relaxed internal sphincter 22 . distal head 300 is then pushed through bladder neck 23 and into bladder 24 , for access to an appropriate site to attach pressure sensor 12 . using actuators built into control handle 70 , sheath 69 is bent to angle distal head 68 into position . again , sheath 69 may be steered using control wires , shape memory alloys or the like . as pressure sensor 12 is guided into place against the mucosal wall 44 of bladder 24 , a physician actuates control handle 70 to attach sensor 12 to mucosal wall 44 and then release the attached sensor . upon attachment , pressure sensor 12 is implanted within bladder 24 of patient 18 and deployment device 66 is free to exit the bladder . exemplary methods for attachment and release of sensor 12 , including the use of both vacuum pressure and positive pressure , will be described in greater detail below . although fig7 depicts cystoscopic deployment of pressure sensor 12 , surgical or laparoscopic implantation techniques alternatively may be used . fig8 is a schematic diagram illustrating retraction of deployment device 66 upon fixation of pressure sensor 12 within the urinary tract of patient 18 . once the sensor 12 is released , optical fiber 28 remains attached to sensor housing 26 . during removal of deployment device 66 , optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 maintain position within bladder neck 23 adjacent sphincter 22 . as deployment device 66 is removed , optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 pass through a guide channel formed in the deployment device . the guide channel ensures that optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 remain pinned between distal head 68 and the wall of bladder 24 . as distal head 68 slides through sphincter 22 and urethra 20 , however , optical fiber 28 releases from deployment device 66 and is left in place within the urethra in the region proximate urinary sphincter 22 . deployment device 66 may then be completely withdrawn past the external urinary sphincter and out of the remainder of urethra 20 . in the example of fig8 , optical fiber 28 is suspended by device housing 26 , which is attached to mucosal wall 44 , and is held in place by pressure exerted against the urethral wall by urinary sphincter 22 . in other embodiments , optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 may be kept in place using other techniques such as actively fixing optical fiber 28 or tube section 30 to the side of urethra 20 , e . g ., with sutures or other anchor mechanisms . in a preferred embodiment , sheath 69 and distal head 68 may be disposable . disposable devices that come into contact with patient 18 tissues and fluids greatly decrease the possibility of infection in implantable devices . control handle 70 does not come into contact with body fluids of patient 18 and may be used for multiple patients . in another embodiment , the entire deployment device 66 may be manufactured out of robust materials intended for multiple uses . the device would then need to be sterilizable between uses . in still a further embodiment , the features of distal head 68 may be incorporated into pressure sensor 12 . in this configuration , pressure sensor 12 may be larger in size but would include the necessary elements for attachment within the device . after attachment , the entire sensor would detach from sheath 69 , making removal of deployment device 66 easier on patient 18 . after the useful life of implantable pressure sensor 12 is complete or it is no longer needed within patient 18 , it can be removed from patient 18 in some manner . as an example , deployment device 66 may be reinserted into patient 18 , navigated into bladder 24 , and reattached to pressure sensor 12 . deployment device 66 may then be withdrawn from the bladder 24 and urethra 20 , explanting sensor 12 , including housing 26 and optical fiber 28 , from patient 18 . in another embodiment , as mentioned with respect to fig3 , the attachment method of pressure sensor 12 to bladder 24 may involve degradable materials , such as a biodegradable fixation pin . after a certain period of time exposed to urine in the bladder 24 , the fixation material may structurally degrade and allow pressure sensor 12 to be released from the mucosal wall 44 of bladder 24 . in some embodiments , sensor 12 may be sized sufficiently small to follow urine out of the bladder , urethra , and body during a voiding event . in other embodiments , sensor housing 26 or tube section 30 may carry a suture - like loop that can be hooked by a catheter with a hooking element to withdraw the entire assembly from patient 18 via urethra 20 . in still further embodiments , such a loop may be long enough to extend out of the urethra , so that the loop can be grabbed with an external device or the human hand to pull the sensor 12 out of the patient . fig9 is a cross - sectional side view of distal head 68 of deployment device 66 during deployment and fixation of pressure sensor 12 . in the example of fig9 , distal head 68 a vacuum line 78 and a positive pressure line 80 . vacuum line 78 is coupled to vacuum source 74 via a tube or lumen extending along the length of sheath 69 . similarly , positive pressure line 80 is coupled to positive pressure source 76 via a tube or lumen extending along the length of sheath 69 . vacuum line 78 is in fluid communication with vacuum cavity 39 , and permits the physician to draw a vacuum and thereby capture a portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 within the vacuum cavity . positive pressure line 80 permits the physician to apply a pulse of high pressure fluid , such as a liquid or a gas , to drive fixation pin 46 into sensor housing 26 and through the portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 . pin 46 thereby fixes sensor housing 26 to mucosal lining 44 . in some embodiments , a membrane mounted over an opening of positive pressure line 80 may be punctured by pin 46 . optical fiber 28 resides within a channel of sheath 69 prior to detachment or sensor 12 from distal head 68 . once fixation pin 46 attaches sensor 12 to bladder 24 , vacuum line 78 is no longer needed . however , in some embodiments , vacuum line 78 may be used to detach pressure sensor 12 from distal head 68 of deployment device 66 . by terminating vacuum pressure , or briefly applying positive pressure through vacuum line 78 , for example , head 68 may separate from sensor 12 due to the force of the air pressure . in this manner , vacuum line 78 may aid in detachment of sensor 12 prior to withdrawal of deployment device 66 . as described previously in fig3 , fixation pin 46 punctures mucosal lining 44 for fixation of sensor 12 . while the force of this fixation may vary with patient 18 , deployment device 66 provides adequate force for delivery of pin 46 . in an exemplary embodiment , positive pressure line 80 is completely sealed and filled with a biocompatible fluid , such as water , saline solution or air . sealing the end of positive pressure line 80 is a head 82 on fixation pin 46 . head 82 is generally able to move within positive pressure line 80 much like a piston . force to push fixation pin 46 through the portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 captured in vacuum cavity 39 is created by application of a pulse of increased fluid pressure within positive pressure line 80 . for example , the physician may control positive pressure source 76 via control handle 70 . this simple delivery method may provide high levels of force , allow multiple curves and bends in articulating arm 306 , and enable a positive pressure line 80 of many shapes and sizes . in an alternative embodiment , a flexible , but generally incompressible , wire may placed within positive pressure line 80 and used to force fixation pin 46 through the captured portion 42 of mucosal lining 44 . this wire presents compressive force from control handle 70 directly to the head 82 of fixation pin 46 . this method may eliminate any safety risk of pressurized fluids entering patient 18 or , in some embodiments , permit retraction of pin 46 after an unsuccessful fixation attempt . the flexible wire may be attached to pin 46 and pulled back to remove the pin from capture mucosal tissue 42 . the flexible wire may be sheared from fixation pin 46 for detachment purposes as distal head 68 releases sensor 12 . this detachment may be facilitated by a shearing element or simply low shear stress of the wire enables separation when distal head 68 slides past pin 46 . in fig9 , deployment device 66 illustrates optical fiber 28 on the same end of housing 26 as sheath 69 , while the fixation structures are located in the opposite , or distal end of distal head 68 . in some embodiments , it may be necessary for pressure sensor 12 to be deployed with tube section 30 located at the distal end of head 68 and the fixation structures located near sheath 69 . in still other embodiments , the fixation structures and tube section 30 may be located on the same end of pressure sensor 12 . in some embodiments , deployment device 66 may include a small endoscopic camera in the distal head 68 . the camera may enable the physician to better guide deployment device 66 through urethra 20 , past sphincter 22 , and to a desired attachment location of bladder 24 in less time with more accuracy . images may be displayed using video fed to a display monitor . fig1 is a cross - sectional bottom view of the deployment device 66 of fig1 before attachment of pressure sensor 12 . as shown in fig1 , distal head 68 includes proximal tube channel 84 to accommodate optical fiber 28 during placement of sensor 12 and distal tube channel 86 to accommodate the flexible tube during retraction of deployment device 66 . in addition , sheath 69 includes a sheath channel 88 to accommodate optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 . channels 84 , 86 , 88 serve to retain tube section 30 during delivery of sensor 12 to an attachment site . note that the channels are larger than the shown portion of optical fiber 28 to enable the passage of the larger perturbation section 30 of optical fiber 28 . in some embodiments , tube section 30 may be of similar diameter to optical fiber 28 . distal head 68 is rounded on both sides at the distal end to permit easier entry of deployment device into areas of patient 18 . head 68 may also be lubricated before delivery to facilitate ease of navigation . on the proximal end of head 68 , proximal tube channel 84 runs through the head for unimpeded removal of optical fiber 28 and tube section 30 during detachment of pressure sensor 12 . this channel may be u - shaped , e . g . closed on 3 sides . in some embodiments , proximal tube channel 84 may be an enclosed hole in which optical fiber 28 resides and glides through upon deployment device 30 removal . sheath channel 88 is formed within sheath 69 to allow optical fiber 28 to stay in place during delivery of pressure sensor 12 . in this embodiment , optical fiber 28 is only partially retained within channel 88 . in some embodiments , sheath channel 88 may be deeper to allow optical fiber 28 to lie completely within sheath 69 , whereas others may include a completely enclosed channel out of which optical fiber 28 glides after attachment . distal channel 86 in distal end of head housing 68 is not used by optical fiber 28 before attachment . the purpose of this open channel is to allow optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 to glide through it while head 68 is removed from bladder 24 . as head 68 slides back past pressure sensor 12 , optical fiber 28 and tube section 30 will slide through channel 86 and head housing 68 will keep optical fiber 28 and tube section 30 between the wall of bladder 24 and head 68 until head 68 has been removed beyond sphincter 22 . optical fiber 28 and tube section 30 may then be ensured correct placing through sphincter 22 . some embodiments of optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 include multiple length and diameter combinations which would lead to modifications in channels 84 , 86 and 88 . these channels may be of different diameters or lengths to properly house optical fiber 28 , tube section 30 , or both . one embodiment may include flexible housing channels to accommodate a wide variety of dimensions . further embodiments of deployment device 30 may contain modified channel locations in head housing 68 . these locations may be needed to place optical fiber 28 and flexible tube section 30 in different locations , particularly at different sphincter sites as in some embodiments . fig1 is a flow diagram illustrating a technique for delivery of stimulation therapy based on closed loop feedback from an implantable pressure sensor . in the example of fig1 , implantable stimulator 14 requires information from implantable pressure sensor 12 and external programmer 16 . the flow of events begins with implantable stimulator 14 communicating with implantable pressure sensor 12 and sending a command to sense the pressure of sphincter 22 ( 90 ). the pressure sensor 12 subsequently acquires a pressure measurement and delivers the data to implantable stimulator 14 ( 92 ). upon receiving the pressure data , implantable stimulator 14 calibrates the data and compares it to a determined minimum pressure threshold ( 94 ). if the measured pressure is higher than the threshold , the loop begins again . if the pressure is lower than the threshold , the flow continues to the next step of stimulation . implantable stimulator 14 communicates with external programmer 16 to check if patient 18 has desired to void the contents of bladder 24 ( 96 ). if patient 18 has signaled a voiding event , stimulation is skipped and the process begins again . in the case of no voiding event desired , sphincter 22 is not providing adequate closing pressure and needs to be stimulated , or more vigorously stimulated . implantable stimulator 14 next performs the necessary tasks to adjust a level of stimulation for stimulation pulse generator 60 ( 98 ). stimulator 14 concludes the loop by delivering electric stimulation thereby to a nerve that innervates sphincter 22 ( 100 ). after stimulation therapy has commenced , the loop begins again to continue appropriate therapy to patient 18 . in some embodiments , pressure sensor 12 may be used exclusively for monitoring pressure without providing feedback for stimulation therapy . in this case , the logic loop would be much simpler and only include collecting data and sending it to an external programmer ( 90 and 92 ). pressure may be measured continuously , intermittently or at the request of external programmer 16 . these embodiments may be used for disease diagnosis or condition monitoring and may provide a patient to avoid frequent clinic visits and uncomfortable procedures . in some embodiments , the pressure measurements may form part of an automated voiding diary that records voluntary voiding events , involuntary voiding events , and urinary sphincter and urethral pressure levels prior to , contemporaneous with , of after such an event . although the invention may be especially applicable to sensing urinary sphincter pressure , the invention alternatively may be applied more generally to other sphincters within the patient , such as the lower esophageal sphincter ( les ) or pyloric sphincter . in addition , in those instances , the invention may be adapted to support electrical stimulation of other body organs , such as the stomach or intestines , e . g ., for treatment of obesity or gastric mobility disorders . not only may stimulation of certain nerves allow for the proper closure of a sphincter , but nerve stimulation may be able to modify stomach contractions or intestinal contractions based upon pressure measurements at those sites . pressure feedback from the implantable pressure sensor may be the most effective therapy for some patients , e . g ., in the form of biofeedback that aids the patient in self - regulating bladder control . also , the invention need not be limited to neurostimulation , and may be applied to stimulate other tissue , including muscle tissue . various embodiments of the described invention may include processors that are realized by microprocessors , application - specific integrated circuits ( asic ), field - programmable gate arrays ( fpga ), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry . the processor may also utilize several different types of data storage media to store computer - readable instructions for device operation . these memory and storage media types may include any form of computer - readable media such as magnetic or optical tape or disks , solid state volatile or non - volatile memory , including random access memory ( ram ), read only memory ( rom ), electronically programmable memory ( eprom or eeprom ), or flash memory . each storage option may be chosen depending on the embodiment of the invention . while the implantable stimulator and implantable pressure sensor ordinarily will contain permanent memory , a patient or clinician programmer may contain a more portable removable memory type to enable easy data transfer for offline data analysis . many embodiments of the invention have been described . various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the claims . for example , although the invention has been generally described in conjunction with implantable neurostimulation devices , a flexible tube sensor may also be used with other implantable medical devices , such as electrical muscle stimulation devices , functional electrical stimulation ( fes ) devices , and implantable drug delivery devices , each of which may be configured to treat incontinence or other conditions or disorders . these and other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims .	0
an illustrative example of a fuel cell system according to the present invention is shown in fig1 . the fuel cell system comprises a hydrogen - containing fuel 1 such as , for example , a nabh 4 chemical hydride fuel , housed within a fuel container 2 . the fuel container 2 has an inlet 3 for admitting water principally in the form of water vapor into the container 2 for reaction with the hydrogen - containing fuel 1 to produce hydrogen gas which exits the container 1 through an outlet 4 . a fuel cell enclosure 5 has disposed therein a fuel cell 6 which may , for example , be of the type described in my u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 863 , 813 ; re43 , 248 ; 4 , 988 , 582 and 5 , 094 , 928 , the entire disclosures of which constitute part of the disclosure of the present application and are hereby incorporated by reference herein . an example of one such fuel cell 6 is shown diagrammatically in fig1 and comprises a mixed - gas fuel cell having an impermeable substrate 18 , an impermeable or permeable catalytic electrode 17 , a permeable ion - conducting electron - insulating electrolytic membrane 16 ( referred to as a solid electrolyte body in my earlier patents ) and a permeable catalytic electrode 15 . the catalytic electrodes 15 and 17 and the membrane 16 are typically thin in accordance with the prior said disclosures from which the term thin film fuel cell used in conjunction with these disclosures derives . by contrast , the substrate 18 is typically relatively thick when compared with the thin film fuel cell since it acts as a mechanical support for the thin film fuel cell . substrate 18 may usefully also be electronically conductive . the fuel cell 6 is provided with a pair of lead wires 6 a , 6 b for extracting the electrical energy produced by the fuel cell , and the lead wires 6 a , 6 b are connected to fuel cell electrodes in a manner known in the art . the fuel cell enclosure 5 is provided with an oxygen inlet 7 for introducing oxygen into the enclosure , a hydrogen inlet 8 for introducing hydrogen gas into the enclosure , and a water outlet 9 for discharging water from the enclosure . an inlet valve 10 is preferably provided at the oxygen inlet 7 for controlling the inflow of oxygen gas . in the embodiment shown in fig1 , the outlet 4 of the fuel container 2 is directly connected to the hydrogen inlet 8 of the enclosure 5 by a passage such as a conduit 11 . in this manner , the interior of the fuel container 2 communicates with the interior of the fuel cell enclosure 5 so that hydrogen gas produced by the fuel 1 discharges through the outlet 4 and is directed through the conduit 11 and the hydrogen inlet 8 into the fuel cell enclosure 5 . in this embodiment , another passage such as a conduit 12 communicates the water outlet 9 of the fuel cell enclosure 5 with the inlet 3 of the fuel container 2 . this enables water produced during operation of the fuel cell 6 to be admitted into the fuel container 2 for reaction with the hydrogen - containing fuel 1 . if necessary , a venting valve 14 may be provided along the conduit 12 . in operation , oxygen or air is admitted through the inlet valve 10 ( which is in the open position ) and the oxygen inlet 7 into the fuel cell enclosure 5 and mixes with hydrogen admitted through the hydrogen inlet 8 to form the gas mixture needed for the fuel cell 6 to generate electrical energy which passes along the lead wires 6 a , 6 b attached to the fuel cell electrodes . a corresponding amount of water vapor is generated by the fuel cell 6 and is discharged from the fuel cell enclosure 5 through the water outlet 9 and passes through the conduit 12 to the hydrogen - containing fuel 1 via the inlet 3 . the water vapor reacts with the hydrogen - containing fuel 1 in the fuel container 2 , and results in more hydrogen being passed to the fuel cell 6 to sustain the electrical energy generation . while the primary purposes of the inlets 7 and 8 and outlet 9 are to allow passage of the primary fuel cell reactants oxygen and hydrogen and the product water , respectively , in practice other gases may accompany the primary reactants and product water . for instance , in addition to water , gases not reacted by the fuel cell 6 including unreacted oxygen and hydrogen may pass through the outlet 9 and then pass unreacted through the fuel 1 , container 2 , outlet 4 conduit 11 and inlet 8 to the enclosure 5 . if air is used as the source of oxygen , nitrogen will also pass unreacted through the elements of the fuel cell system shown in fig1 and further illustrated in fig2 . such air will subsequently become oxygen depleted as a result of normal fuel cell operation . to maintain a directed flow pattern , oxygen or air may be forced into the fuel cell enclosure 5 through the oxygen inlet 7 with the inlet valve 10 open . this may be achieved by using some of the electrical energy produced by the fuel cell 6 . the venting valve 14 may need to be incorporated to allow oxygen - depleted air from the fuel cell container 2 to be removed and replaced by oxygen - rich air through the oxygen inlet 7 . in the embodiment shown in fig3 , the valves 10 and 14 together with the outlet 4 , the inlet 8 and the conduits 11 and 12 are eliminated , and the fuel cell enclosure 5 is directly connected to the fuel container 2 . one or more openings ( such as the outlet 9 ) provided in the fuel cell enclosure 5 are aligned with one or more similar openings ( such as the inlet 3 ) provided in the fuel container 2 so that air diffusing through the oxygen inlet 7 mixes with hydrogen diffusing from the fuel container 2 to provide the mixed gas environment required for power generation by the fuel cell 6 , and water vapor diffusing from the fuel cell enclosure 5 enters the fuel container 2 for reaction with the hydrogen - containing fuel 1 . this embodiment would allow a simpler design and would generate lower levels of power and be suitable for low powered portable equipment such as a cellphone . higher levels of power , such as may be required during cellphone transmission , would be supplied by an energy storage device such as a small battery , kept constantly charged by the low power fuel cell system . in accordance with another aspect of the present invention , the fuel container 2 is removably connected in the fuel cell system so that it can be removed and replaced by a new fuel container . for this purpose , any suitable removable connection may be employed , such as , for example , threaded connections or bolted flange connections , to removably connect the inlet 3 and the outlet 4 of the fuel container 2 to the conduits 11 and 12 . in the embodiment shown in fig3 , the outlet 4 , the inlet 8 and the conduits 11 and 12 are dispensed with , and the fuel container 2 is removably connected directly to the fuel cell enclosure 5 so that the outlet 9 of the fuel cell enclosure 5 communicates directly with the inlet 3 of the fuel container 2 through a series of aligned openings . alternatively , the conduit 12 could be retained , in which case only the inlet 3 of the fuel container 2 need be removably connected to the conduit 12 . in this manner , a spent fuel container 2 may be removed and replaced with a fresh fuel container . the sequence of reactions involved in the fuel cell system of fig1 are shown as a gas flow chart in fig2 : at the fuel cell 6 : 4h 2 + 2o 2 ( air )=& gt ; 4h 2 o (+ electrical energy ) in the fuel container 2 : nabh 4 + 4h 2 o =& gt ; 4h 2 + naoh . b ( oh ) 3 overall reaction : nabh 4 + 2o 2 ( air )=& gt ; naoh . b ( oh ) 3 the overall reaction shows that the fuel cell system shown in fig1 produces electrical energy from only one external reactant ( oxygen ), which is readily available in air , and that no excess hydrogen is produced other than is needed internally for electrical energy production . the reaction also shows that the amount of water produced by the fuel cell is sufficient to react all of the chemical hydride material . an internal cycle of water and hydrogen production is directly controlled and regulated by the external demand for electrical energy which makes the system inherently safe . this cycle may be characterized as follows : for a given amount of electrical energy produced , the rate of production of hydrogen needed for use in a fuel cell is exactly balanced by the amount of water it produces when using suitable chemical hydrides . as the demand for electrical energy is increased , more current is produced accompanied by more water production , which leads to more hydrogen production to sustain the higher electrical energy demand . as the demand for electrical energy is reduced to zero , the amount of water produced is correspondingly reduced to zero and as a consequence the amount of hydrogen is also reduced to zero , which makes the system safe for storing and transporting hydrogen with the inlet valve 10 closed . a fuel cell capable of producing electrical power on exposure to a mixture of air and 2 – 4 % hydrogen , such as described in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 863 , 813 ; re43 , 248 ; 4 , 988 , 582 and 5 , 094 , 928 , would particularly benefit from the present invention since the carrying capacity of air for water vapor is in the same range , namely 2 – 4 % for the temperature range 20 – 30 ° c . this particular benefit arises because in the exemplary reactions shown above , reaction of a given number of water molecules with the chemical hydride produces the same number of molecules of hydrogen thus providing a natural control of the amount of hydrogen generated to the range 2 – 4 % which is generally considered to be a safe level of hydrogen in air , which would be especially beneficial for use in the portable electronic device applications envisaged such as mobile phones and laptop computers . in addition , the supply of water as vapor is an advantageous means to utilize most efficiently the chemical hydride fuel . the inlet valve 10 prevents uncontrolled access of air or oxygen to the fuel cell system when not in use as shown in fig1 . the inlet valve 10 would typically comprise a shut - off valve , mechanically or electrically activated when the fuel cell 6 was no longer delivering power . the venting valve 14 would also be closed when the fuel cell 6 was not operating to produce electrical power . the present invention couples the fuel cell to the chemical fuel by a system of inlets and outlets which obviate the need for supplying external water to react with the chemical hydride . the fuel cell system of the present invention thereby is lighter in weight and smaller in volume by the amount of water that is not needed , which for sodium borohydride , amounts to a weight and volume savings of approximately two thirds . this is clearly advantageous for portable applications . the specific energy density based on the hydrogen content of sodium borohydride alone ( without including the volume or weight of reactant water ) is approximately 6300 watt - hours per liter and 5900 watt - hours per kilogram . other chemical hydrides would provide even higher energy densities if used in accordance with the present invention . several suitable inorganic chemical hydrides react with water in a balanced manner to benefit this invention and give hydrogen , and examples of such reactions are given below . these are examples of suitable fuels for beneficial use in the present invention . their selection will also depend upon factors including their specific energy density , rate of reaction with water vapor , completeness of reaction with water vapor , temperature , etc . substantially higher specific energy densities are available by using a li - based hydride such as libh 4 , which has an energy density of approximately 10 , 000 watt - hours per liter and per kilogram . if used in the present invention , this specific energy is much higher than popular fuels for fuel cells such as methanol and relatively heavy metal hydrides which adsorb and desorb hydrogen gas as opposed to chemical hydride fuels used in the present invention which react with water to produce hydrogen gas . advantageous embodiments of the present invention would include means to utilize as much of the chemical hydride fuel as possible by the fuel cell supplied water vapor . the water supplied from the fuel cell to the chemical hydride , if in a vaporized state , would assist penetration into a solid chemical hydride mass to achieve a more uniform extent of reaction of the available solid chemical hydride ( high utilization ) than if the water were in a liquid state . in particular , water as vapor , reduces the onset of vapor - pathway blockage of the solid chemical hydride particulate mass , which would otherwise reduce system energy density by precluding further water access to the inner particles of chemical hydride . mixing of the particles of chemical hydride with inert material that promotes ingress and penetration by water vapor may be advantageous . judicious choice of chemical hydride particle size and particle size distribution may also be advantageous to high utilization . increasing the porosity of the chemical hydride fuel towards water vapor could be achieved by making the chemical hydride into a sheet or wafer form and stacking the sheets or wafers one atop another with an air space therebetween to allow easy ingress of water vapor to facilitate a higher degree and uniformity of reaction of the chemical hydride . the rate of reaction of the solid chemical hydride fuel may be raised by including additives in the chemical hydride such as a catalyst for the reaction including addition of ruthenium or acid - containing compounds . the addition of a fusible polymer to the chemical hydride particles may be beneficial for safety by selecting a polymer which would melt and spread over the remaining chemical hydride fuel if the temperature rose to an unacceptable level , which would present a barrier to further reaction with incoming water vapor thereby reducing the rate of reaction of the water vapor with the chemical hydride fuel . while it is anticipated that the principal source of hydrogen is by reaction of the hydrogen - containing fuel with water , as this fuel becomes progressively so reacted , the rate of production of hydrogen may diminish and the fuel cell may require a supplemental hydrogen supply to maintain undiminished power output . all fuel cells producing electrical energy from hydrogen and oxygen generate water which at ambient temperature can condense and accumulate at their electrodes and so reduce electrode performance by obstructing the flow of reactant gas to the catalytic surfaces of the electrode . this is commonly prevented by increasing airflow to displace the water . the present invention removes water vapor without having to increase airflow and internally reduces water condensate formation by acting as a ‘ drying ’ agent in close proximity to the fuel cell . this is especially advantageous in fuel cell applications near to people and equipment , which are susceptible to build up of moisture . the present invention anticipates the removal of both the spent chemical hydride fuel ( fuel reaction product ) with chemically reacted water by mechanical means . removal of the fuel container 2 in fig1 and replacement by a container with unreacted chemical hydride can be designed to be simple and efficient . disposal of the spent sodium borohydride which may contain solid borax is not anticipated to be problematic for this invention . while the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to mixed - gas fuel cells , it is understood that the invention is not so limited and can be carried out using generally any type of fuel cell that consumes hydrogen and produces water as a reaction product . for example , the present invention can be practiced using fuel cells that require different electrochemical reactants or different electrochemical reactant concentrations at the cathode and anode electrodes provided that the fuel cells consume hydrogen and produce water as a reaction product . while the present invention has been described with reference to presently preferred embodiments thereof , other embodiments as well as obvious variations and modifications to all the embodiments will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art . the present invention is intended to cover all such embodiments , variations and modifications that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	8
hereinafter , preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to accompanying drawings . fig1 and 2 are perspective and exploded views showing a dielectric filter of the first embodiment of the present invention . in fig1 and 2 , reference numerals 11 and 12 represent dielectric resonators . hereinafter , taking the dielectric resonator 11 of these two dielectric resonators , a construction of the dielectric resonator will be explained . a dielectric base body 11a made of dielectric material , such as bao -- tio 2 -- nd 2 o 3 , bao -- tio 2 , zro 2 -- sno 2 -- tio 2 , bao -- sm 2 o 3 -- tio 2 , is formed with a centrally axially extending through hole 11b . the dielectric base body 11a has an outer configuration of rectangular parallelepiped having a square cross section , while the through hole 11b has a circular cross section . an outer conductors 11c is provided on the outer side surface of the dielectric base body 11a so as to surround it . an inner conductor 11d is provided along the inner side surface of the through hole 11b . the outer conductor 11c and the inner conductor 11d are connected with each other via a connecting conductor 11e . this connecting conductor 11e is provided on a closed end surface , i . e . a base of the rectangular parallelepiped , of the dielectric base body 11a as shown in fig3 and 36 . of four outer side surfaces of the dielectric base body 11a , two side surfaces 11i and 11h are partly cut off so that the dielectric base body 11a is exposed near the open end 11j . namely , a cutout 11k ( see fig2 ) of the outer conductor 11c bridging both the two side surfaces 11i and 11h is formed near the open end of the dielectric base body 11a . furthermore , an interstage coupling electrode 11f is provided within the region of the cutout 11k on the outer side surface 11i , so that this interstage coupling electrode 11f does not contact with other conductors . in the same manner , an input / output coupling electrode 11g is provided within the region of the cutout 11k on the outer side surface 11h , so that this input / output coupling electrode 11g does not contact with other conductors . likewise , the other dielectric resonator 12 comprises : a dielectric base body 12a , a through hole 12b , an outer conductor 12c , an inner conductor 12d , a connecting conductor 12e , an interstage coupling electrode 12f , an input / output coupling electrode 12g , outer side surfaces 12h and 12i , an open end 12j , and a cutout 12k ( see fig2 ). the like parts between the dielectric resonators 11 and 12 are denoted by the same reference alphabet throughout views . ( for example , the dielectric base body 11a is substantially identical with the dielectric base body 12a ) however , as apparent from fig2 the relationship between the dielectric resonator 11 and the dielectric resonator 12 are mirror symmetry . therefore , in production of each dielectric resonator , it is necessary to pay attention to the positional relationship between the electrodes 11f , 11g and 12f , 12g . more specifically , the dielectric resonator 11 and the dielectric resonator 12 are connected by means of , for example , cream solder in such a manner that the electrodes 11f and 12f confront and contact with each other and the electrodes 11g and 12g are placed on the same plane . furthermore , the outer conductors 11c , 12c , inner conductors 11d , 12d , connecting conductors 11e , 12e , electrodes 11f , 12f , and electrodes 11g , 12g ( hereinafter , these components respectively are referred to as conductor film ) are basically thin film made of conductive material such as copper and silver . the thickness of the film is approximately 5 μm . although the conductor film is a single layer in this embodiment , it is needless to say that two or more layer structure can be allowed . regarding the film thickness of approximately 5 μm , this value should be adequately changed depending on the condition of the dielectric filter in service . although the electrodes 11g , 12g and 11f , 12f are rectangular in this first embodiment , the configuration of these electrodes 11g , 12g and 11f , 12f can be any other shape , such as circle , ellipse , and polygon . fig3 is a circuit diagram showing an equivalent circuit of the dielectric filter in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention depicted in fig1 . in fig3 a reference numeral 13 represents an equivalent circuit of the dielectric resonator 11 and a reference numeral 14 represents an equivalent circuit of the other dielectric resonator 12 depicted in fig1 . c1 represents a capacitance between the electrode 11g and the inner conductor 11d , and c3 represents a capacitance between the electrode 12g and the inner conductor 12d . c2 represents a composite capacitance of two capacitances -- one is a capacitance between the electrodes 11f and 11d , and the other is a capacitance between the electrodes 12f and 12d . as understood from this equivalent circuit , the dielectric filter of the present embodiment has substantially the same circuit configuration as the conventional dielectric filter . nevertheless , the structure of this embodiment is very simplified and compact when compared with that of the conventional one . in more detail , this embodiment no longer requires the central conductor and the dielectric substrate of the conventional dielectric filter . this results in 50 % reduction of overall size . fig4 is a perspective view showing the dielectric filter mounted on a substrate in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention . in fig4 a reference numeral 15 represents a printed circuit board constituted by insulating material , such as glass . epoxy resin . reference numerals 16 and 17 represent input / output pathways formed on the printed circuit board 15 . similarly , a reference numeral 18 represents a grounded pathway formed on the printed circuit board 15 . the electrode 11g of the dielectric resonator 11 is connected onto the input / output pathway 16 by a solder 19 , and the electrode 12g of the dielectric resonator 12 is connected onto the input / output pathway 17 by a solder 20 . furthermore , the outer conductors 11c and 12c of the dielectric resonators 11 and 12 are connected onto the grounded pathway 18 by solder 21 . the input / output pathways 16 , 17 and the grounded pathway 18 are formed by coating conductive paste , such as ag paste , on the printed circuit board 15 in a predetermined pattern and then fixing it by printing . fig5 is a graph showing comparison of damping characteristics between the first embodiment and the prior art . in fig5 a line a represents a characteristic curve of the first embodiment and b represents a characteristic curve of the prior art filter . as apparent from fig5 the characteristic curve a of the first embodiment has two extreme values a1 and a2 at low and high frequencies . this is because , as shown in the equivalent circuit of fig3 the interstage coupling causes a small amount of electromagnetic coupling m besides the coupling capacitance ( c1 , c2 , c3 ). on the contrary , the characteristic curve b of the prior art does not generate the similar extreme values . a manufacturing method of the above - described dielectric filter will be explained hereinafter . first of all , starting materials ( for example , bao , tio 2 , nd 2 o 3 or the like ) are blended at a predetermined ratio . then , the blended material is mixed by using a mill or else . next , the mixed material is granulated by using a spray dryer or the like , so as to adjust the particle size and add binder . subsequently , the granulated material is pelletized by a dry press so as to be formed into a predetermined shape . in turn , the pelletized material is sintered in a kiln at the temperature of 1300 ° c . to 1400 ° c . thus , the dielectric base body 11a of cylindrical shape shown in fig6 is obtained . then , the conductor film is formed on the dielectric base body 11a . there are various method for forming the conductor film , several of which will be explained below . a first method is applied in a case where copper is used as a material constituting the conductor film . the surface of the dielectric base body 11a is roughened by a barrelling machine or a blast device . thereafter , the dielectric base body 11a is processed by etching until the roughness of the surface of the dielectric base body 11a becomes 5 μm to 9 μm . etchant to be used in this etching will be , for example , hf -- hno 2 series . subsequently , all the surface of the dielectric base body 11a is processed by stannous chloride or the like to give sensitivity . then , palladium qualifying as catalytic metal is attached on all the surface of the dielectric base body 11a . next , as shown in fig7 a resist film 23 is formed partially on the dielectric base body 11a . namely , this resist film 23 defines a region on which no conductor film of the dielectric base body 11a is provided -- a region becoming the cutout 11k or the open end 11j as depicted in fig2 . in the formation of this resist film 23 , resist ink is coated on the dielectric base body 11a by the use of printing technology or else and then thus printed resist ink is dried until it hardens . next , on thus manufactured dielectric base body 11a , there is formed a thin , first copper film by the electroless copper plating method . in this case , the first copper film is selectively formed only within a region where the resist film 23 is not provided . subsequently , a second copper film is laminated on the first copper film by the electrolytic copper plating to form the conductor film whose thickness is approximately 5 μm . after the resist film 23 is removed by solvent or else , the dielectric resonator 11 ( or 12 ) shown in fig1 and 2 is manufactured . although the above manufacturing method coats the resist ink on the predetermined portion of the dielectric base body 11a using the printing technology and then dries and hardens the resist ink , another manufacturing method will allow the use of a photosensitive resist as a resist . that is , after the catalytic metal , such as palladium , is attached on the dielectric base body 11a , photosensitive resist is coated on all the surface of the dielectric base body 11a . then , a predetermined portion of the photosensitive resist is exposed and hardened . thereafter , the portion not being hardened by exposure is washed away by developing solution . then , the resist film 23 shown in fig7 will be obtained . next , still another manufacturing method of the conductor film will be explained . first of all , a conductor film 24 is formed on all the surface of the dielectric base body 11a of fig2 as shown in fig8 . in this case , the conductor film 24 can be formed in the double - layer structure of copper as previously described . furthermore , the conductor film 24 will be formed on the entire surface of the dielectric base body 11a by printing ag paste on the entire surface of the dielectric base body 11a , drying this ag paste , and applying a thermal treatment at the temperature of 800 ° c . to 900 ° c . in turn , a resist film 25 is formed on the conductor film 24 in a predetermined pattern as shown in fig9 . the method of forming this resist film 25 is the same as in the previous method . the resist film 25 is formed to define the region where the conductors and electrodes are formed . thereafter , the unnecessary portion of the conductor film 24 is removed by using the etching technology , such as chemical etching or dry etching . thus , the dielectric resonator 11 ( or 12 ) shown in fig1 and 2 is manufactured . yet another manufacturing method ( not shown ) of the conductor film will be explained . after forming the conductor film 24 on the entire surface of the dielectric base body 11a as shown in fig8 cutting or laser machining is applied on the surface of the dielectric base body 11a to physically remove the predetermined portion of the surface . thus , the dielectric resonator 11 ( or 12 ) shown in fig1 and 2 is manufactured . the dielectric resonators 11 and 12 thus constructed are disposed in such a manner that the electrodes 11f and 12f confront with each other . then , the outer conductors 11i and 12i are connected by means of cream solder or the like . similarly , the electrodes 11f and 12f are connected by means of cream solder or the like as depicted in fig2 . fig1 is a perspective view showing the modified dielectric filter of the first embodiment of the present invention , and fig1 is an exploded perspective view showing the modified dielectric filter of the first embodiment of the present invention . in fig1 and 11 , reference numerals 26 and 27 represent dielectric resonators whose constructions are almost identical with those of fig1 and 2 except the configuration of the through hole . first of all , the dielectric resonator 26 will be explained . a reference numeral 26a represents a dielectric base body made of dielectric material . the outer configuration of the dielectric base body 26a is rectangular parallelepiped having a square cross section . furthermore , a centrally axially extending through hole is formed in the dielectric base body 26a . the through hole consists of a large hole 26b and a small hole 26c ( see fig1 ) extending centrally and axially and communicated with each other . the large hole 26b is positioned near the open end and has a square cross section , while the small hole 26c has a circular cross section . although the dielectric resonator of fig1 and 2 has the through hole of constant diameter extending from the open end to the connecting end -- from one base to the other base of the rectangular parallelepiped -- of the dielectric base body 11a , this modified embodiment is different from the embodiment of fig1 and 2 and characterized in that the through hole has a stepped portion . with this arrangement , an inner conductor 26d formed inside the large hole 26b can be made large . this means that it becomes possible to increase not only the input / output coupling capacitance between the electrode 26e and the inner conductor 26d but also the interstage coupling capacitance between the electrodes 26f and the inner conductor 26d ; therefore , it becomes possible to manufacture a wide - band dielectric filter . in the same manner , the other dielectric resonator 27 includes a dielectric base body 27a with a centrally axially extending through hole consisting of a large square hole 27b and a small circular hole 27c ( see fig1 ). by providing an inner conductor 27d inside this through hole , the input / output coupling capacitance between the electrodes 27e and 27d can be increased but the interstage coupling capacitance between the electrode 27f and the inner conductor 27d can be increased . the remainder of the construction is substantially the same as that of fig1 and 2 . fig1 and 13 are perspective and exploded views showing a dielectric filter of the second embodiment of the present invention . in fig1 and 13 , reference numerals 28 and 29 represent dielectric resonators . hereinafter , taking the dielectric resonator 28 of these two dielectric resonators , a construction of the dielectric resonator will be explained . a dielectric base body 28a made of dielectric material , such as bao -- tio 2 -- nd 2 o 3 , bao -- tio 2 , zro 2 -- sno 2 -- tio 2 , bao -- sm 2 o 3 -- tio 2 , is formed with a centrally axially extending through hole 28b . the dielectric base body 28a has an outer configuration of rectangular parallelepiped having a square cross section , while the through hole 28b has a circular cross section . an outer conductors 28c is provided on the outer side surface of the dielectric base body 28a so as to surround it . an inner conductor 28d is provided along the inner side surface of the through hole 28b . the outer conductor 28c and the inner conductor 28d are connected with each other via a connecting conductor 28e . this connecting conductor 28e is provided on a closed end surface , i . e . a base of the rectangular parallelepiped , of the dielectric base body 28a , in the same manner as the connecting conductor 11e of the first embodiment explained with reference to fig3 and 36 . of four outer side surfaces of the dielectric base body 28a , one side surface 28h is partly cut off so that the dielectric base body 28a is exposed near the open end 28j . namely , a cutout 28k of the outer conductor 28c is formed near the open end 28j of the dielectric base body 28a . furthermore , an interstage coupling electrode 28f is provided within the region of the cutout 28k ( see fig1 ), so that this interstage coupling electrode 28f does not contact with other conductors . in the same manner , an input / output coupling electrode 28g is provided within the region of the cutout 28k , so that this input / output coupling electrode 28g does not contact with other conductors . the arrangement of the interstage coupling electrode 28f and the input / output coupling electrode 28g is different from that of the first embodiment . namely , the interstage coupling electrode and the input / output coupling electrode are separately provided on different side surfaces of the dielectric resonator in the first embodiment . on the contrary , the second embodiment provides the cutout 28k on only one outer side surface 28h and disposes the electrodes 28f and 28g within the region of this cutout 28k . the other dielectric resonator 29 comprises : a dielectric base body 29a , a through hole 29b , an outer conductor 29c , an inner conductor 29d , a connecting conductor 29e , an interstage coupling electrode 29f , an input / output coupling electrode 29g , an outer side surface 29h , an open end 29j , and a cutout 29k ( see fig1 ). the like parts between the dielectric resonators 28 and 29 are denoted by the same reference alphabet throughout views . ( for example , the dielectric base body 28a is substantially identical with the dielectric base body 29a ) however , as apparent from fig1 , the relationship between the dielectric resonator 28 and the dielectric resonator 29 are mirror symmetry . therefore , in production of each dielectric resonator , it is necessary to pay attention to the positional relationship between the electrodes 28f , 28g and 29f , 29g . more specifically , the dielectric resonator 28 and the dielectric resonator 29 are connected by means of , for example , cream solder in such a manner that the outer side surfaces 28h and 29h do not confront with each other and are placed on the same plane . furthermore , there is provided a terminal 30 electrically connecting both the electrodes 28f and 29f . this terminal 30 is made of conductive material , such as silver , copper , and aluminum . conductive bonding material , such as solder , is used to connect the terminal 30 with the electrodes 28f , 29f . furthermore , the electrode 28g is connected with a terminal 31 and the electrode 29g is connected with a terminal 32 by means of conductive bonding material , such as solder . the terminals 31 and 32 are made of conductive material , such as copper and aluminum . furthermore , the outer conductors 28c , 29c , inner conductors 28d , 29d , connecting conductors 28e , 29e , electrodes 28f , 29f , and electrodes 28g , 29g ( hereinafter , these components respectively are referred to as conductor film ) are basically thin film made of conductive material such as copper and silver . the thickness of the film is approximately 5 μm . although the conductor film is a single layer in this embodiment , it is needless to say that two or more layer structure can be allowed . regarding the film thickness of approximately 5 μm , this value should be adequately changed depending on the condition of the dielectric filter in service . although the electrodes 28g , 29g and 28f , 29f are rectangular in this second embodiment , the configuration of these electrodes 28g , 29g and 28f , 29f can be any other shape , such as circle , ellipse , and polygon . as apparent from the foregoing description , the dielectric filter of this embodiment is very simplified and compact in structure . in particular , the present embodiment no longer requires the central conductor and the dielectric substrate of the conventional dielectric filter . this results in 50 % reduction of overall size . fig1 is a perspective view showing the dielectric filter mounted on a substrate in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention . in fig1 , a reference numeral 33 represents a printed circuit board constituted by insulating material , such as glass . epoxy resin . reference numerals 34 and 35 represent input / output pathways formed on the printed circuit board 33 . similarly , a reference numeral 36 represents a grounded pathway formed on the printed circuit board 33 . the terminal 31 of the dielectric resonator 28 is connected onto the input / output pathway 34 by conductive bonding material , such as solder , and the terminal 32 of the dielectric resonator 29 is connected onto the input / output pathway 35 by conductive bonding material , such as solder . furthermore , the outer conductors 28c and 29c of the dielectric resonators 28 and 29 are respectively connected onto the grounded pathway 36 by conductive bonding material , such as solder . the input / output pathways 34 , 35 and the grounded pathway 36 are formed by coating conductive paste , such as ag paste , on the printed circuit board 33 in a predetermined pattern and then fixing it by printing . although this embodiment uses the terminal 30 to connect the electrodes 28f and 29f and uses the terminals 31 and 32 to connect the input / output pathways and the dielectric filter , it is also possible to provide a connecting electrode on the printed circuit board 33 instead of the terminal 30 to connect the electrodes 28f and 29f ( see fig1 , 13 ). the terminals 31 and 32 are also omitted in this case . more specifically , there is provided a connecting electrode ( not shown ) between the input / output pathways 34 , 35 made of conductive material . the dielectric resonators 28 and 29 ( being not equipped with the terminals 30 , 31 and 32 ) are placed on the connecting electrode so that both the electrodes 28f , 29f ( see fig1 , 13 ) contact with the connecting electrode , the input / output terminals 28g , 29g contact with the input / output pathways 34 , 35 , and the outer conductors 28c , 29c contact with the grounded conductor 36 . thereafter , the dielectric resonators 28 and 29 are tightly fixed on the printed circuit board by means of conductive bonding material , such as cream solder . in other words , if the terminal 30 is omitted , no gap is generated between the electrodes 28g , 29g ( see fig1 , 13 ) and the printed circuit board 33 . therefore , the terminals 31 and 32 are no longer necessary . the prospective manufacturing methods of the above - described dielectric filter are substantially the same as those of the previously described first embodiment and , therefore , will be no more explained . fig1 is a perspective view showing the modified dielectric filter of the second embodiment of the present invention , and fig1 is an exploded perspective view showing the modified dielectric filter of the second embodiment of the present invention . the modified embodiment of fig1 and 16 is different from the dielectric filter of fig1 and 13 in the configuration of a through hole . the dielectric filter of fig1 , 13 has the through hole of constant diameter extending from the open end to the opposite end . on the other hand , this modified dielectric filter is different from the embodiment of fig1 , 13 and characterized in that the through hole has a stepped portion . that is , the dielectric filter 28 has a dielectric base body 28a formed with a centrally axially extending through hole . the through hole consists of a large hole 28m and a small hole 28n ( see fig1 ) extending centrally and axially and communicated with each other . the large hole 28m is positioned near the open end and has a square cross section , while the small hole 28n has a circular cross section . an inner conductor 28q is provided on the inside surface of this through hole . likewise , the other dielectric filter 29 has a dielectric base body 29a and a centrally axially extending through hole consisting of a large hole 29m and a small hole 29n ( see fig1 ) extending centrally and axially and communicated with each other . the large hole 29m is positioned near the open end and has a square cross section , while the small hole 29n has a circular cross section . an inner conductor 29q is provided on the inside surface of this through hole . providing the stepped portion in the through hole and forming the square holes 28m , 29m near the open end so as to have a larger cross section than the corresponding holes 29n , 29m is advantageous in increasing not only the input / output coupling capacitance between the electrode 28g and the inner conductor 28q and between the electrode 29g and the inner conductor 29q but also the interstage coupling capacitance between the electrode 28f ( see fig1 ) and the inner conductor 28q and between the electrode 29f ( see fig1 ) and the inner conductor 29q . thus , it becomes possible to manufacture a wide - band dielectric filter . the remainder of the construction is substantially the same as that of fig1 and 13 . fig1 and 18 are perspective and exploded views showing a dielectric filter of the third embodiment of the present invention . in fig1 and 18 , reference numerals 37 and 38 represent dielectric resonators . hereinafter , taking the dielectric resonator 37 of these two dielectric resonators , a construction of the dielectric resonator will be explained . a dielectric base body 37a made of dielectric material , such as bao -- tio 2 -- nd 2 o 3 , bao -- tio 2 , zro 2 -- sno 2 -- tio 2 , bao -- sm 2 o 3 -- tio 2 , is formed with a centrally axially extending through hole 37b . the dielectric base body 37a has an outer configuration of rectangular parallelepiped having a square cross section , while the through hole 37b has a circular cross section . an outer conductors 37c is provided on the outer side surface of the dielectric base body 37a so as to surround it . an inner conductor 37d is provided along the inner side surface of the through hole 37b . the outer conductor 37c and the inner conductor 37d are connected with each other via a connecting conductor 37e . this connecting conductor 37e is provided on a closed end surface , i . e . a base of the rectangular parallelopiped , of the dielectric base body 37a as explained in the first embodiment with reference to fig3 and 36 . of four outer side surfaces of the dielectric base body 37a , two side surfaces 37i and 37h are partly cut off so that the dielectric base body 37a is bared near the open end 37j . namely , cutouts 37p ( see fig1 ) and 37k of the outer conductor 37c are formed on the two side surfaces 37i and 37h , respectively , near the open end 37j of the dielectric base body 37a . furthermore , an interstage coupling electrode 37f is provided within the region of the cutout 37k on the outer side surface 37h , so that this interstage coupling electrode 37f does not contact with other conductors . in the same manner , an input / output coupling electrode 37g ( not shown ) is provided within the region of the cutout 37p on the outer side surface 37i , so that this input / output coupling electrode does not contact with other conductors . the cutout 37p extends beyond the corner and along an adjacent outer side surface -- a surface to be confronted with the printed circuit board . it will be preferable to connect an l - shaped terminal 39 ( see fig1 ) with the input / output coupling electrode . namely , depending on the condition of the printed circuit board on which the dielectric filter is mounted , the terminal 39 and others are connected with the input / output coupling electrode . then , the terminal 39 is firmly connected with a conductive film ( e . g . input / output pathway ) on the printed circuit board by means of solder or the like . instead of providing the terminal 39 , it will be also possible to directly connect the input / output coupling electrode with the conductive film on the printed circuit board by means of solder or the like . for the latter case , the cutout 37p extending within the region of the surface to be confronted with the printed circuit board serves to prevent the solder electrically connecting the conductive film and the input / output coupling electrode from contacting with the outer conductor 37c . likewise , the other dielectric resonator 38 comprises : a dielectric base body 38a , a through hole 38b , an outer conductor 38c , an inner conductor 38d , a connecting conductor 38e , an interstage coupling electrode 38f , an input / output coupling electrode 38g ( which is similar to the input / output coupling electrode 37g of the dielectric resonator 37 ), outer side surfaces 38h and 38i , an open end 38j , and cutouts 38k , 38p . the like parts between the dielectric resonators 37 and 38 are denoted by the same reference alphabet throughout views . ( for example , the dielectric base body 37a is substantially identical with the dielectric base body 38a ) however , as apparent from fig1 , the relationship between the dielectric resonator 37 and the dielectric resonator 38 are mirror symmetry . therefore , in production of each dielectric resonator , it is necessary to pay attention to the positional relationship between the electrodes 37f , 37g and 38f , 38g . furthermore , the electrode 38g may be connected with a terminal 39 ( see fig1 ) depending on the condition of the printed circuit board on which the dielectric resonator 38 is mounted , in the same manner as the dielectric resonator 37 . more specifically , the dielectric resonator 37 and the dielectric resonator 38 are connected by means of , for example , cream solder in such a manner that the electrodes 37f and 38f confront and contact with each other and the electrodes 37g and 38g are placed in parallel and remotely opposed relationship so as to face both sides of the resonators . this is because these dielectric resonators are disposed in mirror symmetry relationship as described before . furthermore , the outer conductors 37c , 38c , inner conductors 37d , 38d , connecting conductors 37e , 38e , electrodes 37f , 38f , and electrodes 37g , 38g ( hereinafter , these components respectively are referred to as conductor film ) are basically thin film made of conductive material such as copper and silver . the thickness of the film is approximately 5 μm . although the conductor film is a single layer in this embodiment , it is needless to say that two or more layer structure can be allowed . regarding the film thickness of approximately 5 μm , this value should be adequately changed depending on the condition of the dielectric filter in service . although the electrodes 37g , 38g and 37f , 38f are rectangular in this third embodiment , the configuration of these electrodes 37g , 38g and 37f , 38f can be any other shape , such as circle , ellipse , and polygon . as apparent from the foregoing description , the dielectric filter of this embodiment is very simplified and compact in structure . in particular , the present embodiment no longer requires the central conductor and the dielectric substrate of the conventional dielectric filter . this results in 50 % reduction of overall size . fig1 and 20 are perspective views showing the dielectric filter mounted on a substrate in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention . in fig1 , a reference numeral 40 represents a printed circuit board constituted by insulating material , such as glass . epoxy resin . reference numerals 41 and 42 represent input / output pathways formed on the printed circuit board 40 . similarly , reference numerals 43 , 44 represent grounded pathways formed on the printed circuit board 40 so as to sandwich the input / output pathways 41 , 42 , respectively . the terminal 39 , connected to the input / output coupling electrode 37g ( not shown ) of the dielectric resonator 37 , is connected onto the input / output pathway 41 by conductive bonding material , such as solder . and the terminal 39 , connected to the electrode 38g of the dielectric resonator 38 is connected onto the input / output pathway 42 by conductive bonding material , such as solder . furthermore , the outer conductors 37c and 38c of the dielectric resonators 37 and 38 are connected onto the grounded pathways 43 , 44 , respectively , by conductive bonding material , such as solder . the input / output pathways 41 , 42 and the grounded pathways 43 , 44 are formed by coating conductive paste , such as ag paste , on the printed circuit board 40 in a predetermined pattern and then fixing it by printing . furthermore , as shown in fig2 , the terminal 39 can be omitted . namely , in mounting the dielectric filter onto the printed circuit board 40 , the input / output coupling electrode 37g of the dielectric resonator 37 and the electrode 38g of the dielectric resonator 38 can be directly connected with the input / output pathways 41 and 42 by means of a conductive bonding material 45 , such as solder . in this case , the conductive bonding material 45 should be spaced from the outer conductor 38g ( as the outer conductor 37g of the dielectric resonator 37 is spaced from the conductive material ). the prospective manufacturing methods of the above - described dielectric filter are substantially the same as those of the previously described first embodiment and , therefore , will be no more explained . fig2 shows a graph showing the comparison of damping characteristics outside the band with respect to frequencies between the first and third embodiments . in fig2 , a curve a represents the damping characteristics of the third embodiment and a curve b represents the damping characteristics of the first embodiment . as understood from fig2 , the third embodiment can improve the damping amount outside the band . in the same manner as the first and second embodiments , the third embodiment can form the through holes provided in the dielectric base bodies 37a , 38a to have a stepped portion as shown in fig1 . with this arrangement , the input / output coupling capacitance can be increased and also the interstage coupling capacitance can be enlarged . thus , it becomes possible to obtain a wide - band dielectric filter . the remainder of the construction is substantially the same as that of fig1 and 18 . fig2 and 23 are perspective and exploded views showing a dielectric filter of the fourth embodiment of the present invention . in fig2 and 23 , reference numerals 46 and 47 represent dielectric resonators . hereinafter , taking the dielectric resonator 46 of these two dielectric resonators , a construction of the dielectric resonator will be explained . a dielectric base body 46a made of dielectric material , such as bao -- tio 2 -- nd 2 o 3 , bao -- tio 2 , zro 2 -- sno 2 -- tio 2 , bao -- sm 2 o 3 -- tio 2 , is formed with a centrally axially extending through hole 46b . the dielectric base body 46a has an outer configuration of rectangular parallelepiped having a square cross section , while the through hole 46b has a circular cross section . an outer conductors 46c is provided on the outer side surface of the dielectric base body 46a so as to surround it . an inner conductor 46d is provided along the inner side surface of the through hole 46b . the outer conductor 46c and the inner conductor 46d are connected with each other via a connecting conductor 46e . this connecting conductor 46e is provided on a closed end surface , i . e . a base of the rectangular parallelepiped , of the dielectric base body 46a as explained in the first embodiment with reference to fig3 and 36 . of four outer side surfaces of the dielectric base body 46a , two side surfaces 46i and 46h ( see fig2 ) are partly cut off so that the dielectric base body 46a is exposed near the open end 46j . namely , cutouts 46p and 46k ( see fig2 ) of the outer conductor 46c are formed on the two side surfaces 46i and 46h , respectively , near the open end 46j ( see fig2 ) of the dielectric base body 46a . furthermore , an interstage coupling electrode 46f is provided within the region of the cutout 46k on the outer side surface 46h , so that this interstage coupling electrode 46f does not contact with other conductors as depicted in fig2 . in the same manner , an input / output coupling electrode ( not shown ) is provided within the region of the cutout 46p on the outer side surface 46i , so that this input / output coupling electrode does not contact with other conductors . the cutout 46p extends beyond the corner and along an adjacent outer side surface -- a surface to be confronted with the printed circuit board . it will be preferable to connect an l - shaped terminal ( not shown ) with the input / output coupling electrode . namely , depending on the condition of the printed circuit board on which the dielectric filter is mounted , the terminal and others are connected with the input / output coupling electrode . then , the terminal is firmly connected with a conductive film ( e . g . input / output pathway ) on the printed circuit board by means of solder or the like . instead of providing the terminal , it will be also possible to directly connect the input / output coupling electrode with the conductive film on the printed circuit board by means of solder or the like . for the latter case , the cutout 46p extending within the region of the surface to be confronted with the printed circuit board serves to prevent the solder electrically connecting the conductive film and the input / output coupling electrode from contacting with the outer conductor 46c . likewise , the other dielectric resonator 47 comprises : a dielectric base body 47a , a through hole 47b , an outer conductor 47c , an inner conductor 47d , a connecting conductor 47e , an interstage coupling electrode 47f ( which is similar to the interstage coupling electrode 46f of the dielectric resonator 46 ), an input / output coupling electrode 47g ( which is similar to the input / output coupling electrode 47f of the dielectric resonator 46 as depicted in fig2 ), outer side surfaces 47h and 47i , an open end 47j , and cutouts 47k ( not shown in fig2 and 23 ), 47p . the like parts between the dielectric resonators 46 and 47 are denoted by the same reference alphabet throughout views . ( for example , the dielectric base body 46a is substantially identical with the dielectric base body 47a ) furthermore , the electrode 47g may be connected with a terminal depending on the condition of the printed circuit board on which the dielectric resonator 47 is mounted , in the same manner as the dielectric resonator 46 . more specifically , the dielectric resonator 46 and the dielectric resonator 47 are connected by means of , for example , cream solder in such a manner that the electrodes 46f and 47f confront and contact with each other and the input / output coupling electrodes 47g are placed in parallel and remotely opposed relationship so as to face both sides of the resonators . furthermore , the dielectric resonators 46 and 47 are placed in opposed relationship so that respective open ends thereof face opposite directions . furthermore , the outer conductors 46c , 47c , inner conductors 46d , 47d , connecting conductors 46e , 47e , electrode 46f as well as the interstage coupling electrode of the dielectric resonator 47 , and electrode 47g as well as the input / output coupling electrode of the dielectric resonator 46 ( hereinafter , these components are referred to as conductor film ) are basically thin film made of conductive material such as copper and silver . the thickness of the film is approximately 5 μm . although the conductor film is a single layer in this embodiment , it is needless to say that two or more layer structure can be allowed . regarding the film thickness of approximately 5 μm , this value should be adequately changed depending on the condition of the dielectric filter in service . although the electrode 47g ( as well as the input / output coupling electrode of the dielectric resonator 46 ) and the electrode 46f ( as well as the interstage coupling electrode of the dielectric resonator 47 ) are rectangular in this embodiment , the configuration of these electrodes can be any other shape , such as circle , ellipse , and polygon . as apparent from the foregoing description , the dielectric filter of this embodiment is very simplified and compact in structure . in particular , the present embodiment no longer requires the central conductor and the dielectric substrate of the conventional dielectric filter . this results in 50 % reduction of overall size . in the same manner as the first and second embodiments , this embodiment can form the through hole to have a stepped portion as shown in fig1 . with this arrangement , the input / output coupling capacitance can be increased and also the interstage coupling capacitance can be enlarged . thus , it becomes possible to obtain a wide - band dielectric filter . the remainder of the construction is substantially the same as that of fig1 and 18 . although the above first to fourth embodiments are explained based on a dielectric filter consisting of two dielectric resonators , the same effect will be obtained even if more than two dielectric resonators are assembled as shown in fig2 , 25 and 26 . fig2 is a perspective view showing a modified dielectric filter of the first embodiment , wherein three dielectric resonators are assembled . in fig2 , reference numerals 11 and 12 represent dielectric resonators having the same construction as the above - described first embodiment . a reference numeral 48 represents a dielectric resonator interposed between the dielectric resonators 11 and 12 . the dielectric resonator 48 has interstage coupling electrodes 48a , 48b on the opposite outer side surfaces and has no input / output coupling electrode . the electrode 48a is connected with the interstage coupling electrode 11f of the dielectric resonator 11 , and the electrode 48b is connected with the interstage coupling electrode 12f of the dielectric resonator 12 . in this manner , when the dielectric filter includes not less than three resonators , the dielectric resonators equipped with both interstage and input / output coupling electrodes ( hereinafter referred to as end resonators ) are placed at both ends . then , one or more dielectric resonators equipped with only interstage coupling electrodes ( hereinafter referred to as interstage resonators ) are interposed in series between the two end resonators , so that mutually confronting interstage coupling electrodes are connected one another . with this arrangement , the dielectric filter of the first embodiment can include not less than three dielectric resonators . fig2 is a perspective view showing a modified dielectric filter of the second embodiment , wherein three dielectric resonators are assembled . in fig2 , reference numerals 28 and 29 represent dielectric resonators having the same construction as the above - described second embodiment . a reference numeral 49 represents a dielectric resonator interposed between the dielectric resonators 28 and 29 . the dielectric resonator 49 has interstage coupling electrodes 49a , 49b on the same outer side surface and has no input / output coupling electrode . the electrode 49a is connected with the interstage coupling electrode 28f of the dielectric resonator 28 through a terminal 50 , and the electrode 49b is connected with the interstage coupling electrode 29f of the dielectric resonator 29 through another terminal 50 . in this manner , when the dielectric filter includes not less than three resonators , the dielectric resonators equipped with both interstage and input / output coupling electrodes ( hereinafter referred to as end resonators ) are placed at both ends . then , one or more dielectric resonators equipped with only interstage coupling electrodes ( hereinafter referred to as interstage resonators ) are interposed in series between the two end resonators , so that mutually confronting interstage coupling electrodes are connected one another . with this arrangement , the dielectric filter of the second embodiment can include not less than three dielectric resonators . fig2 is a perspective view showing a modified dielectric filter of the third embodiment , wherein three dielectric resonators are assembled . in fig2 , reference numerals 37 and 38 represent dielectric resonators having the same construction as the above - described third embodiment . a reference numeral 51 represents a dielectric resonator interposed between the dielectric resonators 37 and 38 . the dielectric resonator 51 has interstage coupling electrodes 51a , 51b on the opposite outer side surfaces and has no input / output coupling electrode . the electrode 51a is connected with the interstage coupling electrode 37f of the dielectric resonator 37 , and the electrode 51b is connected with the interstage coupling electrode 38f of the dielectric resonator 38 . in this manner , when the dielectric filter includes not less than three resonators , the dielectric resonators equipped with both interstage and input / output coupling electrodes ( hereinafter referred to as end resonators ) are placed at both ends . then , one or more dielectric resonators equipped with only interstage coupling electrodes ( hereinafter referred to as interstage resonators ) are interposed in series between the two end resonators , so that mutually confronting interstage coupling electrodes are connected one another . with this arrangement , the dielectric filter of the third embodiment can include not less than three dielectric resonators . in the same manner , the dielectric filter of the fourth embodiment can include not less than four resonators by interposing one or more interstage resonators between two end resonators . fig2 and 30 are perspective and exploded views showing a dielectric filter of the fifth embodiment of the present invention . in fig2 and 30 , reference numerals 111 and 112 represent dielectric resonators . hereinafter , taking the dielectric resonator 111 of these two dielectric resonators , a construction of the dielectric resonator will be explained . a dielectric base body 111a made of dielectric material , such as bao -- tio 2 -- nd 2 o 3 , bao -- tio 2 , zro 2 -- sno 2 -- tio 2 , bao -- sm 2 o 3 -- tio 2 , ln 2 o 3 -- bao -- tio 2 series , is formed with a centrally axially extending through hole 111b . the dielectric base body 111a has an outer configuration of rectangular parallelepiped having a square cross section , while the through hole 111b has a circular cross section . an outer conductors 111c is provided on the outer side surface of the dielectric base body 111a so as to surround it . an inner conductor 111d is provided along the inner side surface of the through hole 111b . the outer conductor 111c and the inner conductor 111d are connected with each other via a connecting conductor 111e . this connecting conductor 111e is provided on a closed end surface , i . e . a base of the rectangular parallelepiped , of the dielectric base body 111a as explained in the first embodiment with reference to fig3 and 36 . of four outer side surfaces of the dielectric base body 111a , one side surface 111i ( see fig2 ) is partly cut off so that the dielectric base body 111a is bared near the open end 111j . namely , a cutout 111k ( see fig2 ) of the outer conductor 111c is formed near the open end of the dielectric base body 111a . furthermore , an interstage electrode 111f is provided on an outer side surface 111l ( see fig3 ), which is adjacent and perpendicular to the outer side surface 111i , near the open end 111j . the electrode 111f is provided within the region of a cutout 111o ( see fig3 ) formed on the outer side surface 111l ( see fig3 ), so that the electrode 111f does not contact with the outer conductor 111c . moreover as depicted in fig3 , there is provided input / output electrodes 111g and 111h along outer side surfaces 111m , 111n near the open end 111j . these electrodes 111g and 111h are provided within the region of a cutout 111p formed on the outer side surfaces 111m , 111n . likewise , the other dielectric resonator 112 comprises substantially the same components : namely , a dielectric base body 112a , a through hole 112b , an outer conductor 112c , an inner conductor 112d , a connecting conductor 112e , an interstage coupling electrode 112f , input / output coupling electrodes 112g , 112h , outer side surfaces 112i ( see fig2 ), 112l , 112m and 112n ( see fig3 ), an open end 112j , and cutouts 112k ( see fig2 ), 112o and 112p . the like parts between the dielectric resonators 111 and 112 are denoted by the same reference alphabet throughout views . ( for example , the dielectric base body 111a is substantially identical with the dielectric base body 112a ) however , as apparent from fig3 , the relationship between the dielectric resonator 111 and the dielectric resonator 112 are mirror symmetry . therefore , in production of each dielectric resonator , it is necessary to pay attention to the positional relationship between the electrodes 111f , 111g , 111h and 112f , 112g , 112h . more specifically , the dielectric resonator 111 and the dielectric resonator 112 are connected by means of , for example , cream solder in such a manner that the electrodes 111f and 112f confront and contact with each other and the electrodes 111g and 112g are placed in opposed and parallel relationship and the electrodes 111h and 112h are placed on the same plane . this is because the dielectric resonators 111 and 112 are disposed in mirror symmetry relationship as explained previously . furthermore , the outer conductors 111c , 112c , inner conductors 111d , 112d , connecting conductors 111e , 112e , electrodes 111f , 112f , 111g , 112g , 111h , 112h ( hereinafter , these components respectively are referred to as conductor film ) are basically thin film made of conductive material such as copper and silver . the thickness of the film is approximately 5 μm . although the conductor film is a single layer in this embodiment , it is needless to say that two or more layer structure can be allowed . regarding the film thickness of approximately 5 μm , this value should be adequately changed depending on the condition of the dielectric filter in service . fig3 is a graph showing a relationship between an area s of the cutouts 111k and 112k -- an area defined by z1 × z2 in fig2 -- and an interstage coupling degree k in accordance with the fifth embodiment of the present invention . as understood from fig3 , the interstage coupling degree k increases with increasing area s of the cutouts 111k and 112k . furthermore , the interstage coupling degree k can be enlarged when compared with the conventional one ( as illustrated by the &# 34 ; prior art &# 34 ; point located between the values two and three on the vertical axis ). thus , it becomes possible to provide a wide - band dielectric filter . a manufacturing method of the above - described dielectric filter will be explained hereinafter . first of all , starting materials ( for example , bao , tio 2 , nd 2 o 3 or the like ) are blended at a predetermined ratio . then , the blended material is mixed by using a mill or else . next , the mixed material is granulated by using a spray dryer or the like , so as to adjust the particle size and add binder . subsequently , the granulated material is pelletized by a dry press so as to be formed into a predetermined shape . in turn , the pelletized material is sintered in a kiln at the temperature of 1300 ° c . to 1400 ° c . thus , the dielectric base body 111a of cylindrical shape is obtained . then , the conductor film is formed on the dielectric base body 111a . there are various method for forming the conductor film , several of which will be explained below . a first method is applied in a case where copper is used as a material constituting the conductor film . the surface of the dielectric base body 111a is roughened by a barrelling machine or a blast device . thereafter , the dielectric base body 111a is processed by etching until the roughness of the surface of the dielectric base body 111a becomes 5 μm to 9 μm . etchant to be used in this etching will be , for example , hf -- hno 2 series . subsequently , all the surface of the dielectric base body 111a is processed by stannous chloride or the like to give sensitivity . then , palladium qualifying as catalytic metal is attached on all the surface of the dielectric base body 111a . and , a resist film is partially formed on the dielectric base body 111a . namely , this resist film 23 defines a region on which no conductor film of the dielectric base body 111a is provided -- a region becoming the cutout 111k , 111o and 111p . in the formation of this resist film , resist ink is coated on the dielectric base body 111a by the use of printing technology or transfer technology or else and then thus printed resist ink is dried until it hardens . next , on thus manufactured dielectric base body 111a , there is formed a thin , first copper film by the electroless copper plating method . in this case , the first copper film is selectively formed only within a region where the resist film is not provided . subsequently , a second copper film is laminated on the first copper film by the electrolytic copper plating to form the conductor film whose thickness is approximately 5 μm . after the resist film is removed by solvent or else , the electrodes are formed . although the above manufacturing method coats the resist ink on the predetermined portion of the dielectric base body 111a using the printing technology and then dries and hardens the resist ink , another manufacturing method will allow the use of a photosensitive resist as a resist . that is , after the catalytic metal , such as palladium , is attached on the dielectric base body 111a , photosensitive resist is coated on all the surface of the dielectric base body 111a . then , a predetermined portion of the photosensitive resist is exposed and hardened . thereafter , the portion not being hardened by exposure is washed away by developing solution . then , the electrodes will be obtained . another manufacturing method will form the conductor film on the dielectric base body 111a by coating ag paste on the entire surface of the dielectric base body 111a by printing or the like method , drying this ag paste , and applying a thermal treatment at the temperature of 800 ° c . to 900 ° c . thereafter , the unnecessary portion of the conductor film may be removed by using the etching technology , such as chemical etching or dry etching . thus , the electrodes are provided at the predetermined places . still another manufacturing method will form the electrodes , after forming the conductor film on the entire surface of the dielectric base body 111a , by cutting or laser machining the surface of the dielectric base body 111a to physically remove the predetermined portion of the surface . the dielectric resonators 111 and 112 thus constructed are disposed in such a manner that the electrodes 111f and 112f confront with each other . then , the outer conductors 111c and 112c are connected by means of cream solder or the like . similarly , the electrodes 111f and 112f are connected by means of cream solder or the like . although this embodiment is explained based on the cutouts 111k and 112k shown in fig2 , the cutouts 11k and 112k can be made variously as long as they reach the open end 29m . furthermore , it will be allowed to provide the cutout on either of these dielectric resonators 111 and 112 . fig3 and 33 are perspective and exploded views showing a dielectric filter of the sixth embodiment of the present invention . in fig3 and 33 , reference numerals 301 and 302 represent dielectric resonators . hereinafter , taking the dielectric resonator 301 of these two dielectric resonators , a construction of the dielectric resonator will be explained . a dielectric base body 301a made of dielectric material , such as bao -- tio 2 -- nd 2 o 3 , bao -- tio 2 , zro 2 -- sno 2 -- tio 2 , bao 2 -- sm 2 o 3 -- tio 2 , is formed with a centrally axially extending through hole 301b . the dielectric base body 301a has an outer configuration of rectangular parallelopiped having a square cross section , while the through hole 301b has a circular cross section . an outer conductors 301c is provided on the outer side surface of the dielectric base body 301a so as to surround it . an inner conductor 301d is provided along the inner side surface of the through hole 301b . the outer conductor 301c and the inner conductor 301d are connected with each other via a connecting conductor 301e . this connecting conductor 301e is provided on a closed end surface , i . e . a base of the rectangular parallelepiped , of the dielectric base body 301a as explained in the first embodiment with reference to fig3 and 36 . of four outer side surfaces of the dielectric base body 301a , outer side surfaces 301i , 301h and 301l ( see fig3 ) are partly cut off so that the dielectric base body 301a is exposed near the open end 301j . namely , as depicted in fig3 three cutouts 301p , 301k and 301m of the outer conductor 301c are formed near the open end of the dielectric base body 301a . furthermore , an interstage electrode 301f is provided within the cutout 301k formed on the outer side surface 301h , so that the electrode 301f does not contact with other conductors . likewise , input / output coupling electrode 301g ( not shown ), 301n are provided within the respective cutouts 301p , 301m formed on the corresponding outer side surfaces 301i , 301l , so that the electrodes 301g , 301n do not contact with other conductors . in mounting the dielectric filter on a printed circuit board , the input / output coupling electrodes 301 and 301n are directly connected with the conductive film ( e . g . input / output pathways ) by means of solder or the like . the other dielectric resonator 302 ( see fig3 , 33 ) comprises substantially the same components : namely , a dielectric base body 302a , a through hole 302b , an outer conductor 302c , an inner conductor 302d , a connecting conductor 302e , an interstage coupling electrode 302f , input / output coupling electrodes 302g ( which is similar to the input / output coupling electrode of the dielectric resonator 301 ), 302n ( see fig3 ), outer side surfaces 302i , 302h ( see fig3 ), 302l , an open end 302j , and cutouts 302p , 302m ( see fig3 ) and 302k . the like parts between the dielectric resonators 301 and 302 are denoted by the same reference alphabet throughout views . ( for example , the dielectric base body 301a is substantially identical with the dielectric base body 302a ) however , as apparent from fig3 , the relationship between the dielectric resonator 301 and the dielectric resonator 302 are mirror symmetry . therefore , in production of each dielectric resonator , it is necessary to pay attention to the positional relationship between the electrodes 301f , 301g , 301n and 302f , 302g , 302n . more specifically , the dielectric resonator 301 and the dielectric resonator 302 are connected by means of , for example , cream solder in such a manner that the electrodes 301f and 302f confront and contact with each other and the electrodes 301g and 302g are placed in opposed and parallel relationship and the electrodes 301n and 302 n are placed on the same plane . this is because the dielectric resonators 301 and 302 are disposed in mirror symmetry relationship as explained previously . furthermore , the outer conductors 301c , 302c , inner conductors 301d , 302d , connecting conductors 301e , 302e , electrodes 301f , 302f , 301g , 302g , 301n , 302n ( hereinafter , these components are referred to as conductor film ) are basically thin film made of conductive material such as copper and silver . the thickness of the film is approximately 5 μm . although the conductor film is a single layer in this embodiment , it is needless to say that two or more layer structure can be allowed . regarding the film thickness of approximately 5 μm , this value should be adequately changed depending on the condition of the dielectric filter in service . moreover , as depicted in fig3 the sixth embodiment allows to vary a cutout width h of the cutouts 301k , 302k , thereby finely adjusting the interstage coupling degree of the filter . thus , it becomes possible to set the interstage coupling degree at a desired value . in the same manner as the first and second embodiments , this embodiment can form the through hole to have a stepped portion as shown in fig1 . with this arrangement , the input / output coupling capacitance can be enlarged ; thus it becomes possible to obtain a wide - band dielectric filter . furthermore , by increasing the inner diameters of the inner conductors 301d , 302d of the dielectric resonators 301 and 302 , the input / output coupling capacitance and the interstage coupling capacitance can be enlarged . thus , it becomes possible to provide a wide - band dielectric filter , the sixth embodiment can include three dielectric resonators as shown in fig3 . in this case , dielectric resonators 301 , 302 placed at both ends ( hereinafter , referred to as end resonators ) are identical with those shown in fig3 and 34 . a central dielectric resonator 401 has two interstage coupling electrodes formed at opposite outer side surfaces which are to be connected to the confronting interstage coupling electrodes of the end resonators . as this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of essential characteristics thereof , the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive , since the scope of the invention is defined by the appending claims rather than by the description preceding them , and all changes that fall within meets and bounds of the claims , or equivalence of such meets and bounds are therefore intended to embraced by the claims .	7
according to a preferred embodiment of the invention , there is provided a method of presenting adverts on smart phone devices or tablet computers ( both these types of device being referred to herein as “ app devices ”) which are configured to run apps . such apps may be “ native apps ”, i . e . apps installed on the devices , or “ web apps ”, i . e . apps located on servers remote from the device but accessed and run on the devices . thus , where reference is made below to running an app on a smart phone , this includes running the app when it is located on such a remote server . the embodiments below are described in terms of a smart phone , but it is to be understood that they apply equally to tablet computers . stages of the “ lifecycle ” of the usage of an app on a smart phone device involve the user first taking the steps necessary to install the app on the smart phone device . this is illustrated by the flow diagram 10 in fig1 , in which this first stage , which is referred to as an entry stage , is indicated at 12 . as smart phone devices have internet capability , this step typically involves the user of the device opening a suitable app on the device , the app being configured to enable the user to access and download other apps from other locations on the internet . such an app opened by the user is sometimes referred to as a “ discovery app ”, while such other locations are often referred to as “ app stores ” or “ app market places ”. an alternative method of downloading an app involves the user navigating on the internet to a particular website on which the desired type of app is available for download , selecting the app of choice , and downloading the app onto the user &# 39 ; s smart phone device . another method of downloading an app is for the user to download the app from the internet onto a computer device ( not shown ) which is separate from the smart phone device , such as a desktop computer , laptop computer , or the like , and then to download the app from such computer device onto the smart phone device . once the app has been downloaded to the smart phone device , the user would typically begin to use the app for the purpose for which it is intended . for example , if the app is for playing a particular game , the user would typically begin to play the game . this stage of the usage of the app is referred to as an engagement stage and is illustrated at 14 in fig1 . depending on the nature of the app , interest in the use of the app may last for a relatively short period , or a longer period . however , it is common , for many different types of app , for the user , after a while of using the app , to lose interest , or no longer to have need to use the app , and therefore to stop using it , either permanently , or for a period of time . this stage is referred to as an exit stage and is indicated at 16 in fig1 . as described in further detail below , the above stages 12 , 14 , 16 of app usage can provide suitable times in which to present different types of advert . in this regard , there are currently a number of different types of advert which are incorporated into apps , for presenting on smart phone devices . these include the adverts described below with reference to a smart phone device 18 , having a screen 20 , as illustrated in each of these figures . a banner ad , as illustrated in fig2 , is one of the more common types of adverts . it is in the form of a banner 22 that appears on the screen 20 of the smart phone device 18 . such banners 22 can be presented in a variety of different shapes and sizes and can therefore be configured to suit different shapes and sizes of available space as might be provided on the smart phone device screens 20 by different apps . typical banner ads , when they appear on the screen of the smart phone device , do not block access by the user of the device 18 to the app content of an app being used , or allow access to part of the app content . typically the full area , or part of the area , of the banner 22 is a hyperlink which can be activated by the user in order to engage with the advert . often , this will involve an internet web page relating to the goods or services advertised by the advert , or an app store interface , opening on the smart phone device screen 20 , allowing the user to enter into a transaction in relation to those goods or services , or to download relevant software . a capture form ad , as illustrated in fig3 , typically includes an on - screen form 24 with one or more windows 26 in which the user can enter data . for example , such an ad may allow the user , by way of the on - screen form 24 , to complete a survey or questionnaire and / or to provide other information relating to the user , the use of the app , and so on . apart from the windows 26 in which such data can be entered , these forms 24 will often include hyperlinks 28 , which allow the users to submit the data over the internet . they might also include buttons 30 on the screen 20 that allow the user to close or dismiss the form 24 . an interstitial ad , as illustrated in fig4 , is an advert 32 that typically appears on the screen 20 of the smart phone device 18 superimposed over app content 34 appearing on the screen of a particular app that is being used by the user . typically the full area , or part of the area , of the interstitial ad 32 is a hyperlink which can be activated by the user in order to engage with the advert , as in the case of the banner ad described above . such adverts 32 might also include buttons 30 on the screen 20 that allow the user to close or dismiss the advert . an advanced overlay ad , as illustrated in fig5 , typically includes pages 38 or icons that are presented on the smart phone device screen 20 . once they have appeared , these pages 38 or icons restrict access by the user to app content on the smart phone device 18 , until the user performs a predetermined action . for example , such predetermined action may involve the user completing a survey ( for example , when the advanced overlay advert includes a capture form such as the form 24 described above ), downloading or accessing a new app , etc . typically the full area , or part of the area , of the advanced overlay ad 38 is a hyperlink which can be activated by the user in order to engage with the advert , as in the case of the banner ad described above . such adverts might also include buttons 30 on the screen 20 that allow the user to close or dismiss the advert . a video ad , as illustrated in fig6 , is an advert in the form of a movie or video clip 40 , that is , in the nature of a traditional television advert . in some embodiments , the full area , or part of the area , of the video ad is a hyperlink which can be activated by the user in order to engage with the advert and watch the video . in some embodiments , the video is configured to begin playing without the need for the user to activate a hyperlink . an app wall 42 , as illustrated in fig7 , is a form of advert which consists of an array or “ wall ” ( for example a single column ) of individual adverts 44 ( sometimes referred to as ad units ), each usually representing a particular app which is available for download . each ad unit 44 may , for example , be in the form of a banner ad similar to the banners 22 described above . this array allows the user to view the ad units 44 relating to the advertised apps and to activate the hyperlink of one ( or more than one ) app of choice , if necessary scrolling along the array if the full list is too large to be displayed at one time on the smart phone device screen 20 . usually , each ad unit 44 can be accessed in the same manner as the banner ad 22 described above . a push notification ad 46 , as illustrated in fig8 , is a type of advert which is used with smart phone devices 18 which have notification areas 48 ( such as certain iphone ™ and android ™ devices ). a notification area is typically a display on a smart phone device which the user can cause to be presented ( i . e . to be called up ) on the smart phone device screen 20 , to show notifications relating to the device , to the use of the device , or for other purposes . typically , such notification areas 48 are not specific to any particular app but are a feature of the smart phone device 18 itself . depending on the type of device 18 , the notification area 48 may be presented across substantially the entire screen 20 of the device as shown in fig5 , or a thin display strip ( not shown ), for example at the bottom of the device &# 39 ; s screen . typically , the push notification ad 46 will be presented as one of possibly a number of notifications 50 in the notification area 48 , and includes a hyperlink which can be activated by the user to engage with the ad as in the case of the banner ad 22 described above . an app icon ad , as illustrated in fig9 , includes an icon 52 ( similar to the types of icon that may be present on a smart phone screen when a user purchases the device ) which appears on the screen 20 when a user downloads or engages an app which triggers or invokes the placement of the app icon . the icon 52 would typically appear on the main screen or home screen area 54 of the smart phone device &# 39 ; s screen 20 . the icon 52 is typically in the form of a hyperlink which , when activated by a user , opens an associated web page , or application , which is configured to provide the user access to an advertised product or service , or a number of different goods and services . in one embodiment , the app icon 52 , when its hyperlink is activated , will cause an app wall , such as the app wall 42 of fig7 as described above , to appear . a preferred embodiment of the invention involves identifying , for each of the above - mentioned stages 12 , 14 , 16 in the “ lifecycle ” of app usage , one or more of the above types of advert which is suitable to be presented during each respective stage . the identification of suitable advert types for each stage 12 , 14 , 16 may be based , for example , on factors such as the expected psychological state , or state of attention , of the user when downloading or using the app , or after the user has finished using the app . in particular , according to a preferred embodiment , advert types which are identified as being suitable for the entry stage 12 of app usage are as follows : indeed , it is envisaged that , at this stage 12 when a user is installing an app on a smart phone device 18 , or has just completed doing so , the user &# 39 ; s sense of anticipation and excitement at the prospect of using the app is likely to be relatively high , and possibly even at its peak , so that the user is likely to be particularly receptive to adverts . when the user is in such a state , it is envisaged that the user is most likely to be amenable to engaging with the above - mentioned advert types which are considered suitable for this stage 12 . further according to the preferred embodiment , advert types which are considered suitable for the engagement stage 14 of the app usage lifecycle are as follows : app wall , video ad , advanced overlay ad , interstitial ad , and banner ad . at this stage of the usage lifecycle of the app , it is expected that , as the user will be in the process of using the app , and therefore in a state of heightened engagement with the app , there will be a relatively high motivation of the user to engage with adverts , especially if the adverts are of a high - visibility type . further according to the preferred embodiment , advert types which are considered suitable for the exit stage 16 of the app usage lifecycle are : this stage 16 of the lifecycle of usage of the app is when the user is no longer actively using or engaging with the app , and when the app is therefore likely to be out of the user &# 39 ; s consciousness . accordingly , these advert types are typically not presented on the smart phone device screen 20 in a way which will intrude on the display relating to a particular app being used . rather , these advert types , as described above , are adapted to appear on the notification area 48 of the device 18 , or main screen or home screen area 54 . it will be appreciated that the group of advert types which are considered suitable for each of the three identified stages 12 , 14 , 16 of the app usage lifecycle are selected from the known types of adverts based on the anticipated effectiveness of the advert types . thus , each such group of advert types ( for a respective stage of the app usage lifecycle ) may be considered as a subset of the full list of advert types , and is referred to as such below . there may be one or more individual ad types in each subset ( i . e . the groups of advert types determined to be suitable for each stage of the app usage lifecycle ), that is the same as a particular advert type in another subset ( i . e . in the group of advert types determined to be suitable for another stage of the app usage lifecycle ). for instance , the banner ad is in the subset relating to both the entry stage and engagement stage . however , in one embodiment , each subset as a whole ( that is , the group of advert types determined to be suitable for a particular stage ) is different to each other subset . in other embodiments , one or more subsets may be the same as one another . typically , in practice , there may be a relatively large number of developers of apps that are amenable to advertising the goods or services of different providers . similarly , there may be a large number of different providers wishing to advertise their goods and services on such apps . there are also typically a number of intermediate parties , often referred to as ad networks , that play a role in facilitating introduction of such providers to such app developers , and assisting the app developers to incorporate the providers &# 39 ; adverts within the developers &# 39 ; apps . usually , this process would involve the ad network providing a particular app developer with a portion of software code to be incorporated in the app , which is suitable for causing the advert of the desired type to appear when the app has been installed on a smart phone device 18 and is used by a user of the device . the advert would be that of a particular provider . the portion of software code is preferably in the form of binary code , but in other embodiments may be in the form of source code , libraries , software development kits ( sdk ), or other forms . for adverts suitable for the exit stage as mentioned above , namely notification ads 46 and app icon ads 52 , the software code incorporated in the app may be configured to enable these types of adverts to be engaged even after the app has been uninstalled from the smart phone device 18 . in the case of the notification ads 46 , the app may be configured to “ register ” the smart phone device 18 — for instance to register it with the ad network — for future notification ads to be sent ( pushed ) to it regardless of whether the app has been uninstalled . in the case of the app icon ads 52 , the app may be configured to allow the icon to remain on the smart phone device 18 after the app is uninstalled , so that the user can continue to activate the icon . in many instances , the providers will have suitable input into this process , in order to customize the adverts to their own requirements , for example by entering suitable text , graphic images , and so on . to enable this , the ad network would typically give a provider access to a suitable web interface or other interface , such as an application programming interface ( api ), or provide relevant software to the provider and suitable software to the app developer . depending on the nature of the app and software provided by the ad network to the app developer , a certain amount of adaptation of the provided software may need to be made by the app developer , usually with the support of the ad network , to adapt the app to accommodate the provided software . it is envisaged that , when an ad network is engaged in initial discussions with an app developer regarding the possibility of incorporating adverts in the app developer &# 39 ; s app , the option of having advert types selected to match particular identified stages 12 , 14 , 16 within the usage lifecycle of an app would be communicated by the ad network to the app developer . this would typically be for the purpose of assisting to maximize revenue for the app developer . usually , the app developer would incorporate , within its app , software codes provided by the ad network , the codes being adapted to feature adverts , of the relevant types , in different identified stages 12 , 14 , 16 of the usage lifecycle of the app . according to preferred embodiments , remuneration will be provided to the app developer and ad network for the respective roles of these parties in presenting the adverts of the provider , and this remuneration would typically be provided by the provider . the trigger event for the remuneration would depend on the configuration of the particular app and adverts , and the deal that has been agreed between the parties . there are a number of ways of triggering the remuneration for the app developer and ad network . these include the following : “ earning per click ” (“ epc ”) or “ cost per click ” (“ cpc ”) which is a remuneration triggered by a user of a smart phone device activating a hyperlink ; “ earning per action ” (“ epa ”) or “ cost per action ” (“ cpa ”) which is a remuneration triggered by some other action taken by the user ( e . g . completing a form in a capture form ad ); “ earning per install ” (“ epi ”) or “ cost per install ” (“ cpi ”) which is a remuneration triggered by the installation , on the smart phone device , of an app or software to which the advert relates ; “ cost per mille ” (“ cpm ”) or cost per one thousand impressions , which is a remuneration triggered by an advert being presented each one thousand times ( sometimes also referred to as “ earnings for cost per mille ” (“ epcm ”); and “ earnings per view ” (“ epv ”) or “ cost per view ” (“ cpv ”) which is a remuneration triggered by each viewing by a user of a presented advert . the identifying of discrete stages of the usage cycle , and the identification of advert types which may be more suitable for one particular stage than any other , and the allocation of such advert types to the relevant stages , may provide a means to render the advertising process more effective . this , in turn , may assist in increasing the success rate , that is , the average number of times per use of a particular type of app that smart phone device users will engage with specific adverts . this can have the effect of increasing revenue for both the app developers and ad networks , and can potentially also bring about a greater number of sales of the advertised goods and services of the providers . although the invention is described above with reference to specific embodiments , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that it is not limited to those embodiments , but may be embodied in other forms . for example , while the preferred forms of the invention are described in relation to all three of the above - mentioned stages 12 , 14 , 16 of the app usage lifecycle , in other embodiments , a combination of only two of the stages might be included , or alternatively , different stages might be identified instead .	6
in the following , the non - limiting embodiments will be discussed by referring to the accompanying drawings . however , people skilled in the art will realize other applications and modifications may be made . the non - limiting embodiments relate to a device and method for automatically adjusting the pan , tilt and zoom of one or more cameras associated with a local video conference endpoint , to capture a close - up view of an area / point of interest . a user of a video conference endpoint provides a target point visible to the endpoint &# 39 ; s camera . the target point may be an optical source , placed by a user on or near a point of interest in front of the camera . alternatively the target point may be provided by a user pointing a laser beam , or another similar optical source , at a point of interest ( typically on an object ). by analyzing the pictures captured by the camera , a processor localizes the target point in the picture ( s ), and determines the amount of pan and tilt needed to move the camera such that the camera &# 39 ; s view is centered on the location defined by the target point . when the amount of pan and tilt is determined , panning , tilting and zooming of the camera commences . the camera continues to zoom until the maximum zoom of the camera is reached or until the user indicates that zooming should stop . alternatively , the camera may be programmed to zoom to a predetermined level , wherein the user may input a command indicating that further zoom is required . the picture analysis process a may be running continuously to automatically detect target points . however , in a preferred embodiment , the picture analysis process is initiated by a user . fig1 is an illustration of a videoconferencing endpoint 1 . the videoconferencing system 1 includes at least a videoconferencing unit 10 , one or more displays 9 , at least one pan / tilt / zoom enabled video camera 6 , and one or more input devices 7 . the videoconferencing endpoint 1 can further include one or more peripheral devices , such as a computer ( either laptop or desktop ), a digital versatile disc ( dvd ) player , etc . in one embodiment , the videoconferencing unit 1 is a tandberg codec c90 , c60 , mpx 6000 or mpx 3000 , and the video camera 6 is a tandberg precisionhd 1080p camera or a tandberg precisionhd 720p camera , all products from the assignee of the present disclosure . the videoconferencing unit 10 is used to establish and conduct a videoconference with remote endpoints ( not shown ) via a network . the videoconferencing unit 10 is connected to one ore more cameras 6 , one or more displays 9 , one or more speakers 5 , and one or more microphones 4 . depending on the implementation , the videoconferencing unit 1 can have other common components , such as an infrared ( ir ) detector for receiving ir signals from a input device ( standard remote control ) 7 . the camera may comprise hardware , such as processing units and memory , allowing the camera to store computer programs and perform logic operations independently of external computers . the optical sensor in the camera may be a ccd image sensor or a cmos sensor . referring now to fig2 , the exemplary videoconferencing endpoint 1 is schematically illustrated in more detail . the videoconferencing unit 10 has a controller 200 , which can include any conventional decoders / encoders , processors , and other electronic components known in the art and used for a videoconferencing unit . the controller 200 is coupled to an output 215 for video , an i / o interface 217 for user interface , and a memory 220 storing functions 222 ( i . e ., computer executable instructions ). the controller 200 is also coupled to an input 216 for receiving video from a local camera 230 and an interface 231 for controlling the local camera 230 . the video output 215 is coupled to a video input of the display 9 , and the i / o interface 217 receives data from an i / o device 240 , such as a remote control or other device operated by a user . for example , the i / o interface 217 comprises an ir detector which receives ir signals from an i / o device 240 comprising an ir transmitter , such that the i / o device 240 can send control data to the controller 200 via said i / o interface . in other embodiments , the i / o interface 217 comprise other wired or wireless communication means , such as bluetooth , wifi , cable connections , etc . the controller 200 comprises a video codec 201 and a data processor 202 . the video codec 201 is responsible for processing video data to be displayed by the display 9 and to be sent to remote endpoints of the videoconference . in general , the video data can include images ( pictures ) captured by the camera 230 of the unit 10 , video from remote endpoints of the videoconference , content from a peripheral device ( e . g ., vcr , dvd player , computer , document camera , etc . ), and other visual data . operation of such a video codec 201 in the context of videoconferencing is well known in the art is not described herein . the data processor 202 is responsible for processing data for the videoconferencing unit 10 . this data includes data from the camera interface 231 , communication data , commands ( e . g . from the i / o interface 217 ), data from the target point locator function 222 , videoconference information , etc . the controller 200 is also coupled to a network interface 214 , such as commonly used for a videoconferencing unit , and the network interface 214 couples to a videoconference network known in the art . fig3 shows an i / o device 240 according to one exemplary embodiment . the i / o device 240 comprises at least an optical source 304 and a controller 302 for operating said optical source 304 . the optical source 304 may be any optical source detectable by an optical sensor in the camera , for example a light emitting diode ( led ), organic light emitting diode ( oled ), laser diode , laser etc . the optical source may emit optical signals having a wavelength corresponding to that of visible light or emit optical signals in the infrared wavelength range . according to one exemplary embodiment , the i / o device 240 further includes an activation button for activating the optical source 304 . the i / o device 240 further includes a second optical source 303 emitting optical signals in the infrared wavelength range . the second optical source is used to transmit commands from the i / o device to the controller 200 of the videoconference unit 10 via the i / o interface 217 . the second optical source is also operated by controller 302 . according to one exemplary embodiment , the i / o device is the standard remote control for operating the video conference endpoint 1 . according to one exemplary embodiment , the i / o device is a device separate from the standard remote control for operating the video conference endpoint 1 . according to one exemplary embodiment , the two optical sources 304 , 303 are one common optical source operating in the infrared wavelength range . the controller 200 controls operation of at least some features of the videoconferencing endpoint 1 using the operational function 222 stored in memory 220 . this operational function includes a target point locator function 222 . this operational function 222 is discussed in more detail later , but a general overview of the functions 222 is provided here . the target point locator function 222 allows the videoconferencing unit 10 to determine the location of a target point provided by a user . the target point is the optical source 304 , or alternatively a point illuminated by the optical source 304 . the data processor 202 , executing the target point locator function 222 , processes one or a series of images / pictures ( or sequence of images / pictures ) captured by the camera 230 , and determines the location of the target point within the picture . further , the target point locator function 222 enables the data processor 202 to determine the displacement of the target point relative to a center point of the picture ( s ). the data processor 202 , executing the target point locator function 222 , calculates the amount of pan and tilt necessary to place the center of the image ( s )/ picture ( s ) in the target point location . in one embodiment , the near camera 230 is a pan - tilt - zoom camera capable of panning , tilting , and zooming . one or more of the panning , tilting , and zooming capabilities of the local camera 230 can be accomplished by one or more mechanical actuators 402 , 403 , 405 , as are used in the art for operating pan - tilt - zoom cameras of videoconferencing units . the interface 231 is coupled to the actuators 402 , 403 , 405 , and the controller 200 controls operation of the panning , tilting , and zooming capabilities of the local camera 230 using control signals via the interface 231 . actuators 402 , 403 , 405 comprise position sensors , allowing the actuators to determine the current position of the cameras pan , tilt and zoom , relative to a reference position . the actuators or a controller located in the base 404 of the camera 203 report the current position of the cameras pan , tilt and zoom to the controller 200 at predefined instances , e . g . at predefined time intervals , when one of pan , tilt or zoom is performed , etc . the controller 200 can generate control signals to control the panning , tilting , and zooming of the near camera 230 . control of a pan , tilt , and zoom camera may be implemented in various ways , and one specific implementation of controlling actuators and providing position feedback should not be limiting to the scope of the present technological advancement . alternatively , the panning , tilting , and zooming capabilities of the near camera 102 may be electronically achieved . for example , the near camera 203 may have processing capabilities for panning , tilting , and / or zooming , and the controller 200 can control that processing using control signals via the camera interface 231 . according to one exemplary embodiment , the controller 200 , i / o interface 217 and memory 220 comprising the target point locator 222 is located in the base 404 of the camera 230 . in this embodiment , the camera can control the pan , tilt , and zoom of the camera without communication with the video conferencing unit 10 . the video conference endpoint is preferably an h . 323 or sip endpoint if it is connected to an ip network or an h . 320 endpoint if it is connected to an isdn network . h . 323 and h . 320 are standards defined by the international telecommunications union . fig4 is a flowchart illustrating the method for adjusting a camera according to one exemplary embodiment . according to one embodiment , an i / o device 240 associated with a local video conferencing endpoint is operated by a user of the local video conferencing endpoint . as mentioned above , the i / o device 240 comprises an optical source . if a user wishes to zoom the camera in to capture a close up of an object ( e . g . a small object , piece of paper , image , etc ) or a person , or to just center the cameras view on a point of interest , the user positions the i / o device 240 near or on the point of interest such that the optical source is at least partly visible to the local videoconference endpoint &# 39 ; s camera . the procedure illustrated in fig4 is according to one embodiment implemented by controller 200 . a starting step s 1 is shown but it will be appreciated that controller 200 performs many operations and therefore a starting step should be understood to be an entry point into a subroutine , such as a subroutine used for adjusting the camera . in decision s 2 a test is made as to whether an indication is received from a user that a target point has been provided . the indication can , for example , be that the activation button 301 on the i / o device 240 is depressed . also , the indication may be controller 302 transmitting a signal , different from the pulses of electromagnetic radiation used to mark the target point , to the controller 200 . if no indication is received ( e . g . depression of the activation button ) then a return is made to decision s 2 . if an indication that a target point has been provided is found in s 2 , the controller 200 proceeds to step s 3 to determine the location of the target point . the step s 3 of determining the location of the target point comprises processing one or more consecutive images / pictures from the camera 230 to determine the location of the optical source ( or point illuminated by the optical source ) within the images / pictures . methods for localizing the target point are discussed in more detail later . in step s 4 , when the target point has been localized , the controller determines the pan and tilt required to center the cameras field of view on the target point ( or location of the target point ). this is determined by measuring the position of the target point with respect to the center of the processed picture ( s ), and the amount of zoom presently employed . if not already known , the controller may request the current position of the pan / tilt / zoom mechanism from the camera 230 . the current zoom used is taken into account when calculating the amount of pan and tilt required to center the camera &# 39 ; s view on the target point . when the required pan and tilt has been determined , the controller instructs the camera to start panning and tilting the determined amount in step s 5 . the controller also instructs the camera to start zooming in step s 6 . in step s 7 , a test is made as to whether the camera has finished panning and tilting ( reached the point where the center the cameras field of view coincides with the target point ). if the camera is not finished panning and tilting then , in step s 8 , a test is made as to whether an indication is received that the user wishes to stop adjusting the camera ( e . g . activation button 301 is released ). if no indication is received ( e . g . the activation button 301 is not released ) then a return is made to step s 7 ( alt 1 in fig4 ). alternatively the controller repeats the steps s 3 - s 7 to correct the required pan and tilt if , for example , the user has moved the target point or to verify / correct previous calculations ( alt 1 in fig4 ). if an indication is received ( e . g . the activation button 301 is released ), in step s 9 the camera either , stops zooming and finishes the panning and tilting required to center the cameras field of view on the target point , or the camera returns to its initial pan / tilt / zoom position as before starting step s 1 . if the camera is finished panning and tilting in step s 7 then , in step s 10 a test is made as to whether the camera has reached its maximal zoom , which is limited by the cameras mechanical zooming capabilities . if maximal zoom is reached , the process of adjusting the camera is ended in step s 12 . if maximal zoom is not reached , in decision s 11 a test is made as to whether an indication is received that the user wishes to stop adjusting the camera ( e . g . the activation button 301 is released ). if an indication is not received ( e . g . the activation button 301 is not released ) then a return is made to decision s 11 . if an indication is received ( e . g . the activation button 301 is released ) then the controller instructs the camera to stop zooming and the process of adjusting the camera is ended in step s 12 . according to another exemplary embodiment , the decisions in step s 2 , s 8 and s 11 are not based on whether a button is depressed or released , but rather an indication by the user to start the processes of adjusting the camera or end the process of adjusting the camera . such an indication by the user may be , for example , the user pushing the activation button 301 once to start the process and then pushing the button again to end the process . the user may also use audible or visual indications to start and stop the process , e . g . voice command , finger / arm gestures detectable by the camera , etc . according to yet another embodiment , if the camera is not finished panning and tilting in decision s 7 , a return is made to decision s 7 instead of proceeding to decision s 8 . according to one embodiment , the step s 3 of determining the location of the target point is performed by analyzing two or more consecutive pictures captured by the camera . the camera captures images with a frame rate ( the rate at which sequential frames are captured ) of n frames per second ( or n hz ), where n may be in the range 24 - 100 . according to this embodiment , the controller 302 is configured to power the optical source 304 with a pulse train , or in some other appropriate way , such that the optical source emits short pulses ( e . g . 0 . 1 - 5 ms ) at a frequency m . the frequency m is half the frequency of the frame rate of the camera ( m = n / 2 ). this means that when the camera is capturing images / pictures ( frames ) of the optical source , every even numbered frame will comprise a lit optical source and every odd number frame will not comprise a lit optical source , or vice versa . by receiving two consecutive pictures ( or frames ) and using an image analysis method of subtracting one of said consecutive frames from the other frame , the result is a picture only comprising the optical source . hence , the location of the target point ( the optical source ) can be determined . according to another exemplary embodiment , other image analysis methods for detecting objects in an image may be used to localize the target point . fig5 a and 5 b are illustrations of the operation of the automatic camera adjustment feature . fig5 a is an illustration of a image / picture captured by the camera 203 , where the image / picture is to be displayed on a monitor 9 at a remote and / or local endpoint 1 . the picture captured by the camera shows a person sitting at a table , and a number of documents resting on the table . assume now that the user wishes to zoom in on the documents in order to show the content of the documents to remote participants . using a conventional system the user would have to manually adjust the pan , tilt and zoom over several iterations using a conventional remote control . however , using one of the exemplary embodiments described herein , the user can simply hold the i / o device 240 in front of the documents and activate the automatic camera adjustment feature by pressing the activation button . when the user presses and holds the activation button , the optical source 304 will start emitting light detectable by the camera 230 . the controller 200 will then determine the location of the target point ( tp ) provided by the optical source , and determine the appropriate pan and tilt for the camera , and cause the camera to center its field of view on the target point ( tp ). the controller is also causing the camera to zoom in , and the controller causes the camera to continue zooming in until the user indicates otherwise ( e . g . releases the activation button ). ( as mentioned above the indication from the user for the starting and stopping of the automatic camera adjustment feature may be other than depressing and releasing the button .) the resultant picture captured by the camera is seen in fig5 b , which illustrates that the camera has been repositioned so that the target point ( tp ) is now in the centre of the picture ( cp ). therefore , by the simple task of positioning the i / o device 240 on or near a spatial point of interest in a scene captured by the camera , the user has caused the camera to zoom in on the point of interest with a zoom factor selected by the user . alternatively , the method of controlling the camera may be implemented as a set of computer - readable instructions stored in an electronic memory , a hard disk drive , cd , dvd , flash drive or any other known non - transitory storage media .	7
in . fig1 , a basic configuration diagram of an electron microscope 1 as an embodiment of the present invention is shown . a column of the electron microscope 1 includes an electron gun 2 , a condenser lens 3 , an objective lens 4 , and a projector lens 5 . a sample holder for electron microscope 6 is inserted between the objective lenses 4 . a fluorescent screen 7 is mounted below the projector lens 5 and a tv camera 8 is mounted below the fluorescent screen 7 . the tv camera 8 is connected to an image recording unit 9 b via an image display unit 9 a . a sample 10 is held in the tip portion of the sample holder for electron microscope 6 . an aperture 11 for differential pumping is arranged between the condenser lens 3 and the objective lens 4 . a space between the electron gun 2 and the condenser lens 3 , a space between the condenser lens 3 and the objective lens 4 , an electron microscope sample chamber 12 , and an observation chamber 13 are each connected to different vacuum pumps 15 via a valve 14 . a sample pre - evacuation chamber 16 is set up in the electron microscope sample chamber 12 and the sample pre - evacuation chamber 16 is connected to the vacuum pump 15 via the valve 14 . the reverse side entry portion 17 inserted into the electron microscope sample chamber 12 facing the sample holder 6 . in the electron microscope sample chamber 12 , a reverse side entry pre - evacuation chamber 18 is mounted facing the sample pre - evacuation chamber 16 . the reverse side entry pre - evacuation chamber 13 is connected to the vacuum pump 15 via the valve 14 . before the reverse side entry portion 17 is inserted into the sample chamber 12 , air in the reverse side entry portion 17 and the reverse side entry pre - evacuation chamber 18 is exhausted from the reverse side entry pre - evacuation chamber 18 using the vacuum pump 15 for insertion into the sample chamber 12 . various capabilities may be added to the reverse side entry portion 17 so that the reverse side entry portion 17 can be replaced according to the purpose of observation . in fig1 , the reverse side entry portion 17 has a voltage applying mechanism to the sample 10 and is connected to a voltage applying power source 19 . an incident electron beam 20 generated by the electron gun 2 is converged by the condenser lens 3 before the sample 10 is irradiated therewith . a transmitted electron beam 21 having transmitted the sample 10 is formed as an image by the objective lens 4 and the image is enlarged by the projector lens 5 before being projected onto the fluorescent screen 7 . alternatively , the fluorescent screen 7 is lifted to project the image onto the tv camera . 8 and a transmitted image is displayed in the image display unit 9 a and recorded in the image recording unit 9 b . the sample holder 6 has electrodes 23 so as to come into contact with both ends of the sample 10 . the reverse side entry portion . 17 has electrodes 24 to apply a voltage to the sample 10 . a voltage is applied to the sample 10 by bringing the respective electrodes 23 , 24 into contact . a transmitted image of the sample 10 during application of the voltage is captured by the tv camera 8 and recorded in the image recording unit 9 b . fig2 ( a ) and 2 ( b ) show basic configuration diagrams of the tip portion of the sample holder for electron microscope 6 and the tip portion of the reverse side entry 17 according to an embodiment of the present invention . a sample contact portion 22 of the sample holder 6 on which the sample 10 is placed is made of an insulating material and electrodes 23 a , 23 b are provided on both side thereof and in contact with both sides of the sample 10 . the sample 10 is fixed to the sample holder 6 by a sample presser foot 25 made of or coated with an insulating material . the sample presser foot 25 is a screw - in type and is fixed to the sample holder 6 . electrodes 24 a , 24 b of movable type are fixed from the reverse side entry portion 17 so as to be in contact with electrodes 23 a ′, 23 b ′ of the sample holder 6 . the electrodes 24 a , 24 b are connected to the voltage applying power source 19 . accordingly , the weight reduction of the sample holder 6 can be achieved so that the influence such as vibration can be reduced . due to a decreased size , the high resolution objective lens 4 with a narrow gap can be used and changes when a voltage is applied can be observed in high resolution . fig3 ( a ) and 3 ( b ) show the reverse side entry portion 17 and the sample holder 6 with a gas injection mechanism and a voltage applying mechanism as an embodiment . fig3 ( a ) is a configuration diagram and fig3 ( b ) is a top view . the reverse side entry portion 17 includes a gas injection nozzle 26 to inject a gas into the neighborhood of the sample 10 and a gas is injected from outside the sample chamber 12 . the gas injection nozzle 26 can be inserted into the neighborhood of an observation region of the sample 10 so that a sample reaction field can efficiently be created . by injecting a gas and applying a voltage to the sample 10 , changes occurring in the sample 10 in any gas atmosphere while the voltage is applied can be observed . in addition , by injecting a gas after applying a voltage and observing the sample 10 in advance before the gas is injected , the influence of the gas can be known . fig4 ( a ) to 4 ( c ) show an embodiment of the reverse side entry portion 17 including a sample atmosphere blocking mechanism . fig4 ( a ) is a configuration diagram , fig4 ( b ) is a sectional view of a sample atmosphere blocking portion 27 at the tip of the reverse side entry portion 17 , and fig4 ( c ) is a sectional view of the sample holder 6 . the reverse side entry portion is linked to the pump 15 or a gas cylinder via the valve 14 . the sample atmosphere blocking portion 27 is provided at the tip of the reverse side entry portion 17 . the sample atmosphere blocking portion 27 can be moved horizontally by an external control 28 and combined like surrounding the tip portion of the sample holder 6 and the sample 10 . the reverse side entry portion 17 is removable from the sample chamber 12 and when inserted , the reverse side entry portion 17 is first inserted , into the reverse side entry pre - evacuation chamber 18 before being inserted into the sample chamber 12 while the valve 14 is closed to evacuate air from inside a body shaft 29 of the reverse side entry portion 17 and pipes individually . then , the reverse side entry portion 17 is inserted into the sample chamber and the valve is opened . the tip of the reverse side entry portion 17 has a hollow structure and moves horizontally around the body shaft 30 of the reverse side entry portion 17 . by combining in a position where an o ring 30 on the side of the sample holder 6 and the sample atmosphere blocking portion 27 , the atmosphere of the sample chamber 12 and the atmosphere of the sample 10 can be blocked . after the atmosphere is blocked , a gas can be injected into the surroundings of the sample 10 from a gas cylinder via a gas injection port and then , by exhausting air after switching the cylinder and the vacuum pump , the influence of irradiation of the electron beam 20 on the sample 10 can be reduced as much as possible and the sample 10 in a gas atmosphere before and after changes can be observed . here , as shown in fig4 c , the sample holder 6 is described as the standard type in which the sample 10 is fixed by a ring spring 31 , but by adopting a sample heating holder for the side of the sample holder 6 , changes of the sample 10 in a gas atmosphere at high temperature can be observed in the same field of view . in addition , like the embodiment shown in fig2 ( a ) and 2 ( b ) , the voltage applying mechanism may be added so that changes of the sample 10 while a voltage is applied in a gas atmosphere can be observed in the same field of view . because a reaction is allowed only inside the sample atmosphere blocking portion 27 , any reaction experiment may be conducted without affecting the device body . fig5 ( a ) and 5 ( b ) show an embodiment including a sample atmosphere blocking mechanism provided with a cell membrane 32 made of a light element through which the electron beam 20 can pass in a portion of the reverse side entry portion 17 . the cell membrane 32 through which the electron beams 20 , 21 can pass is mounted in a portion to be an electron beam path in the reverse side entry portion 17 and the atmospheres of the sample chamber 12 and the sample 10 are blocked to form cells . in this state , a transmitted image can be observed . the gas nozzle 26 to inject a gas , a temperature - humidity sensor 33 , and a micro vacuum gauge 34 are mounted inside the cell and each is connected to controllers 35 , 36 outside the column . the reverse side entry portion 17 includes a hollow evacuation hole 37 connected to the vacuum pump 15 via the valve 14 . accordingly an in - situ observation of chances of the sample 10 can be made while injecting any gas into the cell and monitoring the temperature and humidity and the cell internal pressure by the temperature - humidity sensor 33 and the micro vacuum gauge 34 respectively . by adopting a voltage applying or heating holder for the side of the sample holder 6 , an in - situ observation of voltage application or heating in any atmosphere can be made . fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( b ) show an embodiment of providing a plasma generator in the reverse side entry portion 17 . fig6 ( a ) is a configuration diagram and fig6 ( b ) is a top view of an internal configuration . the reverse side entry portion 17 includes the sample atmosphere blocking portion 27 including the cell membrane 32 allowing the electron beams 20 , 21 to vertically transmit the sample 10 and made of ceramics . the gas injection nozzle 26 , the evacuation hole 37 , and the micro vacuum gauge 34 are included inside the blocked cell . the gas injection nozzle 26 is connected to a cylinder of the air containing oxygen ( o 2 ) or a mixed gas of oxygen ( o 2 ) and ar via a needle valve 38 . as shown in fig6 ( b ) , a pair of plasma electrodes 39 a , 39 b is provided on the inner wall of the sample atmosphere blocking portion 27 on both sides of the position of the sample 10 and each electrode is connected to a high frequency generating power source 40 or grounded 41 . oxygen injected from the gas injection nozzle 26 becomes plasma and generated active oxygen reacts with ch adsorbed by the sample holder 6 and the sample 10 to become a contamination factor and exhausted from the evacuation hole 37 as h 2 o , co , or co 2 . then , by taking the reverse side entry portion 17 out of the sample chamber 12 , an observation and analysis without contamination can be made . fig7 ( a ) to 7 ( c ) show an embodiment in which the reverse side entry portion 17 is provided with a mechanism to apply stress to the sample 10 . fig7 ( a ) is a configuration diagram , fig7 ( b ) is a sectional view , and fig7 ( c ) is a top view of an internal configuration . in this case , the sample 10 is fixed to the sample holder 6 facing a stress applying portion 42 by a sample presser foot fixing screw 44 via a sample presser foot 43 . the position of the stress applying portion 42 provided in the reverse side entry portion 17 is moved in the x , y , and z directions by a piezoelectric element 45 . the piezoelectric element 45 is connected to a stress applying power source 46 and the stress applying power source 43 operates the piezoelectric element 45 such that necessary applied stress is added . though not shown in the drawing , an in - situ observation of changes of the sample 10 by applying stress in a gas atmosphere can be made by adding the gas injection nozzle 26 . fig8 ( a ) to 8 ( c ) show an embodiment in which the reverse side entry portion 17 is provided with a sample rotating mechanism . fig8 ( a ) is a configuration diagram , fig8 ( b ) is a top view , and fig8 ( c ) is a bottom view . the sample holder 6 unit includes a sample biaxial leaning mechanism 47 . a gear mechanism 49 to rotate the sample 10 is included on the undersurface of a sample stage portion 48 of the sample holder 6 on which the sample 10 is placed , a groove of the size of the sample 10 is included immediately above the gear mechanism 49 , and the sample 10 is placed in the groove to be fixed to the sample stage portion 48 after a washer 50 and the ring spring 31 being placed thereon . the reverse side entry portion 17 has a gear 51 that rotates around the axis at the tip thereof and the sample 10 fixed to the sample holder 6 can be rotated by meshing the gear 51 with the gear mechanism 49 provided on the undersurface of the sample stage portion 48 inside the sample chamber 12 and rotating the gear 51 provided in the reverse side entry portion 17 . accordingly , if the crystal plane of the sample 10 is not aligned with a zone axis in the incident electron beam direction by performing biaxial leaning of the sample 10 , the sample 10 is first rotated and then , the gear 51 portion provided in the reverse side entry portion 17 is removed and leaned so as to be able to be aligned with the zone axis within the range of biaxial inclination angle . fig9 ( a ) and 9 ( b ) show an embodiment in which the reverse side entry portion 17 is provided with the atmosphere blocking portion 27 that can be removed . fig9 ( a ) is a configuration diagram and fig9 ( b ) is a sectional view in a state in which the atmosphere blocking portion 27 is separated from the reverse side entry portion 17 . a portion that blocks the atmosphere of the sample 10 is fixed to the reverse side entry portion 17 by a screw 52 and the atmosphere blocking portion 27 and the reverse side entry portion 17 are separated by rotating the screw 52 counterclockwise using the external control 28 . when the reverse side entry portion 17 is taken out after the separation , a valve 53 mounted in the reverse side entry pre - evacuation chamber 18 is closed and the reverse side entry portion 17 is taken out of the device . the atmosphere blocking portion 27 having been separated can be removed from the device while being fixed to the sample holder 6 and the sample atmosphere being blocked . after being removed from the device , the sample 10 can be transported in the air while the atmosphere is blocked by transporting the atmosphere blocking portion 27 to another vacuum device or charged particle beam device and mounting the atmosphere blocking portion 27 on the reverse side entry portion 17 in the device . fig1 ( a ) to 10 ( c ) show another embodiment in which a sample cooling mechanism is included in the reverse side entry portion 17 . fig1 ( a ) is a configuration diagram , fig1 ( b ) is a sectional view , and fig1 ( c ) is a top view . the sample 10 is fixed to a sample support 54 having high thermal conductivity . the sample support 54 is pivot 56 fixed to a frame 55 of the sample holder 6 and heat insulated . a cooling portion 57 in contact with the sample support 54 and having high thermal conductivity is mounted on the reverse side entry portion 17 and is connected to a cooling medium 58 outside the sample chamber 12 . the cooling portion 57 includes a heater 59 and a thermocouple 60 for temperature measurement and is connected to a temperature controller 61 outside the sample chamber 12 . the thermocouple 60 measures the temperature of the cooling portion 57 and the measured temperature is displayed in a temperature display unit of the temperature controller 61 . the sample cooling temperature is adjusted by the heater 59 . if the sample holder 6 is taken out of the sample chamber 12 while the sample 10 is cooled , a problem of frost formed near the sample 10 and the holder 6 arises and thus , the sample 10 is taken out after the sample 10 being brought back to room temperature by the heater 59 in the sample chamber 12 . in the foregoing , in addition to various capabilities described , the reverse side entry portion according to an embodiment may be provided with a detection function to detect a signal . in the above embodiments , the reverse side entry portion inserted into the device can be removed and inserted regardless of various capabilities and thus , for example , the sample can be observed after plasma - cleaning the sample using embodiment 6 and next , changes of the sample by applying a voltage can be observed using embodiment 5 and then , a gas is injected and changes of the sample by applying a voltage in a gas atmosphere can be observed . when used for a device in which differential pumping mechanism is not enhanced , observations in any atmosphere can be made by further adding an atmosphere blocking mechanism with a cell membrane .	7
the oral cannula embodiments described below have a treatment gas delivery lumen and an exhaled gas sampling lumen . for convenience of illustration , the lumens are also referred to as an oxygen supply lumen and an end - tidal carbon dioxide ( etco2 ) lumen to reflect the most common treatment gas and the most common target for sampling the exhaled gas . each oral cannula is located or formed at the distal end of oxygen supply tubing and end - tidal carbon dioxide ( etco2 ) sampling tubing , which tubing is connected to a conventional capnography and oxygen supply and monitoring system at the end opposite the oral cannula . conventional luer fittings may be used . oxygen from the oxygen source ( not shown in the figures ) and controlled by the anesthetist or control system flows out through the oxygen supply lumen and exits through the oral cannula . sampling gases are pulled through the oral cannula and the etco2 sampling lumen to the capnography system . fig1 a and 1b illustrate an oral cannula that includes a first embodiment oral cannula 10 , oxygen supply tubing 76 , an end - tidal carbon dioxide ( etco2 ) sampling tubing 86 , and ( preferably ) conventional fittings 77 and 87 on respective proximal ends of the tubing . oral cannula 10 includes an oxygen supply tube lumen 70 and etco2 sampling tube lumen 80 . as shown in fig1 a , oxygen supply tube lumen 70 is at a distal portion of oxygen supply tubing 76 ; etco2 sampling tube lumen 80 is at a distal portion of sampling tubing 86 . in this regard , a portion of the tubing forms the oral cannula , and another portion of the tubing is extraneous to the oral cannula and extends from the oral cannula . a connector 91 is illustrated schematically to encompass any kind of connection or structure for connecting tubing 76 , 86 to lumens 70 , 80 . the oxygen supply tube 76 and the etco2 sampling tube 86 ( that is , the portions of the tubing that do not form the oral cannula 10 ) preferably are several feet long , affixed together in a side - by - side relationship , and terminate at conventional luer fittings 77 , 87 suitable for connection to an oxygen supply and etco2 monitoring system . alternatively , tubing 76 and 86 may be configured in a co - sheath or coaxial configuration . tubing 76 and 86 preferably are formed of conventional materials , such as those used for conventional nasal cannula . preferably , the tubing is conventional pvc . in an alternative embodiment , a plastic available from saint - gobain performance plastics corporation under the tygon ® se - 200 and tygon name may be used . this tubing has an inert liner and can be used as an o2 delivery line . tubing 76 and 86 are side - by - side tubes that are affixed together along their entire length , with ( preferably ) the supply lumen being larger in diameter than the sampling lumen . other embodiments of the oral cannula described below may have coaxial or other tubing configurations , but the function and materials of the supply and sampling tubing is the same for all embodiments . in this specification , the term “ tubing ” refers to conventional , flexible tubing ( described more fully below ); the term “ lumen ” refers to the structure or the passage formed by the structure of the inventive oral cannula . as best shown in fig2 a , 2b , and 3a through 3e , oxygen supply lumen 70 and etco2 sampling lumen 80 in the first embodiment are in a co - sheath configuration in which etco2 sampling lumen 80 is enclosed within oxygen supply lumen 70 to form a portion of oral cannula body 16 . in this regard , the term “ co - sheath ” as used in this description refers to a structure in which one tube is contained within another , even if the axes of the tubes do not fall on the same line , including when inner tube is attached to an inner wall of the outer tube . the term “ coaxial ” as used in this description refers to a structure in which tubes are oriented such that the longitudinal axes generally align , including when an inner tube is loose within the outer tube . a coaxial configuration is a subset of a co - sheath configuration . body 16 may be integrally formed with the tubing , or body 16 may be a unitary ( that is , stand - alone ) piece that has openings into which oxygen supply tubing 76 and etco2 sampling tubing 86 fit and are attached ( including by a separate connector 91 to mate the parts ). the sidewall of body 16 includes plural apertures 36 that are in communication with the interior of lumen 70 and tubing 76 such that oxygen supplied by the oxygen source ( illustrated in fig1 a ) and controlled by the anesthetist or control system flows out of oral cannula 10 through apertures 36 . body 16 also includes apertures 37 , 38 that are in fluid communication with plenum 74 , sampling lumen 80 , and tubing 86 , such that sampling can be controlled by the etco2 monitoring system . in this regard , a distal end of oxygen supply lumen 70 is sealed by a bulkhead 72 such that a distal end of the oral cannula distal to the bulkhead forms a plenum 74 , as best shown in fig3 a . the portion of the oral cannula including the bulkhead and plenum can be referred to as a tip , such as a cap , for example , a bulb . in this regard , the term “ tip ” in this disclosure is used broadly to refer to any end structure . the tips may be formed of rigid plastic sleeve . alternatively , the tips may be formed of a soft plastic . fig3 d is an enlarged view of a portion of the sidewall of the oxygen supply lumen 70 illustrating a configuration of apertures 36 . in this regard , apertures 36 define a centerline that forms an angle a from a longitudinal centerline , which is horizontal as oriented in fig3 d and 3e . preferably , angle a is between 25 and 75 degrees , more preferably between 40 and 60 degrees , and most preferably between 45 and 50 degrees . further , a distal or upper portion of apertures 36 include a scoop 92 intended to inhibit unintentional blocking of the apertures by contact with a patient &# 39 ; s tissues . fig9 a , 9b , and 9c illustrates an oral cannula 910 having apertures 936 that are oriented perpendicular to the sidewall . apertures 936 includes a scoop at the distal end , which are intended to inhibit unintentional blocking of the apertures by contact with a patient &# 39 ; s tissues . scoops 92 and 992 are optional , as the present invention encompasses straight holes without scoops . fig4 a and 4b illustrate additional configurations of co - sheathed oral cannula . fig4 a illustrates oral cannula 10 ′ having a bulkhead 72 ′ that is a barrier that seals the end of supply lumen 70 . sampling lumen 80 protrudes through bulkhead 72 ′ such that plenum 74 is connected to sampling lumen 80 and not in communication with supply lumen 70 . fig4 b illustrates co - axial oral cannula 10 ″ having a bulkhead 72 ″, which functions the same as bulkhead 72 ′. sampling lumen 80 protrudes through bulkhead 72 ″ at or near the centerline of lumen 70 . each bulkhead 72 , 72 ′, and 72 ″ defines the corresponding plenum 74 , 74 ′, and 74 ″. the text below will employ the reference numerals 72 and 74 to refer to any embodiment of the bulkhead and plenum for ease of description , and reference numeral 10 to refer to any of the embodiment in fig2 a through 4b . apertures 37 are formed in the plenum wall around the body of the plenum 74 . an end aperture 38 may be formed at the distal - most end of oral cannula 10 . oxygen from oxygen supply tubing 76 flows within supply lumen 70 on the outside of sampling lumen 80 to exit from apertures 36 . because bulkhead 72 forms the end of supply lumen 70 , oxygen does not enter plenum 74 . rather , gas is pulled into plenum 74 through apertures 37 and 38 and through sampling lumen 80 by the action of the suction from the etco2 sampling system . body 16 , as illustrated in fig1 b , has a bend 13 that may be ( optionally ) formed by a wire 50 or may be formed upon molding body 16 , as explained more fully below . body 16 can be formed of a rigid plastic or from a soft plastic , according to the particular design parameters of the oral cannula . fig8 a illustrates a common coaxial configuration in which the axes are or can lie literally on the same axis . the configuration of fig8 b is , in the nomenclature of this specification , also coaxial if the tube of lumen 80 is not attached to the tube of lumen 70 , as the loose lumens will sometimes be coaxial . if the outside of lumen 70 is adhered to the inside of lumen 80 in fig8 , then the lumens have a co - sheath configuration . fig8 c illustrates another co - sheath configuration in which the outer sheath does not have a circulate cross section . fig8 d illustrates an oral cannula having a side - by - side ( that is , not a co - sheath configuration ). fig5 a and 5b illustrate an alternative embodiment oral cannula 110 including a tip 112 , such as a cap . tip 112 is formed by an elongate , supply body 116 , such as a cylindrical or nearly cylindrical supply body , that forms an oxygen supply lumen 170 and a cylindrical , or nearly cylindrical sampling body 118 that forms an etco2 sampling lumen 180 . bodies 116 and 118 preferably are unitary ( that is , formed of a single piece of plastic and are not detachable from one another ) and side - by - side . preferably , tip 112 is approximately 1 . 0 to 3 . 0 inches long , preferably at least 1 . 5 inches long , and optionally includes a bend ( not shown in fig5 a and 5b ), to house the entirety of the oxygen supply lumen and etco2 sampling lumens of the oral cannula . in this alternative , the tip would be connected to tubing 76 and 86 , and the tip may be formed of a pre - bent rigid plastic , a pre - bent soft plastic , or be supplied with a shaping wire 50 . oxygen supply lumen 170 has a proximal end 132 and a distal end 172 . an opening 134 at proximal end 132 is sized to receive oxygen supply tubing 76 . tubing 76 is inserted into opening 134 and preferably is adhered or welded by conventional means . the sidewall of the body 116 includes plural openings 134 that are in communication with the interior of lumen 170 and tubing 76 such that oxygen supplied by the oxygen source ( not shown in figure ) and controlled by the anesthetist or control system flows out of oral cannula 10 through apertures 136 . in this regard , the distal end 172 terminates at a barrier and is sealed such that no oxygen flows out of the distal end of the oral cannula parallel to the longitudinal axis of oral cannula 110 or into plenum 174 ( explained below ). etco2 lumen 180 has a proximal end 142 and a distal end 148 . an opening 144 at proximal end 142 is sized to receive etco2 sampling tube lumen 180 . lumen 180 is inserted into opening 144 and preferably is adhered or welded together by conventional means . the sidewall of the body 118 preferably has no apertures that open into sampling lumen 180 . rather , sampling body 118 distally extends past the distal end of the oxygen supply lumen 170 into a plenum 174 . sampling body 118 at plenum 174 has apertures 137 and ( optionally ) apertures on the distal end 139 of oral cannula 110 ( not shown in fig5 ). apertures 137 preferably are distributed around the circumference or periphery of plenum 174 such that sampling apertures 137 are distal to all of oxygen supply apertures 136 . apertures 137 enable communication and flow through or near the end of body 118 into the interior of sampling lumen 180 and sampling tubing 86 when pulled by the etco2 monitoring system ( not shown in the figures ). distal end 139 defines the distal end of oral cannula 110 . fig6 a and 6b illustrate another side - by - side embodiment oral cannula 210 including a tip 212 , an oxygen supply lumen 230 , and an etco2 sampling lumen 240 . tip 212 is formed by a nearly cylindrical supply body 216 that forms a portion of oxygen supply lumen 230 and a cylindrical sampling body 218 that forms a portion of etco2 sampling lumen 240 . bodies 216 and 218 are unitary ( that is , formed of a single piece of plastic and are not mutually detachable from one another ) and side - by - side . preferably , tip 212 is between 0 . 5 inches and 1 . 5 inches long ( measured parallel to the longitudinal axis ). in cross section or in an end view , lumens 230 and 240 form a figure eight . in this regard , oxygen supply lumen 230 of the oral cannula 210 can be formed in part by tip 212 and oxygen supply lumen 270 ( that is , a portion of tubing 76 ). the etco2 sampling lumen 240 of oral cannula 210 can be formed in part by tip 212 and sampling lumen 280 ( that is , a portion of tubing 86 ). in other words , a portion of tubing 76 and 86 can form a portion of oral cannula 210 . and a portion of tip 212 can form a portion of oral cannula 210 . alternatively , embodiment oral cannula 210 encompasses an oxygen supply lumen 230 that is short and / or includes only a fitting to close off the end of tubing . in the embodiment shown in fig6 a and 6b , body 216 includes an opening recess 234 sized to receive oxygen supply tube lumen 270 , which is inserted into the opening recess 234 and preferably is adhered or welded by conventional means . the sidewall of the tubing that forms supply lumen 270 includes plural apertures 236 that are in communication with the interior of lumen 270 and tubing 76 such that oxygen supplied by the oxygen source and controlled by the anesthetist or control system flows out of oral cannula 210 through apertures 236 . in this regard , the distal end of the supply lumen 270 is sealed by body 216 at a seal 272 . etco2 lumen 240 of tip 212 has an opening 244 at proximal end 242 that is sized to receive etco2 sampling tube lumen 280 . lumen 280 is inserted into opening 244 and preferably is adhered or welded together by conventional means . sampling body 218 distally extends past the distal end of the oxygen supply lumen 270 to form a plenum 274 . sampling body 218 has apertures 237 near its distal end 239 and ( optionally ) apertures on its distal end ( not shown in fig6 ). apertures 237 preferably are distributed around the circumference or periphery of plenum 274 and the sampling apertures 237 are distal to all of oxygen supply apertures 236 . apertures 237 enable communication and flow through or near the end of body 218 , in some circumstances making a right turn , into the interior of sampling lumen 240 and sampling tubing 86 when pulled by the etco2 monitoring system . distal end 239 defines the distal end of oral cannula 210 . fig7 a and 7b illustrate another side - by - side embodiment oral cannula 310 that includes a tip 312 , such as a cap , for example a bulb , that may be formed of a unitary piece having openings into which oxygen supply tubing and etco2 sampling tubing fit and are attached or may formed integral with tubing 76 and 86 . oral cannula 310 encompasses an oxygen supply lumen 330 , an etco2 sampling lumen 340 , a barrier 372 , and a plenum 374 . tip 312 includes a port 346 that extends through the sidewall of a tip 312 on the distal side barrier 372 to communicate with plenum 374 . tip 312 forms plenum 374 and includes sampling apertures 337 and end aperture 338 . the sidewall of the lumen 330 includes plural apertures 336 that are in communication with the interior of supply lumen 330 to enable oxygen to flow out of oral cannula 310 . oxygen supply lumen 330 terminates at barrier 372 . sampling lumen 340 extends exterior of the supply lumen 330 , through port 346 . alternatively ( not shown ), port 346 can be located on the proximal side of barrier 372 such that port 346 extends through supply lumen 330 to pierce barrier 372 in a configuration like that described for embodiments having a bulkhead . in another alternative ( not shown ), sampling lumen 340 may extend all the way through supply lumen 330 and terminate only in an aperture at the distal - most end portion of the oral cannula . the latter alternative does not require a bulkhead . plenum apertures 337 and 338 enable gas to be drawn through apertures 337 and 338 , plenum 374 , port 346 , sampling lumen 340 , and into sampling tubing 86 ( not shown in fig7 a and 7b ). oral cannula 310 may be pre - formed with a bend . tip 312 can be formed of a rigid plastic or from a soft plastic , according to the particular design parameters of the oral cannula and in embodiments in which tip 312 is elongated ( not shown ), may include a bend , as described elsewhere in this disclosure . tip 312 can be formed as a separate structure that is fused to lumens 330 and 340 , formed integral with lumen 330 by closing its distal end , or by other means as understood by persons familiar with tubing technology . for the side - by - side embodiments of fig5 a through 7b , the oxygen supply tube 76 and the etco2 sampling tube 86 ( that is , the portions of the tubing that do not form the oral cannula 110 , 210 , 310 ) preferably are several feet long , affixed together in a side - by - side relationship , and terminate at conventional luer fittings 77 , 87 suitable for connection to an oxygen supply and etco2 monitoring system . alternatively , tubing 76 and 86 may be configured in a coaxial configuration . tubing 76 and 86 preferably are formed of conventional materials , such as those used for conventional nasal cannula . preferably , tubing 76 and 86 are conventional pvc , as will be understood by persons familiar with medical devices in this field . this tubing has an inert liner and can be used as an o2 delivery line . tubing 76 and 86 are side - by - side tubes that are affixed together along their entire length , with ( preferably ) the supply lumen being larger in diameter than the sampling lumen . other embodiments of the oral cannula described below may have coaxial or other tubing configurations , but the function and materials of the supply and sampling tubing is the same for all embodiments . in this specification , the term “ tubing ” refers to conventional , flexible tubing ( described more fully below ); the term “ lumen ” refers to the structure or the passage formed by the structure of the inventive oral cannula . referring to fig1 through 15b to illustrate a preferred embodiment , an oral cannula assembly 400 includes treatment gas delivery tubing 76 , exhaled gas sampling tubing 86 , ( preferably ) conventional fittings 77 and 87 on respective proximal ends of the tubing , and an oral cannula 410 . oral cannula 410 is referred to as an intraoral cannula , as a subset of an oral cannula , to refer to diverse positioning within the oral space throughout the oral cavity and beyond , including positioning the tip near or in contact with the oropharynx . the oxygen supply tube 76 and the etco2 sampling tube 86 ( that is , the portions of the tubing that do not form the oral cannula 410 ) preferably are several feet long , affixed together in a side - by - side relationship , and terminate at conventional luer fittings 77 , 87 suitable for connection to an oxygen supply and etco2 monitoring system 925 , 960 . alternatively , tubing 76 and 86 may be configured in a co - sheath or coaxial configuration . oral cannula 410 includes a treatment gas delivery lumen 470 , an exhaled gas sampling lumen 480 , a cap assembly 412 , and a shaping wire 414 . as shown in fig1 , delivery lumen 470 is at a distal portion of tubing 76 ; sampling lumen 480 is at a distal portion of sampling tubing 86 . in this regard , a portion of the tubing forms the oral cannula , and another portion of the tubing is extraneous to the oral cannula and extends from the oral cannula . a connector 491 is illustrated schematically to represent any kind of connection or structure for connecting tubing 76 , 86 to lumens 470 , 480 . as shown in fig1 , oral cannula assembly 400 has no connector between tubing 76 and 86 , as portions on the oral cannula are formed on the distal portions of the tubing . cap assembly 412 includes an outer cap body 420 , a cap insert 440 , and a filter assembly 460 . outer cap body 420 includes a flute portion 422 at its distal most region , a cylindrical middle sleeve 424 , and a cylindrical proximal sleeve 426 , which includes a skirt 474 . flute portion 422 includes plural flutes 430 that are radially oriented gussets or webs that extend from cap middle sleeve 424 at a flute base 432 to a distal tip 434 . preferably , flutes are joined together at the longitudinal centerline for mutual support . flutes 430 in the embodiment shown in the figures are tapered to narrow in the direction of tip 434 . other configurations of flutes are contemplated . the spaces between adjacent flutes 430 form apertures 436 . cap middle sleeve 424 and cap proximal sleeve 426 are cylindrical and have the same outer diameter . cap proximal sleeve 426 extends downwardly or proximally from the lower or proximal end of middle portion 424 . proximal sleeve 426 has a greater internal diameter than the internal diameter of middle portion 424 and thus defines a frusto - conical shoulder 428 at the juncture of the inboard surfaces of portions 424 and 426 . cap insert 440 includes a cylindrical upper or distal body 442 , a cylindrical lower or proximal body 444 , and a frusto - conical shoulder 446 between bodies 442 and 444 . the outer diameter of distal body 442 is greater than that of proximal body 444 such that the outboard surface of cap insert 440 forms an upwardly oriented funnel shape . the outer diameter of distal body 442 matches the inner diameter of middle sleeve 424 of the outer cap body 420 . the outer diameter of proximal body 444 matches the inner diameter of proximal sleeve 426 of the outer cap body 420 . the lower or proximal end of proximal body 444 has a recess 450 for receiving delivery lumen 470 and a recess 452 for receiving sampling lumen 480 . a gas channel 454 extends from the uppermost rim of cap insert 440 and is in fluid communication with sampling recess 452 . in this regard , channel 454 preferably is concentric with distal body 442 throughout all or most of distal body 442 and bends or angles to be deviate from the longitudinal centerline at the proximal end of proximal body 444 . sampling recess 452 is thus in communication with channel 454 . delivery recess 450 is shown as opening into sampling recess 452 , as delivery lumen 470 has a sealed tip 472 , as explained below . alternatively , delivery recess 450 may be sealed ( not shown in the figures ). filter assembly 460 includes a hydrophobic filter element 462 and a filter housing 464 . filter housing includes a circular flange 466 , and a downwardly depending skirt 468 . hydrophobic filter element 462 is located on or radially within flange 466 . the hydrophobic filter element 462 is such that it prevents saliva and mucus from being drawn into the channel , such as channel 454 , and / or otherwise blocking or impeding the desired flow of sample gas . preferably , filter housing 464 is rigid to provide radial rigidity to cap assembly 412 . shaping wire 414 preferably is generally as described herein for other embodiments , and has the attributes of being able to be bent by the hands of the user , retaining a bend applied by a user upon insertion into a patient &# 39 ; s mouth , and preferably being sufficiently rigid to enable the user to insert it into the airway of the patient ( past the oral cavity and in some circumstances into the oropharynx and beyond ) if needed . the inventors have found that a 16 gauge , medical grade copper wire is sufficient for this purpose . wires of similar gauge having the same or higher yield strength may be used . wires ( and other structures ) of other materials and yield strength and / or resistance to bending moments may be employed if having the same or greater bending stiffness than a 16 gauge , medical grade copper wire . preferably , wire 414 is encased or encapsulated within the material of lumen 470 and / or 480 . delivery lumen 470 is a conventional tube material having a fused or blocked terminal end 472 and apertures , preferably a pair of round apertures 476 a and 476 b in the sidewall of delivery lumen 470 . preferably , upper or distal aperture 476 a has a smaller diameter ( or for apertures that are not round , a smaller cross sectional area ) than that of lower or proximal aperture 476 b to encourage even or balanced airflow through the two apertures . the location of apertures 476 a and 476 b depends on the dimensions of skirt 474 , as explained below . sampling lumen 480 preferably is a continuous , unbroken tube of conventional material described above that is open at its terminal proximal end 482 . referring particularly to fig1 through 14 to described the assembled device , filter assembly 460 is located on cap insert 440 such that circular flange 466 is in contact with a proximal rim of cap insert distal body 442 , an outboard surface of filter skirt 468 is in contact with or within the inboard surface of distal portion 442 of insert body 440 , and an outboard surface of insert channel 454 is in contact with or within an inboard surface of filter skirt 468 . thus , sampling tubing 86 is in fluid communication with the underside of filter element 462 via sampling lumen 480 , sampling recess 452 , and insert channel 454 . as best shown in fig1 , cap insert 440 is located within cap outer body 420 such that the outboard surface of distal body 442 is in contact with or within the inboard surface of middle sleeve 424 of outer cap body 420 , the outboard surface of proximal body 444 is in contact with or within the inboard surface of proximal sleeve 426 , and shoulder 446 is in contact with shoulder 428 . in this regard , cap insert 440 may be glued or otherwise affixed to cap outer body 420 , held together in a press fit or interference fit , or have any other fixed relationship . preferably , outer body 420 and insert body 440 are formed of flexible material similar to that of the pvc tubing material described above . flutes 430 are formed of a firm , pliable plastic , such as a conventional plastic suitable for thermoforming or injection molding , such that the flutes resist deformation in the patient &# 39 ; s mouth to prevent or inhibit occlusion . outer cap proximal sleeve 426 extends below or proximal to proximal body 444 of insert 452 to form a skirt 474 . skirt 474 is radially spaced apart from treatment gas delivery lumen 470 and exhaled gas sampling lumen 480 to form a plenum 478 about the inner circumference of the inboard surface of skirt 474 . in this regard , apertures 476 are located in or open into plenum 478 , or in other words are located distally or above the proximal or lower end of skirt 474 . preferably , skirt 474 is a continuous circle , but other configurations ( not shown ) by which skirt 474 protects or covers apertures 476 from being occluded are contemplated . in operation , a user bends oral cannula 410 to a desired configuration , based on the user &# 39 ; s oral cavity shape and size and like parameters of the application . oxygen or other treatment gas is delivered through lumen 76 and into lumen 470 . as lumen 470 is blocked at its distal end 472 , the flow of treatment gas turns 90 degrees to exit through apertures 476 a and 476 b into plenum 478 . plenum 478 may enhance diffusion circumferentially around lumens 470 and 480 . the treatment gas flow turns again 90 degrees to exit below skirt 474 , as illustrated by the arrows in fig1 . etco2 is drawn through apertures 436 between flutes 430 , through filter element 462 , through channel 454 , through lumen end 482 and into etco2 sampling lumen 480 . the oral cannula described herein can be molded with a bend that resists deformation , may be molded with a bend that is plastically deformable such that the shape of the oral cannula can be adjusted as desired by the anesthetist or other users , may be formed with a shaping wire encapsulated in the plastic , may be formed with a shaping wire exterior to and adhered or mechanically affixed to the body of the cannula , optionally with the wire protected by a protective sheath , or may include other mechanical support ( as will be understood by persons familiar with deformable plastic medical devices ). in embodiments in which the oral cannula is intended to be deformable , the oral cannula is intended to be deformed by a user &# 39 ; s hands . in embodiments in which the oral cannula is intended to be rigid , the oral cannula is stiff enough to resist deformation by the force of a user &# 39 ; s hands . for any of the embodiments in which the oxygen supply lumen and etco2 sampling lumen are not fixed in a concentric , coaxial configuration and which have a bend , it is preferred that the sampling lumen be near the inside radius of the bend to enhance the area of the oxygen supply lumen wall that is available for oxygen supply apertures . as illustrated schematically in fig1 a and 10b and 15a and 15b , a patient 900 can have an oral cannula 10 , which reference numeral is intended to represent any configuration herein ( including oral cannula 410 ), which is shaped and placed in his mouth 915 . for convenience , only first embodiment oral cannula 10 is employed for the description of the overall system . the description of the system applies equally to other embodiments of the oral cannula . also , while not shown in the figures , an oxygen delivery line 920 from an oxygen source 925 can be split , such as by a y - splitter or other type of valve , into both an oral cannula line and a nasal cannula line . the nasal cannula line can run to a conventional nasal cannula ( not shown ), and the oral cannula can simultaneously be used as described above . such a configuration may be advantageous for situations in which a patient stops breathing through his nose , but is still breathing through his mouth . an etco2 sampling line 950 can be connected to a patient monitoring system 960 . the etco2 sampling line 950 can also be split . as best shown in fig2 a , 2b , and 3a through 3e , oxygen supply lumen 70 and etco2 sampling lumen 80 in the first embodiment are in a co - sheath configuration in which etco2 sampling lumen 80 is enclosed within oxygen supply lumen 70 to form a portion of oral cannula body 16 . in this regard , the term “ co - sheath ” as used in this description refers to a structure in which one tube is contained within another , even if the axes of the tubes do not fall on the same line , including when inner tube is attached to an inner wall of the outer tube . the term “ coaxial ” as used in this description refers a structure in which tubes are oriented such that the longitudinal axes generally align , including when an inner tube is loose within the outer tube . a coaxial configuration is a subset of a co - sheath configuration . body 16 may be integrally formed with the tubing , or body 16 may be a unitary ( that is , stand - alone ) piece that has openings into which oxygen supply tubing 76 and etco2 sampling tubing 86 fit and are attached ( including by a separate connector 91 to mate the parts ). the sidewall of body 16 includes plural apertures 36 that are in communication with the interior of lumen 70 and tubing 76 such that oxygen supplied by the oxygen source ( illustrated in fig1 a ) and controlled by the anesthetist or control system flows out of oral cannula 10 through apertures 36 . body 16 also includes apertures 37 , 38 that are in fluid communication with plenum 74 , sampling lumen 80 , and tubing 86 , such that sampling can be controlled by the etco2 monitoring system . in this regard , a distal end of oxygen supply lumen 70 is sealed by a bulkhead 72 such that a distal end of the oral cannula distal to the bulkhead forms a plenum 74 , as best shown in fig3 a . the portion of the oral cannula including the bulkhead and plenum can be referred to as a tip , such as a cap , for example , a bulb . in this regard , the term “ tip ” in this disclosure is used broadly to refer to any end structure . the tips may be formed of rigid plastic sleeve . alternatively , the tips may be formed of a soft plastic . fig3 d is an enlarged view of a portion of the sidewall of the oxygen supply lumen 70 illustrating a configuration of apertures 36 . in this regard , apertures 36 define a centerline that forms an angle a from a longitudinal centerline , which is horizontal as oriented in fig3 d and 3e . preferably , angle a is between 25 and 75 degrees , more preferably between 40 and 60 degrees , and most preferably between 45 and 50 degrees . further , a distal or upper portion of apertures 36 include a scoop 92 intended to inhibit unintentional blocking of the apertures by contact with a patient &# 39 ; s tissues . the structure and function of the oral cannula described in this specification are for illustration purposes and are not intended to be limiting . rather , it is intended that the claims be limited only to the express structure and function expressly stated in the claims . further , features of the embodiments described above are not limited to the particular embodiment . rather , the present invention encompasses any of the features described above in any combination .	0
the term “ blow - moulding machine ” or “ blowing machine ” is understood to mean any type of machine having at least one mould which can be opened defining a cavity therein , in which a preform is made to expand by blowing air at a predetermined pressure inside it . the term “ stretch blow - moulding machine ” or “ stretching - blowing machine ” is understood to mean a blowing machine further comprising stretching means , comprising for example an element which penetrates inside the preform through the mouth and pushes the end of the preform opposite the mouth from the inside elongating the preform so as to prepare it for blowing or simultaneously . with reference to the figures , reference numeral 100 globally indicates a system according to the invention , for handling objects 133 , 133 ′ between a transferring star schematically indicated by reference numeral 130 and a rotary machine schematically indicate by reference numeral 1 . the rotary machine comprises , for example , a plurality of processing units 10 , and the transferring star 130 comprises along its perimeter 136 a plurality of seats 13 , 13 ′ to house said objects 133 . said processing units 10 are spaced apart at a first pitch 151 along a first circumference 155 and the seats 134 , 134 ′ are spaced apart at a second pitch 131 along a second circumference 136 , wherein the second pitch 131 is different from the first pitch 151 ad wherein the circumferences 155 and 136 are not tangent . the aforesaid handling system 100 comprises a gripping unit 112 for each processing unit 10 , and the gripping unit 112 comprises a gripping nipper 103 able to grip the object 133 . such system further comprises mean of moving 102 , 202 the gripping nipper 103 suitable for alternately moving the nipper 103 between a first radial position , at the processing unit 10 and a second radial position at a seat 134 , 134 ′ of the transferring star 130 . more specifically , the first radial position lies on the first circumference 155 and the second radial position lies on the second circumference 136 . according to one embodiment , the aforesaid objects 133 , 133 ′ are preforms made of polymer material for making bottle or containers 141 , the aforesaid rotary machine 1 is a stretch - blowing machine for preforms 133 and the aforesaid processing units 10 are stretch - blowing moulding units . in a possible embodiment , for example the aforesaid moulding units 10 are of the type shown in the italian patent application no . mi2011a002033 , in the name of the same applicant . however , other embodiments of the moulding unit for stretch - blowing machines may also be used . the aforesaid rotary machine 100 may alternatively , be a blowing machine for preforms in the cases in which the moulding does not provide for the preventive or simultaneous stretching of the preform with the blowing . according to one embodiment said movement means of 102 , 202 of the gripping nipper 103 are configured to make the nipper translate in a radial direction in relation to the rotation axis 2 of the rotary machine 1 alternately between an extended position lying on said second circumference 136 and a retracted position lying on said first circumference 155 . according to one embodiment said movement means 102 , 202 of the gripping nipper 103 are configured to make the nipper 103 translate in a radial direction in relation to the rotation axis 2 of the rotary machine 1 alternately between an extended position lying on said second circumference 136 and a retracted uncoupled position lying on an uncoupling circumference 159 concentric with said first circumference 155 and having a radius r 3 less than the radius r 2 of said first circumference 155 . in one embodiment said movement means 102 , 202 of the gripping nipper 103 act contemporarily with the rotation of the rotary machine 1 , conducting the gripping nipper 103 along a curved section 161 of trajectory tangent to said first circumference 155 in a first point of tangency 162 and tangent to said second circumference 136 in a second point of tangency 163 . in one embodiment said movement means 102 , 202 of the gripping nipper 103 act contemporarily with the rotation of the rotary machine , conducting the gripping nipper 103 along a curved section 161 of trajectory having its centre of curvature on the rotation axis 2 of the rotary machine and having a radius varying from a first value corresponding to the radius of the first circumference 155 and a second value corresponding to the radius of the second circumference 136 . according to one embodiment said variable radius varies in a linear manner in relation to time . according to one embodiment the trajectory of the nipper 103 between the second point 163 and the first point 162 is such that the tangential acceleration of the nipper 103 is negligible . according to one embodiment said movement means 102 , 202 of the gripping nipper 103 act contemporarily with the rotation of the rotary machine , conducting the nipper 103 along a predefined trajectory 161 between a point 163 lying on said second circumference 136 and a point 162 lying on said first circumference 155 , wherein at least in said points on said first and second circumference 155 , 136 , the tangential acceleration of the nipper 103 is negligible . in other words , the combination of the rotation movement of the nipper 103 around the rotation axis 2 of the machine 1 and the translation movement of the nipper 103 in a radial direction in relation to the rotation axis 2 of the machine , produces a resulting movement of the nipper 103 between the second circumference 136 of the transferring star and the first circumference 155 of the machine , wherein such movement is homokinetic . this produces the advantage that the preform has reduced values of accelerations along its path between the transferring star 130 and the rotary machine 1 , thereby preventing the triggering of dangerous uncontrolled oscillatory movements of the preform which would risk making the heated preform come into contact with the inner walls of the cold mould before blowing , leading to a moulding defect . in one embodiment , said movement means 102 comprise a gear transmission configured to transmit a first alternate shift in a radial direction of a motor input element 106 into a second alternate shift in a radial direction of an output element 111 to which the gripping nipper 103 is attached , wherein the second relative shift is greater than the first relative shift . a ratchet having a rotation axis 101 , a first wheel 107 and a second wheel 108 of greater diameter , said first wheel 107 and said second wheel 108 being coaxial and integral with each other and with the ratchet 101 , said ratchet ending with said motor input element 106 ; a first rack 109 fixed in relation to the machine , said first wheel 107 meshing with said fixed rack 109 so that a radial translation of the input element 106 corresponds to a rotation of the ratchet ; a second rack 110 sliding in a radial direction in relation to the machine , said second wheel 108 meshing with said sliding rack 110 , so that a rotation of the second wheel 108 corresponds to a translation of said second rack 110 ; said second rack being rigidly connected to the output element 111 . according to one embodiment of the invention , the second shift is a multiple of the first shift according to a transmission ratio of 1 . 5 to 3 , for example substantially equal to 2 . 5 . according to one embodiment the first wheel 107 and the second wheel 108 are wheels externally toothed , and said first rack 109 and said second rack 110 are toothed racks with a linear extension . according to one embodiment the first rack 109 and the second rack 110 are positioned substantially parallel on opposite sides of the axis 101 of the ratchet and in a radial direction in relation the machine . according to one embodiment the first wheel 107 and the second wheel 108 are positioned at different heights along the axis 101 of the ratchet . according to one embodiment , the output element 111 has a first end rigidly connected to said second rack 110 and a second end rigidly connected to said gripping nipper 103 , said output element being configured to keep the gripping nipper 103 substantially parallel to the second rack 110 , in particular at a lesser height than the height of the second rack 110 . according to one embodiment the output element 111 comprises at least one plate positioned along a substantially vertical plane . according to one embodiment the input element 106 is a cam follower for a shaped cam , suitable for being alternately translated in a radial direction to the rotation axis of the machine , following a sliding coupling along a shaped profile 12 of said cam . according to a second embodiment of the present invention , shown in fig1 and 13 , the movement means 202 comprise a motor transmission configured to transmit a first alternate angular shift 223 of a lever element 221 connected to a motor input element 206 into second alternate linear shift 224 in a radial direction of an output element 111 to which the gripping nipper 103 is rigidly connected . according to such embodiment , the movement means 202 comprises a toothed wheel 208 carried in rotation by said lever element 221 around a rotation axis 201 , said wheel meshing with a second rack 210 , integral with the nipper 103 , so that a rotation of the lever element 221 corresponds to a translation of the rack 210 . the rack 210 is the same rack as that indicated by reference numeral 110 in the first embodiment shown in fig5 to 8 . the toothed wheel 208 may be fitted on a shaft 233 connected to a fixed support 229 so as to rotate . the fixed support 229 may comprise a projecting shelf element 227 having at one end an abutment roller 228 suitable for constraining the rack 210 in a meshed condition with the toothed wheel 208 . between the lever element 221 and the toothed wheel 208 an angular speed multiplier 222 may be positioned , having an input rigidly connected to the lever element 221 and an output 232 rigidly connected to the toothed wheel 208 , for example by means of a shaft 233 . according to one embodiment the angular speed multiplier 222 is of the planetary gear type . according to one embodiment the movement means 202 are supported by a fixed , l - shaped support bracket 240 comprising an element substantially parallel to the rotation axis 201 and an element substantially orthogonal to such rotation axis 201 . according to one embodiment said nipper 103 comprises a coupling portion 104 comprising two pincers 105 projecting from a free end of the nipper 103 , said coupling pincers 105 being positioned substantially parallel to each other and defining between them a retention seat 113 suitable for receiving and snap engaging the mouth of a preform . according to one embodiment said retention seat 113 has at least partially circular shape so as to embrace the mouth and present a front aperture to permit the coupling of the mouth in the seat 133 by means of a relative drawing together of the nipper 13 and the preform and the release of the mouth by means of the relative translation away from each other of the nipper and the preform . according to one embodiment the pincers 105 of the nipper present at the front guide profiles inclined towards the inside of the retention seat 113 , suitable for facilitating the entrance of the mouth of the preform in the seat 113 . according to one embodiment the coupling portion 104 is made of an elastic material , for example but not necessarily in harmonic steel . according to one embodiment the coupling portion 104 is formed of a u - shaped plate having an aperture positioned in a radial direction outwards in relation to a rotation axis 2 of the stretch - blowing machine 1 . according to one embodiment said coupling portion 104 extends substantially according to a horizontal plane . according to one embodiment said nipper 103 comprises an elongated connection portion 114 positioned between said movement means 102 of the gripping nipper 112 and the coupling portion 104 , said elongated body extending , for example but not necessarily , in a radial direction opposite the rotation axis 2 of the rotary machine 1 . according to one embodiment said elongated connection body 114 is a flat shape and extends substantially along a horizontal plane . according to one embodiment said coupling portion 104 and said elongated connection body 114 extend along the same plane . according to one embodiment each moulding unit 10 comprises a mould 20 which can be opened having an inner cavity 24 suitable for receiving the preheated preform and permitting within it the expansion thereof by blowing inside the preform . such cavity 24 may comprises a moulding surface 25 having a complementary shape to that of the bottle to be obtained . in one embodiment , the mould 20 comprises a universal seat 26 for removably housing a mould element 27 shaped so as to comprise said moulding surface 25 . in one embodiment , each said mould 20 comprises a first half - shell 21 and a second half - shell 22 hinged around a hinge axis 23 so that they can be opened and closed by means of a rotation opening and closing the same around the hinge axis . when closed , the aforementioned half - shells 21 and 22 form between them a through seat 156 which places the cavity 24 in communication with the outside suitable for housing the mouth of the preform so that such mouth remains facing outwards while the remaining portion of the preform remains inside the cavity 244 , to allow the introduction of pressurised air inside the preform through the mouth , to expand the preform 134 in the inner cavity 24 until it adheres to the moulding surface 25 , and impress upon the preform a shape complementary to that of the moulding surface 25 , complementary to that of the bottle to be obtained . in one embodiment , the moulding units comprise means of opening and closing the moulds 20 , wherein such means are synchronised with the movement means 102 of the nipper 103 so that during at least a part of the translation movement of the nipper 103 , the half - shells are opened so as to permit the introduction of the preform in the moulds and the extraction of the bottle moulded by the moulds . according to one embodiment the opening / closing means of the moulding unit 10 comprise a self - locking system suitable for keeping the half - shells pressed together in a closed position during the blowing operation . in the example of the blowing or stretch blowing machine 1 shown in the figures , the moulding units 10 are attached to a rotating platform 153 which rotates around the rotation axis 2 of the machine . the blowing or stretch - blowing machine may be coupled to a second rotating star 140 unloading the moulded bottles 141 , having a plurality of seats for said bottles . after the moulding operation , and after a rotation of the machine by a predetermined angle , the nipper 103 translates outwards to transfer the moulded bottle 141 , from the inside of the mould towards the bottle seat of the aforesaid second rotating star 140 . according to one possible embodiment , the moulding units 10 of the machine 1 are angularly equidistant from one another . according to one embodiment the seats 134 of the transferring star 130 are angularly equidistant from one another . according to one embodiment the seats for the bottles 141 of the second rotating star 140 are angularly equidistant from one another . according to one embodiment the rotation axis 135 of the transferring star 130 is placed at a distance from the rotation axis 2 of the machine , having a value greater than the sum of the radius r 1 of the second circumference and of the radius r 2 of the first circumference 155 , leaving a distance d between the first circumference 155 and the second circumference 136 the value of which is chosen so as to be able to obtain a transfer movement of the nipper 103 which is homokinetic at the pick - up point of the preform . according to one embodiment the handling system comprises transfer means of the preheated preforms from the preheating furnace 300 to the aforesaid transferring star 130 ( fig1 ) the functioning of the handling system of objects between a transferring star 130 and a rotary machine 1 comprising a plurality of processing units 10 , is as follows . each preheated preform 133 coming out of a preheating furnace 300 is taken to a seat for preforms of the transferring star 130 , which rotates around its axis 135 , for example in a clockwise direction in the direction of the arrow 132 . after a rotation of the transferring star according to a predetermined angle of rotation , the preform finds itself in a point of the second circumference 136 in which the nipper simultaneously advances homokinetically coupling the preform . in such point , the half - shells are open to allow the subsequent introduction of the preform in the cavity between the half - shells ( fig1 ). starting from such point the nipper 103 begins its radial translation according to a rearward movement towards the machine axis 1 , simultaneously with the rotation of said machine . the section of curved trajectory 161 performed by the nipper 103 from the pick - up point 163 of the transferring star on the second circumference 136 , as far as the first circumference 155 ( fig2 ) derives from the combination of such radial translation and the rotation movement of the machine . the passage of the preform , coupled to the nipper 103 , from the star to the stretch - blowing machine takes place homokinetically . when the preform is transferred by the nipper 103 inside the corresponding moulding unit 10 and the half - shells 21 and 22 are then closed , the preform begins its path along the first circumference 155 of the machine during which blowing is performed , as far as a predetermined angular position on the opposite side , wherein the half shells 21 and 22 open to allow the unloading of the moulded bottle 141 . unloading takes place by means of a radial translation of the nipper 103 towards the outside of the machine as far as encountering a corresponding seat 144 for bottles made on the second rotating star 140 , which rotating transfers the bottle obtained 141 towards a collection zone , or towards a subsequent bottling station for example of liquids . a further purpose of the invention relates to equipment for blowing or stretch - blowing bottles in plastic material , comprising a furnace 300 for heating and dealing with the heat profile of the preforms 133 , a blowing or stretch - blowing machine 100 , comprising a plurality of processing units 10 as defined above , and movement means 130 , 140 of the preforms going into and coming out of said furnace 300 , wherein said furnace 300 comprises means of transport 308 for the preforms and means of heating 309 the preforms , and wherein said movement means 130 for the preforms coming out of the furnace 300 , comprise a plurality of gripping means 134 for the preforms spaced apart at a fixed pitch , characterised in that said furnace 300 comprises movement and distancing means 344 b of the heated preforms 133 , from a minimum pitch to a pitch substantially corresponding to the pitch of the gripping means 134 of the movement means 130 for the preforms coming out of the furnace 300 . a furnace having the aforementioned features is described in the italian patent application mi2011a001762 filed on 30 sep . 2011 in the name of the same applicant , and the description of which is incorporated hereto for reference . this way a homokinetic transmission system of the preforms 133 is realised , from the furnace 300 to the single processing units 10 of the blowing or stretch blowing machine , minimising or substantially eliminating the accelerations to which said preforms are subject in the traditional machines . in one embodiment , said movement and distancing means 344 b of the heated preforms 133 consist of an archimedean screw or auger comprising a variable pitch helical groove , wherein the greatest pitch is at the release end of the preforms to the movement means 130 . first of all , the handling system described makes it possible to transfer the preheated preform from the transferring star as far as inside the mould , homokinetically . in other words , the system makes it possible to transfer the preheated preform from the transferring star as far as inside the mould , avoiding subjecting the preform to jolting and brusque variations of speed upon passing from its circular trajectory along the second circumference of the transferring star to its different circular trajectory along the first circumference of the blowing machine . the system makes it possible to transfer the preheated preform from a first circumference having a first pitch to a second circumference having a second pitch , in which the second pitch is different from the first pitch and wherein said circumferences are not tangent , such that the aforesaid transfer takes place at reduced tangential acceleration . clearly only some particular embodiments of the present invention have been described , to which a person skilled in the art may make all the modifications needed for its adaptation to specific applications while remaining within the scope of protection of the present invention .	1
fig1 shows one embodiment of the present invention that employs a plurality of grow pods 2 interconnected to rotating platforms 6 . grow pods 2 consist of a cylindrical receptacle that is fitted with a lid having a hole to accommodate and support a mesh plant basket 10 . the mesh plant basket 10 of one embodiment is a five - inch plastic basket with multiple openings through which the roots 26 protrude . further , the plant basket of one embodiment includes a lip around its top edge that allows it to hang in a grow pod aperture . nutrient solution is delivered to the grow pod 2 by piping via fitting 14 that is integrated into a bottom surface of the grow pod . support media 18 is found within the plant basket 10 and may be comprised of clay pellets or other support media commonly used in aeroponic growing applications . in operation , the upper portion of the plant 22 will be positioned above the support media 18 while the lower portion 26 , i . e ., roots , will be held in place by the support media 18 . the support media 18 and roots will be exposed to growing solution applied by a plurality of spray nozzles 30 . the spray nozzles 30 are mounted on opposite sides of the bottom of the grow pod 2 and are supplied by a nutrient solution supply piping 34 that is coaxial with the nutrient solution return piping 38 , which is interconnected to the drain fitting 14 . the nutrient solution return piping 38 of one embodiment of the present invention is constructed of 1 . 25 - inch schedule 40 pvc . in order to facilitate growing , it is advantageous to rotate the plants to provide even exposure to light and nutrients . accordingly , in one embodiment of the present invention the grow pods 2 are associated with a rotating platform 6 . here , two grow pods 2 are shown interconnected to the rotating platform . one of skill in the art will appreciate that depending on the size of the grow pods and platform , any number of grow pods 2 may be accommodated without departing from the scope of the invention . the rotating platform 6 is driven by a drive motor 42 and drive mechanism 46 that is interconnected to a vertical portion of the nutrient return drain pipe 38 via a belt or gears , for example . when actuated , the drive motor 42 drives the drive mechanism 46 , which may be a series of pulleys or gears , to rotate the vertical portion of the return piping 38 , the rotating platform 6 and thus the individual grow pods 2 . a reverse drive mechanism 50 is associated with vertical sections of return piping of an adjacent grow pod such that when one platform rotates 6 , the adjacent platform 6 will rotate in an opposite direction . one of skill in the art will appreciate that the drive motor associated with the rotating platforms may be a computer controlled servo motor . further , each platform may have its own motor and be independently controlled , if desired . reversing the direction of the adjacent platform greatly reduces the chance that plants associated with adjacent platforms will become entangled . the drive mechanisms 50 , drive motor 42 , and rotating platforms 6 are supported by a stand 5 that in one embodiment is about 2 feet by 4 feet with 12 inch legs . in one embodiment of the present invention , the rotating platform 6 is a 15 inch diameter plastic or equivalent disc with the nutrient solution return piping 38 attached to its top and mounted to the main stand 54 with a lazy susan type ball bearing transfer unit . in one embodiment , the drive motor 42 is 110 volt ac gear motor and the rotating platform drive mechanism 46 is a gear belt that transfers rotation generated by the drive motor 42 to the first rotating platform nutrient solution drain pipe . in operation , nutrients and water are received from a nutrient solution supply tank 70 via nutrient solution supply tubing . the grow pod supply tubing 34 runs through the center of each drain pipe 38 into the grow pod 2 and uses bearings or fittings that allow the drain piping 38 to rotate while the lower portion of the supply tubing 34 is stationary . the nutrient solution is delivered to the plant through a plurality of nozzles 30 and drains from the grow pod 2 though the return piping 38 and eventually into a catch vessel 58 . the catch vessel 58 maintains the level of nutrient solution 62 until a pump 66 is activated , either manually or automatically to transfer the fluid back to the nutrient solution supply tank 70 . one of skill in the art will appreciate that the nutrient solution may be treated before transferring to the supply tank to remove bacteria , microbes and other impurities , add hydrogen peroxide , balance ph , add nutrients , etc . while various embodiment of the present invention have been described in detail , it is apparent that modifications and alterations of those embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art . moreover , references made herein to “ the present invention ” or aspects thereof should be understood to mean certain embodiments of the present invention and should not necessarily be construed as limiting all embodiments to a particular description . however , it is to be expressly understood that such modifications and alterations are within the scope and spirit of the present invention , as set forth in the following claims .	0
referring now to fig1 , there is illustrated a block diagram of an exemplary communication system for configuring a mobile terminal to provide a time varying random password in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the system includes a computer network 100 and a wireless phone network 150 . the communication system includes a server 105 that is accessible over a network 100 by a client terminal 115 . the network 110 can comprise any combination of a variety of communication media , such as , but not limited to , the internet , the public switched telephone network , a local area network ( lan ), and a wide area network ( wan ). the server 105 may provide access to a database storing sensitive information or the like , or allow individuals to perform various transactions . accordingly , it is important to control access to the server 105 . as a result , the server 105 requires a password from the client terminal 115 that validates the identity of the user at the client terminal 115 . however , unauthorized users have been known to use a variety of measures to obtain the password of an authorized user . with the password , the unauthorized user often proceeds to access the server 105 for malicious purposes . to curtail this , the server 105 uses a time - varying pseudo - random password . a pseudo - random number generation algorithm generates the time - varying pseudo - random password at relatively short intervals , such as every minute or even less depending on the granularity required for the desired password security . accordingly , even if an unauthorized user succeeds in obtaining an authorized user &# 39 ; s password , the password is only valid for the remainder of the short interval . the pseudo - random number generation algorithm can be implemented at the server 105 in one of a number of ways . for example , an application specific integrated circuit ( asic ) can also be incorporated into the server 105 that continuously runs the pseudo - random number generation algorithm . alternatively , the pseudo - random number generation algorithm can be incorporated as software at the server 105 . the authorized user receives the time varying pseudo - random password from a mobile terminal 120 . the logic that implements the pseudo - random number generation algorithm is integrated into the mobile terminal 120 . this logic could either be an asic or a part of an asic present in the mobile terminal 120 or part of a software program running at the mobile terminal 120 . the mobile terminal 120 displays the current time - varying pseudo - random password on its display screen . therefore , when an authorized user seeks access to the server 105 , via client 115 , the authorized user provides the time - varying pseudo - random password displayed by the mobile terminal 120 . the server 105 then compares the time - varying pseudo - random password provided by the authorized user to the pseudo - random number generated by the pseudo - random number generation algorithm at the server 105 . the server 105 allows access , if there is a exact match . in order for the pseudo - random number generation algorithm at the server 105 to provide the same pseudo - random numbers as the mobile terminal 120 at the same times , the pseudo - random number generation algorithms are the same and synchronized . the pseudo - random number generation algorithm requires an input called ‘ seed ’ to generate the pseudo - random numbers . the seed can be provided by an external source to the pseudo - random number generation algorithm . the pseudo - random number generation algorithm generates the first pseudo - random number from that seed , then generates the second pseudo - random number from the first pseudo - random number thereafter , etc . as can be seen , the sequence of pseudo - random numbers generated by the pseudo - random number generation algorithm is dependent on the seed . additionally , different seeds to the same pseudo - random number generation algorithms result in different sequences of pseudo - random numbers . in fact , the same pseudo - random number generation algorithm can provide different time - varying pseudo - random passwords to any number of users , by assigning each user with a different seed . in order to ensure uniqueness of the sequence of pseudo - random numbers to each user , the size of the pseudo - random number generated also plays a significant role . when a user at the client terminal 115 initially registers to access the server 105 , the registration can include either a phone number or any other identification number associated with the user &# 39 ; s mobile terminal 120 . the server 105 can select a seed for the user . as an added security measure , the server 105 can select the seed based on the time of registration . the server 105 can then use a terminal 125 with access to a cellular phone network 130 . the terminal 125 transmits the seed to the mobile terminal 120 using the cellular phone network 130 . the terminal 125 can access the cellular phone network 130 , either directly , or via a public switched telephone network . for example , in one embodiment , the terminal 125 establishes a phone call to the mobile terminal 120 . when the phone call is established , the terminal 125 can transmit audible signals over the cellular phone network 130 representing the seed . the mobile terminal 120 can accordingly , load the seed into the pseudo - random number generator at a predetermined time in synchronization with the server 105 . the predetermined time is preferably proximate to the time of transmission , such as at the next minute interval , taking into consideration the path delay time of communication from server 105 to mobile terminal 120 . in another embodiment , the terminal 125 can cause the cellular phone network 130 to transmit control signals indicating the seed to the mobile terminal 120 . the mobile terminal 120 can accordingly load the seed into the pseudo - random number generator at a predetermined time in synchronization with the server 105 . the cellular phone network 130 can comprise a variety of wireless telecommunications networks , such as , but not limited to , the global system for mobile ( gsm ) communications , or the personal communication services ( pcs ) network , code division multiple access ( cdma ) network , ieee 802 . 11 wireless lan network , bluetooth network etc . referring now to fig2 there is illustrated a block diagram of a global system for mobile communication ( gsm ) public land mobile network ( plmn ) 210 . the pmln 210 is composed of a plurality of areas 212 , each with a node known as a mobile switching center ( msc ) 214 and an integrated visitor location register ( vlr ) 216 therein . the msc / vlr areas 212 , in turn , include a plurality of location areas ( la ) 218 , which are defined as that part of a given msc / vlr area 212 in which a mobile terminal 120 may move freely without having to send update location information to the msc / vlr area 212 that controls the la 218 . each location area 212 is divided into a number of cells 222 . the mobile terminal 120 is the physical equipment , e . g ., a car phone or other portable phone , used by mobile subscribers to communicate with the cellular network 210 , each other , and users outside the subscribed network , both wireline and wireless . the msc 214 is in communication with at least one base station controller ( bsc ) 223 , which , in turn , is in contact with at least one base transceiver station ( bts ) 224 . the bts is a node comprising the physical equipment , illustrated for simplicity as a radio tower , that provides radio coverage to the geographical part of the cell 222 for which it is responsible . it should be understood that the bsc 223 may be connected to several base transceiver stations 224 , and may be implemented as a stand - alone node or integrated with the msc 214 . in either event , the bsc 223 and bts 224 components , as a whole , are generally referred to as a base station system ( bss ) 225 . at least one of the mscs 214 are connected to the public switched telephone network ( pstn ). the plmn service area or wireless network 210 includes a home location register ( hlr ) 226 , which is a database maintaining all subscriber information , e . g ., user profiles , current location information , international mobile subscriber identity ( imsi ) numbers , and other administrative information . the hlr 226 may be co - located with a given msc 214 , integrated with the msc 214 , or alternatively can service multiple mscs 214 , the latter of which is illustrated in fig2 . the vlr 216 is a database containing information about all of the mobile terminals 120 currently located within the msc / vlr area 212 . if a mobile terminal 120 roams into a new msc / vlr area 212 , the vlr 216 connected to that msc 214 will request data about that mobile terminal 120 from the hlr database 226 ( simultaneously informing the hlr 226 about the current location of the mobile terminal 120 ). accordingly , if the user of the mobile terminal 120 then wants to make a call , the local vlr 216 will have the requisite identification information without having to re - interrogate the hlr 226 . in the afore - described manner , the vlr and hlr databases 216 and 226 , respectively , contain various subscriber information associated with a given mobile terminal 120 . in one embodiment , the terminal 125 can establish a phone call with the mobile terminal 120 over the gsm plmn 210 , either directly or via the pstn . upon establishing the phone call , the terminal 125 transmits audio signals to the mobile terminal 120 causing the mobile terminal 120 to load a particular seed to the pseudo - random number generator . alternatively , the terminal 125 can cause one of the mscs 214 to transmit a control signal , via a base station 224 to the mobile terminal 120 , causing the mobile terminal 120 to load a particular seed to the pseudo - random number generator . these are few of the many possible techniques of loading the seed to the psuedo - random number generation logic in the mobile terminal 120 . transmitting the seed during an established call can be facilitated by the establishment of a predetermined communication protocol for secured communication between the terminal 125 and the mobile terminal 120 . such predetermined protocol can include transmission of an arbitrary control signal indicating to the mobile terminal 120 that the seed will be transmitted subsequently . upon receipt of the foregoing arbitrary control signal , the mobile terminal 120 prepares to receive the seed and loads the seed into the pseudo - random number generator . the communication between terminal 125 and mobile terminal 120 can be made secured by employing secured communication protocols such as but not limited to , the protocols using digital certificates like transport layer security ( tls ) protocol , secure socket layer ( ssl ) protocol etc . transmitting a control signal from a particular one of the mscs 214 to the mobile terminal 120 may be facilitated by adapting the preexisting protocol to define commands that cause the mobile terminal 120 to load a particular seed to a pseudo - random number generator incorporated therein . for example , the msc 214 can transmit a command to load a seed at a particular predetermined time , along with the seed , to the mobile terminal 120 over a paging channel . for added security , a secure paging channel can be used . upon receiving the foregoing signal , the mobile terminal 120 loads the seed into the pseudo - random number generator at the predetermined time . after receiving the seed , the mobile terminal 120 can transmit an acknowledgement to the msc 214 using a random access channel . referring now to fig3 , there is illustrated a block diagram describing an exemplary mobile terminal 120 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . for purposes of clarity , the block diagram is not intended as an exhaustive illustration , and certain components may be omitted . the mobile terminal 120 comprises a controller 305 , non - volatile memory 307 , a keypad 310 , a transceiver 315 , a speaker 317 , a microphone 318 , an output such as a visual screen 320 or interface port 321 , and a pseudo - random number generator 325 . the pseudo - random number generator 325 generates a pseudo - random number at regular intervals that are controlled by a system clock 330 . the controller 305 causes the current time varying pseudo - random password to be displayed on the screen 320 . the time varying pseudo - random password can be the pseudo - random number generated by the pseudo - random number generator 325 . alternatively , the time varying pseudo - random password 305 can be derived from the pseudo - random number generated from the pseudo - random number generator 325 . for example , in cases where the pseudo - random number is lengthy , the controller 305 may truncate a portion of the pseudo - random number or perform other types of mathematical operations for reducing its length . the time - varying pseudo - random password as well as a user identification can be provided in a variety of ways . in one embodiment , the time varying pseudo - random password can be output to the interface port 321 . the interface port 321 can be connected to a computer such as the client terminal 115 . connecting the interface port 321 to the client terminal 115 ca cause the time varying pseudo - random password to be displayed on a screen associated with the client terminal 115 . in another embodiment , the time - varying pseudo - random password can continuously be displayed on the screen 320 . in another embodiment , the user may request the current time - varying pseudo - random password using the keypad 310 with the assistance of a graphical user interface provided on the screen 320 . the pseudo - random number generator 325 can comprise , for example , a circuit , such as a linear feedback shift register ( lfsr ), that generates pseudo - random numbers . alternatively , the pseudo - random number generator can be implemented by a processor executing a set of instructions , wherein execution of the sets of instructions causes implementation of the pseudo - random number generation algorithm . additionally , there can be varying levels of integration between the pseudo - random number generator 325 and the controller 305 . for example , the controller 305 and the pseudo - random number generator 325 can be separate integrated circuits that are fused together at board level . alternatively , the controller 305 and the pseudo - random number generator 325 can be integrated together in an integrated circuit . as noted above , the seed for the pseudo - random number generator 325 is provided by the cellular phone network 130 . the mobile terminal 120 receives radio signal from the cellular phone network 130 via the transceiver 315 . various demodulation , signal processing and deciphering can be performed to recover the seed . the mobile terminal 120 generally operates in one of two modes — a paging mode and an active mode . generally , the paging mode is associated with the times that the mobile terminal 120 is not engaged in a phone call , while the active mode is associated with the times that the mobile terminal 120 is engaged in a phone call . during the paging mode , the mobile terminal 120 scans a paging channel at regular time intervals for any communications from the cellular phone network 130 . the communications can include for example , a request for a phone connection , a time indicator , quality of service signaling , and roaming notifications , just to name a few . the paging channel is made secured by employing security protocols based on public key cryptography technique . the example of such protocols are tls , ssl etc . these protocols exchange digital certificates for authentication , and at the end of the authentication process a unique session key is derived which is used to encrypt the seed at the transmitter end and decrypt the seed at the mobile terminal 120 . in one embodiment of the present invention , a command is defined and an msc 214 transmits the command , a seed , and a time over the paging channel to the mobile terminal 120 . receipt of the command by the mobile terminal 120 causes the mobile terminal 120 to load the seed into the pseudo - random number generator 325 at the provided time . additionally , the mobile terminal 120 transmits an acknowledgment via the transceiver 315 . accordingly , the non - volatile memory 307 can include instructions for detecting and performing the foregoing actions responsive to receiving the command . the foregoing instructions can be incorporated as part of a paging mode program . in another mode , receipt of the command by the mobile terminal 120 can cause an interrupt in the paging mode program . the interrupt handler for the interrupt can cause the seed to be loaded into the pseudo - random number generator 325 at the provided time . in another embodiment , the mobile terminal 120 can receive the seed during establishment of a phone call from the cellular phone network 130 . as noted above , a predetermined communication protocol for communication between the terminal 125 and the mobile terminal 120 can include transmission of an arbitrary control signal indicating to the mobile terminal 120 that the seed will be transmitted subsequently . the non - volatile memory 307 can include instructions for detecting the arbitrary control signal and acting on the arbitrary control signal . upon detecting the arbitrary control signal , the mobile terminal 120 prepares to receive the seed and a time . upon receiving the seed and the time , the mobile terminal 120 loads the seed into the pseudo - random number generator 325 at the given time . referring now to fig4 , there is illustrated a signal flow diagram for providing a seed and time to a pseudo - random number generator in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . during the initial registration ( signal 405 ), the user provides the phone number associated with their mobile terminal . responsive thereto , the server 105 allocates a seed for the user and determines a synchronization time . the server 105 , via the terminal 125 transmits the phone number , a seed , and a synchronization time ( signal 410 ) over the cellular phone network 130 . the infrastructure of the cellular phone network 130 identifies and locates the mobile terminal 120 associated with the phone number , and routes the phone number , seed and synchronization time to an msc 214 in proximity to the mobile terminal 214 . the msc 214 causes a base station to transmit the seed and the synchronization time and a command to load the seed at the synchronization time ( signal 415 ) to the mobile terminal 120 using a paging channel . upon receipt of the seed and the synchronization time , the mobile terminal 120 sends an acknowledgement ( signal 420 ) to the msc 214 using a random access channel , that is relayed back to the server 105 . the mobile terminal 120 waits for the synchronization time ( 425 ). at the synchronization time , the mobile terminal 120 and the server 105 load the seed into their respective pseudo - random number generators ( 430 ). after the seed is loaded into the pseudo - random number generator , the mobile terminal 120 screen can display a time varying pseudo - random password . an authorized user at client terminal 115 establishes a client server connection by providing the time varying pseudo - random password ( signal 435 ) displayed on the mobile terminal 120 screen . the server 105 compares ( 440 ) the password received from the client terminal 115 to a pseudo - random number generator at the server 105 . if the foregoing match , the server grants access ( signal 445 ) to the client terminal 115 . referring now to fig5 , there is illustrated a signal flow diagram for providing a seed and time to a pseudo - random number generator in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . during the initial registration ( signal 505 ), the user provides the phone number associated with their mobile terminal . responsive thereto , the server 105 allocates a seed for the user and determines a synchronization time . the server 105 via terminal 125 requests an outgoing phone call ( signal 510 ) to the phone number provided during the registration . the infrastructure of the cellular phone network 130 identifies and locates the mobile terminal 120 associated with the phone number . an msc 214 in proximity to the mobile terminal 214 pages ( signal 515 ) the mobile terminal 120 using a paging channel . upon receiving the page , the mobile terminal 120 alerts the user to answer the call . upon the user &# 39 ; s answer , a phone call is established between the server 105 / terminal 125 and the mobile terminal 120 . the server 105 / terminal 125 transmits audio signals indicating a command ( signal 525 ) to load the subsequent seed at the indicated time ( signal 530 ). the mobile terminal 120 waits ( 535 ) until the provided synchronization time 535 and loads ( 540 ) the seed into the pseudo - random number generator . likewise the server 105 loads ( 540 ) the seed into a pseudo - random number generator , thereat . after the seed is loaded into the pseudo - random number generator , the mobile terminal 120 screen can display a time varying pseudo - random password . an authorized user at client terminal 115 establishes a client server connection by providing the time varying pseudo - random password ( signal 545 ) displayed on the mobile terminal 120 screen . the server 105 compares ( 550 ) the password received from the client terminal 115 to a pseudo - random number generator at the server 105 . if the foregoing match , the server grants access ( signal 555 ) to the client terminal 115 . while the present invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the present invention . in addition , many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope . therefore , it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed , but that the present invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims .	7
referring to the figures , attention is directed to fig1 a , which illustrates a first embodiment of applicant &# 39 ; s pet training device ( 10 ). the present device ( 10 ) comprises a rigid elongated member ( 12 ), having a first end ( 14 ) for attachment to the animal &# 39 ; s restraint such as a collar , a chain , a muzzle or a harness , and a second end ( 16 ) having a portion designed for grasping by the user . fig1 depicts a rigid elongated member ( 12 ), comprising of a first end ( 14 ) and a second end ( 16 ); a plastic or metal cap ( 18 ) affixed on said first ( 14 ) and second end ( 16 ) of the elongated member ( 12 ); a suitable attachment device on said first end ( 20 ), such as a spring clip , trigger snap , eye hook , eye bolt snap , or other suitable attachment device as is well known in the art ; and a securing device ( 22 ) on said second end ( 16 ). the second end ( 16 ) securing device ( 22 ) may be an eye bolt , a spring clip , trigger snap , eye hook , eye bolt snap , or other suitable attachment device as is well known in the art . the rigid elongated member ( 12 ) of the present device ( 10 ) typically comprises a substantially cylindrical configuration , approximately three feet in length and about one inch in diameter . in certain embodiments , the rigid elongated member ( 12 ) may vary in length from about two feet to about 4 feet and may vary in diameter from about half and inch to about two inches . it should be noted that the elongated member ( 12 ) may be constructed of variable lengths , widths , and shapes in order to accommodate the greatest number of users and / or animals . further , the rigid elongated member ( 12 ) comprises pvc plastic , fiberglass , plastic , metal , or combination thereof ; yet , it should be understood that said elongated member ( 12 ) may be made of any substantially rigid material capable of allowing the user to transmit his or her nonverbal instructions to the animal . the rigid elongated member ( 12 ) may also include a cap ( 18 ) glued , or otherwise appropriately secured ( e . g . screwed into or riveted to ), at both the first end ( 14 ), and the second end ( 16 ) of the elongated member ( 12 ). such caps ( 18 ) may be equipped with drill holes through which clips , eye bolts , snaps , hooks , etc ., may be attached for various uses . cap ( 18 ) may be made of any suitable material with sufficient integrity to withstand expected conditions of use including plastic , metal , wood , or a combination thereof . in one embodiment , depicted in fig1 , said first end ( 14 ) of the elongated member ( 12 ) comprises an attachment device ( 20 ) for use in attaching the elongated member ( 12 ) to the animal &# 39 ; s collar or chain . further , said second end ( 16 ) of the elongated member ( 12 ) may be equipped with a securing device ( 22 ) which may be used to attach the elongated member ( 12 ) to the user &# 39 ; s belt , a stable structure , or other foundation providing or securing attachment . in one embodiment , the pet training device ( 10 ) may be utilized to teach an animal to sit , stay , and / or heel . said teaching is accomplished by firmly directing the animal in the desired position with the elongated member ( 12 ) as seen in fig2 . in short , the use of a rigid elongated member ( 12 ) allows the user to , through movement of the elongated member ( 12 ), control and / or indicate the desired location to the animal . for example , to direct the animal to sit , the user would push in a downward direction on the elongated member ( 12 ) while , at the same time , gently pull in a rearward direction to encourage the animal to stop and sit . fig1 b illustrates various types of attachment devices that may be used as part of the pet training device of the present invention . in particular , any of the following devices : spring clip ( 20 a ), spring clip with screw gate ( 20 b ), carabiner ( 20 c ), quick disconnect clip ( 20 d ), and snap closure strap ( 20 e ) may be used lieu of attachment device ( 20 ) of fig1 a or attachment device ( 18 ) of fig1 a . fig2 is a side view of one embodiment of the pet training device ( 10 ), showing a user / handler ( 24 ), an animal ( 26 ) in the proper heel position , and the pet training device ( 10 ). according to american kennel club ® regulations , a dog in heel position should be at the handler &# 39 ; s left side straight in line with the direction the handler is facing . the area from the dog &# 39 ; s head to shoulder is to be in line with the handler &# 39 ; s left hip . the dog should be close to , but not crowding the handler so that the handler has freedom of motion at all times . it is immediately evident that controlling all these aspects of an animal &# 39 ; s ( 26 ) location relative to a handler ( 24 ) with a leash difficult , if not impossible but may be easily accomplished with the rigid training device ( 10 ). as shown in fig2 , to instruct the animal ( 26 ) to heel in the correct position , the user ( 24 ) need only hold the elongated member ( 12 ) in front of his chest so as to place the animal ( 26 ) in the correct position alongside the user ( 24 ). this proper placement is accomplished by holding the pet training device ( 10 ) with both hands ; the left hand ( 28 ) grasping the middle of the elongated member ( 12 ) or the first end ( 14 ) of the elongated member ( 12 ) and the right hand ( 30 ) grasping the second end ( 16 ) of the elongated member ( 12 ). as is seen , the attachment device ( 20 ) is secured to the animal ( 26 ) via attachment to a collar ( 32 ), as is known in the art . to ensure that the animal ( 26 ) is in the proper heel position , the left hand ( 28 ) is placed substantially next to user &# 39 ; s left hip and the right hand ( 30 ) is placed substantially next to the right , upper side of the handler &# 39 ; s chest . it will be appreciated that due to the varying sizes of animals ( 26 ) and handlers ( 24 ), the precise locations of the hands ( 28 and 30 ) relative to the handler ( 24 ) will vary . it is within the contemplation of the instant invention that the animal ( 26 ) may be instructed to heel on the handler &# 39 ; s ( 24 ) right side , as well . the heeling position of the animal , as depicted in fig2 , is of great importance for hunting dogs . during a hunt , it is important for the animal to remain on the non - gun side of the user to ensure collaboration between the user and the animal during the hunt . by providing a rigid elongated member ( 12 ), the present device ( 10 ) allows the handler ( 24 ) to place the animal in the optimum position at his or her non - gun side . in this manner , the animal ( 26 ) may be trained to maintain its position relative to the handler ( 24 ), even when the user is walking in small circles . in one embodiment , as seen in fig3 , the pet training device ( 10 ) may also be utilized to teach the animal to stay , regardless of whether the animal is sitting or standing . for example , while giving a stay command to the animal , the user ( 24 ) may move away from the animal ( 26 ) while still maintaining a restraining force upon the animal via the rigid elongated member ( 12 ). in this manner , the present device ( 10 ) allows the user to nonverbally convey his or her desired position to the animal while , at the same time , speaking the correct command so that as a result , the animal receives both verbal and nonverbal commands at the same moment . this feature of the present device ( 10 ) greatly enhances the efficiency of the animal training exercise . also seen in fig3 is optional leash attachment ( 34 ), which is secured to the device ( 10 ) via securing device ( 22 ). leash attachment ( 34 ) may be simply tied to securing device ( 22 ) or may be attached by any suitable attachment method known in the art , such as snaps , hooks , or clips . in addition to the above example , and as illustrated in fig4 , the user may utilize the device ( 10 ) to teach the animal to stay by placing the second end ( 16 ) of the elongated member ( 12 ) into the ground while leaving the attachment device ( 20 ) attached to the animal &# 39 ; s ( 26 ) collar ( 32 ) and backing away from the animal ( 26 ). in this manner , the user can further encourage the animal to stay because the elongated member ( 12 ) is effectively “ wedged ” into the ground or floor , creating a restraining force against the animal &# 39 ; s movement when it has been commanded to stay . other attachments may be provided to the second end ( 16 ) of the elongated member ( 12 ) to further encourage this substantial benefit of the present device ( 10 ). for example , a foot ( 36 ), or other foundation providing device , may be attached to the second end ( 16 ) of the present device ( 10 ) via securing device ( 22 ) to provide a stable traction for the second end ( 16 ) of the elongated member ( 12 ) when placed against the ground or floor . the attachment of securing device ( 22 ) to foot ( 36 ) may be by any suitable attachment method known in the art such as clips , hooks , and snaps . the foot ( 36 ) is typically a block of wood or metal with an undulating base typically composed of rubber or other high friction material to engage the ground such as tile , concrete , or the like . in some embodiments , the base of the foot ( 34 ) may comprise spikes for engagement with soft ground . the foot ( 34 ) also comprises a hook or latch mechanism for attachment with securing device ( 22 ). it will be appreciated that foot ( 34 ) is not intended to prevent movement of the animal ( 26 ) but , rather , to discourage movement of the animal ( 26 ) until such movement is authorized by the user ( 24 ). turning now to fig5 , the benefits of the pet training device ( 10 ) may also be seen while teaching the animal ( 26 ) to “ come ,” or move toward the user ( 24 ) on verbal command . in this embodiment , a rope or leash ( 36 ) may be attached to an eye bolt or another securing device ( 22 ) located on the second end ( 16 ) of the elongated member ( 12 ). this second end ( 16 ) may then be lowered to the ground and released by the user as he / she backs away from the animal . the user may verbally and nonverbally reinforce the sit and / or stay commands while walking away from the animal , as shown above . the user ( 26 ) may then pull on the second end ( 16 ) via the rope or leash ( 36 ), dislodging the second end ( 16 ) of the elongated member ( 12 ) from the floor or ground , nonverbally reinforcing the verbal “ come ” command by gently pulling the animal in the direction of the user ( 26 ). in this manner , the present device ( 10 ) allows the user to teach the animal a multitude of commands in a very short period of time . the present device ( 10 ) is further advantageous over prior inventions and methods of animal training because it is humane in its treatment of animals , and does not require the use of a choke chain , or other painful methods . for example , many training devices shock , pinch , or choke the animal while the user is attempting to train it . leashes , while they are more humane , provide the user with little or no control over the behavior of the animal other than to keep the animal in the general vicinity of the user . although the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments , this description is not meant to be construed in a limited sense . various modifications of the disclosed embodiments , as well as alternative embodiments of the device will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon the reference to the description of the invention . it is , therefore , contemplated that the appended claims will cover such modifications that fall within the scope of the invention .	0
with reference to the drawings , fig1 illustrates a microphone system 10 which includes two long , cylindrical microphones 12 and 14 mounted so that their sound receiving surfaces emerge from a front surface 16 of a box 18 . the box 18 also contains a pair of batteries 20 and 22 and a circuit board 24 . the batteries 20 and 22 and the microphones 12 and 14 are wired electrically to the circuit board 24 . the circuit board 24 generates an output signal that is applied to an output cable 26 . a preamplifier 400 is carried by the circuit board 24 . the details of the preamplifier 400 are set forth in fig4 which is described below . while the box 10 is shown open on one side with the circuit board 24 and batteries 20 and 22 outside of the box 10 , it will be understood that normally the elements 20 , 22 , and 24 are mounted within the box 10 which is closed to form a microphone assembly . the system 10 is used in the same manner as any microphone . it can , for example , be hand - held before the lips of a speaker ( not shown ) who speaks directly into the front surface 16 of the system 10 . a highly directional microphone operation is thereby achieved . even very loud background noises coming from directions other than directly into the two microphones 12 and 14 perpendicular to the front surface 16 do not appear in the output signal carried by the cable 26 . but even when the speaker speaks in a normal voice directly perpendicular to the front sureface 16 , a voice signal is captured , separated from the background signals , and applied to the cable 26 . fig2 illustrates another embodiment of the invention mounted as the microphone element of a telephone handset 202 , shown here with the cover 204 of its microphone housing removed to reveal the microphone element 206 . two miniature microphones 212 and 214 are electrically connected to a two - element circuit board 224 which contains the preamplifier 400 that processes signals received from the two microphones 212 and 214 and generates an output signal which appears on the microphone output leads 226 . the preamplifier 400 derives its power from the normal d . c . current that flows through a telephone line or from extra wires ( not shown ) that are included in the coiled cable 208 . fig3 illustrates another telephone handset 302 having a cover 304 for the microphone portion that is shaped to bring two miniature microphones 312 and 314 even closer to the mouth of the one who is speaking ( not shown ). the preamplifier 400 ( not shown in fig3 ) is contained within a box 316 that is connected to the handset 302 by a microphone and earpiece cable 308 and that has extending from it an output cable 320 containing output signals from the preamplifier 400 . mounted upon the box 316 is a sensitivity control 322 that permits the sensitivity of the microphone system to background noise to be adjusted as needed . fig4 is a block diagram of the preamplifier 400 , illustrating its major components as implemented in the embodiment of the invention shown in fig3 . a summing circuit 402 sums incoming signals 422 and 424 received from the microphones 312 and 314 and supplies a sum signal 403 through a gain control gating circuit 404 to an audio output 406 . a multiplier circuit 408 multiplies together the incoming signals 422 and 424 received from the microphones 312 and 314 and passes the resulting product signal through a low pass filter 410 and a rectifier 412 which produces a gain control signal 414 that controls the gain of the gating circuit 404 . low - level incoming sound signals reach the audio output 406 greatly attenuated , since the gain of such signals is proportional to the square of their amplitude as determined by the multiplier 408 . as a signal weakens , its amplitude is attenuated in proportion to the square of the the signal level . as the amplitude of a signal falls , the gain of the circuit falls much faster , and accordingly a relatively small drop in signal level at the microphones produces a much larger drop in the amplitude of the signal in the audio output 406 . signals coming from other than directly perpendicular to the two microphones 312 and 314 are attenuated first by the summer 402 , since they may not be in phase , and secondly by the gain circuit 404 which is controlled by the multiplier 408 , since the product of signals not in phase falls off rapidly with increase in angle away from perpendicular . to emphasize this rejection of signals coming in from an angle , the low - pass filter 410 in conjunction with the rectifier 412 causes the multiplier 408 to function as a cross correlation mechanism which effectively rejects all incoming signals that are not precisely in phase . when used together , as shown , there is synergy among all of the mechanisms just described that greatly accentuates the ability of this microphone system to reject and attenuate background signals while readily passing voice signals directed directly into the microphone elements . in actual tests , attenuation of background noises of over 60 decibels have been achieved relative to voice signals spoken directly into the microphones 312 and 314 . fig5 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the preamplifier 400 in full detail and as just explained . the microphones 312 and 314 are provided with operating power from a positive source of supply 502 by 2 . 2k resistors 506 and 508 . 1 . 5 mfd capacitors 510 and 512 connect the microphones 312 and 314 to x and y input terminals ( pins 3 and 5 ) of the multiplier circuit 408 which is an exar model xr2208 operational multiplier . 2 . 2k resistors 514 and 516 connect these input terminals to ground 504 , and a 1k resistor 518 connects an x and y opposite polarity input terminal ( pin 4 ) of the multiplier circuit 408 to ground 504 . the sum circuit 402 comprises a pair of 10k resistors 520 and 522 that couple the capacitors 510 and 512 to an x input ( pin 3 ) of the gating circuit 404 which is also an exar xr - 2208 operational multiplier . this x input is connected to ground 504 by a 2 . 2k resistor 526 . the common x - y opposite polarity input ( pin 4 ) of the gain circuit 404 is connected to ground 504 by a 1k resistor 524 . the gain of the x and y inputs of the multiplier circuit 408 is set by 1k resistors 528 and 530 , connected as shown ; and likewise , the gain of the gating circuit 404 multiplier x and y inputs is adjusted by a 1k resistor 532 , which adjusts the x gain applied to the sum signal 403 , and by a 47k resistor 534 , which adjusts the gain of the y input which receives the gain control signal 414 . the normal and inverted output signals 536 and 538 of the multiplier circuit 408 are applied through 10k resistors 540 and 542 to the normal and inverted inputs ( pins 13 and 14 ) of an operational amplifier contained within the multiplier circuit 408 . an output signal ( pin 11 ) flows through a 10k resistor 544 and a rectifier diode 546 to a noninverted input of an operational amplifier 548 within the rectifier circuit 412 . the amplifier 548 &# 39 ; s noninverted input is also connected to ground 504 by a 100k resistor 550 . to achieve the low - pass filter 410 , a perallel circuit comprising a 100k resistor 552 and 0 . 22 ufd capacitor 554 is connected in a negative feedback manner accross the inverted input and output ( pins 14 and 11 ) of the multiplier circuit 408 &# 39 ; s operational amplifier , as shown . an 8picofarad capacitor 556 suppresses oscillations within the multiplier circuit 408 , in accordance with the manufacturer &# 39 ; s specifications . to permit adjustment of the input signal level threshold , the sensitivity control 322 is a 100k potentiometer and is connected from ground 504 in series with a 50k resistor 562 to the noninverted input ( pin 13 ) of the operational amplifier within the multiplier circuit 408 . the inverted input of the operational amplifier 548 is connected to ground 504 by a 1k resistor 558 and to the amplifier 548 &# 39 ; s output by a 10k resistor 560 , giving a gain of 10 to 1 . serially - connected 470 ohm resistor 564 and 1k resistor 566 are connected from ground 504 to the positive supply 502 to provide a lower potential for the operational amplifier 548 , which is a 386 quad operational amplifier . the output of the operational amplifier 548 is connected to ground 504 by a parallel circuit comprising a 4 . 7k resistor 568 and a 4 . 7 ufd capacitor 570 . the gain control signal 414 appears at this output of the amplifier 548 and is fed directly into the y input of the gating circuit 404 which is another multiplier . the normal and inverted outputs ( pins 1 and 2 ) of the multiplier within the gating circuit 404 are connected to ground 504 by 0 . 1 ufd capacitors 572 and 574 and to the normal and inverted inputs ( pins 13 and 14 ) of an operational amplifier within the gating circuit 404 by 10k resistors 576 and 578 . the output ( pin 11 ) of this operational amplifier within the gating circuit 404 is connected to its inverting input ( pin 14 ) by a 100k resistor 580 and to the audio output 406 by a 1 . 5 ufd capacitor 582 . the noninverting input ( pin 13 ) of this operational amplifier within the gating circuit 404 is connected to ground 504 by another 100k resistor 584 . a 2 picofarad capacitor 586 connects pins 11 and 12 , again to suppress oscillations in accordance with the manufacturer &# 39 ; s specifications . while the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in complete detail , it will be understood that numerous modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art . the true spirit and scope of the invention is therefore defined precisely in the claims which follow .	7
the present invention provides a variety of cpp mr layered sensor stack configurations and methods for fabricating them , wherein said configurations exhibit a large giant magnetoresistive ( gmr ) amplitude ( δr / r ) and have a product of perpendicular resistance , r and cross - sectional area , a , that falls between that of metallic layered cpp sensor stacks and mtj devices . the stack formations comprise alternating layers of metallic ferromagnetic materials , non - magnetic metallic spacer layers , and a variety of thin , nano - layers of magnetic oxides , manganites , cofeni based spinel structures , ferrimagnetic garnets , manganites , or other ferromagnetic perovskites and ferromagnetic nitrides . for simplicity of the following descriptions , these nano - layers will be denoted collectively and with equal meaning as “ magnetic nano - oxide layers ” or , for brevity , ( mo ) layers : referring first to fig1 a , there is seen a schematic cross - sectional diagram of the first embodiment of a sensor stack formed in accord with the methods and objects of the present invention and wherein magnetic nano - oxide layers ( 4 ) and ( 40 ) are inserted between ferromagnetic layers ( 2 ), ( 20 ), ( 22 ) and ( 220 ) to form two magnetic tri - layers ( 8 ) and ( 80 ). non - magnetic spacer layers ( 6 ), ( 60 ) and ( 600 ) separate the magnetic layers from each other and from upper and lower substrate &# 39 ; s ( not shown ). referring next to fig1 b , there is shown a schematic cross - sectional diagram of an initial step in the formation of the sensor stack of fig1 a . there is first formed on an appropriate substrate ( not shown ) a first metallic , non - magnetic spacer layer ( 6 ). all metallic , non - magnetic spacer layers formed in this embodiment and in the embodiments to be described in fig2 , 4 , and 5 , can be layers of material such as cu , au or ag and can be formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 10 nm . upon the spacer layer ( 6 ), there is then formed a first magnetic tri - layer ( 8 ), comprising two ferromagnetic layers ( 2 ) and ( 20 ), separated by a magnetic nano - oxide layer ( 4 ). in this embodiment and in the embodiments to follow , the ferromagnetic layers can be layers of ferromagnetic transition metal alloys , preferably ni 80 fe 20 , or co 90 fe 10 , formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 5 . 0 nm and the magnetic nano - oxide layers are layers of material such as fe 3 o 4 or cro 2 , cofeni based spinel structures , ferrimagnetic garnets , manganites or other ferromagnetic perovskites , or ferromagnetic nitrides and are formed to a thickness of between 0 . 4 nm and 6 . 0 nm . other possible nano - oxide materials that meet the objects and methods of this invention are the nano - oxide layers formed by surface oxidation of nife or cofe . the thickness of the magnetic nano - oxide layers must be sufficiently thin so as to avoid producing the high resistances encountered in magnetic tunnel junctions , yet thick enough to avoid pinholes . it is the advantageous role of these magnetic nano - oxide layers that they both increase the perpendicular resistance of the stack formation as is desired and , at the same time , differentiate resistively between spin up and spin down ( relative to magnetizations ) electrons , thereby improving the magnetoresistive effects of the layered structures . in this particular embodiment the magnetic nano - oxide layers ( 4 ) and ( 40 ) are strongly coupled to their two surrounding ferromagnetic layers ( 2 ) and ( 20 ) and ( 22 ) and ( 220 ), so that the overall magnetic behavior of the stack is that of a soft ( low coercivity ) magnetic material . in this embodiment the magnetic moments of both ferromagnet / nano - oxide / ferromagnet tri - layers ( 8 ) and ( 80 ) are free to rotate as a function of an applied external field , such as that of a magnetic storage medium . when the stack of this embodiment is incorporated within a complete read head structure , the two tri - layers would be coupled so that their magnetic moments were in an antiparallel alignment . in such a design , the alignment is stabilized by magnetostatic fields at the edges of the stack . if the stack has a square shape , the magnetic moments will tend to lie along the diagonals of the square . typically , a bias field is applied by laterally disposed permanent ( hard ) magnetic biasing layers , so that the magnetic moments are at 90 ° to each other in their quiescent state . in operation , the external fields produced by magnetic storage media will rotate the alignment from the quiescent configuration to either parallel or antiparallel alignments depending upon whether the external field is positive or negative . referring next to fig1 c , there is shown the formation of fig1 b on which has been additionally formed a second non - magnetic spacer layer ( 60 ), to separate the two magnetic tri - layers in this embodiment from each other . said layer is formed of metallic , non - magnetic materials such as cu , au or ag and can be formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 10 nm . finally , referring next to fig1 d , there is shown the formation of fig1 c on which has been additionally formed a second magnetic tri - layer ( 80 ), comprising the formation of two ferromagnetic layers . ( 22 ) and ( 220 ), separated by a magnetic nano - oxide layer ( 40 ). said ferromagnetic layers can be layers of ferromagnetic transition metal alloys , preferably ni 80 fe 20 , or co 90 fe 10 , formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 5 . 0 nm and said magnetic nano - oxide layer is a layer of material such as fe 3 o 4 or cro 2 , cofeni based spinel structures , ferrimagnetic garnets , manganites or other ferromagnetic perovskites , or ferromagnetic nitrides and are formed to a thickness of between 0 . 4 nm and 6 . 0 nm . there is then formed over the tri - layer a spacer layer ( 600 ) of a non - magnetic material such as cu , au or ag and can be formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 10 nm . referring now to fig2 a , there is shown a schematic cross - sectional representation of a sensor stack formed in accord with a second embodiment of the present invention . the stack of this embodiment is a cpp stack that differs structurally from that of fig1 a by the positioning of the its magnetic nano - oxide layers ( 10 ) and ( 100 ), which are now at the interfaces of the ferromagnetic layers ( 9 ) and ( 90 ) ( rather than within the body of the ferromagnetic layer ) and separated by a non - magnetic metallic spacer layer ( 12 ). the dimensions and material compositions of the layers will be discussed below in the context of their formations . it should be noted that the thickness of each ferromagnetic layer ( 9 ) and ( 90 ) is preferably equal to the sum of the thicknesses of the two ferromagnetic layers ( 2 ) and ( 20 ) and ( 22 ) and ( 220 ), in fig1 a . the performance characteristics of this stack exceed those of the stack in fig1 a for the following reason . in order to obtain a large gmr amplitude , it is important that the electrons retain their spin direction in passing between the two ferromagnetic layers . the spin flip diffusion length for electrons in ni 80 fe 20 is known to be 5 . 5 nm , whereas in non - magnetic substances , such as those used in the spacer layers , the spin flip diffusion length is several tens of nanometers . in the structure of fig1 a , therefore , electrons must pass between a greater thickness than that of ni 80 fe 20 as they pass between the two tri - layers , whereas in the structure of fig2 a , electrons pass only through the non - magnetic layer ( 12 ) as they go from one ferromagnetic layer to the other . therefore , the probability of a spin flip is greatly reduced in the structure of fig2 a and the magnetoresistive effect is more pronounced . referring next to fig2 b - d , there is shown the schematic diagrams of a succession of steps leading to the formation of the stack of fig2 a . referring first to fig2 b , there is shown a first non - magnetic layer ( 7 ) on which has been formed a first ferromagnetic layer ( 9 ). the non - magnetic layer is a layer of a non - magnetic material such as cu , au or ag and can be formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 10 nm . said ferromagnetic layer can be a layer of ferromagnetic transition metal alloy , preferably ni 80 fe 20 , or co 90 fe 10 , formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 5 . 0 nm . on the ferromagnetic layer ( 9 ), is then formed a first magnetic nano - oxide layer ( 10 ), wherein said magnetic nano - oxide layer is a layer of material such as fe 3 o 4 or cro 2 , cofeni based spinel structures , ferrimagnetic garnets , manganites or other ferromagnetic perovskites , or ferromagnetic nitrides and are formed to a thickness of between 0 . 4 nm and 6 . 0 nm of a non - magnetic material such as cu , au or ag and can be formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 10 nm . referring next to fig2 c , there is shown the fabrication of fig2 b , wherein a second non - magnetic spacer layer ( 12 ) has been formed on the magnetic nano - oxide layer ( 10 ). the non - magnetic layer is a layer of a non - magnetic material such as cu , au or ag and can be formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 10 nm . referring finally to fig2 d , there is shown the fabrication of fig2 c on which has now been formed a second magnetic nano - oxide layer ( 100 ) on the second non - magnetic layer ( 12 ). said magnetic nano - oxide layer is a layer of material such as fe 3 o 4 or cro 2 , cofeni based spinel structures , ferrimagnetic garnets , manganites or other ferromagnetic perovskites , or ferromagnetic nitrides and are formed to a thickness of between 0 . 4 nm and 6 . 0 nm . a second ferromagnetic layer ( 90 ) is then formed on the second magnetic nano - oxide layer and a third non - magnetic spacer layer ( 70 ) is formed to complete the stack . said ferromagnetic layer can be a layer of ferromagnetic transition metal alloy , preferably ni 80 fe 20 , or co 90 fe 10 , formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 5 . 0 nm and the spacer layer is formed of a non - magnetic material such as cu , au or ag and can be formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 10 nm . referring next to fig3 a , there is shown a third embodiment of the present invention , a stack configuration in which one of the ferromagnetic layers ( 16 ) is exchange biased ( pinned ) by an antiferromagnetic layer ( 15 ). in this case the antiferromagnetic layer would be a layer of antiferromagnetic material chosen from the group consisting of mnpt , nimn , irmn , crmnpt and mnptpd , and deposited to a thickness of between 5 nm and 30 nm . the magnetization of the remaining ferromagnetic layer ( 160 ) is free to move ; thus , layer ( 160 ) is a ferromagnetically free layer . in prior art cpp spin - valves structures it has been observed that the use of an antiferromagnetic pinning layer leads to a decrease of gmr amplitude . this is not the case in the present embodiment , however , since the resistance is dominated by the magnetic nano - oxide layers . adding the resistance of an antiferromagnetic layer in series is not going to affect the resistance appreciably . this structure , therefore , comprises only one soft layer , the free ( unpinned ) layer , which is unlike either of the structures of fig1 a and 1 b , which comprise two ferromagnetic layers . if the structure of fig3 a is used in producing a read head sensor , the magnetization of the pinned layer would be set in the direction of the field to be measured , whereas the free layer would be biased so that it is at a 90 ° angle to the pinned layer when in the quiescent state . referring next to fig3 b , there is shown a schematic cross - sectional view of the early stages of the formation of the stack of fig3 a . there is shown a first metallic , non - magnetic layer ( 11 ), formed of material such as cu , au or ag and formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 10 nm . on this layer is formed an antiferromagnetic layer ( 15 ), a layer of antiferromagnetic material chosen from the group consisting of mnpt , nimn , irmn , crmnpt and mnptpd , and deposited to a thickness of between 5 nm and 30 nm . on the antiferromagnetic layer is then formed a ferromagnetic pinned layer ( 16 ), preferably a layer of ni 80 fe 20 , or co 90 fe 10 , formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 5 . 0 nm . on the ferromagnetic pinned layer is formed a first magnetic nano - oxide layer ( 17 ), a layer of material such as fe 3 o 4 or cro 2 , surface oxidations of nife or cofe , cofeni based spinel structures , ferrimagnetic garnets , manganites or other ferromagnetic perovskites , or ferromagnetic nitrides and are formed to a thickness of between 0 . 4 nm and 6 . 0 nm . referring next to fig3 c , there is shown a continuation of the process of fig3 b , wherein a metallic , second non - magnetic spacer layer ( 27 ), is formed on the first magnetic nano - oxide layer ( 17 ). the second metallic , non - magnetic spacer layer is formed of material such as cu , au or ag and formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 10 nm . a second magnetic nano - oxide layer ( 170 ) is formed on the spacer layer , said nano - oxide layer being formed of material such as fe 3 o 4 or cro 2 , surface oxidations of nife or cofe , cofeni based spinel structures , ferrimagnetic garnets , manganites or other ferromagnetic perovskites , or ferromagnetic nitrides and being formed to a thickness of between 0 . 4 nm and 6 . 0 nm . referring finally to fig3 d , there is shown the completion of the formation process wherein a ferromagnetic free layer ( 160 ) is formed on the nano - oxide layer , said layer being preferably a layer of ni 80 fe 20 , or co 90 fe 10 , formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 5 . 0 nm . finally , a metallic , non - magnetic layer ( 111 ) is formed on the ferromagnetic free layer , said non - magnetic spacer layer being formed of material such as cu , au or ag and formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm . referring next to fig4 a , there is shown a completed cpp stack structured in a spin - valve configuration with a synthetic pinned ( syap ) layer and fabricated in accord with the present invention . the various elements of the structure will be referred to in the context of the following three figures , 4 b , 4 c and 4 d , describing the formation of the structure . referring next to fig4 b , there is schematically shown the initial stage of the formation of the stack of fig4 a . first a layer of non - magnetic metallic material ( 13 ) is formed of material such as cu , au or ag to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 10 nm . a layer of antiferromagnetic material ( 35 ), which will serve to pin the synthetic antiferromagnetic pinned layer , is then formed on the non - magnetic layer . the layer of antiferromagnetic material is chosen from the group consisting of mnpt , nimn , irmn , crmnpt and mnptpd , and deposited to a thickness of between 5 nm and 30 nm . a synthetic pinned antiferromagnetic ( syap ) tri - layer ( 25 ) is then formed by strongly coupling two ferromagnetic layers , ( 36 ) and ( 360 ) across a thin antiferromagnetic coupling layer ( 77 ). a material selected from the group of metallic , non - magnetic materials consisting of ru , rh , and ir and formed to a thickness of between approximately 0 . 5 and 1 . 5 nm can be used to form this antiferromagnetic coupling layer . said ferromagnetic layers can be layers of ferromagnetic transition metal alloys , preferably ni 80 fe 20 , or co 90 fe 10 , formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 5 . 0 nm . the synthetic antiferromagnetic pinned layer formation ( 25 ) described above is analogous to similar formations used in cpp spin - valve structures not fabricated in accord with the methods of the present invention . in all cases , the synthetic layer approach allows the formation of stronger pinning fields . in all - metal multilayer structures not fabricated in accord with the method of the present invention , however , the synthetic scheme would be detrimental to the cpp gmr amplitude . in the present case , however , the mo layers dominate the total stack resistance and the additional in - series resistance of the pinned layer will not adversely affect the gmr amplitude . referring next to fig4 c , there is shown the fabrication of fig4 b on which a first magnetic nano - oxide layer ( 370 ) has now been formed . the layer is formed of material chosen from the group that includes fe 3 o 4 or cro 2 , surface oxidations of nife or cofe , cofeni based spinel structures , ferrimagnetic garnets , manganites or other ferromagnetic perovskites , or ferromagnetic nitrides and it is formed to a thickness of between 0 . 4 nm and 6 . 0 nm . on this nano - oxide layer is then formed a second metallic , non - magnetic spacer layer ( 361 ), which can be a layer of cu , ag or au formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 and 10 nm . referring next to fig4 d , there is shown the fabrication of fig4 c on which a second nano - oxide layer ( 377 ) has been formed . the layer is formed of material chosen from the group that includes fe 3 o 4 or cro 2 , surface oxidations of nife or cofe , cofeni based spinel structures , ferrimagnetic garnets , manganites or other ferromagnetic perovskites , or ferromagnetic nitrides and it is formed to a thickness of between 0 . 4 nm and 6 . 0 nm . on this nano - oxide layer is then formed a the free ferromagnetic layer ( 366 ). this ferromagnetic layers can be a layer of ferromagnetic transition metal alloy , preferably ni 80 fe 20 , or co 90 fe 10 , formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 5 . 0 nm . finally , on the ferromagnetic free layer there is formed a second metallic , non - magnetic spacer layer ( 361 ), which can be a layer of cu , ag or au formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 and 10 nm . referring finally to fig5 a , there is shown a schematic representation of a cpp stack formed in accord with the method of the present invention in which one of the magnetic nano - oxide layers ( 40 ) is not coupled to any other magnetic material . the two layers ( 17 ) and ( 171 ) are metallic , non - magnetic layers , such as cu , au or ag . it should be noted that most of the magnetic nano - oxide materials used in forming stacks in accord with the present invention are not magnetically soft ( low coercivity ) materials . some are even themselves used as recording media for some applications . therefore , their pinning energy may be large enough for them to be used alone as pinned layers . the materials and dimensions of the layers will now be discussed in the context of the process of forming the stack . referring now to fig5 b , there is shown a schematic cross - sectional diagram of the beginning steps in the formation of the stack of this embodiment . first , a metallic , non - magnetic layer ( 17 ) is formed . this can be a layer of cu , ag or au formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 and 10 nm . next , a layer of magnetic nano - oxide material ( 40 ) is formed on the metallic layer . this layer is formed of material chosen from the group that includes fe 3 o 4 or cro 2 , surface oxidations of nife or cofe , cofeni based spinel structures , ferrimagnetic garnets , manganites or other ferromagnetic perovskites , or ferromagnetic nitrides and it is formed to a thickness of between 0 . 4 nm and 6 . 0 nm . on this layer is then formed a second metallic , non - magnetic layer ( 171 ). this can be a layer of cu , ag or au formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 and 10 nm . on this layer is then formed a second magnetic nano - oxide layer ( 41 ). like the first nano - oxide layer ( 40 ), this layer is formed of material chosen from the group that includes fe 3 o 4 or cro 2 , surface oxidations of nife or cofe , cofeni based spinel structures , ferrimagnetic garnets , manganites or other ferromagnetic perovskites , or ferromagnetic nitrides and it is formed to a thickness of between 0 . 4 nm and 6 . 0 nm . referring finally to fig5 c , there is shown the fabrication in fig5 b on which there has now been formed a ferromagnetic layer ( 50 ), which can be a layer of ferromagnetic transition metal alloy , preferably ni 80 fe 20 , or co 90 fe 10 , formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 nm and 5 . 0 nm . on this ferromagnetic layer there is then formed a final metallic , non - magnetic layer ( 170 ), which can be a layer of cu , ag or au formed to a thickness of between 0 . 5 and 10 nm . it is to be recognized that the structures described above in fig1 a , 2 a , 3 a , 4 a , & amp ; 5 a represent unit cells . stacks formed in accord with the methods of the present invention may , therefore , comprise repetitions of these cells or combinations of these cells . in addition , the ferromagnetic layers within different cells need not be formed of the same materials nor formed to the same thicknesses . finally , it is also to be recognized that the structures formed by the method of the present invention can be formed into read heads by the addition of conducting leads and by the appropriate magnetizations of free and pinned ferromagnetic layers and by the formation of appropriate bias layers . they can also be formed as a part of a merged read / write head by providing an inductive write head on which to form the read head provided herein . an example of expected signal output can be given in terms of a sample sensor stack formed in accord with the embodiment described in fig1 b . let us consider a structure of the following specific composition and dimensions : cu 30 a / ni 80 fe 20 30 a / fe 3 o 4 4 a / cu 30 a / fe 3 o 4 4 a / ni 80 fe 20 30 a / cu 30 a it has been shown that the resistivity of fe 3 o 4 is of the order of 16 , 000 μω . cm for spin up ( spin directed along the layer magnetic moment ) electrons and on the order of 620 , 000 μω . cm for spin down electrons . the ratio between spin down and spin up resistivities can be even greater if the half - metallic character of fe 3 o 4 is maintained . for an area of the cpp mr element of 100 nm × 100 nm , we can calculate a resistance of 12 . 5 ω using the two - current model and serial network of resistance well known for cpp transport in magnetic multilayers . the mr amplitude is expected to be in the range of several hundred percent . this is the right order of resistance that we seek for cpp mr heads . for an area of 50 nm × 50 nm , the resistance would be 50 ω . this resistance can be adjusted by varying the thickness of the magnetic nano - oxide layers . for a given type of magnetic nano - oxide layer , the largest mr amplitude is obtained when the thicknesses of the two layers is equal ( as in the example above ). this can be seen as follows . let the spin up resistance , r □ = αr for the first magnetic nano - oxide layer and let its spin down resistance be r 58 = α − 1 r . let us also suppose , for simplicity , that the second layer is made of the same material and has a thickness which is a factor γ times that of the first layer . considering that the resistance of the stack is dominated by these two layers , the resistance in the parallel magnetic configuration is : thus , the magnetoresistance normalized by the resistance in parallel alignment is given by : δ r / r parallel =( α 2 + α − 2 − 2 )( 1 + γ 2 ) − 1 γ . this quantity is maximum for γ = 1 , i . e . when the two layers have the same thickness . when this condition is satisfied , the maximum mr ratio is given by : this is equal to zero if electron transport through the magnetic nano - oxide layer is not spin dependent ( α = 1 ), but it can reach very large values if α is far from unity . if the layers are different in material and have different spin up to spin down resistivity ratios , then the optimal relative thickness ratio would not be equal to unity , but could be calculated by the method above . as is understood by a person skilled in the art , the preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrative of the present invention rather than limiting of the present invention . revisions and modifications may be made to methods , materials , structures and dimensions employed in fabricating cpp sensor stacks having magnetic nano - oxide layers , or magnetic read heads comprising such stacks , while still providing a method for fabricating cpp sensor stacks having magnetic nano - oxide layers , or magnetic read heads comprising such stacks in accord with the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims .	1
fig1 and 2 show the structure of a system 1 in accordance with the present invention . system 1 includes an optical barrel 9 fitted over the lens 17 of a video camera 11 . the output of video camera 11 is transmitted to a frame grabber 13 whose output is transmitted to a computer 15 having a display screen 23 . video camera 11 can be any device capable of recording a series of images of the eye and generating a video signal corresponding to these images . in this case , video camera 11 is a black and white , portable ccd ( charge coupled device ) camera of low lux sensitivity ( 0 . 1 lux or less ) with an effective pick - up area of 512 pixels ( horizontal )× 492 pixels ( vertical ) and a signal - to - noise ratio of 55 db . in place of video camera 11 , a sensor capable of detecting light and generating a signal proportional to the magnitude of the light detected can be used . as used in this specification , the term &# 34 ; light &# 34 ; includes electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength including infrared , visible and ultraviolet wavelengths . camera 11 further includes on its face and within the area covered by optical barrel 9 an infrared light source 19 . this light source may be , e . g ., a light emitting diode or any other device capable of generating and transmitting infrared light into optical barrel 9 . this light is transmitted to the eye 3 of a person looking into the optical barrel 9 . eyepiece 7 prevents light other than that transmitted by infrared source 19 from entering optical barrel 9 when the person &# 39 ; s eye is pressed against the eyepiece . this eyepiece preferably is made of rubber or some other flexible material capable of conforming to the skin surrounding the eye and preventing light from entering optical barrel 9 . in order to facilitate a person &# 39 ; s staring into optical barrel 9 , a mark may be included either within this barrel , within or on lens 17 or on the face of video camera 11 . in order to reduce ambient light from entering optical barrel 9 , a light - absorbing sheet or shield ( not shown ) can be used to cover the person being tested . such a sheet or shield could , e . g ., be attached to a hat - like garment or shroud to which also is attached optical barrel 9 . the room in which the test is conducted also should be as dark as possible , and the lens 17 of video camera 11 should be fitted with a filter 21 for removing light other than that within the frequencies of infrared source 19 . light transmitted from infrared source 19 is reflected by the person &# 39 ; s eye 3 into lens 17 of video camera 11 . the amount of light reflected is inversely proportional to the size of the person &# 39 ; s pupil 5 . if a light sensor is used in place of video camera 11 , the magnitude of the signal generated by this sensor is inversely proportional to the size of pupil 5 . video camera 11 generates a series of pixel images of the eye , including the iris and pupil . each new image is generated at a sampling rate determined by the camera , e . g ., sixty ( 60 ) images per second . video camera 11 transmits these images to a frame grabber 13 which transmits a corresponding series of digital data to computer 15 for analysis . in the alternative , data from video camera 11 can be transmitted directly to computer 15 , and a frame grabber can be incorporated within video camera 11 or computer 15 . also , as a further alternative , data from video camera 11 , or a light sensor , in analog or digital form , can be transmitted directly to computer 15 for analysis . if in analog form , computer 15 should include an analog to digital ( d / a ) converter for converting these data to digital form . computer 15 preferably is a portable computer for performing testing in the field . on the other hand , computer 15 can be a desk top computer or any general purpose computer capable of analyzing data and running computer programs . in the alternative , computer 15 can be a special purpose device containing only the structure necessary to perform the functions described below ( e . g ., storage devices , arithmetic unit , comparator , frequency detector , frequency analyzer , etc .). such a device could be miniaturized and built using , e . g ., a microprocessor . in place of the apparatus shown in fig1 and 2 , a pupil / corneal reflection tracker , such as the rk - 426 pupillometer manufactured by iscan , burlington , mass ., can be used to measure the diameter of a person &# 39 ; s pupil over a period of time . the data generated by the pupillometer then can be analyzed in accordance with the programs described below using the computing capacity of the pupillometer or a separate computer , such as computer 15 . the apparatus described in fig1 and 2 is considered preferable to the use of a device such as the rk 426 , however , because of the size and expense of such a device and the inclusion within it of structure and features unnecessary to the present invention . a flow diagram of a computer program for analyzing the data transmitted by frame grabber 13 is shown in fig3 . at block 31 , each pixel image of the eye is received in digital form and temporarily stored . at block 33 , the pixels within the area of the image representing the pupil of the eye are identified and used to calculate an instantaneous measure of the pupil &# 39 ; s size . since less light is reflected from the pupil than from other areas of the eye , the intensity of these pixels is substantially less than that of other pixels within each image . by performing a similar calculation for each image , a series of data ( a first signal ) indicative of the area or diameter of the pupil over a period of time is obtained . this signal also is indicative of the velocity of the pupil &# 39 ; s movement . at block 37 , the data generated at block 33 are further analyzed to determine the segments of these data generated during a blink of the eye . these segments are ignored in the further analysis of the data from block 33 . the steps executed by the program at block 37 are further discussed in connection with fig4 . at block 39 , a fast fourier transform is performed upon the data ( signal ) from block 33 ( after removal of those portions of the data generated during blinks at block 37 ). a series of data ( a second signal ) is generated as a result of this transform . these data provide an indication of the strength of each of the frequency components within the first signal . the fast fourier transform ( fft ) can provide a signal indicative of either the magnitude ( in pixels 2 / hz ) or power ( in pixels 4 / hz ) of these frequency components . the program samples the blink - free data at a prescribed sampling rate , e . g ., 60 hz , for a prescribed period of time ( e . g ., 30 seconds ). for such a sampling rate and sampling period , 1 , 800 samples of data are provided for the fast fourier transform . the program acquires these samples of data , performs trend removal ( optional ) and computes the fft . a commercially available fft program for generating a signal indicative of the magnitude of the frequency components is vu - point - 3 sold by maxwell laboratories , inc ., lajolla , calif ., and a commercially available fft program for generating a signal indicative of the power of the frequency components is viewdac , sold by keithley instruments , inc ., tauton , mass . in addition to performing the fft , the computer program can , if desired , display on screen 23 ( fig1 ) an instantaneous image of the eye ( including blinks ) and the first and second signals . at block 41 , the program determines the sum of the strength of all of the contiguous incremental segments of the second signal ( generated as a result of the fft ) within a particular frequency range in prescribed increments . this calculation is indicative of the area under the curve of the second signal . these segments can be separated by , e . g ., 0 . 008 hz , and the prescribed range of frequencies can be between , e . g ., 4 hz and 20 hz . the range , however , can be any preselected frequency range , including between approximately 0 hz and 20 hz or from approximately 0 hz to 40 hz . as discussed below , however , the range from between approximately 4 hz and 20 hz was found most effective in discriminating between persons with dat and persons without dat . the computer code for performing the calculation of block 41 is shown in the appendix . at decisional block 43 , the sum calculated at block 41 is compared with a threshold value . if this sum is less than the threshold value , the program provides an indication that the person has normal cognitive function . on the other hand , if this sum is greater than this threshold value , the program provides an indication that the person probably has dat . as discussed below , if the second signal is indicative of the power of the frequency components and the summation of this signal is performed from 4 hz to 20 hz in contiguous increments of 0 . 008 hz , the threshold value for the total power of pupillary oscillation found to discriminate most effectively between persons with dat and persons without dat is 116 pixels 4 / hz . at block 45 , the dominant oscillatory frequencies and peak magnitudes are calculated , if desired , and , at block 47 , the output of all calculations is provided in a printed report . fig4 is a flow diagram of the computer program for removing portions of the first signal generated during blinks of the person &# 39 ; s eye . at block 51 , each calculated value of the pupil &# 39 ; s size is stored in an array . at block 55 , the difference between each set of consecutive values in this array is calculated . at block 57 , each difference is compared against a predetermined number , e . g ., 10 , and if all of the differences are less than or equal to 10 , the program proceeds directly to block 61 where all of the values in the array are stored in a new array . on the other hand , if one or more of these differences is greater than 10 , then , at block 59 , for each such difference , the values in the array resulting in such a difference , and the subsequent eighteen values , are excluded from the array . the program then proceeds to block 61 where a new array is stored with all values except the excluded values . at block 63 , the program calculates the mean pupil size ( e . g ., the mean area or the mean diameter ) for all of the samples in the array stored at block 61 . at block 65 , the program calculates the difference between this mean pupil size and each value in the array . at block 67 , each difference is compared against a predetermined value , e . g ., 20 , and if all of the differences are less than or equal to 20 , all of the values in the array stored at block 63 are stored at block 71 as blink - free data . on the other hand , if one or more of these differences is greater than 20 , each value corresponding to such a difference is eliminated at block 69 , and the remaining values are stored at block 71 as blink - free data . using a system in accordance with the present invention , the inventors screened 48 persons over the age of 55 for dat . prior to this examination , all persons were administered the following neuropsychological tests : ( 1 ) mini - mental status examination ( mmse ) ( folstein et al ., 1975 ); ( 2 ) dementia rating scale ( drs ) ( mattis , 1988 ); ( 3 ) boston naming test ( bnt ) ( kaplan et al ., 1983 ); ( 4 ) weschler memory scale - revised ( logical memory i and ii ); ( 5 ) category fluency and letter fluency ( benton multilingual aphasia examination ); and ( 6 ) the draw - a - clock test ( rouleau et al ., 1992 ; sunderland et al ., 1989 ; huntzinger et al ., 1992 ). persons in the study evidencing dementia were given a neuromedical examination , including evaluation of cbc , electrolyte panel , renal panel ( bun and creatinine ), thyroid panel ( tsh and t4 ), liver function tests , urinalysis , and serum tests for syphilis , serum b 12 and folate levels . ct or mri scans also were evaluated , and a medical history , including a list of medications taken at the time of the examination , were obtained for all persons in the study . based upon these neuropsychological and medical evaluations , the persons in the study were assigned to the following groups : ( 1 ) suspected dat ; ( 2 ) non - dat dementia ; and ( 3 ) no evidence of dementia . the suspected dat group included both persons who probably had dat and persons who possibly had dat . persons in the suspected dat group had some evidence of dementia , established by either low scores on the mmse ( less than 25 ) or drs ( less than 125 ), and / or severe memory deficits exhibited from the results of both the logical memory i and ii tests of the weschler memory scale - revised ( scores of 10 or below ). persons having only low scores on the logical memory i and ii tests also had either a low score on the category fluency test ( less than 10 ), bnt ( less than 45 ) or the draw - a - clock test ( less than 6 ) for assignment to the suspected dat group . all persons in the suspected dat group , therefore , had cognitive deficits in memory function and in at least one other cognitive function . none of the persons assigned to this group had a history of stepwise or sudden worsening of memory or other cognitive functions , or a disturbance of consciousness . persons assigned to the suspected dat group , moreover , did not have a systemic ( medical ) or brain disorder that could account for his or her cognitive impairment . for instance , no clear temporal relationship existed between the onset of the brain disorder and the onset of the person &# 39 ; s cognitive problems . following these neuropsychological and medical evaluations , each person was placed in a darkened room for three minutes . using the rk - 426 pupillometer , pupil diameters then were determined in the right eye of each person ( unless the left eye was preferable for examination because of a cataract , past injury or previous surgery ). after pupil diameters in the dark were measured , pupil diameters during light challenge from 5 lux to 700 lux were measured . dilute tropicamide then was instilled in the eye , and pupil size was measured in the dark and in response to light challenge for the hour following this instillation . using the rk - 426 pupillometer , pupil diameter for each person then was measured for a period of time under various conditions of ambient light at a sampling rate of 60 hz . after removing those portions of the data corresponding to blinks , a fast fourier transform was performed upon the remaining data using vu - point - 3 software for magnitude analysis and viewdac software for power analysis . the resulting data corresponding to the strength of the frequency components were summed in segments of 0 . 008 hz within the frequency ranges of 0 hz - 4 hz and 4 hz - 20 hz to provide an indication of the total strength ( power or magnitude ) of pupillary oscillations within this frequency range . this analysis revealed that optimal discrimination among persons occurred when the examination was conducted in the dark and when the total power of pupillary oscillation was calculated for the frequency range of between 4 and 20 hz . a one - way analysis of variance ( anova ) for total power of pupillary oscillation in the 4 - 20 hz range yielded a significant difference among the three groups ( f = 7 . 3 ; df = 2 , 35 ; p = 0 . 002 ; mean of suspected dat group = 230 . 9 ; mean of non - dat dementia group = 192 . 6 ; mean of non - demented controls = 88 . 5 ). pupillary oscillation scores obtained during light challenge also discriminated among the groups ( f = 3 . 8 ; df = 2 , 35 ; p = 0 . 03 ), but the use of light challenge did not enhance the ability to discriminate among groups when compared to measurements taken in the dark . the results of this analysis are shown in table i below . table i______________________________________ tpowh______________________________________ r - value ( p - value ) mmse - 0 . 47 ( 0 . 002 ) bnt - 0 . 54 ( 0 . 0002 ) c fluency - 0 . 35 ( 0 . 02 ) l fluency - 0 . 32 ( 0 . 04 ) drs - 0 . 33 ( 0 . 03 ) wms - i - 0 . 32 ( 0 . 04 ) wms - ii - 0 . 36 ( 0 . 01 ) clock - draw - 0 . 40 ( 0 . 008 ) keymmse = minimental status exam / bnt = boston naming testc fluency = category fluency / l fluency = letter fluencydrs = dementia rating scalewms - i = weschler memory scale - logical stories 1wms - ii = weschler memory scale - logical stories 2clock - draw = draw - a - clock testtpowh = total power of pupillary oscillation in the 4 - 20 hzrange ( pixel . sup . 4 / hz ) ______________________________________ upon analysis of the data , the inventors determined that a threshold value of 116 pixels 4 / hz for total power of pupillary oscillation in the 4 - 20 hz range provides optimal discrimination among groups . using the 116 pixels 4 / hz threshold value , the negative predicative power of the test was 100 % ( i . e ., the predicative power to detect people without dementia or non - dat dementia was 100 %). a pupillary oscillation score of less than 116 pixels 4 / hz , therefore , predicted the absence of dementia with 100 % accuracy . the calculated sensitivity of the test , moreover , was 100 %; namely all persons with dat scored above the threshold value . the specificity of the test was 75 %; namely , three quarters of the non - demented persons had pupillary oscillation values below 116 pixels 4 / hz . some of the persons in the false positive group ( without suspected dat but with a total power of pupillary oscillation exceeding 116 pixels 4 / hz ), however , had some evidence of cognitive impairment . these deficiencies , on the other hand , did not meet the study &# 39 ; s criteria for dat . for instance , one person who tested &# 34 ; false positive &# 34 ; ( subject # 18 ) had a low score on logical memory i of the weschler memory scale ( in the 12th percentile ) but a mmse of 27 and a drs of 135 . another person who tested false positive had &# 34 ; normal &# 34 ; cognitive functioning ( except for an abnormal draw - a - clock test ) but had a family history of dat ( subject # 12 ). the inventors also determined that medications such as beta - blockers do not appear to block the appearance of heightened pupillary oscillations suggestive of dat . for instance , a person in the study who likely had dat demonstrated elevated total power of pupillary oscillations notwithstanding that he was taking the beta - blocker propranolol ( inderal ). the total power of pupillary oscillation for this person may have been higher , moreover , if he were not taking this beta - blocker . the results of this study are summarized in table ii below . table ii__________________________________________________________________________no . group mmse bnt c fluency l fluency drs wms - i wms - ii clock - draw tpowh__________________________________________________________________________ 1 c 28 57 20 36 141 68 60 9 263 . 49 2 c 29 58 16 36 135 66 80 9 79 . 0 3 a 20 48 10 36 120 7 8 9 279 . 22 4 a 24 48 9 6 92 2 2 6 119 . 54 5 a 14 30 7 21 96 5 2 2 442 . 07 6 c 24 51 14 30 135 24 46 9 72 . 55 8 c 29 59 16 35 139 60 52 9 97 . 41 9 a 27 40 6 34 132 3 5 8 348 . 110 c 27 - 99 18 29 124 45 40 9 72 . 7811 a 28 42 12 33 106 12 10 9 139 . 2412 c 29 58 28 47 137 52 42 6 272 . 3213 b 21 36 5 13 106 6 2 6 67 . 6615 c 29 55 20 29 136 82 80 7 186 . 7316 c 27 48 13 18 133 21 36 8 189 . 7917 c 28 60 23 38 138 60 78 9 59 . 5518 c 27 54 21 22 135 12 46 9 129 . 819 c 29 52 21 33 140 23 32 6 315 . 9520 c 29 56 - 99 44 135 88 87 9 101 . 4921 c 29 48 17 25 140 96 89 8 55 . 2322 c 28 54 21 56 138 46 62 10 23 . 1123 c 29 60 8 36 132 60 60 9 25 . 8824 c 29 57 18 35 134 65 60 9 56 . 9925 c 27 58 19 72 138 54 52 9 15 . 0826 c 27 55 23 19 137 87 65 7 11527 c 30 58 22 61 140 80 70 10 52 . 3328 c 24 57 19 21 138 27 40 9 20 . 5429 c 28 57 15 48 139 12 26 9 17 . 1831 c 26 55 44 27 137 86 68 9 18 . 4632 c 28 47 13 23 125 76 53 9 31 . 1333 c 30 52 52 48 143 92 94 9 26 . 0934 c 30 58 35 27 128 72 75 9 21 . 7435 c 30 57 45 54 136 7 26 10 15 . 536 c 29 58 40 37 141 68 86 10 54 . 8837 c 28 57 32 44 138 52 38 8 17 . 4738 wp ( a ) 26 47 22 16 114 12 10 6 171 . 4540 c 30 55 - 99 45 135 86 96 9 267 . 4641 a 23 57 18 38 133 6 8 7 177 . 6742 a 22 33 6 5 - 99 6 2 8 170 . 0843 c 30 56 11 24 132 66 80 8 15 . 3244 c 29 58 14 26 136 52 56 10 52 . 6345 b 20 37 10 6 111 6 18 9 472 . 1346 c 29 55 13 15 135 88 64 9 321 . 8247 b 25 56 7 38 114 17 8 4 38 . 148 c 30 57 11 18 140 74 78 9 73 . 55__________________________________________________________________________ key a = suspected dat b = nondat c = nondemented controls wp = workup in progress - 99 = missing values mmse = minimental status exam / bnt = boston naming test c fluency = category fluency / l fluency = letter fluency drs = dementia rating scale wmsi = weschler memory scale logical stories 1 mwsii = weschler memory scale logical stories 2 clockdraw = drawa - clock test tpowh = total power of pupillary oscillation in the 4 - 20 hz range ( pixel . sup . 4 / hz ) the results of this study also are illustrated in fig5 - 9 . fig5 is a plot of the magnitude of the frequency components ( in pixels 2 / hz ) for the frequency range of 4 hz - 20 hz for a person in the study with normal cognitive function . fig6 is a similar plot for a person suspected of having dat ; fig7 is a similar plot for a person having mild dementia as a result of a deficiency in vitamin b 12 ( not as a result of dat ); and fig8 is a similar plot for a person having normal cognitive function but having a family history of dat and an inability to pass the draw - a - clock test . fig9 shows the results of the draw - a - clock test for this person ( the extra numbers drawn by this person on the clock &# 39 ; s face are circled ). this study suggests , therefore , that a determination of the strength of pupillary oscillations is useful in the identification and discrimination of patients with suspected dat . in such patients , the power and magnitude of pupillary oscillations are increased . a significant correlation also exists between neuropsychological test scores and the strength of pupillary oscillations . the increase in the strength of pupillary oscillations in persons suspected of dat may be related to central cholinergic failure . diminished cholinergic tone to the pupil could result in increased pupillary oscillations produced by unopposed sympathetic stimulation . cholinergic failure has been observed in the edinger - westphal nucleus of dat patients . this nucleus is important to the regulation of pupil size , and pathology in the nucleus could account for the increase in pupillary oscillations observed in the study . the finding in the study that tropicamide instillation significantly increases the total power of pupillary oscillations in the suspected dat group by about 150 % ( from a mean total power of 239 . 4 pixels 4 / hz to a mean total power of 811 . 9 pixels 4 / hz ) is consistent with this theory . the tropicamide - induced changes in total power for persons not evidencing dementia were less than in persons suspected of having dat . the preferred embodiments described above include numerous variations and combinations which are within the spirit and scope of the invention . the foregoing description should be understood as an illustration of the invention , therefore , rather than as a limitation . the scope of the invention is described by the following claims . ______________________________________appendix______________________________________c this program is for extracting the measures of pupillaryc oscillations after fft has been done on the raw data . parameter ( j = 1040 , ij = 14 ) dimension pmagn ( j ), freq ( j ) character * 12 abcd ( ij ), filen open ( 5 , file = ` bf . r `) open ( 6 , file = ` bf . w `) c step - 1 : reading and storing the frequency and magnitudec numbers in arrays do 2 n = 1 , ij read ( 5 , 13 ) abcd ( n ) 13 format ( 27x , a12 ) if ( n . eq . 1 ) then filen = abcd ( n ) end if 2 continue ip = 0 32 continue ip = ip + 1 read ( 5 ,, end = 34 ) freq ( ip ), pmagn ( ip ) go to 32 34 continue ipoints = ip sum24f = 0 b24 = 0 . 01c step2a : finding out the peak magnitude in 0 - 4 hz rangec by using ` amax1 ` function . do 87 in = 1 , ipoints ps24f = pmagn ( in )* 2 if (( freq ( in ). gt . 0 . 0 ). and . ( freq ( in ). le . 4 . 0 )) thenc step 4a : summation of magnitudes in 0 - 4 hz range i . e . c calculating area under the curve in 0 - 4 hz range sum24f = sum24f + ps24f b24 = amax1 ( b24 , pmagn ( in )) else go to 87 end if 87 continuec step 3a : finding out the dominant frequency in 0 - 4 hz range do 88 i = 1 , ipoints if ( freq ( i ). gt . 0 . 0 ). and . ( freq ( i ). le . 4 . 0 )) then continue else go to 88 end if if ( pmagn ( i ). eq . b24 ) then a24 = freq ( i ) else go to 88 end if 88 continuec step : 2b finding out the peak magnitude in 4 - 20 hz rangec by using ` amax1 ` function sum420f = 0 b420 = 0 . 01 do 89 in = 1 , ipoints ps420f = pmagn ( in )** 2 if (( freq ( in ). gt . 4 . 0 ). and . ( freq ( in ). le . 20 . 0 )) thenc step 4b : summation of magnitudes in 4 - 20 hz range i . e . c calculating area under the curve in 4 - 20 hz range sum420f = sum420f + ps420f b420 = amax1 ( b420 , pmagn ( in )) else go to 89 end if 89 continuec step 3b : finding out the dominant frequency in 0 - 4 hz range do 90 i = 1 , ipoints if (( freq ( i ). gt . 4 . 0 ). and . ( freq ( i ). le . 20 . 0 )) then continue else go to 90 end if if ( pmagn ( i ). eq . b420 ) then a420 = freq ( i ) else go to 90 end if 90 continuec step 5 : writing the outcome measures in a file for further processingc write ( 6 , 17 ) filen , b0 , a0 , sum0fc write ( 6 , 17 ) filen , b2 , a2 , sum2fc write ( 6 , 17 ) filen , b4 , a4 , sum4fc write ( 6 , 17 ) filen , b6 , a6 , sum6fc write ( 6 , 17 ) filen , b8 , a8 , sum8fc write ( 6 , 17 ) filen , b12 , a12 , sum12f write ( 6 , 17 ) filen , b24 , a24 , sum24f write ( 6 , 17 ) filen , b420 , a420 , sum420fc write ( 6 , 15 ) filen , bh , ah , ph , prodh , psmh , centphc write ( 6 , 16 ) filen , ratio , pratio , cratioc 14 format ( a12 , 1x , f7 . 2 , 1x , f6 . 3 , 1x , f10 . 2 , 1x , f10 . 2 , 1x , f10 . 2 , 1x , f5 . 2 , c 1x , 1f10 . 2 ) c 15 format ( a12 , 1x , f7 . 2 , 1x , f6 . 3 , 1x , f10 . 2 , 1x , f10 . 2 , 1x , f10 . 2 , 1x , f5 . 2 ) c 16 format ( a12 , 2x , f10 . 2 , 2x , f10 . 2 , 2x , f10 . 2 ) 17 format ( a12 , 1x , 3f10 . 2 ) c write ( 6 , 14 ) filen , psmc 14 format ( a10 , 2x , 2f10 . 2 ) write ( 6 , 21 ) filen , sum420f 21 format ( a12 , 2x , f10 . 2 ) stop end □ ______________________________________	0
embodiments of the present invention disclose using a “ linked lru ” scheme which involves communicating an lru status of a first level priority group to a second level priority group such that a given group is not flagged as the lru group until the lru requestor within that group has completed . according to an embodiment of the present invention , “ completed ” means that that specified requestor has finished its operation and has dropped its valid not merely gained access to the shared resource . fig1 and 2 show how a large number of requestors can be divided into a number of groups with a smaller number of requestors within each group . the arbitration logic may be performed in one logical cycle or performed ( as shown in the figure ) across two logical cycles . fig1 is a block diagram illustrating a first level priority selection in a data processing system that can be implemented within embodiments of the present invention . as shown in fig1 , according to an embodiment of the present invention , a large number of requestors are divided into a plurality of request groups 170 , 171 and 172 with a predetermined number of requestors 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 in each group . this is the within - in group arbitration . all the within - group arbitration takes place in parallel to all other groups &# 39 ; within group arbitration . these requestors 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 may be any type of unit that requests access to system resources . for example , the requestors 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 may be i / o controllers , direct memory access ( dma ) units , processors , and the like . each requestor 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 has a corresponding lru block latches 111 , 112 , 113 and 114 , respectively . the request 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 are gated with the corresponding lru block latches 111 , 112 , 113 , and 114 via gating logic 121 , 122 , 123 or 124 . according to an embodiment of the present invention , each requestor 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 turns on its corresponding select line 130 , 131 , 132 and 133 via its gating logic 121 , 122 , 123 and 124 , when its request is active . the set of select lines 130 , 131 , 132 and 133 are mutually exclusive , one select output corresponding to each requestor input . as shown in fig1 , the requests 101 , 102 , 103 and 104 are or - ed together via or gate circuitry 150 to create the request lines for the second level priority selection discussed below with reference to fig2 . further , in fig1 , any request 101 , 102 , 103 or 104 from request group 170 is selected at element 151 . this request 101 , 102 , 103 or 104 will be active in the following cycle 160 . thus , one request is selected from each request group 170 , 171 and 172 . the select lines 130 , 131 , 132 and 133 are used to multiplex the data accompanying the request and stage this data to the next cycle for presentation to the second level priority multiplexing . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating a second level priority selection in a data processing system that can be implemented within embodiments of the present invention . the second level priority selection shown in fig2 is similar to the first level priority selection shown in fig1 . as shown in fig2 , a plurality of groups 201 , 202 , 203 and 204 vie for priority to access a shared resource ( e . g ., a shared pipeline ) 251 . similar to the first level priority selection shown in fig1 , each group 201 , 202 , 203 and 204 has a lru group block latch 211 , 212 , 213 and 214 . each group 201 , 202 , 203 and 204 turns on a corresponding select line 230 , 231 , 232 and 233 via gating logic 221 , 222 , 223 and 224 , when its request is active . in fig2 , the select lines 230 , 231 , 232 and 233 are also mutually exclusive . as further shown in fig2 , the groups 201 , 202 , 203 and 204 are or - ed together via or gate circuitry 250 . any lru request selected from groups 201 , 202 , 203 and 204 may be selected at element 251 . the selected request will be active in the following cycle 260 . the arbitration scheme at the second level as pertains to the use of the lru latches is identical to that at the first level , although the number of requestors may vary . the difference between the two levels of arbitration is in the updating / set conditions of the lru state latches , as detailed in fig4 . fig3 is a flowchart illustrating a computer - implemented method for performing multi - level lru request that can be implemented within embodiments of the present invention . as shown in fig3 , the process begins at operation 300 where a request is held in an lru latch . from operation 300 , the process moves to operation 302 where it is determined whether the request has active blocking conditions preventing it from being presented to the lru selection logic . if it is determined that the request has active blocking conditions , the process returns to operation 300 , where the request is held in the lru latch . if it is determined that the request does not have active blocking conditions at operation 302 , the process continues to operation 304 where the request is presented to the lru selection device . from operation 304 , the process continues where it is determined whether the request is the oldest in its first level group . if it is determined that the request is the oldest in its first level group at operation 306 , the process continues to operation 308 where the request is sent to the second level priority group at operation 308 . on the other hand , if it is determined at operation 306 that the request is not the oldest in its first level priority group at operation 306 , the process continues to operation 310 where it is determined whether there are other active requests . if there are no other active requests , the process continues to operation 308 where the request is sent to the second level priority group . if there are other active requests , then the process continues to operation 312 where it is determined whether all the older requests are currently suspended from the lru . if yes , then the lru request is sent to the second level priority group at operation 308 . if not , then the process returns to operation 300 , where the requests are held in latch . from operation 308 , the process continues to operation 314 where it is determined whether the request is from the oldest first level priority group . if so , then the process continues to operation 318 where the request wins the lru selection . if not , then the process moves to operation 316 where it is determined whether other groups of the plurality of request groups are presenting requests . if not , then the request from the oldest first level group wins the lru selection . if it is determined that the other groups are presenting requests at operation 316 , the process returns to operation 300 where the request are held in latch . fig4 is a flowchart illustrating a computer - implemented method for updating lru latches that can be implemented within embodiments of the present invention . in operation 400 , the value of the first and second level lru latches is held . from operation 400 , the process moves to operation 402 , where it is determined whether the first level requestor valid has dropped . if it has dropped , the process continues to operation 404 , where the lru latches at the first level are updated to reset the requestor as the newest . if it has not dropped , the process returns to operation 400 , where the value of the first and second level lru latches is held . from operation 404 , the process continues to operation 406 , where it is determines whether the reset requestor was the oldest requestor in is first level priority group . if so , then the process continues to operation 410 where the lru latches at the second level are updated to mark the reset requestor &# 39 ; s group as the newest . if the reset requestor is not the oldest as determined in operation 406 , the process continues to operation 408 where it is determined whether all the older first level requestors in the same first level group as the reset requestor are currently suspended from lru . if so , then the process continues to operation 410 . if not , then the process returns to operation 400 . according to an embodiment of the present invention , the first level lru latches keep track of which of the requestors within each groups are older . thus , the lru latches at the first level are updated with the valid dropping of the requestor . for example , if request a ( as depicted in fig1 ) finishes its current operation and drops valid , then the associated lru latches are reset to zero . on the other hand , the second level lru latches keep track of which groups should be marked as older . thus , if the first level lru latches are pointing to a valid requestor other than the one that has completed , that group will not be updated to be marked as the most recently used group , thereby preventing the second level lru from reporting a specific group as the most recently used , when the requestor that finished inside that group was not the oldest request in that group . fig5 is an example of a computer system configured for pipeline arbitration that may be implemented within embodiments of the present invention . the computer system 500 includes a computer 502 , a network 520 and other components 530 . the computer 502 and other components 530 are in communication with each other via the network 520 . the computer 502 includes a processor 504 , main memory 506 , and input / output components 508 which are in communication via a bus 503 . processor 504 includes cache memory 510 and controls 512 , which include components configured for pipeline arbitration as described in the flowcharts shown in fig3 and 4 . the cache 510 may include multiple levels that are on or off - chip from processor 504 . memory 506 may include various data stored therein , e . g ., instructions , software , routines , etc ., which may be transferred to / from the cache 510 by controls 512 for execution by the processor 504 . input / output components 508 may include one or more components that facilitate local and / or remote input / output operations to / from computer 502 such as a display , keyboard , modem , network adapter , etc . ( not depicted ). embodiments of the present invention provide a multilevel lru priority scheme that has the advantage of preventing starving of certain requestors within the priority group by removing the randomness of the unlinked multilevel lru scheme . the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention . as used herein , the singular forms “ a ”, “ an ” and “ the ” are intended to include the plural forms as well , unless the context clearly indicates otherwise . it will be further understood that the terms “ comprises ” and / or “ comprising ,” when used in this specification , specify the presence of stated features , integers , steps , operations , elements , and / or components , but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features , integers , steps , operations , element components , and / or groups thereof . the corresponding structures , materials , acts , and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure , material , or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed . the description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description , but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed . many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . the embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application , and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated the flow diagrams depicted herein are just one example . there may be many variations to this diagram or the steps ( or operations ) described therein without departing from the spirit of the invention . for instance , the steps may be performed in a differing order or steps may be added , deleted or modified . all of these variations are considered a part of the claimed invention . the flowcharts can be implemented by computer program instructions . these computer program instructions may be provided to a processor or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine , such that the instructions which execute on the processor or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks . these computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer - readable memory or storage medium that can direct a processor or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner , such that the instructions stored in the computer - readable memory or storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks . while the preferred embodiment to the invention had been described , it will be understood that those skilled in the art , both now and in the future , may make various improvements and enhancements which fall within the scope of the claims which follow . these claims should be construed to maintain the proper protection for the invention first described .	6
fig1 is a block diagram that schematically illustrates an ib network communication system 20 , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . in system 20 , a hca 22 couples a host processor 24 to an ib network ( or fabric ) 26 . typically , processor 24 comprises an intel pentium ™ processor or other general - purpose computing device with suitable software . hca 22 typically communicates via network 26 with other hcas , such as a remote hca 28 with a remote host 30 , as well as with target channel adapters ( tcas ), such as a tca 32 connected to an input / output ( i / o ) device 34 . host 24 and hca 22 are connected to a local system memory 38 via a suitable memory controller 36 , as is known in the art . the hca and memory typically occupy certain ranges of physical addresses in a defined address space on a bus connected to the controller , such as a peripheral component interface ( pci ) bus . in addition to the host operating system , applications and other data ( not shown ), memory 38 holds data structures that are accessed and used by hca 22 . these data structures preferably include qp context information 42 maintained by the hca , and descriptors 44 corresponding to wqes to be carried out by hca 22 . although memory 38 is shown in fig1 as a single unit , which holds both control information and message payload data , the functions of the memory may be broken up among several units for purposes of convenient organization and access by host 24 and hca 22 . the term system memory , as used in the present patent application and in the claims , should be understood broadly to encompass all areas of local memory that can be accessed by host 24 . descriptors 44 are written to memory 38 by client processes running on host 24 . they include send descriptors , corresponding to outgoing request messages to be sent over fabric 26 by hca 22 , and receive descriptors , used by the hca to handle incoming send messages from remote requesters , such as hca 28 . the send descriptors are placed in the appropriate send queues of qps for service by hca 22 , and are not of direct relevance to the present invention . at least a portion of the receive descriptors , however , are not placed directly in the receive queues of individual qps . rather , they are held in a descriptor pool , as described below , which is shared among multiple qps . each of the receive descriptors contains a scatter list , comprising one or more scatter entries , each indicating a range of addresses in memory 38 to which hca 22 should write the data contained in the send message . preferably , each scatter entry includes a base address and a length of the data to be written beginning at the base address . fig2 is a block diagram that schematically shows details of hca 22 , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . for the sake of simplicity , elements of hca 22 that are not essential to an understanding of the present invention are omitted . the blocks and links that must be added to create a fully - operational hca will be apparent to those skilled in the art . further details of such a hca are described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 000 , 456 , filed dec . 4 , 2001 , which is assigned to the assignee of the present patent application , and whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference . the various blocks that make up hca 22 may be implemented either as hardware circuits or as software processes running on a programmable processor , or as a combination of hardware - and software - implemented elements . although certain functional elements of hca 22 are shown as separate blocks in the figure for the sake of conceptual clarity , the functions represented by these blocks may actually be carried out by different software processes on a single embedded processor . preferably , all of the elements of the hca are implemented in a single integrated circuit chip , but multi - chip implementations are also within the scope of the present invention . incoming packets from fabric 26 are received by hca 22 at an input port 50 , which serves as a network interface . a transport check unit ( tcu ) 52 processes and verifies transport - layer information contained in the incoming packets , in order to confirm the validity of the packets and to determine how they are to be handled . for this purpose , the tcu reads the destination qp of each incoming packet , and then looks up the relevant context information 42 for the qp . preferably , a cache 54 holds a copy of at least a portion of the context information that is required by the elements of hca 22 for processing incoming and outgoing packets on active qps . if the tcu does not find the required context information in cache 54 , the information is loaded into the cache from memory 38 . further details of the operation of cache 54 are described in a u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 052 , 413 entitled , “ queue pair context cache ,” filed jan . 23 , 2002 , which is assigned to the assignee of the present patent application and whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference . when the incoming packet contains data to be written to memory 38 , such as a rdma write or send request packet , tcu 52 passes the packets to a receive data engine ( rde ) 56 , which attends to executing the requests . a write engine 58 in rde 56 writes the packet data , via a translation protection table ( tpt ) 58 , to addresses in memory 38 that are specified in the applicable scatter list . tpt 58 acts as a host interface in hca 22 , performing address translation and protection checks to control access to memory 38 both by elements of hca 22 and by other , remote entities connected to network 26 . each rdma write message carries its own scatter list , which is prepared by the remote requester . to process incoming send messages , however , write engine 58 must read a receive descriptor from memory 38 , and use the scatter list provided by the descriptor . processing of incoming send messages by rde 56 is described in greater detail hereinbelow . after processing of an incoming send message has been completed ( and likewise , processing of other types of messages , when required ), a completion reporter 60 writes a cqe to a completion queue in memory 38 . write engine 58 and completion reporter 60 also use qp and completion queue context information that is held in cache 54 . preferably , when a given qp on hca 22 is configured to receive send messages , the qp can be set up by host 24 either to have its own queue of receive descriptors , as prescribed by the ib specification , or to share descriptors in a pool with other qps . most preferably , multiple pools of this sort are supported by hca 22 . the configuration of the qp as a pool member is preferably indicated by a flag in qp context 42 , as well as by a field in the context identifying the pool to which the qp belongs . fig3 is a block diagram that schematically illustrates data structures 70 maintained in memory 38 , which are used by rde 56 in processing incoming send messages , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . these structures are built around a descriptor pool 71 , which serves a group of qps . other qps may have their own , individual receive queues ( not shown in the figures ), as provided by the ib specification . optionally , for more efficient operation of rde 56 , some or all of the data in structures 70 are copied to cache 54 , as well . host 24 writes descriptors 78 , or wqes , to each open descriptor pool 71 . preferably , for efficient operation , the host writes sequences of multiple descriptors without waiting for the pool to empty . the descriptors are preferably arranged in a cyclic buffer . when the host writes a descriptor to the buffer , it moves a producer index ( pi ) so that it points to the tail of the pool , i . e ., to the last descriptor it has created . a consumer index ( ci ) points to the head of the queue and is manipulated by rde 56 to indicate the next descriptor to be read from the pool . for each pool 71 , the producer and consumer indices are recorded and maintained relative to a predetermined base address . the use of these pointers is described in greater detail hereinbelow . upon receiving a send message on a given qp , and determining that the qp belongs to a receive descriptor pool , rde 56 reads a pool number 72 for the qp from qp context information 42 ( which is preferably held in cache 54 ). the pool number serves as an index ( relative to a predetermined base address ) to an entry 76 in a descriptor pool table ( dpt ) 74 . entry 76 contains information for use by the rde in finding descriptors 78 to read from the descriptor pool 71 that is assigned to this qp . the same entry 76 is used for all the qps belonging to the same pool . each entry 76 in dpt 74 preferably includes the following information : start address — base address of pool 71 in memory 38 . size of the descriptors in this pool . the size determines the length of the scatter lists that can be used . total size of the pool , i . e ., the maximum number of descriptors that the pool can hold . when the producer or consumer index reaches this value , it wraps back to the base address . owner of the pool ( client software or hca hardware — when the owner is “ hardware ,” it means that the descriptors in the pool are available for use by the hca ). producer index address — memory location to which host 24 writes and updates the value of the producer index of pool 71 . consumer index . each descriptor 78 comprises one or more scatter entries , each indicating a buffer in memory 38 to which write engine 58 should write the data contained in an incoming send message . preferably , each scatter entry includes a base address and a length of the data that can be written beginning at the base address . in addition , descriptor 78 may include other fields used for control and signaling to hca 22 . the structure of descriptors 78 in pool 71 is preferably the same as that of the descriptors that are placed in the receive queues of qps that are not pool members . fig4 is a flow chart that schematically illustrates a method by which hca 22 processes incoming send request messages , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the method is initiated when tcu 52 receives a send packet from a remote requester via fabric 26 , at a send reception step 80 . after completing the required transport checks , the tcu passes the packet to rde 56 for service . note that ib send messages may comprise multiple packets , depending on the volume of data carried by the message and the maximum transfer unit ( mtu ) of the links over which the message travels . in the description that follows , it is assumed that the packet received at step 80 is the first or only packet in the send message . for multi - packet messages , the same descriptor that is fetched and used to scatter the data in the first packet is retained by rde 56 for use in processing the subsequent packets in the message , as well . write engine 58 determines the destination qp of the send packet , based on the packet header , and then looks up the context of the qp in cache 54 , at a pool membership checking step 82 . as noted above , the context indicates whether or not this qp belongs to a descriptor pool . if the qp is not a pool member , then in order to receive a send message , there must be a wqe available in the specific receive queue of this qp . the write engine reads the wqe address from the qp context and then fetches the wqe from the receive queue , at a descriptor fetching step 84 . it then processes the send message in the usual way , as provided by the ib specification . if write engine 58 determines at step 82 that the destination qp does , in fact , belong to a receive descriptor pool , it reads the number of the pool from the qp context , at a pool number reading step 86 . it uses this number to find the information necessary to access descriptor pool 71 to which this qp belongs , at an information lookup step 88 . this information is typically contained in entry 76 in table 74 ( fig3 ), which is indexed by pool number 72 . additionally , in order to access descriptor pool 71 in memory 38 , the write engine may need an access key , as is known in the art . this key is typically held in the qp context , and is preferably the same for all qps belonging to the pool . using the information in entry 76 , write engine 58 reads the consumer index ( ci ) and producer index ( pi ) of descriptor pool 71 , at an index checking step 90 . if the values of these indices are equal , it means that all descriptors 78 in pool 71 have already been used . without a valid descriptor , the write engine is unable to process the current send packet . under these circumstances , the send packet is typically discarded . if the send packet was sent on a reliable service , write engine 58 instructs a send data engine ( not shown ) in hca 22 to return a rnr nack packet to the sender , at a nack return step 92 . the sender may subsequently resend the packet . meanwhile , in such a case , the write engine preferably triggers an event , at an event submission step 94 , which is placed in an event queue to be read by host 24 . optionally , an interrupt may be generated , as well , to prompt the host to service the event queue . when the host reads the event , it will be alerted to the fact that descriptors 78 in pool 71 have been exhausted . the host software should then generate new descriptors to replenish the pool . as long as the values of ci and pi are not equal , write engine 58 reads descriptor 78 from the head of the circular buffer in pool 71 , at the location indicated by the ci , at a descriptor reading step 96 . it increments the ci to point to the next descriptor in the pool , at an index incrementation step 98 . the write engine then uses the scatter list provided by the descriptor it has read in processing the send packet data , at a packet processing step 100 . to perform this processing , the write engine reads the first scatter entry from the scatter list in descriptor 78 , which points to the first buffer to receive the data in memory 38 . the write engine pushes the data from the packet to this first buffer , until the buffer is filled . it then reads the next scatter entry , and continues pushing the data to the location that this scatter entry indicates . for multi - packet send messages , as long as hca 22 continues to receive additional packets in the same message , the write engine proceeds through the scatter list entries of the descriptor it has read from the pool , until the message is completed . upon completion of an incoming send message , write engine 58 instructs completion reporter 60 to generate a completion queue element ( cqe ), at a cqe generation step 102 . the completion reporter places the cqe in a completion queue in memory 38 , to be read by client software on host 24 . optionally , an event or interrupt may also be generated to notify the host that there are new data in memory 38 waiting to be read . preferably , the cqe indicates the qp on which the incoming send message was received and includes a pointer to the descriptor 78 in pool 71 that was used in processing the message that has now been completed . host 24 reads the scatter list from the descriptor in order to determine the location of the data to be read in memory 38 . once the host has read the data , the descriptor is no longer needed and can be overwritten by a new descriptor . as noted above , for send messages using reliable connection services , the ib specification provides a flow control mechanism based on end - to - end credits . typically , each credit represents one wqe posted to the receive queue of the responding qp . a qp that draws its wqes from a shared descriptor pool , however , has no wqes posted to its receive queue . instead , these qps may send credits to the corresponding requester based on the number of descriptors 78 posted to pool 71 ( preferably a smaller number of credits on each qp than there are actual descriptors in the pool ). as long as an appropriate statistical relationship is maintained between the number of credits and the number of descriptors in the pool , there will usually be a descriptor available to handle each send message that arrives . alternatively , even if the qps belonging to pool 71 do not send credits to their corresponding requesters , or if a requester exhausts its credits , the requester may still transmit send packets in limited mode , as described in section 9 . 7 . 7 . 2 . 5 of the ib specification . although preferred embodiments are described herein with specific reference to ib terminology and conventions , the principles of the present invention may similarly be applied to handling of data “ push ” operations and message transfers using channel semantics in networks of other types . for example , the methods described hereinabove can be used in protocol bridge applications , in which multiple connections on a first network are served by a single sink to a second network . in this manner multiple hosts on the first network ( for instance , on an ib fabric ) can be connected to a converter that channels their traffic to the second network ( such as an ethernet network ). by means of this mechanism , the amount of memory required by the protocol bridge is substantially reduced . it will thus be appreciated that the preferred embodiments described above are cited by way of example , and that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove . rather , the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the various features described hereinabove , as well as variations and modifications thereof which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not disclosed in the prior art .	7
by way of brief introduction , the primary function of the apparatus of the present invention is to provide a visible indicator that a wire rope installation has been overloaded . a secondary function of the apparatus of the invention is to provide a convenient method to measure the current load being supported by a wire rope installation using a linear caliper . distinct from the prior art wire rope mechanical fuses , the present invention can be retrofitted to a wire rope installation in the field without the need to remove end fittings and / or cut the wire rope . no modification or additional structural items need be added to the existing wire installation . the retrofittable wire rope fuse can be installed on any section of wire rope installation using ordinary hand tools . it is also much simpler and more economical to both manufacture and install . the main body of the retrofittable fuse is an asymmetric generally “ u ” shaped structure . one vertical leg of the structure is clamped to the wire rope at a convenient location . the load in the wire rope installation is relieved and the remaining vertical leg of the “ u ” shaped structure is clamped to the wire rope with a small amount of slack left in the wire rope between the two vertical legs of the structure . the load in the wire rope installation is then returned to the designed limits . the slackened section of the wire rope between the two leg sections of the “ u ” shaped structure supports no load since the load is transferred from the wire rope into the fuse body . the center section of the structure is very sensitive to the bending movement applied by the offset axial load from the wire rope . this deformation takes the shape of a circular arc the depth of which is easily measured with a conventional linear caliper . the secondary function of the apparatus of the invention is achieved by measuring the magnitude of this deformed center section of the “ u ” shaped body and comparing it to tabulated data of deformation versus wire rope axial load . the center section of this “ u ” shaped body is provided with notches that are machined in the top and bottom surfaces resulting in a weaken section due not only to the reduced area but also due to the presence of stress concentrations . this section is designed to fail at a predetermined wire rope axial load . when this predetermined wire rope load is exceeded the fuse fails , transferring the wire rope load back into the previous slackened section of the wire rope between the two legs of the “ u ” shaped fuse body . the primary function of the apparatus of the present invention is achieved when the center section of the “ u ” shaped body breaks , providing a clear visible indicator that the wire rope installation has been overloaded . referring now to the drawings and particularly to fig1 and 2 , one form of the apparatus of the invention for interconnection with the wire rope to provide a visible indication that the wire rope has been overloaded , is there shown and generally designated by the numeral 1 . in this form of the invention , the apparatus comprises an asymmetric fuse body here shown as a generally “ u ” shaped body 3 having a first leg l - 1 , a second leg l - 2 , and a breakable bite portion b having a central frangible portion fp . as indicated in the drawings , first and second legs l - 1 and l - 2 extend substantially perpendicularly to the bite portion b . frangible portion fp , which includes a top wall w disposed in a first plane p - 1 , is deformable from a first position shown in fig1 and 2 to a second position shown in fig3 wherein the central , frangible portion is spaced apart from the first plane by a visible , measurable distance d . bite portion b is further deformable from the second position to a third position shown in fig4 of the drawings , wherein the bite portion is broken . a first end plate 4 is connected to the first leg l - 1 of the “ u ” shaped body using a plurality of fasteners 6 and cooperates therewith to form a first wire rope gripping channel c - 1 . similarly , a second end plate 8 is connected to the second leg l - 2 of the “ u ” shaped body using a plurality of fasteners 9 and cooperates therewith to form a second wire rope gripping channel c - 2 . disposed within channel c - 1 is a malleable insert 5 and disposed within channel c - 2 is a malleable insert 10 . the purpose of these malleable inserts will presently be described . as illustrated in fig1 and 2 of the drawings , the central frangible portion fp of the bite portion b comprises a pair of opposing notches formed in the bite portion . more particularly , the central frangible portion fp here comprises an upper notch 11 and a lower notch 12 . in using the apparatus of the invention , the “ u ” shaped body 3 is clamped onto the wire rope end 2 r by end plate 4 using the bolt and nut pattern 6 . the clamping force created by the bolt and nut pattern 6 deforms the malleable insert 5 into the strands of the wire rope 2 to secure the right end of the body 3 onto the wire rope 2 . slack or curvature 7 is imposed on the wire rope 2 before end plate 8 is clamped onto the wire rope end 2 l using the bolt and nut pattern 9 . again , the clamping force created by the bolt and nut pattern 9 deforms a malleable insert 10 into the strands of the wire rope 2 to secure the left end of fuse body 3 onto the wire rope 2 . as a tensile load is applied to wire rope 2 , the load in the wire rope section 2 r is diverted from the wire rope section 2 r by the clamped section 4 into the mid - section of the “ u ” shaped body . the load is then returned to the wire rope 2 at section 2 l by the clamped section 8 . the wire rope section 7 supports no load . the notched sections 11 and 12 create a stress concentration causing the section to fail or fracture at this location when the axial and bending loads at this critical section reach a predetermined magnitude . in order to adjust the failure characteristics of the critical section , it may be necessary to heat treat the fuse body or locally work - harden the center section of the fuse body . such procedures used to adjust material properties are well known and may also be used to create a weakened area apart from the use of a reduced area of material . the single asymmetric retrofittable wire rope assembly 1 shown in fig1 is exploded in fig2 to illustrate how the assembly is connected or retrofitted to an existing wire rope . the wire rope 2 of fig1 is omitted from fig2 to help clarify the individual components of the fuse assembly . with reference to fig2 , the fuse body 3 has a bolt hole pattern through which bolts 6 a and nut 6 b clamp end plate 4 onto the “ u ” shaped body 3 . section c - 1 in body 3 accepts the malleable insert 5 a restricting the insert 5 a from moving longitudinally . the mating end plate 4 includes section 4 a to trap and restrict longitudinal motion of malleable insert 5 b . as the end plate 4 is clamped onto the body 3 using bolts 6 a and nuts 6 b , the malleable inserts 5 a and 5 b are extruded into the wire strands of the wire rope forming a swedged connection securing the wire rope 2 in fig1 to the body 3 . slack is then formed in the wire rope 2 of fig1 and the clamping procedure previously described is repeated to secure the remaining end of the wire rope 2 of fig1 . to create the slack in wire rope 2 , the tension in the existing wire rope is relieved as much as necessary and the wire rope assembly 1 is retrofitted to the wire rope 2 as illustrated and described in fig1 and fig2 . the wire rope is then re - tensioned to the required designed load . a planar view of fuse body 3 subjected to a tensile loading is shown in fig3 . the applied end loads 16 a and 16 b cause bending in the fuse body center section resulting in a measurable displacement d . having measured this displacement d , the tensile load 16 a and 16 b imposed on the wire rope may be estimated through previous calibration of body 3 . alternatively , the asymmetric fuse may be constructed without reduced areas 11 and 12 so as only to deform under load , not to trip ( break or fail ). this embodiment can be constructed so as to continue deforming until the load is transferred to the wire rope . fig4 shows an asymmetric wire rope fuse assembly 1 of fig1 that has been subjected to an axial load in wire rope 2 greater than the predetermined maximum allowable tensile load . the bite portion b has tripped by fracturing at surface 17 located proximate the reduced areas or notches 11 and 12 . the generally “ u ” shaped body 3 having separated into two parts 3 c and 3 d , cause the load previously supported by the fuse body to be transferred back into the wire rope section 7 a . wire rope section 7 a has been straightened as it supports load . the separation gap 18 between the separated section 3 c and 3 d of the fuse body represents the amount of slack formed in the wire rope section 7 of fig1 upon installation . the foregoing has been a description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention . it is understood that those skilled in the art may depart from the descriptions of the preferred embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims .	0
the preferred embodiment of the present invention is best understood by referring to the figures wherein like numerals are used for like in corresponding parts of the various drawings . fig1 shows a typical cmos gate array base cell 10 in which two stripes 12 and 14 each comprise a p - channel transistor and an n - channel transistor . for example , stripe 12 comprises p - channel transistor 16 and n - channel transistor 18 , while stripe 14 comprises p - channel transistor 20 and n - channel transistor 22 . for cmos gate array base cell 10 , p - channel transistor 16 and n - channel transistor 18 share polysilicon gate 24 . likewise , p - channel transistor 20 and n - channel transistor 22 share polysilicon gate 26 . line 28 shows the internal source / drain connection between p - channel transistors 16 and 20 . line 30 shows the internal source / drain connection between n - channel transistors 18 and 22 . p - channel transistor 16 connects to source / drain 32 , n - channel transistor to source / drain 34 , p - channel transistor 20 to source / drain 36 , and n - channel transistor 22 to source / drain 38 . in this configuration , usually the p - channel transistors have the same size as the n - channel transistors . as a result , there is no practical way to implement a memory function on a base cell with generally acceptable speed , component density , and reliability while at the same time performing logic functions with the p - transistor . fig2 shows a diagram of a typical gate array memory cell 40 in which the memory cell elements are designed from typical gate array base cell elements . in the base cell 40 , the memory elements comprise inverters 42 and 44 that connect to one another by lines 46 and 48 . in this configuration , inverter 42 drives inverter 44 , and vice versa . select mechanism 56 isolates memory cell 40 circuit 50 from bit lines bitp and bitn and write circuits 52 and 54 . during a sense period , write circuits 52 and 54 must be tri - stated or effectively disconnected from bit lines bitp and bitn , respectively . the typical select mechanism 56 for the preferred embodiment comprises n - channel transistors 58 and 60 . n - channel transistors are desirable , because they have more transconductance per unit area . n - channel transistors 58 and 60 , respectively , go to bit line bitp for sensing the logic state of inverter 44 and to bit line bitn for sensing the logic state of inverter 42 . sensing amplifiers 62 and 64 amplify the signal and isolate the sense lines from external circuitry . memory cell 40 must be capable of having its internal polarities changed to correspond to the polarities on bit lines bitp and bitn when it is selected by enabling n - channel transistors 58 and 60 . during this write cycle , bit lines bitp and bitn are driven by write circuits 52 and 54 in such a way as to overpower whatever data may be in memory cell 40 to overwrite this data . during a write cycle , the n - channel of the write driver and the select n - channel are in series and must be able to sink enough current from the p - channel to guarantee the voltage of inverters 42 or 44 , as appropriate , to less than 0 . 33 of the applied voltage . at this point , the body effect of transistors lowers the select n - channel transistors effective transconductance . this makes a p - channel in the memory cell with a small width very desirable , because a small p - channel transistor overcomes body effect problems in the select transistor . write drivers or circuits 52 and 54 may be any devices capable of sending a write signal to respective bit lines bitp and bitn . however , write circuits 52 and 54 must each have an enable signal g . the function of each enable signal g is to permit driving bit lines bitp and bitn when a write function is desired . when reading is to occur , on the other hand , it is necessary to tri - state circuit 52 and 54 to prevent them from overpowering the data coming from memory circuit 50 , to sensing circuit amplifiers 62 and 64 . fig3 shows memory cell circuit 50 at the transistor level to more fully describe the known memory cell 40 configuration . according to fig3 inverter 42 comprises p - channel transistor 66 and n - channel transistor 68 while inverter 44 comprises p - channel transistor 70 and n - channel transistor 72 . source connections for p - channel transistors 66 and 70 go to v cc line 74 , while the drain for transistor 66 goes to line 48 , and the drain for transistor 70 goes to line 46 . likewise , source connections for n - channel transistors 68 and 72 go to ground line 76 , the drain for transistor 68 goes to line 48 and the drain for transistor 72 goes to line 46 . select mechanism 56 , comprising n - channel transistors 58 and 60 , respectively , connect to inverters 42 and 44 . n - channel transistor 58 of select mechanism 56 connects to bit line bitp and n - channel transistor 60 connects to bit line bitn . the gates of select n - channel transistors 58 and 60 both tie to select node 78 . fig4 schematically illustrates gate array base cell 100 which is the preferred embodiment of the present invention . gate array base cell 100 has two sets of transistors with a common or connected together gates . one set is comprised of large p - channel transistor m1 , small p - channel transistor m3 , and n - channel transistor m5 . the other set is comprised of large p - channel transistor m2 , small p - channel transistor m4 , and n - channel transistor m6 . large p - channel transistor m1 and small p - channel transistor m3 may be configured in a single stripe 80 with n - channel transistor m5 . likewise , large p - channel transistor m2 and small p - channel transistor m4 may be configured in a single stripe 82 with n - channel transistor m6 . select mechanism 154 includes n - channel transistors m7 and m8 . this is the configuration of the gate array base cell prior to connecting the elements to perform memory , logic or other functions . when gate array base cell 100 is to perform a memory function , only the small p - channel transistors m3 and m4 need be programmed in . on the other hand , when a logic or other normal cell function is desired , either the larger p - channel transistors m1 and m2 or the larger p - channel transistors m1 and m2 and the smaller p - channel transistors m3 and m4 may be connected together . in the preferred embodiment , p - channel transistors m1 and m2 share common line 102 , n - channel transistors m3 and m4 share common source line 104 and n - channel transistors m5 and m6 share common line 106 . additionally , p - channel transistors m1 and m3 share polysilicon gate 108 , while p - channel transistors m2 and m4 share polysilicon gate 110 . with this configuration , the interconnection of the transistor nodes determines the function of the gate array base cell as a memory cell or as a normal logic gate array base cell . select mechanism 112 is located in the same gate array base cell as memory cell 100 , instead of an adjacent base cell . this has increased economy and versatility within a single gate array base cell . additionally , this provides much more efficient programmation of the gate array base cell for the preferred embodiment . thus , with the use of a minimal amount of additional wiring , select mechanism 112 can increase the circuit efficiency of memory cell 100 . there are at least two attractive implementations of the gate array base cell of the preferred embodiment . fig5 shows the base cell 114 schematic in a &# 34 ; notched &# 34 ; layout configuration for p - channel transistors m1 , m2 , m3 , and m4 . for some purposes , the design may be such that the p - channel transistors are built with a layout notch . fig5 shows that it is possible to configure p - channel transistors m1 , m2 , m3 , and m4 so that they connect to source line 116 . transistors m1 and m3 are physically separate as are transistors m2 and m4 . in this configuration , however , upon connecting any one of transistors m1 , m2 , m3 , or m4 to v cc , all transistors become electrically connected to v cc . this configuration can save routing resources in the configuration of the gate array base cell 114 . this benefit may also operate disadvantageously , however , because all p - channel transistors are connected to v cc and even if not all transistors are used , there is a parasitic capacitance that the non - used p - channel transistors cause . additionally , if a clad or low resistance moat is used , this scheme works well . on the other hand , if non - clad or high resistance moat is used , a significant resistance arises in the leads connecting to v cc . this limits the drive currents for gate array 114 . fig6 shows the gate array base cell used as a memory cell circuit 118 . memory cell circuit 118 may be used for memory cell functions such as described in association with fig2 above . according to fig6 smaller p - channel transistors m3 and m4 operate with n - channel transistors m5 and m6 . p - channel transistor m3 and n - channel transistor m5 may form inverter 120 while p - channel transistor m4 and n - channel transistor m8 form inverter 122 . inverter 120 drives inverter 122 through lead 124 . likewise , inverter 122 drives inverter 120 through lead 126 . select mechanism 112 uses n - channel transistors m7 and m8 to reach bit lines bitp and bitn , respectively . fig6 does not show large p - channel transistors m1 and m2 . they , however , are nonetheless fabricated as part of the gate array base cell . they are not shown schematically , because they are not connected electrically . additionally , larger p - channel transistors m1 and m2 are connected to the same strip of polysilicon and produce minimal parasitic capacitance . fig7 shows the gate array base cell of the preferred embodiment in the configuration of two - input nand gate array 128 . for the configuration of fig7 p - channel transistors m1 , m2 , m3 , and m4 connect through common source line 130 to v cc and have common drain line 132 . also connecting to common drain line 162 is n - channel transistor m5 . for the two - input nand function of the preferred embodiment , the source of n - channel transistor m5 goes to n - channel transistor m6 . enable signals for p - channel transistor m1 and m3 and n - channel transistor come from line b , while enable signals for p - channel transistor m2 and m4 and n - channel transistor m6 come from line a . drain current from n - channel transistor m6 goes to ground . the output of nand gate 128 is taken at node 132 . for the two implementations of the preferred embodiment that fig6 and 7 illustrate diagrammatically , fig8 a and 8b , respectively , show simplified mask prints 134 and 136 . in particular , fig8 a shows contacts , vias , and metal lines for the use of the preferred embodiment in a memory cell 118 , while fig8 b shows the contacts , vias , and metal lines necessary for the preferred embodiment to serve as a two - input nand gate array . the reference numbers for fig8 a and 8b compared to the respective components for the preferred embodiment to operate , respectively , as a memory cell 118 and two - input nand gate 128 . although the invention has been described with reference to the above specified embodiments , this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense . various modifications of the disclosed embodiment , as well as alternative embodiments of the invention will become apparent to person skilled in the art upon reference to the above description . it is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover such modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention .	7
fig5 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the exhaust gas recirculation control valve according to the present invention . in this embodiment , a path in an exhaust gas recirculation control valve 25 comprises a minimum diameter portion 25a having a cylindrical cross - section and provided downstream as viewed from the inlet of the exhaust gas , and a cylindrical path 25b having a diameter larger than that of the minimum diameter portion and provided upstream of the minimum diameter portion 25a . a stepped portion is formed between the cylindrical path 25b and the minimum diameter portion 25a , said stepped portion constituting a section , where carbon and the like are concentratingly collected , which will hereinafter be described . formed upstream of the cylindrical path 25b is a path 25c being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section , the exhaust gas inlet side of which has a larger diameter . this path 25c having the frusto - conical shape in cross - section is constructed such that the inner diameter of the smaller diameter end thereof is larger than the inner diameter of the aforesaid minimum diameter portion 25a . in this embodiment , as shown in fig6 the deposit such as carbon contained in the exhaust gas is mostly accumulated at the stepped portion formed between the minimum diameter portion 25a of the control valve 25 and the cylindrical path 25b , and scarcely attached to other portions . description will hereunder be given of this phenomenon . in general , the relation between the flow rate and the pressure difference in a control valve constituting a throttle may be given by : ## equ1 ## wherein q : the flow rate , aj : the cross - sectional area of the path ( the cross - sectional area of the minimum diameter portion of the control valve ), and now , in the exhaust gas recirculation control valve 25 of this embodiment , in the case the deposit such as carbon contained in the exhaust gas is attached to the control valve 25 , the deposit d is concentratingly attached to the stepped portion formed between the minimum diameter portion 25a and the cylindrical path 25b , with the result that a substantially frusto - conical shape in cross - section is formed by the deposit d from the exhaust gas inlet end of the control valve 25 to the inlet of the minimum diameter portion 25a . the flow coefficient is increased with this change in shape , whereby ka · aj in the aforesaid equation ( 1 ) is not varied . consequently , the relation between the flow rate q and the pressure difference δp can be retained to be constant , so that the fluctuation with time of the exhaust gas recirculation characteristics can be prevented in the exhaust gas recirculation control valve 25 of this embodiment , thus enabling obviation of the disadvantage such as the decreased in flow rate due to decrease path diameter of the valve . more specifically , as shown in fig1 , in the prior art , the flow rate of the control valve is decreased with the lapse of running time as indicated by broken lines in fig1 . however , in this embodiment , the flow rate is maintained to be constant for a long period of running time of the motor car ( see solid lines i ), no fluctuation in flow rate at an early stage is observed , and , besides , it is possible to increase the flow rate with the lapse of running time as indicated by solid lines ii by suitably selecting the shape of the path in the control valve . fig7 and 8 are sectional views showing other embodiments of the exhaust gas recirculation control valve according to the present invention . with these embodiments too , the diameter of the path in the control valve is not decreased due to the attachment of deposits such as carbon . on the contrary , the exhaust gas inlet portion of the path is formed into a smooth shape by carbon and the like thus attached , whereby the flow coefficient is increased , so that fluctuation with time in the exhaust gas recirculation characteristics can be effectively prevented . firstly , in the embodiment shown in fig7 the inner path of the exhaust gas recirculation control valve 25 comprises a minimum diameter portion 25a and a path 25c being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section and formed upstream of the minimum diameter portion 25a . formed between the minimum diameter portion 25a and the path 25c being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section is a stepped portion corresponding to a value of the difference in diameter between the aforesaid minimum diameter portion 25a and the inner diameter of the smallest diameter portion of the path 25c . the deposit contained in the exhaust gas , such as carbon , is concentratingly accumulated at this stepped portion . as a result , in this embodiment also , a smooth path is formed at a portion from the path 25c to the minimum diameter portion 25a , so that the flow coefficient can be increased , thereby enabling prevention of fluctuation with time in the exhaust gas recirculation characteristics . fig8 shows a further embodiment of the present invention , in which , in an exhaust gas recirculation control valve 25 , another path 25d being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section and having a progressively larger diameter toward the exhaust gas inlet is formed between the minimum diameter portion 25a and the path 25c having a frusto - conical shape in cross - section , and carbon and the like contained in the exhaust gas is concentratingly accumulated at a stepped portion formed from this path 25d to the path 25c . fig9 shows a still further embodiment of the exhaust gas recirculation control valve 25 according to the present invention , in which a path 25b being of a cylindrical shape in cross - section is formed between the path 25c and path 25d , both of which are of frusto - conical shapes in cross - section as shown in fig9 . in this embodiment , the deposit such as carbon is concentratingly attached to a stepped portion formed at a portion from the path 25d to the path 25b , whereby the side of the exhaust gas inlet of the control valve 25 is formed into a smooth passageway , thus increasing the flow coefficient . fig1 shows a yet further embodiment of the exhaust gas recirculation control valve 25 , in which a portion corresponding to the path 25d shown in fig9 i . e ., an upstream end of the minimum diameter portion 25a , has a roundish curve in cross - section as indicated at 25e , and a downstream end of the cylindrical path 25b also has a roundish curve in cross - section as indicated at 25f . this embodiment can offer such an advantage that , the curved portions 25e and 25f are provided to eliminate sharp corners , so that working of the path in the control valve 25 can be considerably facilitated . fig1 shows a still further embodiment of the present invention , in which the path in the exhaust gas recirculation control valve 25 comprises a minimum diameter portion 25a and a path 25c being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section , and the minimum diameter portion 25a in this embodiment is moderately tapered off toward the path 25c . fig1 shows a yet further embodiment of the present invention , in which an annular ridge 25g is provided which projects toward the center of the control valve 25 in the vicinity of a connecting portion between a minimum diameter portion 25a and a path 25c being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section . futhermore , the inner periphery of this annular ridge 25g has a roundish curve as indicated by 25h . further , a curved portion 25i is formed from the annular ridge 25g to the path 25c to eliminate sharp corners , so that working can be facilitated . the provision of the annular ridge 25g as described above leads to the formation of a considerably deep stepped portion , thus further increasing the effects of concentratingly collecting the deposit such as carbon . fig1 shows a still further embodiment of the present invention , in which , as in the embodiment in fig1 , an annular ridge 25j is provided which projects toward the center of the control valve 25 in the vicinity of a connecting portion between a minimum diameter portion 25a and a path 25c being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section . however , the annular ridge 25j in this embodiment is thinner than the annular ridge 25g in fig1 , and the cross - sectional area of the path at the annular ridge 25j is larger than that in fig1 . fig1 shows a yet further embodiment of the present invention , in which an annular ridge 25k is provided which projects toward the exhaust gas inlet at a stepped portion formed at a portion from a minimum diameter portion 25a to a path 25c being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section in the exhaust gas recirculation control valve 25 , whereby the deposit such as carbon contained in the exhaust gas is concentratingly accumulated in an annularly recessed portion formed between this annular ridge 25k and the path 25c and at a stepped portion formed between the inner surface of this annular ridge 25k and the aforesaid minimum diameter portion 25a . fig1 shows a still further embodiment of the present invention , in which an annular ridge 25l is provided which slightly projects toward the exhaust gas inlet at a stepped portion formed between a minimum diameter portion 25a and a cylindrical path 25b . in this embodiment , the deposit such as carbon contained in the exhaust gas is attached to a stepped portion having a recess formed at a portion from the annular ridge 25l to the cylindrical path 25b , whereby a smooth exhaust gas inlet portion is formed at a portion from the minimum diameter portion 25a and a path 25c being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section . fig1 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the exhaust gas recirculation control valve 26 according to the present invention , in which this exhaust gas recirculation control valve 26 is a modification improved from the control valve 6 in fig2 and the control valve 16 in fig4 . more specifically , in the exhaust gas recirculation control valve 26 , a path 26d being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section and tapered off toward the exhaust gas inlet is formed upstream of a portion 26a , a cylindrical path 26e is disposed upstream of this path 26d , this cylindrical path 26e is extended to an annular ridge 26f provided upstream thereof , this annular ridge 26f forms a stepped portion having a recess between itself and a cylindrical path 26b provided upstream thereof , and further a path 26c being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section and having a progressively larger diameter toward the exhaust gas inlet is disposed contiguous to this cylindrical path 26b . this embodiment is of such an arrangement that the deposit such as carbon contained in the exhaust gas is concentratingly accumulated at a stepped portion having a recess formed from the annular ridge 26f to the cylindrical path 26b . fig1 is a sectional view showing a further embodiment of the exhaust gas recirculation control valve 26 according to the present invention , in which a path 26c being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section is extended to a portion corresponding to the cylindrical path 26b in fig1 , with the construction other than this extension of the path 26c being substantially the same as in fig1 . fig1 shows a still further embodiment of the exhaust gas recirculation control valve according to the present invention , in which a valve seat 29 coming into contact with a valve body 27 is assembled with a valve housing 28 to form the inner path similar to those shown in the preceding embodiments . more specifically , a minimum diameter portion 29a corresponding to the minimum diameter portion 25a in the preceding embodiments is formed at the downstream side of the valve seat 29 as viewed from the exhaust gas inlet , and , for example , a path 29d being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section and having a progressively larger diameter toward the exhaust gas inlet is at the upstream side of this minimum diameter portion 29a similarly to the path 25d being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section shown in the embodiment of fig8 . furthermore , a path 28c being of a frusto - conical shape in cross - section and having a progressively larger diameter toward the exhaust gas inlet is formed on the valve housing 28 from the upstream end of the path 29d . consequently , in this embodiment also , a stepped portion is formed at a portion from the path 28c being of the frusto - conical shape in cross - section of the valve housing 28 to the path 29d having the frusto - conical shape in cross - section , the deposit such as carbon contained in the exhaust gas is concentratingly attached to this stepped portion , whereby a smooth exhaust gas passageway is formed at a portion from the path 28c to the minimum diameter portion 29a of the valve seat 29 to increase the flow coefficient , thereby enabling to prevent the change with time in the exhaust gas recirculation characteristics . this invention includes the construction of the control valve of the assembled type as shown in fig1 . it should be understood , however , that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed , but on the contrary , the invention covers all modifications , alternate constructions and equivalents . as has been described hereinabove , according to the present invention , such a phenomenon as the exhaust gas recirculation control valve having a decreased flow rate due to the decrease in the diameters of paths with time by the attachment of carbon and the like contained in the exhaust gas , resulting in the change with time in the exhaust gas recirculation characteristics , can be prevented . further , satisfactory exhaust gas recirculation characteristics can be constantly maintained for a long period of running time of the motor car .	5
fig1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a coated article 10 including a substrate 11 and an anti - corrosion layer 13 deposited on the substrate 11 . the substrate 11 can be made of metallic material , such as aluminum , aluminum alloy , magnesium or magnesium alloy . the anti - corrosion layer 13 substantially comprising zrw 2 o 8 and alon , wherein the mass percentage of zrw 2 o 8 is about 15 - 35 %, the remainder substantially alon . the anti - corrosion layer 13 is deposited by magnetron sputtering . the anti - corrosion layer 13 has a thickness between about 0 . 5 micrometers ( μm ) and about 1 . 1 μm . a method for manufacturing the coated article 10 may include at least the following steps : providing a substrate 11 that may be made of aluminum , aluminum alloy , magnesium or magnesium alloy . pretreating the substrate 11 by washing with a solution ( e . g ., alcohol or acetone ) in an ultrasonic cleaner to remove impurities and contaminations , such as grease , or dirt , the substrate 11 is then dried . the substrate 11 is then cleaned by argon plasma cleaning . providing a vacuum sputtering coating machine 20 . referring to fig2 , the vacuum sputtering coating machine 20 includes a sputtering coating chamber 21 and a vacuum pump 30 connected to the sputtering coating chamber 21 . the vacuum pump 30 is used to evacuate the sputtering coating chamber 21 . the vacuum sputtering coating machine 20 further includes two aluminum - based targets 23 , a rotating bracket 25 , and a plurality of gas inlets 27 . the rotating bracket 25 rotates the substrate 11 in the sputtering coating chamber 21 relative to the aluminum - based targets 23 . the aluminum - based targets 23 face each other , and are respectively located on opposite sides of the rotating bracket 25 . the aluminum - based targets 23 substantially comprising zrw 2 o 8 and aluminum , wherein the mass percentage of zrw 2 o 8 is about 20 - 40 %, the remainder substantially aluminum . a method for manufacturing the aluminum - based targets 23 comprising the following steps : providing powders of zrw 2 o 8 and aluminum , wherein the mass percentage of the zrw 2 o 8 powder is about 20 - 40 %, the remainder is aluminum powder ; blending the zrw 2 o 8 and aluminum powders to produce a blended powder ; compacting the blended powder by cold isostatic pressing ( cip ); consolidating the compacted powder by vacuum sintering at a temperature of about 800 to about 880 ° c . for about 2 to about 5 hours . the method for manufacturing the aluminum - based target 23 further comprising : polishing the aluminum - based target 23 to smoothen the surfaces of the aluminum - based target 23 . cleaning the aluminum - based targets 23 by argon ( ar ) plasma . the substrate 11 is retained on a rotating bracket 25 in a sputtering coating chamber 21 . the vacuum level inside the sputtering coating chamber 21 is set to about 3 . 0 * 10 − 5 pa . argon gas is fed into the sputtering coating chamber 21 at a flux rate about 500 standard cubic centimeters per minute ( sccm ) from the gas inlets 27 . a bias voltage applied to the substrate 11 may be between about − 50 volts ( v ) and about − 150 volts . the argon particles strike against and clean the surface of aluminum - based targets 23 . an anti - corrosion layer 13 is deposited on the substrate 11 . the temperature in the sputtering coating chamber 21 is set between about 100 ° c . ( celsius degree ) and about 120 ° c . argon gas is fed into the sputtering coating chamber 21 at a flux between about 100 standard cubic centimeters per minute ( sccm ) and about 300 sccm from the gas inlets 27 . nitrogen is fed into the sputtering coating chamber 20 at a flux between about 10 sccm and 20 sccm and oxygen is fed into the sputtering coating chamber 20 at a flux between about 10 sccm and 20 sccm from the gas inlets 27 . the aluminum - based targets 23 in the sputtering coating chamber 21 are evaporated at a power between about 6 kw and about 8 kw . a bias voltage applied to the substrate 11 may be between about − 50 volts and about − 150 volts , for between about 30 minutes and about 120 minutes , to deposit the anti - corrosion layer 13 on the substrate 11 . the anti - corrosion layer 13 has a thickness between about 0 . 5 μm and about 1 . 1 μm . once cooled down , the coated article 10 can be removed . with the decrease of the temperature of the substrate 11 after depositing the anti - corrosion layer 13 , zrw 2 o 8 is capable of expanding to fill gaps between the alon particles due to their ( i . e ., the zrw 2 o 8 ) negative thermal expansion coefficient . which makes the anti - corrosion layer 13 achieve a more compact structure relative to an alon layer , thus can improve the corrosion resistance of the coated article 10 . it is to be understood that the method for manufacturing the coated article 10 may further includes depositing a bonding layer between the substrate 11 and the anti - corrosion layer 13 to improve bonding force between the substrate 11 and the anti - corrosion layer 13 so the anti - corrosion layer 13 can be firmly deposited on the substrate 30 . a sample of aluminum alloy substrate was pretreated and then was placed into the sputtering coating chamber 21 of the vacuum sputtering coating machine 20 . the temperature in the sputtering coating chamber 21 was set about 100 ° c . argon was fed into the sputtering coating chamber 21 at a flux about 250 sccm from the gas inlets 27 . nitrogen was fed into the sputtering coating chamber 20 at a flux about 15 sccm and oxygen is fed into the sputtering coating chamber 20 at a flux between about 15 sccm from the gas inlets 27 . the aluminum - based targets 23 in the sputtering coating chamber 21 were evaporated at a power about 6 kw . a bias voltage applied to the substrate 11 was between about − 100 volts for about 60 minutes , to deposit an anti - corrosion layer on the aluminum alloy substrate . the aluminum - based targets 23 were manufactured as follows . providing powders of zrw 2 o 8 and aluminum wherein the mass percentage of the zrw 2 o 8 powder was about 50 %, the remainder is aluminum powder ; and the powders of zrw 2 o 8 and aluminum was blended to produce a blended powder . the blended powder was compacted by cold isostatic pressing ( cip ). next , the compacted powder was then consolidated by vacuum sintering at a temperature of 810 ° c . for about 3 . 5 hours . unlike the example 1 , in the example 2 , the substrate was made of magnesium alloy . the aluminum - based targets 23 were evaporated at a power between about 7 kw . the time of depositing the anti - corrosion layer 13 was about 75 minutes . the mass percentage of the zrw 2 o 8 powder was about 30 % in the blended powders of zrw 2 o 8 and aluminum . the temperature of consolidating the compacted powder was about 880 ° c . except the above difference , the remaining experiment conditions of example 2 were same as example 1 . a substrate of magnesium alloy coated with an anti - corrosion layer was obtained according to example 2 . unlike the example 1 , in the comparison example , the flux of the nitrogen was between about 80 sccm and the flux of the oxygen was between about 20 sccm . the aluminum - based targets were replaced by aluminum targets , and the aluminum targets in the sputtering coating chamber 21 are evaporated at a power about 8 kw . a bias voltage applied to the substrate was about − 200 volts for about 40 minutes . except the above difference , the remaining experiment conditions of comparison example were same with example 1 . a substrate of aluminum alloy coated with an alon layer was obtained according to comparison example . the samples coated with the anti - corrosion layer and the sample coated with alon layer were tested by salt spray test ( 35 ° c ., 5 % nacl ). the sample coated with alon layer was subjected to the 72 hour salt spray test . but , the samples coated with the anti - corrosion layer were subjected to the 120 hour salt spray test . thus , it is clear that the samples coated with the anti - corrosion layer have better corrosion resistance than the sample coated with alon layer . it is to be understood , however , that even through numerous characteristics and advantages of the exemplary disclosure have been set forth in the foregoing description , together with details of the system and function of the disclosure , 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 disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed .	2
the rebar fabricating machine of the present invention is shown generally at 10 in fig1 and 2 . the rebar fabricating machine 10 can be fed using either coil stock 16 stored on a conventional coil stock reel ( not shown ) or with straight rod stock 22 stored on a straight rod stock cradle 20 adjacent the entry end of the main cabinet 12 of the rebar fabricating machine 10 . whenever reference is made in this specification and the accompanying claims to the term &# 34 ; stock material &# 34 ;, it is to be understood that the term &# 34 ; stock material &# 34 ; is intended to cover both straight rod stock material 22 and coil stock material 16 . the rebar fabricating machine 10 comprises a horizontal straightening module 30 positioned adjacent the entry end of the main cabinet 12 . the main cabinet 12 contains the main drive module 50 , the vertical straightening module 80 , the encoder roll 92 is located above the exit drive roll 94 , a shear head 96 and the bending head 90 . the entire rebar fabricating machine 10 is operated by means of an electronic and hydraulic control system as will be explained herein . as shown in fig1 and 2 , the rebar fabricating machine 10 is being fed with coil stock 16 which first passes through a pair of entry guide rolls 28 and then enters into the horizontal straightening module 30 . the horizontal straightening module 30 is mounted on a pair of legs 31 which are connected by pivots 33 to a base 35 . this allows the horizontal straightening module 30 to be pivoted out of the feed line when straight rod stock material 22 is being fed to the rebar fabricating machine 10 since straight rod stock material 22 normally does not need to be horizontally straightened whereas coil stock material 16 does normally need horizontal straightening to compensate for the effect of the coil stock 16 being wound on the coil stock reel ( not shown ). fig4 and 6 show the details of the horizontal straightening module 30 . the horizontal straightening module 30 comprises a plurality of fixed straightening rolls 32 and adjustable straightening rolls 34 , preferably two fixed straightening rolls 32 and three adjustable straightening rolls 34 . each of the fixed straightening rolls 32 and adjustable straightening rolls 34 are driven by means of the drive motor 38 . the drive motor 38 is connected by the drive motor chain 39 to the drive motor shaft 40 which in turn is connected to a drive shaft 321 extending down from each of the fixed straightening rolls 32 and to a drive shaft 341 extending down from each of the adjustable straightening rolls 34 . also as shown in fig4 there are a first tensioning sprocket 44 and a second tensioning sprocket 45 at opposite ends of the horizontal straightening module 30 . the first tensioning sprocket 44 and the second tensioning sprocket 45 are joined together for simultaneous motion by means of a pair of arms 46 , 47 , a turnbuckle 48 and a spring 49 . the two tensioning sprockets 44 , 45 take up any slack in the first drive chain 42 and maintain the first drive chain 42 tightly against each of the drive shafts 321 and the idler shafts 341 as the stock material is fed through the main cabinet 12 . fig4 shows the positioning of the two tensioning sprockets 44 , 45 during the infeed of the stock material . in the event the drive motor 38 needs to reversed to withdraw stock material , the two tensioning sprockets 44 , 45 shift laterally so that the second tensioning sprocket 45 engages the first drive chain 42 to provide tension from that end of the horizontal straightening module 30 . the drive motor 38 acting through the first drive chain 42 effects rotation of each of the fixed straightening rolls 32 and adjustable straightening rolls 34 . this arrangement ensures the fixed straightening rolls 32 and adjustable straightening rolls 34 turn together to advance the stock material at a uniform rate through the main cabinet 12 . the adjustment for each of the adjustable straightening rolls 34 is effected by the adjusters 36 . as shown in fig6 an adjustable straightening roll 34 is mounted for rotation on a slider plate 361 which is held in place in the horizontal straightening module 30 between the left side plate 371 and the right side plate 372 . on the lateral edge of the horizontal straightening module 30 there is provided an end plate 373 with a threaded aperture 374 therein aligned with a recess 375 in the slider plate 361 . the slider plate 361 does not fill the entire space between the left side plate 371 , the right side plate 372 and the end plate 373 leaving a gap 376 . the slider plate adjustment bolt 365 with its accompanying handle 366 slides into the aperture 374 with the unthreaded end piece 367 extending into the gap 376 . the washer 362 and spacer 363 are positioned on the unthreaded end piece 367 and a split pin 364 fits through an aperture in the unthreaded end piece 367 to hold the washer 362 and spacer 363 in place . in the assembled position , the butt end of the unthreaded end piece 367 acts against the slider plate 361 at the recess 375 so that as the adjuster 36 is turned clockwise or counterclockwise , the slider plate 361 can be moved to adjust its lateral position between the left side plate 371 and right side plate 372 . this lateral adjustment of the adjustable straightening rolls 34 shown in fig4 is also accommodated by the assembly of the idler shaft 341 into the lower areas of the horizontal straightening module 30 . the lower end of the idler shaft 341 is slotted into a sprocket 347 which engages the first drive chain 42 . a double bearing 345 is positioned in the bottom bearing holder pivot plate 346 and the idler shaft 341 is journalled in the double bearing 345 using the o - ring 342 , the bearing dust guard 343 and the o - ring 344 . with reference to fig3 after the coil stock 16 passes through the horizontal straightening module 30 , it enters the main drive module 50 mounted on the interior of the main cabinet 12 . the main drive module 50 pushes the coil stock 16 through the rest of the components of the rebar fabricating machine 10 which are also mounted on the interior of the main cabinet 12 . the main drive module 50 comprises a pair of lower rolls 54 connected by a second drive chain 58 on the lower side of the coil stock 16 and a pair of upper rolls 62 mounted to contact the upper side of the coil stock 16 . as shown in fig7 each lower roll 54 is preferably a double channeled design to accommodate dual feeding of stock material . each lower roll 54 has a deep groove 55 and a shallow groove 56 which are positioned side - by - side with the deep groove 55 being on the inside on the first roll and the outside on the second roll ( or vice versa ). by alternating the deep groove 55 with the shallow groove 56 , a positive grip is maintained on the stock material regardless of the diameter of the stock material . additionally , each groove is preferably provided with serrations along the bottom of each groove to assist in gripping the rod stock . the two lower rolls 54 are joined together at their shafts by the second drive chain 58 which is connected to a drive motor 52 . thus , each lower roll 54 is a power driven roll and the two lower rolls 54 rotate at the same speed due to the second drive chain 58 being driven by the drive motor 52 . each upper roll 62 is mounted on a hydraulic cylinder 64 that adjusts the pressure being applied to the stock material by the upper roll 62 . when the stock material exits the main drive module 50 , it next comes into contact with the vertical straightening module 80 which effects a vertical straightening of the stock material . the vertical straightening module 80 comprises a plurality of first rolls 84 and second rolls 88 . each of the first rolls 88 are adjustable by means of manual adjustments on the shafts thereof and each of the second rolls 84 are fully adjustable by means of the adjuster 82 mounted to each of the second rolls 84 . the adjusters 82 are assembled to the second rolls 84 in a manner similar to the adjuster 36 assembly shown in fig4 . after the stock material passes through the vertical straightening module , the stock material is further advanced by the exit drive roll 94 which rests on the under side of the stock material . the exit drive roll 94 is driven by the same drive motor 52 that drives the lower rolls 54 and is attached to the lower rolls 54 by means of the third drive chain 98 . this also ensures that the rotation of the exit drive roll 94 is at the same speed as the lower rolls 54 . on the top side of the stock material opposite the exit drive roll 94 is an encoder roll 92 . the encoder roll 92 measures the movement of the stock material and the pressure applied to the stock material by the encoder roll 92 is determined by the air cylinder 93 attached to the encoder roll 92 . the stock material passes through the shear device and finally is fed into the bending head 90 which can be any of suitable bending head . the rotation of the bending head 90 in response to commands from the computer control system creates the final shape of the finished rebar piece . after the bending head 90 creates the bends in the stock material , a shear device 96 cuts the stock material to its final length creating the final finished rebar piece . after the cutting step has occurred , the next segment of the stock material is advanced into the bending head 90 so that the next finished rebar piece can be created . the details of the swing up safety door 102 are shown in fig9 and 11 . the swing up door 102 is mounted on the front of the cabinet 12 of the rebar fabricating machine 10 at a position directly in front of the main drive module 50 . the swing up door 102 pivots about a hinge 116 between its open position shown in fig9 and 10 and its closed position shown in fig1 . the swing up door 102 provides access to the stock material 100 ( shown in fig1 and 11 as being dual fed through the main cabinet 12 ). the inside guide roll 104 , top guide roll 106 and bottom guide roll 108 act to position and guide the stock material during feeding . the opening and closing of the swing up door 102 is effected by the air cylinder 112 which has a cylinder arm 114 connected through hinge 116 to the swing up door 102 . during initial start up of the rebar fabricating machine 10 , the swing up door 102 is in the open position as shown . this allows the operator to initially position the stock material 100 to be processed in the start up location relative to the main drive module 50 . as long as the swing up door 102 is in the open position , each of the hydraulic cylinders 64 that are connected to the upper rolls 62 are disengaged and the upper rolls 62 are incapable of applying pressure to the stock material . also , when the door 102 is in the open position , the foot switch 132 is active . after the stock material 100 has been properly positioned by the operator , the operator can press on the foot switch 132 which releases each of the upper rolls 62 which then slowly drop into contact with the stock material 100 . there is enough residual hydraulic pressure in the system to lower the upper rolls 62 , but not enough hydraulic pressure to provide any significant pressure to the stock material 100 . the slight weight of the upper rolls 62 on the stock material 100 is enough to hold the stock material 100 in place until the door 102 is closed , but not enough to injure the operator if he should inadvertently have his hand or fingers between the stock material 100 and the upper rolls . the stock material 100 cannot be fed through the main cabinet 12 until the door 102 is closed and full pressure is applied by the upper rolls 62 . in order to close the swing up door 102 , the operator presses the &# 34 ; close &# 34 ; button 131 on the operating panel box 130 which activates the air valve 126 to send air through the &# 34 ; close door &# 34 ; line 128 into the air cylinder 112 . this causes the cylinder arm 114 to move backward causing the swing up door 102 to pivot around the hinge 116 and close as shown in fig1 . the movement of the cylinder arm 114 backward also causes the sensor arm 120 to cover the proximity switch 122 . the proximity switch 122 sends a signal to the controller 140 alerting the control system that the swing up door 102 is closed . this allows the foot switch 132 to become inactive . when the swing up door 102 is closed and such closure is recognized by the proximity switch 122 , the foot switch 132 is de - activated and a sensor maintains a low pressure on the stock material through the upper rolls 62 . the operator may then press the &# 34 ; run &# 34 ; button which allows each of the hydraulic cylinders 64 to activate its associated upper roll 62 so that the stock material may be driven forward through the vertical straightening module 80 and into the shear device 96 / bending head 90 . when it is desired to open the swing up door 102 , the operator presses the open button 131 which causes the air valve 126 to inject air pressure through the &# 34 ; open door &# 34 ; line 127 from the air cylinder 112 . this causes the cylinder arm 114 to move forward and open the swing up door 102 . fig1 and 13 show respectively the position of the upper rolls 62 in both the &# 34 ; open &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; closed &# 34 ; positions of the swing up door 102 . in the &# 34 ; open &# 34 ; position , the hydraulic cylinders 64 are both raised which lift the upper roll 62 off of the stock material 100 . the stock material 100 therefore cannot be driven through the main cabinet 12 so that the operator may safely reach in between the upper roll 62 and hydraulic cylinder 64 to position the stock material 100 if necessary . because the swing up door 102 is open , the sensor arm 120 is not in contact with the proximity switch 122 so the foot switch 132 is active . in order to close the swing up door 102 , the operator must reach up and press the open / close button 131 that closes the swing up door 102 . if the swing up door 102 closes fully , the sensor arm 120 is now in contact with the proximity switch 122 which tells the controller 140 that the swing up door 102 is closed . this causes the foot switch 132 to be inactive and the controller 140 causes the clamping valve 134 to maintain clamping residual pressure in the hydraulic cylinder 64 to hold the upper roll 62 in contact with the stock material 100 . fig1 shows schematically the hydraulic operating system for the rebar fabricating machine 10 of the present invention . the entire rebar fabricating machine 10 is powered by a hydraulic pump 185 operated by an electric motor 180 . a common manifold block 150 connects all of the hydraulically operated components of the rebar fabricating machine 10 . the use of this common manifold block 150 ensures that the hydraulic pressure throughout the system is uniformly distributed subject to the operation of the controller 140 . the manifold block 150 provides hydraulic connection to the drive motor 38 and the drive motor 52 from a common pressure control valve 145 so that both the drive motor 38 and the drive motor 52 receive equal amounts of hydraulic pressure so the rotational speed of these motors is the same . separate manifold connections are provided for the hydraulic cylinders 64 , the hydraulic bending motor 160 and the hydraulic shear cylinder 170 through the respective pressure control valve 145 . in the preferred embodiment , each pressure control valve 145 is a high response proportional directional control valve with an internal linear variable differential transformer spool feedback for low hysteresis which gives precise positioning and extremely accurate control . the provision of a feedback transducer allows constant monitoring of the valve position so that the operation of the valve is highly repeatable . representative of such a control valve is model # d31fse01b4nxpo distributed by fornaciari co . of santa fe springs , calif . while the invention has been illustrated with respect to several specific embodiments thereof , these embodiments should be considered as illustrative rather than limiting . various modifications and additions may be made and will be apparent to those skilled in the art . accordingly , the invention should not be limited by the foregoing description , but rather should be defined only by the following claims .	1
it should be understood that the description of the preferred embodiment is merely illustrative and that it should not be taken in a limiting sense . in the following detailed description , several specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . it will be obvious , however , to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details . now , practical embodiments of the invention will be explained in conjunction with the drawings . referring to fig1 , the optical measurement system includes an optical switch 100 , a waveguide array 110 , an x - axis mover 120 , an optical receiver 130 , a z - axis mover 140 , a controller 150 , a memory 160 , a digital signal processor ( dsp ) 170 , and a liquid crystal display ( lcd ) panel 180 . the optical switch 100 introduces a beam from a light source into a selected one of waveguides in response to the controller 150 . there are various ways to apply beams into the waveguides sequentially . for instance , one way is to let the light sources serially radiate with predetermined time interval after connecting the light sources to inlets of the waveguides . another way is to sequentially receive beams from a light source through a 1 × n optical switching device interposed between the light source and a waveguide . or , it is also applicable , after once introducing one light source into one waveguide , to shift the light source by a predetermined distance in parallel with the direction of waveguide arrangement so as to apply the light source into the next waveguide . the other ways to apply the light source into the waveguides may be operable in various types by those skilled in this art , not defined to the aforementioned . the waveguide array 110 , referring to fig2 , is composed of a multiplicity of waveguides 111 arranged in parallel with a uniform interval , e . g ., 250 nm or 127 nm . fig2 shows the feature that the beams from the light source illuminate pixels 132 arranged on the optical receiver 130 after passing through the optical switch 100 and the waveguide array 100 . the optical receiver 130 is composed of a multiplicity of the pixels 132 arranged in a matrix type , as shown in fig2 . it is desirable to make a receiving area on the optical receiver 130 be wider as possible to enhance accuracy of beam analysis through more pixels being illuminated by the incident beam . since the optical beam emitted to the air from a waveguide spreads out with a uniform angle therein , it is advantageous for increasing the number of the illuminable pixels to locate the optical receiver 130 at a loner distance from the waveguide array 120 as possible within an overall receiving area of the optical receiver 130 . in the meantime , a simultaneous emission of beam from waveguides of the array 110 may result in hard conditions of analyzing characteristics for an individual beam because of different light quantities at the pixels of the optical receiver 130 due to overlapped portions between receiving areas of adjacent waveguides . for the purpose of eliminating such a problem , the optical switch 100 controls the waveguides of the array 110 to emit the beams sequentially with a uniform time interval that is longer than a response time of the optical receiver , applying one beam to one pixel each by each during a predetermined time for measurement . the controller 130 receives photosensitive information of each pixel 132 on the optical receiver 130 . the dsp 170 receives the photosensitive information from the pixels 132 of the optical receiver 130 through the controller 150 and then calibrates luminous size , focusing , strength , divergence angle , and collimation degree . the dsp 170 provides the measured results thereof to the controller 150 . the controller 150 stores the measured data of the dsp 170 in the memory 160 and applies them to the lcd panel 180 for display . the controller 150 also generates control signals to adjust the x - and z - axes movers , 120 and 140 . the x - axis mover 120 , as shown in fig2 , transfers the optical receiver 130 to the direction of x - axis ( horizontally ) in parallel with the waveguide array 100 , while the z - axis mover 140 does the optical receiver 130 to the traveling direction of the beam , i . e ., z - axis ( horizontally but rectangular to the x - axis ). it will be detailed later about the x - and z - axes movers , 120 and 140 . now refers to fig5 a and 5b showing an operational procedure in the present system of fig1 or 2 . in the flow charts of fig5 a and 5b , symbolic characters n , k , and i denote the number of the waveguides arranged in the array 110 , e . g ., n = 8 , an index of a waveguide , among the n waveguides , selected by the optical switch 100 , and an index used for transferring the optical receiver 130 in accordance with a relative condition between a beam size of the array 110 and a receiving area on the optical receiver 130 , respectively . first , in a step s 200 , the controller 150 selects a first one of the waveguide array 110 and sets values of internal counters , k and i , on “ 1 ”. in a step s 201 , the controller 150 checks out whether or not the count value k is larger than the number of all waveguides , n . as the current count value k is “ 1 ” that is smaller than n ( i . e ., 8 ), it goes to a step s 202 . in the step s 202 , the controller 150 operates the optical switch 100 to transmit a beam into the selected waveguide of the array 110 . as the optical switch 130 assigned to the selected waveguide is turned on , a beam emitted from the selected waveguide is illuminated on a predetermined pixel region of the optical receiver 130 . next , during a step s 203 , the controller 150 iteratively receives photosensitive data from the optical receiver 130 in predetermined times and then obtains beam information data ( or image data ) from the mean value of the stacked photosensitive data provided from the pixels 132 of the optical receiver 130 . in a step s 204 , the controller 150 applies the image data obtained from the optical receiver 130 to the dsp 170 . the dsp 170 conducts an image filtering process for the image data . during a step s 205 , the dsp 170 operates an arithmetic process for the filtered image data to obtain data of focusing , strength , size , and pattern , of the beam . in a step s 206 , the controller 150 operates the z - axis mover 140 to transfer the optical receiver 130 in order to measure beam divergence angles emitted from the waveguide array 110 and collimation degrees between the beams . referring to fig3 showing methodology for calculating the beam divergence angle , the dsp 170 obtains a radius r 1 of the beam from the image data , accepted from the optical receiver 130 , at a first point p 1 apart from the waveguide array 110 by a predetermined distance during the steps s 203 and s 204 , and then further computes another radius r 2 of the beam at a second point p 2 , apart from the first point p 1 by a predetermined distance d , to which the optical receiver 130 has been transferred by the z - axis mover 140 in parallel with the traveling direction of the beam , during steps s 207 and s 209 . thereby , the beam divergence angle is obtained by the following equation : θ = tan − 1 [( r 2 − r 1 )/ d ] equation 1 the way to calculate the collimation degrees between the beams emitted from the waveguides is similar to the aforementioned procedure . that is , the focuses of the beams emitted from the waveguides in number of n are first found from the image data supplied from the optical receiver 130 when the optical receiver 130 is positioned at the first point p 1 , and secondly found when the optical receiver 130 is positioned at the second point p 2 that is more apart from the waveguide array 110 than the first point p 1 . after then , the dsp 170 computes distances ( d 1 k ; k = 1 ˜ n ˜ 1 ) between the beam focuses at the first point p 1 and distances ( d 2 k ) between the beam focuses at the second point p 2 . the values of the inter - focus distances ( d 1 k and d 2 k ) each found at the points p 1 and p 2 are put into an arithmetic process for obtaining the collimation degree between the beams , by means of a simple equation with differences between the distances ( d 1 1 − d 2 k ). the dsp 170 outputs the arithmetic results , about the beam characteristics of the size , the pattern , the strength , the divergence angle , and the collimation degree , to the controller 150 . next , in a step s 210 , after receiving the arithmetic results , the controller 150 operates the z - axis mover 140 to return the optical receiver 130 to the first point p 1 the primary position of the optical receiver 130 . in a step s 211 , the arithmetic results are stored in the memory 160 as binary data . during a step s 212 , the controller 150 increases the count values k and i by “ 1 ” in order to select the next waveguide . on the other hand , it needs a specific process therein when a beam radiated from the waveguide array 110 deviates the domain of the receiving are . for instance , assuming that 8 is the number of waveguides corresponding to the number of receptible beams , a , among the n of 16 , the procedure for measuring the characteristics of the beams emitted from the 16 waveguides is as follows . it refers to fig4 schematizing transfer direction and distance of the optical receiver 130 , together with fig5 b associatively cooperating with the flow of fig5 a , when the beam deviates the domain of the optical receiver 130 . in a step s 230 of fig5 b , the controller 150 checks whether or not the count value i ( i = 1 ˜ n ) is larger than the predetermined value of a , i . e ., 8 . if i is not more than 8 , it turns to the step s 201 while proceeds a step s 231 if i is larger than 8 . during the step s 231 , the x - axis mover 120 shifts the optical receiver 130 in parallel with the arrangement direction of the waveguides by eight pitches of the waveguides . as a result , the optical receiver 130 can accept the beams emitted from all the waveguides 111 of the array 110 . while this , it is desirable to proceed the measuring processes for a part of the 1 ′ st through 8 ′ th waveguides together with the 9 ′ th through 16 ′ th waveguides in order to merge information about beam positions of the 1 ′ st through 8 ′ th and the 9 ′ th through 16 ′ th waveguides , preventing discontinuity of the beam position information throughout the waveguides . for example , after shifting the optical receiver 130 , which has faced to the 1 ′ st through eighth waveguides in parallel , by six ( 8 − 2 = 6 ) pitches , the optical receiver 130 becomes opposite in parallel with the 7 ′ th through 14 ′ th waveguides . next , the index k of the internal counter decreases by “ 2 ”, and the count value i of another counter is set on “ 1 ”. thus , the index k is settled on a value of “ 7 ” ( 9 − 2 ). in the former example , as shown in fig4 , if the entire number of the waveguides disposed in the array 110 is 16 , beam characteristics involved in the 1 ′ st through 8 ′ th waveguides are obtained during a first measuring period t 1 , those of the 7 ′ th through 14 ′ th waveguides during a second measuring period t 2 , and those of the 13 ′ th and 16 ′ th waveguides during a third measuring period t 3 , being overlapped between the period partially . as seen from fig4 , the beams emitted from the 7 ′ th and 8 ′ th waveguides are put to participate in the measuring process during both the periods t 1 and t 2 , iteratively both before and after the transfer of the optical receiver 130 . therefore , it is available for the dsp 170 to correct characteristic data , maybe defective , by means of a difference between data values resulting from the measurements for the beams of the 7 ′ th and 8 ′ th waveguides during both the first period t 1 and the second period t 2 , i . e ., respectively both before and after the shift of the optical receiver 130 . as same , the iterative measuring process , during both the periods t 2 and t 3 , for the beams emitted from the 13 ′ th and 14 ′ th waveguides both before and after the transfer of the optical receiver 130 , contributes to data correction between data values resulting from the measurements for the beams of the 13 ′ th and 14 ′ th waveguides during both the second period t 2 and the third period t 3 , i . e ., respectively both before and after the shift of the optical receiver 130 . after completing the steps , it returns to the step s 201 . if k is not less than n at the step s 201 , the controller 150 applies the resultant data to the lcd panel 180 for displaying and the measurement process terminates . according to the pre - description , the present system for measurement system obtains various characteristics of beams emitted from an waveguide array , such as beam size , pattern , strength , focus , collimation degree , and divergence angle , without additional devices such as laser interferometers or high - resolution optical devices . as variations of performances of components employed in the system excluded from influences against the resultant data of measurement , it is possible to accurately detect physical characteristics of beams emitted from the waveguide array . although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes , those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications , additions and substitutions are possible , without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as described in the accompanying claims	6
aspects of the present invention provide an improved method for calibration and respective measuring devices allowing for calibration with sufficient accuracy . embodiments of the inventive method achieve improved calibration of the cable for a measuring device , such as a mobile phone testing device . while example embodiments are described with respect to a mobile phone testing device , however , it will be apparent that the approaches of embodiments of the present invention are also applicable to other types of measurement equipment , such as spectrum analyzer or oscilloscope . according to example embodiments , such measurement devices are connected to the device under test ( dut ) through cables . at high frequencies , above 1 ghz these cables have a significant damping even if kept as short as possible . the damping of the cables can be up to 12 db . thus , it is very important to calibrate the damping factor of the cables . the error of the result from this calibration procedure should be less than 1 db . the cable is terminated by a short and a first calibration measurement is done with this short . then the cable is terminated with an open and a second calibration measurement is done in this open configuration . this is done for several frequency points within the operation range of a measuring device . according to such example embodiments , the measuring device comprises a transmitter and a receiver . by way of example , for mobile communication testers for testing mobile phones , the starting phase of the transmitter and of the receiver is different to the situation as calibrating the cable with a vector network analyzer because there is no coherence between the oscillators used for the mixers in the transmitter and the receiver . thus , there is a need for measuring the start phase of the transmitter . according to example embodiments of the invention , a reference path can be alternatively switched between the transmitter and the receiver . by way of example , this may be accomplished by a switch . by way of further example , the reference path is arranged internally in the measuring device . fig1 shows a block diagram of a simplified model of an embodiment of the inventive measuring device . in this block diagram , only the most essential elements in order to operate the present invention are shown . the model is shown in the equivalent base band which is sufficient to understand the present invention . all mixers and filters for up and down conversion are not shown . it is the task of the present invention to evaluate the unknown cable damping in a calibration procedure , wherein the cables are terminated by calibration elements , especially calibration standards such as open and short . the sending signal a ( k ) in the equivalent base band is described by the complex vector . the symbols used in this formula describe the following : ( i ) θ ( k ) is a time dependent average free phase noise of the generator of the transmitter with respect to the phase of the oscillator of the receiver ; ( ii ) θ 0 is an arbitrary starting phase of the oscillator of the transmitter with respect to the oscillator of the receiver — for measuring with an open termination of the cable and for measuring with a short termination of the cable , these starting phases θ 0 are different ; ( iii ) n ( k ) is an additive white gaussian noise ( awgn )— however , the phase noise is highly dominating the noise so that the awgn is not considered any further here and is neglected in the above formula . fig1 shows a relatively simplified embodiment of the inventive measurement device . the embodiment is shown in the equivalent base band . transmitter 2 transmit a complex sending signal a ( k ), which in the digital domain is defined at the samples points k , through the first part 3 a of switch 3 , through a signal splitter 4 and through a port 6 into the cable 5 . actually , this is the case at a first state “ meas ” shown in fig1 . the cable 5 is terminated at the end 7 with a short in a first run and with an open in a second run . however , the cable 5 can also be terminated with other calibration elements , such as a match or a specific mismatch . the wave is reflected at the open calibration element with no phase amendment and is also reflected at the short calibration element with a phase shift of 180 °. the reflected wave will then propagate back through the cable 5 and through the other branch of the splitter 4 and through the second part 3 b of the switch 3 into receiver 8 . in the embodiment shown in fig1 , the signal splitter 4 is a resistive splitter having three resistors in a star configuration . a first resistor 4 a is connected to the transmitter 2 through the first part 3 a of the switch 3 . a second resistor 4 b is connected to the receiver 8 through the second part 3 b of the switch 3 . by way of example , in the first resistor 4 a and the second resistor 4 b , the wave receives a damping of 6 db . a third resistor 4 c is connected to the cable 5 through the port 6 . by way of further example , the wave receives a damping in each direction ( forward and backward ) of 3 db in the third resistor 4 c , so that the wave in total is also damped by 6 db in the third resistor 4 c if the forward and backward directions are taken together . in the cable 5 the wave receives a damping of x db in each direction . it is the task of a measurement to obtain a value of this cable damping x . the path through the resistors 4 a and 4 b has a runtime of t meas and has a damping of 12 db . the signal through the port 6 has an additional runtime of t cable in the forward direction x [ db ] is the cable damping which is of interest here . the wave is additionally damped in the backward direction so that the wave running through the port has a total damping , as follows : in order to measure the unknown start phase θ 0 , the sending signal sent by the transmitter 2 is sent directly into the receiver 8 through a reference path 9 . in this case , the switch 3 are in a second state designated “ ref ”. in the following , it is shown that the unknown runtimes t meas and t cable are not needed in order to evaluate the cable damping . the open - measurement and the short - measurement are considered for an arbitrary frequency ω v . the sending signal has arbitrary starting phases and can be defined , as follows : in the receiver 8 also the following measuring signal is received : in an ideal case , the reference signal and the measuring signal are received simultaneously . this is assumed in the following as an assumption which makes it easier to understand the measurement principal . first of all , the unknown start phase θ 0 is eliminated by measuring the reference signal . for the open - measurement we get : in fig2 , these vectors are shown graphically . from fig2 , it can easily be obtained that from both vectors the absolute value ( magnitude ) of the damping can be calculated . from the coefficient of these two estimated values , the damping in forward and backward direction can be obtained as follows : by inserting this result into formulas ( 3 ) and ( 2 ), we receive the cable damping as follows : in the embodiment of fig1 , all samples of the reference signal are measured first and then all samples of the measurement signal are measured or vice versa before the termination of the cable 5 is switched from short to open or vice versa . however , if this start phase shifts significantly in the meantime , there is a measurement error which can be significant . in the following , a second improved embodiment is described . in the improved embodiment shown in fig3 , the switch 3 are switched periodically so that the measurement of the samples of the measurement signal and of the reference signal is altered several times during the total measurement period . for receiver 8 , a digital low pass 8 a and storage device 8 b are shown in fig3 . the other components are identical with the embodiment of fig1 . during the measurement , the switch 3 switch for a block length of k block · t a . after each switching , the low pass 8 a of the receiver 8 with the impulse response h tp ( k ) need some time in order to stabilize ( no transient oscillations anymore ). as soon as the analog hardware is stabilized after switching , the acquisition of the measurement values b ( k ) can be started and can be stored into storage device 8 b . fig4 shows the timing of an open - measurement or a short - measurement at one single frequency point . the figure shows the magnitude \| b ( t )\| of the signal received by the receiver 8 . first of all , the analog hardware needs to stabilize on the new frequency point . then the acquisition of the complex values b ( k ) starts , which are designated by respective dots in fig4 . in the example shown in fig4 , the measurement starts with a group of samples of the reference signal of the block length of the k block . then the measurement is switched in order to acquire a series of samples of the measuring signal of the same block length k block . the block lengths are identical in the embodiment shown but this does not necessarily need to be the case . when switching , in needs to be waited for a specific number of samples k alqu during which the receiving low pass 8 a is stabilizing , before valid samples can be used for the estimation of the cable damping . the valid samples are designated by k ref and k meas in fig4 . these sample values are used in the following algorithm for estimating the magnitude of the cable damping . it can be possible that the analog hardware is not already stabilized when the samples of the measuring signal and the reference signal are already acquired . however , the stabilization time of magnitude is much longer than the stabilization time of the phase . thus , the acquisition of values for the phase estimation can be started earlier than the acquisition of samples used for estimation of the magnitude . this will safe measurement time . in fig4 , the label 10 designates the start of the measurement of a new frequency . the label 11 designates the start of the analog / digital - converter ( adc ). the label 12 designates the switching point between measurement of the reference signal ref and of the measuring signal meas . as already mentioned , an additional area 13 may be present , wherein the digital filter and the analog hardware is stabilized and which is used for measuring the magnitude of the measuring signal meas . in the area 14 , the analog hardware generally stabilizes on the new measuring frequency . however , it may happen that the accuracy is not already sufficient to measure the magnitude of a measuring signal meas . thus , it makes sense to wait to the time area 13 in order to make magnitude measurements . k \| meas \| are the time indices of the stabilized reference signal . now , the algorithm for the improved estimation of the cable damping is described . the variable x is used to distinguish between open and short . the input vector v_b comprises all samples b ( k ) of one measurement at one frequency . they are shown as dots in fig4 . fig5 shows a block diagram of an embodiment putting the algorithm into practice . the vector v_b is submitted to first selection device 20 in order to select a first part v_b meas of the samples v_b of the measuring signal . the first selection device 20 is followed by first phase averaging device 21 in order to evaluate the averaged phase of the measuring signal ψ meas . the receiver 8 also comprises second selection device 23 in order to select the samples v_b ref of the reference signal . the second selection device 23 are followed by second phase averaging device 24 . in order to evaluate the averaged phase of the reference signal ψ ref , the phase values can be estimated as follows : the phase difference ψ meas − ψ ref is calculated in subtracting device 25 . exponential device 6 calculates an imaginary exponential value of the phase difference . further , the receiver 8 comprise third selection device 27 in order to select the sample values in the area 13 shown in fig4 used for estimation of the magnitude of the measuring signal . the third selection device 27 are followed by magnitude averaging device 28 in order to evaluate the averaged magnitude \|{ circumflex over ( b )} { meas , x } \| of the measuring signal meas . in the embodiment shown in fig5 , there is a switch 29 in order to select between the values submitted by the first selection device 20 or by the third selection device 27 . thus , the magnitude can be calculated on the basis of the regular meas values or by the special meas values in the area 13 shown in fig4 depending on the switch 29 . according to equations ( 8 ) and ( 9 ), the unknown start phase in the measuring signal meas has to be eliminated by use of the reference - signal ref using the equation : ĉ { meas , x } ={ circumflex over ( b )} { meas , x } · exp (− j arg {{ circumflex over ( b )} ( ref , x ) }) ( 13 ) in order to do the multiplication in this equation , multiplier device 30 are available as shown in fig5 . by use of equation ( 10 ), the forward and backward damping can be achieved as follows : by inserting the result into equation ( 11 ), finally the cable damping can be calculated as follows : fig6 a illustrates the measurement scenario of the first embodiment of the invention as shown in fig1 . in this basic embodiment , the measurement of the reference signal ref , which has propagated through the reference path 9 , and the measurement of the measuring signal meas , which has propagated through the splitter 4 , the port 6 , the cable 5 , has been reflected by the open or short and has propagated back through the cable 5 , the port 6 and the splitter 4 , is done in sequence . this means that all values of the reference signal ref are measured first and then all values of the measuring signal meas are acquired . if there is , however , a shift of the phase difference θ ( t ), which is a difference between the phase of the oscillator in the transmitter 2 and the phase of the oscillator of the receiver 8 , then there is a significant measurement error as indicated in fig6 a . in fig6 a , it is assumed that this phase shift θ ( t ) is linearly depending on time t . this assumption is done for a simplification . of course , also other phase shift can occur . the average values ref of the reference signal ref and meas of the measuring signal meas are shown in fig6 a and it is clear from the drawing that the difference δθ 0 is quite high . fig6 b shows the same situation but for the scenario of the improved embodiment of fig3 , fig4 and fig5 . as explained previously , the main difference between the two embodiments is that in the improved embodiment , the measurement is always alternated between measuring of the reference signal ref and measuring of the measuring signal meas . the same linear phase shift is assumed . it is clear from fig6 b that the difference δθ 0 of the phase shift θ ( t ) is much smaller compared to the situation of fig6 a , because it is always switched between measuring of the reference signal ref and of the measuring meas . fig7 a shows a flow chart of a first part of the inventive method . in a first step s 1 , a first calibration element , such as a short , is connected to at least one port of the measuring device 1 . the actual frequency f is set to the start frequency f start in step s 2 . in step s 3 , a signal with the actual frequency f is submitted from the transmitter 2 of the measuring device 1 to the first calibration element and the measuring signal meas as a return signal reflected by the first calibration element is measured by the receiver 8 of the measuring device 1 . in step s 4 , the signal of the actual frequency f is submitted from transmitter 2 to the receiver 8 through a reference path 9 of the measuring device 1 and the reference signal ref is measured through the reference path 9 . in step s 5 , it is checked , whether the actual frequency has reached the end frequency f end . if not the actual frequency f is incremented by the incremental δf in step s 6 and the steps s 3 and s 4 are repeated as long as the actual frequency f reaches the end frequency f end . if yes , the algorithm proceeds with the second part . fig7 b shows the second part of an example , embodiment of the inventive method . in a step s 7 , a second calibration element , such as an open , is connected to at least one port of the measuring device 1 . the actual frequency is set to start frequency f start in step s 8 . in step s 9 , a signal with the actual frequency f is submitted from the transmitter 2 of the measuring device 1 to the second calibration element and the measuring signal meas as a return signal reflected by the first calibration element is measured by the receiver 8 of the measuring device 1 . in step s 10 , the signal of the actual frequency f is submitted from transmitter 2 to the receiver 8 through a reference path 9 of the measuring device 1 and the reference signal ref is measured through the reference path 9 . in step s 11 , it is checked , whether the actual frequency has reached the end frequency f end . if not the actual frequency f is incremented by the incremental δf in step s 12 and the steps s 9 and s 10 are repeated as long as the actual frequency f reaches the end frequency f end . if yes , the algorithm ends . there are several advantages of the inventive method and device . the cable damping can be obtained with very high accuracy . the cable damping can be obtained as a function of frequency . the damping values are directly available within the measuring device 1 and no external measurement such as with a vector analyzer needs to be done . thus , the cable 5 does not need to be disconnected from the measuring device 1 . no other measuring device such as a vector network analyzer , is necessary . destroyed cables and connectors can be detected easily . when performing the calibration process , a circuit board comprising the short and open , and also the match , can be connected with a measuring device 1 instead of the device under test . the circuit board can have the same physical extensions and scalings as the device under test . correction can be made at the transmission side . an approximation curve can be generated . approximating values between the frequency values , for which the inventive measurement has been performed , can be created . all features described in the above description , claimed in the following claims or drawn in the attached drawings can be combined within the scope of the present invention . while various embodiments of the present invention have been described above , it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only , and not limitation . numerous changes to the disclosed embodiments can be made in accordance with the disclosure herein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . thus , the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above described embodiments . rather , the scope of the invention should be defined in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents . although the invention has been illustrated and described with respect to one or more implementations , equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings . in addition , while a particular feature of the invention may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations , such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application .	7
a batch type coffee roaster 10 employing the principles of the present invention is illustrated in fig1 - 4 and requires four basic elements : a roasting chamber 12 , a heater system 14 , a heated air plenum 15 and a blower 16 . other elements such as a cyclone collector 18 , air recirculation duct 20 , and thermal insulation 22 are preferably utilized but are not an essential part of the invention . a charge of coffee beans 24 undergoing roasting is shown in fig2 and 3 . the roaster 10 may be sized to process several pounds of beans , or it may be enlarged to batch roast bags of coffee beans in commercial quantities . regardless of the size of the roaster , the principles of apparatus design and processing method disclosed herein remain substantially the same . in the batch roaster embodiment shown in fig1 - 4 , the roasting chamber 12 is an elongated rectangular box - like housing 26 having a long front wall 28 , an outer back wall 34 , two short sidewalls 30 , 32 , and a hinged top loading cover 36 . unloading access to the chamber is achieved through a bottom hinged drop down unloading door 38 extending across the lower front wall 38 and flush with an air distributor plate 42 . the door 38 has sidewalls 39 to form a chute enabling rapid loading and unloading of the chamber 12 . above the door 38 is a sight glass 40 through which bean movement and color change of the beans 24 from green to brown may be observed during a drying and roasting operation cycle . the perforated airflow distributor base plate 42 extends across the width of the chamber at the bottom and is considerably narrower than the width of the sidewalls 30 and 32 . the plate 42 is inclined toward the front wall 28 at about 30 °. a multiplicity of orifices 44 are spaced throughout the distributor plate 42 and are aligned to create an airstream ( shown by light arrows in fig3 ) substantially tangential to the front wall 28 and door 38 . the orifices 44 are typically in excess of three sixteenths inch in diameter which represents the usual size of the smallest type of coffee bean found in export trade of good quality coffee beans . the particular orifice size is selected to achieve an economical balance in air lifting capacity between blower capacity and air flow rates which are directly influenced by the depth of green coffee beans in the roast chamber . in the event that the size selected for the orifices 44 approaches or exceeds the size of the beans 24 that will be roasted , a screen 45 having a suitable mesh may be placed over the distributor plate 42 to prevent the beans from lodging in , or falling through , the orifices 44 , without unduly impeding the air flow . an inner inclined plate 46 is joined to the distributor plate 42 along the back edge thereof and forms the inner back wall of the roast chamber 12 and the inclined plate 46 extends upwardly and toward the outer back wall 34 so that it diverges away from the front wall 28 , and functions to guide the descending portion of the recirculating beans 24 back into the air lift stream adjacently above the base plate 42 so that a dense recirculating fluidized mass thereof is achieved . the inclined air distribution plate 42 is joined along its upper edge to the outer back wall 34 . bean temperatures are indicated by a dial thermometer 48 mounted in the roast chamber left sidewall 30 . the thermometer 48 is joined to a thermocouple sensor probe end 50 which extends horizontally into the chamber above the distributor plate at a location where the fluidized beans are very densely packed and out of the airstream so that the true bean temperatures within the mass of moving beans 24 is continuously indicated during roasting . a chart recorder may also be employed to record the bean temperatures during each roast cycle . in addition the probe 50 may be connected to provide automatic thermostatic temperature control of the heater system 14 . thus , shut down of the heater system may be controlled automatically when a predetermined maximum set bean temperature is reached within the roast chamber 12 . the roast chamber housing 26 is joined at its base to a heater system 14 comprising an enclosure forming the heated air plenum 15 for conducting heated air through the multiple orifices 44 of the distributor plate 42 . the heater system 14 contains a heater element 52 capable of imparting sufficient temperature rise to an airflow stream passing through the heater box to enable the airstream to heat the beans to the desired roast temperature range of 450 ° to 530 ° f . air . the heater element 52 may be an electric heating element 54 or it may be a direct fired natural gas burner positioned before or after the blower . in smaller roasters , the electric heater element 54 after the blower is preferred , whereas in larger commercial roasters , the gas burner before the blower may be more practical . other forms of heater elements may be employed so long as no undesirable combustion gases or coffee reaction products are brought into contact with the beans 24 being roasted . vented air may be recycled through the air recirculation duct 20 to conserve heat . a heater enclosure thermometer 58 in conjunction with a probe 60 is positioned to indicate the plenum air temperature after the heater element . the heater system 14 is joined at its base to the blower assembly 16 which forces air upwardly through the heater element 52 and the perforated air distributor plate 42 and into the bean roast chamber 12 with sufficient air velocity to move the beans 24 therein up the front wall as a dense and constantly recirculating fluidized bean mass . the preferred air volume and velocity developed by the blower 16 and distributed by the plate 42 will expand the volume of the bed of beans 24 only about twenty to thirty percent over the volume of the beans at rest in the chamber before and / or after roasting . in practice a single stage multiblade 3600 r . p . m . centrifugal pressure blower 62 in an enclosed housing 64 has been found to provide ample air flow and pressure . an electric motor 66 is usually used to drive the fan . an exhaust duct 68 is connected to the roast chamber at the top of the right sidewall 32 to enable outflow of the still warm air after it has passed through the mobilized beans 24 . the spent air may be recycled through the recirculation duct 20 to conserve heat . a chaff collection cyclone 18 typically forms a necessary part of the vented air or recirculated air roast system . the cyclone employs well known principles and does not form a part of the present invention . thermal insulation 22 such as fiber glass wool is placed around the roast chamber 12 , inlet plenum 15 and the recirculation duct 20 to minimize heat losses and conserve temperature thereby reducing fuel costs and sustaining needed temperatures in the system . the loading cover 36 is opened upwardly and a charge of green coffee beans 24 is dumped into the roasting chamber 12 . the cover 36 is closed and the blower 16 is turned on , followed by the heater system 14 . heated air with progressively higher temperatures then passes into the roasting chamber 12 through the orifices 44 as indicated by the light arrows in fig3 and heats the beans 24 as they are simultaneously moved into a densely fluidized and constantly recirculating mass . because of the acute angle of the distributor plate 42 with respect to the front wall 28 , the hot air is directed upwardly along the inside of the door 38 causing a somewhat higher level of beans adjacent to the front wall 28 . the beans roll out of the airstream by gravity and move toward the inner back wall 46 and are then guided downwardly by the inclined wall 46 to the base plate whereupon the beans reenter the hot airstream and are elevated as before , thereby completing a cycle of recirculation . after about 10 to 20 minutes of roasting time and when the bean temperature has reached the range of 410 ° to 430 ° f ., as indicated by the dial thermometer 48 , depending upon whether the particular desired roast will be light or dark , roasting is terminated by cutting off the heater element 52 . cooling ambient air from the blower 16 is then circulated through the roasted beans for several minutes to lower the beans to room temperature . water spray cooling may also be employed . the blower is then stopped . the bean discharge door 38 is swung open whereupon the roasted and cooled beans slide out of the chamber and into a suitable transfer container . the discharge door sidewalls 39 serve to guide the beans out of the chamber 12 . continuous coffee roasting apparatus 80 employing the principles of the present invention is illustrated in fig5 - 8 and comprises three separate vertically descending stages : a dryer stage 82 , a roaster stage 84 and a cooling stage 86 . unroasted coffee beans 24a are continuously fed into the dryer stage 82 via an inlet hopper 88 while roasted and cooled coffee beans 24b are discharged from the cooling stage 86 through a discharge chute 90 which is positioned over a moving horizontal conveyor belt 92 . rotary valves may be utilized to achieve air pressure differential seals at the inlet hopper 88 and discharge chute 90 if desired . each stage 82 , 84 , 86 of the continuous roaster 80 is very similar in design and operation to the box - like roasting chamber 12 of the batch type roaster 10 except for the loading cover and unloading door . sight glasses 94 are positioned in the front walls of each stage 82 , 84 , 86 to enable operator view of the operations occuring therewithin . a bean sampling tube 95 communicates with the chamber of each stage 82 , 84 , 86 . indicating thermometers 96 , 98 , 100 have sensitive thermocouple probes 97 , 99 and 101 respectively extending into and transversely across the chamber of each stage so that bean process temperatures can be constantly and progressively monitored . air distributor plates 102 , 104 , 106 having multiple spaced apart orifices 108 , form the bottom walls in the chambers of the respective stages 82 , 84 , 86 and are aligned to form an acute angle with the front walls 103 , 105 , 107 of the stages as shown in fig8 . heated air plenums 112a , 112b , 114 , 116 form the bottom portion of each stage 82 , 84 , 86 and have inlets 113a , 113b , 115 , 117 which receive heated air from a source utilizing well known principles . the plenums deliver heated air to the distributor plates 102 , 104 , 106 of each respective stage at a controlled velocity sufficient to levitate the beans 24 into a dense and constantly recirculating fluidized mass of beans as with the batch roaster 10 . the dryer stage 82 has two separate adjacent plenums 112a and 112b feeding air to the distributor plate 102 . in the first plenum , the air may be warm spent air recirculating from the roaster stage 84 whereas the second plenum 112b may be hot air being supplied directly from a heating source . in this way the beans are gradually heated to drying temperature and heat is conserved through recirculation . however , the two dryer plenums 112a , 112b are not essential and could be replaced by a single plenum . by adjusting the size and spacing arrangements of the orifices 108 in each distributor plate 102 , 104 , 106 and the velocity of the supply of heated air delivered to the inlets 113a , 113b , 115 , 117 of the plenums , the beans 24 are moved by gravity longitudinally through each stage 82 , 84 , 86 as they recirculate in a vertical plane as a dense fluidized bed . in order to minimize &# 34 ; batch mixing &# 34 ; of beans from the discharge side to the inlet side of each stage , the length thereof is considerably more than the width . a length to width ratio of about six to one is satisfactory . a discharge weir 122 , 124 , 126 forms the lower sidewall of the discharge end of each stage , and continuous longitudinal bean flow occurs in each stage only as beans are discharged over the weir at the same rate that beans are added from the preceding stage or inlet hopper . the dryer stage 82 is positioned above the roaster stage 84 which is likewise positioned above the cooling stage 86 . this staggering arrangement enables gravity flow movement of beans from stage to stage via the interconnecting chutes 116 and 118 . the dryer to roaster chute 116 communicates with the dryer chamber at a discharge port above the weir 122 and with the roaster stage 84 at an inlet port ; and the roaster to cooler chute 118 forms a like connection . alternatively , bean transfer from stage to stage may be accomplished mechanically as by bucket elevators employing well known principles . the cooling stage 86 may include water spray apparatus 120 near the cooler inlet port to provide a quenching water spray for rapidly cooling the beans . green , unroasted coffee beans 24a having a typical moisture content of twelve to thirteen percent are admitted to the dryer stage 82 through the inlet hopper 88 . the warm recycled air from the first plenum 112a levitates and heats the beans which are slowly moving longitudinally into the airstream coming from the second plenum 112b which is heated to an inlet temperature around 450 ° f . during the drying cycle , which averages about nine minutes , the beans are heated from ambient temperatures to about 400 ° f . and the moisture content in each bean is reduced to about 1 percent . at the discharge end of the dryer 82 , the beans pass over the dryer weir 122 and fall down the transfer chute 116 and pass into the roaster stage 84 . the inlet temperatures in the roaster plenum 114 are higher than those in the dryer stage and are typically in the range of between 450 ° and 500 ° f . a temperature profile of the beans ranges from 400 ° to 425 ° f . and this profile is monitored by the thermometers 98 or by a chart recorder employing well known principles ( not shown ) attached to sensor probes 99 extending into and transversely along the fluidized mass of dense recirculating beans . the beans remain in the roaster stage for only about 11 / 2 minutes . during this short roasting period , the beans swell , release chaff and undergo density reduction to about half that of green beans . the removal of chaff is accomplished conventionally with chaff cyclone separation apparatus such as the cyclone 18 shown connected in fig2 to the batch roaster 10 . since chaff is only released during actual roasting , the continuous roaster apparatus 30 is actually simplified by having three separate stages . also , processing temperatures are more easily controlled in three stages than in only one or two . at the discharge end of the roaster stage the beans pass over the roaster weir 124 and flow downwardly into the cooler stage 86 via the transfer chute 118 . the roasted beans are met by a water spray at the inlet to the cooling chamber which removes most of the heat within the beans by evaporation of water . cooling air of ambient temperature in the cooler plenum 116 continues to fluidize the beans and enables rapid cooling down to about 100 ° f . during the cooling cycle which has a typical duration of about 5 minutes . the water spray can be adjusted by the operator by reference to a longitudinal temperature profile from probes 101 positioned longitudinally along the cooling section and registering on dial thermometers or a chart recorder ( not shown ). thereafter , the cooled beans pass over the cooler weir 126 and down the discharge chute 90 to a conveyor 92 where they are carried to a packaging or grinding operation . fig9 sets forth in graphical format the detectable thermal rises or bumps occuring within each coffee bean undergoing roasting in accordance with the present invention . during approximately the first 12 minutes of heating of coffee beans 24 the bean temperature rises gradually and virtually linearly from about 100 ° to 400 ° f . during this initial stage , the coffee beans are drying ; they are not being roasted . starting at about 400 ° f ., true bean temperature , pyrolitic chemical reactions begin to occur within each bean and the bean temperature climb rate accelerates , resulting in the charted thermal bumps a , b and c of fig9 . these thermal bumps a , b and c may be detected during roasting to enable precise roast time control . in addition it has been found that the magnitude of the thermal bump indicated the nature of coffee beans being roasted and the flavor of the coffee beverage ultimately produced therefrom . in fig9 the charted bump a indicated that new crop wet processed mild coffee grades are being roasted . curve b is indicative of roasting of wet processed older crop milds . curve c indicates dry processed brazils , and curve d , having virtually no thermal bump , is indicative of the low grade dry processed robusta coffee beans . if the roasting process is terminated before the pyrolysis bump occurs , the beans will not have developed their peak flavors . if heating stops during the thermal bump , only some of the flavor will have been developed . if heating of the beans continues more than about 3 minutes after completion of the thermal bump period , the flavor and aroma producing aldehydes , etc ., will be altered and driven off and the resultant beans will produce a dark roast taste which is lacking in aromatics . a heat cut off point within the range between point e and point f on the curve of fig9 may be selected to control the flavor characteristics of the final coffee product . cutting off the heat at point e produces a light medium roast whereas cut off at point f results in a dark or italian roast . a chart recorder may be attached to the probe 50 of the batch roaster or the probes 99 of the roaster stage 84 of the continuous apparatus so that the phenomena displayed in fig9 may be permanently recorded for each bath of beans , and such records are commercially useful in disclosing the quality of coffee roasted and the degree of roast achieved . thus , the thermal bumps are indexes which document green coffee quality scientifically and objectively , as opposed to commonly employed subjective tasting procedures which are most difficult to document reliably . as previously explained , the magnitude of the thermal bump is directly related to desirable coffee flavor , that is , the greater the bump , the better tasting and more aromatic is the final coffee product . sensing and recording inlet air temperatures , as with a chart recorder connected to the probe 60 of the batch roaster 10 , enables control and optimization of processing times and conditions . to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates , many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . the disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting .	0
referring now to fig1 the overall system of the invention , designated generally by the reference numeral 10 , is shown with its major components within a body of seawater 12 overlying a seabed 14 extending therefrom beyond coastline 16 to deep water . the system 10 comprises a series of parallel deployable horizontal electric dipole ( hed ) antennas 101 and an orthogonal hed antenna 102 . the hed antennas may be deployed by expendable aerial rockets or by expendable mini - torpedos as hereinafter described . the hed antennas are operated and controlled by a transmitter unit 109 located on land adjacent to the coastline or in the water . after deployment and power up of the antennas , an autonomous underwater vehicle ( auv ) 157 , as shown in fig1 a , is launched so as to navigate throughout the entire electromagnetic field generated by the deployed antennas . the region 1a within the seabed 14 as shown in fig1 is shown in detail in fig1 a as having a buried mine 153 . fig1 a also shows the electromagnetic illuminating source field 151 , represented by parallel lines , interacting with the buried mine 153 producing a perturbed electromagnetic field 155 , where the parallel lines are curved . an electromagnetic or acoustic marker 159 and / or a detonating device may be deposited at the location of the anomaly by the auv 157 . the transmitter unit 109 as diagrammed in fig2 to which the antennas 101 and 102 are connected , comprises a power supply 201 , waveform generator 203 and power amplifier 204 , all controlled and operated by computer 111 . the waveform generator 203 produces stable waveforms with unique frequencies and phase characteristics for each one of the antennas 101 and 102 . fig3 depicts an expendable aerial rocket 301 for deploying each of the hed antennas 101 from deep water to the beach adjacent to coastline 16 . in one preferred embodiment , approximately two thousand feet of cable is deployed for each antenna wire . the antenna array consists of a set of parallel cables of insulated copper wire , carrying approximately 10 amperes of current . the cables are placed at either edge and , if necessary , through the center of the area to be cleared of mines . alternating current flowing through such cables generates a low frequency electromagnetic field which polarizes any metallic mines such as an amd series mine . once such a mine is polarized , it acts as a radiating dipole and re - transmits some of the incident electromagnetic energy . this re - radiated energy has a different phase and amplitude as compared to the original transmitted energy and thus alters the electromagnetic field in the vicinity of the mine . in the case of a non - metallic mine such as a manta , there will be a &# 34 ; hole &# 34 ; the size of the mine created in the conducting media of seawater . a separation of charge around the boundaries of the &# 34 ; hole &# 34 ; occurs due to the applied electromagnetic field . this charge separation now acts as a radiating dipole altering the external field in the vicinity of the mine . thus in both cases , with either magnetic or non - magnetic mines , the applied field is sufficiently changed near the mine to permit detection . more importantly , the exact nature of field deformations resulting from some object therein , allows it to be classified as a hostile threat or inert object . the field strength differences so produced are detected by the autonomous underwater vehicle ( auv ) 157 which , after object detection , will submit the suspected object to further classification tests . if a mine is identified , either an underwater explosive to be activated when detection sweeping is completed , or an active marker will be deposited by the vehicle 157 at the mine site . operations can begin at any location away from the beach and a search pattern established to clear a channel of any width to the beach . according to another embodiment , antenna deployment is effected as shown in fig4 by an expendable mini - torpedo 401 . the mini - torpedo 401 can deploy both the beachward antennas 101 and the orthogonal antenna 102 . likewise , the aerial rockets 301 can deploy all antennas . referring now to fig5 the autonomous underwater vehicle 157 is shown with its major components . the auv is a self - powered , self - navigating device which navigates by sensing the electromagnetic field generated by the antennas using an electromagnetic field sensor array 118 . the receiving antennas on the auv 157 include an integrated multi - mode passive magnetic gradiometer 119 , electromagnetic scattering sensor array 117 , and an inductive mine locator sensor 120 . these sensors are used to locate conductivity anomalies and identify mines . additionally , the auv has a weapons carriage and release mechanism 501 for deploying detonating weapons and / or marker devices 503 near the mine 153 . referring to fig6 a cutaway view of the auv diagrams the components of the auv receiver unit . the receiver unit comprises the receiving antennas 117 , which receives the signal from the antennas . the received signal is amplified in pre - amplifier 601 , examined and classified by the data processor 603 which is controlled by computer 605 . the address and identification of each anomaly may be stored in the computer 605 . also located in the auv is a space 607 reserved for a collection of markers and / or receiver / detonators to be released near the site of an electromagnetic anomaly identified as a mine . for a frequency of 15 hz , in which the wavelength of the current in an antenna cable is very much larger than the cable length , and wherein the suspected mine is located at a distance much shorter than the cable length , the cable assumes the characteristics of a long line source corresponding to that of an antenna 703 as shown in fig7 . for such a source , the direction of the magnetic field 705 due to the current in the cable is always perpendicular to the antenna 703 and the lines of force 707 of the electrical field are parallel to the antenna and parallel to each other . the un - insulated ends of the antenna serve as a ground depicted by ground symbol 709 . the electromagnetic field in sea water becomes much more complex as the properties of the bottom are taken into account , since additional reflections and refractions occur depending on the conductivity of the bottom . the electromagnetic field is increased due to reflections from the sea bottom and the increase may be several orders of magnitude . in addition , shallow water causes strong reflections from the water surface and these reflections contribute to the field everywhere in the water . it is known in the art that image theory yields a solution for the electromagnetic field for a long line source located at the water surface with an observation point also located on the surface . correction factors for a layered conducting layer solution using the seawater as one layer and the ocean bed as another permit the field on the bottom , due to a long line source on the surface , to be computed . in this regard , the handbook of electromagnetic propagation in conducting media , by m . b . kraichman , is referred to . the content of such document is incorporated herein by reference . additionally , other known techniques for solving electromagnetic field equations are available using models developed by p . r . bannister may be used to corroborate those models used by kraichman , as set forth in &# 34 ; the quasi - static range propagation equations for the approximate fields within a conducting slab &# 34 ;, nusc technical report 5807 , naval underwater systems center , new london , conn ., oct . 2 , 1978 , which is also incorporated herein by reference . using both of the foregoing documents the electric field at a distance of 400 feet from a 2000 foot cable carrying ten amperes was calculated for depths of 25 , 50 , and 100 feet and for various frequencies . the results appear in fig8 and 10 and include the additional fields due to reflection from the water surface and sea bottom . note in fig8 that the field for a depth of 25 feet is at least four times that for a depth of 100 feet . fig9 shows the effect of depth on the intensity of the e field and fig1 shows the effect of frequency . all of the calculations shown were performed on a &# 34 ; worst case &# 34 ; basis , wherein most of the mines will be located much closer to the cables than 400 feet and thus will experience a much larger external electric field since the field variation is proportional to the inverse cube of the distance . in accordance with one aspect of the invention , after the antennas 101 and 102 have been deployed , the waveform generator 203 of the transmitter unit 109 generates a set of highly stable electrical signals at predetermined frequencies . the power amplifier 204 amplifies these electrical signals and then transmits them to the hed antennas 101 and 102 , which are located in the seawater 110 . the antennas then radiate electromagnetic signals through the seawater 110 . the receiving antenna unit 117 located on auv 157 detects the radiated electromagnetic signal and sends it to the preamplifier 601 . the preamplifier 601 increases the strength of the received electrical signal before sending it to the processor 603 . when the transmitted electromagnetic signal encounters a submerged object in the seawater , the electromagnetic field in the vicinity of the submerged object is modified . the signal processing technique of the system accordingly uses a differential spectral analysis to examine continually the amplitude of various frequency components . abnormal changes in the electromagnetic field beyond those which would be suspected due to a change in the location of the auv are highly suspect and indicative of the existence of a foreign body . the computer , acting in conjunction with the processor is able to identify these objects . a hyperbolic system of navigation based on the signals emanating from the antennas is used to determine the position of any suspected object . finally , landing craft may use the hyperbolic system of navigation set up by the hed antennas and the transmitter unit 109 to safely navigate in the area cleared of mines . fig1 diagrammatically summarizes the procedure underlying operation of the mine sweeping system 10 as hereinbefore described utilizing a grid of spaced antenna cables 101 and 102 receiving inputs from the antenna signal generator 203 to effect field radiation , as denoted by block 120 , within underwater region 110 into which the grid of cables 101 and 102 has been deployed either by aerial rockets 301 or underwater torpedo 401 as denoted by block 122 . the antenna field radiation performs navigation control and submerged object detection as respectively denoted by blocks 124 and 126 . the navigation control 124 is operative to effect directional control over propulsion of vehicle 157 carrying an array of sensors 117 through the underwater region 110 as diagrammed in fig1 . the submerged object detection function 126 of the antenna field radiation 120 is applied to the underwater vehicle sensor 117 to produce a mine identification readout 128 as well as mine sweeping actions 130 within region 110 based on mine location data obtained from readout 128 . although the invention has been described relative to a specific embodiment thereof , there are numerous variations and modifications that will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that , within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described .	7
in the following the present invention is explained by means of an aspect where it is implemented in a mobile device . it is to be noted that the invention may as well be implemented in a stationary device . a mobile device 1 , capable of handling images , according to a preferred embodiment , comprises a display unit 3 , a control unit , such as a micro controller ( mcu ) 5 , connected to the display unit 3 , and a decoder and an encoder 7 and 9 , respectively , for reception and transmission of external images , as shown in fig1 . the decoder 7 and the encoder 9 are connected to the micro controller 5 . the display unit 3 comprises a display 11 , a display memory 13 , connected to the display 11 , for holding images which are displayed , a display adjustment unit 15 , connected to the display 11 , by means of which display properties are adjusted , and a display processor 17 , connected to the display memory 13 and to the display adjustment unit 15 . in this embodiment the display processor 17 serves as an image improvement unit . further , the mobile device comprises an ambient light sensor 19 , which is connected to the micro controller 5 . as is understood to a man skilled in the art , the mobile device comprises many other parts and circuits in dependence of what type of device it is . however , for reasons of clarity and simplicity , merely those parts which are needed for the disclosure and explanation of the present invention are illustrated . it is an easy task for a skilled man to add general functionality in order to obtain a fully competent device , such as a mobile phone , a pda device , i . e . a small mobile hand - held device that provides computing and information storage and retrieval capabilities for keeping schedule calendars and address book information handy , a laptop computer , i . e . an all - in - one computer that is easily portable , video glasses or other accessory devices to portable devices , etc . the image improvement method of the present invention is now to be explained as performed by the device in fig1 . an image is received at the mobile device 1 and decoded in the decoder 7 . the image is then stored in the display memory 13 . then , the image improvement unit , i . e . the display processor 17 , determines a property , or typically several properties , of the image and compares these image properties with one or more properties of the display 11 . in all situations where the properties of the image are not already optimised to the display 11 , an improvement procedure is initiated . the display processor 17 manipulates the properties of the image , by means of an image processing method , employing at least one sub - method , or algorithm , for example one or more of those mentioned above , in order to improve the appearance of the image on the display 11 . the improved image is stored in the display memory 13 . then the improved image is applied to the display 11 from the memory 13 . in a mobile device , a general aim is to minimise the power consumption of the circuitry of the device as well as of the processes run by the circuitry . it is therefore preferred that the display is of a low power type , and preferably is a reflective or transflective lcd display . as a contrast crt displays can be mentioned , which have a relatively high power consumption . on the other hand , it has been shown that , at present , reflective and transflective lcd displays have some insufficient properties in comparison with , for example , crt displays . the color gamuts of the low power displays are relatively small , and , additionally , they are dependent on the intensity and quality of the ambient light , and of the internal light source , which is energised when necessary . further , the contrast ratio is quite low . these deficiencies result in that many images appear to have low contrast and faint colors . consequently , preferred image processing algorithms are those which compensate for the low color gamut and low contrast ratio . there do exist advanced algorithms , which can be tailored for a certain type of display and adapt any image as far as possible . however , when it comes to a mobile device , the processing capacity thereof is limited , and so is the available power . consequently , it is preferred that the image processing algorithms are simple and consume little power . it has proven possible to achieve this while still achieving a substantial improvement of the perceived image quality . one useful image processing sub - method is a saturation increase algorithm , which increases the difference between grey and each color component . thus , the saturation is increased , but typically , the image becomes over - saturated . however , due to the low color contrast of the low power display , the original image appears to be de - saturated , and therefore the increased saturation does not cause an over - saturation effect . this algorithm is illustrated in fig3 . another useful algorithm is a componentwise histogram stretching algorithm , which stretches the dynamic range of each color component of the image . after stretching , the dynamics of the image signal are effectively utilized . typical drawbacks are over - colored image , resulting in contouring . it has proven that due to the low dynamics of the above - mentioned low - power displays , the contouring remains below a disturbing level , and the image does not appear to be over - colored . this algorithm is illustrated in fig4 , where the smaller hatched area represents the color gamut of the original image , and the larger hatched area represents the color gamut of the improved image . yet another useful algorithm is an unsharp masking algorithm , wherein a high pass filtered version of the image is added to the original image . this algorithm is illustrated in fig5 , where a signal of the image is shown to the upper left , a high pass filtered version of the signal is shown to the upper right , and the sum thereof is shown at the bottom of the figure . the algorithm increases local contrast around edges . visibility and subjective sharpness of edges are increased . this algorithm produces ringing artefacts around edges , and it increases the visibility of noise . however , due to a typical small pixel size of the low power display , for example , the ringing does not become disturbingly visible . further , the visibility of noise is not high , because the display have low contrast capability . as regards the noise , in fact a small amount of noise hides the possible contouring artefacts , which are due to other algorithms or due to the properties of the display . these algorithms can be combined , i . e . the image processing method can make use of a plurality of the algorithms for improving the image to an optimal extent . the display processor 17 determines the parameters to be used by the image processing method from a combination of properties of the image and the display . more particularly , the image is analysed , and preferably statistical properties are measured , for example by means of histograms . as regards the display 11 , at least some properties are known to the display processor 17 beforehand . typically , information about the display properties is read from the display unit 3 , or stored in the memory of the device , when the display unit is installed into the device 1 . in addition to the color gamut and color contrast ratio mentioned above , also for example the instantaneous brightness can be taken into account . all these display properties are changing dynamically , and in some cases the display properties can be adjusted from time to time by the user , who has the opportunity to input desired settings of the display . these user - specific display settings are then performed by means of the display adjustment unit 15 , which , in this embodiment , receives the data for the settings from the micro controller 5 . the micro controller 5 , in turn , has received them via a user interface 21 . the display processor 17 , at a predetermined repetition rate , repeatedly evaluates the instantaneous state of the display , i . e . the instantaneous properties thereof , by obtaining that information from the display adjustment unit 15 . then the display processor uses that information in conjunction with information of the image for determining new parameters for the image processing and provides these parameters to the display processor , which uses them when performing the image processing method . finally the image is readjusted . the repetition rate can differ according to what is appropriate in a specific application . however , a typical rate is the highest possible , in which case the image improvement method runs continuously in a loop . in one embodiment , for every repetition of the image improvement method , the image processing method is applied to the original image . at least this applies for those algorithms that use statistical computations . thus , in this embodiment , the original image as well as the improved image are stored . on the other hand , in some cases it is possible to readjust the most recently improved image , although most often this distorts the image in an undesired way . in addition , or as an alternative , to the above - described repetitive readjustment of the image , the readjustment of the image is performed when the circumstances are changed . in this case , the display properties on which the image processing is based are monitored by means of the image improvement unit , i . e . in this embodiment the display processor 17 . when a significant change is detected in a display property the image improvement processing is initiated , which often results in a readjustment of the improved image in the display memory 13 . another factor to be considered when the image is improved is the illumination of the display 11 . the amount of illumination has an effect on the available contrast and color contrast , especially when the display is reflective . the quality of the illumination is also important . for example , the color of the illumination affects the color gamut of the display 11 . thus , in this embodiment , the micro controller 5 receives data from the sensor 19 as to the amount and quality of the ambient light . the micro controller 5 then provides the display processor 17 with corresponding information , and the display processor 17 combines said information with knowledge of a possible contribution from the internal light of the display . also , the display processor controls the switching of the internal light . yet another factor that can be considered is the temperature . the temperature has an effect on the operation of lcds . more particularly , the contrast and the color properties of the display are temperature dependent . when the display is transflective , the determination of the parameters for the image processing algorithm is preferably also based on the operation mode . in other words , it is detected if the display is in the reflective mode or in the transmissive mode , since the operation mode has an effect on the color gamut . due to the simple methods of image improvement the display processor can be rather simple , which is an advantage . in another embodiment of the mobile device , as shown in fig2 , the display processor is omitted . the parts of the second embodiment that have a correspondence in the first embodiment are provided with corresponding numerals , though provided with an accent . in this second embodiment the image improvement processing is performed by the micro controller 5 ′. thus , the properties of the display 11 ′ that are not static , and thus can not be predetermined , are transferred from the display unit 3 ′ to the micro controller 5 ′.	7
in the description that follows , reference will be made to examples 1 - 7 of the zoom lens system according to this invention , the lens data of which will be given later . the lens arrangements of examples 1 , 3 , 4 , 6 and 7 at the ( a ) wide angle ends , ( b ) standard settings and ( c ) telephoto ends are shown in section in fig1 , 3 , 4 and 5 , respectively . note that the sections of the lens arrangements of examples 2 and 5 are almost similar to that of example 1 and so are omitted from the accompanying drawings . examples 1 , 2 and 5 - 7 are directed to three - unit zoom lens systems , while examples 3 and 4 to four - unit zoom lens systems . throughout the examples , each first lens group i comprises two lenses or , in order from the object side , a concave meniscus lens having an increased curvature on the image side and a double - convex lens . in examples 1 and 3 - 5 each second lens group ii comprises two lenses or , in order from the object side , a double - concave lens and a positive meniscus lens having an increased curvature on the object side ; in example 4 it comprises a double - concave lens ; and in example 6 or 7 , it comprises three lenses or , in order from the object side , a double - concave lens and a double - concave lens cemented to a double - convex . in examples 1 - 5 each third lens group iii comprises three lenses or , in order from the object side , a double - convex lens , a negative meniscus lens having an increased curvature on the image side and a positive meniscus lens having an increased curvature on the object side ; and in example 6 or 7 it comprises three lenses or , in order from the object side , a double - convex lens , a negative meniscus lens having an increased curvature on the image side and a double - convex lens . in example 3 or 4 , the fourth lens group iv comprises a positive meniscus lens having an increased curvature on the object side . referring now to aspherical configurations , two spherical surfaces are used in each of examples 1 - 5 ; one spherical surface is applied to the object - side surface of the first lens of the third lens group iii and another to the object - side surface of the third lens of the third lens group iii . throughout the examples , each aspherical surface decreases in positive refractive power as it goes off center . in example 6 or 7 , two spherical surface are applied to the object - side surface of the first lens of the third lens group ii and the image - side surface of the third lens , respectively . in example 7 , however , an additional fixed parallel plane plate p is placed on the image side of the third lens group iii , said plate having an aspherical surface on the object side . it is noted that the 16th - 20th surfaces of each of examples 1 , 2 , 4 and 5 , the 18th - 22nd surfaces of examples 3 , the 17th - 21st surfaces of example 6 and the 19th - 23rd surfaces of example 7 denote optical members such as filters . in the ensuing description , various symbols referred to there but not hereinbefore have the following meanings : r 1 , r 2 , . . . the radius of curvature of each lens surface d 1 , d 2 , . . . the separation between adjacent lens surfaces n d1 , n d2 , . . . the d - line refractive index of each lens ν d1 , ν d2 , . . . the abbe &# 39 ; s number of each lens let x and y denote the optical direction and the direction perpendicular thereto , then the aspherical shape is defined by x =( y . sup . 2 / r )/[ 1 +{ 1 - p ( y . sup . 2 / r . sup . 2 )}. sup . 1 / 2 ]+ a . sub . 4 y . sup . 4 + a . sub . 6 y . sup . 6 + a . sub . 8 y . sup . 8 + a . sub . 10 y . sup . 10 . here r is the paraxial radius of curvature , p is the conical coefficient and a 4 , a 6 , a 8 and a 10 each are the aspherical coefficient . ______________________________________example 1______________________________________f = 7 . 73 ˜ 12 . 32 ˜ 19 . 64f . sub . no = 2 . 81 ˜ 3 . 28 ˜ 4 . 38ω = 22 . 2 ˜ 14 . 3 ˜ 8 . 8 ° r . sub . 1 = 19 . 3944 d . sub . 1 = 0 . 8788 n . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 23 . 78r . sub . 2 = 10 . 3662 d . sub . 2 = 0 . 6339r . sub . 3 = 23 . 4331 d . sub . 3 = 2 . 3028 n . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 1 . 69680 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 56 . 49r . sub . 4 = - 18 . 4690 d . sub . 4 = ( variable ) r . sub . 5 = - 11 . 0045 d . sub . 5 = 0 . 7798 n . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 1 . 69680 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 56 . 49r . sub . 6 = 6 . 5858 d . sub . 6 = 0 . 0314r . sub . 7 = 5 . 9201 d . sub . 7 = 1 . 4682 n . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 23 . 78r . sub . 8 = 11 . 3887 d . sub . 8 = ( variable ) r . sub . 9 = ∞ ( stop ) d . sub . 9 = ( variable ) r . sub . 10 = 5 . 1881 d . sub . 10 = 2 . 9040 n . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 1 . 69350 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 53 . 23 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 11 = - 18 . 8240 d . sub . 11 = 0 . 9166r . sub . 12 = 17 . 0971 d . sub . 12 = 0 . 6983 n . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 23 . 78r . sub . 13 = 4 . 0378 d . sub . 13 = 1 . 3416r . sub . 14 = 5 . 6898 d . sub . 14 = 1 . 7345 n . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 1 . 69350 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 53 . 23 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 15 = 14 . 6742 d . sub . 15 = ( variable ) r . sub . 16 = ∞ d . sub . 16 = 1 . 2000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 64 . 15r . sub . 17 = ∞ d . sub . 17 = 3 . 3000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 1 . 54771 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 62 . 83r . sub . 18 = ∞ d . sub . 18 = 0 . 3750r . sub . 19 = ∞ d . sub . 19 = 0 . 4500 n . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 64 . 15zooming specesf 7 . 73 12 . 32 19 . 64d . sub . 4 0 . 763 4 . 276 6 . 130d . sub . 8 6 . 167 2 . 654 0 . 800d . sub . 9 4 . 725 3 . 282 0 . 800d . sub . 15 2 . 481 3 . 923 6 . 406aspherical coefficients10th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 81725 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 25980 × 10 . sup .- 4a . sub . 8 = - 0 . 58984 × 10 . sup .- 614th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 88306 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 23644 × 10 . sup .- 4a . sub . 8 = 0 . 20302 × 10 . sup .- 5β . sub . 3 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 3 . sbsb . w = 1 . 40 × β . sub . 2 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 2 . sbsb . wf . sub . 3 /\| f . sub . 2 \| = 0 . 88 ( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r ) =- 0 . 57 ( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r )= - 1 . 618r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r / r . sub . 33 . sbsb . f = 0 . 710 \| δ . sub . x \|/{( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2f . sub . no . sup . 3 } = 1 . 88 × 10 . sup .- 3d . sub . iii /( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2 = 0 . 616______________________________________example 2______________________________________f = 7 . 73 ˜ 12 . 32 ˜ 19 . 64f . sub . no = 2 . 02 ˜ 2 . 28 ˜ 2 . 81ω = 22 . 2 ˜ 14 . 3 ˜ 8 . 8 ° r . sub . 1 = 13 . 3135 d . sub . 1 = 0 . 8487 n . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 23 . 78r . sub . 2 = 9 . 4848 d . sub . 2 = 1 . 1664r . sub . 3 = 42 . 3271 d . sub . 3 = 2 . 3077 n . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 1 . 69680 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 56 . 49r . sub . 4 = - 19 . 4338 d . sub . 4 = ( variable ) r . sub . 5 = - 11 . 5165 d . sub . 5 = 0 . 6988 n . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 1 . 69680 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 56 . 49r . sub . 6 = 8 . 0295 d . sub . 6 = 0 . 0317r . sub . 7 = 6 . 9680 d . sub . 7 = 1 . 4673 n . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 23 . 78r . sub . 8 = 12 . 2532 d . sub . 8 = ( variable ) r . sub . 9 = ∞ ( stop ) d . sub . 9 = ( variable ) r . sub . 10 = 5 . 5206 d . sub . 10 = 3 . 2160 n . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 1 . 69350 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 53 . 23 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 11 = - 17 . 8955 d . sub . 11 = 0 . 1117r . sub . 12 = 14 . 1507 d . sub . 12 = 0 . 6999 n . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 23 . 78r . sub . 13 = 4 . 3953 d . sub . 13 = 0 . 5538r . sub . 14 = 9 . 8984 d . sub . 14 = 1 . 6768 n . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 1 . 69350 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 53 . 23 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 15 = 241 . 3552 d . sub . 15 = ( variable ) r . sub . 16 = ∞ d . sub . 16 = 1 . 2000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 64 . 15r . sub . 17 = ∞ d . sub . 17 = 3 . 3000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 1 . 54771 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 62 . 83r . sub . 18 = ∞ d . sub . 18 = 0 . 3750r . sub . 19 = ∞ d . sub . 19 = 0 . 4500 n . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 64 . 15r . sub . 20 = ∞ zooming specesf 7 . 73 12 . 32 19 . 64d . sub . 4 0 . 763 4 . 687 7 . 136d . sub . 8 7 . 173 3 . 249 0 . 801d . sub . 9 4 . 360 2 . 987 0 . 797d . sub . 15 4 . 294 5 . 667 7 . 856aspherical coefficients10th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 80069 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 12640 × 10 . sup .- 4a . sub . 8 = - 0 . 10605 × 10 . sup .- 5a . sub . 10 = 0 . 52813 × 10 . sup .- 814th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 59282 × 10 . sup .- 4a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 40714 × 10 . sup .- 4a . sub . 8 = 0 . 34334 × 10 . sup .- 5a . sub . 10 = 0 . 47012 × 10 . sup .- 6β . sub . 3 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 3 . sbsb . w = 1 . 30 × β . sub . 2 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 2 . sbsb . wf . sub . 3 /\| f . sub . 2 \| = 0 . 97 ( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r ) =- 0 . 53 ( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r ) =- 1 . 901r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r / r . sub . 33 . sbsb . f = 0 . 440 \| δ . sub . x \|/{( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2f . sub . no . sup . 3 } = 4 . 3 × 10 . sup .- 3d . sub . iii /( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2 = 0 . 508______________________________________example 3______________________________________f = 7 . 73 ˜ 12 . 32 ˜ 19 . 64f . sub . no = 2 . 77 ˜ 3 . 22 ˜ 4 . 05ω = 22 . 2 ˜ 14 . 3 ˜ 8 . 8 ° r . sub . 1 = 17 . 5049 d . sub . 1 = 0 . 8978 n . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 23 . 78r . sub . 2 = 10 . 5005 d . sub . 2 = 0 . 7694r . sub . 3 = 19 . 8228 d . sub . 3 = 2 . 3338 n . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 1 . 69680 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 56 . 49r . sub . 4 = - 21 . 2277 d . sub . 4 = ( variable ) r . sub . 5 = - 12 . 5918 d . sub . 5 = 0 . 6118 n . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 1 . 69680 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 56 . 49r . sub . 6 = 5 . 9734 d . sub . 6 = 0 . 0302r . sub . 7 = 5 . 5266 d . sub . 7 = 1 . 4697 n . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 23 . 78r . sub . 8 = 9 . 6937 d . sub . 8 = ( variable ) r . sub . 9 = ∞ ( stop ) d . sub . 9 = ( variable ) r . sub . 10 = 5 . 1682 d . sub . 10 = 2 . 9793 n . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 1 . 69350 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 53 . 23 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 11 = - 17 . 4785 d . sub . 11 = 0 . 9020r . sub . 12 = 24 . 9893 d . sub . 12 = 0 . 9308 n . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 23 . 78r . sub . 13 = 3 . 9371 d . sub . 13 = 1 . 2093r . sub . 14 = 5 . 9508 d . sub . 14 = 1 . 7629 n . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 1 . 69350 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 53 . 23 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 15 = 17 . 6297 d . sub . 15 = ( variable ) r . sub . 16 = 11 . 0090 d . sub . 16 = 1 . 5000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 1 . 69895 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 30 . 12r . sub . 17 = 15 . 5765 d . sub . 17 = 0 . 5000r . sub . 18 = ∞ d . sub . 18 = 1 . 2000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 64 . 15r . sub . 19 = ∞ d . sub . 19 = 3 . 3000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 1 . 54771 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 62 . 83r . sub . 20 = ∞ d . sub . 20 = 0 . 3750r . sub . 21 = ∞ d . sub . 21 = 0 . 4500 n . sub . d . sbsb . 11 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 11 = 64 . 15r . sub . 22 = ∞ zooming specesf 7 . 73 12 . 32 19 . 64d . sub . 4 0 . 763 3 . 973 6 . 240d . sub . 8 6 . 277 3 . 067 0 . 800d . sub . 9 4 . 273 2 . 848 0 . 800d . sub . 15 0 . 611 2 . 035 4 . 084aspherical coefficients10th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 85931 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 25833 × 10 . sup .- 4a . sub . 8 = - 0 . 55901 × 10 . sup .- 614th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 55807 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 52489 × 10 . sup .- 4a . sub . 8 = 0 . 56295 × 10 . sup .- 5β . sub . 3 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 3 . sbsb . w = 1 . 08 × β . sub . 2 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 2 . sbsb . wf . sub . 3 /\| f . sub . 2 \| = 0 . 80 ( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r ) =- 0 . 54 ( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r ) = 1 . 374r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r / r . sub . 33 . sbsb . f = 0 . 660 \| δ . sub . x \|/{( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2f . sub . no . sup . 3 } = 9 . 97 × 10 . sup .- 3d . sub . iii /( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2 = 0 . 632______________________________________example 4______________________________________f = 7 . 73 ˜ 12 . 32 ˜ 19 . 64f . sub . no = 2 . 75 ˜ 3 . 23 ˜ 4 . 09ω = 22 . 2 ˜ 14 . 3 ˜ 8 . 8 ° r . sub . 1 = 12 . 7093 d . sub . 1 = 0 . 9000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 23 . 78r . sub . 2 = 12 . 9208 d . sub . 2 = 0 . 9036r . sub . 3 = 201 . 1721 d . sub . 3 = 1 . 7955 n . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 1 . 69680 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 56 . 49r . sub . 4 = - 39 . 5354 d . sub . 4 = ( variable ) r . sub . 5 = - 22 . 8157 d . sub . 5 = 0 . 7913 n . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 1 . 61800 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 63 . 38r . sub . 6 = 15 . 5874 d . sub . 6 = ( variable ) r . sub . 7 = ∞ ( stop ) d . sub . 7 = ( variable ) r . sub . 8 = 5 . 1543 d . sub . 8 = 2 . 5022 n . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 1 . 69350 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 53 . 23 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 9 = - 22 . 3031 d . sub . 9 = 0 . 9119r . sub . 10 = 32 . 2246 d . sub . 10 = 0 . 7024 n . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 23 . 78r . sub . 11 = 4 . 1669 d . sub . 11 = 0 . 6233r . sub . 12 = 4 . 5536 d . sub . 12 = 1 . 4312 n . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 1 . 69350 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 53 . 23 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 13 = 5 . 2340 d . sub . 13 = ( variable ) r . sub . 14 = 8 . 9826 d . sub . 14 = 1 . 7462 n . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 1 . 69895 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 30 . 12r . sub . 15 = 369 . 4686 d . sub . 15 = 0 . 4813r . sub . 16 = ∞ d . sub . 16 = 1 . 2000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 64 . 15r . sub . 17 = ∞ d . sub . 17 = 3 . 3000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 1 . 54771 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 62 . 83r . sub . 18 = ∞ d . sub . 18 = 0 . 3750r . sub . 19 = ∞ d . sub . 19 = 0 . 4500 n . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 64 . 15r . sub . 20 = ∞ zooming specesf 7 . 73 12 . 32 19 . 64d . sub . 4 0 . 763 5 . 618 9 . 060d . sub . 6 9 . 097 4 . 241 0 . 800d . sub . 7 5 . 427 3 . 496 0 . 700d . sub . 13 0 . 500 2 . 432 5 . 227aspherical coefficients8th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 65095 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 16721 × 10 . sup .- 4a . sub . 8 = - 0 . 11123 × 10 . sup .- 512th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 94384 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 10989 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 8 = 0 . 68574 = 10 . sup .- 5β . sub . 3 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 3 . sbsb . w = 1 . 13 × β . sub . 2 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 2 . sbsb . wf . sub . 3 /\| f . sub . 2 \| = 0 . 92 ( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r ) =- 0 . 63 ( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r ) =- 1 . 297r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r / r . sub . 33 . sbsb . f = 0 . 870 \| δ . sub . x \|/{( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2f . sub . no . sup . 3 } = 1 . 17 × 10 . sup .- 3d . sub . iii /( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2 = 0 . 501______________________________________example 5______________________________________f = 7 . 50 ˜ 13 . 42 ˜ 24 . 00f . sub . no = 2 . 62 ˜ 3 . 08 ˜ 4 . 21ω = 22 . 8 ˜ 13 . 2 ˜ 7 . 5 ° r . sub . 1 = 21 . 9353 d . sub . 1 = 0 . 8118 n . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 23 . 78r . sub . 2 = 12 . 7786 d . sub . 2 = 0 . 6952r . sub . 3 = 19 . 3013 d . sub . 3 = 2 . 4356 n . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 1 . 69680 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 56 . 49r . sub . 4 = - 35 . 4060 d . sub . 4 = ( variable ) r . sub . 5 = - 24 . 6054 d . sub . 5 = 0 . 7986 n . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 1 . 69680 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 56 . 49r . sub . 6 = 5 . 4442 d . sub . 6 = 0 . 6944r . sub . 7 = 5 . 8118 d . sub . 7 = 1 . 1753 n . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 23 . 78r . sub . 8 = 9 . 2278 d . sub . 8 = ( variable ) r . sub . 9 = ∞ ( stop ) d . sub . 9 = ( variable ) r . sub . 10 = 5 . 5808 d . sub . 10 = 2 . 7787 n . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 1 . 69350 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 53 . 23 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 11 = - 24 . 4747 d . sub . 11 = 0 . 8598r . sub . 12 = 46 . 9540 d . sub . 12 = 0 . 7006 n . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 23 . 78r . sub . 13 = 5 . 5217 d . sub . 13 = 1 . 1696r . sub . 14 = 5 . 8640 d . sub . 14 = 1 . 6469 n . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 1 . 69350 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 53 . 23 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 15 = 12 . 2989 d . sub . 15 = ( variable ) r . sub . 16 = ∞ d . sub . 16 = 1 . 2000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 64 . 15r . sub . 17 = ∞ d . sub . 17 = 3 . 3000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 1 . 54771 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 62 . 83r . sub . 18 = ∞ d . sub . 18 = 0 . 3750r . sub . 19 = ∞ d . sub . 19 = 0 . 4500 n . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 64 . 15r . sub . 20 = ∞ zooming specesf 7 . 50 13 . 42 24 . 00d . sub . 4 0 . 763 5 . 939 8 . 968d . sub . 8 8 . 905 3 . 728 0 . 700d . sub . 9 5 . 364 3 . 668 0 . 721d . sub . 15 3 . 780 5 . 476 8 . 422aspherical coefficients10th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 32350 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 23201 × 10 . sup .- 4a . sub . 8 = - 0 . 54541 × 10 . sup .- 714th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 15595 × 10 . sup .- 2a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 23550 × 10 . sup .- 5a . sub . 8 = - 0 . 40280 × 10 . sup .- 5β . sub . 3 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 3 . sbsb . w = 1 . 28 × β . sub . 2 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 2 . sbsb . wf . sub . 3 /\| f . sub . 2 \| = 0 . 85 ( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r ) = - 0 . 63 ( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r ) = 1 . 266r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r / r . sub . 33 . sbsb . f = 0 . 940 \| δ . sub . x \|/{( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2f . sub . no . sup . 3 } = 7 . 50 × 10 . sup .- 3d . sub . iii /( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2 = 0 . 533______________________________________example 6______________________________________f = 10 . 30 ˜ 16 . 42 ˜ 26 . 19f . sub . no = 2 . 06 ˜ 2 . 37 ˜ 3 . 30ω = 22 . 2 ˜ 14 . 3 ˜ 9 . 1 ° r . sub . 1 = 17 . 3245 d . sub . 1 = 1 . 1000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 23 . 78r . sub . 2 = 11 . 8868 d . sub . 2 = 0 . 4200r . sub . 3 = 15 . 0103 d . sub . 3 = 3 . 2000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 1 . 69680 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 55 . 52r . sub . 4 = - 44 . 9603 d . sub . 4 = ( variable ) r . sub . 5 = - 37 . 4832 d . sub . 5 = 0 . 9000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 1 . 80100 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 34 . 97r . sub . 6 = 9 . 1832 d . sub . 6 = 1 . 4700r . sub . 7 = - 9 . 4743 d . sub . 7 = 0 . 8000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 1 . 58267 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 46 . 33r . sub . 8 = 10 . 9950 d . sub . 8 = 2 . 0000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 23 . 78r . sub . 9 = - 35 . 9264 d . sub . 9 = ( variable ) r . sub . 10 = ∞ ( stop ) d . sub . 10 = ( variable ) r . sub . 11 = 7 . 6006 d . sub . 11 = 5 . 0000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 1 . 58913 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 61 . 18 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 12 = - 19 . 0955 d . sub . 12 = 0 . 1500r . sub . 13 = 13 . 1572 d . sub . 13 = 0 . 8000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 23 . 78r . sub . 14 = 6 . 2559 d . sub . 14 = 1 . 6400r . sub . 15 = 30 . 5774 d . sub . 15 = 2 . 9000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 1 . 60311 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 60 . 70r . sub . 16 = - 25 . 8351 d . sub . 16 = ( variable )( aspheric ) r . sub . 17 = ∞ d . sub . 17 = 1 . 6000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 64 . 15r . sub . 18 = ∞ d . sub . 18 = 4 . 4000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 1 . 54771 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 62 . 83r . sub . 19 = ∞ d . sub . 19 = 0 . 5000r . sub . 20 = ∞ d . sub . 20 = 0 . 6000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 11 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 11 = 64 . 15r . sub . 21 = ∞ zooming specesf 10 . 30 16 . 42 26 . 19d . sub . 4 1 . 000 4 . 146 6 . 325d . sub . 9 6 . 325 3 . 179 1 . 000d . sub . 10 6 . 577 4 . 616 1 . 800d . sub . 16 8 . 136 10 . 097 12 . 913aspherical coefficients11th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 44530 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 11465 × 10 . sup .- 5a . sub . 8 = - 0 . 97900 × 10 . sup .- 716th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 94684 × 10 . sup .- 4a . sub . 6 = 0 . 69271 × 10 . sup .- 5a . sub . 8 = - 0 . 55011 × 10 . sup .- 6β . sub . 3 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 3 . sbsb . w = 0 . 966 × β . sub . 2 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 2 . sbsb . wf . sub . 3 /\| f . sub . 2 \| = 1 . 49 ( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r ) =- 0 . 431 ( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r ) =- 2 . 813r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r / r . sub . 33 . sbsb . f = 0 . 205 \| δ . sub . x \|/{( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2f . sub . no . sup . 3 } = 2 . 33 × 10 . sup .- 3d . sub . iii /( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2 = 0 . 639______________________________________example 7______________________________________f = 10 . 30 ˜ 16 . 42 ˜ 26 . 19f . sub . no = 2 . 06 ˜ 2 . 37 ˜ 3 . 30ω = 22 . 2 ˜ 14 . 3 ˜ 9 . 1 ° r . sub . 1 = 17 . 5774 d . sub . 1 = 1 . 1000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 1 = 23 . 78r . sub . 2 = 12 . 1065 d . sub . 2 = 0 . 3700r . sub . 3 = 14 . 9556 d . sub . 3 = 3 . 2000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 1 . 69680 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 2 = 55 . 52r . sub . 4 = - 49 . 1453 d . sub . 4 = ( variable ) r . sub . 5 = - 38 . 5589 d . sub . 5 = 0 . 9000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 1 . 80100 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 3 = 34 . 97r . sub . 6 = 9 . 0436 d . sub . 6 = 1 . 5000r . sub . 7 = - 9 . 5917 d . sub . 7 = 0 . 8000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 1 . 58267 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 4 = 46 . 33r . sub . 8 = 10 . 9495 d . sub . 8 = 2 . 0000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 5 = 23 . 78r . sub . 9 = - 34 . 9714 d . sub . 9 = ( variable ) r . sub . 10 = ∞ ( stop ) d . sub . 10 = ( variable ) r . sub . 11 = 7 . 7536 d . sub . 11 = 5 . 0000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 1 . 58913 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 6 = 61 . 18 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 12 = - 18 . 4124 d . sub . 12 = 0 . 1500r . sub . 13 = 13 . 1789 d . sub . 13 = 0 . 8000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 1 . 84666 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 7 = 23 . 78r . sub . 14 = 6 . 2235 d . sub . 14 = 1 . 7000r . sub . 15 = 29 . 4780 d . sub . 15 = 2 . 9000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 1 . 60311 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 8 = 60 . 70r . sub . 16 = - 25 . 6509 d . sub . 16 = ( variable )( aspheric ) r . sub . 17 = ∞ d . sub . 17 = 1 . 0000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 1 . 49216 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 9 = 57 . 50 ( aspheric ) r . sub . 18 = ∞ d . sub . 18 = 0 . 7811r . sub . 19 = ∞ d . sub . 19 = 1 . 6000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 10 = 64 . 15r . sub . 20 = ∞ d . sub . 20 = 4 . 4000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 11 = 1 . 54771 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 11 = 62 . 83r . sub . 21 = ∞ d . sub . 21 = 0 . 5000r . sub . 22 = ∞ d . sub . 22 = 0 . 6000 n . sub . d . sbsb . 12 = 1 . 51633 ν . sub . d . sbsb . 12 = 64 . 15r . sub . 23 = ∞ zooming specesf 10 . 30 16 . 42 26 . 19d . sub . 4 1 . 000 4 . 199 6 . 380d . sub . 9 6 . 380 3 . 180 1 . 000d . sub . 10 6 . 653 4 . 684 1 . 800d . sub . 16 6 . 822 8 . 792 11 . 675aspherical coefficients11th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 43326 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = - 0 . 18092 × 10 . sup .- 5a . sub . 8 = - 0 . 75075 × 10 . sup .- 716th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 13721 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = 0 . 68246 × 10 . sup .- 5a . sub . 8 = - 0 . 60434 × 10 . sup .- 617th surfacep = 1a . sub . 4 = - 0 . 11475 × 10 . sup .- 3a . sub . 6 = 0 . 10479 × 10 . sup .- 4a . sub . 8 = - 0 . 39435 × 10 . sup .- 6β . sub . 3 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 3 . sbsb . w = 0 . 976 × β . sub . 2 . sbsb . t / β . sub . 2 . sbsb . wf . sub . 3 /\| f . sub . 2 \| = 1 . 48 ( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 31 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 31 . sbsb . r ) =- 0 . 407 ( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f + r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r )/( r . sub . 32 . sbsb . f - r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r ) = 2 . 790r . sub . 32 . sbsb . r / r . sub . 33 . sbsb . f = 0 . 210 \| δ . sub . x \|/{( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2f . sub . no . sup . 3 } = 2 . 29 × 10 . sup .- 3d . sub . iii /( f . sub . w · f . sub . t ). sup . 1 / 2 = 0 . 643______________________________________ the spherical aberrations , astigmatisms , distortions and chromatic aberrations of magnification of examples 1 - 5 at the ( a ) wide angle ends , ( b ) standard settings and ( c ) telephoto ends are shown in fig6 - 10 . further , the spherical aberrations , astigmatisms , distortions , chromatic aberrations and comae ( meridional ) of examples 6 - 7 at the ( a ) wide angle ends , ( b ) standard settings and ( c ) telephoto ends as well as ( d ) when the images are focused on an object distance s 1 =- 1 m at the telephoto ends are shown in fig1 - 12 . as can be understood from what has been described above , this invention provides a small zoom lens system which has a field angle of about 44 ° at the wide angle end , a zoom ratio lying in the range of about 2 . 5 - 3 . 2 and an f - number lying in the range of about 2 - 2 . 8 , comprises 7 - 8 lenses and has a short total length and a small lens diameter . the small zoom lens system of this invention lends itself well fit for electronic still cameras or video cameras .	6
the heat resistant alloy for exhaust valves according to the present invention may contain , in addition to the above mentioned basic alloy components , one or more of the components of the following three groups : i ) one or more of mg : 0 . 001 - 0 . 03 %, ca : 0 . 001 - 0 . 03 % and zr : 0 . 001 - 0 . 1 %, the effects of the alloy components and the reasons for limiting the alloy compositions as defined above will be explained below in regard to both the essential components and the optional components . carbon enhances the high temperature strength of the matrix by forming carbides with cr , ti , nb and ta . to obtain this effect carbon of 0 . 01 % or more is essential . too much carbon causes formation of too much carbides , which affect hot - and cold - workability as well as ductility and toughness of the alloy . thus , 0 . 2 % is set to be the upper limit . silicon is added as a deoxidizing agent at the time of melting and refining the alloy . addition of a small amount of si effective as the deoxidizing agent may cause no problem . because addition of much amount of si decrease the toughness and workability of the alloy , the amount of si should be up to 1 . 0 %. manganese , which also effects as a deoxidizing agent like silicon , may be added upon necessity . addition in much amount will damage the workability and high temperature oxidation resistance , and the amount of mn to be added is chosen in the range up to 1 . 0 %. because the ni - amount is limited in this alloy , ranges of workable conditions in hot working are narrow . therefore , the alloy designing should be so carried out that the hot workability becomes high . it is preferable that the contents of p and s , which are inevitable impurities damaging the hot workability , are as low as possible . both the above values are the allowable limits . nickel is an element to form austenite . it is an essential component for ensuring the heat resistance and corrosion resistance , and further , for forming γ ′- phase , which is a precipitation strengthening phase . unless the ni - content is 30 % or higher the strength and the phase stability are insufficient and the hot - workability is low . because too much addition results in increase of manufacturing cost , the upper limit is , as explained above , set to be 62 %. preferable range based on the balance of the performance and the cost of the alloy is 30 - 54 %, more preferably , 35 - 54 %. a part of ni , up to 5 % of the alloy , can be replaced with co . replace of ni with co gives a merit of enhanced creep strength . however , it is not advisable to add much co , not only because co is more expensive than ni and addition of a large amount causes increase in the cost , which is against the aim of the invention , but because a large amount of co lowers the stability of γ ′- phase . chromium is an element essential for ensuring heat resistance of the alloy , and cr of at least 13 % is necessarily added . if , however , cr is added in an amount exceeding 20 %, σ - phase will precipitate to lower the toughness and high temperature strength . preferable amount of cr - addition is up to 18 %. tungsten has the effect of improving the high temperature strength of the alloy by solution strengthening . to obtain this merit it is recommended to add a suitable amount of 0 . 01 % or higher . excess addition results in increase of the cost and decrease of the workability , and therefore , the addition amount should be chosen in the range up to 3 . 0 %. molybdenum also improves , likewise w , the high temperature strength of the alloy by solution strengthening , and it is recommended to add a suitable amount of mo . because mo is also so expensive that addition of a large amount causes increased cost , and because it decreases workability , the amount of mo - addition is chosen in the range up to 2 . 0 %. as is well known , in case of mixed use of mo and w the value of mo + 0 . 5 w , mo - equivalent ( hereinafter abbreviated as “ mo - eq .”), is discussed . in order to obtain this merit certainly , addition of mo in the amount corresponding to mo - equivalent of 1 . 0 % or more is recommended . the upper limit of the mo - eq . is set to 2 . 5 %. aluminum is an important element which couples with ni to form γ ′- phase . if the amount of al is less than 0 . 7 %, precipitation of γ ′- phase will be insufficient and the high temperature strength may not be obtained . on the other hand , addition of 1 . 6 % or higher will lower the hot workability . titanium , like al , nb and ta , reacts ni to form the γ ′- phase which is effective in enhancing the high temperature strength of the alloy . in case of ti - amount of less than 1 . 5 %, solution temperature of γ ′- phase becomes low , and therefore , sufficient high temperature strength will not be obtained . on the other hand , in case of excess addition of ti over 3 . 0 % causes decreased workability and tendency of deposition of η - phase ( ni 3 ti ), which decreases the high temperature strength and the toughness . strength of this kind of alloy is given by age - hardening caused by uniform and fine precipitation and distribution of γ ′- phase . it has been discovered that the precipitation amount and the phase stability of the γ ′- phase depend on the ti / al ratio in the alloy . if % ti /% al is so high as 2 . 0 or more , γ ′- phase becomes unstable and η - phase may precipitate to lower the strength . this is the phenomenon of “ overaging ”. in order to avoid precipitation of the η - phase and to obtain overaging - resistance , it is necessary to keep this ration less than 2 . 0 . on the other hand , it is not desirable that the ratio becomes such a low level as less than 1 . 6 , because the initial strength of the alloy will be low . niobium is a γ ′- phase forming element , and formation of γ ′- phase enhances the strength of the alloy . to achieve this effect , 0 . 5 % or more , preferably , 0 . 6 % or more of nb must be added . however , too much addition must be avoided due to decrease of the toughness , and 1 . 5 % is the upper limit from this reason . a part of nb may be replaced with ta which has the same behavior as nb . therefore , the above - mentioned range of nb - content should be understood as that of nb + ta . effects of adding b are contribution to improvement in the hot workability , suppression of formation of η - phase which prevents decrease of high temperature strength and the toughness , and enhancement of high temperature creep strength . these effects can be obtained at such a low content as 0 . 001 %, while addition of b exceeding 0 . 01 % is too much and lowers the melting point of the alloy resulting in damaging the hot workability of the alloy . one or more of mg : 0 . 001 - 0 . 03 %, ca : 0 . 001 - 0 . 03 % and zr : 0 . 001 - 0 . 100 % both magnesium and calcium are the elements having deoxidizing and desulfurizing effects , and heighten the cleanness of the steel and segregate at the grain boundaries to strengthen the boundaries . these effects can be obtained at such a low addition amount each as 0 . 001 %. on the other hand , addition in a large amount or amounts will lower the hot workability , and thus , each 0 . 03 % is the upper limit for both the elements . zirconium has , like b , the effect of increasing the creep strength of the alloy . addition of 0 . 001 % or more is effective , and addition exceeding 0 . 1 % causes decrease of the toughness . in diesel engines sulfate corrosion caused by sulfur contained in fuels may be a problem . existence of cu in the alloy is useful for giving resistance to the sulfate corrosion to the alloy , and is meaningful depending on the kinds of use of the valve alloy . cu further contributes to oxidation resistance . too much addition decreases the hot workability , and an addition amount up to 2 . 0 % is chosen . vanadium is , like mo and w , effective as solution strengthening element . it also has the effect of stabilizing mc - type carbides . therefore , addition of v of 0 . 05 % or more is recommended . too much addition exceeding 1 . 0 % will lower the toughness of the alloy . the heat resistant alloy for exhaust valves according to the present invention can be produced at a lower cost due to the ni - amount limited to maximum 62 %. nevertheless , as seen from the data of the examples described below , the alloy exhibits the strength higher than those of the conventional alloys containing equal or even much more amount of ni . the problem of tendency of overaging in the prior technologies was dissolved by the invention which chose the ti / al ratio in a lower range . excellent hot workability is also a characteristic feature of the alloy of the invention . this was enabled by the alloy composition in which mo - eq . or the value of mo + 0 . 5 w is suppressed to relatively low , and in turn , the content of fe , which is favorable to the workability , is kept high . as noted before , though the present alloy is suitable as a material for exhaust valves of gasoline engines and diesel engines , it is also useful for other various uses in which the properties similar to those required for the valves , namely , hot workability , overaging - resistance and high strength , are required . heat resistant alloys for exhaust valves having the alloy compositions shown in table 1 ( working examples ) and table 2 ( control examples ) were produced in a high frequency induction furnace , and cast into ingots . of the control alloys , the alloys of no . 1 , no . 2 , no . 3 and no . 4 are the alloys of the above - mentioned jpd sho . 60 - 46343 , jpd sho . 60 - 211028 , jpd sho . 58 - 34129 and jpd hei . 9 - 279309 , respectively . the ingots of the alloys were forged and rolled to round rods of diameter 16 mm . the rods were subjected to solution treatment of heating at 1050 ° c . for 1 hour followed by water cooling , and aging treatment of heating at 750 ° c . for 4 hours followed by air cooling . the samples thus prepared were then tested by room temperature tensile tests , high temperature high speed tensile tests and high temperature tensile tests . also , the samples were subjected to measurement of rockwell hardness and rotation bending fatigue strength . the results are shown in table 3 ( working examples ) and table 4 ( control examples ). this was done in accordance with the method defined in jis z 2241 . the tests were carried out at different temperatures in the range of 800 - 1250 ° c . with intervals of 50 ° c ., at tension rate of 50 mm / sec . as the measure of the hot workability , the temperature ranges in which reduction of 60 % or higher was obtained were determined . using the samples , which were separately subjected to aging treatment of heating at 800 ° c . for 400 hours followed by air cooling , measurement of rockwell hardness and rotation bending fatigue tests were carried out . the results are shown in table 5 ( working examples ) and table 6 ( control examples ). from the data in tables 3 - 6 it is understood that the samples of working examples a - h according to the present invention showed good results in all the properties tested with desirable balance , while the control examples , which are out of the scope of the invention , contain some problems . control no . 1 has no good workability at high temperature . control no . 2 showed , notwithstanding the low % ti /% al ratio , high initial strength ( room temperature strength ), owing to the fact that mo - eq . is high . instead , it has too high hardness and low hot workability . control no . 3 has low hot workability . control no . 4 is dissatisfactory because of insufficient fatigue strength . control no . 5 is short of hardness . as one of the practical properties required for the exhaust valve material , forgeability is important . more specifically , broad temperature range in which forcing can be done is desired . it is requested that the temperature range in which reduction of 60 % or more is achieved in high speed , high temperature tensile tests is 250 ° c . or broader . the temperature ranges obtained in the working examples according to the invention are 250 - 300 ° c ., while the ranges obtained in the control examples are narrower . the reason why the temperature range is particularly narrow in control no . 2 ( 175 ° c .) is attributed to the high mo - eq ., 3 . 5 %. in control no . 4 , which satisfies the condition of the temperature range 250 ° c . or broader is , as pointed out above , short of the strength . [ 0070 ] table 2 alloy compositions ( control examples ) no . c si mn p s ni cr mo w al ti nb + ta b mg , ca , zr cu v fe ti / al 1 0 . 03 0 . 20 0 . 19 0 . 001 0 . 001 65 . 0 17 . 8 1 . 5 1 . 0 1 . 41 2 . 58 1 . 21 0 . 004 mg 0 . 002 — — 9 . 1 1 . 83 2 0 . 04 0 . 10 0 . 08 0 . 001 0 . 001 59 . 8 15 . 0 1 . 7 3 . 6 1 . 68 2 . 52 1 . 60 0 . 003 — — — 13 . 9 1 . 50 3 0 . 06 0 . 16 0 . 51 0 . 001 0 . 001 40 . 6 17 . 8 2 . 1 0 . 1 0 . 75 2 . 38 1 . 07 0 . 003 — — — 34 . 6 3 . 17 4 0 . 03 0 . 21 0 . 19 0 . 001 0 . 001 32 . 2 15 . 8 — — 1 . 16 2 . 67 0 . 84 0 . 003 mg 0 . 002 — — 46 . 9 2 . 30 5 0 . 05 0 . 15 0 . 17 0 . 001 0 . 001 52 . 5 16 . 9 1 . 2 0 . 4 1 . 79 2 . 42 0 . 55 0 . 005 — — — 23 . 9 1 . 35 [ 0071 ] table 3 results 1 ( working examples ) 10 7 rotating room temp . tensile bending tensile temperature rockwell strength fatigue strength range * hardness at 800 ° c . strength no . ( mpa ) (° c .) ( hrc ) ( mpa ) ( mpa ) a 1283 275 37 . 8 681 322 b 1295 300 36 . 5 716 341 c 1237 275 32 . 3 492 283 d 1279 275 36 . 2 690 330 e 1256 275 35 . 9 669 308 f 1250 275 35 . 7 634 299 g 1271 250 36 . 0 643 302 h 1284 275 37 . 4 695 337 [ 0072 ] table 4 results 1 ( control examples ) 10 7 rotating room temp . tensile bending tensile temperature rockwell strength fatigue strength range * hardness at 800 ° c . strength no . ( mpa ) (° c .) ( hrc ) ( mpa ) ( mpa ) 1 1292 225 38 . 0 726 358 2 1321 175 41 . 1 778 375 3 1240 200 32 . 9 425 214 4 1218 250 32 . 2 425 236 5 1193 275 31 . 9 537 302 [ 0073 ] table 5 results 2 ( working examples ) rockwell 10 7 rotating hardness bending fatigue no . ( hrc ) strength ( mpa ) a 34 . 5 306 b 33 . 1 321 c 31 . 6 250 d 33 . 2 313 e 32 . 8 298 f 32 . 8 288 g 32 . 0 262 h 34 . 3 313 [ 0074 ] table 6 results 2 ( control examples ) rockwell 10 7 rotating hardness bending fatigue no . ( hrc ) strength ( mpa ) 1 35 . 1 334 2 37 . 4 340 3 28 . 6 186 4 31 . 8 242 5 31 . 9 265	2
these and other objects and features of the invention will appear from the following written description and from the drawings , in which : fig1 is a schematic representation of a vehicle fuel system including the preferred embodiment of the invention ; fig2 is an enlarged sectional view of the top of the filler neck and the venting means for the invention , showing the cap in place ; fig3 is a view similar to fig2 but showing the cap removed ; and fig4 is a view similar to fig3 but showing the fuel nozzle inserted . referring first to fig1 and 4 , the preferred embodiment of the venting means of the invention , designated generally at 10 , is used in conjunction with a conventional vehicle fuel system having a fuel tank , designated generally at 12 . fuel tank 12 has a vapor dome 14 at the top , and a conventionally sized filler pipe 16 . filler pipe 16 is supported at its upper end to the vehicle body by a support flange 18 , and is closed by a removable cap designated generally at 20 . while cap 20 is in place , pressurized fuel vapors will naturally form in tank 12 , some of which will collect in dome 14 . vapors from dome 14 are continually vented by a hose line designated schematically at 22 to a conventional vapor storage canister 24 , rather than just venting tank 12 to the atmosphere . a separate tank pressure control valve , not shown , would allow air to enter or leave tank 12 to compensate for the volume of fuel entering or leaving . there is a practical limit to how much vapor can be collected by canister 24 through hose line 22 , as too much venting though 22 would over saturate storage canister 24 , and , it is felt , actually encourage vapor formation in tank 12 . therefor , some fuel vapor pressure will inevitably form in tank 12 , which is actually beneficial , to an extent , as it can discourage further vapor formation . some of the pressurized fuel vapor so formed , however , will rise in filler pipe 16 , and can exit to atmosphere when cap 20 is removed , barring a control measure . these vapors constitute the so called puff loss , and are most evident on a warm day . also , when fuel is added , vapors are produced both from the dispensed fuel and from the air vapor mixture in the tank is displaced from the tank 12 as the fuel enters . these fill vapors would exit out the end of filler pipe 16 to the atmosphere without some control measure . the venting means of the invention 10 provides such vapor control , actuated solely by the removal of cap 20 , and does so using the already present canister 24 with little alteration to filler pipe 16 . referring next to fig1 and 2 , a substantially cylindrical plastic housing , designated generally at 26 is pressed into , and forms the upper end of , filler pipe 16 . housing 26 is molded essentially as a unit , and includes or supports several other structures . riveted into the upper end of housing 26 is a stamped metal insert 28 into which the cap 20 is threaded in conventional fashion . on the side and approximate center of housing 26 is a chamber 30 and a first fitting 32 that provides a first chamber opening , and which is connected by a hose line 34 to the vapor storage canister 24 . a hollow valve body located inside chamber 30 , designated generally at 36 , provides a second opening that communicates with the interior of housing 26 . valve body 36 includes a partially spherical valve seat 38 that separates the two openings so provided . ribs depending from valve body 36 , one of which is visible in fig3 at 40 , guide a float ball 42 beneath valve seat 38 . a lever 44 is pivoted to the inside of housing 26 with one end beneath float ball 42 . the other end of lever 44 is located beneath the lower end of a spring loaded plunger 46 mounted through insert 28 . the upper end of plunger 46 is located beneath the bottom edge of cap 20 , and is protected therefrom by a shield 48 . finally , a spring loaded flapper door 50 is pivoted to insert 28 , and , as seen in fig2 is normally resiliently engaged with the underside of annular seal 52 . flapper door 50 provides the conventional function of inhibiting the introduction of leaded fuel where unleaded fuel is required , and serves an additional function in the invention , described below . finally , a second fitting 54 molded with housing 26 opens into housing 26 downstream of the valve body 36 , and is connected to tank vapor dome 14 by a hose line 56 , for a purpose described below . it will be seen that there are manufacturing and assembly advantages to the preferred embodiment 10 as described so far . components such as the flapper door 50 and plunger 46 may be attached to the metal insert 28 as a subassembly , while components such as the valve body 36 and lever 44 may be attached to the housing 26 as another subassembly . then , insert 28 may be riveted to housing 26 to create a further subassembly , which is then pressed into filler pipe 16 to form its upper end . the hose line 34 and 56 are then added to the fittings 32 and 54 . all components are basically conventionally sized and connected to existing conventional structures , such as tank dome 14 and canister 24 . referring next to fig2 through 4 , the operation of the invention may be understood . float ball 42 acts as a valve , moving from an open position beneath valve seat 38 , see fig3 to a closed position against the valve seat 38 , see fig2 . in the closed position , float ball 42 blocks communication between the two openings to chamber 30 . ball 42 is moved between its open and closed positions solely by act of adding and removing cap 20 , as follows . lever 44 , when it is pivoted up , holds ball 42 in its closed position . when pivoted down , lever 44 allows ball 42 to fall to the open position . lever 44 , in turn , is actuated by plunger 46 . plunger 46 , when it is pushed down , pivots lever 44 up , while allowing lever 44 to pivot down as it springs up . finally , plunger 46 is operated by the cap 20 , being pushed down when the cap 20 is added , and being allowed to spring up when cap 20 is removed . no act other than adding or removing the cap 20 is needed to move ball 42 . with cap 20 on , and ball 42 closed , fuel vapors cannot flow past valve seat 38 and on to the storage canister 24 through hose 34 , nor can vapors flow from dome 14 to housing 26 . thus , hose line 56 may be larger than hose line 22 , which is typically restricted for the reasons noted above . with the cap 20 removed and ball 42 open , pressurized fuel vapors can flow past valve seat 38 and out hose line 34 to canister 24 . these vapors may emerge directly from filler pipe 16 , or may come from dome 14 through hose line 56 . however , vapors will be blocked from the atmosphere by the seal provided by flapper door 50 and seal 52 , which provide an atmosphere seal that acts independently of the cap 20 . thus , the so called puff loss vapors have time to be stored , or at least substantially stored , in canister 24 before anything breaks the close of seal 52 . most often , the object that opens flapper door 50 will be a conventionally sized fuel dispensing nozzle such as that shown at 58 in fig4 . in the embodiment disclosed , seal 52 is sized to wipingly engage the outside surface of nozzle 58 , forming another seal to continue to block fuel fill vapors from the atmosphere , which are stored in canister 24 as were the initial puff loss vapors . that is an added advantage cooperatively provided by the invention &# 39 ; s structure . however , it will be easily understood that whatever object breaks the close , the act alone of removing the cap 20 will have relieved the pressure and prevented puff loss . using a float ball 42 as a valve also gives the advantage of blocking liquid fuel from hose line 34 in the event of an overfill , as ball 42 will float to its closed position when liquid fuel rises too high and enters housing 26 . though not shown , a conventional relief valve for such liquid overfill could be added to insert 28 , as well . variations of the preferred embodiment may be made within the spirit of the invention . for example , a cap operated valve actuation means other than plunger 46 could be provided . likewise , a seal means other than flapper door 50 and annular seal 52 could be provided , such as a split diaphragm that nozzle 56 could be pushed through . a valve other than float ball 42 would serve , so long as it closed when the cap was added , and opened when it was removed . as long as the relation of the valve to the seal means is maintained , and as long as the valve is cap operated , the puff losses are prevented . therefore , it will be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment disclosed .	1
as examples of the vinylphenol - type polymer to which the process of the present invention is applied , the following compounds are given : ( a ) homopolymers of vinylphenols such as p - vinylphenol , m - vinylphenol , or o - vinylphenol , or copolymers of these ; ( b ) copolymers of the above vinylphenols ( a ) and other comonomers such as styrene , acrylic acid or its esters , methacrylic acid or its esters , maleic anhydride , maleic acid or its esters , maleimides , or the like ; ( c ) esters produced by reacting a phenolic hydroxyl group of the above polymers ( a ) or ( b ) with acetic acid , benzoic acid , or the like , or ethers produced by reacting a phenolic hydroxyl group of the above polymers ( a ) or ( b ) with a methyl group , t - butyl group , t - butoxycarbonyl group , trimethylsilyl group , allyl group , or the like ; ( d ) nuclear substituted products of the above polymers ( a ) or ( b ), such as nuclear alkylated products , nuclear halogenated products , nuclear hydroxymethylated products , or the like ; ( e ) hydrogen - treated modified products produced by hydrogenating the above polymers ( a ) or ( b ); and ( f ) modified products produced by heat - fusion of the above polymers ( a ) or ( b ), or by heat - fusion of the above polymers ( a ) or ( b ) together with a novolak - type phenol resin . in the present invention , a solution produced by dissolving each of the above various vinylphenol - type polymers or modified products of these vinylphenol - type polymers in a solvent is passed either through ( a ) a filter containing an ion exchange material and / or a chelate - forming material and generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential by a cationic charge modifying agent or through ( b ) ( i ) a filter containing an ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material and ( ii ) a filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential by a cationic charge modifying agent . hereinafter , filter of ( a ), filter of ( b ) ( i ) containing an ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material and filter of ( b ) ( ii ) are collectively called &# 34 ; functional filter &# 34 ;. as the solvent for dissolving the vinylphenol - type polymer , any solvent capable of dissolving the vinylphenol - type polymer may be used . examples of the solvent include , depending on the types of vinylphenol - type polymer and process conditions , alcohols such as methanol , ethanol , isopropanol , and the like ; esters such as ethyl acetate , ethyl lactate , and the like ; cyclic ethers such as tetrahydrofuran , dioxane , and the like ; ketones such as acetone , methyl ethyl ketone , and the like ; and alkylene glycol ethers or esters such as ethylene glycol monoethyl ether , ethylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate , ethylene glycol dimetyl ether , diethylene glycol dimethyl ether , propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate , propylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate , and the like . among these solvents , methanol , ethanol , isopropanol , tetrahydrofuran , dioxane , acetone , ethyl lactate , propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate , diethylene glycol dimethyl ether , or a mixture of these is preferably used . in the case of using the above hydrogen - treated modified products ( e ), the product solution after the hydrotreatment may be preferably used only by removing a catalyst . the substrate materials , i . e . filter media , of the functional filter used in the present invention are generally composed of a fiber component , a particulate component , and the like . as the fiber component , cotton , pulp , cellulose acetate , polyester fiber , or the like is usually used . as the particulate component , diatomaceous earth , pearlite , activated carbon , zeolite , or the like is usually used . as for the functional filter used in the present invention , the phrase &# 34 ; generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential by a cationic charge modifying agent &# 34 ; means that cationic charge is supplied to the filter by the cationic charge modifying agent contained in the filter materials thereby generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential between electrically charged substances which are impurities in a solution and the filter materials in the course of filtering . examples of materials generally used as the cationic charge modifying agent include a polyamide polyamine epichlorohydrin cationic resin described in japanese patent publication no . sho 63 ( 1988 )- 17486 ; a resin produced by reacting n , n &# 39 ;- diethanol piperazine , melamine , formalin , and glycerol phthalate , which is described in japanese patent publication no . sho 36 ( 1961 )- 20045 ; a melamine - formaldehyde cationic resin described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 007 , 113 ; a reaction product of dicyandiamide , monoethanol amine , and formaldehyde described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 802 , 820 ; an aminotriazine resin described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 839 , 506 ; and the like . among these , polyamide polyamine epichlorohydrin cationic resin is preferably used because it can supply a cationic charge stably . the filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential in the present invention is comparatively thin , in the order of 10 mm or less in general , hence there is almost no problem of flow resistance . the above - described japanese patent publication no . sho 63 ( 1988 )- 17486 discloses a method of manufacturing a filter in which a polyamide polyamine epichlorohydrin resin is used as the cationic charge modifying agent , cellulose fiber is used as the fiber component , and diatomaceous earth or pearlite is used as the particulate component . the ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material which is used as an example of the functional filter in the present invention or which is one of the constituents of the functional filter is a material produced by introducing a functional group having an ion exchange function or a chelate - forming function into a polymer such as a styrenic polymer , acrylic polymer , vinyl alcoholic polymer , polyester , cellulose , or the like . there are no limitations to the shape of the ion exchange material or chelate - forming materials . any shape including a particulate - type , fiber - type or porous film - type , and porous membrane - type can be used . incidentally , these porous film - type and porous membrane - type are hereinafter abbreviated simply as &# 34 ; film - type &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; membrane - type &# 34 ;, respectively . the particulate - type is usually called &# 34 ; ion exchange resin &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; chelate resin &# 34 ; and the fiber - type is usually called &# 34 ; ion exchange fiber &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; chelate fiber &# 34 ;. specifically , as the ion exchange material , a particulate - type , fiber - type or film - type , or membrane - type composed of a strongly acidic cation exchange material , weakly acidic cation exchange material , strongly basic anion exchange material , or weakly basic anion exchange material is used . here , as examples of the strongly acidic cation exchange material , compounds produced by sulfonating a styrene polymer cross - linked with divinylbenzene are given . as examples of the weakly acidic cation exchange material , copolymers of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid cross - linked with divinylbenzene are given . also , as examples of the strongly basic anion exchange material , compounds produced by aminomethylation of a styrene polymer cross - liked with divinylbenzene and then conducting quaternarization of the aminomethylated compound are given . as examples of the weakly basic anion exchange material , compounds produced by forming an aminomethyl compound of a styrene polymer cross - linked with divinylbenzene or acrylamide polymers having an aminomethyl group cross - linked with divinylbenzene are given . examples of the chelate - forming material include particulate - types , fiber - types , film - types , or membrane - types of resins produced by introducing an iminodiacetic acid structure - containing group into a styrene polymer cross - linked with divinylbenzene or of resins produced by introducing an polyethyleneimine structure - containing group into a styrene polymer cross - linked with divinylbenzene . not only one but also two or more of these various ion exchange materials or chelate - forming materials may be included in one filter . the ion exchange material or the chelate - forming material includes a gel type , having no pores , and a porous type . both of these types are effective in the present invention though the porous type which has a large surface area and many active sites is preferable . also , a particulate - type of micropowder which is as finer as possible is desirable because of its large surface area . specifically , the particle diameter of the particulate - type is 200 μm or less and preferably from 0 . 1 to 50 μm . when the ion exchange material or the chelate - forming material is a fiber - type , the diameter of fiber is from 0 . 05 to 100 μm and preferably from 0 . 1 to 50 μm , and its length is from 0 . 1 to 10 mm and preferably from 0 . 5 to 10 mm . the functional filter used in the present invention can be made into filters having various functions depending on the ways of addition and formulation of the above cationic charge modifying agent and ion exchange material or chelate - forming material . in this case , the most general filters obtained in the step of manufacturing a filter are those prepared by adding ( 1 ) a cationic charge modifying agent to the other constituents of filter media , those prepared by adding ( 2 ) an ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material to the other constituents of filter media , and those prepared by adding ( 3 ) the above constituents ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) to the other constituents of filter madia . the content of the cationic charge modifying agent in the filter is in a range of from 0 . 5 to 10 % by weight and preferably from 1 to 5 % by weight . also , the content of the ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material in the filter is in a range of from 1 to 50 % by weight and preferably from 5 to 30 % by weight . if the content is less than the above defined range , the effect of the present invention is impaired , whereas if the content is larger than the above defined range , not only the mechanical strength of the filter is insufficient , but also it is uneconomical though it depends on the type and shape of the filter . in the case of using the ion exchange material or chelate - forming material of the fiber - type , these act as the fiber component which is the material for strengthen the functional filter used in the present invention which differs from the case of using the particulate - type material . therefore , there is an advantage that even if the ion exchange material or chelate - forming material of the fiber - type is used in a comparatively large amount , the mechanical strength of the filter is not impaired . the ratio by weight of the cationic charge modifying agent to the ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material is generally 1 : 0 . 1 - 100 and preferably 1 : 1 - 30 . in the present invention , when using the filter containing the ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material together with the filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential , the shape of the filter containing ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material is not limited to that of the conventional filter . since the effect of filtration intended in the process of the present invention is obtained by the filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential by a cationic charge modifying agent , the use of the ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material in the form of a filter is as a matter of convenience for handling . however , easy handling can be attained and sufficient effect can be obtained by using a filter - type , hence it is desirable to use filter - type in practice . the object of the present invention is to reduce the metal content in the vinylphenol - type polymer . when a solution of the vinylphenol - type polymer is filtered by these functional filters , the particle diameter of the target substances to be removed from the solution , that is , the precision of filtration , raises almost no problem . the precision of filtration differs depending on the kinds , compositions , and preparative methods of filter media . the precision of filtration of the functional filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential by a cationic charge modifying agent is generally from 0 . 05 to 5 . 0 μm , which is a sufficient level , and preferably from 0 . 1 to 1 . 0 μm . in the filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential , electrically charged particles existing in the solution are adsorbed due to the generated potential difference whereby even impurities of a size smaller than the pores of the filter can be trapped by the filter . because a part of the trace amount of metals contained in the solution of vinylphenol - type polymer exists in the form of microparticles , such as microgel , the part can be trapped by the filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential , and the ion exchange material and the chelate - forming material primarily trap free ions in the solution , therefore various metals with different existential forms can be widely removed by the process of the present invention . commercially available products can be widely used as the various functional filters used in the process of the present invention . for example , as the filter containing the ion exchange resin or the chelate resin and generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential , a zeta plus sh series ( trade name , manufactured by cuno inc .) is preferably used . as the filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential but containing no ion exchange resin nor the chelate resin , a zeta plus la series ( trade name , manufactured by cuno inc .) can be preferably used . embodiments in which the solution of the vinylphenol - type polymer is filtered by the above functional filter include ( 1 ) a process of passing the polymer solution through the filter containing the ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material and generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential by the cationic charge modifying agent ; and ( 2 ) a process of passing the polymer solution sequentially through two filters , specifically , the filter containing the ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material and the filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential by the cationic charge modifying agent . in the latter process , it was confirmed to be more effective for removing metals from the solution that the solution is passed first through the filter containing the ion exchange material and / or chelate - forming material and then through the filter generating zeta ( ζ ) potential by the cationic charge modifying agent . when comparing the processes ( 1 ) and ( 2 ), the process ( 1 ) is more advantageous in view of maintenance and control of the facilities . in order to prevent the contamination with substances eluted from the filter , it is desirable that the filter be washed in advance with a solvent such as pure water , methanol , acetone , or the like before the solution of the vinylphenol - type polymer is passed through the functional filter . if the concentration of the vinylphenol - type polymer in the polymer solution when the polymer solution is passed through the functional filter is too high , the viscosity of the solution increases , hence high pressure is required to pass the solution through the filter , which is undesirable . on the other hand , an exceedingly low concentration of the vinylphenol - type polymer is undesirable because the throughput per unit time of the vinylphenol - type polymer decreases , although this has an advantage in that the filtering operation can be performed under a low pressure . also , the use of exceedingly low concentration is undesirable because excess work and costs are required for succeeding processes for concentration and solvent removal which are required , as the case may be . accordingly , the concentation of the polymer in the solution is appropriately in a range of from 10 to 40 % by weight . it is desirable that the flow rate of the processing solution be higher in view of productivity . however , if the flow rate is too high , high pressure is required to pass the solution through the filter and the rate of removing metals decreases . for these reasons , in general , it is appropriate to use a flow rate in a range of from 0 . 05 to 5 kg / m 2 · min . the flow rate mentioned above is significantly larger than the flow rate used in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 288 , 850 and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 284 , 930 aforementioned . if the temperature at which the solution of the vinylphenol - type polymer is passed through the functional filter is high , there is the advantage that the viscosity of the solution decreases , the processing speed can be increased , and the adsorption rate increases . however , an exceedingly high temperature is undesirable because it causes deterioration of the filter , decomposition of the solvent , and the denaturation of the vinylphenol - type polymer . on the other hand , if the temperature is too low , the viscosity of the polymer solution increases , which is a cause of difficult filtration . accordingly , the temperature is generally from 5 to 80 ° c . and preferably from room temperature to 50 ° c . when the solution of the vinylphenol - type polymer is passed through the functional filter according to the process of the present invention , it is desirable to perform a pretreatment using a usual filter containing none of ion exchange material , chelate - forming material , and cationic charge modifying agent . specifically , since particles of impurities , particularly , large particles can be caught by the usual filter , the clogging of the functional filter can be avoided , a rise with time of the pressure required when passing the vinylphenol - type polymer solution through the functional filter decreases , and , at the same time , the deterioration in a metal - trapping capability of the functional filter is repressed whereby the life of the filter can be prolonged . as the usual filter used for the pretreatment , any filter of a surface - filtration - type , making use mainly of a surface filtration action of filter media , and a filter of a filter - material - filtration - type making use mainly of capillaries exsisting inside of filter media can be used . appropriate materials used for the usual filter are those which are formed of cellulose , cotton , polypropylene , polytetrafluoroethylene , or the like and have no tendency to release metals . the appropriate precision of the conventional filtration is generally in the range of from 0 . 1 to 10 μm and preferably in the range of from 0 . 5 to 5 μm , though there are no limitations to the precision of filtration . the vinylphenol - type polymer , of which the metal content is reduced by the process of the present invention illustrated as above , may be applied to various fields as it is in solution after its concentration is adjusted as required or may be converted into refined products pouring the solution into pure water to precipitate the polymer , followed by filtration and drying , or by the method of heat - treating the solution under a reduced pressure to remove the solvent , followed by drying . according to the process of the present invention , various kinds of metals in a wide range of alkali metals , alkaline earth metals , earth metals and transition metals such as sodium , magnecium , calcium , aluminum , and iron can be removed in a high rate from a solution of many types of vinylphenol - type polymers or copolymers , modified products of these , or derivatives of these by a very simple operation , i . e . filtration . differring to a conventional process using a filter merely containing a substance generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential , in the process of the present invention , filters can have a long life for the retention of metal removing ability , and therefore , by the process of the present invention , more economical and more efficient removal of metal can be achieved . vinylphenol - type polymers or copolymers , modified products of these , or derivatives of these from which metal impurities have been removed by the process of the present invention can suitably be used in the field of electronics such as photoresist . the present invention will be explained in more detail by way of examples and comparative examples , which are not intended to be limiting the present invention . incidentally , in the examples and comparative examples below , &# 34 ; part ( s )&# 34 ; and &# 34 ; percent (%)&# 34 ; indicate &# 34 ; part ( s ) by weight &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; percent (%) by weight &# 34 ; unless otherwise specified . poly - p - vinylphenol ( weight average molecular weight : 5 , 000 ) was dissolved in ethyl lactate to prepare a 25 % solution . a filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential by a cationic charge modifying agent , and containing a strongly acidic cation exchange resin powder ( a disk - type filter with a diameter of 90 mm and a thickness of 3 mm , consisting of pulp 30 %, a mixture of diatomaceous earth and pearlite 48 %, polyamide polyamine epichlorohydrin resin 2 %, and sulfonated polystyrene cross - linked with divinylbenzene 20 %) was washed with 200 ml of pure water and 200 ml of methanol and then with 100 ml of ethyl lactate . the solution containing poly - p - vinylphenol was passed through the filter at a flow rate of 0 . 45 kg / m 2 · min at a temperature of 25 ° c . if the flow rate is expressed in the term of lhsv , the flow rate corresponds to approximately 9 . 4 h - 1 . metals in the solution before and after filtration were measured using a flameless atomic absorption spectrometer . as a result , the solution before filtration contained 220 ppb of sodium , 260 ppb of iron , 110 ppb of potassium , and 60 ppb of calcium , and the solution after filtration taken at 7 hours from the start of the filtration contained 15 ppb of sodium , 20 ppb of iron , 18 ppb of potassium , and 20 ppb of calcium . a filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential by cationic charge modifying agent , but containing no strongly acidic cation exchange resin ( a disk - type filter with a diameter of 90 mm and a thickness of 3 mm , consisting of pulp 30 %, a mixture of diatomaceous earth and pearlite 68 %, and polyamide polyamine epichlorohydrin resin 2 %) was washed with 200 ml of pure water and 200 ml of methanol and then with 100 ml of ethyl lactate . the ethyl lactate solution containing poly - p - vinylphenol , which was the same solution as used in example 1 , was passed through the filter in the same manner and under the same condition as in example 1 . the solution after filtration taken at 7 hours from the start of the filtration contained 120 ppb of sodium , 160 ppb of iron , 80 ppb of potassium , and 55 ppb of calcium , showing a large increase in the content of each of these metals when compared to the results obtained in example 1 . fig1 is a graph showing the relationship between time after the start of the filtration and concentration of sodium and iron in the filtrate obtained in example 1 and comparative example 1 , wherein the horizontal axis shows time ( h ) from the start of the filtration , and the vertical axis shows metal concentration in the filtrate ( ppb ), and line i shows the concentration of iron in comparative example 1 , line ii shows the concentration of sodium in comparative example 1 , line iii shows the concentration of iron in example 1 , and line iv shows the concentration of sodium in example 1 . as is clear from fig1 the rate of increase in the amount of metals with time in example 1 is remarkably smaller than that in comparative example 1 , showing that example 1 is superior to comparative example 1 . a 25 % solution of poly - p - vinylphenol was obtained by dissolving a poly - p - vinylphenol ( weight average molecular weight : 5 , 000 ) in a mixed solvent of isopropanol and methanol ( isopropanol / methanol weight ratio : 9 / 1 ). the solution was hydrotreated in an autoclave by using a nickel catalyst at a temperature of 210 ° c . under a pressure of 7 . 0 mpa ( ca . 70 kg / cm 2 ) for 2 hours . the nickel catalyst was removed from the treated solution by filtration through a filter paper with 1 μm pores . the filtrate was passed directly through a functional filter same as that used in example 1 at a flow rate of 0 . 40 kg / m 2 · min at a temperature of 25 ° c . the flow rate corresponds to an lhsv of approximately 9 . 0 h - 1 . the solution before filtration contained 400 ppb of sodium , 180 ppb of iron , 120 ppb of calcium , 20 ppb of aluminum , and 8 ppb of magnecium . the solution after filtration with the functional filter taken after 5 hours from the start of the filtration contained 18 ppb of sodium , 20 ppb of iron , 24 ppb of calcium , less than 6 ppb of aluminum , and 3 ppb of magnecium . a functional filter same as that used in comparative example 1 , i . e . a filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential but containing no strongly acidic cation exchange resin , was washed with pure water , methanol and ethyl lactate , successively . then , the hydrotreated solution of poly - p - vinylphenol used in example 2 was passed through the functional filter in the same conditions as in example 2 . the filtrate taken after 1 hour from the start of the filtration contained 14 ppb of sodium , 12 ppb of iron , 4 ppb of calcium , 5 ppb of aluminum , and 3 ppb of magnecium . the filtrate taken after 5 hours from the start of the filtration contained 270 ppb of sodium , 84 ppb of iron , 100 ppb of calcium , 17 ppb of aluminum , and 6 ppb of magnecium . that is , after 5 hours from the start of the filtration , the metal removing ability of the functional filter was decreased , and therefore , the metal concentrations of the filtrate were not sufficiently lowered . a copolymer of p - vinylphenol and methyl methacrylate ( p - vinylphenol / methyl methacrylate mole ratio : 55 / 45 ; weight average molecular weight : 8 , 200 ) was dissolved in propylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate thereby obtained a 25 % solution . meanwhile , a functional filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential and containing a weakly acidic cation exchange resin ( composition : pulp 30 %, a mixture of diatomaceous earth and pearlite 38 %, a copolymer of styrene and acrylic acid cross - linked with divinylbenzene 30 % and polyamide polyamine epichlorohydrin resin 2 %; a disk - type filter with a diameter of 90 mm and a thickness of 3 mm ) was washed with 200 ml of pure water , 200 ml of methanol and 100 ml of propylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate , successively . then , the p - vinylphenol - methyl methacrylate copolymer solution prepared above was passed through the functional filter in a flow rate of 0 . 45 kg / m 2 · min at a temperature of 25 ° c . the solution before filtration contained 1160 ppb of sodium , 880 ppb of iron , and 180 ppb of calcium . the filtrate taken after 5 hours from the start of the filtration contained 25 ppb of sodium , 100 ppb of iron , and 14 ppb of calcium . a functional filter same as that used in comparative example 1 , i . e . a filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential but containing no ion exchange resin , was washed with pure water , methanol and propylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate , successively . then , the propylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate solution of p - vinylphenol - methyl methacrylate copolymer prepared in example 3 was passed through the functional filter in the same conditions as used in example 3 . the filtrate taken after 1 hour from the start of the filtration contained 30 ppb of sodium , 550 ppb of iron , and 20 ppb of calcium . the filtrate taken after 5 hours from the start of the filtration contained 540 ppb of sodium , 750 ppb of iron , and 150 ppb of calcium . poly - m - vinylphenol ( weight average molecular weight : 8 , 000 ) was dissolved in isopropanol to form a 25 % solution . a functional filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential and containing a chelate resin ( composition : pulp 30 %, a mixture of diatomaceous earth and pearlite 28 %, a styrene polymer cross - linked with divinylbenzene and substituted with groups having the structure of iminodiacetic acid 40 %, and polyamide polyamine epichlorohydrin resin 2 %; a disk - type filter with a diameter of 90 mm and a thickness of 3 mm ) was washed with 200 ml of pure water , 200 ml of methanol and 100 ml of isopropanol , successively . then , the solution of poly - m - vinylphenol prepared above was passed through the functional filter in a flow rate of 0 . 50 kg / m 2 · min at a temperature of 25 ° c . the flow rate corresponds to an lhsv of approximately 11 . 2 h - 1 . the solution before filtration contained 240 ppb of sodium , 250 ppb of iron , and 110 ppb of calcium . the filtrate taken after 4 hours from the start of the filtration contained 10 ppb of sodium , 12 ppb of iron , and 15 ppb of calcium . a brominated poly - p - vinylphenol ( extent of bromination : 1 . 5 br atom / benzene nucleus ; weight average molecular weight : 6 , 700 ) was dissolved in diethylene glycol dimethyl ether to form a 25 % solution . the solution prepared above was passed through the functional filter same as that used in example 1 in a flow rate of 0 . 50 kg / m 2 · min at a temperature of 25 ° c . the solution before filtration contained 98 ppb of sodium , 170 ppb of iron , and 75 ppb of calcium . the filtrate taken after 5 hours from the start of the filtration contained 20 ppb of sodium , 25 ppb of iron , and 14 ppb of calcium . a copolymer of p - vinylphenol and tert - butyl acrylate ( composition : p - vinylphenol / tert - butyl acrylate = 60 / 40 mole ratio ; weight average molecular weight : 8 , 500 ) was dissolved in methanol to form a 25 % solution . the solution prepared above was passed through a functional filter containing a strongly acidic cation exchange resin but not generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential ( composition : pulp 30 %, a mixture of diatomaceous earth and pearlite 50 %, and a sulfonated polystyrene cross - liked with divinylbenzene 20 %; a disk - type filter with a diameter of 90 mm and a thickness of 3 mm ) and then was passed through a functional filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential but not containing a cation exchange resin same as that used in comparative example 1 in a flow rate of 0 . 50 kg / m 2 · min at a temperature of 25 ° c ., respectively . the solution before filtrations contained 250 ppb of sodium , 200 ppb of iron , and 160 ppb of calcium . the filtrate obtained by the filtrations taken after 5 hours from the start of the filtrations contained 21 ppb of sodium , 25 ppb of iron , and 30 ppb of calcium . the solution used in example 6 was passed through a functional filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential but containing no cation exchange resin same as that used in comparative example 1 and then was passed through a functional filter containing a strongly acidic cation exchange resin but not generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential same as that used in example 6 in a flow rate of 0 . 50 kg / m 2 · min at a temperature of 25 ° c ., respectively . the filtrate obtained by the filtrations taken after 5 hours from the start of the filtrations contained 25 ppb of sodium , 30 ppb of iron , and 36 ppb of calcium . a poly - p - vinylphenol ( weight average molecular weight : 5 , 200 ) was dissolved in methanol to form a 25 % solution . meanwhile , a functional filter generating a zeta ( ζ ) potential by a cationic charge modifying agent and containing a fibrous strongly acidic cation exchange resin ( composition : pulp 20 %, a mixture of diatomaceous earth and pearlite 38 %, polyamide polyamine epichlorohydrin resin 2 %, and a sulfonated polystyrene cross - linked with divinylbenzene in a form of fiber with diameter of 40 μm 40 %; a disk - type filter with diameter of 90 mm and thickness of 3 mm ) was washed with 200 ml of pure water and 200 ml of methanol , successively . the poly - p - vinylphenol solution prepared above was passed through the functional filter in a flow rate of 0 . 90 kg / m 2 · min at a temperature of 25 ° c . the flow rate corresponds to an lhsv of approximately 20 . 2 h - 1 . the solution before filtration contained 250 ppb of sodium , 190 ppb of iron , and 70 ppb of calcium . the filtrate taken after 4 hours from the start of the filtration contained 10 ppb of sodium , 15 ppb of iron , and 17 ppb of calcium .	2
consider fig1 : in it container 1 according to the invention is depicted in an embodiment with a shredded - waste collecting device 15 built into it . the embodiment , whose external shape and dimensions can obviously be designed as required , proves to be particularly well suited for use in small communities , e . g ., condominiums or private dwellings , where the amount of waste to be disposed of is not large . container 1 , which is equipped with an outer housing 7 and is better depicted in fig2 has an inlet tube 8 for waste 2 , which tube preferably slopes downward and into which the waste to be shredded is introduced . inside said tube 8 are arranged means 9 ( for example , a photocell or similar device ) that are able to detect the presence of waste 2 inside tube 8 and therefore actuate one or more electric motors ( 14 ) that are able to drive the shredding devices , which will be explained in more detail below . a stationary structure 11 , which is closed on the sides and at the bottom and which may consist in part of housing 7 itself , support a vertical shaft 10 , on which rests a horizontal blade 3 that is shaped like a propeller with one or more blades and is able , by its rotation , to create a certain overpressure in the axial direction toward the bottom of container 1 . the propeller 3 has sharp cutting edges 3a , 3b which , as they rotate , face , grazing , a number of knives 4 that are attached to stationary structure 11 in parallel to blade 3 itself , whereby said knives are arranged corresponding to the areas of said sharp cutting edges 3a , 3b that are located radially further outward . below said blade 3 and said knives 4 is then arranged a wheel 12 , which also rests on said vertical shaft 10 and which consists of a predetermined number of spokes 12a that are arranged between spaces 12b which have predetermined dimensions and are able to allow the fragments of trash to fall downward after they have reached a specified size . to the area of wheel 12 that is located radially further outside are attached several vertical cutting elements 5 , i . e ., perpendicular to wheel 12 itself , and to said rigid structure 11 is secured a predetermined number of other cutters 6 which are parallel to the above - mentioned cutting elements and which are distributed circumferentially and are arranged in such a way that they are externally tangent to the trajectory that is described by the points of said cutting elements 5 that are further outside radially . to said rigid structure 11 is attached or secured a discharge opening 13 which is located on a plane that is arranged below that of wheel 12 and which is preferably equipped with a slide - like extension 13s in order to direct the fragments of shredded waste in the desired direction . inside said rigid structure 11 , close to said opening 13 , and preferably in a position that is reached by the rotation of any point on said wheel just before reaching opening 13 itself , is secured at least one deflecting vane 16 which is of such a size , shape , and inclination that it can ensure that , under the action of the centrifugal force imposed on them by blade 3 and by wheel 12 as they rotate , the already shredded fragments of waste which reach it follow an essentially circular trajectory along the inside surface of structure 11 and are stopped and deflected to a predetermined extent in a desired direction that is oriented essentially toward vertical pin 10 . the fragments , which are directed in this manner and which are almost completely drained of their kinetic energy in the direction of the circular motion , fall toward the bottom of stationary structure 11 close to discharge opening 13 , from which they emerge under the action of the above - mentioned overpressure , which is created by the rotation of above - described propeller blade 3 . one or more electric motors 14 are then mechanically connected to said propeller blade 3 and to said wheel 12 in order to make it rotate when said motors are activated by photocell 9 when the waste is introduced , and container 1 is also equipped with a device ( not shown ), for example , a simple potentiometer , which is able to switch off the power to motors 14 when waste 2 has been completely shredded and removed , i . e ., when the power drawn by the motor ( s ) to turn blade 3 and wheel 12 is reduced to a predetermined value , which corresponds to the unit &# 39 ; s idling speed . the operating sequence of a container that is designed according to the invention is thus the following : waste 2 is inserted into container 1 through inlet tube 8 , whereby its passage activates electric motors 14 by means of photocell 9 . waste 2 drops under the action of gravity until it enters the field of action of propeller blade 3 , which spins at more than 2000 - 2500 rpm at a very high peripheral velocity and shreds it a first time by forcing it with its sharp cutting edges 3a , 3b against knives 4 . then the fragments of waste , which are already driven by a certain rotary motion around pin 10 under the action of the thrust exerted on them by blade 3 , drop downward and come into contact with wheel 12 which , in addition to further reducing the volume of the waste by shredding it by means of vertical cutting elements 5 and stationary cutters 6 , imparts to the waste another , even more powerful rotational force , which causes it to rotate inside rigid structure 11 , describing a circular motion tangentially to structure 11 until the waste encounters deflecting vane 16 , which is shaped and inclined in such a way as to select the fragments , whereby it alters the trajectory of the larger fragments only marginally and decelerates almost completely the small fragments which , being thereby deprived of their kinetic energy in the direction of the circular motion , rebound weakly in the direction of pin 10 , i . e ., inside container 1 , and then fall downward close to discharge opening 13 , from which they emerge under the action of the above - mentioned overpressure produced by propeller blade 3 . clearly , said overpressure also helps , to a limited extent , to direct the waste and the fragments thereof from upstream in the downstream direction , i . e ., from the top toward the bottom of the container . from discharge opening 13 , which is preferably equipped with an inclined chute 13s , the fragments of shredded waste drop into a collecting device 15 ( a bag , a basket , etc .) which , like the rest of the container , is accommodated inside its outer housing 7 . in the case of a container according to the invention that is to be used in various communities and with a greater need for disposal in order , over time , to reduce the number of services that are needed to dispose of the shredded waste , the inventor has conceptualized a second type of embodiment of the container , which is not shown since it would be obvious to one skilled in the art . all of the components are the same ; only their sizes may vary , and the sequence of operation is identical . the only difference consists of the fact that in this case container 1 is also equipped with a removal device 17 that is able to remove the fragments from collecting device 15 , which has a suitably studied shape , and send the fragments into a large collecting receptacle 18 located close to the container itself . the removal device may be , e . g ., a motor - driven centrifugal turbine , a motor - driven volute with a catching tube , or other devices that are familiar to one skilled in the art . it is obvious that the two preferred embodiments described heretofore and shown here do not exhaust all of the possible kinds of embodiments that can be achieved by a container according to the invention . various other embodiments that can be traced back to the concepts set forth in the attached claims would thus also fall within the framework of the protection conferred by this patent application . with the aid of the container according to the invention , it is possible to achieve high disposal speeds ( for this purpose the high peripheral cutting speed that can be obtained is highly valued ) with fully automatic operation that is achieved with complete safety : it is impossible , for example , if the machine is properly sized , for clothes , hands , or limbs to reach the areas where the cutters operate . the goals that the inventor has set himself have thus been advantageously achieved .	1
the description and operation of the minimal incision maximal access system will be best described with reference to fig1 and identifying a general system 31 . system 31 includes an obturator 33 and a working tube 35 . the orientation of the obturator 33 is in a slightly displaced from a position of alignment with the working tube 35 for entry into working tube 35 and to provide the initial carefully controlled force for spreading the working tube 35 , as will be shown . obturator includes an upper control housing 37 and a pair of spreading legs 39 and 41 . the spreading legs 39 and 41 are seen as coming together to form a conical tip and thus have hemi - conical end portions . the spreading legs 39 and 41 over fit the attachment leg portions 43 and 45 , respectively . at the top of the upper control housing 37 a boss 47 surrounds and supports the extension of a control shaft 49 . a knurled thumb knob 50 sits atop the control shaft 49 to facilitate controlled turning of the control shaft 49 to control the degree of spreading of the spreading legs 39 and 41 . thus spreading can be controlled independently of pressure applied along the length of the obturator 33 . below the upper control housing 37 is the bottom of the control shaft 49 which operates against a wedge 51 . the wedge 51 operates within a pair of opposing slots 52 in an upper portion 53 of the overfit attachment leg portions 43 and 45 . the lower ends of the overfit attachment leg portions 43 and 45 include insertion tangs 55 which fit within insertion slots 57 of the spreading legs 39 and 41 . the overfit attachment leg portions 43 and 45 are pivotally attached to the upper control housing 37 internally by pivot blocks 59 which fit within access apertures 60 . the working tube 35 has a first lower extending connection tang 61 and a second lower extending connection tang 63 . first lower extending connection tang 61 connects into a slot 64 of a lower tube hemicylindrical portion 65 . the first lower extending connection tang 61 is fixed to an upper angled hemicylindrical portion 67 . the second lower extending connection tang 63 connects into a slot 68 of a lower tube hemicylindrical portion 69 . second lower extending connection tang 61 is fixed to and an upper angled hemicylindrical portion 71 . the upper angled hemicylindrical portion 67 has a reinforced wear plate 73 for applying upper pressure and force on the upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 toward each other to cause the first and second lower extending connection tangs 61 & amp ; 63 and their connected lower tube hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 to be urged away from each other . at the side of the working tube 35 at the transition between the upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 and a point just above the first and second lower extending connection tangs 61 & amp ; 63 is an external hinge assembly 77 . hinge assembly 77 may include an optional first guide plate 79 and first circular protrusion 81 attached to upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 , and a first slotted plate 83 positioned adjacent to first guide plate 79 and having a slot partially surrounding the circular protrusion 81 . upper angled hemicylindrical portion 71 has a pair of spaced apart facing surfaces facing a matching pair of facing surfaces of the upper angled hemicylindrical portion 67 , of which a dividing line 85 is seen . upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 are be brought together to cause the first and second lower extending connection tangs 61 & amp ; 63 and their connected lower tube hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 to spread apart . in the view of fig1 , the first and second lower extending connection tangs 61 & amp ; 63 are shown in a spread apart relationship . a locking pin 87 is seen which can be used to engage angularly spaced apart apertures in the circular protrusion 81 to provide a detent action to hold the working tube 35 in various degrees of spread . also seen is a slight exterior bevel 89 on the lower tube hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 . note the angled separation of the upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 and exposing opposing surfaces 91 . the angle of the opposing surfaces 91 equals the angle of spread of the first and second lower extending connection tangs 61 & amp ; 63 . referring to fig2 , a perspective assembled view illustrates the relative positions of the obturator 33 and working tube 35 in a position for the obturator 33 to be inserted into the working tube 35 and before any spreading takes place . referring to fig3 , a perspective assembled view illustrates the position of the obturator 33 after it has been inserted into the working tube 35 and again before any spreading takes place . note that the pivot axes of the first and second lower extending connection tangs 61 & amp ; 63 are on par with the pivot axes of the insertion tangs 55 . the tip of the obturator 33 extends slightly beyond the beyond the bottom most part of the working tube 35 so that the completed assembly can be smoothly urged past muscle and other tissue . referring to fig4 , a view taken along line 4 - 4 of fig1 is a view looking down into the working tube 35 . other features seen include a wear plate 93 located on the upper angled hemicylindrical portion 71 . in both of the wear plates 73 and 93 a universal port 94 is provided as a bore for insertion of a tool or lever to assist in bringing the upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 into a tubular relationship . further , an identical hinge assembly 77 on the side opposite that seen in fig1 is shown with the same numbering as the components which were seen in fig1 . also seen are a pair of opposing surfaces 95 on upper angled hemicylindrical portion 71 and a pair of opposing surfaces 97 on upper angled hemicylindrical portion 67 . also seen is a central working aperture 99 . referring to fig5 , a view taken along line 5 - 5 of fig1 is a sectional view looking down into the working tube 35 . the connectivity of the structures seen in fig4 are emphasized including the connection of circular protrusion 81 to the upper angled hemicylindrical portion 71 , and the connection of first slotted plate 83 to upper angled hemicylindrical portion 67 , and which is indicated by the matching section lines further , an identical hinge assembly 77 on the side opposite that seen in fig1 is shown with the same numbering as the components which were seen in fig1 . referring to fig6 , a view of one end of the working tube 35 illustrates predominantly the second angled half portion 63 . elements seen in fig1 and 2 are made more clear in fig3 . referring to fig7 , a side sectional view taken along line 7 - 7 of fig6 and shows the internal bearing pivot consisting of a slightly greater than hemispherical side bump projection 101 located on upper angled hemicylindrical portion 71 , and a slightly less than hemispherical side circular groove 103 located on upper angled hemicylindrical portion 67 . also seen is the interconnect slots 64 and 68 as well as the first and second lower extending connection tangs 61 and 63 . in the showing of fig7 an external bevel 105 is utilized referring to fig8 , a side semi - sectional view taken along line 8 - 8 of fig5 illustrates the integral connectivity of circular protrusion 81 with the upper angled hemicylindrical portion 71 . seen for the first time in isolation are a pair of pin apertures 107 for engaging the locking pin 87 . referring to fig9 , an illustration of a side plan view and in which the lower tube hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 are in matching straight alignment and forming a lower tube shape , while the upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 are angled apart . referring to fig1 , a midpoint of movement is illustrates wherein the lower tube hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 have begun to move apart widening the lower tube shape previously formed into an angled apart opposing hemicylindrical shape , while the upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 are brought closer together to have a closer though angled apart an angled apart opposing hemicylindrical shape . referring to fig1 , a completed movement , with respect to the view of fig4 illustrates a state where the lower tube hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 have moved apart to their maximum extent into a maximally angled apart opposing hemicylindrical shape , while the upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 are brought completely together to form an upper tube shape . it is the position of fig6 which is the ideal working position once the lower tube hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 are within the body , and provides an expanded working field at the base of the working tube 35 . surgical work is ideally performed through the upper , abbreviated axial length tube shape formed by the upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 . referring to fig1 , a side view of the obturator 33 of fig1 is seen in an assembled view and emphasizing in dashed line format a through bore 111 which extends though the obturator 33 from the knurled knob 50 through to the tip of the pair of spreading legs 39 and 41 . referring to fig1 , a side view of the obturator 33 of fig1 is seen in an assembled view but turned ninety degrees about its axis , and aging emphasizing in dashed line format the through bore 111 which extends though the obturator 33 from the knurled knob 50 through to the tip of the pair of spreading legs 39 and 41 . it is from this position that further actuation will be illustrated . referring to fig1 , a side view of the obturator 33 of fig1 is seen but with the spreading legs 39 and 41 in an angled apart relationship . an optional support 112 is supported by the upper control housing 37 to enable independent support and location of the obturator 33 should it be needed . once the knurled knob 50 is turned , the wedge 51 seen in fig1 is driven downward causing the spreading of the spreading legs 39 and 41 . referring to fig1 , a sectional view taken along line 14 - 14 of fig1 gives a sectional view from the same perspective seen in fig1 . pivot blocks 59 are seen as having pivot bores 113 which enable the upper portions 53 to pivot with respect to the upper control housing 37 and which enable the downward movement of the wedge 51 to translate into a spreading of the spreading legs 39 and 41 . as can be seen , the knob 50 and control shaft 49 and the wedge 51 have the through bore 111 . in the configuration shown , the control shaft 49 includes a threaded portion 113 which engaged an internally threaded portion 115 of an internal bore 117 of the upper control housing 37 . the boss 47 is shown to be part of a larger insert fitting within a larger fitted bore 119 within the upper control housing 37 . this configuration pushes the wedge 51 downwardly against an internal wedge conforming space 123 to cause the insertion tangs 55 and upper portions 53 to spread apart . the wedge conforming space 123 need not be completely wedge shaped itself , but should ideally have a surface which continuously and evenly in terms of area engages the wedge 51 to give even control . further , the wedge 51 can be configured to be rotatable with or independently rotationally stable with respect to the control shaft 49 . as can be seen , the through bore 111 continues below the internal wedge conforming space 123 as a pair of hemicylindrical surfaces 125 in the upper portion 53 , as well as a pair of hemicylindrical surfaces 127 in the pair of spreading legs 39 and 41 . referring to fig1 a view of obturator 33 similar to that of fig1 , but turned ninety degrees along its axis is seen . in this view , the wedge 51 is seen as having a narrower dimension to lend internal stability by narrowing the bearing area of the wedge 51 action in opening the pair of spreading legs 39 and 41 . referring to fig1 , a closeup view of the external hinge assembly 77 seen in fig1 illustrates the optional use of a plug 131 to cover the exposed side of the circular protrusion 81 . referring to fig1 , a view taken along line 18 - 18 of fig1 illustrates a view which facilitates the showing of an optional skirt , including a skirt section 133 welded or otherwise attached to lower tube hemicylindrical portion 65 , and a skirt section 133 welded or otherwise attached to lower tube hemicylindrical portion 69 . the skirts sections 133 and 135 are made of thin flexible metal and interfit within a pair of accommodation slots 137 and 139 , respectively . referring to fig1 , a view of the lower tube hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 in a close relationship illustrates the manner in which the skirts sections 133 and 135 fit within the accommodation slots 137 and 139 when the lower tube hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 are brought together to a circular configuration . referring to fig2 , a cross sectional view of the a patient 151 spine 153 is shown for illustration of the general sequence of steps taken for any procedure utilizing the minimal incision maximal access system 31 . there are several procedures utilizable with the minimal incision maximal access system 31 . only a first procedure will be discussed using illustrative figures . other procedures will be discussed after minor variations on the minimal incision maximal access system 31 are given below . the patient 151 is placed prone on radiolucent operating table such as a jackson table . the patient 151 is then prepared and draped . the operative area is prepared and localized and an imaging device is prepared . a guide pin 155 is insert through the patient &# 39 ; s skin 157 , preferably under fluoroscopic guidance . in the alternative and or in combination , the patient 151 skin can be incised with a scalpel . other features in fig2 include the dural sac 159 , and ruptured intervertebral disc 161 . referring to fig2 , a fascial incisor 169 overfits the guide pin 155 and is further inserted to cut through external and internal tissue . the fascial incisor 169 is then removed while the guide pin 155 is left in place . next , using the obturator 33 , the surgeon clears the multifidus attachment with wig - wag motion of the obturator 33 tip end . next the obturator 33 is actuated to gently spread the multifidus muscle , and then closed . referring to fig2 , next the assembled working tube 35 — obturator 33 is inserted into the area previously occupied by the fascial incisor 169 and advanced to the operative level lamina and remove the obturator 33 . as an alternative , and upon having difficulty , the obturator 33 could be initially inserted , followed by an overfit of the working tube 35 . in another possibility , a smaller size of obturator 33 and working tube 35 or combination thereof could be initially utilized , followed by larger sizes of the same obturator 33 and working tube 35 . the assembled working tube 35 — obturator 33 in place is shown in fig2 with the working ends very near the spine . referring to fig2 , the obturator 33 is actuated to a spread orientation , which automatically actuates the working tube 35 to a spread orientation . spread is had to the desired exposure size . the obturator 33 is thin actuated to a closed or non - spreading position . the obturator and working tube is then again advanced to dock on the spine . the working tube 35 is then fixed to assume an open position either by utilization of the locking pin 87 or other fixation device to cause the working tube 35 to remain open . then , once the working tube 35 is locked into an open position , the obturator 33 is actuated to a closed or non - spread position and gently removed from the working tube 35 . referring to fig2 , the working tube 35 is in place . the working tube 35 may be secured by structure ultimately attached to an operating table . the working tube 35 may be held or stabilized in the field of view by a support 181 which may have an engagement sleeve 183 which fits onto the working tube . as can be seen , the operative field adjacent the spine area is expended even though the incision area is limited . the deeper a given size of working tube 35 is inserted , the smaller its entrance area . after the working tube 35 is stabilized , the surgeon will typically clear the remaining multifidus remnant at the working level and then set up and insert an endoscope or use operating microscope or loupes . the surgeon is now ready to proceed with laminotomy . referring to fig2 , further detail on the support 181 and engagement sleeve 183 is shown . a base support 185 may support a ball joint 187 , which may in turn support the support 181 . the support 181 is shown as supporting a variation on the engagement sleeve 183 as a pivot point support engagement end 188 having arm supports 189 and 191 . the arm supports 189 and 191 engage the external pivot structure on the working tube 35 which was shown , for example , in fig1 to be the external hinge assembly 77 . as a further possibility , the upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 are shown as being engaged about their outer periphery by an adjustable clamp 195 . adjustable clamp 195 includes a band 197 encircling the upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 . the ends of band 197 form a pair of opposing plates 199 and are engaged by a nut 201 and bolt 203 assembly . referring to fig2 , a side view of the assembly seen in fig2 is seen with the adjustable clap 195 operable to hold the working tube 35 open at any position . referring to fig2 , a top view looking down upon the adjustable clamp 195 seen in fig2 - 27 shows the orientation of the working tube 35 and adjustable clamp 195 in fully closed position . when used in conjunction with the adjustable clamp 195 , the reinforced wear plates 73 and 93 are eliminated so as to provide a smooth interface against the exterior of the upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 . referring to fig2 , a variation on the obturator 33 is seen . an obturator 215 has handles 217 and 219 which operate about a pivot point 221 . a working tube 222 is somewhat simplified but is equivalent to the working tube 35 and is shown as including upper angled hemicylindrical portions 67 and 71 . handle 219 has a ratchet member 223 extending from it and a latch 227 pivotally connected about pivot point 229 to handle 217 . referring to fig2 , a variation on obturator 33 is seen as an obturator 241 having an upper housing 243 , control shaft 245 having a threaded section 247 and operating through a ball nut 249 . a wedge 251 is extendable down through an operation space made up of a half space 253 in a leg 255 and a half space 257 in a leg 259 . hinge structures 261 are shown attaching the legs 255 and 259 to the upper housing 243 . a through bore 111 is also seen as extending from the knob 261 through to the bottom so the wedge 251 . an access groove 263 is carried by the leg 259 while an access groove 263 is carried by the leg 259 while an access groove 265 is carried by the leg 255 . referring to fig3 , a sectional view taken along line 30 - 30 of fig2 illustrates the use of a central support block 271 to support the a central threaded surface 273 and the legs 255 and 259 . referring to fig3 , a view of a thin , inset hinge 281 utilizable with any of the obturators , but particularly obturators 33 and 241 , is shown . in the case of obturator 33 , by way of example , upper portions 53 accommodate control shaft 49 with its through bore 111 . inset hinge 281 may be implaced with an inset 283 and secured with machine screws 285 . inset hinge 281 may be made of a “ living hinge ” material such as a hard plastic , or it can have its operations base upon control bending of a pre - specified length of steel , since the angle of bend is slight . the connection between the upper portions 53 and the upper control housing 37 may be by any sort of interlocking mechanism , the aforementioned pivot blocks 59 or other mechanism . referring to fig3 , a sectional view of the obturator 33 within the working tube 35 is seen . the wedge 51 is seen at the bottom of the internal wedge conforming space 123 . once the spreading of the working tube 35 is accomplished the working tube 35 is kept open by any of the methods disclosed herein . also seen is a pivot ball 116 to allow the control shaft 49 to turn with respect to the wedge . the pivot ball will continue to support a central aperture bore 111 . once the working tube 35 is stabilized in its open position , the obturator 33 is returned to its collapsed state as is shown in fig3 . provision of electro - mechanical power to the operation of the working tube 35 can provide a surgeon an additional degree of instant control . referring to fig3 , a top and schematic view of the use of a remote power control to provide instant control of the working tube 25 , similar to the view seen in fig2 illustrates the use of a remote annular control cable 301 using an internal cable 303 which is closely attached using a guide 305 and which circles the upper angled hemicylindrical portion 67 and 71 , terminating at an end fitting 307 . the annular cable 301 is controlled by a battery motor box 311 having a forward and reverse switch 313 ( with off or non actuation being the middle position ). this enables the surgeon to expand the surgical field as needed and to collapse the surgical field to focus on certain working areas . battery motor box 311 is configured with gears to cause the cable 303 to forcibly move axially within the annular cable 301 to transmit mechanical power to the working tube 35 . referring to fig3 , a view taken along line 35 - 35 of fig3 illustrates how the cable 303 is held in place and a closeup of the end termination 307 . referring to fig3 , a mechanically operated version of the nut 201 and bolt 203 constriction band seen in fig2 . the mechanical power linkage can be provided remotely as by a rotating annular cable , but the basic mechanical setup shown illustrates the mechanical principles . on the bolt 203 , a gear head 325 is implaced , either by attachment or by the provision of a threaded member and gear head made together . a second gear head 327 is utilized to show the possibility of providing a right angle power take - off in the event that the power connection interferes with the area around the surgical field . a shaft 329 extends from a battery motor box 331 . the battery motor box 331 has a forward and reverse switch 333 , ( with off or non actuation being the middle position ). shaft 329 could be flexible and connected directly into axial alignment with the threaded member of bolt 201 or an integrally formed threaded member . in terms of general advantages , there are differences between the minimal incision maximal access system 31 , and its components as described in all of the drawings herein ( but which will be referred throughout herein simply as the minimal incision maximal access system 31 , or simply system 31 ) and other devices and procedures . 1 . with regard to the traditional microdiskectomy technique , the minimal incision maximal access system 31 allows for at least the same , if not better visualization access of the operative field . system 31 offers the same 3 - dimensional work ability or , if preferred , an endoscope can be utilized . system 31 minimizes muscle injury with spread versus extensive cautery dissection . system 31 has clear advantage on the challenging obese and very large patient where the traditional microdiskectomy technique is almost impossible to be applied . 2 . with regard to open pedicle screw insertion procedures , system 31 offers muscle approach minimizing muscle devascularization and denervation . the traditional approach had required at least one level proximal and one level distal additional exposure causing extensive muscle injury often leading to “ fibrotic ” muscle changes resulting in chronic painful and stiff lower back syndrome . system 31 offers the most direct approach to the pedicle entry point selecting the avascular plane between the longissimus and multifidus muscles . 3 . with regard to the sextant procedure , system 31 offers clear advantage over the sextant procedure . first , the system 31 offers a procedure which is not a blind pedicle screw technique . system 31 can be applied to larger and more obese patients in which the sextant procedure cannot be utilized . in this procedure using system 31 oosterolateral fusion can be performed along with insertion of the pedicle screws . the sextant procedure is strictly tension band stabilization . in general , the components of the minimal incision maximal access system 31 are very simple the hemispherical shapes used for the working tube can be round or oval . a keying system can be held to align the obturator 33 to the working tube 35 . in the case of an oval system , the alignment would be automatic . the minimal incision maximal access system 31 is a modular system with interchangeable parts for both the working tube 35 and the obturator 33 . the guide pin 155 is of simple construction , as is the fascial incisor 169 . the working tube 35 has a limited number of basic parts , and can be made in the simple , two main piece version of fig2 , or the multi - piece version of fig1 , which enables retractor - sleeve substitution . a hinge and stabilization mechanism completes the simplified construction . the obturator 33 is also of simple construction , with upper control housing 37 , pair of spreading legs 39 and 41 , and an internal hinge , whether the pivot blocks 59 or hinge 281 and its ability to support a control shaft 49 having a bore 111 for a guide pin 155 . guide pin 155 may preferably have a size of from about 0 . 3 mm to 0 . 40 mm diameter and 30 cm to 40 cm in length . the fascial incisor may preferably be cannulated for usage with the guide pin 155 and have a width of about 2 mm more than the associated retractor . the overall cutting head length of about 1 . 2 cm has a shape as indicated in the fig1 . the working tube 35 can have several variations and added details including the simplest shapes as dictated by intended usage . working tube 35 can have a simple fluted hemitube shape or a slanted box shape . further , the possibility of a fluted oval shape is dictated when the approach is more angular . the working tube 35 can have an attachment for an endoscope . working tube 35 can also have a non - symmetric appearance as by having longitudinal cross sectional shape with half of its shape being rounded and one half of its shape being rectangular or box shaped . this could also give rise to a similarly shaped obturator 33 . the working tube 35 should have an anti - reflective inner coating and may be of modular construction . the preferred lower dimensions for the lower tube hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 include an overall shape which is semi tubular round or oval and having a width of from about 1 . 6 - 3 . 0 cm and a length of from about 4 . 0 - 18 cm . hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 may have custom cut outs depending upon planned application . the hinge assembly 77 may have male - female post or male - female dial lock design , as well as a hinge housing and a bias ( by spring or other mechanism ) to keep angular displaceable portions of the working tube 35 closed a “ universal ” port provides a point of attachment of an endoscopic or stabilizer bar . the obturator 33 may be any controlled opening device including a circular band or cable , force plates , or a device attached to hinge assembly 77 or other hinge assembly . all sleeve attachments including the attachable legs 39 and 41 , as well as the lower tube hemicylindrical portions 65 and 69 should be of the friction grip type or snap and lock type or other suitable connection method or structure . obturator 215 may have squeeze grip scissor style handles 219 and 217 and a controlled dilator . it may utilize an enclosed design with a handle cover having a no - slip surface . it may be attached to the hinge housing of the working tube or separate hinge housing . in fact , it may be of a design to be held in place solely by the working tube 35 . ideally a cavity will be provided through the center axis to contain the shaft for the dilator mechanism if applicable . the central bore 111 of the obturator 33 may have a diameter of from about 5 - 10 mm , depending upon the size of the obturator 33 utilized . obturator 33 should be provided in various widths and length to match working tube . the working tips of the spreading legs 39 and 41 may be changeable according to surgical procedures as described in the operative procedures herein . it may have an inner chamber , or internal wedge conforming space 123 slanted in shape wider proximal and more narrow distal to accommodate the wedge 51 . the internal wedge conforming space 123 can be enclosed with expanding contracting sleeve . many other procedures can be facilitated with the use of the inventive minimal incision maximal access system 31 and methods practiced therewith . procedure i , a diskectomy and nerve decompression procedure was described above with reference to the figures . other procedures are as follows : 1 . patient prone on jackson table with normal lordosis preserved . this can be increased by placing additional thigh and chest support to increase lumbar lordosis . 2 . insert percutaneous special guide pin perpendicular to the floor at a point 1 cm caudal to the alar - superior facet notch . 3 . apply a flag guide to a first guide pin 155 # 1 . 4 . measure skin to bone depth from the scale on guide pin 155 # 1 . 5 . slide drill guide mechanism on the flag guide to match the skin bone distance . 6 . insert guide pin 155 # 2 through the drill guide to dock on the superior facet . 7 . make a small skin incision for the obturator 33 . 8 . working tube 35 should be small oval or round with medial cutout to maximally medialize the working tube 35 . 9 . advance the working tube 35 to the l 5 - s 1 joint and dock . 10 . drill the guide pin across the joint medial to lateral , rostral to caudal . if in proper position , advance across the joint to engage the ala . 14 . insert specially designed facet screw and protective bracket , secure tightly . 1 . first half of the procedure similar to microdiskectomy ( procedure i ) except for the use of a larger diameter sized working tube 35 . use a 20 - 25 mm round or elliptical diameter working tube 35 with a medial cutout to allow docking as close to midline as possible . 2 . following diskectomy enlarge the laminotomy to accommodate the tools use for the specific plif such as brantigan cage or tangent . 1 . follow the same procedure as the plif in terms of selecting and inserting the working tube 35 . 3 . approach the posterolateral disc space through the medial ⅔ of the facet joint . take care not to injure the exiting root above . 1 . place the patient 151 prone position on a jackson table . 2 . guide pin 155 is docked on facet joint angled 30 degree lateral to medial in the plane between the longissimus muscle longitudinally and multifidus muscle medially . 5 . introduce the obturator 33 working tube 35 assembly between the longissimus and multifidus and progressively open the obturator 33 tip ends of the legs 39 and 41 , gradually reaching from the joint above and the joint below . 6 . advance the working tube 35 and retract the obturator 33 . 7 . use the elliptical working tube size 2 . 5 cm wide and open up to 5 cm . 1 . mid lateral decubitus position left side up . place a “ waist roll ” to prevent sag of the mid lumbar spine . 3 . insert a guide pin 155 # 1 percutaneously into the superior facet perpendicular to the spine . 4 . measure depth skin to joint on the scaled guide pin 155 # 1 . 5 . insert cannulated flag guide over guide pin 155 # 1 . 7 . insert a guide pin 155 # 2 down to the disc space . 9 . insert the working tube 35 and obturator 33 combination . 13 . use a round or oval shaped retractor or lower tube hemicylindrical portion 65 and 69 as inserts preferably with distal end cutouts in each . 1 . the patient is placed in a prone position on a jackson table . 3 . percutaneously insert guide pin 155 with ap and lateral fluoroscopic views . 5 . apply the working tube 35 with obturator 33 into the incision . 7 . advance the working tube 35 and collapse and remove the obturator 33 . 8 . proceed with surgery . type of sleeve or lower tube hemicylindrical portion 65 should be round or oval with slanted and to match the slanted lamina . 9 . for application for lateral mass plating use an oval working tube 35 for a greater exposure . 1 . begin with standard anterior cervical diskectomy fusion approach with a incision on the left or right side of the neck . 2 . blunt finger dissection is performed between the lateral vascular structures and the medial strap muscle and visceral structures down to the prevertebral fascia . 3 . establish the correct level to be operated on fluoroscopically and the guide pin 155 inserted into the disc . 4 . apply the working tube 35 and obturator 33 combination and dock at the proper level of the anterior spring . 5 . open the working tube 35 and obturator 33 . 7 . use special bent homen retractor specifically design to retract the longus colli . 1 . begin with the standard approach whether it is retroperitoneal , transperitoneal or laparoscopic . 2 . apply the special anterior lumbar interbody fusion working tube 35 and obturator 33 . this is a design with a medial lateral opening . it is oval shape and preferably with skirts 133 and 135 . the distal end of the retractor sleeve is slightly flared outward to retract the vessels safely . there is a skirt 133 or 135 applied to the cephalad side and possibly to the caudal side . 3 . with the vessels and the abdominal contents safely retracted out of harms way , proceed with diskectomy and fusion one of the aspects emphasized up to this point for the system 31 is structure and circumstance to minimize the upper entry point of the surgery while providing an expanded working area at the distal end of the tube . structures which achieve this geometry have been shown , and include a flared upper end so that the aperture remains open regardless of the angle of spread . in other applications it is permissible to expand the aperture opening at the top of the working sleeve assembly . expansion can be for the purposes of introducing further working devices into the working tube , as well as to expand and protect the visual field . for example , further working devices may include implant tools and their held implants , tools to insert plates and screws , and tools to manipulate all of these into their final positions . visual field protection can be introduced where the surrounding tissue may tend to flow , move or obstruct the surgical working field . where the bottom - most portions of the spread apart hemicylindrical tube are spread apart , tissue tends to enter the space between the bottom parts of the tube . additional guarding structure needs to be introduced . a description of the desired articulation of what is hereinafter referred to as a working tube assembly 417 , and including the working tube hemicylindrical portions is begun with respect to fig3 . the designation of working tube assembly 417 refers to all of the tube structures seen in the earlier fig1 - 36 and as seen in any of the following figures . fig3 is an isolated view of two hemicylindrical tube sections shown joined in a tubular relationship and indicating at least a pair of pivot axes on each hemicylindrical tube section . at the top of the structure shown in fig3 a dashed line indicates an optional fluted structure 419 . fluted structure is omitted from the drawings for fig3 - 49 in order that the views from the top will not be obscured . the optional fluted opening 419 and is often employed both to maintain the visual field upon opening , as well as to make it easier to add instrumentation into the surgical field . this structure is recommended , as well as all reasonable accommodation to facilitate its use . a first hemicylindrical tube 421 is shown in alignment with a second hemicylindrical tube 423 . rather than having the upper ends flared out to maintain a circular visual field on a full open position , a clearance notch 425 is provided in first hemicylindrical tube 421 , while a clearance notch 427 is provided in second hemicylindrical tube 423 . the lowermost extent of the clearance notches 425 and 427 coincide with an upper pivot axis 431 of first hemicylindrical tube 421 and upper pivot axis 433 of first hemicylindrical tube 421 . the pivot axes 431 and 433 may include supports either derived from structures going into or out of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 . in the view of fig3 - 39 , the structures seen facing the viewer are repeated on the opposite side . thus , pivot axes 431 and 433 are also located on the side opposite that seen in fig3 - 39 . the same is true for all of the numbered structures . in this position , the simultaneous pivoting about the pivot axes 431 and 433 of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 will not cause interference by portions of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 which would otherwise interfere . further , a lower pivot axis 435 is provided below the upper pivot axis 431 of first hemicylindrical tube 421 . similarly , a lower pivot axis 437 is provided below the upper pivot axis 433 of second hemicylindrical tube 423 . the geometry and pivot points having been identified , double headed arrows illustrate that the pivot points should be able to move toward and away from each other . ideally , the only limitation should be the interference from the lower ends of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 with each other . where the mechanism for moving the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 has maximum independence , secondary considerations of interference are eliminated and only the primary interference between the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 will remain . where the control mechanism for movement is lesser than that which allows maximum independence , savings can be had in terms of complexity of the mechanism at the expense of the freedom of movement . fig3 illustrates the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 in a closely aligned relationship where the upper pivot axis 431 is closest to the upper pivot axis 433 and where the lower pivot axis 435 is closest to the lower pivot axis 437 . this is the position expected to be used for entry into the body of the patient , especially along with a guide ( to be shown ) which will be located within and extending below the assembled and parallel linear tube formed by first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 to provide a reduced insertion resistance . ideally , the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 will be inserted as shown in fig3 and then manipulated to a position shown in fig3 . fig3 is an isolated view of two hemicylindrical tube sections as seen in fig3 which are angularly displaced apart about a shared first pivot axis on each of the hemicylindrical tube sections . the position in fig3 is characterized by the fact that upper pivot axes 431 and 433 have the same separation as seen in fig3 , but in which the lower pivot axes 435 and 437 have moved apart . the position seen in fig3 will be likely achieved just after insertion and in which the internal tissues have been pushed apart . depending upon the surgical procedure , the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 will be chosen based upon length , so that the lower end will be at the correct height for the tissues to be viewed , manipulated and treated . the action can continue until the lower ends of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 are sufficiently spaced apart for view and manipulation of the tissues between and adjacent the lower ends . if there is a sufficient viewing opening based upon the original distance of separation of the upper pivot axes 431 and 433 , the procedure may continue through an aperture about the same size of the tube shape seen in fig3 . where more of an opening is needed , the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 upper pivot axes 431 and 433 can move more widely apart until a position such as that seen in fig3 is achieved . fig3 is an isolated view of the two first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 which are angularly displaced apart about a shared second pivot axis on each of the hemicylindrical tube sections . it should be emphasized that the position seen in fig3 is a position where both the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 are parallel and separated from each other , but this need not be the case . from the position seen in fig3 , the upper pivot axes 431 and 433 can be moved apart from each other while the lower pivot axes 435 and 437 either remain a constant distance from each other or are brought together . this range of articulation described can be used to physically manipulates the tissues in contact with the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 for any number of reasons , including introduction of further instruments if necessary , as well as to react to changing conditions of tissue at the lower tube . in both fig3 and 39 a pair of opposing edges 439 can be utilized to support structures introduced between the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 . other structures can be used including depressions , apertures and internal projections , such as hooks or latches . an internal structure within the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 would pose little risk of nick to the patient and can be designed to do nothing more than have a minimal interference effect with respect to the visual field . as will be shown , a number of external structures can be employed to achieve the relative separation positions of the upper pivot axes 431 and 433 , as well as the lower pivot axes 435 and 437 that nearly any type of angle can exist on either side of a parallel relationship between the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 , but that most will be in a range of from a parallel relationship to some form of angular relationship seen in fig3 , where the upper ends at the clearance notches 425 and 427 are closer together than the lower ends distal to the upper pivot axes 431 and 433 and lower pivot axes 435 and 437 . one example of a side shield 441 is seen in fig4 . fig4 is a plan view of a given width supplemental side shield 441 having a width of approximately the separation of the hemicylindrical tube sections as seen in fig3 , while accompanying fig4 is a top view of the supplemental side shield 441 of fig4 emphasizing its shape . the side shield 441 can be of any shape , but is shown in a rectangular shape to correspond with the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 in a parallel position as seen in fig3 . the side shield 441 has a main portion which includes a first side 443 and a pair of lateral engagement portions 445 . the side shield 441 can depend from a number of other structures , but the side shield 441 seen in fig4 and 41 utilize an offset surfaces as engagement portions 445 . this geometry , will , absent any interfering structures which are attached to manipulate the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 , enable the side shield 441 to be introduced linearly from the top of first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 . the introduction of side shield 441 may be guided somewhat into engagement by the clearance etches 425 and 427 . much smaller engagement portions 445 could be used to engage the outer edges 439 of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 , so long as the orientation is so as to protect the surrounding tissues . fig4 emphasizes the geometry and shows a second side 447 . in the orinetation shown , the the second side 447 would face toward the inside of the general tube formed in the orientation of fig3 . if two of the side shields 441 were used , one on either side of the opening seen in fig3 , the tube shape would be closed on both sides , and an oval viewing area would be formed . it should be emphasized that the side shield 441 can depend from any structure , and not just the opposing edges 439 seen in fig3 . structure used to manipulate the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 can be used to both guide and secure any side shield 443 . in terms of a structure to manipulate the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 , it is preferable that the upper pivot axes 431 and 433 may be urged toward and away from each other independently of the urging of the lower pivot axes 435 and 437 toward and away from each other independently a mechanism which would prevent all manipulations of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 to a position of binding is desirable , but its complexity may obstruct the surgical field . for example , it would be good to have a mechanism which would prevent upper pivot axes 431 and 433 from moving away from each other while the lower pivot axes 425 and 437 are in their close proximity as depicted in fig3 . in some cases operator knowledge and skill will probably be required . in terms of supporting the upper pivot axes 431 and 433 and lower pivot axes 425 and 437 , the pivoting and movement may be passive with mechanisms to push or pull directly on the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 or structures which are mechanically attached . as an example of the use of force and movement urging at the pivot points , fig4 illustrates one such system as a pivoting thread support system 551 . the gearing is shown as unduly expansive to illustrate simply the action , but in reality , several gears may be used . further , since the a pivoting thread support system 551 is viewed from the top , and as operating the upper pivot axes 431 and 433 , a similar arrangement would be used for the lower pivot axes 425 and 437 . a set of four pivot fittings 553 provide a threaded interior spaced apart from the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 , or fittings supporting the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 . the fittings 553 enable the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 to tilt while keeping the threaded apertures in alignment . a first threaded member 555 has a pair of threaded areas in which the threads are oppose pitched . the threads engaging the fitting 553 of first hemicylindrical tube 421 are set to urge first hemicylindrical tube 421 away from second hemicylindrical tube 423 , at the same time that the same turning of the first threaded member engages fitting 553 of first hemicylindrical tube 423 set to urge first hemicylindrical tube 423 away from second hemicylindrical tube 421 . this means that the turning of first threaded member 555 in one direction urges the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 evenly away from each other , and alternatively , the turning of first threaded member 555 in the opposite direction urges the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 evenly toward each other . likewise , a second threaded member 557 has a pair of threaded areas in which the threads are oppose pitched . the threads engaging the fitting 553 of first hemicylindrical tube 421 are set to urge first hemicylindrical tube 421 away from second hemicylindrical tube 423 , at the same time that the same turning of the first threaded member engages fitting 553 of first hemicylindrical tube 423 set to urge first hemicylindrical tube 423 away from second hemicylindrical tube 421 , but in an oppose orientation than the threads of first threaded member 555 . this means that the turning of second threaded member 557 in the other direction ( while the first threaded member 555 is turned in a first direction ) urges the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 evenly away from each other . a pair of over sized gears , including a first gear 559 associated with the first threaded member 555 , and a second gear 561 associated with the second threaded member 557 act to cause the first and second threaded members 555 and 557 to move simultaneously and oppositely . a knob 563 is used to manipulate both the first gear 559 , which manipulates the second gear 561 . in a realization in which more gears 559 and 561 are provided , the size of the gears can be reduced and for each intermediate gear , the sense of the threaded members 555 and 557 will change from opposite to same . referring to fig4 , a surrounding frame system 571 is seen which is utilized to provide and enable pivoting and translation . a surrounding frame 573 has an open slot 575 which accommodates a pair of pins 577 and 579 which preferably have some tracking along the slot 575 to insure that neither the first hemicylindrical tube 421 nor the second hemicylindrical tube 423 are able to turn within the frame 573 . the opposite side of the frame 573 will have a similar slot 575 . however , where the structures which engage the slot are especially over sized , or where the structural integrity is sufficient , only one slot need be used . the structural dependence on the fram 573 should be such that the two opposing first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 will always oppose each other and cannot twist away from each other and can only pivot along their long axis . a turn fitting 581 enables a threaded member 583 to turn while being axially fixed to the first hemicylindrical tube 421 . the threaded member 583 may be threadably engaged to an internal thread 585 at the end of the frame 573 . in this case a knob 587 is used to manually turn the threaded member 583 independently to move the first hemicylindrical tube 421 to the left or to the right . a turn fitting is a structure which holds the end of the threaded member and allows the threaded member 583 to urge the fitting forward or backward while continuing to turn . in the alternative , knob 587 may have an internal thread , and turned with respect to the threaded member 583 draw the threaded member out of the frame 573 . in this case , a spring ( as will be shown ) could be used to help reverse this operation . where the knob 587 is internally threaded , the end of the threaded member may be fixed directly to its first hemicylindrical tube 421 . in sum , there are three ways to affect motion , preferably the internal threads 585 enable the threaded member 583 to turn to urge first hemicylindrical tube 421 in both directions with respect to the frame 573 . in the alternative , the threaded member 583 may act only to urge the first hemicylindrical tube 421 , and the tubes 421 and 423 may have another mechanism urging them apart or simply move apart based upon other forces or other structures present . third , the threaded member 583 may have an end anchored to the first hemicylindrical tube 421 with an internally threaded surface inside knob 587 to enable the knob 587 to be turned to cause the length of threaded member 583 to be withdrawn from the frame 583 . a spring , or other fitting can be used to help reverse the direction of travel . all of the knobs and threaded members shown hereafter have the ability for all three modes of action . similarly , a turn fitting 591 enables a threaded member 593 to turn while being axially fixed to the second hemicylindrical tube 423 . the threaded member 593 threadably engaged to an internal thread 595 at the end of the frame 573 . a knob 597 is used to manually turn the threaded member 593 independently to move the second hemicylindrical tube 423 to the left or to the right . similarly , a second surrounding frame 573 has an open slot 575 which accommodates a pair of pins 601 and 603 having expanded heads which fit outside the slot 575 to provide tracking along the slot 575 to further insure that neither the first hemicylindrical tube 421 nor the second hemicylindrical tube 423 are able to turn within either of the frames 573 . a turn fitting 611 enables a threaded member 613 to turn while being axially fixed to the first hemicylindrical tube 421 . the threaded member 613 is threadably engaged to an internal thread 615 at the end of the frame 573 . a knob 617 is used to manually turn the threaded member 613 independently to move the first hemicylindrical tube 421 , at its lower pivot axis 435 at the center of the pin 601 . similarly , a turn fitting 621 enables a threaded member 623 to turn while being axially faxed to time second hemicylindrical tube 423 . the threaded member 623 threadably engaged to an internal thread 625 at the end of the lower located frame 573 . a knob 627 is used to manually turn the threaded member 623 independently to move the second hemicylindrical tube 423 to the left or to the right at its lower pivot axis 437 at the center of the pin 603 . with the configuration of fig4 , the position within the upper located frame 573 and separation of the pivot axes 431 and 433 ( represented by the pins 577 and 589 ) can be exactly specified . likewise , the position within the lower located frame 573 and separation of the pivot axes 435 and 437 ( represented by the pins 601 and 603 ) can be exactly specified . in typical use , the knobs 617 and 627 and will be activated after insertion to achieve the configuration seen in fig3 , and then followed by the use of the knobs 587 and 597 to achieve the configuration seen in fig3 , if necessary . thereupon the optional side shield 441 may be employed . where a lesser separation than that seen in fig3 is used , a narrower side shield 441 may be employed . in a surgical kit , several such shields 441 of different size and shape may be available . referring to fig4 , a view looking down into the structure of fig4 shows the overall orientation and further illustrates an optional securing tang 629 which may be used with either of the upper located or lower located frame 573 , and may be located in any position , or extended in any direction , to better enable the surgeon to stabilize and manipulate any of the assemblies 417 , 551 and 571 seen . any structure can be used to help secure the frame 573 and or the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 . fig4 is an equivalent view through the lower of the frames 573 , including the knobs 617 and 627 as the two frames 573 have equivalent action . note that having complete control over both the separation , angular relationship , and position of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 within the frame 573 will enable the surgical practitioner to position the line of sight of the working tube along the frame 573 length and to generally have complete control . also shown in fig4 is an optional spring 630 which can be used to bias the force acting upon either of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 , or it can be used to bias a knob 597 away from the frame 573 . although shown as an option , the use of a spring 639 may contribute significantly where force is to be had in one direction only , as well as to lock a threaded member such as 593 into a turn fitting by keeping a pulling bias in place . in some cases it may be desired to reduce the number of controls to accomplish certain objectives , such as simplicity , less controllability , less moving parts , inexpense , or the critical need for space about the upper part of any of the assemblies 417 , 551 and 571 . one example of an arrangement is seen in fig4 . a frame 631 has an interior having one surface which may generally match one of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 , and in this case first hemicylindrical tube 421 . the frame 631 may be attached to the first hemicylindrical tube 421 by tack welding or the like , or other means . a single threaded member 633 includes a knob 635 . a structure 637 can be either an engagement turning block to enable the threaded member 633 to both push and pull on the second hemicylindrical tube 423 , or it may simply be a wear block to allow the threaded member 633 to push against it and to protect the second hemicylindrical tube 423 from wear . because half of the tube assembly of first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 is supported by the frame 631 , the second hemicylindrical tube 423 is left to move only slightly and assuming that fig4 is an upper view and that the pivoting of the second hemicylindrical tube 423 is accomplished at a lower level , especially at the level of lower pivot axis 437 , the frame 631 is left to control second hemicylindrical tube 423 by simply pushing , or by pushing and pulling . where structure 637 is a turning block , there is a bulbous expansion at the end of threaded member 633 which snaps into structure 637 as a turning block and is free to turn and both push and pull second hemicylindrical tube 423 . the threaded member 633 is threadably engaged into an internal threaded bore 639 within the frame 631 . referring to fig4 , one embodiment of a manipulative structure which works well with the structure of fig4 is shown . the structure shown is a partial section taken at the lower pivot axis level and includes means for pushing and pulling , or pushing alone . preferably , when used with the structure of fig4 , it will include pushing and pulling , especially if the structure of fig4 performs pushing alone . either of the structures in fig4 at either the upper or lower pivot axis levels can be substituted for either of the structures shown in fig4 and 46 as the structures in fig4 provide both pushing , pulling , pivoting and level support . where the structures of fig4 provides both pushing and pulling , it can be used along with a second structures at the lower pivot axis as any structure which provides both pushing and pulling will also provide some pivoting support . further , the structure shown in fig4 is hinged to provide additional pivoting support . the structure of fig4 can be used at either the upper pivot axes 431 and 433 or the lower pivot axes 435 and 437 . both the structures of fig4 and 46 demonstrate clearly that lesser control structures than are shown in fig4 can be used to control the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 , along with lesser control inputs , and less control specificity , but also with less moving parts and a lesser mechanical complexity . referring again to fig4 , second hemicylindrical tube 423 is seen as tack welded to a reinforcement 651 . the purpose of reinforcement 651 is to provide an expanded thickness of material so that pivoting can occur closer to the edge 439 as is possible . it is further possible to continue the extent of the reinforcement 651 and its pivot point in the direction of first hemicylindrical tube 421 if the other geometries of the other components permit . reinforcement 651 contains a pair of threaded bores 653 , each of which accommodates one of the threaded screws or bolts 655 shown . the bolts 655 each extend through one end of a “ u ” shaped fitting 657 , so that the reinforcement 651 and attached second hemicylindrical tube 423 pivots with respect to the fitting 657 . a threaded member 659 engaged an internal threaded bore 671 , and has a knob 673 for ease of manual operation . the threaded member is connected to a turn fitting 675 the first hemicylindrical tubes 421 to be moved toward and away from second hemicylindrical tube 423 . the use of the structure of fig4 and 46 may be used together to give the ability to provide control , although not as much control as is seen in fig4 . also seen is an referring to fig4 , another possible realization is seen , combining the control mechanisms of selected portions of fig3 - 46 , combined with other possible options . an open frame system 691 is seen as having a frame 693 which is either open on at least one side , or which has a side expanded to a distance sufficient to introduce other structures to expand in that direction . some of the components previously seen include pins 577 and 579 extending through slot 575 . pins 577 and 579 may have extended vertical and horizontal extent to garner additional stability from the frame 693 , especially where one side is open . other structures may be used to insure that neither the first hemicylindrical tube 421 nor the second hemicylindrical tube 423 are able to turn within the frame 573 . also seen are turn fitting 581 , threaded member 583 , knob 587 , turn fitting 591 , threaded member 593 , and knob 597 . the view of fig4 is from above , and thus the structures most closely correspond to the upper structures seen in fig4 and in fig4 . as can be seen in fig4 , a four point retractor system can be formed with the components and structures of the foregoing figures . the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 are shown in the open position . on the longer connector arm of the frame 693 , a side shield 695 is supported . the side shield 695 can derive its ability to hold tissue out of the visual field by being locked down onto the frame 693 in the same manner as a wrench fits a bolt head . in this configuration , the side shield can be inserted into the center of the surgical field and then rotated into position and moved down slightly to lock it into place . on the opposite side from side shield 695 is a retractor 697 which has a flat portion entering the surgical field and which is controlled from a point remote with respect to open frame system 691 . an angled portion 699 turns from the flat portion seen entering the surgical field and extends down into the area between the open first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 . also seen are a series of small circular structures 701 about the peripheral upper surface of first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 . these structures are at least one of embedded fiber optics and ports for accepting fiber optics . the apertures formed in the metal open at a slight angle to the inside of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 to direct light into the surgical field without producing a back reflection or other scatter . in cases where the fiber optic is permanently affixed , a light ring section can simply be snapped to or placed on the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 . in cases where the apertures are provided , surgery can continue without fiber optics , or a fiber optics set can be added which can range from an illuminated ring ( relying on low angle of incidence and smells law ) to direct light through the openings which open to the inside of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 at a low angle of incidence . intermediary solutions , such as a light ring having a series of short fiber optic members for insertion into the apertures can be used . to facilitate the use of fiber optics , the hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 may be made from a composite material in which the fiber optic components may be present during formation of the tube structures . other material may be used for tubes 421 and 423 , including materials that either transmit light or have portions which transmit light . as an alternative to the three sided frame 693 , the open portion of the frame could be enclosed by an expandable member 703 which can have any manner of inerlock with the three sided frame 693 . one such interlock is illustrated as simply an annular piston dependence where the expandable member 703 includes a smaller tubular insert 705 which fits closely into a matching bore 707 seen in the terminal ends of the three sided frame 693 . the expandable member 703 can be used to lend additional support to the three sided frame 693 , especially forces produced by the threaded members 583 and 593 . the expandable member 703 is also useful to help support the retractor 697 where such provision is made . the main purpose of expandable member 703 is the adjustability to give greater clearance and access . the same adjustability could be had on the side three sided frame 693 which supports side shield 695 , especially with a more complex mechanism to enable the frame expansion to be locked into place . a locking mechanism for expandable member 703 is not shown so that the drawings may be simplified , but lockability can be achieved in the same manner as any metal to metal frame construction known in any field of art . referring to fig4 , a side view of the side shield 695 is seen . the clearance for locking onto the frame 693 is about the same as the width of the frame 693 so that non rotational fixation can be transmitted along the length of the side shield 695 . referring to fig4 , one possible configuration is seen for a variable depth guide 711 which is utilizable with any of the devices seen in fig3 - 46 or any other tubular , minimally invasive system . variable depth guide 711 has a handle 713 controlling a shaft 715 . shaft 715 has a through bore 717 which is used to insert a guide line or guide pin to help insert any minimal access system seen in the earlier figures . a translatable detent ring 719 interacts with a series of detent indentations 721 . the position of the detent ring 719 will correspond to the lengths of the first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 with which the variable depth guide 711 is used . once the practitioner inserts the variable hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 , the necessary height can be adjusted so that the tip of the variable depth guide 711 extends just beyond the lower extent of the joined first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 . the height is adjusted by forcing the detent ring 719 to the proper detent indentation 721 , and then inserting it into a closely associated first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 to form an overall bullet shape for insertion , preferably a guide pin 155 . once inserted , the variable depth guide 711 is removed . the detent ring 719 carries a frusto - conical surface 723 where it is used with first and second hemicylindrical tubes 421 and 423 having fluted top areas as seen in fig3 and in previous figures . any mechanism can be used to achieve a detent action , including an internal pressure ring or a spring loaded bar , or protruding ball bearings . the positional stability of the detent ring can be specified by the spring action of the detent member , and should be sufficiently stable to enable deliberate manual fixation with no inadvertent movement occurring even where significant resistance is encountered . while the present system 31 has been described in terms of a system of instruments and procedures for facilitating the performance of a microscopic lumbar diskectomy procedure , one skilled in the art will realize that the structure and techniques of the present system 31 can be applied to many appliances including any appliance which utilizes the embodiments of the instrumentation of the system 31 or any process which utilizes the steps of the system 31 . although the system 31 has been derived with reference to particular illustrative embodiments thereof , many changes and modifications of the system 31 may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the system 31 . therefore , included within the patent warranted hereon are all such changes and modifications as may reasonably and properly be included within the scope of this contribution to the art .	0
the following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention and several variations of that embodiment . this discussion should not be construed , however , as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments . practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well . for a definition of the complete scope of the invention , the reader is directed to the appended claims . the invention is a disposable glove as illustrated in fig1 which has aloe vera 10 evenly coated on the inner surface in a dehydrated state , as illustrated in fig2 . the glove retains the features of a disposable examination glove , which is simple and convenient to use and allows the wearer to handle fine tasks with precision . the invention also discloses a manufacturing method for modifying a disposable glove by coating aloe vera on the inner surface of the glove . the glove is coated with aloe vera 10 through dehydration that is accomplished by a well - controlled heating process . a disposable glove is made of various materials to form a layer 12 . resinous materials such as vinyl or polymer materials such as acrylonitrile are common choices . three commonly used materials for making disposable gloves are natural rubber latex , acrylonitrile and polyvinyl chloride . in one preferred embodiment , the glove is made of natural rubber latex . since natural rubber latex is sensitive to oil - based substances , gloves made of natural rubber latex should not be exposed to oil - based substances . in this invention , aloe vera is used to coat the gloves and it does not contain any detectable oil - based substances . coating gloves with aloe vera does not affect the glove &# 39 ; s shelf life . in another preferred embodiment the glove is made of acrylonitrile polymer . aloe vera is a natural plant extract that has a long history of folk medicine usage . aloe vera has been used for external treatment of wounds , burns and skin irritations , and internal treatment of various conditions . aloe vera is a popular ingredient in skin - care products . it is also a powerful anti - inflammatory and anti - microbial agent . aloe vera is soluble in water and contains non - detectable oil content . aloe vera glove retains the characteristic of a disposable glove without any visible modification , and is easy and convenient to use . the affiliation between aloe vera and the glove surface is through a force provided by dehydration . such affiliation is loosened when sweat dissolves aloe vera . the longer a glove is worn , the more likely the hand will sweat , and consequently more aloe vera will be dissolved and disassociated from the glove surface , and be applied to hand . the active ingredients in aloe vera can then condition hand skin and prevent microorganisms from growing under the wet condition . in one preferred embodiment , 100 % aloe vera gel is used to coat the gloves . aloe vera is evenly and uniformly distributed on the inner surface of the glove at a thickness of about 0 . 01 millimeter . the association between aloe vera and the surface is achieved by a non - covalent force provided through dehydration . the method of manufacturing gloves involves treating a commercially available disposable glove to eliminate residue powders , soluble substances , and microorganisms , dipping it into an aloe vera solution and heating the glove to cause water to evaporate . a glove is preferably first treated with a chlorine solution or chlorine gas . chlorine solution can help to sterilize the gloves , to wash off powders , and most importantly for natural latex gloves , to dissolve residual proteins that could potentially trigger severe allergic reactions among repeat users . after the outside surface of the glove is treated with the chlorine solution , and the glove is again treated with the chlorine solution . the residue chlorine is neutralized by using ammonia and the gloves are then dried . an aloe vera solution will then be prepared . one hundred percent concentrated aloe vera gel is dissolved in distilled water to generate an aloe vera solution . the preferred concentration of the solution is about 20 %. to associate aloe vera with the surface of the glove , aloe vera solution can be sprayed onto the surface of the glove . alternatively , the glove can be immersed into the aloe vera solution . the latter method is preferred because it creates a complete and even distribution of the aloe vera solution . in one preferred embodiment , the dipping process is accomplished by grouping a number of gloves in a batch to achieve higher manufacturing efficiency . the gloves are immersed in the solution for at least 10 minutes to allow adequate absorbency . aloe vera is attached to the surface of the glove through a controlled dehydration process . the water in the aloe vera solution is caused to evaporate through heating . although a higher temperature will cause water to evaporate quicker , excess heat may damage the gloves . for example , gloves exposed to excessive heat of over 70 ° c . may turn brownish and become brittle . to shorten the heat exposure time , a heating oven is preheated to about 45 ° c . before the gloves are introduced . the oven has a temperature control mechanism to maintain a maximum temperature . in a preferred embodiment the maximum temperature is set at approximately 65 ° c . and the heating process lasts from about 35 to 40 minutes . the dehydration process provides an affiliation force so that aloe vera can remain associated with the glove surface for an extensive period of time . even distribution of aloe vera on the glove surface maximizes therapeutic treatment of the hand and minimizes contact between the skin and the glove &# 39 ; s composite material . stationary drying is not preferred because the aloe vera solution tends to flow in the direction of the force of gravity . in a preferred embodiment the heating oven has a device to tumble during the heating to make aloe vera distribute evenly on the glove surface and to form a uniform coating . afterward the gloves are cooled to room temperature . the gloves are then inverted so that the surface with the aloe vera faces inside .	0
referring to fig1 , there is shown an exemplary flow diagram of a gas processing plant 100 employed to knock out ngls from various gas feedstock streams 1 , 2 and / or 3 . fig1 , in connection with the tables set forth below , provide detail indicative of the overall inventions . the feedstock streams 1 , 2 and / or 3 are directed ( through suitable conduit ) into feed stream 4 a . feedstock stream 1 represents a pressurized feedstock gas / fluid stream that is lean in c2 + content . feedstock stream 2 represents a pressurized feedstock gas / fluid stream that is rich in c2 + content . feedstock stream 3 represents a pressurized feedstock gas / fluid stream that is mid - level in c2 + content . the pressurized feedstock gas streams may originate from any source of natural gas or hydrocarbon - containing gas . for example , feedstock streams 1 , 2 , 3 may comprise , for example , natural gas from gas pipelines , natural gas from gas production , natural gas from oil and gas production facilities , and other hydrocarbon - containing gas streams . the pressure of the feedstock streams may be regulated and variable , to provide suitable pressure to drive the process . one such suitable pressure is 916 psig as shown in one of the examples relating to feedstock stream 1 . feedstock streams 1 , 2 and / or 3 ( or a combined feedstock stream 4 a ) may optionally first be cooled by passing it / them through a cooler 40 equipped with desired modes of cooling / refrigeration equipment . stream 4 a / 4 b is directed to a heat exchanger 50 ( lng exchanger , cold box , or other arrangement to achieve exchange of heat ). however , prior to entry into the lng heat exchanger 50 , stream 4 a is directed through a cross exchanger 42 where it is cooled by cross exchange with the product ngl streams 27 b and / or 28 from later downstream stages of the process . the cooled stream 4 b emerges from cross exchanger 42 and is directed into a first entry port 51 into heat exchanger 50 wherein stream 4 a is cooled via cross exchange with other process streams 10 , 16 and exits exchanger through first exit port 52 as cooled stream 5 . cooled stream 5 is then directed through valve or first gas expansion assembly 58 ( or optional via turbo expansion / vortex / sonic expansion / separation units ) to release pressure , wherein the emerging gas stream 6 cools via expansion prior to entering a mixer 59 where it can be mixed with other process streams 21 a and / or 22 a and / or 15 c as may be directed into the mixer 59 . v the cooler 40 and cross exchanger 42 may be a combination unit or otherwise interface together in what is referred to as a pre - cooling assembly . the mixed gas stream ( with any liquid phase present ) within mixer 59 is then directed as mixed stream 8 to a gas / liquid separator 60 . the mixer 59 and separator 60 may be a combination unit or otherwise interface together in what is referred to as a first separation vessel assembly . the resulting vapor stream 9 emerges through separator gas outlet 63 and is transferred through valve 65 where it becomes stream 10 . as noted above , vapor stream 10 is fed into the second entry port 53 of exchanger 50 where it becomes heated ( via exchange of its cold energy to cool the warm feed stream 4 b ) and emerges as heated or warmed gas stream 11 while stream 4 b emerges as cooled stream 5 . as discussed further below , the heat exchanger 50 also introduces cool stream 16 to provide further cooling of feed stream 4 b , while also warming stream 16 . warmed gas stream 11 is then directed into gas compressor 66 where it is compressed into residual compressed gas stream 12 . compressed gas stream 12 is cooled in exchanger 67 where it leaves as compressed residue gas stream 12 and is directed to a desired location . gas compressor 66 and exchanger 67 can work separately or together as part of an integral unit also referred to as the first compressor cooler assembly . liquid in gas / liquid separator 60 emerges from separator liquid outlet 64 as liquid stream 13 and is directed to a pump 68 . from pump 68 , the liquid stream 13 is directed through pump outlet 68 a to become stream 15 which is then directed through an optional valve 69 to the third entry port 55 of exchanger 50 where liquid or partial liquid stream 16 cross exchanges along with stream 10 to further impart composite “ cold energy ” to cool feed stream 4 b and then emerges from exchanger 50 through the third exit port 56 as warmed stream 17 . as discussed below , stream 13 may optionally be split to permit liquid to be directed out pump outlet 68 b as stream 15 a to other parts of the process . warmed stream 17 is then fed to a separator vessel ( second separation vessel assembly ) 70 with other recycle streams 23 , and 15 y . vapor stream 18 emerges from separator vessel 70 through vessel vapor outlet 71 and is directed to gas compressor / cooler arrangement 73 to become stream 19 . stream 19 , in turn , is fed via optional valve ( or second gas expansion assembly ) 74 as stream 20 to third separation vessel assembly 80 . gas compressor 73 and valve 74 can work separately or together as part of an integral unit also referred to as the second compressor cooler assembly . additional recycle stream 15 x also enters vessel 80 to mix with stream 19 . referring back to separator 60 , liquid stream 13 may optionally be split in pump 68 to permit liquid to be directed out pump outlet 68 b as optional split stream 15 a . stream 15 a is then directed to a splitter ( also called third stream splitter ) 75 where stream 15 a may be optionally split into one or more recycle streams 15 c , 15 d , and / or 15 e as desired to play a role in the c2 extraction and other overall ngl recovery performance mode . optional split stream 15 c is recycled back to mixer 59 for use in feeding separator 60 ( or stream 15 c can be directed directly back to separator 60 ). optional liquid stream 15 e may be directed to any desired location , including being introduced as a reflux stream into optional processing column 90 discussed below ( which can be a demethanizer , deethanizer , depropanizer or any combinations thereof ) to polish or otherwise extract other products present in the stream . optional recycle stream 15 d is fed to splitter ( also called fourth stream splitter ) 76 where one optional emerging stream 15 x may be fed into separation vessel assembly 80 as noted above , and / or another optional emerging stream 15 y may be fed into separator 70 as noted above . referring back to separation vessel assembly 80 , as noted above , vessel 80 receives stream 20 and optionally stream 15 x . liquid and gas in vessel 80 may be fed into other parts of the process . for example , liquid from vessel 80 may be optionally recycled back to separator 60 via liquid stream 22 a through mixer 59 and stream 8 and / or optionally recycled back to separator vessel 70 via liquid stream 23 . liquid in separator vessel 70 is directed through separator vessel liquid outlet 72 through pump 77 to mixer 78 . as an additional option , liquid from vessel 80 may also be diverted towards the liquid product stream 25 via liquid stream 22 b into mixer 78 . gas stream from vessel 80 may optionally be diverted in whole or in part to the separator vessel 60 via stream 21 a , mixer 59 , and stream 8 , and / or may optionally be spiked into the product stream 25 via gas spike stream 21 b into mixer 78 . as noted above , mixer 78 may receive liquid streams from separator 70 , vessel 80 and a spike gas stream also from vessel 80 . the stream emerging from mixer 78 is in turn directed as raw product stream 26 to splitter 79 . the mixer 78 and first splitter 79 may operate as an integrated unit referred to as the first stream mixer splitter assembly . from splitter 79 , the raw product stream 26 can be directed to an end use location via stream 27 a , through receiving vessel 81 and then out as end product ngl - oil stream 31 . stream a 26 can be of sufficient demethanized composition by the present process herein that it can be transferred / diverted as stream 27 a to the product or oil - spiking - blending of the process to lead off as ngl - oil product stream 31 . it is contemplated in this mode of further inventive step to handle and process heavy crude oils by modifying their properties by integrating or coupling or joining operation of the present process with modes of blending and modifying the crude oil properties as indicated in this embodiment — namely as shown in this example but not limited to , where it modifies a 19 . 65 api crude oil of viscosity 39 . 96 cp to a 25 . 62 api crude and 22 . 557 cp viscosity and still keep the crude to pipeline pumping vapor free conditions — tvp of 44 . 4 psig — whereas pipeline pressures of up to 500 psi can allow even further flexibilities of spiking the crude . the flow proportions to attain the shown example can be referred to by reference to the included table 2 and table 1c . from splitter 79 , the raw product stream 26 can also be recycled , via stream 27 b back through heat exchanger 42 where its stream can serve to partially cool the feed stream 4 a and thereafter be warmed before being directed , via stream 28 directly to product storage or crude oil blending ( such as through second stream mixer splitter assembly 82 ), then through stream 28 a , into mixing blender 83 and then to end product ngl - oil stream 31 ). crude stream 30 can be fed into blender 83 to mix with the product stream 28 a . stream 28 can also be optionally diverted , in whole or in part , through splitter 82 as stream 28 b which can then be directed to a demethanizer or polisher column 90 or other columns which can further process or polish the stream 28 b prior to becoming the final product stage stream 28 c / blender 83 / ngl - oil stream 31 , and column overhead or residual streams from column 90 area can via stream 29 become integrated to other process stages ( not shown ). in the present invention , the column 90 is a simple column that is not entwined into the system , but rather , acts simply to distill the product as an optional polishing step . demethanizers of the prior art are intrinsically tied to and central to these prior art processes . although mixing blender 83 is described as being present to receive various streams from the process prior to discharging to the end product stream 31 , it will be understood that the blending step of the process is optional if no crude oil is provided via inlet 30 , and therefore , the streams 27 a , 28 a and 28 c may also optionally be directed directly to a desired end location rather than going through blender 83 . further , as an intent to aid prior art i . e . revamp / capacity - boost prior art , this “ prior art ” may be used in place of column 90 to which stream 26 can be diverted to — i . e . there exists a market for revamp of capacity . the raw product stream 26 is of most interest in the present disclosure as it is the product that is demethanized to various levels in various modes of operation of the above configuration , ranging from ngl with total demethanizer equivalent demethanization , larger ngl recovery partial demethanization , c2 recovery mode lesser but substantial demethanization . for example , in its such modes of operation the raw product stream 26 can also be sent to a demethanizer or polishing column 90 directly . there are various junctions depicted in fig1 . a junction can mean any combinations of splitter / diverter / mixers and any separate numbers of them within the “ junction ”. to follow track of stream 26 diverted to column 90 : stream 26 goes to and at junction / splitter 79 . it can be diverted ( 0 - 100 %) to stream 27 a — to mixing blender 83 — as a product ngl ; it can be diverted ( 0 - 100 %) to stream 27 b — to exchanger 42 — for “ cool ” recovery in optional exchanger 42 — i . e . cooling the feed ; it can be diverted ( 0 - 100 %) to stream 27 c — to junction / splitter 82 — for diverting to colum 90 . at junction / splitter 82 : optional stream 28 and / or 27 c enter ; streams 28 and / or 27 c in combination or severally leave ( 0 - 100 %) as stream 28 b and / or leave as ( 0 - 100 %) as stream 28 a ( ngl product ). stream 28 b goes to optional column 90 for “ polishing ” processing ; column 90 produces ngl product stream 28 c and an overhead or other stream named 29 ( which can be sent to a destination within the main process or any other desired location ). regarding pressured stream 1 ( lean ), there is an optional exchanger 40 that may employ external refrigeration / cooling sources . the sequence of placement can vary in relation to exchanger 42 and heat exchanger 50 by choice / optimization . for example , stream 1 - lean enters a port in the cooler 40 arrangement . it undergoes cooling in cooler 40 against any source of cooling . stream 4 a leaves cooler 40 as a cooled stream . the cooler 40 operation can be combined in any combination with or within cross exchanger 42 or exchanger 50 which can be similarly combined with or within same equipment in any combination as one example being a multi - pass / multi - stream exchanger . cross exchanger 42 is an optional piece of equipment that operates as a heat / cool recovery exchanger . the sequence / combination of placement can vary in relation to cooler 40 and exchanger 50 by choice / optimization and with or within same equipment in any combination as one example being a multi - pass / multi - stream exchanger . for example , stream 4 a enters a port in cross exchanger 42 and undergoes cooling against any source of cooling ( stream 27 b in this case ), and leaves as stream 4 b via a port as a cooled stream . the cooling stream a 27 b enters cross exchanger 42 via a port and leaves as stream 28 after imparting cooling on stream 4 a . the cross exchanger 40 operation can be combined in any combination with or within cooler 40 or exchanger 50 which can be similarly combined with or within same equipment in any combination as one example being a multi - pass / multi - stream exchanger . with respect to heat exchanger 50 , its sequence / combination of placement can vary in relation to cooler 40 and cross exchanger 42 by choice / optimization and with or within same equipment in any combination as one example being a multi - pass / multi - stream exchanger and others being network / bank of other typical exchangers . here , stream 4 b enters a port 51 in heat exchanger 50 and undergoes cooling against any source ( s ) of cooling ( streams 10 and 16 in this case ), and leaves as stream 5 via a port 52 as a cooled stream . the cooling stream 10 enters the heat exchanger 50 via a port 53 and leaves as stream 11 via port 54 after imparting part of composite ( combined ) cooling on stream 4 b . the cooling stream 16 enters the heat exchanger 50 via a port 55 and leaves via port 56 as stream 17 after imparting part of composite ( combined ) cooling on stream 4 b . the heat exchanger 50 operation can be combined or separated and configured in any combination including use of other streams or sources of cooling which will achieve similar or derivative intent of cooling stream 4 b in one or more equipment , as in one example here being a multi - pass / multiport / multi - stream exchanger . valve 58 may be a jt valve or turbo expander assembly ( or vortex or sonic technology devices and the like ) to provide expansion cooling . in this case , stream 5 enters a port in valve 58 and undergoes pressure drop and leaves as stream 6 via a port . the stream is cooled by pressure drop and expansion thermodynamics . where a turbo expander is used the turbo power can be utilized / integrated to other use . mixer 59 is another junction . stream 5 enters a port in mixer 59 . stream 21 a , an anticipated vapor stream from separation vessel assembly 80 , enters a port of mixer 59 . stream 22 a , an anticipated liquid stream from vessel 80 enters a port in mixer 59 . optionally , an anticipated liquid stream 15 c from junction / splitter 75 enters a port in mixer 59 . stream 8 leaves mixer 59 as a mix via a port as stream 8 . downstream of mixer 59 is separator vessel 60 . stream 8 enters a port in separator 60 . stream 9 leaves separator 60 ( out port 63 ) as an anticipated gas stream 9 and then enters a port in valve 65 . stream 13 leaves vessel 60 ( via port 64 ) as an anticipated liquid stream and enters a port in pump 68 . valve or turbo expander assembly 65 provides pressure control upstream and downstream . in this case , stream 9 enters a port in valve 65 and leaves as stream 10 via a port as a stream for providing cooling in the heat exchanger assembly 50 . where a turbo expander is utilized the turbo power can be utilized / integrated to other use . pump 68 also serves as a junction . here , stream 13 enters a port at pump 68 ; stream 15 , an anticipated liquid stream from pump 68 leaves via a port to a port on valve 69 . optional stream 15 a , an anticipated liquid stream from pump 68 leaves via a port to a port on splitter / junction 75 . valve or turbo expander assembly 69 provides pressure control upstream and downstream . here , stream 15 enters a port in valve 69 and leaves as stream 16 via a port as a stream for providing cooling in the heat exchanger 50 assembly . where a turbo expander is utilized the turbo power can be utilized / integrated to other use . emerging from the heat exchanger 50 , composite ( combined ) warmed stream 11 enters a port at gas compressor 66 . composite ( combined ) warmed stream 17 enters a port at separator vessel 70 . with respect to separator vessel 70 , anticipated stream 17 from heat exchanger 50 enters a port at separator vessel 70 . anticipated liquid stream 23 from separation vessel assembly 80 enters a port at vessel 80 . optional anticipated liquid stream 15 y from junction / slitter 76 enters a port at separator vessel 70 . stream 18 leaves separator vessel 70 as an anticipated gas stream and enters a port at gas compressor 73 . stream 24 leaves separator vessel 70 as an anticipated liquid stream and enters a port at pump 77 . with respect to compressor and cooler assembly 73 , anticipated stream a 18 from separator 70 enters a port at compressor / cooler 73 . stream 18 is compressed and cooled and leaves as compressed cooled stream 19 from a port of compressor / cooler assembly 73 . compressed stream 19 from compressor / cooler 73 enters a port at valve 74 . valve or expander / compressor assembly 74 provides pressure control upstream and downstream . here , stream 19 enters a port in valve 74 and leaves as stream 20 via a port . where a turbo expander is utilized the turbo power can be utilized / integrated to other use . separation vessel assembly 80 also serves as a junction assembly . here , anticipated stream 20 from valve 74 enters a port at vessel 80 . stream 21 a leaves vessel 80 at a port as an anticipated gas stream and enters a port at mixer 59 . anticipated liquid stream 23 leaves a port at vessel 80 and enters a port at separator 70 . optional anticipated stream 15 x from junction / splitter 76 enters a port at vessel 80 . optional anticipated liquid stream 22 a leaves a port at vessel 80 and enters a port at mixer 59 . optional anticipated liquid stream 22 b leaves a port at vessel 80 and enters a port at mixer 78 . optional anticipated vapor stream 21 b leaves a port at vessel 80 and enters a port at mixer 78 ( for further anticipation of sending to column 90 if desired ). regarding pump assembly 77 , stream 24 enters a port at pump 77 . stream 25 , an anticipated liquid stream from pump 77 leaves via a port to port on mixer 78 . regarding mixing junction 78 , streams ( and optional streams ) ( 25 , 22 b , 21 b enter mixing junction 78 via ports . stream 26 ( anticipated raw ngl product ) leaves mixer 78 via a port to enter splitting junction 79 at a port . regarding splitter junction 79 , stream 26 ( anticipated raw ngl product ) enters splitter 79 at a port . stream 27 a leaves splitter 79 as stream 27 a ( essentially raw ngl product ). as an option , 0 - 100 % of flow of splitter 79 departing streams , anticipated stream 27 b leaves splitter 79 to enter exchanger 42 as a heat exchange stream , imparting any cooling duty available to exchanger 42 . as an option , 0 - 100 % of flow of splitter departing streams , anticipated stream 27 c leaves a port at splitter 79 and enters a port at splitter junction 82 . with respect to optional junction 82 , as one option , stream ( 0 - 100 % of flow of splitter 79 departing streams ) 27 c ( anticipated raw ngl product ) enters splitter 82 at a port . as another option , stream ( 0 - 100 % of flow of splitter 79 departing streams ) 28 leaving exchanger 42 enters a port at splitter 82 ( essentially raw ngl product ). anticipated stream 28 a leaves splitter 82 to enter end product mixer 75 . as an option , stream 28 b leaves a port at splitter 82 and enters a port at column 90 ( an anticipated polishing / extracting equipment such as a demethanizer or other anticipated assembly of other refining equipment ). column 90 is an optional polishing / extracting equipment such as a demethanizer or other anticipated assembly of other refining equipment ). as an option , stream 28 c leaves a port at column 1 and enters a port at end product mixer 83 . anticipated stream ( s ) 29 leave column 90 to enter the process for recouping some overhead components or can leave to any desired destination ; the end product mixer , 83 is anticipated to accept at ports streams ( and optional streams ) ( 27 a , 28 a , 28 c , “ 30 ( crude )”, etc .) and exit as stream “ 31 ngl - oil ” by pumping and / or mixing with other product liquids ( such as heavy crude oils , but not limited to ) of which it is anticipated of this invention as one part to provide feasibility or function . it is also anticipated that stream “ 31 ngl - oil ” is just the product of this process where no mixing of other streams or products is anticipated . with respect to splitter junction 75 , optionally , between 0 - 100 % of flow of pump 68 departing streams ), anticipated stream 15 a enters splitter junction 75 at a port . stream 27 a leaves splitter 79 as stream a 27 a ( essentially raw ngl product ). optionally , ( 0 - 100 % of flow of splitter 75 departing streams ), anticipated stream 15 c leaves splitter 75 to enter mixer 59 . as another option , 0 - 100 % of flow of splitter 75 departing streams ), anticipated stream 15 d leaves junction 75 to enter splitter 76 . another option includes ( 0 - 100 % of flow of t 3 departing streams ), anticipated stream 15 e leaves splitter 75 to enter a desired location for one example as an anticipated reflux to column 90 area / equipment . splitter junction 76 takes on various product streams . for example , optionally ( 0 - 100 % of flow of splitter 75 departing streams ), anticipated stream 15 d enters splitter 76 at a port . optionally ( 0 - 100 % of flow of splitter 76 departing streams ), anticipated stream 15 x leaves splitter 76 to enter separation vessel assembly 80 . optionally , ( 0 - 100 % of flow of splitter 76 departing streams ), anticipated stream 15 y leaves slitter 76 to enter separator 70 . regarding the compressor and cooler system assembly 66 , anticipated stream 11 from heat exchanger 50 enters a port of anticipated compressor assembly 66 which provides gas to “ residue gas ” compressor of system 66 . gas of stream 11 anticipated is compressed at compressor 66 and leaves a port to enter a port at heat exchanger 67 to be cooled down to anticipated pipeline or transfer pressure and temperature and departing from a port as anticipated gas stream 12 a . for a better understanding of the operation of the present invention , reference is made to the following tables in connection with process flow diagrams illustrated in the drawings . as a means of the explanation of fig1 , tables are provided giving more detailed data description of the parameters for the design and operation of the process plant . it will be apparent to one skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure , that the present invention could be practiced by following the present disclosure of the diagrams / figures and the accompanying data tables . the current disclosure is indicative of reasonable assumptions typically made by those skilled in the art , including rounding of the data , ambient conditions and heat losses not accounted and not shown but contemplated where required . referring now to the invention in more detail , in fig1 ( with reference to the tables ) there are provided temperature and pressure profiles as part of the drawings and referring stream table data . this information provides one of ordinary skill in the art of hysys process simulation with a description of the invention to permit the practice thereof . it is much more elucidating and so one is referred to the stream table table 2 for fig1 c included herein to view the process parameters of flows , pressure and temperature that pertain to each point of process streams referred to in the description below . other embodiments are variants and / or variables of that . the results from the simulation of table 1a in connection with fig1 can be tabulated as follows : the characteristics for stream 31 ngl - oil from the simulation of table 1a in connection with fig1 can be tabulated as follows : the characteristics for stream 30 crude from the simulation of table 1a in connection with fig1 can be tabulated as follows : table 1a ( in conjunction with the process flow diagram of fig1 ) shows ngl recovery utilizing demethanizer column 90 for polishing recovery . in this example , there is 12 . 9 % c1 in the raw ngl product . after the column 90 , there is demonstrated c2 recovery of 67 . 03 % and c3 recovery of 93 . 78 %. table 1a shows partial achievement of demethanizing while extracting ngl —“ partial ” is deliberate for ethane extraction — using the present process , and then polishing it with a demethanizer . by way of summary of the example set out in connection with table 1a and fig1 , there is no oil used . product stream is diverted to further treat in column . using some of the variability of the system functions to produce ngl already down to c1 =/& lt ; 12 . 9 % mole . in this example , there is no no flow of crude oil stream ( 0 . 000 “ molar flow ” flow in “ 30 ( crude )”). stream “ 31 ( ngl - oil )” is either just the ngl product or blended with oil final product either as : straight from the inventive process ( called raw ngl and as in stream 26 ). the cl content is approximately down to 12 . 9 % or is diverted via stream 28 b to a polishing / column facility 90 ( a de - methanizer column or other facility ) producing ngl product of required specifications ( e . g . in this case & lt ; 1 % mole c1 ). blending with crude oil for any number of purposes e . g . but not limited to : the results from the simulation of table 1b in connection with fig1 can be tabulated as follows : the characteristics for stream 31 ngl - oil from the simulation of table 1b in connection with fig1 can be tabulated as follows : the characteristics for stream 30 crude from the simulation of table 1b in connection with fig1 can be tabulated as follows : table 1b ( in conjunction with the process flow diagram of fig1 ) shows ngl high c2 + recovery mode with no use of a demethanizer column for polishing recovery in stream nor input of crude oil . table 1b shows ngl recovery with no column polishing . table 1b —& lt ; 1 % ( rounded ) c1 in the raw ngl product . no use of polishing column 90 . this example shows the effectiveness of the present invention without use of demethanizer column 90 : c2 recovery 42 . 62 %; c3 recovery 96 . 90 %. table 1b shows the straight achievement of demethanizing , using the process of the present invention . by way of summary of table 1b in connection with fig1 , there is no oil added . there is no column used . using some of the variability of the system functions to produce ngl already meeting ngl spec for c1 =/& lt ; 0 . 5 vol . (˜ 1 % c1 mole ). in this example , there is no flow of crude oil stream ( 0 . 000 “ molar flow ” flow in “ 30 ( crude )”). stream “ 31 ( ngl - oil )” is ( either ) just the ngl product ( or blended with oil final product either as ): straight from the inventive process ( called raw ngl and as in stream 26 ) ( in this case , c1 content is already approximately =/& lt ; 1 mol %) ( n / a diverted ) via stream 28 b to a polishing / column facility 90 ( a de - methanizer column or other facility ) producing ngl product of required specifications ( e . g . in this case & lt ; 1 % mole c1 ). ngl product demethanized to & lt ; 0 . 5 % vol . c1 and not using column facility . ( n / a in this example ). blending with crude oil for any number of purposes e . g . but not limited to : the results from the simulation of table 1c in connection with fig1 can be tabulated as follows : the characteristics for stream 31 ngl - oil from the simulation of table 1c in connection with fig1 can be tabulated as follows : the characteristics for stream 30 crude from the simulation of table 1b in connection with fig1 can be tabulated as follows : table 1c ( in conjunction with the process flow diagram of fig1 ) shows ngl lower c2 + recovery mode with no use of a demethanizer column for polishing in stream , and utilizing modifying action on crude oil . this example shows viscosity modification of heavy crude oil using recovered ngl to modify api and viscosity of the heavy oil . table 1c provides additional results when blending with oil — i . e . viscosity modification , etc . table 1c shows ngl recovery with no column polishing i . e . table 1c —& lt ; 1 % ( rounded ) c1 in the raw ngl product . no use of column . this illustrates the effectiveness of the present invention without use of demethanizer column and effectively specifically providing product for adding to crude oil / hydrocarbon stream . and , this is used as an example for the direct oil / fluid blending case above and shown in further detail in table 1c ( in connection with fig1 ) and the process has many common features for other embodiments of this invention . by way of summary of table 1c in connection with fig1 , in this example , the product is blended to oil . the oil viscosity is thereby modified . there is no use of the column . using some of the variability of the present system functions to produce ngl already meeting ngl spec for c1 =/& lt ; 0 . 5 vol . (˜ 1 % c1 mole ). in this example , yes , there is a flow of crude oil stream ( 15 , 000 lbmole / hr “ molar flow ” flow in “ 30 ( crude )”). stream “ 31 ( ngl - oil )” is ( either just the ngl product or ) blended with oil final product either as ): ( n / a straight from the inventive process ( called raw ngl and as in stream 26 ) ( and in this case , c1 content is already approximately =/& lt ; 1 % mol %) ( n / a diverted ) via stream 28 b to a polishing / column facility 90 ( a de - methanizer column or other facility ) producing ngl product of required specifications ( e . g . in this case & lt ; 1 % mole c1 ). ngl prod demethanized using system to & lt ; 0 . 5 % vol . c1 and not using column facility . blending with crude oil for any number of purposes e . g . but not limited to : in another example , non - optimized recoveries from a gas at 500 psig range as follows : for rich gas ( 37 % c1 ), the c3 recovery is 98 %, the c2 recovery is 75 %. for lean gas ( 88 % c1 ), the c3 recovery is 95 %, the c2 recovery is 42 %. in an optimized system , c2 recoveries in an optimized configuration can be up to 90 +% and c3 recoveries can be up to about 100 %. this optimized configuration involves modifications to the basic process steps ( c ) through ( e ): ( c ) further cooling the feed stream from the heat exchanger via a first gas expansion assembly ; ( d ) separating the further cooled stream in a first gas / liquid separation vessel assembly into gas and liquid streams ; and ( e ) pumping the liquid stream ( 0 - 100 %) from the first separation vessel assembly into the heat exchanger to impart a cooling effect on the feed stream in the heat exchange . in this modified process , stream 5 is directed through a turbo expander , then the discharge from the turbo expander is separated into liquid and gas phases . the liquid phase is directed as per stream 13 . the gas phase is directed through another turbo expander whos discharge is directed into another separator . the liquid from separation after second turbo expansion is directed as per stream 13 , the gas as per stream 9 . in view of the above , it is contemplated an ngl recovery process that can be used directly or indirectly to enhance heavy crude oil processes and / or handling as shown in this embodiment . it is contemplated a novel ngl recovery process . it is contemplated a novel ngl recovery process with / without a novel demethanizing method . it is contemplated a novel demethanizing process for ngl recovery process ( es ). it is contemplated of further embodiments to accompany and show an ngl recovery process with various contemplations . it is contemplated an ngl / less - volatile components recovery process from fluid streams . it is contemplated an ngl recovery process with or without a demethanizer / fractionation / distillation column . it is contemplated an ngl deep recovery process with jt valve expansion only . it is contemplated an ngl deep recovery process with jt and / or turboexpansion expansion cooling process . it is contemplated a co 2 tolerant ngl recovery process . it is contemplated a deep extraction ngl recovery process with recovery of c2 +. it is contemplated a deep extraction ngl recovery process with rejection of c2 +. it is contemplated an ngl recovery process pre - lng pretreatment . it is contemplated an ngl recovery process post - lng manufacture at receiving end with and / or lng gasification steps . it is contemplated an ngl recovery and lng gasification process . it is contemplated an ngl recovery process with low pressure source feed gas . it is contemplated an ngl recovery process with high pressure source feed gas . it is contemplated an ngl recovery process with external refrigeration . it is contemplated an ngl recovery process without external refrigeration . it is contemplated an ngl recovery process to handle rich in less volatile content gases / fluids . it is contemplated an ngl recovery process to handle lean in less volatile content gases / fluids . it is contemplated an ngl recovery process and pipeline specification or pumping criteria or pressure drop or multiphase criteria meeting mix of the ngl or its mixing with other process fluids , as in one example of crude oil liquids . it is contemplated an ngl recovery process meeting some co 2 process stream requirements in either rejection or separation of co 2 from ngl stream . it is contemplated the contemplated and other incidental benefits of this novel ngl and demethanizing process different from the technologies of current art form . the present invention is directed to the process or method or system or improvements whichever applies to comprising any feature described , either individually or in combination with any feature , in any configuration or individual steps or processes or combination of individual steps or processes for equipment design , operating , separating or recovering components of varying volatilities from natural gas ( lng ) or any other mix of hydrocarbons or other fluid mixes in a fluid phase . the present invention provides an unconventional process to vary hydrocarbon compositions in various streams . the present invention includes a process for separating less volatile hydrocarbons from more volatile hydrocarbons ; and not limited to but more particularly less volatile hydrocarbons from gas streams with more volatile hydrocarbon components ; the invention is also directed to ngl components from lean in ngl components hydrocarbon gas . the present invention is used to produce essentially stabilized condensate , one condensate being ngl , one ngl being variable in ethane ( c2 ) component , the c2 component being varied to produce ngl with “ ethane extraction ” or “ ethane rejection ” based c2 amounts the current invention provides a process of unconventional means to separate less volatile hydrocarbons from more volatile hydrocarbons . this process is particularly not dependent on degrees of freedom of a process predominantly tied to a conventional column . the process is not tied to use of conventional column to extract ngl from hydrocarbon fluid stream ( s ). the process is not tied to use of conventional column to essentially extract ngl with ethane extraction or ethane rejection function . the present invention also describes a process for producing pipeline specification ngl ( or condensate ); a process for producing demethanized ngl ( or condensate ); a process for producing demethanized ngl ( or condensate ) for crude oil enhancement ; a process for introducing demethanized ngl ( or condensate ) of suitable tvp to liquid hydrocarbon carrying pipelines ; a process for providing product for improving performance of hydrocarbon carrying pipelines , in one instance more particularly reducing potential of multiphase ( gas and liquid ( s )) flow pipelines to that of essentially liquid ( s ) flow regime flow lines ; in another instance more particularly reducing potential of high viscosity flow lines to lower viscosity flow performing flow lines . the invention also includes a process essentially introducing process steps providing complete desired hydrocarbon separation process ; a process essentially introducing process steps to enhance hydrocarbon separation process ( es ). the invention is also directed to a process essentially introducing process steps suitable for improving process of conventional hydrocarbon processes and not limited to ; more particularly ngl separation processes ; more particularly a co 2 tolerant process ; more particularly ethane extraction processes ; more particularly ethane rejection processes ; more particularly process stream product heating value control processes ; more particularly product hydrocarbon component variation processes ; more particularly product de - methanizing processes ; also disclosed is a process essentially introducing process steps suitable for particularly specific component hydrocarbon separation processes . additionally , the present disclosure also teaches a process essentially introducing process steps suitable with or to conventional hydrocarbon separation processes ; in one instance particularly introducing means of providing product feed stream changing effectiveness / capacity of conventional ngl extraction process with column ; in one instance particularly introducing means of providing process streams for integration with conventional hydrocarbon extraction process ( es ) with column ( s ); in one instance particularly using a conventional column ( or columns ) as an additional step to process ; in one instance more particularly using conventional column ( or columns ) to polish a product stream . the present disclosure further provides a process providing means of introducing a less process utilities demanding and / or less process equipment capacity demanding feed stream for processing . the present disclosure is also directed to a process for separating less volatile hydrocarbons from more volatile hydrocarbons ; and not limited to but more particularly heavier hydrocarbons from gas streams with lighter hydrocarbon components ; and more particularly ngl components from lean in ngl components hydrocarbon gas ; producing essentially stabilized condensate ; more particularly condensate being ngl ; more particularly ngl being variable in ethane ( c2 ) component ; more particularly c2 component being varied to produce ngl with “ ethane extraction ” or “ ethane rejection ” based c2 amounts ; particularly unconventional process to vary hydrocarbon compositions in various streams ; more particularly a process of unconventional means to separate less volatile hydrocarbons from more volatile hydrocarbons ; more particularly a process of unconventional means to separate c2 + less volatile hydrocarbons from more volatile hydrocarbons ; more particularly not dependent on degrees of freedom of process predominantly tied to a conventional column ; more particularly not tied to use of conventional column to extract ngl from hydrocarbon fluid stream ( s ); more particularly not tied to use of conventional column to essentially extract ngl with ethane extraction or ethane rejection function . the present disclosure also provides a process for producing pipeline specification ngl ; a process for producing demethanized ngl ; a process for producing demethanized ngl for crude oil enhancement ; a process for introducing demethanized ngl of suitable tvp to liquid hydrocarbon carrying pipelines ; a process for improving performance of hydrocarbon carrying liquid pipelines ; in one instance more particularly reducing potential of multiphase flow pipelines to that of essentially liquids flow regime flow lines ; in another instance more particularly reducing potential of high viscosity flow lines to lower viscosity flow performing flow lines ; a process essentially introducing process steps providing complete desired hydrocarbon separation process ; a process essentially introducing process steps to enhance hydrocarbon separation process ( es ); a process essentially introducing process steps suitable for improving process of conventional hydrocarbon processes ; more particularly ngl separation processes ; more particularly ethane extraction processes . more particularly ethane rejection processes ; more particularly de - methanizing processes ; more particularly specific component hydrocarbon separation processes ; a process to help increase ngl processing capacity of ngl extraction facilities ; a process that reduces methane content of gas condensates ; a process that can reduce more volatile component content of product streams in hydrocarbon processes ; process steps that can reduce more volatile component content of product streams in hydrocarbon process ( es ). the present disclosure also pertains to a process and process steps for separation of hydrocarbons ; a process and process steps of manipulating process equilibrium thermodynamics ; a process and process steps of selective enhancement of hydrocarbon components in product streams ; a process and process steps for almost infinitely varying compositions of hydrocarbon mixtures to obtain preferred shifts of hydrocarbon mixture components ; a process and process steps for preferentially shifting hydrocarbon component concentrations within process ; a process and process steps for preferentially shifting hydrocarbon component concentrations to produce desired end product specifications ; process not limited to but providing more particularly in this case means to separate at least methane from hydrocarbon ( s ) less volatile than methane ; more particularly in this one case into a product stream with methane lean in hydrocarbon ( s ) less volatile than methane and other hydrocarbon product ( s ) lean in methane and enriched with hydrocarbon ( s ) less volatile than methane ; more particularly in this case considered a ngl extraction process ; more particularly in this case a demethanizing process ; more particularly process providing available variability or choice to extract ngl with ethane extraction ; more particularly process providing available variability or choice to extract ngl with ethane rejection ; comprising the step parameters ( pressures , temperatures , flows ) more specifically provided by table 2 that one versed in the art can replicate : ( a ) a feed stream is cooled in heat exchanger ( s ) and expanded resulting in further cooling by joule thompson effect , and the resulting equilibrium stream ( s ) separated into gas and liquid ; ( b ) ( 0 to 100 %) of the liquid stream ( s ) obtained in step ( a ) is supplied to cool feed stream ( s ) of step ( a ); ( c ) ( 0 to 100 %) of the gas stream ( s ) obtained in step ( a ) is supplied to cool feed stream ( s ) of step ( a ); ( d ) other ( 0 to 100 %) of liquid stream ( s ) of step ( b ) and possible splits thereof is ( are ) sent to meet other steps downstream or upstream of the point to meet variability of the inventive process being disclosed ; ( d ) liquid stream of step ( b ) provides cooling to feed stream of step ( a ) and in the process warms up ; ( e ) stream of step ( d ) is separated into equilibrium streams of gas and liquid ; ( f ) gas stream of step ( e ) is compressed and cooled into cooled compressed stream ; ( g ) compressed stream of step ( f ) is expanded to cool and separated into equilibrium streams of gas and liquid ; ( h ) ( 0 - 100 %) variable of gas stream of step ( g ) is sent to mix with equilibrium mix of step ( a ); ( i ) ( 0 - 100 %) variable of liquid stream of step ( g ) is sent to mix with equilibrium mix of step ( a ); ( j ) other ( 0 - 100 %) variable of gas stream of step ( g ) is sent to other downstream process ( es ); ( k ) other ( 0 - 100 %) variable of liquid stream of step ( g ) is sent to other downstream process ( es ); ( l ) other ( 0 - 100 %) variable of liquid stream of step ( g ) is sent to mix with equilibrium mix of step ( e ); ( m ) liquid stream of step ( e ) is pressurized and sent to produce a mix with streams of step ( j ) and step ( k ); ( n ) ( 0 - 100 %) variable of stream of step ( m ) is sent to other downstream end product ngl or other liquids property modification process ; ( o ) other ( 0 - 100 %) variable of stream of step ( m ) is sent to impart cooling to feed stream of step ( a ) and warming up in the process ; ( p ) other ( 0 - 100 %) variable of stream of step ( m ) is sent to other downstream process ( es ); ( q ) stream of step ( p ) is combined with warmed stream of step ( o ); ( r ) ( 0 - 100 %) variable of stream of step ( q ) is sent to other downstream end product ngl or other liquids property modification process ; ( s ) other ( 0 - 100 %) variable of stream of step ( r ) is sent to other downstream process for further refining or separation resulting in at least one product such as ngl for example ; ( t ) stream of step ( s ) is sent to other downstream end product ngl or other liquids property modification process of step ; ( u ) streams of step ( t ), step ( s ) and ( n ) are processed or mixed with other process streams such as particularly in application of this process with crude oil ( often heavy ) producing a preferred product content ( such as amounts of ngl ethane - plus components ) or preferred product property ( transport phenomenon or flowing properties ). the present disclosure provides an unconventional columnless demethanizing broad “ composition swing methodology ” and is envisioned that it can be applied to other hydrocarbons . the process provides the ability to shift up / down / sideways concentrations of hydrocarbons driven by equilibrium for or to preferred separations points . side streams can also be taken out as products . as one particular specific example of the process ( without use of column 90 ) permits recovering ˜ 97 % c3 fractions and ˜ 43 % c2 + fraction and still with a ( tvp =˜ 335 psig , c1 vol %=˜ 0 . 5 %) and all ready - made to go into pipeline since it should meet pipeline specs ( tvp & lt ; 600 psig , c1 vol %& lt ; 0 . 5 %). especially when blended to oil it is a huge benefit to the oil industry in that pumping not required to keep a pipeline pressure of more than 400 psig with large recovery of ngl &# 39 ; s from oil / gas fields . the process provides many available variables , for example , with use of step changes and use of turbo - expander units one can achieve ˜ 73 % c2 recovery with ˜ 100 % c3 + recovery with c1 & lt ; 1 % vol and tvp of 371 psig . any person skilled in the art or science , particularly one who is used to process engineering skills will , having had the benefit of the present disclosure , recognize many modifications and variations to the specific embodiment ( s ) disclosed . as such , the present disclosure , including examples , should not be used to limit or restrict the scope of the invention or their equivalents . although embodiments have been shown illustrating operation of the processes of the present disclosure , those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure could create other alternative embodiments that are within the scope of this invention . for example , with the benefit of the present disclosure , those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate and understand that modifications and alternative embodiments to the process or method or system or improvements disclosed herein and comprise any feature described , either individually or in combination with any feature , in any configuration or individual steps or processes or combination of individual steps or processes for equipment design , operating , separating or recovering components of varying volatilities from liquefied natural gas ( lng ) or any other mix of hydrocarbons or other fluid mixes in a fluid phase . the present invention will also find utility when used in connection with oil / stream / product enhancement . for example , the present invention could be used to increase pipeline capacities . all references referred to herein are incorporated herein by reference as providing teachings known within the prior art . while the apparatus and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments , it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the process and system described herein without departing from the concept and scope of the invention . all such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the scope and concept of the invention . those skilled in the art will recognize that the method and apparatus of the present invention has many applications , and that the present invention is not limited to the representative examples disclosed herein . moreover , the scope of the present invention covers conventionally known variations and modifications to the system components described herein , as would be known by those skilled in the art . while the apparatus and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred or illustrative embodiments , it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the process described herein without departing from the concept and scope of the invention . all such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the scope and concept of the invention as it is set out in the following claims .	5
fig1 is a block diagram that schematically illustrates a communication system 20 , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . system 20 comprises a network 22 , preferably an ib switching fabric , to which multiple channel adapters 24 , 26 , 28 are connected . in the present example , the channel adapters are host channel adapters ( hcas ), serving host computing devices , such as a host 30 . alternatively , one or more of adapters 24 , 26 and 28 may be target channel adapters , which connect peripheral devices to the fabric . hca 24 is coupled to a switch 32 in network 22 via a high - rate link 34 , such as a 10 gbps link in an ib fabric . hca 24 communicates via switch 32 with hca 26 via another high - rate link 36 , and with hca 28 via a low - rate link 38 , such as a 2 . 5 gbps link . based on the mismatch in transmission rates between link 34 and link 38 , a subnet manager 40 determines that static flow control must be applied to packets transmitted by hca 24 to the dlid of hca 28 . although for the sake of conceptual clarity , subnet manager 40 is shown in fig1 as an independent entity , in practice the subnet manager is typically implemented as a software process running on network entities , such as switch 32 and hca 24 . fig2 is a block diagram that schematically shows details of hca 24 that are relevant to implementation of static flow control , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . other elements of the hca are omitted from the figure for the sake of simplicity , but their arrangement will be apparent to those skilled in the art . packets 44 generated by hca 24 for transmission over network 22 are queued in output buffers 42 . each packet has a dlid field , indicating its destination address on the network . for each dlid value , subnet manager 40 indicates whether or not flow control is required . packets whose dlid values require flow control are preferably marked by setting a flow control attribute 46 . in the embodiment shown in fig2 , attribute 46 is simply a single - bit flag , indicating whether or not flow control is required . alternatively , attribute 46 may be a field that provides additional flow control information , such as the ipd that is applicable to the dlid in question . an arbiter 48 selects the packets to be transmitted from buffers 42 , based on appropriate arbitration rules , which are beyond the scope of the present invention . when flow control attribute 46 is set for a given packet , arbiter 48 checks the dlid of the packet against dlid entries 52 in a “ blacklist ” table 50 in a memory in hca 24 . preferably , the memory in which table 50 is maintained is a content - addressable memory ( cam ), in which the dlid itself serves as the memory address . creation and management of the entries in table 50 are described in detail hereinbelow . as long as there is an entry pending for the dlid of the given packet , arbiter 48 delays sending the packet in order not to exceed the static rate that is permitted for the dlid . when there is no entry in table 50 , or when the pending entry has expired , arbiter 48 passes the packet to an output port 54 for transmission over network 22 . at the same time , the arbiter creates a new entry 52 in table 50 for use in controlling the transmission of the next packet destined for this dlid . fig3 a is a timing diagram that schematically illustrates a method for placing entries 52 in table 50 and for removing the entries from the table , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . when arbiter 48 is prepared to send a packet out to port 54 , it places a dlid entry in blacklist 50 , at an entry placement step 60 , and sets a timer to control the expiration of the entry . the timer duration is set to a multiple n of the packet transmission time t . ( in the example illustrated in the figure , n = 4 .) t is equal to the packet length divided by the transmission rate of output port 54 . n is typically the ratio of the transmission rate of the output port to the link rate of the receiving port for this dlid . in ib terms , n = ipd + 1 . thus , after port 54 has finished transmitting a given packet 44 , the timer continues to run for a further n − 1 intervals 62 of duration t . at this point , the timer expires , and the dlid entry is removed from blacklist 50 , at an entry removal step 64 . this mechanism ensures that the delay required between packets to meet static flow control constraints is maintained . typically , many of the lids with which hca 24 communicates are subject to flow control . since port 54 alternates sending packets to these different dlids in rapid succession , blacklist 50 at any given time may contain multiple entries corresponding to the dlids to which it has recently sent packets . each entry has its own timeout value , depending on the length of the packet just sent and the applicable value of the multiple n . although it is possible to make blacklist 50 large enough to contain an entry for each dlid with which port 54 can communicate , this approach requires excessive memory . therefore , the size of blacklist 50 is preferably only large enough to hold a “ worst - case ” number of entries , corresponding to the maximum number of different dlids that can simultaneously be in transition from entry placement step 60 to entry removal step 64 at any given time . fig3 b is a timing diagram that schematically illustrates worst - case loading of blacklist 50 . this condition occurs , as shown in the figure , when there are as many pending entries 52 as can possibly time out simultaneously . in the present example , as in fig3 a , it is assumed that port 54 has a 10 gbps output rate , so that the dlids that are subject to static rate flow control have ipd = 3 . a packet pi is transmitted to a first flow - controlled dlid at a given starting time t 0 . the size of p 1 is s , which is assumed to be the largest possible packet size on network 22 , equal to the maximum transfer unit ( mtu ), which is taken to be 2048 bytes , plus 128 header bytes . the dlid of p 1 will remain on the blacklist for a further three intervals 62 , as described above . as soon as port 54 has finished transmitting p 1 , a second packet p 2 is transmitted to another flow - controlled dlid , and a second entry is placed in blacklist 50 . if the size of packet p 2 is equal to ¾s , this second entry will time out at the same time as the first one . in like manner , when packet p 3 is transmitted to a third flow - controlled dlid , its corresponding blacklist entry will time out at the same time as the preceding ones if the size of p 3 is three - fourths that of p 2 , i . e ., ( ¾ ) 2 s . the packet sizes continue in this succession down to the minimum packet size in network 22 , which is 32 bytes . thus , the size of the last packet pn is ( ¾ ) n − 1 s ≈ 32 bytes . for the value of s given above , ( ¾ ) n − 1 = 0 . 0147 , so that n ≈ 15 . on this basis , the inventors have found that a table of sixteen entries is generally sufficient to contain blacklist 50 for hca 24 with a 10 gbps output port rate . fig4 is a flow chart that schematically illustrates a method of static flow control carried out by arbiter 48 , using the timer mechanism illustrated in fig3 a , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . as packets 44 are placed in buffers 42 , their dlid fields are checked to determine whether they are subject to flow control restriction . if so , their flow control attribute 46 is set , at an attribute assignment step 70 . arbiter 48 selects the packets from the buffer to be transmitted by port 54 , at a packet selection step 72 . in order to avoid race conditions , the arbiter first performs lid ordering arbitration , noting all pending requests to the same dlid . if there are multiple packets to transmit to the same dlid , arbiter 48 preferably allows only the first packet to proceed to port 54 . the next packet on the same dlid is then allowed to proceed only after transmission of the first one is completed . in this way , two packets may be transmitted back - to - back to the same dlid , but simultaneous parallel accesses are avoided . upon accepting a packet for transmission , arbiter 48 checks its flow control attribute 46 to determine whether the packet is subject to flow control , at an attribute checking step 74 . if not , the arbiter simply passes the packet on to port 54 , at a packet transmission step 76 . if the packet is subject to flow control , arbiter 48 checks the packet &# 39 ; s dlid field against entries 52 in blacklist 50 , at an entry checking step 78 . if there is such an entry , arbiter 48 delays transmission of the packet until the entry has timed out and has been removed from the blacklist , at a timeout deferral step 80 . only then does the arbiter proceed with processing the packet for transmission . after the current blacklist entry has expired at step 80 , or if at step 78 the arbiter finds no entry in blacklist 50 for the dlid of the current packet , it must create a new blacklist entry prior to transmitting the packet . the arbiter checks to determine whether the blacklist has an empty slot available to accept the new entry , at a blacklist checking step 82 . if the blacklist is full , transmission of the packet is delayed until one of the other entries in the blacklist times out and is removed , at a release deferral step 84 . otherwise , transmission of the next packet to this dlid could violate the applicable flow control restriction . ( preferably , as noted above , the blacklist is large enough so that arbiter 48 will nearly always pass step 82 without additional delay .) as soon as a slot is available , arbiter 48 places a new entry for this dlid in the blacklist , at entry placement step 60 , and passes the packet to output port 54 , at packet transmission step 76 . although preferred embodiments are described herein with specific reference to ib fabric 22 and to static flow control requirements of the ib specification , the principles of the present invention may similarly be applied to carry out static flow control in packet networks of other types . it will thus be appreciated that the preferred embodiments described above are cited by way of example , and that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove . rather , the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the various features described hereinabove , as well as variations and modifications thereof which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not disclosed in the prior art .	7
the frame of the weaving machine is identified by the reference numeral 1 in the weaving machine system of fig1 . a jacquard machine 1a which controls the heddles 5 through the harness cords is secured to one part of the frame 1 and a dobby 2 which controls the heddle frames 8 is secured to another part 3 thereof . a controlled indexing of a single pattern card 4 controls the jacquard hooks 1b of the jacquard machine in a patterned manner , which patterned control is transmitted onto the dobby through the harness cords 7 , 70 , 71 . reference numeral 10 identifies a lower hole or comber board which is used to guide the harness cords 6 , 7 , 70 , 71 . reference numeral 11 is a guide roller for the harness cords 7 , 70 , 71 to the dobby . the harness cords 6 including the heddles 5 of the jacquard machine are pulled by the springs 9 into the lower - shed position . the partial sections of a known dobby which are illustrated in fig2 to 4 show the reading and control members which act with their control needles 21 or levers 36 &# 39 ; to control the position of a draw hook 25 which is shown to be in the rear deadcenter position . each of the draw hooks is engaged by and pulled rightwardly by the draw knives 26 . we refer here for example to a dobby of the hattersley type . in the case of the dobby according to fig2 we refer to a machine which is controlled weft logically and the draw hooks 25 are controlled in a conventional manner from four reading needles 18 which assure at any time a full forward or reverse run . since the control impulses are transmitted from the jacquard machine through the cord 7 during the entire shed - moving time , these impulses are selected directly in advance to constitute in anticipatory control which is maintained until after the weft insertion operation , so that the anticipatory control feature can also effect an advance selection for the reverse run . for reasons of simplicity in illustration , fig2 illustrates only a single harness cord 7 , a single reading needle 18 of four reading needles per frame - lift unit and a single sequence of control elements for one lower draw hook . the cam carriage 12 is secured to the harness cord 7 which is guided over the guide roller 11 and is pulled by the spring 14 to the right fixed to the fixed abutment 15 . the cam carriage 12 has on its upper side two parallel support or cam surfaces 17 and 17 &# 34 ; which are connected by a ramp surface 17 &# 39 ;. the vertically movable reading needle 18 is supported and slides on the cam surfaces 17 , 17 &# 39 ; and 17 &# 34 ;. the longitudinal extent of the ramp 17 &# 39 ; in the horizontal direction is less than the path of movement of the cam carriage 12 and the center part of the ramp surface 17 &# 39 ; is in the moment of the shed crossing primarily below the reading needle 18 . the reading needle 18 slides vertically in the guideways 19 . it has a plunger part 16 at its lower end while the upper end is wound around a horizontally extending auxiliary needle 20 . the auxiliary needle 20 is , in turn , looped around the control needle 21 . a horizontally movable sliding rail 23 is associated with the auxiliary needle 20 , that is , the sliding rail 23 engages a lowered auxiliary needle 20 and moves it to the right . a spring 28 which is supported on a guideway 27 moves the needle 20 back to the original position . the control needle 21 itself is received in a guideway 22 and is moved upwardly from the illustrated position by a vertically movable lift bar 24 . the return movement of the control needle 21 is effected by the weight of the control needle 21 and draw hook 25 . all parts from the reading needle 18 to the draw knife 26 and their operation have been known for decades . if the carriage 12 is in the illustrated position , that is a control impulse does not take place from the pattern card 4 of the jacquard machine 1a , then the reading needle 18 and thus the auxiliary needle 20 is lifted up . this corresponds to a nonperforated location on the pattern card . the sliding rail 23 slides by below and past the auxiliary needle 20 . the control needle 21 remains in place and is lifted up by the lift bar 24 and takes with it the draw hook 25 . the latter movement is possible only during a shed standstill , thus after a control by the jacquard machine . if a hole of the pattern card is read , a pull by the harness cord 7 onto the carriage 12 occurs and effects a movement to the left . the reading needle 18 and the auxiliary needle 20 are lowered by their own weight over the ramp surface 17 &# 39 ; onto the support surface 17 &# 34 ;. after this the sliding rail 23 moves into engagement with and causes the auxiliary needle 20 and thus the control needle 21 to move to the right , so that the latter is not engaged by the vertically movable lift bar and lifted up . the draw hook 25 is thereafter taken along by the draw knife 26 . the control ramp 17 &# 39 ; assures that the reading needle 18 is controlled approximately at the same time , as if the dobby would be controlled by a separate pattern card . as long as the cam carriage 12 remains in the patternlike controlled position , both the forward and the reverse run of the draw hooks will always be correctly controlled . due to the provision of four harness cords 7 and four reading needles 18 and four cam carriages 12 -- two for the forward run and two for the reverse run -- the machine can operate at any time weft - logically . a reversal in the direction of rotation is possible at any time . the latest after two rotations of the main shaft in the reverse run for taking out the last inserted weft thread , the shed is opened , after which each further rotation opens the shed for each preceding weft . a return of the machine unit without any problems through any number of wefts is possible and without manipulation of the card cylinder . the dobby and jacquard machine operate synchronously according to the open shed double lift principle . in place of the cam carriage it is also possible to provide a double - arm rocking lever wherein the harness cord 7 is connected to one arm , the other arm being provided below the reading needle 18 in the place of a pattern card . the rocking lever is held by a spring in a position to support the reading needle . the harness cord then pulls the rocking lever into the holding - down position of the reading needle . in fig3 we refer to the illustration of an inventive device on a known cam - card - controlled dobby . the device is illustrated with only a single draw hood 25 and consists of two harness cords 70 , 71 , one for the new and the other for the previous weft . clasp handles 29 , 30 are connected to the harness cords and are freely rotatably supported on each of a pair of shafts 31 and 32 . a rocker arm 33 is freely rotatably supported on a shaft 34 . the limits of rotation of the rocker arm 33 is defined by the stops 35 . a known control lever 36 is freely rotatably supported on a shaft 37 . its lever part 36 &# 39 ; at one end functions as the control member for the draw hook 25 to effect a lifting of same off from the knife against the force of a spring 38 , when the rocker arm 33 does not move the control lever . if the left end of the control lever 36 is lifted up by the rocker arm 33 in response to the nose 30 &# 39 ; of the clasp handle 30 being received in the notch 39 , the draw hook 25 is then lowered onto the draw knife 26 and is taken along by same ( fig4 ). fig3 illustrates the position of the control device of the dobby after receiving a control impulse from the pattern card or the jacquard machine . this advance or anticipatory control is maintained to the end of the shed standstill and the draw hook 25 can be controlled in the usual time and independent from the actions in the jacquard machine . the clasp handle 29 receives from the harness cord 70 the control impulse for the preceding weft while the clasp handle 30 receives through the harness cord 71 the impulse for the new weft . both impulse inputs take place simultaneously , while the shafts 31 , 32 which are movable on the path a -- a are moved totally to the left . after this and when the draw knife 26 has returned into the initial position , first the shaft 31 moves with the clasp handle 29 to the right and the nose 29 &# 39 ; is received in the notch 39 &# 39 ; of the rocker arm 33 , in order to confirm the control position which has been obtained for the preceding weft . subsequently the shaft 31 returns with the clasp handle 29 to the initial position while the shaft 32 with the clasp handle 30 moves toward the rocker arm 33 in order to move same into the position which corresponds with the control impulse which has been transmitted by the harness cord 71 . thus , referring to fig3 the clasp handle 29 would transmit the result of a nonperforated location on the pattern card as a command in the confirming sense to the rocker arm 33 , the control lever 36 and the draw hook 25 , while subsequently the clasp handle 30 will transmit the result of a perforated location onto the draw hook 25 . a known control method is applied with these means and is a condition for the logic method of operation . the dobby can be moved at any time into the other direction of rotation and can thereby at all times correctly open the shed . fig4 shows in continuation of fig2 the new condition . due to the lowering of the control lever arm 36 &# 39 ;, the draw hook 25 is positioned in front of the draw knife 26 . during the next lift of the draw knife , the frame is moved into the upper - shed position . the end 40 of the rocker arm 33 can by leaving out the control lever 36 also engage directly under the draw hook 25 and can control same . although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes , it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus , including the rearrangement of parts , lie within the scope of the present invention .	3
fig1 illustrates a perspective view of a sanitary article in the form of a diaper according to the present invention , in which the main body generally indicated by a reference numeral 1 comprises an arrangement in which a back sheet comprising a liquid - impermeable material and a top sheet comprising a liquid - permeable material , which is disposed internally , are overlapped so that an absorbent material is accommodated therebetween and in which a waist hole and two leg holes are formed . the main body 1 comprises a front portion 1a and a rear portion 1b with the central portion of a substantially rectangular sheet member running in the lengthwise direction taken as the boundary . with the sanitary article worn , the front portion 1a covers the wearer &# 39 ; s belly portion , the rear portion 1b covers his or her hip portion , their boundary portion covers the lower portion of the crotch , the arc formed by both end portions of the short side of the main body forms a waist hole 2 and a pair of leg holes s are formed between two long sides of the main body . furthermore , the main body includes fixation means 5 comprising elastic rings are provided , which extend along the peripheral edge of each leg hole . in this embodiment , the fixation means 5 is arranged by joining a band - shaped elastic sheet of appropriate width , which presents a resiliency at least in the lengthwise direction , along the peripheral edge of the leg hole of the main body 1 , to couple its both ends at a coupling portion 8 . a preferred means to couple at the coupling portion 8 is a hot melt - type adhesive agent . preferably , elastic band - shaped waist gathers 4 having a proper width may be attached to the main body along the peripheral of the waist hole 2 . numeral 6 denotes coupling means or a tape attached at the lateral edge of the rear portion 1b between the waist gathers 4 and the leg gathers 5 . each tape 6 constitutes a fastener together with a receiver member 7 attached on the outer surface of the front portion 1a . each of the tapes 6 are coupled to the receiver members 7 , respectively , before the article is worn , so that the main body 1 is made to take the form of pants - type diaper , with its front portion 1a and rear portion b being each coupled at part of each lateral edge . the tapes used in this embodiment constitutes a fastener tape having a multiplicity of hooks and loops which is generally called as &# 34 ; a magic tape &# 34 ; and commercially soled by kuraray corporation , japan , under the trademark &# 34 ; velcro &# 34 ;. in such sanitary article , before worn , the tapes 6 are coupled to the respective receiver members 7 . therefore , it takes the form of underpants as a whole , and can be pulled on in the sequence similar to that with the ordinary underwear . when worn , the fixation means 5 allows the leg to be readily inserted therethrough by its own elasticity and , when the article has been fitted to the body , it is closely fitted to the circumference of the proximal portion of the leg to be retained there stably . retaining of the fixation means 5 at a predetermined position means that the main body 1 to which it is attached is also stably retained in position to the wearer , so that a stable fitting condition of the article , which is one of the important advantages of the present invention , can be realized . another important advantage of the present invention is that since the fixation means 5 presents a certain degree of displacement or a degree of freedom of deformation relative to the main body 1 , even if any displacement occurs between the wearer &# 39 ; s trunk and leg due to the wearer &# 39 ; s movement , the main body follows the trunk while it cannot virtually happen that the fixation means retained to the proximal portion of the leg is pulled toward the main boy , so that there is no danger that the stable fitting condition is disturbed . fig2 illustrates an embodiment in which , as means to constitute the ring - shaped fixation means 5 by coupling both ends of the band - shaped elastic sheet member , tapes 9 are used in place of the adhesive agent applied in the embodiment of fig1 . fig3 illustrates a sanitary article according to a third embodiment of the present invention in the state in which the tapes 6 are released from the receiver members ( not visible in this figure ) to open the lateral edges of the front portion 1a and the rear portion 1b slightly spaced apart from each other . here , the same or similar portions as in fig1 are indicated by the same reference numerals . as seen from fig3 a pair of side members 10 , each comprising an elastic sheet member , is provided internally of the main body 1 so as to extend along both lateral edges thereof . each side member 10 is widest at the portion lying at the center of the thigh portion of the main body , and is narrowed at the side of the waist hole and , when the article is fitted , functions as the internal standing gathers . an opening 11 is formed at the widest portion of the side member , that is , at the portion corresponding to the leg portion of the main body so as to pass the wearer &# 39 ; s leg through . a band - shaped elastic sheet member is attached along the circumference of the opening 11 so as to form a ring 12 , and the ring constitutes a fixation means together with the side member . as the material forming the side member 10 , it is preferable to use a sheet material which is pleasant to feel to the human body and which has a proper elasticity , flexibility and leak - proof property . examples of these material includes a nonwoven fabric , or a composite of the nonwoven fabric and a elastic material having a proper flexibility and elasticity . an elastic film may also be used , but it is often used together with a nonwoven fabric or the like , since it contacts to the skin directly . as the elastic nonwoven fabric , those obtained by confounding fibers such as made of polyester , polypropylene or the like with a card web containing highly shrinkable conjugate fibers by water jet and subsequently , by subjecting it to a heat shrinkage process may be used . a preferably elastic composite material may be of a nonwoven fabric and a elastic film , or a nonwoven fabric and an elastic melt blown . as the side member , an air - breathing stock is more preferable and , as desired , it is also effective to provide a plurality of small vent above the side member at the sites excluding the danger of the liquid leaching in order to prevent getting steamy . fig4 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the present invention in which a pair of side members 10a are used . each side member comprises an elastic sheet material at its upper edge having a slit 11a of proper length , and the open end of the slit 11a is closed with a tape 13 . in this embodiment , the side member per se functions as the fixation means relative to the wearer &# 39 ; s leg passed through the slit 11a , that is , the leg hole provided through the side member 10a . fig5 and 6 illustrate a sanitary article according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention . the main body 1 used in the sanitary article of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the previous embodiments , and a pair of fixation means 20 as explicitly shown in fig6 is provided internally of the main body . each fixation means 20 comprises a sheet material of such a size enough to cover about one third of the inner surface of the main boy , the inner lateral surface of the main body is exposed at the portion not covered by the fixation means , and an absorbing zone is formed there . the outer lateral edge portion of each fixation means 20 extends along the edge portion of the main body 1 and , between the outer lateral edge portion and the inner side edge portion , a slit or an opening 22 is formed extending in the lengthwise direction . each fixation means 20 is joined to the main body 1 only at its outer side edge portion and is not joined at is inner side edge , so that the space or pocket formed therebetween is in communication with the exterior at the inner lateral edge and the slit 22 . preferably , two sets of elastic members 21a and 21b are provided at both sides of the slit 22 so as to extend in parallel to the slit 22 , although they are not necessarily needed if the sheet member per se , which constitutes the fixation means , has a sufficient elasticity . furthermore , it may be desirable to provide perforations 23 at the fixation means 20 so that they extend from both ends of the slit 22 up to both ends of the fixation means . these perforations 23 make it easy to increase the size of the slit 22 according to the thickness of the proximal portion of the wearer &# 39 ; s leg while serving to further make it easy to tear the fixation means 20 off when the article is released . fig6 illustrates a condition in which the elastic member 21a , 21b are stretched if its both ends are released from the stretched condition , the elastic members 21a , 21 contract in their length due to their restoring forces and , when the article is actually worn , as shown in fig5 provides annular fixation means connected to the elastic members for the proximal ends of the legs of the wearer legs , great in the freedom of movement relative to the main boy 1 . in the above embodiments , since necessary fixation is done by the fixation means at the legs , the article does not slip down , even if the tape which is fixation means at the waist portion is removed . this makes a great advantage when checking of excretion is necessary . in the foregoing embodiments , in order to couple the front portion 1a and the rear portion 1b of the main body , in order to complete the ring - shaped opening to the side member , the tape is used . as the tape , those having an ordinary arrangement or the aforementioned &# 34 ; velcro &# 34 ; type fasteners may be used , but those used in fig7 to 10 are suitable for attaining the object of the present invention . the tapes 50 shown in fig7 and 8 have an arrangement in which non - elastic sheets 52 , 52 &# 39 ; are adhered on both surfaces of one end portion of a substantially rectangular sheet - shaped elastic member 51 , which is excellent in elasticity , and similar sheets 53 , 53 &# 39 ; are each adhered on the other end , and exhibits an elasticity at the portion not covered by the sheet alone . this elastic tape 50 is firmly adhered to the edge portion of the front portion 1a of the main body 1 by the sheet 52 ( or 52 &# 39 ;) at one end portion and to the edge portion of the rear portion 1b by the sheet 52 ( or 52 &# 39 ;) at the other end portion . in the tape shown in fig9 the width of the portion of the sheet - like elastic member 51 which is not covered by the non - elastic sheets 52 , 52 &# 39 ; is made small to make the elasticity of the portion great alternatively , the same object may also be achieved by providing one or more holes 51a at the portion of the sheet - like elastic member 51 which is not covered by the non - elastic sheets 52 , 52 &# 39 ;. fig1 illustrates a sixth embodiment of the present invention provided with another fixation means which is great in degree of free movement or displacement relative to the main body . in this embodiment , the substantially rectangular main body 1 forms the front portion 1a and the rear portion 1b , bent into u - shape , and is coupled to both sides of the front portion 1a and the rear portion 1b by means of the side member 60 comprising an elastic sheet member , which interconnects the lateral edge portions opposed to each other - leg holes are formed by cut out part of the main body and the side member 60 . further , a cut out or a slit 61 is formed at the side member 60 at the position slightly below its lower end . this slit extends up to the neighborhood of its both lateral edge in the width direction of the side member , so that a narrow band - shaped portion 62 which is cut apart from the remaining portion is formed at the lower end portion of the side member , and serves as the fixation means . fig1 illustrates a condition in which the sanitary article of fig1 is worn . as seen from this figure , when the article is worn , the side member 60 retains the front portions 1a and 1b of the main body 1 to the wearer &# 39 ; s waist portion by cooperating with the waist gathers , and the band - shaped portion 62 forms a ring - shaped fixation means together with the crutch portion of the main body 1 to fix the article at the proximal portion of the wearer &# 39 ; s legs . fig1 illustrates a seventh embodiment of the present invention , which shows a side member 70 formed with a larger opening 71 as compared with one shown in fig1 . each band - shaped portion 72 separated by the opening 71 , when the article is worn as in fig1 , functions as the fixation means which fixes the article at the proximal portion of the wearer &# 39 ; s legs . in the articles shown in fig1 and 13 , since the front portion 1a and the rear portion 1b of the main boy are coupled by means of the side members , unlike those coupled by the foregoing tapes , they are difficult to take off . in order to eliminate this disadvantage , in the illustrated embodiments , the side member comprises two parts connected at the joining lines running from its upper end to the lower end by means of the adhesive agent . the joining line has a sufficient bonding strength with which the article is not broken while being worn and used , but can be torn apart by pulling strong when removed . otherwise , as shown in fig1 , a slit 81 is formed across each of a ring 5 comprising an elastic band - shaped sheet member disposed along the peripheral edge of the respective leg hole 3 . which is formed at the main body 1 and reaching next of the main body 1 contacting the ring . each slit is fixed in a closed state by a tape 82 attached across the slit 81 so as not to open . in this embodiment , the ring 5 and the tapes 82 provide closed fixation means 5 . the tapes 82 act as fixation means which can be removed to make the main body in to a skirt - like shape upon wearing , and also can be fastened during wearing . upon taking off , the tapes can be unfastened , thereby to make possible to handle the article without the shoes or socks from becoming dirty . the present invention may be applied to the sanitary article taking the form of napkin , other than those of the diaper as mentioned above . in fig1 to 18 , a main body 100 is of rectangular form in which a liquid - impermeable sheet 101 and a liquid - permeable sheet 102 are coupled together at their peripheral edge and an absorbent member 103 is disposed therebetween . at both sides of the main body , a thin and elongated band - shaped side members 106 comprising an elastic sheet member is attached . each side member 104 is formed with a thin and elongated opening 105 which extends in the lengthwise direction of the member to segment a thin and elongated portion 106 lying at the outside of the opening . the portion lying at the inside of the opening 105 is coupled to the main body 100 at the joining line 107 . the joining line extends along its innermost edge portion but , at the central portion , extends so as to lie at the inner side . therefore , the central portion serves as a standing cuff to form a pocket 108 between the same and the surface of the main body acting to prevent side leakage . such an article is worn by inserting the wearer &# 39 ; s legs into the respective openings 105 . the state in which the article is worn to a predetermined position is shown in fig1 and 20 . as seen from these figures , the side member 104 serves as ring - shaped fixation means surrounding the proximal portions of the wearer &# 39 ; s legs to fix the main body at a predetermined position stably . fig2 illustrates a sanitary article taking the form of the same napkin as that of fig1 except that the length of the used main body 100 is elongated . fig2 illustrates a sanitary article taking the same form of napkin as one shown in 21 which is provided with side members 110 taking another form . in each side member 110 used in this embodiment , the portion 116 lying at the outside of the slit 105 is cut apart at a proper position as viewed in its lengthwise direction , and the opposed end portions are coupled releasably by means of a coupling tape 117 . the sanitary article shown in fig2 can be fitted by inserting the legs through the slits 105 , as in one shown in fig2 , but may be fitted by forming rings by coupling their free end portions with the coupling tapes 117 after the portions 116 are disposed so as to surrounding the proximal portions of the legs . fig2 illustrates a sanitary article of the present invention which is further provided with the main body 110 of another form and a side member 120 . in this embodiment , each of side members 120 takes a substantially u - form , and the portion 116 separated from the other portion at the slit 105 is each formed at its holes . the portion 116 may be continuous but , alternatively , may be cut apart at the central portion , and the opposed free ends may be coupled releasably by means of the tape 117 , as in the embodiment of fig2 . alternatively , as show in fig2 , a side member 130 in which one end of the slit 105 is in communication with the exterior and in which the other is formed into a free band - shaped portion 131 may be used . a tape 132 is provided at the free end of each band - shaped portion 131 and , after the main body 100 is set to a predetermined position , the tape 132 is coupled to a proper position of the side member to complete a ring - shaped fixation means . further , fig2 ( a ) and 25 ( b ) illustrates one of side members 140 which is attached to both sides of the main body ( not shown ). the side member 140 is band - shaped having a thin and elongated slit 105 extending along the centerline passing through the center as viewed in the width direction , and a tape 141 is attached at one end portion of two areas which are segmented by the centerline . although , as shown in fig2 ( a ), prior to use , the side member 140 is folded back along the following line 142 lying on the centerline while the article is worn , so that , as shown in fig2 ( b ), the overlapped end portions are coupled by means of the tape 141 .	0
turning now to the drawings in greater detail , it will be seen that in fig1 there is a server system shown generally at 10 . the server system 10 comprises a rack 14 that structurally holds the components of the system 10 in relation to one another . for example , multiple processor units 18 mount in a one above the other stacking fashion inside the rack 14 while a first bulk power assembly 22 and a second bulk power assembly 26 are positioned near an inside lower surface of the rack 14 . referring to fig2 the bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 are shown from above with a centerline 30 drawn through the centers of both bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 . guide bosses 34 and terminal bosses 38 on both bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 are aligned along the centerline 30 and will be described in more detail below . referring to fig3 a perspective view of the first bulk power assembly 22 shows the guide bosses 34 and the terminal bosses 38 in more detail . the bosses 34 , 38 all protrude from a back plane 42 , which forms one surface of the bulk power assembly 22 . the bosses 34 , 38 are aligned along the centerline 30 of the bulk power assembly 22 in a vertical direction . it should be noted that in other embodiments the bosses 34 , 38 could be aligned in other orientations , directions and relationships to one another while still remaining within the scope and spirit of the present invention . an upper guide boss 44 and a lower guide boss 45 comprise the guide bosses 34 of the first bulk power assembly 22 . similarly , an upper terminal boss 48 and a lower terminal boss 49 comprise the terminal bosses 38 of the first bulk power assembly 22 . all four bosses 44 , 45 , 48 , 49 include an opening that will be described in more detail in reference to fig4 . it should be noted that the second bulk power assembly 26 is substantially identical to the first bulk power assembly 22 for purposes of embodiments disclosed herein and therefore to avoid repeating detailed descriptions will not be described in detail . referring to fig4 a cross sectional view of the first bulk power assembly 22 is shown in electrical engagement with the second bulk power assembly 26 through a rigid interface member 54 , sandwiched therebetween . the interface member 54 includes an injection molded , plastic nonconductive housing 58 , an upper guide blade 64 , a lower guide blade 65 , upper terminal blade 68 , and a lower terminal blade 69 . the blades 64 , 65 , 68 , 69 may be pressed into holes formed in the housing 58 and held in place by friction or by a detent , not shown , or insert molded into the housing 58 during the molding of the housing 58 . alternatively , the guide blades 64 , 65 could be plastic and molded as part of the housing 58 , thereby eliminating two separate components . the terminal blades 68 , 69 , on the other hand , cannot be molded as part of the housing 58 since they need to be conductive to complete the circuit with the bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 . the positioning and orientation of the blades 64 , 65 68 , 69 of the interface member 54 must match the positioning and orientation of the bosses 44 , 45 , 48 , 49 on the bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 in order to assure they engage properly . the guide blades 64 , 69 slidably engage with holes 74 , 75 in the alignment bosses 44 , 45 to align and pilot the interface member 54 with the bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 prior to the terminal blades 68 , 69 engaging with holes 78 , 79 in the terminal bosses 48 , 49 . such alignment assures that the upper terminal blade 68 engages with the an upper female terminal 88 located within the hole 78 , and the lower terminal blade 69 engages with a lower female terminal 89 located within the hole 79 . to assure the guide blades 64 , 65 engage with the alignment bosses 44 , 45 before the terminal blades 68 , 69 engage with the terminal bosses 48 , 49 the lengths of the guide blades 64 , 65 are longer than the lengths of the terminal blades 68 , 69 . the ends of the guide blades 64 , 65 are radiused , or alternatively chamfered , to allow for some misalignment of the guide blades 64 , 65 with the holes 74 , 75 at initial contact . the upper terminal boss 48 of the first bulk power assembly 22 has an upper female terminal 88 connected to a wire 98 , a lead frame , or other electrical circuit component within the bulk power supply 22 which has a positive electrical potential . the terminal 88 is positioned substantially in the center of the hole 78 and is slightly recessed from the surface 42 . the terminal 88 is held in position relative to the housing 58 , by common methods , so as to allow the terminal blade 68 to frictionally engage into the terminal 88 resulting in a reliable electrical connection between the blade 68 and the terminal 88 . the lower terminal boss 49 as well as the terminal bosses of the second bulk power assembly 26 each has female terminals housed therein for similar electrical connections to their respective terminal blades . in order to properly connect the bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 together in parallel the polarity of the upper terminals in both bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 should be positive and the lower terminals in both bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 should be negative . in order to prevent the interface member 54 from disconnecting from both bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 in the event that the second bulk power assembly 26 is removed from the rack 14 while the first bulk power assembly 22 is left in the rack 14 , for example , the interface member 54 is attached to one of the bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 . to attach the interface member 54 to the first bulk power assembly 22 , as shown , a fastener 92 , disclosed herein as a screw , is threadably engaged with a hole 96 in the bulk power assembly 22 through a clearance hole 100 in the housing 58 . since the back plane connection details on the first bulk power assembly 22 are substantially identical to those on the second bulk power assembly 26 , the interface member 54 can just as easily be fastened to the second bulk power assembly 26 . to do so , rotate the interface member 54 by rotating the by 180 degrees to align the hole 100 with a hole 104 in the second bulk power assembly 26 , and threadably engage the fastener 92 to the hole 104 . in the case described above , wherein the second bulk power assembly 26 has been removed from the rack 14 and the first bulk power assembly 22 remains in the rack 14 with the interface member 54 thereattached , it is possible for the server system to be powered up . in such an instance the terminal blades 68 , 69 will have electrical potential applied thereon . such electrical potential may be as high as 350 volts direct current , for example . with bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 capable of supplying as much as 150 amps of current a dangerous situation exists with the possibility that a conductor could come in contact , simultaneously , with both exposed terminal blades 68 , 69 . referring now to fig5 and 6 an embodiment of the invention includes a cover 108 for frictionally engaging with either a first end 112 or a second end 116 of the interface member 54 . for example , if the first end 112 is functionally engaged with the first bulk power assembly 22 , which may be electrically powered up , the cover 108 can be applied to the second end 116 of the interface member 54 thereby providing an electrically insulative shield over the exposed terminal blades 68 , 69 . the cover 108 itself may be injection molded from a nonconductive plastic with features for attachment to the bulk power assemblies 22 , 26 integrally formed thereon . such features could include , for example , holes , not shown , molded within projections 120 that are sized to frictionally engage with the guide blades 64 , 65 or the terminal blades 68 , 69 . alternately , a rectangular shaped surface 124 of the cover 108 could frictionally engage with inner surfaces 128 of the housing 58 to removably attach the cover 108 to the interface member 54 . additionally , fasteners , not shown , could be employed to attach the cover 108 to the interface member 54 if more positive attachment is desired . while the preferred embodiment to the invention has been described , it will be understood that those skilled in the art , both now and in the future , may male various improvements and enhancements which fall within the scope of the claims which follow . these claims should be construed to maintain the proper protection for the invention first described .	7
fig1 constitutes a schematic representation of a piston machine 1 for fluids , which is developed as in - line piston pump 2 . for this purpose , piston machine 1 has three cylinders 3 , 4 and 5 formed inside a housing , in which a piston 6 , 7 and 8 is supported in axially displaceable manner . pistons 6 , 7 , 8 in cylinders 3 , 4 , 5 are displaced by a drivable crankshaft 9 . cylinder 3 and piston 6 , cylinder 4 and piston 7 , as well as cylinder 5 and piston 8 form a piston unit 10 , 11 or 12 of piston machine 1 in each case . piston units 10 , 11 and 12 have different output volumes , which are defined by the size of the individual cross - sectional surfaces of cylinders 3 , 4 , 5 and pistons 6 , 7 , 8 . in an advantageous manner , volume v 11 of piston unit 11 is twice as large as volume v 10 of piston unit 10 , and volume v 12 of piston unit 12 is twice as large as output volume v 11 of piston unit 11 . thus , the greater output volume of one of the piston units in each case is twice as large as the next smaller output volume of another piston unit . in general , the output volume of piston units 10 , 11 , 12 may thus be expressed as v i = 2 · v i - 1 , i corresponding to the number of piston units . each piston unit 10 , 11 , 12 or each cylinder 3 , 4 , 5 is assigned a drain valve 13 , 14 and 15 , respectively . from each drain valve 13 , 14 , and 15 , the volume supplied by corresponding piston unit 10 , 11 or 12 is guided out of piston machine 1 by a bypass channel 16 , 17 and 18 in “ unused condition ”, provided the individual drain valve 13 , 14 , 15 is switched appropriately , i . e ., is open . for practical purposes , bypass channels 16 , 17 and 18 are combined to form a common ( return ) channel , which is not shown here . by opening drain valves 13 , 14 and / or 15 , individual piston unit 10 , 11 or 12 is thus able to be switched off , so that the output volume it has supplied is not pumped but forwarded unused , or returned , and therefore not supplied to the total output volume of piston machine 1 . by deactivating piston units 10 , 11 , 12 , or setting drain valves 13 , 14 , 15 , it is therefore easily possible to vary the total output volume v g of piston machine 1 in equidistant stages in discrete manner . this is best represented by the following formula due to the afore - described advantageous development of piston machine 1 , the particular abrupt change between the different total output volumes corresponds to the output volume of the piston unit having the smallest output volume , in this case , v 10 . maximum total output volume v g , max corresponds to : fig2 through 9 illustrate the output volume of piston units 10 , 11 , 12 and the total output volume of piston machine 1 or in - line piston pump 2 derived from the corresponding adjustment of drain valves 13 , 14 and 15 . the delivered ( dashed line ) output volume supplied by individual piston units 10 , 11 and 12 , and the possible ( blank ) output volume of piston units 10 , 11 , and 12 are shown on the left side . accordingly , the resulting total output volume v g is shown on the left side . fig2 shows the corresponding output volumes in the event that all bypass channels 16 , 17 and 18 are enabled by corresponding drain valve 13 , 14 and 15 or in case all piston units 10 , 11 , 12 are deactivated , so that none of the potential output volumes is utilized and the total output volume v g is equal to zero . if drain valve 13 is closed , i . e ., piston unit 10 is activated , as shown in fig3 , then total output volume v g corresponds to the output volume of piston unit 10 . according to fig4 , piston unit 10 is deactivated and piston unit 11 is activated , so that the resulting total output volume corresponds to the output volume of piston unit 11 and thus to twice the output volume of piston unit 10 . if piston unit 10 is switched on as well according to fig5 , then resulting total output volume v g is supplemented by output volume v 10 of piston unit 10 , i . e ., increased by an additional stage . by deactivating piston units 10 and 11 and activating piston unit 12 , a total output volume v g = v 12 results , which once again is one stage greater than the previous output volume . to increase the total output volume by another stage , piston unit 10 is switched on as well according to fig7 . to increase the output volume by yet another stage , piston unit 10 is deactivated and piston unit 11 is activated , according to fig8 . fig9 shows the setting of piston machine 1 or in - line piston pump 2 in the event that maximum total output volume v g , max is set . all three piston units 10 , 11 , 12 are activated for this purpose , i . e ., none of piston units 10 , 11 , 12 is deactivated . in this case , v g = v g , max = 7 · v 10 . with the aid of advantageously developed piston machine 1 , it is therefore easy to adjust a total output volume v g discretely , in equidistant stages ( v 10 ), it already being possible to adjust eight different total output volumes in case of three differently developed piston units 10 , 11 , 12 , at unchanged high efficiency .	5
referring now specifically to the drawings , fig1 shows an embodiment 10 of the disclosed multiphase measurement apparatus which has been configured into a skid package . the skid configuration facilitates transporting and installing the apparatus for production testing an individual well . this embodiment 10 generally includes a plurality of “ separators ” which have been fabricated from segments of commercial grade pipe and fittings suitable for oil and gas service , including suitability for corrosive service if required by the particular application . these separators comprise a vertical separator 12 and a liquid line 14 which comprises a generally horizontal section 16 , a first generally vertical chamber , referred to hereafter as the water chamber 18 , and a second generally vertical chamber , referred to hereafter as the oil chamber 20 . while various pipe sizes might be employed for fabrication of the different components of the invention , it has been found that vertical separator 12 is preferably fabricated from pipe having a diameter ranging from six inches to thirty - six inches , but may be sized as large as forty - eight inches . the components of liquid line 14 are similarly fabricated from pipe . horizontal section 16 is preferably fabricated from pipe having a diameter of six inches to thirty - six inches , but may be sized as large as forty - eight inches . water chamber 18 and oil chamber 20 may be fabricated from pipe having a diameter of six inches to forty - eight inches , but will preferably have the same diameters as horizontal section 16 . it is to be appreciated that the diameters of the various components of vertical separator 12 and liquid line 14 may comprise a variety of combinations , which will depend on the desired flow rates and the chemical and physical properties of the various fluid phases . the production line from the well to be tested is connected to inlet pipe 22 of vertical separator 12 . as described in greater detail in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 526 , 684 , inlet pipe 22 may be mounted downwardly and tangentially connected between the top end and bottom end of vertical separator 12 to initiate a vortex separation mechanism of the fluid entering the vertical separator . free gas in the vertical separator 12 flows into a gas line 24 at the upper portion of the vertical separator . backpressure on vertical separator 12 may be maintained by actuated control valve 26 , which may be actuated by pneumatic , electrical , or hydraulic means known in the art . controlling the actuation of the actuated control valve 26 may be implemented by processing means , such as a programmable controller , computer , or work station . the gas phase may be measured by gas flow meter 102 and subsequently commingled with liquids discharged from the water chamber 18 and the oil chamber 20 into the outlet piping 28 of the apparatus 10 . gas flow meter 102 may be an orifice meter , turbine meter , vortex shedding meter , ultrasonic meter or other comparable device , depending upon the specific service requirements . a differential pressure transmitter 105 may provide a signal to the processing means . the liquid phase of the vertical separator 12 , comprising an oil phase and a water phase , is discharged from the lower portion of the separator into liquid line 14 . as discussed above , the term “ oil phase ” is defined to include oil containing a small percentage of water or an oil / water emulsion . liquid line 14 comprises a plurality of piping segments , which include , in respective serial placement , a generally horizontal section 16 , the water chamber 18 and the oil chamber 20 . liquid line 14 further comprises a vent line 25 which allows the flow of gas from the liquid line to the gas line 24 . depending upon the fluid properties , flow rate and the diameter of generally horizontal section 16 , gravity separation of the oil phase and water phase will take place to some degree within the generally horizontal section 16 , such that upon reaching water chamber 18 , there will some degree of phase separation between the oil phase and water phase . because the oil phase will typically have a lower density than the water phase , the oil phase will normally rise to the upper portion of the horizontal section 16 and the water phase will flow to the lower portion of the horizontal section . however , it is to be appreciated that some crude oils have densities higher than that of water , in which case the relative elevational positions of the oil phase and water phase as described herein would be reversed . a level indicating device , such as level gauge 107 may be utilized to provide the fluid level within horizontal section 16 . water chamber 18 discharges the water phase through an actuated control valve 30 . the water phase may be measured by a liquid flow meter 104 . acceptable liquid flow meters include coriolis , turbine meter , or positive displacement meters . the water phase is routed to the outlet piping 28 of the apparatus 10 , where the water phase is commingled with the gas phase from vertical separator 12 and discharged from the apparatus . as shown in fig3 , a weir plate 32 is installed in the liquid line 14 between the water chamber 18 and the oil chamber 20 . an interface detection device 106 has a probe installed in the piping above or adjacent to water chamber 18 , upstream of weir plate 32 . the interface detection device 106 typically uses relative capacitance measurements or guided wave radar to detect the level of the interface between the heavier liquid component , typically the water phase , and the lighter liquid component , typically the oil phase . the interface detection device 106 includes a transmitter which transmits a signal to processing means , such as a programmable controller . the oil chamber 20 collects the oil phase which flows over weir plate 32 . oil chamber 18 discharges the oil phase through an actuated control valve 34 . the oil phase may be measured by liquid flow meter 104 . because the oil phase will likely include a small percentage of water , the apparatus may comprise means for ascertaining the amount of water in the oil phase , such as a water cut meter 108 . suitable water cut meters may be of the capacitance - type , such as those manufactured by hydril , drexelbrook , halliburton , msip , robertshaw , etc . alternatively , microwave - type water cut meters may be utilized , such as those manufactured by phase dynamics , agar , roxar , etc . other types of water cut meter 108 may also be employed , such as those which are based upon radio frequency energy absorption and density differential principles . as shown in fig3 , oil chamber 20 comprises a low fluid level detection device 110 and a high fluid level detection device 112 which are disposed in a vertically stacked arrangement the low level detection device 110 and high fluid level detection device 112 , typically configured as switches , transmit a signal which causes the actuation of actuated control valve 30 ( referred to herein as the “ first actuated control valve ”) and actuated control valve 34 ( the “ second actuated control valve ”). the first actuated control valve 30 is normally open . when the level of the oil phase reaches the high fluid level detection device 112 , the first actuated control valve 30 on the water chamber closes and the second actuated control valve 34 opens . when the level of the oil phase reaches the low level detection device , the second actuated control valve 34 closes and the first actuated control valve 30 opens . the first actuated control valve 30 and the second actuated control valve 34 may be operated by processing means based upon input provided by , among other possible devices , the interface detection device 106 , the low level detection device 110 and the high fluid level detection device 112 . the interaction of these devices may be utilized to maintain the oil phase / water phase interface at some distance below the top of the weir plate 32 , but above the bottom of the generally horizontal section 16 , allowing the oil phase to spill over the weir plate and accumulate in the oil chamber 20 . as shown in the figures , the apparatus may include a variety of additional piping , fittings and valves , as well as having additional instrumentation and controls . as shown in fig1 and fig2 , the apparatus may be assembled as a self - contained skid unit to facilitate transportation and installation of the invention . as indicated in the figures , the skid may be configured with various structural steel members , including longitudinal beams 40 , vertical beams 42 , and transverse beams 44 to provide sufficient strength for the skid to be placed by crane lifting , which is facilitated by eye plates 46 . as also shown in the figures , the beam members provide convenient anchors for the various piping components . the self - contained skid may also include all controls and displays required by the unit , including a display panel 48 and programmable controller 50 . the flanged fittings are provided within the self - contained skid to facilitate connecting the unit between an oil well and the existing production facilities . while the above is a description of various embodiments of the present invention , further modifications may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . for example , the size , shape , and / or material of the various components may be changed as desired . thus the scope of the invention should not be limited by the specific structures disclosed . instead the true scope of the invention should be determined by the following claims .	1
this disclosure presents a novel control method that enables hi - pf qr flyback converters with peak current mode control to ideally draw a sinusoidal current from the input source , thus performing like boost converters operated in the same way . one idea of the present disclosure stems from observing the waveforms shown on the right - hand side of fig2 and comparing them to those of a boost converter ( shown in fig6 along with the topology ). in the boost converter , the input current is the average of the inductor current , which flows both during the on - time and the off - time of the power switch . as a result , being a series of contiguous triangles , the average value of the inductor current is half the peak . also , given that the envelope of the peaks is sinusoidal , the input current will be sinusoidal . in contrast , in the prior art flyback converter of fig1 , the input current is the average of the primary current , which flows only during the on - time of the power switch and is a series of triangles separated by voids corresponding to the off - time of the power switch , as shown in fig2 . this “ chopping ” causes the average value of the primary current to be lower than half the peak value and depending on the mark - space ratio of the triangles . as a result , the input current is no longer proportional to the envelope of the peaks and , unlike the envelope that is sinusoidal , the input current will not be sinusoidal . the term i pkp ( θ ), which represents the peak envelope of the primary current , is sinusoidal so the distortion is originated by the term t on / t ( θ ), introduced by the primary current being chopped , which is not constant ( t on is constant but t ( θ ) is not ). the inventors discovered that if the current reference vcs ref ( θ ) that determines i pkp ( θ ) is distorted with a term t ( θ )/ t on , this will cancel out the term t on / t ( θ ) introduced by averaging and result in a sinusoidal average primary current , i . e . in a sinusoidal input current . then , the control objective can be expressed in the following terms : wherein t on is denoted as a function of the instantaneous line phase θ . in fact , with a method different from that of the prior art it is not necessarily constant . fig7 shows a hi - pf flyback converter 100 a according to one embodiment of the present disclosure . the converter 100 a of fig7 has on the primary side a bridge rectifier 104 having inputs 106 , configured to receive an ac voltage from an ac power line , a first output connected to ground , and a second output at which the rectifier is configured to produce a rectified voltage v in ( θ ). the converter 100 a also includes a capacitor c in , which serves as a high - frequency smoothing filter , connected across the output terminals of the bridge rectifier 104 , with a negative terminal connected to ground . a primary winding l p of a transformer 108 has one end connected to the positive terminal of the capacitor c in and includes an auxiliary winding l aux . the other end of the primary winding l p is connected to the drain of a power switch m . the power switch m has a source terminal connected to ground via a sensing resistor rs , the resistor r s allowing reading of the current flowing through m ( i . e . the current flowing through l p when m is on ) as a positive voltage drop across the resistor rs itself . a controller 102 a controls the power switch m . as in the converter 30 of fig1 , the converter 100 a includes the resistive voltage divider r a / r b connected in parallel with the capacitor c in , and the clamp circuit 39 . on the secondary side of the converter 100 a , a secondary winding l s of the transformer 108 has one end connected to a secondary ground and the other end connected to the anode of a diode d having the cathode connected to the positive plate of a capacitor c out that has its negative plate connected to the secondary ground . an output voltage v out supplies power to a load ( not shown ). the quantity to be regulated ( either the output voltage v out or the output current i out ) is compared to a reference value and an error signal i fb is generated . this signal is transferred to the primary side by an isolated feedback block 134 , typically implemented by an optocoupler ( or other means able to cross the isolation barrier complying with the safety requirements of iec60950 ). on the primary side , this error signal i fb is sunk from a dedicated pin fb in the controller 102 a , producing a control voltage v c on said pin fb . the open - loop bandwidth of the overall control loop is determined by a frequency compensation network located inside the isolated feedback block 134 . the controller 102 a has a shaper circuit 120 a , a pwm comparator 122 , an sr flip flop 124 , an or gate 126 , a starter block 128 , a zcd block 130 , and a driver 132 . the shaper circuit 120 a is configured to produce a reference voltage v csref based on a voltage v c and a portion of the instantaneous rectified line voltage v in ( θ ) received from the midpoint of the resistive divider r a / r b via the pin mult . the pwm comparator 122 is configured to receive as inputs the reference voltage v csref and the voltage v cs sensed at the resistor r s . the sr flip flop 124 has reset and set inputs r , s that respectively receive the output of the pwm comparator 122 and the output of the or gate 126 . the driver 132 receives as an input the output of the sr flip flop 124 , and configured to drive the power switch m via an output signal provided to a terminal gd coupled to the gate of the power switch m . the zcd block 130 is configured to release a pulse when a detected falling edge of a signal , received from the auxiliary winding l aux and resistor r zcd via the terminal zcd , goes below a threshold value . the starter block 128 is configured to release a pulse on start - up or when the zcd block 130 receives no input signal . the or gate 126 has inputs that respectively receive the outputs of the starter block 128 and zcd block 130 and provides a set signal to the set input s of the flip - flop 124 when either of the outputs from the starter block 128 and zcd block 130 is positive . a multiplier 140 is coupled to the shaper circuit 120 a . the shaper circuit 120 a has a current generator 142 , a resistor r t , and a switch 143 that switchably couples the resistor r t to ground . the multiplier 140 has a first input that receives the voltage v c , a second input that receives the portion of the line voltage v in ( θ ) from the terminal mult , and an output at which the multiplier produces a multiplied voltage that is the product of the two voltages received at the inputs . the current generator 142 is controlled by the output of the multiplier 140 and is configured to output a current i ch ( θ ) that acts on the switched resistor r t and an external capacitor c t having one terminal connected to ground . the resistor r t is connected in parallel to the capacitor c t when a signal q provided to the control terminal of the switch 143 is high . the signal q is provided by the output of the sr flip - flop 124 and is high during the on - time of the power switch m . the switch 143 disconnects the resistor r t from ground when the signal q is low , i . e . during the off - time of the power switch m . the voltage developed across c t is the reference voltage vcs ref ( θ ) and is fed to the inverting input of the pwm comparator 122 . in one embodiment of the present disclosure c t is integrated in a semiconductor chip with the controller 102 a , thus saving one pin of the controller 102 a and one external component . the current i ch ( θ ) provided by the current generator 142 can be expressed as : i ch ( θ )= g m k m k p ( v pk sin θ ) v c where g m is the voltage - to - current gain of the current generator 142 , k m is the gain of the multiplier , k p is the divider ratio of the resistive divider r a / r b , and v pk sin ( θ ) is the peak value of the line voltage v in ( θ ). note that the control voltage v c is nearly constant along a line half - cycle , thus the charging current i ch ( θ ) has a sinusoidal shape . an assumption for the following analysis is that t ( θ )& lt ;& lt ; r t c t & lt ;& lt ; 1 / f l . in this way , the switching frequency ripple across the capacitor c t is negligible and the current i ch ( θ ) can be considered constant within each switching cycle . the reference voltage vcs ref ( θ ) developed across the capacitor c t by charge balance is therefore : the control circuit in fig7 therefore meets the control objective ( 2 ) and achieves a sinusoidal input current in the hi - pf qr flyback converter 100 a , resulting in high power factor and low total harmonic distortion . fig8 shows the waveforms of the converter 100 a of fig7 . on the left - hand side are the waveforms on a switching period time scale , on the right - hand side the waveforms on a line cycle time scale . fig9 shows another embodiment of a qr flyback converter 100 b according to the present disclosure . the converter 100 b is identical to the converter 100 a of fig7 except that the converter 100 b includes a controller 102 b instead of the controller 102 a . the controller 102 b includes a shaper circuit 120 b that has the same components as the shaper circuit 120 a of fig7 , but the multiplier 140 is connected differently to the components in the two shaper circuits 120 a , 120 b . in particular , the output of the multiplier 140 is connected to the inverting input of the pwm comparator 122 of the shaper circuit 120 b , while the input of the multiplier 140 that is connected to the resistor divider ra - rb by the terminal mult in fig7 is connected to one terminal of the external capacitor c t in fig9 . unlike the shaper circuit 120 a of fig7 , the current generator 142 of the shaper circuit 120 b of fig9 is directly controlled by the portion of the line voltage v in ( θ ) received from the resistor divider ra - rb via the pin mult in the controller 102 b . as a result , the current i ch ( θ ) produced by the current generator 142 is proportional to the sensed input voltage : i ch ( θ )= g m k p ( v pk sin θ ). as in the controller 102 a , the capacitor c t is charged by the current generator 142 and discharged by the switched resistor r t in the controller 102 b . also in this controller 102 b the connection of the input voltage v c is unchanged from the control voltage v c of the controller 102 a . similar to the controller 102 a , the resistor r t is connected in parallel to the capacitor c t by the switch 143 only when the signal q is high , i . e . during the on - time of the power switch m . at this point it is clear that a third possible embodiment would have the current generator 142 , resistor r t , switch 143 , and capacitor c t connected to the multiplier 140 input where the control voltage v c is applied , with the current i ch ( θ ) of current generator 142 proportional to the control voltage v c . this will be taken for granted and will not be further considered . fig1 illustrates the waveforms of the circuit of fig9 . on the left - hand side are the waveforms on a switching period time scale , on the right - hand side the waveforms on a line cycle time scale . fig1 shows another embodiment of a flyback converter 100 c , using an existing pfc controller 102 c , such as the l6561 available from stmicroelectronics . in this embodiment , a shaper circuit 120 c is implemented with a small - signal mosfet ma , its gate resistor rg , the capacitor c t and the resistor rb . a small - signal bjt is also considered for the switch , in place of the small - signal mosfet . the mosfet ma is driven by the gate driver gd of the power switch m , thus connecting the lower resistor rb of the divider ra - rb to ground during the on - time of the power switch m . since the input voltage is much larger than the voltage on pin mult for most of the line cycle , resistor ra performs as the current generator , producing current i ch ( θ ) as : it is a common practice to have a bypass capacitor connected between pins mult and gnd to reduce noise pick - up in a sensitive point such as the multiplier input . the very same capacitor can serve as the capacitor c t in fig1 . the value of the capacitor c t will preferably be such that t ( θ )& lt ;& lt ; rb c t & lt ;& lt ; 1 / f l is fulfilled under all operating conditions . fig1 and 13 show computer simulated timing diagrams for the circuit of fig7 . these diagrams show a very low distortion level of the input current ( around 1 % at v in = 90 vac , around 3 . 5 % at v in = 264 vac ), due to the input emi filter and the nonidealities considered both in the controller 102 a and the power elements transformer 108 , bridge rectifier 104 , and power transistor m . fig1 shows an oscilloscope picture with some waveforms taken with the flyback converter 30 of fig1 . note the shape of the input current ( green trace ), which is a bit more rounded than , a sinusoid @ 110 vac , while it is more heavily distorted at 230 vac . fig1 shows the same waveforms as in fig1 on the same controller 38 of fig1 with the addition of the external components switch ma and gate resistor r g of fig1 . the shape of the input current ( the green trace ) is almost perfectly sinusoidal both at 110 vac and 230 vac . these results are confirmed by the measurements summarized in fig1 , which shows a comparison of the values of thd of the input current and the pf in the original and the modified board . the improvement offered by the novel method over the prior art one is dramatic , with a thd less than 4 % over the entire input voltage range . the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments . these and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above - detailed description . in general , in the following claims , the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims , but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled . accordingly , the claims are not limited by the disclosure .	7
in the figure , reference numeral 11 designates a substrate which may be silicon or silicon dioxide . in general , the term substrate refers to any material having 30 a surface upon which subsequent materials , layers , or structures may be formed . reference numeral 11 may also represent a field oxide , a thinox region , or alternating field oxide and thinox regions ( although not explicitly illustrated as such ). reference numerals 13 , 15 , and 17 designate topographical features upon substrate 11 . reference numerals 13 , 15 , and 17 may , for example , be mos transistor gates or runners . reference numeral 19 designates a dielectric which surrounds and covers features 13 , 15 , and 17 . reference numerals 21 and 23 designate topographical features such as conductive runners which may , typically , be made from aluminum , an aluminum alloy , or polysilicon or another conductive material . reference numerals 25 , 27 , and 29 , taken together , designate a triple - layer dielectric which serves to encapsulate runners 21 and 23 . reference numeral 25 is , illustratively , a silicon - dioxide - type dielectric having between 2 % and 6 % phosphorous by weight . illustratively , dielectric 25 may be made from teos , or silane precursors . trimethylphosphite ( tmp ) or phosphine ( ph 3 ) may be used as phosphorous dopant sources in the formation of dielectric 25 . dielectric 25 may also be a low temperature oxide . typically , the thickness of dielectric 25 is 4000 - 7000 å . dielectric 27 is a spin - on glass material , either a polysiloxane , polysilicate , or a silsesquioxane or ozone teos . dielectric 27 may be applied by conventional techniques and then etched back to form a relatively planar upper surface 28 . upper surface 28 is frequently approximately level or even with the upper surface 26 of layer 25 . an etchback step is necessary not only for planarization purposes , but also to remove the spin - on glass from the vicinity of dielectric surfaces such as 26 through which vias may be later opened . ( if vias are opened through spin - on glass , moisture may subsequently enter the via and degrade the spin - on glass .) during the plasma etchback , sodium contamination of the upper surfaces 28 of dielectric 27 and upper surface 26 of dielectric 25 frequently occurs . in conventional processing , sodium contamination from plasma etching is frequently removed from the upper oxide surfaces by performing a short wet cleaning procedure in solutions such as 8 : 1 ethylene glycol : buffered hydrofluoric acid , or 100 : 1 water and hydrofluoric acid . however , typical wet cleaning procedures ( which may be quite suitable for silane or teos - based dielectrics ) tend to rapidly attack spin - on glass and thus tend to destroy the already - achieved planarization . consequently , after spin - on glass 27 is applied and etched back , the wet clean process mentioned above is preferably not performed . instead , dielectric layer 29 is immediately formed on top of spin - on glass 27 . dielectric 29 may be similar to dielectric 25 . that is , dielectric 25 contains between 2 % and 6 % phosphorous by weight and may be made from teos , silane , or may be a low temperature oxide . illustratively , dielectrics 29 and 25 may be formed in an applied materials precision 5000 cvd system . a process chemistry utilizing teos , oxygen , and tmp as a phosphorous source may be employed . wafer temperature is maintained at 390 ° c ., well below the critical temperature of 410 - 420 ° c . for aluminum metalization . the plasma cvd reactor is operated at 2 . 0 to 9 . 0 torr , with 200 - 1000 watts of rf power at 13 . 56 mhz . applicants have found that doping either the top or the bottom layer ( i . e ., layer 29 or 25 ) alone is not effective in preventing alkaline ion motion under the influence of electric fields . both layers 29 and 25 are preferably doped . the phosphorous in layers 29 and 25 , it is hypothesized , ties up or getters the mobile alkaline ions , thus preventing degradation of the ultimately formed integrated circuits .	7
the present invention relates to an imaging device associated with an optical navigation device . the optical navigation device is a mouse of small - scale which is intended to be operated via either standard imaging where light is reflected from a finger or frustrated total internal reflection ( f - tir ) to recognize the movement of a finger on an imaging surface . this type of mouse is herein referred to as a fingermouse . fig2 illustrates an example of a conventional fingermouse 100 as is known in the prior art . the fingermouse includes a base 102 ; an imaging element shown generally at 104 ; an led 106 and a sensor 108 . the top surface 110 of the imaging element 104 is a frustrated total internal reflection ( f - tir ) surface . in addition , the imaging element includes a collimating lens 112 between the led and the imaging element and an imaging lens 114 between the imaging element and the sensor . the imaging element further includes two total internal reflection mirror elements 116 which direct illumination from the collimating lens to the frustrated total internal reflection surface and then from the frustrated total internal reflection surface to the imaging lens . the lower surface 118 of the imaging element is substantially flat . this is just one example of a optical mouse and many variations may be implemented without diversifying from the basic principles of operation thereof . in use , a user may move a pointer over the upper surface 110 , also referred to as the mousing surface . the pointer may be simply the user &# 39 ; s finger which passes over the surface . the finger includes fingerprint ridges which can be detected to identify the movement being made . in high ambient light conditions the movement is hard to measure hence the need for the sensor arrangement of the present invention , which addresses the problems of monitoring movement of a finger on a mousing surface in high ambient light conditions and increases the dnr . the distance between the mousing surface and the first led or sensor in the present embodiment is in the region of 2 . 5 mm , for example . this distance is the thickness of the imaging device and can vary between 1 mm and 3 mm . ideally the thickness is not generally greater than 5 mm . the imaging device can be formed from a single piece molding . the molding includes each of the individual optical elements shown in the diagrams . the imaging device could alternatively be made in other appropriate ways with different optical elements which produce the same optical effect . the imaging device may also be made from a number of different elements , rather than a single molding . the technique for forming the imaging device may include techniques other than molding , such as replication , stamping , embossing or machining . the illumination sources are , for example , leds which may be of any appropriate type and may generate a source in the “ optical ” or non - optical ranges . accordingly , reference to optics and optical are intended to cover wavelengths which are not in the human visible range . the optics which takes the illumination from the source to the imaging surface may be of any appropriate type . the sensor will now be described in greater detail . the sensor may be a cmos sensor having an array of pixels for measuring reflected light at different locations to produce an image . the array is generally formed from a number of pixels forming a grid like array with pixels extending in rows and columns . referring to fig3 an example of a pixel circuit is shown . the circuit includes a photodiode 300 which detects the illumination incident on the sensor , a reset transistor a comparator 302 and a latch or sram cell 304 . after pixel reset , the voltage vpd is higher than the ramp voltage dacout and so the output from comparator 302 is low . when light falls on the photodiode , electron - hole pairs are generated , causing the voltage on the cathode of the photodiode to decay . the voltage dacout is generated by a digital to analog converter ( dac ) where the digital data is incremented sequentially . the digital data is usually connected to both the dac and the input of the latch ( 304 ). to increase the immunity of the system to skew on the bitlines of the data bus , the dac digital data is grey - encoded before connection to the input of latch ( 304 ). typically , after illumination the voltage dacout is ramped by increasing the digital code and when the voltage from the dac and the voltage vpd on the photodiode are equal , the output from the comparator changes from low to high and so the digital data grey [ 0 . . . 7 ] is stored in the latch ( 304 ). hence the data stored in the latch ( 304 ) is a digital conversion of the voltage vpd . to deal with the problem of saturated pixels and increasing dnr , the present invention proposes a method of analyzing the pixel outputs based on the timing diagram of fig4 . one important part is to reset every pixel twice during each frame and to read out and preferably convert to a digital value every pixel twice during each frame . this is achieved by incorporating of an extra reset phase to the pixel . this is referred to as “ reset2 ” in fig4 . the width of reset2 is varied depending on the amount of sunlight on the sensor . the minimum width of reset2 , is the same as the period ( b ) i . e . the readout of data from the blackcal phase . by increasing the time for the reset2 period , the time for integration ( e ) is reduced , which in turn will reduce the sensitivity of the system to light . the function of the sensor will now be described in greater detail with reference to the time in the diagram for each pixel . initially there is a reset and readout phase during which the pixel is reset by the signal ( rst ) on the gate of the reset transistor . at the same time data from the previous frame integration phase is readout ( imd [ 0 - 7 ]). the next phase is a blackcal phase where the led is off and the voltage on the pixel ( vpd ) is measured . a voltage is produced via ambient light falling on the pixel . the slope of descent of the blackcal phase can be seen to be descending such that the vpd would cross the dacout level before the end of an integrate phase were the integrate phase to be the same as that shown in fig1 . the crossover point ( x ) indicates where the pixel would become saturated . this is due to the high level of ambient light for a fingermouse which is generally operating with the mousing surface pointing upwards towards the ambient light . as a result of this expected impending saturation of the pixel ( in what would have previously been the integration phase as shown in fig1 ) the present embodiment provides a second reset phase reset2 during which time ( b ) the data from the blackcal phase is readout ( imd [ 0 - 7 ]). the next phase is an integration phase where the led is switched on and the photodiode voltage decay based on ambient light reflection and reflection of any pointer in contact with the mousing surface is determined . the comparison between the blackcal measure and the integration measure will thus give an indication of the illumination reflected from an appropriate pointer . the integration phase is an automatic exposure during a time ( e ) where the value of ( e ) can be varied dependent on the light conditions . the manner in which ( e ) is adjusted is set out below . during period ( e ) the decay on the photodiode is measured to determine the image of a finger or pointer and the movement thereof . then a convert phase is carried out which ends in a return to the first reset and readout phase for the next frame . the value of the integrate period is adjustable from one frame to the next based on the ambient light levels . the value of the decay slope during the integration phase is measured by looking at the value for the previous frame . if the slope is too steep the integration time ( e ) is reduced for a following frame . if the slope is too shallow the integration period may be extended . there are other manners in which the period ( e ) can be varied and the above example of measuring slopes is just one . alternatively , the width of the reset can be adjusted if rst goes low and ledon goes high at the end of reset2 ( 400 ). in very bright ambient light , the integration time ( e ) may be very short . as a result changes to the reset2 period are desirable . the slope of the photodiode ( vpd ) in fig4 is greater than that of the same slope in fig1 . this is due to the higher light levels on the sensor producing a greater photocurrent and hence greater rate of voltage decay ( iphoto = cphotodiode × dvpd / dt ). this decay in vpd in fig4 continues beyond the “ integrate ” period and into the “ conversion ” phase . this is due to the fact that sunlight is approximately constant over the 1 ms frame and there is no way of either shutting off the sunlight ( e . g . via a mechanical shutter on the pixel ) nor for using a sample - hold circuit , as this may be prohibitively expensive or generate extra noise . a way to mitigate this is to measure the pixels with the highest light levels first as these would be the first to saturate . this is achieved by ramping the voltage ( dacout ) in an opposite sense to that of the voltage decay ( vpd ) produced by the photo - current . preferably , the frame rate in fig1 of the system is not changed with this technique . the length of the various periods in the fig1 and fig4 examples are equal . in other words : ( a )=( b )+( c ) { fig1 }=( b )+( d )+( e ) { fig4 }. keeping the frame rate constant in this way is particularly advantageous for an optical mouse as constant object motion is easier to track than varying motion . if the frame rate changes , this can appear to the navigation engine to be the same as varying motion . it is possible to run the system entirely in the timing mode as shown in fig4 , however it is desirable to operate in two modes : a “ sunlight mode ” and a “ normal mode ”. the maximum integration time in “ sunlight mode ” is less than that in “ normal mode ” and can be set accordingly . there are various ways of determining when to switch between “ sunlight ” and “ normal ” modes . one is that if the image intensity ( i . e . either maximum pixel or mean pixel ) is greater than a first predetermined threshold while in “ normal mode ”, then the system will switch to “ sunlight mode ”. if the image intensity ( i . e . either maximum pixel or mean pixel ) is less than a second predetermined threshold while in “ sunlight mode ” then the system will switch to “ normal mode ”. ideally the two thresholds are not the same value and are set to provide hysteresis in the system , so that a small change in scene illumination or noise does not cause the system to switch between the two modes . the system selects which mode based on the levels measured in the previous integration phase as above described with reference to fig4 . an alternative method to determine when to switch between the “ sunlight ” and “ normal ” modes is to use the value from the automatic exposure control ( aec ) system of the system . if the system is in “ normal mode ” and the aec system tries to reduce exposure below a certain threshold , then it will switch to “ sunlight mode ” and conversely , if the system is in “ sunlight mode ” and the period ( d ) is reduced to 0 , then the system will switch back into “ normal mode ”. an example of how the system can switch from “ normal mode ” to “ sunlight mode ” and vice versa , will now be described . if the time for which ledon is on is less than a first predetermined threshold then the system will switch from “ normal mode ” and “ sunlight mode ”. the first predetermined threshold is determined based on the exposure value . under normal fingermouse operation , the exposure value is typically 128 - 255 ( 6 mhz ). hence a count of say 32 counts would indicate that the pixel is near saturation with very little light from the led . if the length of period e is greater than the second predetermined threshold , then the system will switch from “ sunlight mode ” to “ normal mode ”. this second predetermined threshold is harder to determine as the level of sunlight is more variable to the level of led light . accordingly this value may be selected based on the first predetermined threshold and the need for hysteresis . a value of 128 counts should ensure a reasonable level of hysteresis . the count values presented above are examples and it will be appreciated that other values could be determined based on the system , light conditions and various other factors . it should be noted that the slope of the vpd line after the led goes off is reduced as the measured output relates only to ambient light , not led light and ambient light as is the case when the led is on . the imaging device is intended for use in an optical navigation device ; however it will be appreciated that the imaging device could be used in any appropriate device , for example fingerprint reader or lab - on - chip / bio - optical sensor systems ( which detect chemi - fluorescence for medical and / or bio - testing applications ). the optical navigation device may be used in any suitable devices such as a mobile or smart telephone , other personal or communications devices , a computer , a remote controller , access modules for doors and the like , a camera or any other suitable device . there are many variations of the present invention which will be appreciated by the person skilled in the art and which are included within the scope of the present invention .	6
fig2 and 3 are schematic side views of a strike plate 200 associated with an exit section 100 , having multiple strike steps including strike steps 256 and 266 . upper strike step 256 comprises a strike face 258 and lower strike step 266 comprises strike face 268 . in an exemplary embodiment , a leading edge 170 of a sheet 150 having a higher trajectory contacts upper strike facing 258 and / or a leading edge of a sheet having a lower trajectory contacts lower strike facing 268 following exit from the printer or other device . as leading edge 170 contacts strike facing 258 or 268 , the downward movement of edge 170 that is guided by the strike plate ( as in fig1 a ) causing downward curling in the sheet is limited . the downward curl of edge 150 is limited by the small vertical extent of strike facings 258 and 268 , limiting the surface against which edge 170 can travel . additionally , strike face 268 ( for example ) comprises an upper edge surface 254 . in an exemplary embodiment , surface 254 between adjacent strike steps 256 and 266 , connects a lower edge 270 of upper strike facing 258 with an upper edge 282 of lower strike facing 268 . outward - pointing normal vector 286 is associated with strike step 256 , for example . as leading edge 170 contacts strike facing 268 , any tendency to upward movement of edge 170 ( as in fig1 b ) is limited since edge 170 contacts surface 254 as the sheet begins to curl upward , thereby preventing further upward curl . outward - pointing normal vector 284 is associated with surface 254 , for example . thus , each of surfaces 254 , 264 , etc . act to reduce upward curl for the strike facing below and to reduce downward curl for the strike facing above . the present inventors have found that for very light substrate materials , which lack stiffness , have a stronger tendency to curl upward , such that , even with an upper surface for the strike step , fold - over or other undesirable results can result . the inventors have further found that when the angle of the strike face forms an acute angle , “ α ” with the vertical as shown in fig4 , this tendency is counteracted . an angle of 10 degrees has been found to work well with most substrate materials , although this angle may not be optimum and may depend on the substrates used . however , in some embodiments of the invention , it may be desirable to vary the angle , optionally depending on the substrate material used . this can be accomplished most simply by rotating the body of the strike plate and thus the angle of the strike face . angles of between − 5 and 15 degrees may be suitable for some situations , with 0 - 15 or 5 - 15 being of more general utility . while no particular means is shown , suitable mechanisms for rotating the strike plate by a desired amount can be used . as used herein , a positive angle with the vertical is one formed by a clockwise rotation of a vertical surface about a horizontal line , for the view direction of the figs . more generally , the rotation is such that a normal to strike face is downward rotated . in the embodiment shown , the strike “ plate ” is actually an edge of a cylinder . since only a small portion of the cylinder is functional , a smaller portion of the cylinder may be used . it is convenient to use a cylinder , since this shape is easy to manufacture , however , functionally , it is not necessary . furthermore , while a cylinder having a diameter of 20 - 30 mm has been found to be suitable , other diameters can be used . in a particular embodiment , a diameter of 24 mm operated satisfactorily . in some embodiments of the invention , a planar surface is provided , rather than a curved surface as indicated . for ease of manufacture , the upper and lower edges may radial surfaces , such that they are perpendicular to the strike faces . however , the angle of the upper and lower edge surfaces is not critical . a non - radial surface is shown , for example , in the figs . in an embodiment of the invention , tray 102 is capable of movement upward and downward , such that as the tray fills , the receiving surface remain the same . in an embodiment of the invention an alignment stop 280 ( which may be only 10 mm wide ) is provided beneath strike plate 200 . stop 280 mates with a cut - out portion of tray 102 and is optionally fixed in height with respect to strike plate 200 . as tray 102 rises and is lowered , the alignment stop slides within the cut - out portion . optionally , stop 280 is rotatable in the direction of the arrow , as indicated , so that the sheets may be easily removed from the direction of its leading edge . strike plate 260 can be made of any suitable materials such as aluminum or an other metal . preferably , the aluminum is hard anodized and optionally teflon impregnated . in an exemplary embodiment , strike step 256 has a vertical extent of five millimeters . however , it may have a vertical extent of more than or less than five millimeters , for example based upon the thickness of sheets 250 used in printer 100 . in an exemplary embodiment , surface 254 has a horizontal extent of 3 - 5 mm . this allows it to fall down without problems . however , it may have a horizontal extent of more than 5 mm , or less than 3 mm , for example based upon the flexibility of sheets 250 used in printer 100 , the distance between the strike point and the tope of the pile of sheets and sheet velocity . further , the vertical extents of edge surfaces 254 and 264 may exhibit a 1 : 1 ratio with the horizontal extents of strike facings 258 and 268 . alternatively or additionally , the ratio may be higher or lower depending on the speed and / or print media used in the printer . in an exemplary embodiment of the invention , the exit section of the invention is part of a printer of other paper feeding / stacking device . a very schematic flow diagram of such a combination is shown in fig5 . fig6 is a schematic top view of an exit section of a printer comprising a strike plate having multiple strike steps . in an exemplary embodiment of the invention , the strike plate is the surface of a cylindrical portion of an object , and the cylindrical object is rotated about the axis of the cylindrical portion with respect to the vertical . this rotation is shown as element 296 in fig6 . in an exemplary embodiment of the invention , rotator 294 of fig6 is operative to rotate the strike face so as to allow for a different angle with respect to the vertical , depending on the characteristics of the sheet used . this rotation of the strike plate is also shown in fig2 as element 292 . although this description and the claims refer to paper , the invention may also be used with any other printing media , and the claims cover the apparatus and the method when any printing media is used . additionally , this invention may be used with any printing device , whether a copy machine , printer or facsimile , that produces printed sheets seriatim . the present invention has been described using non - limiting detailed descriptions of embodiments thereof that are provided by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention . it should be understood that features and / or steps described with respect to one embodiment may be used with other embodiments and that not all embodiments of the invention have all of the features and / or steps shown in a particular figure or described with respect to one of the embodiments . variations of embodiments described will occur to persons of the art . furthermore , the terms “ comprise ,” “ include ,” “ have ” and their conjugates , shall mean , when used in the disclosure and / or claims , “ including but not necessarily limited to .” it is noted that some of the above described embodiments may describe the best mode contemplated by the inventors and therefore may include structure , acts or details of structures and acts that may not be essential to the invention and which are described as examples . for example , details of the tray and internal alignment mechanisms for the sheets after they fall into the tray , may not be present or may be replaced by other mechanisms . structure and acts described herein are replaceable by equivalents , which perform the same function , even if the structure or acts are different , as known in the art . therefore , only the elements and limitations as used in the claims limit the scope of the invention .	1
traditionally , hot metal forming processes involved heating the workpiece to some elevated temperature , holding it at that temperature for a short time , and then deforming it at that temperature to form a useful shape . this idea is shown schematically ( labeled as prior art ) in fig1 where the workpiece is not subjected to deformation before it has been uniformly heated to its predetermined deformation temperature . in the subject invention , deformation of the sheet metal workpiece is started before the predetermined deformation temperature is reached . deformation is continued for some time as the workpiece is heated to its predetermined hot forming temperature . and the final deformation of the workpiece may continue for some time after the maximum or nominal forming temperature is reached , as shown schematically in fig1 . in preferred embodiments of the invention , deformation of the workpiece is started at a predetermined temperature before static recrystallization of the workpiece alloy microstructure has commenced . a strategy of the process is to use initial deformation to induce dynamic recrystallization of the workpiece while it is being heated . the heating and deformation are managed to achieve faster and more pronounced shaping in the formed product . this invention has been demonstrated to be beneficial for hot blow forming of sheets of az31b magnesium alloy which is a commercially available and commonly used magnesium alloy sheet . az31b material is available in either o temper or h24 temper . the o temper sheet material has a fully annealed microstructure characterized by equiaxed , polygonal grains , free of twins , and having a typical grain size of 5 - 20 micrometers . the h24 temper sheet has warm worked , partially annealed microstructure characterized by non - equiaxed grains , many twins , and a grain size less than 20 micrometers . the invention will also be beneficial for other hot forming processes , other starting shapes , other alloys , and other tempers . one example of the use and benefits of this invention is illustrated by the ( unconstrained ) hot blow forming of az31b - o sheet into hemispherical domes . in this work , a blank at room temperature is placed in a die which is maintained at a forming temperature such as 450 ° c . one face of the sheet is placed to overlie a circular 100 mm diameter opening in a die plate and the sheet is heated by the hot die . when the sheet reaches a suitable temperature , gas pressure is applied to the other side of the sheet to expand the sheet through the hole into an unconstrained dome shape . the gas pressure may be increased in stages or applied at a predetermined pressure level . in a first example with an az31b - o workpiece the gas pressure was applied and deformation commenced only after the sheet reached 450 ° c . the forming of the dome was slow requiring 24 minutes at an air pressure of 75 psi . the height of the dome was relatively short ( 49 mm ) when splitting occurred , and the dome surface was very rough . this first dome is illustrated in the photograph of fig2 a . if , instead , gas pressure is applied and deformation is commenced when the blank temperature is approximately 300 ° c ., the dome forms faster ( 19 minutes ), is taller ( 59 mm ), and is smoother . this higher and smoother dome is shown in the photograph of fig2 b . these differences in dome forming are due to the different microstructures , especially the grain sizes , which develop during heating and as the blank are being formed . in the case of the fig2 a dome , static recrystallization occurred near the sheet surfaces before sheet deformation began . this resulted in very large surface grains which ( a ) limited the maximum achievable dome height ( by splitting ), ( b ) slowed deformation , and ( c ) caused surface roughening . in the case of the fig2 b dome , recrystallization occurred during deformation , resulting in finer grains . the microstructures of sections of the fig2 a dome and fig2 b dome are shown in the photomicrographs of fig3 a and 3b , respectively . fig3 a illustrates the rougher surface and larger grains of the sheet heated to 450 ° c . before gas pressure was applied to form the dome of fig2 a . fig2 b illustrates the microstructure of the az31b - o sheet that experienced dynamic recrystallization when gas pressure was applied when the blank temperature was 250 - 300 ° c . an embodiment of the invention was then practiced in a manufacturing plant using production tooling for hot blow forming of aa5083 alloy sheet materials which display high formability at temperatures of 970 ° f . ( about 500 ° c .). the hot blow forming practice is described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 253 , 588 , titled quick plastic forming of aluminum alloy sheet metal , and assigned to the assignee of this invention . the disclosure of the &# 39 ; 588 patent is incorporated herein by reference for the purpose of a more complete disclosure of such hot blow forming as practiced with aluminum alloy sheet stock . in quick plastic forming ( qpf ) the sheet metal is heated to a hot forming temperature and stretched under the pressure of a working gas into conformance with the surface of a forming tool . in the following experiments az31b - h24 sheet blanks were heated and working gas pressure was applied as specified in following paragraphs . az31b - h24 sheet blanks were formed into decklid inner panels of complex shape as illustrated in fig4 . the formed and trimmed decklid inner panel 10 is curved to cover top and rear walls of a vehicle trunk . the peripheral edge of an inner panel 10 is shaped to be attached to an overlying , similarly shaped edge of an outer panel . the inner panel 10 is shaped with depressions and openings to hold wiring and the like , and to provide access between it and an outer panel to which it is attached . az31b - h24 sheet blanks were heated in a separate preheat furnace prior to placing them in the qpf production die , which was heated to approximately 970 ° f . a first group of az31b - h24 sheet blanks were heated individually to 970 ° f . in the pre - heater and hot blow formed one at a time in the production qpf tooling . with each blank of this group , the working gas ( air ) pressure on the fully heated blank was increased over a period of 450 seconds as illustrated in the equal length dashes linear curve of fig5 . as seen in the equi - dashed curve of fig5 , the air pressure in each case was increased linearly over about 200 seconds to about 50 psi . then , the air pressure was increased linearly to about 450 psi over the next 250 seconds . this hot forming practice produced good ( un - split ) panels using the 450 - second pressurization schedule on fully heated blanks . a second group of az31b - h24 sheet blanks fully preheated to 970 ° f . was subjected to a faster air pressurization cycle of 250 - second duration . again , the air pressure was first increased slowly over 200 seconds to about 50 psi . then , the air pressure was increased to 450 psi over the next 50 seconds ( short dash , long dash line in fig5 ) to complete formation of the magnesium decklid panels . this practice yielded unacceptable panels with splits in deformed regions of the workpieces . a third group of az31b - h24 sheet panels were formed in accordance with this invention . these magnesium alloy blanks were preheated to just 550 ° f . before they were placed in the hot qpf tools . as each blank was being further heated to 970 ° f . by the tools , air pressure was applied and increased to about 40 psi over 150 seconds ( solid line ). the air pressure was then rapidly increased to 450 psi over the next 50 seconds . good panels were formed in 200 seconds . therefore , use of this invention reduced the forming cycle time by at least 50 seconds and maybe up to 250 seconds . also , the lower pre - heater temperature results in direct energy savings , longer element life , and less waste heat in the plant . it will often be preferred to examine a type of batch of sheet metal material to estimate or predetermine a hot working temperature and a lower temperature at which deformation is to be commenced in accordance with this invention to induce dynamic recrystallization . this analysis may be applied to magnesium alloys such as az31b - o temper , az31b - h24 temper , other magnesium alloys , aluminum alloys or the like . usually it may be desired to determine the static recrystallization temperature of the material . this temperature may differ even with materials of the same composition and temper condition . for example , az31b - o temper sheet materials may have slightly different static recrystallization temperatures because of varying amounts of residual cold work stress resulting from handling or processing of the rolled sheet material . as related to the present invention , the static recrystallization temperature of metal sheet may be determined by heat treating several representative samples and then examining cross sections of those treated samples metallographically . it is normally preferred that the heat treating should be done at several selected temperatures , all below the nominal hot - forming temperature . it is preferred that the heating rate in testing be similar to that which will be used in the actual hot forming manufacturing process . typically , each sheet metal sample should be held at its selected heat treat temperature for approximately one minute , then removed from the furnace and allowed to cool . a cross - sectional metallographic sample of each should be prepared and examined in a microscope to observe the grains . samples heat treated at temperatures below the static recrystallization temperature will show a grain structure essentially identical to un - treated samples . samples heat treated at or above the static recrystallization temperature will show grains which are largely equiaxed , polygonal , and free of evidence of ‘ cold work ’, i . e ., dislocations and / or twins . in some materials , static recrystallization might not occur uniformly through the sheet thickness . i . e ., it may occur near the sheet surfaces , but not near the mid - plane of the sheet sample . in other words , such static recrystallization may not be occurring in a significant portion of the sheet material so as to be used in determination of the static recrystallization temperature . it is prudent for the observer to note this because such recrystallization may strongly affect both the formability and surface finish of hot - formed articles . for the purpose of determining static recrystallization temperature of az31b magnesium alloy sheet , heat treating temperatures of 200 , 225 , 250 , 275 , 300 , 325 , and 350 ° c . are recommended . such testing will typically reveal a temperature in the heating of like workpieces at which hot forming process deformation is to be commenced . of course , heating to the specified hot working temperature for the sheet material is continued as deformation to a desired shape is continued . practices of the invention have been illustrated by specific examples . but the scope of the invention is not limited by the specific examples .	1
we analyzed the molecular and chromatographic properties of phenyl bonded phases , attached to silica gel via one to twelve methelene groups by calculating the log p values thereof . the calculation of log p value is disclosed in r . f . rekker , “ the hydrophobic fragmental constant ”, elsevier , amsterdam , ( 1997 ) which is hereby incorporated herein by reference . the calculated log p values based on rekker &# 39 ; s fragmental constants for different functional groups are summarized in table 1 . the log p values of bonded phases indicate the retention capacity and the chemical stability . the log p values of chemically unstable phases , such as propyl - phenyl , propyl - amino , propyl - cyano , and butyl - groups are small , and these phases show lesser retention and lower stability . the larger log p values mean higher hydrophobicity , and lead to longer retention and higher stability of the bonded phase . the low retentivity and stability of the conventional phenyl phases are the result of short alkyl chains , e . g . methyl , ethyl , and propyl used in attaching the phenyl group on the surface of the silica gel . because of this low hydrophobicity , the unique selectivity of the phenyl phases cannot be fully realized . the reason for the instability of the short chain bonded phase can be understood from the effect of alkyl chain length on hydrogen bonding capacity of alkanols . up to four methylene units ( butyl groups ) the hydrogen bonding capability of hydroxy groups is affected by the alkyl chain length , but the longer alkyl chain does not further affect the hydrogen bonding capability . as such , the butyl bonded phase is not stable in high ph solutions , but the stability of pentyl bonded phases is equivalent to octyl and octadecyl bonded phases . the analysis of the properties of bonded phases of silica gels from their molecular masses and log p values , as seen in table 1 , indicate that alkyl - phenyl bonded phases having 4 to 10 methylene groups in their alkyl group should theoretically lead to better stability and selectivity than propyl - phenyl , ethyl - phenyl , or methyl - phenyl bonded phase . preferably , alkyl - phenyl bonded phase , having five to ten methylene groups in the alkyl group have high stability and selectivity . most preferably , hexyl - phenyl has the ideal stability and selectivity . we prepared the alkyl - phenyl bonded silica gels and tested its stability and separation power compared to the other alkyl bonded phases . according to the present invention , alkyl - phenyl bonded silica gels can be synthesized using a variety of silylating reagents . the synthesis was carried out by reacting a mono - , di - , or tri - functional alkyl - phenylsilane with the silanol groups of silica gels in a suitable media under high temperature as depicted in fig1 . the functional groups are good leaving group such as halogens , methoxy , ethoxy , etc , and the alkyl - phenylsilane having one to three leaving groups , hereinafter , is referred to as a “ reactive alkyl - phenylsilane ”. the important aspect of the present invention is that the alkyl - phenyl bonded phases of the present invention shows chemical stability over extended ph range of 1 . 5 to 10 . 00 and has unique selectivity for the separation of organic molecules compared to other alkyl bonded phases . the stability and selectivity of alkyl - phenyl bonded phase of the present invention are not limited by the use of various polymer - based chromatographic supports such as silica gel , polystyrene - divinylbenzene copolymer , polyhydroxymethacrylate , cellulose , etc . additionally , various alkyl - phenyl bonded phases can be mixed to provide a mixed phase while maintaining their own selectivities and retaining capacities . in sum , the alkyl - phenyl bonded phases of the present invention have many advantages when applied to perform hplc , in terms of its inertness ( low silanophyllic activity ), extended ph stability and unique selectivity . in a typical experiment , twenty grams of the silica gel were washed with 0 . 1 n hydrochloric acid ( hcl ) on a filter funnel followed by distilled and dionized water till the ph of wash was neutral ( nearly 7 . 0 ). the silica gel was then washed with acetone and dried in an oven at 80 ° c . under vacuum for 10 hours . a dry 500 ml capacity round bottom flask was set up in a fume hood , and 20 grams of hexyl - phenyl methyldichlorosilane as a silylating agent for obtaining hexyl - phenyl bonded phase and 200 ml of dry toluene were added to it . the two were mixed thoroughly and the twenty grams of dried silica gel were added to the reaction mixture while continuously stirring the mixture . the flask was then attached to a condenser with water circulating through it and heated to boiling using a heating mantle . after allowing the reaction to proceed for 18 hours , the flask was cooled and the silica gel which had hexyl - phenyl group on the surfaces was filtered . the hexyl - phenyl bonded silica gel was then washed with 100 ml dichloromethane , 100 ml methanol and 100 ml acetone and dried under vacuum at 80 ° c . a similar reaction and procedure were carried out to prepare propyl - phenyl bonded silica gel . after the bonding step , the unreacted silanol groups on the surface of the silica gel were blocked by an end - capping step as follows : the bonded silica gel was added to a mixture of 40 ml of trimethylchlorosilane and 200 ml of toluene in a round bottom flask and reacted for 18 hours . at the end of the reaction , the silica gel was subjected to the washing / drying procedures as described earlier in the bonding step . the end - capped hexyl - phenyl and propyl - phenyl bonded silica gels were packed into two individual 150 mm l × 4 . 6 mm i . d . columns for the chromatographic evaluation . similar reactions and procedures are carried out to prepare other alkyl - phenyl bonded silica gels which have 4 , 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 , or 10 methylene groups in their alkyl groups , to end - cap unreacted silanols on their surfaces , and to provide columns inside of which is packed with the alkyl - phenyl bonded silica gels . all the organic solvents used in the reaction were obtained from j . t . baker ( phillipsburg , n . j . usa ). the organosilane reagents were from silar laboratories ( wilmington , n . c . usa ). the silica gel used was obtained from phenomenex , inc . ( torrance , calif . usa ) and had the following specifications : 5 μm dp , with 100 å average pore diameter and 400 m 2 / g surface area . the inertness and the chemical stability of the synthesized hexyl - phenyl bonded silica gel were studied by looking at the retention factors and peak shapes of pyridine , benzoic acid , 8 - hydroxyquinoline , and naphthalene disclosed in t . hanai , encyclopedia of analytical science ( 1995 ), academic press , london , p . 2558 - 1567 which is hereby incorporated herein by reference . the retention factor , in terms of measured parameters , is “ k =( t r − t o )/ t o ”: where t r is retention time of the measured peak ; and to is retention time of non - retained component . the plots 20 and 25 in fig2 a and 2b show chemical stability of hexyl - phenyl bonded phase in acidic and basic solutions . the lines 21 and 26 indicate retention time ( t r ) for toluene , and the lines 22 and 27 represent retention factors ( k ) for toluene in acidic and basic solutions respectively . the lines 23 and 28 indicate peak asymmetry for toluene , and the lines 24 and 29 for pyridine . asymmetry is a factor describing the shapes of chromatographic peaks , and the factor is the ratio of the distance between the peak apex and the back side of the chromatographic curve and the front side of the curve at 10 % peak height . as shown in fig2 a and 2b , the retention time and retention factor for toluene was almost constant in continuous operation of more than 2 , 500 hours ( more than 60 , 000 column volumes ) both in 10 mm sodium phosphate buffer ( ph 10 ) and 0 . 1 % trifluoro acetic ( ph 1 . 5 ) solutions . in addition , the peak shapes of toluene and pyridine were almost symmetric . the surface was also inert for trace metal sensitive test using 8 - hydroxyquinoline , thereby showing a low level of metal contamination . the retention capacities of alkyl - phenyl bonded silica gels were compared from the retention factors for alkylbenzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ( pah ). the log k values of benzene , 16 pahs , and 10 alkylbenzenes for different bonded phases are listed in table 2 . the log k values of alkylbenzenes were measured by reversed - phase liquid chromatography in aqueous 80 % acetonitrile at 40 ° c . the log k values were used for the analysis of hydrophobicity of bonded phases using van der waals volumes of analytes as the standard . the relations between log k values and van der waals volumes of alkylbenzenes in different bonded phases are shown in fig3 . the relations indicate that the retention capacities related to hydrophobicity of hexyl - phenyl and propyl - phenyl bonded phases ( respectively c6ph and c3ph ) were less than that of the pentyl bonded phase ( c5 ). the relation between their slope and alkyl chain length was : alkyl chain length = 4 . 321 ×( slope ) − 22 . 729 , r 2 = 0 . 997 ( n = 3 ). the retention capacity of synthesized hexyl - phenyl bonded phase ( c6ph ) for alkylbenzenes in 70 % aqueous acetonitrile was equivalent to that of pentyl bonded phase ( c5 ) as shown in fig4 a ; however , that for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ( pah ) on c6ph was equivalent to that of octyl bonded phase ( c8 ) as shown in fig5 . as shown in fig4 b , pentyl bonded phase ( c5 ) is slightly more retentivity than hexyl - phenyl bonded phased ( c6ph ) in 80 % aqueous acetonitrile . advantageously , the difference in retentivity seen with different solvents can be used to effect better separation simply by changing solvents . when the retention time of alkylbenzenes was used as the standard , the ratios of the slopes for the plot of log k values and van der waals volumes indicated the difference of retention capacity of these bonded phases ( calculated from fig5 ). the retention capacity for alkylbenzenes was 1 . 27 ( 6 . 52 / 5 . 117 ) times greater than that for pah on c6ph phase . the retention capacity for alkylbenzenes was 1 . 73 ( 7 . 840 / 4 . 531 ) times greater than that for pah on c8 phase . this means that pahs were retained 1 . 36 ( 1 . 73 / 1 . 27 ) times on c6ph phase than on c8 phase . the selectivities of the alkyl - phenyl and alkyl bonded phases were examined for the separation of antibacterial drugs . the mixtures of carbodox , thiamphenicol , furazolidine , oxolinic acid , sulfadimethoxine , sulfaquinoxiline , nalidixic acid and piromidic acid were chromatographed using potassiumdihydrogen phosphate and acetonitrile mixtures . the total elution time was about 20 minutes in c3ph , c6ph , c8 , and c18 bonded phases as shown in fig6 . the perfect resolution between sulfadimethoxine and sulfaquinoxiline was achieved only on c6ph phase , and the separation of these two compounds was not possible on c8 and c18 phases . in conclusion , such selective retention capability of phenyl bonded phases can expand the separation power in reversed - phase liquid chromatography . an eluent for c8 - bonded phase can be easily applied to c6ph phase for the further separation . such two - dimensional chromatograms can speed up the analysis of complex mixtures . above results also indicate that hexadecyl - phenyl bonded phase will be a compatible phase to c12 bonded phase for improving separation power in reversed - phase liquid chromatography . the computer used for the molecular calculations were macintosh 8100 / 100 running the cache ™ program including projectleader ™ from sony - tektronix ( tokyo ). rlog p values were calculated by a method based on that proposed by rekker . the van der waals volumes were calculated by mopac - blog p program provided by sony - tektronix . the molecules were first optimized by molecular mechanics calculation , and optimized again by mopac , then their van der waals volumes and log p values were obtained with the blog p program disclosed in cache manual , sony - tektronix , ( 1995 ) which is hereby incorporated herein by reference . properties for the calculation were selected according to the manual from cache scientific . the liquid chromatograph was a model hp1090 from hewlett - packard ( palo alto , calif . usa ), and the chemically - bonded silica gel columns , — c18 , — c8 and — c5 , — c6ph , — c3ph , 15 cm × 4 . 6 mm i . d ., were from phenomenex inc . ( torrance , calif . usa ). chemicals used were from aldrich and chemservice . hplc grade acetonitrile and water were from fisher scientific ( tustin , calif . usa ).	1
referring now to fig1 of the drawing , a wire 10 of a predetermined length and diameter , round in cross - section , is shown being drawn through a die 11 . die 11 has a tapered opening 12 , shown in dotted lines , leading into a trapezoidally shaped chamber 13 ( see also fig2 ). thus , wire 10 is drawn in the direction of arrow 14 ( fig1 ) into opening 12 in die 11 , then through chamber 13 therein , as is well known in the wire drawing art . of course , instead of a single die , a plurality of successive dies of smaller and smaller thicknesses of chamber 13 may be used as also is well known in the cold wire drawing art . the drawn wire ( see wire portion 15 in fig1 ) has the trapezoidally shaped cross - section shown in fig3 . thus , wire portion 15 has a base 16 &# 39 ;, vertical spaced sides 16 , 17 and tapered portions 18 , 19 ( portion 18 interconnecting side 16 to top or apex 20 and portion 19 interconnecting side 17 at top or apex 20 ). top 20 is horizontal and parallel to base 16 &# 39 ;. wire portion 15 is of course of any suitable length . a rigid cylindrical mandril or form 21 is shown in fig4 . if it is desired to form male - type bushing segments or rings , such as segments 39 , 40 in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 193 , 956 , the wire portion 15 is cut into segments of a predetermined length along its length and these segments are bent about cylindrical form 21 as shown in fig5 with base 16 &# 39 ; abutting against form 21 . as seen in fig5 a spacing 22 is formed between sides 16 , 17 of wire portion 15 . the final formed male - type wire portion , now portion 23 , is shown in cross - section in fig6 ( form 21 having been removed ). as seen in fig6 the apices 20 are toward the outside of male - type wire portion 15 . these male - type bushing rings or segments 24 ( fig7 ) can be used in conjunction with the assembly shown in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 193 , 956 , or for any other suitable use calling for such bushing segments or rings . if it is desired to form female - type bushing segments or rings , such as segments 42 , 43 , and 44 as shown in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 193 , 956 , a cut segment of wire portion 15 is bent about cylindrical form 21 as shown in fig8 with apex 20 abutting against form 21 . as seen in fig8 a spacing 25 is formed between sides 16 , 17 of wire portion 15 . the final formed female - type wire portion , now portion 26 , is shown in cross - section in fig9 ( form 21 having been removed ). as seen in fig9 the apices 20 are toward the inside of the female - type wire portion 15 and base 16 &# 39 ; to the outside . these female - type bushing rings or segments 27 ( fig1 ) can be used in conjunction with the assembly shown in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 193 , 956 , or for any other suitable use calling for such bushing segments or rings . any suitable materials or dimensions may be used . for example , wire 10 may be stainless steel about 0 . 218 inches in diameter . referring to fig3 wire portion 15 may be about 0 . 3107 inches long , about 0 . 058 inches high ( sides 16 , 17 being about 0 . 010 inches high , and top or apex 20 being about 0 . 047 inches long ). the angle of taper of sides 17 , 18 may be about 20 °. referring to fig5 the formed bushing portion 15 may be about 0 . 492 to 0 . 495 inches in diameter and spacing 22 may be about 0 . 01 to 0 . 02 inches ( varying outwardly from form 21 ). as seen in fig7 bushing portion 23 may be about 0 . 3087 to 0 . 3127 inches wide and have an inner diameter of about 0 . 378 inches . the final segment 24 in fig7 may be about 1 . 535 inches long . as seen in fig8 the formed wire portion 15 may be about 0 . 492 to 0 . 496 inches in diameter and spacing 25 varying from 0 . 01 inches to 0 . 02 inches outwardly from form 21 . the formed female - type wire portion 26 in fig9 may be about 0 . 3087 to 0 . 3127 inches wide with an inner diameter of about 0 . 378 inches . the final female - type bushing segment 27 in fig1 may be about 1 . 535 inches long . although the formed wire 15 ( fig3 ) has been disclosed as of generally trapezoidally - shaped in cross - section , sides 18 , 19 may taper to base 16 &# 39 ; forming end walls 16 , 17 that are relatively small in height ( or even tapering to a point ). thus , the cross - section shown in fig3 may be generally a truncated triangle . this is shown in fig1 wherein like numerals refer to like parts of the embodiment of fig3 . here , instead of sides or end walls 16 , 17 , the formed wire 15 &# 39 ; has sides 18 , 19 which extend to base 16 &# 39 ; forming points 16 &# 34 ;, 17 &# 39 ;. the formation of bushing segments 24 , 27 in this manner reduces the cost of manufacture since the bushing segments can be inexpensively manufactured to predetermined tolerances . waste of material is reduced since there is no loss of inner material in forming the segments . the process of manufacturing the bushing segments disclosed herein is faster and allows standardization of parts . that is , the need for maintaining a large inventory of predetermined lengths of male - type and female - type bushing segments is eliminated . although a specific embodiment of the invention has been disclosed , variations thereof may occur to an artisan and the scope of the invention should be determined only by the scope of the appended claims .	1
in the following figures , the same or similar types of elements or respectively corresponding parts are provided with the same reference numbers in order to prevent the item from needing to be reintroduced . a negative blade angle adjustment rate is defined as a rate for a blade angle adjustment in the direction from the feathering position towards 0 ° or the operating position of the rotor blade . the same applies accordingly for the blade angle adjustment rate limits . if the negative blade angle adjustment rate limit is − 3 . 5 °/ s , that means that the rotor blade may be moved in the direction of 0 ° with a maximum adjustment rate of 3 . 5 °/ s , i . e . from the direction of the feathering position in the direction of the normal operating position . fig1 shows , schematically , important parts of the wind power plant 11 as a block diagram . a rotor 9 with rotor blades 10 of the wind power plant 11 is shown , wherein the rotor 9 turns with a rotational speed n . the rotor 9 has a shaft 12 , which is mounted in two bearings 14 and 16 . the shaft 12 is the input shaft of a gearbox 18 not described in greater detail , which transmits the rotational speed of the shaft to a higher rotational speed , for example by the factor 100 . an output shaft of the gearbox 18 is coupled with a shaft 24 of a generator 26 , particularly of an alternator 26 , via a coupling 22 . between the wind rotor 9 and the first bearing 14 , a locking disk 28 is arranged in a torque - proof manner on the shaft 12 , which works together with a locking element 30 . if the locking element 30 is inserted , for example , into an opening or recess in the locking disk 28 , the rotation of the shaft 12 is thereby prevented . a transmitter disk 32 is arranged in a torque - proof manner on the shaft section 20 near the coupling 22 . it works together with a sensor arrangement 34 , the signals of which are transmitted to a computer 36 . as regulator , the computer 36 sends a torque control signal to a converter 38 for the alternating current created by the generator 26 . the converter 38 creates alternating current with corresponding pre - settable parameters for the purpose of the feeding to a network . the rotor 9 contains a blade angle adjustment device 39 for the blades 10 of the rotor 9 . at least one control signal i is sent to the blade angle adjustment device 39 by the computer 36 . in case of a rotor with two or more blades , one control signal can be created for each blade . the regulator or the controller is located , for example , on or in computer 36 . the actual value of the rotational speed , which is determined via the sensor arrangement 34 , is calculated in the computer 36 from the signals of the sensor arrangement 34 and can , for example , be compared with a nominal value for the rotational speed in order to determine at least one control signal i for the blade angle adjustment device 39 . according to the invention , the actual value of the rotational speed n or respectively the rotor rotational speed n can also serve as input for a control or regulation device 42 according to the invention , by means of which the method according to the invention can be performed . a blade angle adjustment rate limit g or g ′ as determined in the control or regulation device 42 is then fed to the blade angle adjustment device 39 . for this , both a blade angle adjustment rate limit determination device 43 as well as an adjustment module 44 , which will be described in greater detail with reference to the following figures , are provided in fig1 in the control or regulation device 42 . alternatively , a measured rotor rotational speed n can also be fed to the control or regulation device 42 alone or in addition via the sensor arrangement 34 ′, which is arranged on or in the hub 41 of the rotor 9 . the devices 42 , 43 and / or 44 are preferably integrated in the blade adjustment device 39 . fig2 shows a schematic block diagram of a method according to the invention . a signal , which is provided for rotational speed calculation , is generated by the sensor arrangement 34 ′, which is arranged , for example , on the hub 41 of the rotor 9 in fig1 . a pulse sensor is for example provided , which registers for example the pulses generated by 36 screws per revolution . the rotational speed is averaged from this , for example via the constant k , which can be set and represents a number ( for example 6 ) of measurement values . the rotational speed calculation hereby results from an average value over k time intervals between the pulse ei - 1 and pulse ei . this is carried out in the block 50 labeled rotational speed calculation . the output from the rotational speed calculation na represents an averaged rotational speed , which is provided as the input for the block rotational speed filter 51 . in the rotational speed filter 51 , the rotational speed is filtered , for example via a pt1 element , for example with the parameter t 1 of 3 . 0 s . t 1 can preferably lie in the range between 1 s and 5 s . the previously described rotational speed determination 50 or rotational speed calculation 50 , respectively , can be part of an overspeed shutdown of the hub and queried in a 1 ms cycle . the output of the rotational speed filter 51 represents the rotor rotational speed n , which serves as the input for the limit characteristic line 52 . in the limit characteristic line 52 , which is described in greater detail within the framework of fig3 through 5 , a blade angle adjustment rate limit a is calculated for negative blade angle adjustment rate limits and for positive blade angle adjustment rate limits depending on the rotational speed n , depending on whether the blade angle adjustment rate is negative or positive . both limits can in general also be calculated or determined . in the block limit characteristic line 52 or respectively of the corresponding device , some parameters can be entered or respectively pre - set or respectively are stored accordingly . it hereby concerns an upper blade angle adjustment rate limit g 1 for negative blade angle adjustment rates , a lower blade angle adjustment rate limit g 2 for negative blade angle adjustment rates , an upper blade angle adjustment rate limit g 3 for positive blade angle adjustment rates as well as a lower blade angle adjustment rate limit g 4 for positive blade angle adjustment rates . moreover , the following parameters can be pre - set or respectively stored in the limit characteristic line , namely lower rotational speed thresholds n 1 , n 3 and upper rotational speed thresholds n 2 , n 4 , wherein n 1 and n 2 apply for negative blade angle adjustment rates and n 3 , n 4 for positive blade angle adjustment rates . after applying the limit characteristic line 52 , a blade angle adjustment rate limit g ′ is provided , which represents a limit for a minimal pitch rate or respectively blade angle adjustment rate in °/ s . it is monitored or respectively ensured by the blade angle adjustment rate limit adjustment limit 53 that the blade angle adjustment rate limit is not changed too quickly . this is accomplished by querying the permissible limit adjustment df in the case of a falling ramp as well as the permissible adjustment ds in the case of an increasing ramp . it is hereby important , in particular for the secure operation of the wind power plant , that in the case of a falling ramp the blade angle adjustment rate limit may only be adjusted very slowly , since it can just be excluded in any case that a rapid rotational speed increase or respectively a quick rotational speed increase , which was caused by a faulty operating control , leads to a safety - critical , namely very low , limit for the blade adjustment rate . a change in the direction of an increasing ramp must , however , be implemented relatively quickly in order to ensure system safety . two vastly differing parameters in terms of absolute values are hereby entered or respectively pre - set , namely ds , which represents a parameter for an increasing ramp and is for example + 1 . 000 °/ s 2 . this parameter can preferably lie in a range between 0 . 1 and 2 . 000 °/ s 2 . the further value df is a parameter for a falling ramp and lies for example at 0 . 015 °/ s 2 and lies in particular preferably between − 0 . 005 °/ s 2 and 0 . 05 °/ s 2 . the following query is performed in the blade angle adjustment rate limit adjustment limit 53 : for g ′− g & lt ; df , g new = g + df , otherwise for g ′− g & gt ; ds : g new = g + ds , otherwise g new = g , i . e . g ′ was already in the permissible range and is applied . the determined value g new is output as new value g and is then applied in the block limitation of the blade angle adjustment rate 54 . the blade angle adjustment rate limit g is related with a control signal i ′, i ′ given by the blade position regulation or control device 55 so that a limit of the control signals i , i ′ is provided through application of the blade angle adjustment rate limit g of the blade angle adjustment rate device 39 as output of the block limitation of the blade angle adjustment rate 54 . the control signal i ′, i ′ itself results through the conventional and existing control or regulation in that a nominal value s is given by the operating control 56 and is compared with an actual value of the blade angle determined by the blade angle determination device 57 and the result of the blade position regulation or control device 55 is provided . this then determines the control signal i ′ and i ′ in order to adjust the blade angle actual value to the setpoint value s , which is passed to the block limitation of the blade angle adjustment rate 54 . the rotational speed calculation 50 , the rotational speed filter 51 , the limit characteristic line 52 and the blade angle adjustment rate limit adjustment limit 53 can be an integral part of a control or regulation device 42 . an interface with or respectively an integration into the existing regulation then takes place at the interface between the blade angle adjustment rate limit adjustment limit 53 and the limitation of the blade angle adjustment rate 54 . the filter in 51 , for example designed as pt1 element , serves to filter the rotational speed n . signal disruptions and a part of the dynamic rotational speed behavior are hereby filtered out . the filter time must not be too large so that the characteristic line component or respectively the application of the limit characteristic line 52 can adjust the method sufficiently quickly to a blade angle adjustment rate limit g according to the rotational speed . in order to avoid errors , it can be provided that approximately equal rotational speed values must be determined over several , e . g . three , measurement cycles before it is forwarded to block 52 . the blade angle adjustment rate limit adjustment limit 53 or respectively the corresponding ramp component permits the quick reduction in the absolute value of the blade angle adjustment rate limit , that is for example from − 3 . 5 °/ s towards − 1 . 0 °/ s . the return path for increasing the absolute value of the blade angle adjustment rate limit , that is for example from − 1 . 5 °/ s to − 3 . 5 °/ s , is delayed with a small pitch such that the negative blade angle adjustment rate remains throttled long enough in the case of a so - called “ pitch run away scenario ” at low rotational speeds of the drive train . this sort of disturbance of the “ pitch run away ” can take , for example 20 s , which is not problematic in the case of the provided ramp with the specified parameters . in addition to the blade angle adjustment rate limitation with g ′ or respectively , a limitation with a permanently pre - settable maximal and / or minimal blade angle adjustment rate of for example + 6 . 5 °/ s and − 6 . 5 °/ s also takes place in block 54 . the thus - limited control signal i , i is then provided to the blade adjustment device 39 . in a particularly compact embodiment of the invention , the components 50 through 54 are integrated in the blade position regulation or control device 55 . in an even more compact and thus advantageous embodiment , the blade position regulation or control device 55 is also integrated into the blade angle adjustment device 39 . for example , the method can be implemented as an algorithm in the software of the converter for controlling the blade adjustment drives or respectively parts of the method , wherein the corresponding software also performs the capturing and processing of the measurement values of the rotational speed sensor 34 ′. the characteristic line component or respectively the limit characteristic line 52 is represented in greater detail in fig3 through 5 . first regarding fig3 , in which a characteristic line of the blade adjustment rate limit is represented in ′°/ s depending on the rotational speed n in revolutions / min . an upper blade angle adjustment rate limit g 1 and a lower blade angle adjustment rate limit g 2 are represented . a limit above the upper blade angle adjustment rate limit g 1 and below the lower blade angle adjustment rate limit g 2 are not provided since they cannot occur in a functioning operating state . corresponding blade angle adjustment rate limit plateaus in the amount of g 1 actually exist below a lower limit speed n 1 and accordingly a plateau in the amount of g 2 above an upper limit speed n 2 . the positive blade angle adjustment rate can be designed without a limit and vice versa in the case of a specified negative blade angle adjustment rate limit . the upper rotational speed threshold n 2 preferably lies in a range between 5 % through 10 % below the nominal rotational speed nn . the shown characteristic line for the blade angle adjustment rate limit g or respectively g ′ defines the negative blade angle adjustment rate limits , which are feasible according to the invention , depending on the current rotational speed n . thus , errors from the operating control with a high blade angle adjustment rate towards 0 ° are prevented such that the wind power plant can be controlled by a reduced negative blade angle adjustment rate via an existing rotational speed monitor , for example one that generates a corresponding overspeed signal on the fast shaft at 1 , 950 rpm ( at a nominal rotational speed of 1 , 800 rpm ). the label g , g ′ for the blade angle adjustment rate limit determined from the measured rotational speed indicates that for one , as explained for fig2 , g ′ can be specified , wherein the module blade angle adjustment rate limit adjustment limit 53 can still be used on g ′ to form g . alternatively , g can be obtained directly from the characteristic line and can be used directly as the limit when module 53 is omitted . however , the use of module 53 is very advantageous in order to prevent the “ pitch run away ” load scenario . the blade angle adjustment rate is adjusted accordingly to the rotational speed increase , which is determined by the moment of inertia and the power supplied to the grid . in the case of measured rotational speeds above or below the supporting points n 1 and n 2 , the corresponding associated limits g 1 and g 1 are output . the linear relation in between n 1 and n 2 represents a simple case . fig4 shows a quadratic functionality in between n 1 and n 2 ( solid line ) and also a function , which has a third order polynomial , for example with a 3rd power . accordingly , a taylor expansion series can also be provided , which is terminated after the second or third term or a characteristic line in the form of any frequency polygon or another mathematical function , which is stored e . g . in the form of a value table in a memory . the optimal progression of such a characteristic line is preferably determined through dynamic simulation calculations , which are known in the state of the art . in contrast , fig5 shows three different characteristic lines at positive blade angle adjustment rates . four rotational speed thresholds are shown , namely one lower rotational speed threshold n 3 and two upper rotational speed thresholds n 4 and n 5 , n 3 and n 4 lie below the nominal rotational speed of the wind power plant , whereas n 5 lies above the nominal rotational speed of the wind power plant . furthermore , a lower blade angle adjustment rate limit g 4 is specified and an upper blade angle adjustment rate limit g 3 . there can be a linear relation in a characteristic line in between n 3 and n 4 , which is shown as a solid line . accordingly , the dash - dotted line represents a quadratic relation or respectively a curve , which has at least a quadratic portion and , if applicable , also a linear portion . the dash - dotted line serves as a limit characteristic line for example when a rotational - speed - reduced operation is provided at high wind speeds in order to minimize noise . the dashed line provides that the upper blade angle adjustment rate limit is only reached at a rotational speed n 5 above the nominal rotational speed nn . a smoother regulation is hereby enabled , which can for example be used in high pressure weather conditions . however , it can also be provided to provide an even higher value than the upper blade angle adjustment rate limit g 3 , subsequent to the upper limit speed n 4 , before the nominal rotational speed nn is reached in order to enable a faster regulation . since , according to the invention , a very tight coupling is provided between the rotational speed and the blade angle adjustment rate limit , a secure operating control of the wind power plant is possible . a determination of the rotational speed in the % range is hereby sufficient so that errors in the calculation of the rotational speed does not negatively impact the security of the operating control . when the nominal rotational speed is reached , the provision of the blade angle adjustment rate limits is preferably not restrictive for the conventional operating control . the method according to the invention is also not disruptive in partial load mode , since there the blade angle adjustment regulator or respectively the blade angle adjustment controller is set to 0 ° and thus no change needs to be made . the method according to the invention preferably only comes into action in the case of process - dependent deliberate reductions that impact the rotational speed . in modern wind power plants , this only occurs for example at an approx . 40 % power reduction , since the nominal rotational speed is first abandoned at this point . it is also preferred to provide a redundant design of the method according to the invention in that it is implemented in addition to the implementation in the control or regulation device 42 also in the converter for controlling the blade adjustment drives , that is within the blade angle adjustment device 39 . this results in a particularly secure operation of the wind power plant . furthermore , it can be advantageous to implement the method according to the invention additionally in the operating control 56 in order to prevent error messages when the blade feathering through the blade angle adjustment rate limit takes place slower than provided by the operating control system . thus , operating control system 56 and blade angle adjustment device 39 would advantageously work together synchronously and can monitor each other , which enables an even more secure operation of the system . the method according to the invention preferably takes place in a 12 ms or if applicable in a 6 ms cycle in order to reduce the blade angle adjustment rate limit . other cycles , e . g . between 20 ms and 1 ms , can also be used . it can also be provided that over three task cycles , that is over three times for example 12 ms , an approximately equal blade angle adjustment rate limit must be determined before it is forwarded to the blade angle adjustment device 39 in order to avoid errors . should correspondingly large deviations occur , for example in particular in the case of deviations from average values , a warning can be output to a monitoring center . g , g ′ blade angle adjustment rate limit g 1 upper blade angle adjustment rate limit for negative blade angle adjustment rates g 2 lower blade angle adjustment rate limit for negative blade angle adjustment rates g 3 upper blade angle adjustment rate limit for positive blade angle adjustment rate g 4 lower blade angle adjustment rate limit for positive blade angle adjustment rate k constant na averaged rotational speed ds parameter — rising of the ramp df parameter — falling of the ramp	5
in another aspect , this invention relates to processes for the preparation of the compounds of formula i . preferred procedures are shown in reaction schemes 1 and 2 . in reaction scheme 1 , the diphenylmethyl group is shown as the preferred carboxy - protecting group . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other carboxyl - protecting groups , well - known in the art , may be used . in the wittig reaction of compound iii with acetaldehyde , we have found that addition of an appropriate lithium halide such as lithium chloride , lithium bromide or lithium iodide improves the yield and proportion of z / e isomer of the reaction product iia . the reaction is preferably carried out with 5 to 15 chemical equivalents , preferably 10 equivalents , of lithium bromide . methylene chloride is the preferred reaction medium preferably containing a cosolvent such as dimethylformamide or isopropanol in minor proportions of from about 1 / 10 to 1 / 3 part by volume per part of methylene chloride . reaction temperatures in the range of - 10 ° c . to + 25 ° c . are appropriate with 0 ° to 25 ° c . being preferred . the wittig product iia is extracted into a suitable organic solvent such as ethyl acetate and the extract is treated with girard &# 39 ; s reagent t to afford the 7 - aminoceph - 3 - em compound of the present invention , ia . refer to procedure 3 hereof . subsequent treatment of ia with trifluoroacetic acid ( tfa ) yields 7β - amino - 3 -[( z )- 1 - propen - 1 - yl ]- 3 - cephem - 4 - carboxylic acid ( ib , procedure 7 ) in the ratio of z / e = 9 / 1 . acylation of ib with p - hydroxyphenylglycine by a conventional acid chloride method or an activated ester method yields the orally effective cephalosporin v of the parent application ser . no . 564 , 604 , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 520 , 022 . an alternative route , acylation of 7β - amino - 3 - propen - 1 - yl cephalosporin ester ia with the n - boc ( tert .- butoxycarbonyl ) blocked p - hydroxyphenylglycine in the presence of dcc ( dicyclohexylcarbodiimide ) and followed by deblocking with tfa ( trifluoroacetic acid ) also yields the cephalosporin v . ## str5 ## the following abbreviations which appear in the experimental procedures have the meaning indicated below : to a suspension of diphenylmethyl 7 - amino - 3 - chloromethyl - 3 - cephem - 4 - carboxylate hydrochloride ( 200 g , 0 . 44 mole ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 940 ml ) was added 1n naoh ( 440 ml ) at room temperature . the mixture was shaken for 10 minutes and the organic layer was separated . to this organic layer were added mgso 4 ( 75 g ) and benzaldehyde ( 51 g , 0 . 48 mole ) and the mixture was allowed to stand for 3 hours at room temperature . the reaction mixture was filtered and the insolubles were washed with ch 2 cl 2 ( 200 ml ). to the combined filtrate and washings was added triphenylphosphine ( 126 g , 0 . 48 mole ). the mixture was concentrated to about 400 ml under reduced pressure and allowed to stand for 4 days . the resulting viscous oil was diluted with ethyl acetate ( 1 l ) and triturated to separate the title compound , a pale yellow crystalline powder which was collected by filtration and dried in vacuo . yield 322 g ( 96 %). m . p . 185 °˜ 190 ° c . ( dec .). uv : λ max ch . sbsp . 2 cl . sbsp . 2 nm ( ε ) 260 ( 24100 ). a mixture of diphenylmethyl 7 - benzylideneamino - 3 - triphenylphosphoniomethyl - 3 - cephem - 4 - carboxylate chloride ( 322 g , 0 . 42 mole ) and 5n na 2 co 3 ( 252 ml ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 1 . 6 l ) was stirred vigorously for 15 minutes at room temperature . the organic layer was separated , dried over mgso 4 and concentrated to about 500 ml of volume . the concentrate was diluted with acetone ( 1 l ), with stirring , to give a light yellow crystalline powder which was collected by filtration to yield 237 g ( 78 %) of iii , melting at 195 °˜ 198 ° c . ( dec .). uv : λ max ch . sbsp . 2 cl . sbsp . 2 nm ( ε ) 254 ( 23000 ), 389 ( 22000 ). nmr : δ cdcl 3 ppm 2 . 56 & amp ; 3 . 16 ( 2h , abq ), 5 . 00 ( 1h , d , j = 4 hz ), 5 . 23 ( 1h , d , j = 4 hz ), 5 . 47 ( 1h , d , j = 22 hz ), 6 . 95 ( 1h , s ), 7 . 2 ˜ 7 . 8 ( 30h , m ), 8 . 55 ( 1h , s ). to a cold solution of libr ( 19 g , 216 m moles ) in a mixed solvent of dry dimethylformamide ( 100 ml ) and ch 2 cl 2 ( 300 ml ) were added acetaldehyde ( 20 ml , 360 m moles ) and diphenylmethyl 7 - benzylideneamino - 3 -[( triphenylphosphoranylidene ) methyl ]- 3 - cephem - 4 - carboxylate ( iii ) ( 15 g , 20 m moles ) at - 5 ° c . the mixture was allowed to stand for 20 hours at - 5 °˜- 10 ° c . and then 5 hours at room temperature . the resulting light brown solution was concentrated to ca . 100 ml of volume in vacuo and added to a two layer solvent of ethyl acetate ( 400 ml ) and h 2 o ( 400 ml ). the upper layer was separated and diluted with isopropyl ether ( 400 ml ). silica gel ( wako gel c - 100 , 40 g ) was added to the mixture . the mixture was shaken for 5 minutes and filtered through a pad of diatomaceous filter aid . insolubles were washed with a mixed solvent of ethyl acetate - isopropyl ether ( 1 / 1 , 200 ml ). the combined filtrate and washings were concentrated to ca . 400 ml of volume . a 0 . 5m girard reagent t solution in methanol ( 60 ml ) and acetic acid ( 6 ml ) was added to the above concentrate and the mixture was stirred for 15 minutes at room temperature . the mixture was evaporated to ca . 200 ml of volume , washed with h 2 o ( 200 ml ), sat . aq . nahco 3 ( 3 × 20 ml ) and brine ( 20 ml ) successively , dried over mgso 4 , treated with charcoal and concentrated to ca . 50 ml . to the concentrate was added n hcl in methanol ( 40 ml ) at room temperature and left standing for 15 minutes . the mixture was evaporated to ca . 30 ml and diluted by addition of ether ( 300 ml ). the precipitate was collected by filtration and dried over p 2 o 5 to give 7 . 9 g of light yellow powder . a solution of the powder ( 7 . 3 g ) in a mixed slvent of methanol ( 80 ml ) and ethyl acetate ( 80 ml ) was treated with charcoal , concentrated to ca . 100 ml , seeded with crystalline hydrochloride of the title compound , diluted slowly with ether ( 80 ml ) and stirred for 1 hour . the separated colorless crystals were collected by filtration and dried over p 2 o 5 in vacuo to give 6 . 3 g ( 71 %) of the title compound . this product is a mixture of the isomers z and e with reference to the propenyl moiety at the 3 position ( z / e = 9 / 1 by hplc ) ( lichrosorb rp - 18 , 80 % methanol - ph 7 . 2 phosphate buffer , 254 nm , 1 ml / min .). ur : λ max etoh nm ( e 1 cm 1 % ) 287 ( 173 ). nmr : δ dmso - d . sbsp . 6 ppm 1 . 47 ( 27 / 10h , d - d , j = 7 , 2 hz , ═ chch 3 , cis ), 1 . 74 ( 3 / 10h , d , j = 7 hz , ═ chch 3 , trans ) 3 . 47 & amp ; 3 . 8 ( each 1h , d , j = 16 hz ), 5 . 13 ( 1h , d , j = 4 . 5 hz , 6 -- h ), 5 . 23 ( 1h , d , j = 4 . 5 hz , 7 -- h ), 5 . 62 ( 1h , d - q , j = 10 & amp ; 7 hz , 3 -- ch ═ ch ), 6 . 24 ( 1h , d - d j = 10 & amp ; 2 hz , 3 -- ch ), 6 . 81 ( 1h , s , chph 2 ), 7 . 35 ( 10h , m , ph -- h ). to a stirred suspension of the hydrochloride of diphenylmethyl 7 - amino - 3 -(( z )- 1 - propen - 1 - yl )- 3 - cephem - 4 - carboxylate ( 5 g , 11 . 3 m moles ) in h 2 o ( 20 ml ) and ethyl acetate ( 40 ml ) was added nahco 3 until the ph of the mixture became 8 . the organic layer was washed with sat . aq . nacl ( 5 ml ), dried over mgso 4 and concentrated to ca . 20 ml of volume . the resulting solution was diluted with isopropyl ether ( 10 ml ) and seeded with crystalline ia . additional isopropyl ether ( 30 ml ) was added slowly to the mixture with stirring . after 15 minutes the separated colorless crystals were collected by filtration , washed with isopropyl ether ( 10 ml ) and dried over p 2 o 5 in vacuo to give 4 . 3 g ( 94 %) of the title compound ( z / e = 9 / 1 by hplc ) ( lichrosorb rp - 18 80 % methanol - ph 7 . 2 phosphate buffer , 254 nm , 1 ml / min .). uv : λ max etoh nm ( e 1 cm 1 % ) 289 ( 185 ). nmr : δ cdcl . sbsp . 3 ppm 1 . 43 ( 3h , d - d , j = 2 & amp ; 7 hz , ch ═ chch 3 ), 1 . 66 ( 2h , br , s , disappeared by d 2 o , nh 2 ), 3 . 23 & amp ; 3 . 55 ( each 1h , d , j = 17 hz , 2 -- h ), 4 . 73 ( 1h , d , j = 4 . 5 hz , 6 -- h ), 4 . 96 ( 1h , d , j = 4 . 5 hz , 7 -- h ), 5 . 46 ( 1h , d - q , j = 10 & amp ; 7 hz , 3 -- ch ═ ch ), 6 . 06 ( 1h , br , d , j = 10 hz , 3 -- ch ), 6 . 94 ( 1h , s , chph 2 ), 7 . 3 ( 10h , m , ph -- h ). a mixture of diphenylmethyl 7 - amino - 3 -(( z )- 1 - propen - 1 - yl )- 3 - cephem - 4 - carboxylate ( ia ) ( 4 . 2 g , 10 . 4 m moles ), ( d )- α -( t - butoxycarbonylamino )- α -( 4 - hydroxyphenyl ) acetic acid ( 3 . 3 g , 12 . 5 m moles ) and dcc ( 2 . 6 g , 12 . 5 m moles ) in ethyl acetate ( 104 ml ) was stirred for 1 . 5 hours at room temperature . the mixture was filtered and insolubles were washed with ethyl acetate ( 20 ml ). the filtrate and the washings were combined and washed with sat . aq . nahco 3 ( 3 × 5 ml ), brine ( 5 ml ), 10 % hcl ( 5 ml ) and brine successively , dried over mgso 4 , treated with charcoal and filtered . the filtrate was concentrated to ca . 10 ml and diluted with n - heptane ( 20 ml ). the precipitate was collected by filtration and dried over p 2 o 5 in vacuo . yield 7 . 8 g ( 90 % pure , quantitative in weight ) as colorless powder ( z / e = 9 / 1 based on hplc ) ( lichrosorb rp - 18 , 80 % methanol - ph 7 . 2 phosphate buffer , 254 nm , 1 ml / min .). ir : ν max kbr cm - 1 3400 , 1790 , 1720 , 1690 . uv : λ max etoh nm ( e 1 cm 1 % ) 278 ( 113 ), 289 ( 115 ), 295 ( 95 ). nmr : δ cdcl . sbsp . 3 ppm 1 . 3 - 1 . 45 ( 12h , m , boc -- h & amp ; ═ ch -- ch 3 ), 3 . 08 & amp ; 3 . 33 ( each 1h , d , j = 18 hz , 2 -- h ), 4 . 92 ( 1h , d , j = 4 . 5 hz , 6 -- h ), 5 . 06 ( 1h , d , j = 6 hz . s by d 2 o , chn ), 5 . 5 ( 1h , d - q , j = 10 & amp ; 7 hz , 3 -- ch ═ ch ), 5 . 68 ( 1h , d - d , j = 4 . 5 & amp ; 8 hz . d , j = 4 . 5 hz by d 2 o , 7 -- h ), 6 . 01 ( 1h , d , j = 10 hz , 3 -- ch ), 6 . 65 & amp ; 7 . 08 ## str6 ## 6 . 71 ( 1h , d , j = 8 hz , disappeared by d 2 o , 7 -- nh ), 6 . 88 ( 1h , s , chph 2 ), 7 . 3 ( 10h , m , ph -- h ). a mixture of diphenylmethyl 7 -[( d )- α -( t - butoxycarbonylamino )- α -( 4 - hydroxyphenyl ) acetamido ]- 3 -(( z )- 1 - propen - 1 - yl - 3 - cephem - 4 - carboxylate ( iv ) which was prepared in procedure 5 ( 90 % pure , 7 . 7 g , 10 . 6 m moles ), anisole ( 7 . 7 ml ) and trifluoroacetic acid ( 77 ml ) was stirred for 1 hour at room temperature . the mixture was concentrated in vacuo . toluene ( 50 ml ) was added to the concentrate and the mixture was evaporated in vacuo . ether ( 200 ml ) was added to the residual oil . the separated solid was collected by filtration , washed with ether ( 20 ml ) and dried over koh in vacuo to afford 5 . 3 g of trifluoroacetic acid ( tfa ) salt of bmy - 28100 . the salt ( 5 . 3 g ) was dissolved in h 2 o ( 100 ml ), treated with charcoal and placed on a column packed with diaion hp - 20 ( 0 . 6 l ). the column was washed with h 2 o ( 4 l ) and eluted with 40 % aqueous meoh . the methanolic fractions ( 1 . 7 l ) containing the desired product were collected and evaporated to ca . 20 ml of volume . the concentrate was diluted slowly with acetone ( 100 ml ). the separated colorless crystalline powder was collected by filtration , washed with acetone ( 20 ml ) and dried over p 2 o 5 in vacuo to give 4 g ( 97 %) of bmy - 28100 ( z / e = 9 / 1 , zwitterion ) ( lichrosorb rp - 18 , 20 % methanol - ph 7 . 2 phosphate buffer , 254 nm , 1 ml / min ). to a stirred solution of 260 ml anisole and 1 . 38 l of trifluoroacetic acid ( tfa ) cooled to 0 ° c . was added 149 . 7 g ( 0 . 338 mole ) of diphenylmethyl 7 - amino - 3 -[( z )- 1 - propen - 1 - yl ]- 3 - cephem - 4 - carboxylic acid hydrochloride ( procedure 3 or 11 ). the resulting slurry was then stirred at room temperature for 1 hour . most excess of tfa was removed in vacuo on the rotary evaporation . the residual supernatant solution was decanted and the residual slurry was triturated with 1 . 5 l of dry ether during 1 hour . the crystaline product was filtered and dried over p 2 o 5 to give 87 . 24 g ib trifluoroacetate . these 87 . 24 g of the trifluoroacetate were suspended and stirred into 900 ml of water ( ph ca . 2 . 5 ). the mixture was cooled to + 5 ° c . and then adjusted to ph 0 . 6 with 12n hcl . the yellow solution was charcoal treated and the slurry was filtered on a diatomaceous filter aid pad . the resulting solution was cooled to + 5 ° c . and the ph was adjusted to 2 . 0 with 20 % naoh . the suspension was kept 1 hour in a refrigerator to aid crystallization . the crystals were collected , washed with 800 ml of water , 800 ml of acetone and vacuum dried at room temperature . yield 69 . 4 g ( 85 . 5 %). contains 9 . 7 % of trans isomer ( determined by hplc column rp 18 merck ; h 2 ( nh 4 ) po 4 , 0 . 1 mole 95 ml + ch 3 cn 5 ml ; detected at 290 nm ). a solution of the phosphoranyl compound iii as produced by procedure 2 ( 50 . 0 g , 68 . 7 m mole ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 500 ml ) was mixed with a solution of lithium bromide ( 29 . 8 g , 343 m mole ) in dry dmf ( 170 ml ) containing a small amount of ch 2 cl 2 ( 10 ml ) and then with anhydrous acetaldehyde ( 39 ml , 687 m mole ; prepared from paraldehyde and toluenesulfonic acid by distillation , according to the procedure of n . l . drake and g . b . cooke , org . syn . col . vol . ii , p . 407 ). the mixture was placed in a sealed vessel and kept at 20 ° c . for 2 days . the reaction mixture being evaporated , the residual liquid was diluted with etoac ( 800 ml ), washed with water ( 3 × 300 ml ) and a saturated nacl solution ( 300 ml ), and evaporated to give the blocked 3 - propenyl derivative iia as foamy solid ( 34 g ), which was used for the next reaction without further purification . the crude iia obtained above was treated with 98 % formic acid ( 35 ml ) and concentrated hcl ( 17 ml , 206 m mole ) at room temperature for 1 hour . to the reaction mixture was added water ( 350 ml ) to separate an oily layer , which was washed out with etoac ( 3 × 100 ml ). the ph of the aqueous layer was adjusted to about 3 with 4n naoh ( ca . 65 ml ) under stirring to give crystalline solid , which was collected by filtration and washed with water ( 50 ml ) to afford the title compound ( ib , 9 . 7 g , 59 %). hplc [ lichrosorb rp - 18 , 4 × 300 mm , meoh : phosphate buffer ( ph 7 )= 15 : 85 ] showed that this product was an 83 : 17 mixture of z and e isomers about the double bond of the 3 - propenyl group . m . p . 200 ° c . ( dec .). ir : ν max ( kbr ) in cm - 1 3420 , 1805 , 1620 . uv : λ max ( ph 7 phosphate buffer ) in nm ( ε ) 283 ( 8900 ). pmr : δ ( d 2 o + nahco 3 ) in ppm 1 . 69 and 1 . 88 ( 3h , each d , j = 6 . 0 hz , z and e of -- ch ═ ch - ch 3 ), 3 . 38 and 3 . 72 ( 2h , abq , j = 17 hz , h -- 2 ), 5 . 18 ( 1h , d , j 6 , 7 = 5 . 0 hz , h -- 6 ), 5 . 51 ( 1h , d , h -- 7 ), ca . 5 . 8 ( 1h , m , -- ch ═ ch -- ch 3 ) and 6 . 06 ( 1h , d , j = 11 hz , -- ch ═ ch -- ch 3 ). anal . calcd . for c 10 h 12 n 2 o 3 s : c , 49 . 99 ; h , 5 . 03 ; n , 11 . 66 ; s , 13 . 34 %. dimethylaniline ( 1 . 7 ml , 13 . 1 m mole ), trimethylsilyl chloride ( 2 . 1 ml , 16 . 4 m mole ) and trimethylamine ( tea , 2 . 3 ml , 16 . 4 m mole ) were added successively to a suspension of ib produced by procedure 8 ( 1 . 58 g , 6 . 56 m mole ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 16 ml ) under ice - cooling . the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes . to the mixture was added portionwise under stirring d - p - hydroxyphenylglycyl chloride hydrochloride ( 1 . 46 g 6 . 56 m mole ) and the reaction was monitored by hplc [ lichrosorb rp - 18 , 4 × 300 mm , meoh : phosphate buffer ( ph 7 )= 25 : 75 ]. an additional amount of the glycyl chloride was added to the mixture 3 times at 15 minute intervals ( 291 mg each ) to complete the acylation . after the addition of dry meoh ( 2 . 0 ml ) containing dry dmf ( 0 . 1 ml ), the resulting clear solution was neutralized with tea ( 3 . 2 ml ) to ph 6 and then diluted with ch 2 cl 2 ( 30 ml ) to give a precipitate , which was collected by filtration and washed with ch 2 cl 2 ( 10 ml ) to give the title compound as the dimethylformamide solvate ( 2 . 39 g , yield 94 %; ca . 50 % pure ; z / e = 47 : 12 by hplc ). a stirred solution of 18 l of ccl 4 , 1 . 8 l of methanol and 12 g of p - benzoyl benzoic acid was cooled to 8 ° c . and 970 ml of acetaldehyde was added . the temperature of the resulting solution rose to + 14 ° c . after five minutes , 588 g ( 0 . 7749 mole ) of diphenylmethyl 7 - phenylacetamido - 3 -[( triphenylphoranylidene ) methyl ]- 3 - cephem - 4 - carboxylate was added . the cooling bath was removed and the mixture vigorously stirred for 4 hours at 35 ° c . shaded from light under an n 2 atmosphere until complete dissolution of the phosphorane had occurred . the resulting solution was vacuum concentrated and the residue was dissolved in 2 l of ethanol , and the solution was vacuum concentrated to a semi - crystallized residue which was slurried with 3 l of ethanol . the mixture was stirred for 2 hours at + 5 ° c . and let stand overnight , crystals were collected twice , washed with ethanol , and vacuum dried at room temperature . yield 191 g ( 47 %). m . p . 124 °- 128 ° c . contains 7 . 5 % of trans isomer ( determined by hplc column lichrosorb si 60 5 μm merck eluted with 85 % toluene , 15 % ethyl acetate ). to a stirred solution of 159 . 7 g ( 0 . 767 mole ) of pcl 5 in 2 . 8 l ch 2 cl 2 were added 56 . 7 ml ( 0 . 700 mole ) of pyridine in 280 ml ch 2 cl 2 over a 20 minute period . under a nitrogen atmosphere the slurry was cooled to 2 ° c . while 256 g of ix produced by procedure 10 ( 0 . 488 mole ) was added . the mixture was stirred for 40 minutes and the resulting slurry was poured rapidly into a vigorously stirred solution of 1 . 4 l of ch 2 cl 2 , and 209 ml ( 2 . 33 moles ) of 1 , 3 - butanediol at - 20 ° c ., so that the temperature did not rise above - 5 ° c . the cooling bath was removed and after 45 minutes the temperature rose to 10 ° c . and was held there for 35 minutes . water ( 1 . 0 liter ) was added and stirring continued for 5 minutes after which the layers were allowed to separate . the organic layer was washed with 600 ml of 2n hcl and then 400 ml saturated brine . the combined aqueous extracts were back - washed with 2 × 600 ml of ch 2 cl 2 and combined with the original ch 2 cl 2 extract . the solution was dried over anhydrous mgso 4 . the mgso 4 slurry was filtered and the mgso 4 washed with 2 × 500 ml ch 2 cl 2 . the combined filtrates were concentrated in vacuo on the rotary evaporator to a volume of 2 . 4 liters and diluted with 2 . 5 liters of ethyl acetate . the solution was concentrated again to a volume of ca . 1 . 3 liters . the resulting crystal - slurry was filtered , washed with 3 × 300 ml ethyl acetate . after air and vacum drying over p 2 o 5 there was obtained 149 . 8 g of the title compound as beige crystals . yield 69 . 3 %.	2
with reference to figures from 1 to 8 , the suction wall according to the invention comprises , in a typical solution , a frame 1 of parallelepiped shape that rises up from a base la intended for resting on the ground . the wall therefore extends in height according to a direction z , whereas a plane xy , to complete a cartesian coordinate system , is that on which the base 1 a extends and that substantially corresponds to the plane of the ground in the use configuration . the dimensions in plan are substantially greater along the direction y with respect to the direction x ; the first is the width dimension , which defines two main faces ( by extension ) 1 b , 1 c of the parallelepiped , whereas the second is the depth dimension and defines two side flanks 1 d of the wall . the main faces are respectively defined by a rear panel 2 , with continuous extension , and by a grating 3 or other similar system using a permeable and pre - filtering diaphragm through which a substantial part of the suction effect is carried out . the front face 1 c is therefore the one intended to face the work area , with the grating 3 that extends from the base 1 a up to a certain height . the grating 3 indeed , together with a dividing partition 4 parallel and spaced with respect to the base 1 a , with the base itself and with the lower part of the rear panel 2 , encloses an inner compartment 5 which will be discussed hereafter . above the dividing partition 4 the front face is interrupted and the wall , in cooperation with the side flanks 1 d , defines a recess 6 opened towards the work area . the recess 6 is closed at the back by the rear panel 2 but on a portion adjacent to one of the flanks 1 d there is a partition 7 that in turn rises up over a plane yx , parallel with and spaced from the panel 2 so as to form a gap 8 communicating with the inner compartment 5 adjacent to the base . the partition 7 has , for example up to roughly half of its height , at least one suction opening 72 and it communicates on top with the outside through further suction mouths 10 , again facing towards the work area and defined by a framework 9 that extends along the entire upper edge of the panel projecting at the front . outside of the flanks 1 d , like in the illustrated variants , respective platforms 11 are advantageously provided on which to rest support wheels of an extensible tunnel ( bellows - type ) structure s intended to enclose the work area on the sides and on top , and represented in fig8 in terms of its skeleton . between a flank and the relative platform 11 there can also be a chamber 12 , possibly occupied by shelves like in the example / variant of fig6 , for housing and storing in an organised manner , making them transportable together with the wall , apparatuses , tools and / or processing accessories of a kind obviously depending on the type of processing taking place . the chamber 12 is in practice defined by a flank 1 d and by a side diaphragm 13 parallel with and spaced from the flank , as well as by a cover 14 . of course , in this case the rear panel extends in the direction y to also shut the chamber 12 ( as well as the area of the platforms 11 if present ). the base la preferably has a plate - shaped box - like structure , so as to make passages 15 available for the insertion of lifting forks of fork - lifts . this makes the wall , possibly provided with the tunnel in compacted configuration supported by the platforms 11 , easy to transport from one area to another of the work space , with obvious advantages in terms of logistical flexibility . the base can also be equipped with wheels . moreover , immediately above the base la there can be drawers for collecting and recovering dust or processing waste from the inner compartment 5 . with reference in particular to fig5 and 6 , returning to the inner compartment 5 at the base of the wall , which represents the core of the novel configuration here disclosed , it is divided into three adjacent and consecutive sectors , following the direction y , indicated at 51 , 52 , 53 , as a result of the provision of inner transversal septa ( lying on planes xz ) indicated at 55 , 56 . the central sector 52 is occupied by suction means 16 ( a fan , many fans associated with one another , a simple connection to an external fan ) whereas the two end sectors 51 , 53 are occupied by respective filtering means 17 , 18 , of a type that can vary for different types of pollutant . in a more typical embodiment the filters will for example be dedicated on one side to heavy dusts , and on the other side to light or in any case aeriform pollutants . such a mutually different nature has a relationship with the pneumatic communication that involves such two end sectors and that makes them suitable for collecting , on the one side , a suction flow from the area close to the ground , and on the other side a suction flow coming from the area at the top of the suction wall . regarding this , the central sector 52 communicates with the recess 6 through an opening 4 a formed for example on the dividing partition 4 ( or in the rear panel 2 ) and through such an opening purified air ap ( see fig7 a ) is discharged to the outside , after having been collected and conveyed by channels , not represented , which avoid direct exit in the recess . the same sector communicates through openings 55 a , 56 a formed on the dividing septa 55 , 56 with the side sectors to obtain air therefrom that has undergone the action of the filtering means ( again arrows ap in fig7 a ). more precisely , such openings are advantageously formed in a region close to the upper horizontal partition 4 . no other pneumatic communication involves the central sector , which is closed on the front side ( adjacent to the grating 3 ) by a vertical bulkhead 19 ( plane yz ) which shuts the openings of the grating not only in the area of the aforementioned central sector 52 but also in that of a side sector 53 housing the filters for the “ light ” pollutants ; this is precisely the side sector that which is found in correspondence to the partition 7 and gap 8 . such a side sector 53 closed at the front by the bulkhead 19 is open towards the gap 8 by means of a passage 20 that is formed at a bottom region , between the base 1 a and a lower end side of the partition 7 ( or more specifically of an extension 71 thereof that extends beyond the upper horizontal partition 4 ). therefore , the flows of “ light ” pollutants , such as welding smoke that tends to rise ( micro - particles of dust and aeriforms at high temperature ), indicated with al by the arrows of fig7 b , collected by the suction mouths 10 of the upper framework 9 , as well as by possible other windows on the partition 7 like the one indicated with 21 in the figures , are drawn into the side sector below 53 , to be filtered by its appropriate filtering means . considering now the other side sector 51 , it is open on the front side ( not shut by the bulkhead 19 ) through which the “ heavy ” pollutants that tend to stay close to the ground ( such as grinding powders symbolized by the arrows ae ), are captured . it can also be seen that such catching involves the entire surface of the grating 3 , since it is slightly distanced from the bulkhead 19 , and the space delimited and closed at the rear between such components , indicated with 22 , is in any case placed in depression as a result of the suction induced in the sector 51 . also in this case the filtered air is drawn by the suction means as mentioned through the passage 56 a of the vertical septum 56 . regarding this , it should be noted how in both of the side sectors the filters are supported by attachment plates 23 , 24 that are spaced from the horizontal partition 4 , so that the filtered air is collected in spaces 25 , 26 at which the passages 55 a , 56 a open . thanks to this particular configuration , two very different types of pollutant ( or rather air loaded with pollutants of different weight and / or different temperature ) can be treated , purifying the flows with surprising efficiency and with a single ventilation propulsion system , thus achieving substantial advantages in terms of compactness and cost - effectiveness of operation ( also in terms of energy consumption ) also with a filtering action that is optimised for each specific pollutant deriving from the processing carried out . for example and in particular in welding processing the two types of pollutants are not only the result of the welding working in itself but also , as already mentioned , of the grinding processes related with the welding and that produce the heavier waste materials . such different operations must normally be carried out in the same work area , which obviously does not impede , but rather takes advantage of the capabilities of the wall described above . the effective suction of 100 % of the pollutant is ensured from the work area , keeping the rest of the environment perfectly clean , with a faster exchange of air allowing the air itself to choose the preferential path and a suitable filtration for each path . the differentiated filtration ensures that each filtering means is optimised for the type of flow being treated , so that the filters work in an optimal manner , have a longer lifetime , avoiding malfunctions , blockages or breakages and ensuring the possibility of correct disposal or where possible reuse ( with favourable environmental impact ). similar considerations apply for other processing in many steps like for example preparation for painting , which makes it useful to have differentiated suction and filtration of dust and of residues / emissions of the application of primers and / or undercoats to the actual painting . also in this case a wall configured according to the invention ensures an optimal result with a homogeneous flow and at constant speed , without shaded areas and / or vortices , and of course with the structural simplicity already highlighted . moreover , the novel configuration that represents the core of the wall , i . e . the internal configuration of the base compartment 5 , can be used , except for minimal adaptations , for variants that are different overall and intended for the treatment of pollutants coming from different processing . regarding this , considering now the example of fig9 , in which a simple bench structure indeed has a part that again proposes ( as denoted by reference numerals corresponding to those used above ) the configuration already described , with the exception that the entire upper recessed part is no longer present , and a second suction channel is made available in addition to that determined by the grating , not above but below the same grating . this system can be used to optimise the suction flows for processing operations that result in pollutants that are both substantially “ heavy ” but still have a different tendency to rise in the air . moreover , according to the same principle it is possible to foresee solutions capable of catching flows even at three or more different heights . the complexity and logistical difficulties of known systems with suction arms , mobile aspirators with arm and / or flexible tube are avoided , still with a transportable structure that can be more easily managed with respect to a rigid cabin . the internal compartmentisation of the wall is obtained with materials ( panels , dividing walls , diaphragms ) commonly available on the market , and therefore with low production costs . the accessory extensible structure to make a processing tunnel is clearly an extremely useful addition , reducing the volume of the air to be purified and managing to provide the work area with a healthy exchange of air , and it can foresee the use of a sheet of plastic material that , although transparent for the passage of light , has optical filtering properties that protects the eyes of passers - by welding sparks , still making it possible to inspect the work area from the outside safely . further bulkheads can be provided , possibly equipped with flow throttling shutters so as to exploit as much as possible the set flow rate ( for a certain and low energy consumption ) on a single preferred channel based on the type of working . in practice , the two suction / filtering channels can thus work separately . for example , during the grinding step it is possible to deactivate the “ high ” channel , obstructing the passage 55 a with a mobile bulkhead to maximise the efficiency of the low channel and the passage through the filtering means dedicated to dust . vice - versa , the passage 56 a can be blocked in the case only a suction of welding smoke is required , so that the suction is carried out only at the high channel with consequent exclusive passage through the filtering means for the smoke particles . one of the sectors of the compartment 5 , for example the sector 51 that is used for the suction of the heaviest pollutants , can advantageously be equipped with specific filters for dust also with an automatic cleaning system , compatibly with the constraints of the space available according to the installation circumstances . the channel ( or channels ) for the passage of the flow in the additional catching means , with respect to the first and main inlet formed by the grating or similar permeable diaphragm 3 , which in the example described above is in the form of the gap 8 , can possibly also run outside of the rear panel 2 so as to make the front face of such a panel more easily available for the arrangement of shelves , fasteners for tools , etc . similarly , as mentioned , the expulsion flow previously indicated with ap can develop directly through the rear panel , through an appropriate opening made there . the present invention has been described with reference to example embodiments thereof . it should be understood that there can be other embodiments based on the same inventive concept , falling within the scope of protection of the claims here attached .	1
referring to fig1 - 3 , the present invention provides a strap ( 10 ) formed from athletic webbing . strap ( 10 ) should be of a length sufficient to provide the looping and coiling functions described below . strap ( 10 ) has a noose portion ( 14 ) and an opposite coiling portion ( 12 ). a noose ( 20 ) is formed in strap ( 10 ) by looping the distal end of noose portion ( 14 ) back over strap ( 10 ) and affixing it in position by sewing or otherwise securing the distal end of noose portion ( 14 ) to strap ( 10 ). once noose ( 20 ) is formed , the stretched flat length of strap ( 10 ) should be from 16 to 20 inches in length , preferably 17 inches . the coiling feature of the present invention is accomplished by inserting a resilient , yet pliable , coiling material ( 30 ) into the distal end of coiling portion ( 12 ) of strap ( 10 ). such coiling materials are well known in the art and including commercially available “ snap straps ” commonly found in decorative wrist bands and bracelets , watch bands , and other similar devices . one acceptable type of coiling material that is useful for obtaining a quick coiling action is a segment from a common metal retractable tape measure . if strap ( 10 ) is made from tubed webbing , then coiling material ( 30 ) can be inserted into the tubular hollow of the distal end of coiling portion ( 12 ) and then sealed into the webbing through a common heat seal or by sewing the distal end of coiling portion ( 12 ) shut . if flat webbing is used , then coiling material ( 30 ) can be affixed to the exterior of strap ( 10 ). one advantage to affixing coiling material ( 30 ) to the exterior of the strap is that non - slip materials can be used or applied to coiling material ( 30 ) that will increase the device &# 39 ; s overall gripping strength across the weight bar or exercise handle . coiling material ( 30 ) should be of sufficient length to allow coiling portion ( 12 ) to wrap at least one - and - a - half times around the weight bar or exercise handle . in this manner , the present invention allows the coiled portion of strap ( 10 ) to be in friction against itself and thereby provide a more secure gripping function across the weight bar or exercise handle . coiling material ( 30 ) is preferably from 7 to 9 inches in length , most preferably 8 . 5 inches in length . this length allows the necessary wrapping overage for most standard sized weight bars . referring to fig3 , with noose ( 20 ) formed and coiling material ( 30 ) secured either within or on the surface of strap ( 10 ), wrist loop ( 40 ) is made by inserting the distal end of coiling portion ( 12 ) into noose ( 20 ) and pulling strap ( 10 ) through noose ( 20 ) until coiling material ( 30 ) is pulled completely through the noose . the user can then insert his hand through wrist loop ( 40 ). with the hand placed in wrist loop ( 40 ), the user can easily straighten out coiling portion ( 12 ) and then quickly snap it into place around the weight bar or exercise handle . by gripping all or part of coiling portion ( 12 ) against the weight bar or exercise handle with the hand through wrist strap ( 40 ), the user can effectively rely on more arm and shoulder strength in lifting or moving the load without fear of accidentally losing his grip . this enhanced attachment point is safe , however , because the user can easily release the load by relaxing his grip . the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics . the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive . the scope of the invention is , therefore , 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 .	0
the following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure , application , or uses . with reference to fig1 , a powertrain for a motor vehicle is generally indicated by reference number 10 . the powertrain 10 generally includes an engine 12 interconnected with a transmission 14 . the engine 12 may be a conventional gasoline , diesel , or flex fuel internal combustion engine , a hybrid engine , or an electric motor , or any other type of prime mover , without departing from the scope of the present disclosure . the engine 12 supplies a driving torque to the transmission 14 through , for example , a torque converter 15 . it should be appreciated that other starting devices may be employed , such as a launch clutch . the transmission 14 is a variable diameter pulley or sheave drive continuously variable transmission ( cvt ). the transmission 14 includes a typically cast , metal housing 16 which encloses and protects the various components of the transmission 14 . the housing 16 includes a variety of apertures , passageways , shoulders and flanges which position and support these components . generally speaking , the transmission 14 includes a transmission input shaft 20 and a transmission dual output transfer gear assembly ( transmission output assembly ) 22 . the transmission input shaft 20 is functionally interconnected with the engine 12 through the torque converter 15 and receives input torque or power from the engine 12 . connected between the transmission input shaft 20 and the transmission output assembly 22 is a planetary gear set arrangement 24 and a continuously variable unit or pulley assembly 26 . the planetary gear set arrangement 24 and the continuously variable unit 26 cooperate to provide forward and reverse speed ratios between the transmission input shaft 20 and the transmission output assembly 22 . the transmission output assembly 22 provides two modes or ranges of speed ratios to a final drive unit 28 , as will be described below . the final drive unit 28 may include a differential , axle shafts , and road wheels ( not shown ). the transmission input shaft 20 is connected to the planetary gear set arrangement 24 . the planetary gear set arrangement 24 includes a planetary gear set 30 having a sun gear member 30 a , a planet carrier member 30 b , and a ring gear member 30 c . the planet carrier member 30 b rotatably supports a set of planet gears 30 d ( only two of which are shown ). in one example , the planetary gear set arrangement 24 is configured as a compound planetary gear set where the set of planet gears 30 d include a first subset of planet gears each configured to intermesh with the sun gear member 30 a and a second subset of planet gears each configured to intermesh with both the first subset of planet gears and with the ring gear member 30 c . in another example , the planetary gear set arrangement 24 is configured as a simple planetary gear set where the planet gears 30 d are each configured to intermesh with both the sun gear member 30 a and the ring gear member 30 c . the sun gear member 30 a is selectively connectable for common rotation with the transmission input shaft 20 by a forward clutch 32 and the sun gear member 30 a is connected for common rotation with the continuously variable unit 26 . the carrier member 30 b is connected for common rotation with the transmission input member 20 . the ring gear member 30 c is selectively connectable to the transmission housing 16 by a brake 34 . the forward clutch 32 and the brake 34 are friction , dog or synchronizer type mechanisms or the like . engagement of the forward clutch 32 provides a forward drive torque while engagement of the brake 34 provides a reverse drive torque . the pulley assembly 26 includes a first pulley or sheave pair 40 and a second pulley or sheave pair 42 . the first pulley 40 includes a first truncated conical sheave or member 40 a and second truncated conical sheave or member 40 b in axial alignment with the first truncated conical sheave 40 a . the second sheave 40 b is directly connected for rotation with the sun gear member 30 a . the second sheave 40 b is moveable axially relative to the first sheave 40 a by a hydraulic controlled piston 43 or other actuating system . it should be appreciated that the sheaves 40 a and 40 b may be axially switched without departing from the scope of the present invention . the second pulley 42 includes a first truncated conical sheave or member 42 a and second truncated conical sheave or member 42 b in axial alignment with the first truncated conical sheave 42 a . the second sheave 42 b is directly connected for rotation with the transmission output assembly 22 . the first sheave 42 a is moveable axially relative to the second sheave 42 b by a hydraulic controlled piston 45 or other actuating system . it should be appreciated that the sheaves 42 a and 42 b may be axially switched without departing from the scope of the present invention . a torque transmitting belt or chain 46 having an approximately v - shaped cross section is mounted between the first pulley 40 and the second pulley 42 . it should be appreciated that other types of belts , including positive engagement devices , may be employed without departing from the scope of the present invention . drive torque communicated from the transmission input shaft 20 and planetary gear set assembly 24 is transferred via friction between the sheaves 40 a and 40 b and the belt 46 . the ratio of the input pulley 40 to the output pulley 42 is adjusted by varying the spacing between the sheaves 40 a and 40 b and between the sheaves 42 a and 42 b . for example , to change the ratio between the pulleys 40 and 42 , the axial distance between sheaves 40 a and 40 b may be reduced by moving sheave 40 b towards sheave 42 a while simultaneously the axial distance between sheave 42 a and 42 b may be increased by moving sheave 42 a away from sheave 42 b . due to the v - shaped cross section of the belt 46 , the belt 46 rides higher on the first pulley 40 and lower on the second pulley 42 . therefore the effective diameters of the pulleys 40 and 42 change , which in turn changes the overall gear ratio between the first pulley 40 and the second pulley 42 . since the radial distance between the pulleys 40 and 42 and the length of the belt 46 is constant , the movement of the sheaves 40 a and 42 a must occur simultaneously in order to maintain the proper amount of tension on the belt 46 to assure torque is transferred from the pulleys 40 , 42 to the belt 46 . turning to fig2 , the second pulley 42 of the continuously variable unit 26 transfers torque to the transmission output assembly 22 . the transmission output assembly 22 includes a dual clutch 50 connected to a first transfer gear set 52 and a second transfer gear set 54 . the dual clutch 50 includes a dual clutch housing 56 connected via a spline connection 58 to an elongated shaft portion 60 of the second sheave 42 b . the dual clutch housing 56 defines an inner housing 62 and an outer housing 64 disposed radially outward of the inner housing 62 . the inner housing 62 supports an inner clutch pack 66 and a hydraulically actuated piston 68 . the inner clutch pack 66 includes interleaved friction or reaction plates 66 a , 66 b . the plates 66 a are slidably splined or connected to the inner housing 62 . the plates 66 b are slidably splined or connected to a flange portion 70 of an inner clutch hub 72 . the hydraulically actuated piston 68 selectively engages the inner clutch pack 66 by compressing the interleaved plates 66 a , 66 b together so that torque is transferred from the dual clutch housing 56 to the inner clutch hub 72 . the outer clutch housing 64 supports an outer clutch pack 74 and a hydraulically actuated piston 76 . the outer clutch pack 74 includes interleaved friction or reaction plates 74 a , 74 b . the plates 74 a are slidably splined or connected to the outer housing 64 . the plates 74 b are slidably splined or connected to an outer clutch hub 78 . the hydraulically actuated piston 76 selectively engages the outer clutch pack 74 by compressing the interleaved plates 74 a , 74 b together so that torque is transferred from the dual clutch housing 56 to the outer clutch hub 78 . the inner clutch hub 72 includes a first end portion 72 a and a second end portion 72 b on either axial side of the flange 70 . the first end portion 72 a is supported within a cavity 79 disposed in the second sheave 42 b . the second end portion 72 b is disposed outside the cavity 79 and is supported by the transmission housing 16 via bearings 81 . the first transfer gear set 52 includes a drive gear 52 a in mesh with a driven gear 52 b . the drive gear 52 a is coaxial with the inner clutch hub 72 and is rotationally connected to the inner clutch hub 72 by a spline connection 80 disposed on the second end portion 72 b . the driven gear 52 b is coaxial with an intermediate member or transmission output member 82 and is rotationally connected to the intermediate member 82 by a spline connection 84 . the second transfer gear set 54 includes a drive gear 54 a in mesh with a driven gear 54 b . the drive gear 54 a is coaxial with the inner clutch hub 72 and is rotationally supported on second end portion 72 b of the inner clutch hub 72 by bearings 86 . the drive gear 54 a is rotationally connected to the outer clutch hub 78 . the driven gear 54 b is coaxial with the intermediate member 82 and is rotationally connected to the intermediate member 82 by a spline connection 88 . returning to fig1 , the intermediate member 82 is connected to the final drive unit 28 . the final drive unit 28 may include a differential 90 and axles 92 that provide drive torque to a set of road wheels ( not shown ). during operation of the transmission 14 , engine speed and torque is supplied through the torque converter 15 to the planetary gear assembly 24 . engagement of the forward clutch 32 and the brake 34 selectively provide forward and reverse rotations . speed and torque is transferred from the planetary gear assembly 24 to the continuously variable unit 26 where movement of the pulleys 40 , 42 provides a range of continuous forward or reverse speed ratios . the speed and torque output from the continuously variable unit 26 is then selectively transferred to one of the first transfer gear set 52 or the second transfer gear set 54 by selectively engaging one of the clutches 66 , 74 of the dual clutch assembly 50 . each of the transfer gear sets 52 , 54 provides a step up or step down in speed ratio thus providing two modes or ranges of continuously variable forward or reverse speed ratios to the intermediate member 82 . speed and torque are then transferred from the intermediate member 82 to the final drive unit 28 to propel the motor vehicle . the description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention .	5
while the present invention may be embodied in many different shapes , forms , designs or configurations , for the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention , reference will be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same . it will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended . any alterations and further implementations of the principle , the essence or the spirit of the invention as described herein are contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates . the present invention discloses and teaches a prompting apparatus for coupling with a camera for video recording which has an accessory adapter shoe on its top . the apparatus includes ( 1 ) a rectangular housing with an open front defined by a pair of symmetrical opposite side walls which are parallel to each other , a bottom which is typically a flat board , and a rear wall with a round opening for positioning and aligning the camera &# 39 ; s lens ; ( 2 ) a flat see - through mirror being fittingly placed in the housing with its upper edge being operably coupled to the top edge of the rear wall or the upper portions of the side walls , its lower edge being placed against the front edge of the bottom such that the see - through mirror , the side walls , the bottom and the rear wall forming a chamber wherein the lens is positioned and aligned behind the see - through mirror ; ( 3 ) a cover operably coupled to the side walls through two pairs of fastening means such as bolts , the cover and the side walls defining a space for holding a tablet device with its screen facing down at an angle of approximately 45 degrees from the see - through mirror and in operation , image on the screen being reflected by the see - through mirror to a speaker &# 39 ; s eyes seeing into the see - through mirror while light from the speaker passing through the see - through mirror into the lens ; and ( 4 ) a mounting and adjusting hardware assembly for coupling the housing with the camera through the accessory adapter shoe . in operation , the speaker can only see the text reflected by the mirror but cannot see the lens hiding behind the mirror . similarly , the camera can only capture the images in front of the mirror but cannot capture the text reflected from the tablet device &# 39 ; s screen . the left side wall is operably coupled to the rear wall &# 39 ; s left side via a first hinging means such as one or a pair of small hinges and the right side wall is operably coupled to the rear wall &# 39 ; s right side via a second hinging means , such as one or a pair of small hinges . each of the opposite side walls has a narrow shoulder toward inside for supporting the tablet device . the narrow shoulder is a strip bent from the side wall . the purpose of the narrow shoulders is to support the tablet device , or optionally support a piece of flat glass which supports the tablet device . the bottom includes two coupling means located at the rear end . the coupling means such as a bold and nut enables the bottom board to be folded up after the two side walls are folded inward . in a typical embodiment , the bottom includes a pair of symmetrical opposite wings , and each wing has a coupling means , such as a bolt , at its rear end for coupling the bottom to the rear wall &# 39 ; s vertical side or a frame . fig1 illustrates a perspective view of a typical preferred embodiment of the prompting box according to the present invention . fig2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the prompting apparatus according to fig1 when the cover is partially opened so that a tablet device can be slid in . the apparatus includes two symmetrical opposite side walls 124 and 124 a which are parallel to each other , a bottom board with front edge 123 , a see - through mirror 100 , and a cover 110 . the cover 110 includes an adapting groove or slot 111 for coupling the box with a camera through a mounting and adjusting assembly . the cover 110 is coupled to the side walls 124 and 124 a by two pairs of bolts such as 114 , 115 and 119 shown in fig1 . the cover 110 may also include a slot such as the opening 113 on each side for the user &# 39 ; s convenience to operate the tablet device which is placed under the cover 110 . the bottom board &# 39 ; s side wing 120 is adapted to the rear wall &# 39 ; s side frame 200 through a pair of coupling means such as a bolt 121 . the inclined two - way mirror 100 is a see - through mirror with an optical grade of approximately 60 - 70 % reflective and approximately 30 - 40 % transparent . it is held in position at a 45 degree angle to the display screen of the tablet which is placed inside the space defined by the cover 110 and the two symmetrical side walls &# 39 ; shoulders 131 and 132 shown in fig3 which is a schematic diagram illustrating a perspective view of the housing of the prompting box according to fig1 when the see - through mirror 100 is detached from the housing . the shoulder can a strip bent from the same piece of material of the side wall or a strip of different material vertically welded to the side wall . fig4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a perspective view of the housing of the prompting box according to fig1 . the side wall 124 can be folded inward through a pair of bolts and nuts such as bolt 144 on the upper portion . the bottom board 130 has a pair of symmetrical opposite wings such as the right wing 120 , which is a strip of metal or plastic or other solid material vertical to the bottom board . the right wing 120 has a female member 122 in its front portion . the side wall can be coupled to the wing by coupling a male member located at the lower front portion of the side wall to the female member on the wing . the right wing 120 is coupled to the support frame 200 of the rear wall 140 through a hinging means such as a bolt and nut 121 . fig5 and fig6 are schematic diagrams illustrating the side walls of the housing being folded inwardly . when the right side wall 124 is turned inward by the hinging means 144 and 150 a , the male member 122 a on the lower front portion of the right side wall 124 is separated from the female member 122 . as mentioned above , the left side wall 124 a is symmetrical to the right side wall 124 . fig7 and fig7 a are schematic diagrams illustrating the side walls of the housing having been fully folded . when both right and left side walls 124 and 124 a are folded , bottom board 130 can be folded up by the hinging means such as the bolt and nut 121 on the right wing 120 and the corresponding member on the left wing . fig7 b is a schematic diagram illustrating the bottom of the housing being folded up . fig7 c is a schematic diagram illustrating the bottom of the housing having been fully folded up . the side walls 124 / 124 a and the bottom board 130 are fittingly integrated as a flat compact . referring back to fig3 - fig . 7 , the right wall 124 has a shoulder 131 which is vertical to the right wall 124 . on the shoulder 131 , there is a female member 143 which is for fastening a glass connector , such as a rubber sucker . the right wall 124 a has a shoulder 132 which is vertical to the left wall 124 a . on the shoulder 132 , there is a female member 141 which is for fastening a glass connector , such as a rubber sucker . when the box is fully spread as illustrated in fig4 , i . e . when the bottom board 130 is released to the position vertical to the real wall 140 , the right side wall 124 is released to the position vertical to the rear wall 140 , the left side wall 124 a is released to the position vertical to the rear wall 140 , a piece of flat glass can be placed in the plane defined by the connectors 141 / 143 and the members 142 / 144 . in operation , the piece of glass is optional . if the longest measurement of a tablet such as mobile phone is narrower than the distance between the side walls 124 / 124 a , the flat glass is needed . in that case , the mobile phone is placed on the flat glass , facing down to the bottom board 130 , and then it is fastened after the cover 110 ( referring to fig1 - fig . 2 ) is closed . however , if the two - dimensional measurement of the tablet is approximately same as the two - dimensional measurement of the top view of the box as illustrated in fig8 , the flat glass is not necessary . in that case , the tablet 300 is placed facing down to the bottom board 130 . it was supported by the side walls &# 39 ; shoulders . after the cover 110 ( referring to fig1 - fig . 2 ) is closed , the tablet is fastened . the prompting box according to this invention may include an alternative cover for using bigger size tablet . as illustrated in fig9 , a bigger size tablet 400 can be used in the apparatus . the tablet &# 39 ; s width is approximately same as , or slightly narrower than , the distance between the side walls . but its length is longer than depth of the box . the tablet 400 is placed facing down to the mirror 100 . it can be fastened using the alternative cover 500 as illustrated in fig1 . similar to the smaller cover 110 as illustrated in fig1 and fig2 , the alternative cover 500 includes an adaptive slot 510 for coupling the box to a camera , an opening 513 for the user &# 39 ; s to operate the tablet , and two pairs of fastening means such as bolts 512 and 514 . the prominent advantage of the present invention is that when apparatus is not in use , the prompting box can be easily folded into a flat compact for the user &# 39 ; s carrying convenience . while one or more embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated above , the skilled artisan will appreciate that modifications and adoptions to the embodiments may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention .	7
in carrying out the invention it is preferred to employ a reactor , which is preferably made of nickel , provided with means for circulating gas to and through the reactor and recirculating the product gas in a closed system . means for removing product tungsten hexafluoride , preferably as a liquid , and means for introducing makeup fluorine are provided . it is essential , in accordance with concepts of the invention , that the circulating gas stream contain as its principal ingredient a major proportion of gaseous tungsten hexafluoride and a minor proportion of fluorine . preferably , the fluorine content of the gaseous mixture is about 5 % to about 40 %, by volume . more preferably , the fluorine content is about 10 % to about 30 %, by volume , e . g ., about 20 %, by volume . no other ingredients are needed in the circulating gas stream , although , if desired up to about 10 %, by volume of helium or argon may be present . in practice , the fluorine content of the gaseous mixture is controlled to adjust the kinetics of the reaction to provide acceptable rates of production , to control the evolution of heat by the exothermic reaction of fluorine with tungsten and to insure the overall reaction is sufficiently slow to allow the metallic tungsten to be fluorinated preferentially to other impurities that may be present in the metallic tungsten . the tungsten reactant is preferably particulate form , ranging in size from pellets , prills and granules to a powder initially having a particle size of about 5 to 20 microns diameter . for best results , the initial powder should be of high purity , e . g ., should contain no more than 5 ppm total impurities excluding oxygen . oxygen content is preferably less than 500 ppm . in particular , it is preferred that uranium , thorium , iron , chromium , sodium , copper molybdenum and potassium should not exceed about 1 , 1 , 300 , 100 , 200 , 800 , 200 and 150 ppb each , respectively . the reaction is carried out at a temperature exceeding the boiling temperature of tungsten hexafluoride , e . g ., within the temperature range of about 300 ° to about 600 ° c ., preferably about 350 ° to about 450 ° c ., e . g ., about 400 ° c . the pressure of reaction may be atmospheric to slightly elevated , e . g ., about 1 . 1 to about 2 . 0 atmosphere . the reaction is carried out in a closed system comprising a reactor chamber and gas circulating means , with provisions for removing product tungsten hexafluoride , preferably as a liquid , and means for introducing fresh reactant fluorine as required . means for flushing the system attendant upon the introduction of fresh reactant tungsten may also be provided . gases such as helium , argon or nitrogen may be used for this purpose . helium and argon are advantageously used . in order to minimize product contamination , the reactor chamber , and preferably the remaining apparatus as well , are made of nickel . nickel reacts only slowly with fluorine and forms a protective film when exposed to a fluorine - containing atmosphere . this action aids prevention of product contamination by the apparatus . it is to be appreciated in this connection that fluorine is an extremely aggressive element . a preferred apparatus for conducting the process is a horizontal tube reactor since such apparatus permits convenient batch introduction of reactant tungsten without rotating seals or other moving parts and minimizes recirculation of particulate tungsten in the system . the process will now be described in conjunction with the flow sheet shown in the drawing ; in which reservoir 11 is adapted to contain liquid wf 6 which flows from reservoir 11 to heated at 25 vaporizer 12 through pipe 21 , producing a stream of wf 6 gas which then flows to the nozzle of a venturi pump 13 via pipe 22 . the height of the liquid column of wf 6 in reservoir 11 , the temperature of vaporizer 12 , and the configuration of the venturi nozzle of pump 13 primarily determine the pressure and flowrate of wf 6 through the pump and into the reactor 14 thence to cooler 15 and condenser 16 . pump 13 serves to circulate any non - condensable gases , including unreacted f 2 , from the vapor space of condenser 16 back through the reactor via by - pass 23 . the pressurized stream of wf 6 generated by the reservoir 11 and vaporizer 12 and entering the pump nozzle serves as the motive fluid for the pump . the combined streams of non - condensable gases and wf 6 then exit the pump 13 and enter the reactor 14 containing tungsten powder or granules . fluorine injected into the suction port 17 of the pump then reacts with tungsten metal in reactor 14 yielding additional wf 6 . the reactor temperature is controlled carefully through use of external heaters , through control of the quantity of f 2 injected at 24 into stream 17 , and through vaporizer temperature and reservoir inventory which , in turn , control the flowrate of wf 6 into the reactor . gases exiting the reactor pass through a cooler 15 and then enter condenser 16 where wf 6 vapor is condensed to liquid wf 6 . liquid wf 6 then flows via stream 18 to reservoir 11 , thereby completing the circuit . when sufficient wf 6 has been generated in the system through addition of f 2 and reaction with w , the level of liquid wf 6 in reservoir 11 reaches an overflow level and exits the system into product collector 19 via connector pipe 20 . in summary then , fluorine gas injected into the system at the suction port of recirculating pump 13 reacts with tungsten metal contained in reactor 14 to produce wf 6 that collects as a liquid product in collection vessel 19 . the recirculation of wf 6 occurs continuously , with or without f 2 addition . as f 2 is added , additional wf 6 is generated as long as tungsten metal is available in reactor 14 . control of the system is achieved through adjustment of the condenser and vaporizer temperatures as well as the inventory level of wf 6 liquid in reservoir 11 . f 2 is injected into the system based on a continuously monitored system pressure . when the system pressure is at or below a determined set point , f 2 is injected until the system pressure reaches a second control point , at which time the f 2 flow is stopped . as the f 2 in the system is consumed and liquid wf 6 is produced , the system pressure falls , reaching the first control point . this f 2 addition cycle then begins again . 440 kilograms of commercial ammonium paratungstate ( apt ) containing no more than about 500 ppm of impurities with the principal impurities being si , fe , mo , and na with no single impurity exceeding 300 ppm , were decomposed by heating at about 650 ° c ., dissolved in cold concentrated ammonia solution and partially crystallized by boil off of water and ammonia to yield 300 kilograms of high purity apt . the resulting apt was hydrogen reduced to metallic tungsten powder which upon analysis was found to contain no more than 5 ppm total impurities with no impurity from the group consisting of u , th , fe , na and k exceeding 0 . 5 , 0 . 5 , 330 , 200 and 130 ppb , respectively . the process of calcination , dissolution , and partial crystallization can be repeated if desired to provide tungsten metal of even higher purity . the resulting tungsten powder was fed to a horizontal tube reactor where it was converted to tungsten hexafluoride by reaction with a gas stream consisting of tungsten hexafluoride containing 20 %, by volume , of fluorine . temperature in the reactor was maintained between 395 ° c . and 405 ° c . during the run and the recirculation rate was 20 , 000 standard liters of gas per kilogram of tungsten per hour . tungsten hexafluoride of high purity was condensed from the gas stream and withdrawn as product at the rate of 0 . 2 kilograms per hour of operation . tungsten hexafluoride obtained by this process contained no more than 1000 ppb total impurities with typical concentrations of specific impurities at the following levels : ______________________________________ ppbw______________________________________ cr 10 fe 10 k 10 na 10 th . 1 u . 1______________________________________ 1 . the system is completely closed and contains no major components other than the two reactants , f 2 and w , the product , wf 6 , and the preferred material of construction , nickel . introduction of impurities such as oxygen and water vapor are therefore minimized since no diluent gases are used for temperature control in the reactor . 2 . the system contains no moving parts , eliminating contamination from leaking seals on rotating shafts , etc . and contamination from erosion of the interior surfaces of the containment vessels . 3 . the reaction of f 2 with w is forced to proceed at low controlled temperatures , thereby minimizing contamination from hot reactor walls , etc . 4 . the low reaction temperatures eliminate the introduction of significant quantities of many impurities contained in the tungsten metal feedstock by preventing their volatilization and subsequent introduction into the liquid wf 6 product stream . this is the case , for instance , for fluorides of alkali and alkaline earth metals , many transition metals , and thorium . 5 . because of the continuous recirculation of wf 6 over tungsten metal in the reactor , impurity species that can be reduced by tungsten metal to species of lower relative volatility can be effectively removed from or prevented from entering the product stream . the impurities remain with the tungsten metal in the reactor . this is the case , for instance , for uranium . although the present invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention , as those skilled in the art will readily understand . such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the invention and appended claims .	2
reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings , wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout . the embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures . hereinafter , a pump apparatus for an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . referring concurrently to fig3 to 6 , the pump apparatus for the inkjet printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a fixing shaft 30 , a driving gear 40 , a ratchet wheel 50 , a rotor 60 , a tube 80 , and a housing 90 . the fixing shaft 30 is fixed to a frame 20 of the inkjet printer in which the pump apparatus is disposed , and guides the rotation of the driving gear 40 and the rotor 60 . fig5 shows that the driving gear 40 is rotatably disposed on the fixing shaft 30 and engaged with a driving force transmitting gear 22 for transmitting a driving force from a motor ( not shown ). a stopper 42 protrudes from one end of the driving gear 40 . the stopper 42 is formed in a hollow shape to be assembled with the fixing shaft 30 and has a projection 44 protruding from a sidewall thereof . the stopper includes two projections 44 . however , while two projections are shown and described , more projections may be provided and , when multiple projections 44 are provided in pair , they are symmetrically disposed to each other as shown in fig5 for smooth operation . the ratchet wheel 50 is hollow - shaped as shown in fig6 and has a driving ratchet 54 at one end thereof ( the upper end in fig6 ) and a cam recess 52 at the other end ( the lower end in fig6 ) thereof . the ratchet wheel 50 has an inner diameter sufficient to smoothly rotate with respect to an outer diameter of the stopper 42 . the cam recess 52 is defined in a circumference of the lower end of the ratchet wheel 50 and has a bottom gradually inclined from one side 52 a to the other side 52 c . the projection 44 of the stopper 42 is inserted into the cam recess 52 and the rotation of the stopper 42 causes the bottom of the cam recess 52 to be pushed , so that the ratchet wheel 50 moves in a lengthwise direction on the stopper 42 . when the projection 44 is positioned at side 52 a of the cam recess 52 , the driving ratchet 54 is disengaged from the driven ratchet 64 so that the roller 70 does not squeeze the tube 80 . on the other hand , when the projection 44 is positioned at the other side 52 c of the cam recess 52 , the driving ratchet 54 is engaged with the driven ratchet 64 so that the roller 70 squeezes the tube 80 . when the projection 44 is positioned at the other side 52 a of the cam recess 52 , the driving ratchet 54 is not in contact with the driven ratchet 64 . that is , the lower surface of the driving ratchet 54 and the upper surface of the driven ratchet 64 are spaced apart by a gap so that the driving ratchet 54 avoids coming into contact with the driven ratchet 64 . the rotor 60 rises due to a recovering force of the squeezed tube 80 on the non - operation of the driving gear 40 , causing the ratchet wheel 50 to be rotated in the reverse direction . the gap is to prevent the reverse rotation of the rotor 60 caused by the reverse rotation of the ratchet wheel 50 . the reverse rotation of the rotor 60 may causes a noise and abrasion . the driving ratchet 54 is formed of a series of triangular teeth with one side 54 a being right - angled to a parallel line and disposed along the circumference of one end of the ratchet wheel 50 . an inclined surface 54 b of the driving ratchet 54 is formed in a manner so that it allows the ratchet wheel 50 to move in a lengthwise direction of the stopper 42 as the rotor 60 moves upwardly due to a recovering force of the tube 80 on the non - operation of the driving gear 40 and thus the driven ratchet 64 pushes the driving ratchet 54 . also , the inclined surface 54 b of the driving ratchet 54 is formed in a manner so that when the driving gear 40 rotates in a direction that it does not squeeze the tube 80 , a force the driving ratchet 54 applies to the driven ratchet 64 is not greater than a force applied to the driven gear 64 due to the recovering force of the tube 80 . turning back to fig5 , the rotor 60 is shaped as a hollow cylinder and one end 62 thereof moves in an axial direction with respect to the fixing shaft 30 . around an outer circumference of the hollow cylinder is formed the driven ratchet 64 to be engaged with the driving ratchet 54 . at the other end of the rotor 60 are provided two rollers 70 . the two rollers 70 are tapered , orbit the rotor 60 as it rotates , and freely and independently rotate with respect to the rotor 60 . however , while two rollers are shown and described , it is to be understood that more than two rollers may be provided . a tapered portion of the roller 70 completely squeezes the tube 80 as the rotor 60 is moved to the maximum degree by the stopper 42 . also , the size of the driven ratchet 64 is identical to that of the driving ratchet 54 . at a center portion of the other end of the rotor 60 may be provided a guide shaft 66 for supporting the rotation of the rollers 70 and guiding the straight forwarding movement of the rotor 60 with respect to the fixing shaft 30 . one end of the guide shaft 66 is inserted into the housing 90 to guide the straight forwarding movement of the rotor 60 . the tube 80 is disposed at a position to come into contact with at least one of the rollers 70 that orbit as the rotor 60 rotates . although not shown , one end of the tube 80 is connected to an inkjet head nozzle . generally , the tube 80 is disposed around the rollers 70 to come into contact with one roller 70 in a half orbiting circle of the plural rollers 70 . accordingly , when the rotor 60 is rotated by the driving gear 40 , only one roller 70 rotates , squeezing the tube 60 . the tube 80 is made of material having a high elasticity so that it easily recovers its original state from a squeezed state . that is , the tube 80 has to have a recovering force powerful enough to push the rotor 60 and the ratchet wheel 50 toward the driving gear 40 . as fig4 shows , the housing 90 accommodates the above - described components to prevent foreign materials from going into the pump apparatus , and especially firmly secures the tube 80 thereto . the housing 90 is provided with a guide hole 92 formed in one end thereof . into the guide hole 92 is inserted the guide shaft 66 of the rotor 60 . also , the housing 90 is provided with a rotor stopper 94 ( shown in fig7 ) protruding from an inner side thereof . the rotor stopper 94 supports one end of the rotor 60 in order for the roller 70 to preload upon the tube 80 when the driving gear 40 is in the non - operation . the roller 70 preloads upon the tube 80 to prevent the rotor 60 from idle - rotating when the rotor 60 is rotated due to the ratchet wheel 50 . accordingly , the degree of preload is set to an extent so that the tube 80 is not squeezed so as to generate a negative pressure and a friction force is generated between the roller 70 and the tube 80 ( shown in fig7 ). hereinafter , operation of the pump apparatus for the inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig7 to 9c . when the driving force transmitting gear 22 ( not shown ) is rotated by the motor ( not shown ), the driving gear 40 surrounding the fixing shaft 30 is rotated in a direction on the fixing shaft 30 . in conjunction with the rotation of the driving gear 40 , the stopper 42 integrally formed with the driving gear 40 is rotated in the same direction . if the stopper 42 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction ( an arrow direction of fig9 a ), the ratchet wheel 50 is separated from the rotor 60 as shown in fig9 a is moved downwardly by the projection 44 of the stopper 42 . when the projection 44 is moved to a position 52 b of the cam recess 60 ( shown in fig6 ), the driving ratchet 54 of the ratchet 50 is engaged with the driven ratchet 64 of the rotor 60 . if the rotation of the projection 44 continues , the ratchet wheel 50 and the rotor 60 are pushed downwardly so that the plural rollers 70 squeeze the tube 80 . when the projection 44 reaches the other side 52 c ( shown in fig6 ) of the cam recess 52 , the tube 80 is completely squeezed by the roller 70 as shown in fig8 and 9c . that is , the inner diameter of the tube 80 is completely compressed . if the projection 44 continues to rotate , the ratchet wheel 50 is also rotated in association with the projection 44 . the rotation of the ratchet wheel 50 causes the driven ratchet 64 engaged with the driving ratchet 54 of the ratchet wheel 50 to rotate . accordingly , the rotor 60 is rotated so that the plural rollers 70 disposed at the rotor 60 orbit the rotor 60 , squeezing the tube 80 . the two rollers 70 are both initially pressing the tube 80 . however , when the rotor 60 is rotated , one roller of the two rollers 70 is rotated , squeezing the tube 80 , while the other one is rotated , about the rotor and away from a contact with the tube 80 . while the rotor 60 rotates , one roller is moved from the contact with the tube 80 as the other roller comes into contact with the tube 80 . accordingly , as the rotation of the rotor 60 continues , the two rollers 70 rotate , alternately squeezing the tube 80 . when the roller 70 squeezes the tube 80 , there is generated a negative pressure in the tube 80 . due to the pressure difference between the negative pressure and an atmosphere pressure , the tube 80 performs sucking operation of ink from the inkjet head nozzle . after the sucking operation , the motor stops operating and thus the driving force transmitting gear 22 stops rotating . accordingly , the driving gear 40 stops rotating . when the driving gear 40 stops rotating , the rotor 60 is released from the load applied by the projection 44 of the stopper 42 disappears . then , due to the recovering force of the tube 80 , the tube 80 recovers its original state and pushes the rollers 70 upwardly . on receipt of the upward load , the rotor 60 is moved along the fixing shaft 40 in an axial direction . as the rotor 60 is moved upwardly , the driven ratchet 64 and the ratchet wheel 50 are concurrently moved upwardly to thus return to the initial state as shown in fig9 a . that is , when the driving gear 40 stops rotating , the rotor 60 and the ratchet wheel 50 are moved upwardly due to the recovering force of the tube 80 , so that the tube 80 automatically recovers its original state in which it is not squeezed . alternatively , the motor is rotated in the reverse direction to move the ratchet wheel 50 and the rotor 60 upwardly , whereby the tube 80 returns to its original state . this embodiment requires the cam recess 52 of the ratchet wheel 50 to be modified so that when the stopper 42 is rotated in the reverse direction , the ratchet wheel 50 is upwardly moved . as described above , since the pump apparatus for the inkjet printer according to the present invention does not require the damper plate , the reliability of the sucking operation is improved and the collision noise does not occur even in the case that the pump apparatus is used for a long time . also , since the tapered rollers 70 is constantly in contact with the tube 80 , the tube 80 is prevented from ascending over the rollers 70 , and the number of the components can be reduced . although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described , the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments . rather , it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention , the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents .	1
it is to be understood that the invention that is now to be described is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and arrangement of the parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings . the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of ways . the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for purposes of description and not limitation . the preferred embodiment of the invention is a method of producing biodiesel using non - metal containing quaternary ammonium hydroxides or non - metal containing quaternary phosphonium hydroxides as catalysts for the transesterification of triglycerides with alcohol . the alcohol may be a primary or secondary aliphatic alcohol , preferably methanol , ethanol , propanol , butanol , or mixtures thereof . the triglycerides may be derived from oils , such as beef tallow , coconut oil , corn oil , cottonseed oil , lard , olive oil , palm oil , palm kernel oil , peanut oil , soybean oil , linseed oil , tung oil , sunflower oil , safflower oil , canola oil , rapeseed oil , sesame oil , babassu oil , perilla oil , oiticica oil , fish oils , menhaden oil , castor oil , chinese tallow tree oil , physic nut oil , cuphea seed oil , microalgal oils , jatropha oil , bacterial oils and fungal oils . the triglyceride , alcohol , and catalyst are mixed together , using an amount of catalyst sufficient to effect trans - esterification in said mixture to cause visible separation of alkyl ester and triol . the user may stir the mixture , may leave the mixture stagnant for a certain period of time , or may move immediately to the next step . in all instances , the next step is to heat the reaction mixture to effectively remove volatile components from said mixture . this may be accomplished by heating the mixture and distilling the volatile components under reduced pressure or at atmospheric pressure . once the volatile components have been removed from said mixture , the next step is to allow the mixture to spatially separate into an upper biodiesel - rich layer and a lower glycerol - rich layer . centrifugation or decanting may also be used to aid in the separation of biodiesel and glycerol . in an alternative embodiment , amberlyst a26 anion exchange resin is used as a catalyst , and it is combined into a mixture along with triglyceride and alcohol . in another embodiment , the catalyst is preferably a tetra - alkyl ( c1 - c4 ) substituted ammonium or phosphonium hydroxide compound . the catalyst may also be derived from branched tetra - alkyl substituted ammonium or phosphonium hydroxides . the catalyst may also be derived from tetra - aryl , tetra - arylalkyl , or tetra - alkylaryl substituted ammonium or phosphonium hydroxides . the preferred catalyst may be used in combination with any of the above mentioned catalysts . the preferred catalyst may also be used in combination with traditional alkali or alkaline earth metal hydroxide or alkoxide catalysts . in another embodiment , the catalyst may be used as a neat solution , solid mass , or it may be pre - dissolved in water , methanol , or co - solvent . in the preferred embodiment , the catalyst is pre - dissolved in water or methanol . in another embodiment , a mono - ether cosolvent may be added to the mixture containing the alcohol , catalyst , and triglyceride . the ether co - solvent is preferably thf or methyl - tertiarybutyl ether , and it is preferably stabilized against forming peroxides . the ether co - solvent is preferably removed from the reaction mixture as a volatile component and may be co - distilled with the alcohol and separated in a subsequent step or not separated . in another embodiment , the thf co - solvent system may contain methanol and water . this mixture is preferentially derived from the volatile by - products of the poly ( butylene terepthalate ) polymerization process . the preferred co - solvent system may contain & gt ; 1 % water by weight . the co - solvent system may also contain & gt ; 1 % methanol by weight , preferably above 2 % methanol by weight , and most preferably above 3 % methanol by weight . in another embodiment , a ketone co - solvent is used instead of a mono - ether containing solvent . in a preferred embodiment , the ketone solvent is acetone or methyl ethyl ketone ; most preferably the ketone solvent is acetone . in another embodiment , the solvent may be a ketal co - solvent , for instance 2 , 2 - dimethoxy propane , 2 , 2 - dimethoxy - butane , or 2 , 2 - diethoxy propane . preferably , the co - solvent is 2 . 2 - dimethoxy propane . in another embodiment , the ketone solvent or the ketal co - solvent is reacted with glycerol subsequent to biodiesel formation and glycerol separation . the ketone co - solvent , acetone , will react with glycerol under acidic conditions to form solketal and water . the ketal co - solvent , 2 , 2 - dimethoxy propane , will react with glycerol under acidic conditions to form solketal and methanol . the acid catalyst may be a homogeneous , heterogeneous or a mixed catalyst system . into a 3 - necked round - bottom flask , equipped with a magnetic stirrer , was charged 50 . 1 g of canola oil , 49 . 0 g of tetrahydrofuran ( thf ), 47 . 5 g of anhydrous methanol , and 4 . 2 g of tetramethylammonium hydroxide ( tmah , 25 wt % solution in methanol ). upon catalyst addition , the clear solution became cloudy . after 1 minute of stirring , the solution became clear and slightly more yellow than the initial color before tmah addition . the mixture was stirred at room temperature for a total of 10 min . then , the solution was transferred into a one - necked round bottom flask , placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture was allowed to spatially separate . the upper layer ( biodiesel - rich layer ) weighed 50 . 1 g . the lower layer ( glycerol - rich layer ) was clear , slightly discolored , and free of metal - containing salts . into a 3 - necked round - bottom flask , equipped with a magnetic stirrer , was charged 50 . 1 g of canola oil , 22 g of anhydrous methanol , 4 . 3 g of tmah ( 25 wt % solution in methanol ), and 78 . 3 g of a solution containing 60 % thf : 30 % methanol : 10 % deionized water . initially , the mixture was yellow and cloudy . after the 10 min reaction at room temeperature , the mixture was less yellow and cloudy than the initial observation . then , the solution was transferred into a one - necked round bottom flask , placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). during the purification work - up , some of the products had bubbled overhead resulting in product yield loss . after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture was allowed to spatially separate . the upper layer ( biodiesel - rich layer ) weighed 43 g . the lower layer ( glycerol - rich ) was clear , slightly discolored , and free of metal - containing salts . into a single - necked round - bottom flask was charged 16 . 5 g of canola oil . 16 . 3 g of thf , 15 . 8 g of anhydrous methanol , and 0 . 2 g of tmah ( 25 wt % solution in methanol ). the flask was immediately placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo by a water aspirator ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture was allowed to spatially separate . the upper layer ( biodiesel - rich layer ) weighed 16 . 65 g . the lower layer ( glycerol - rich layer ) was clear , slightly discolored , and free of metal - containing salts . into a single - necked round - bottom flask was charged 17 . 4 g of canola oil , 18 . 3 g of thf , 15 . 8 g of anhydrous methanol , and 0 . 04 g of tmah ( 25 wt % solution in methanol ). the flask was immediately placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo by a water aspirator ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture was allowed to spatially separate . the upper layer ( biodiesel - rich layer ) weighed 17 . 8 g . the lower layer ( glycerol - rich layer ) was clear , slightly discolored , and free of metal - containing salts . into a single - necked round - bottom flask was charged 17 . 8 g of canola oil , 16 . 0 g of thf , 14 . 4 g of anhydrous methanol , and 0 . 05 g of tmah ( 25 wt % solution in methanol ). the flask was immediately placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo by a water aspirator ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture was allowed to spatially separate . the upper layer ( biodiesel - rich layer ) weighed 18 . 0 g . the lower layer ( glycerol - rich layer ) was clear , slightly discolored , and free of metal - containing salts . into a 3 - necked round - bottom flask , equipped with a magnetic stirrer , was charged 50 . 1 g of canola oil . the oil was stirred and heated to 55 - 60 ° c . by use of a heating mantle . then , 11 . 5 g of anhydrous methanol and 0 . 05 g of tmah ( 25 wt % solution in methanol ) was added to the flask . the reaction was stirred for 60 min at 55 - 60 ° c . then , the solution was transferred into a one - necked round bottom flask , placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture was allowed to spatially separate . the upper layer ( biodiesel - rich layer ) weighed 50 . 0 g . the lower layer ( glycerol - rich layer ) was clear , slightly discolored , and free of metal - containing salts . into a 3 - necked round - bottom flask , equipped with a magnetic stirrer , was charged 17 . 4 g of canola oil . 16 . 8 g of thf , 16 . 5 g of anhydrous methanol , and 1 . 0 g of an anion exchange resin , amberlyst a26 . the contents were stirred at room temperature for 10 min . then , the amberlyst a26 resin was filtered and discarded . then , the solution was transferred into a one - necked round bottom flask , placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo ( healing bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture was allowed to spatially separate . the upper layer ( biodiesel - rich layer ) weighed 12 . 8 g . the lower layer ( glycerol - rich layer ) was clear , slightly discolored , and free of metal - containing salts . into a 3 - necked round - bottom flask , equipped with a magnetic stirrer , was charged 17 . 3 g of canola oil , 15 . 9 g of thf , 15 . 4 g of anhydrous methanol , and 1 . 0 g of an anion exchange resin , amberlyst a26 . the contents were stirred at room temperature for 10 min . then , the amberlyst a26 resin was filtered and discarded . then , the solution was transferred into a one - necked round bottom flask , placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo ( healing bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture was allowed to spatially separate . the upper layer ( biodiesel - rich layer ) weighed 15 . 3 g . the lower layer ( glycerol - rich layer ) was clear , slightly discolored , and free of metal - containing salts . into a single - necked round - bottom flask was charged 16 . 9 g of canola oil , 17 . 6 g of acetone , 16 . 7 g of anhydrous methanol , and 0 . 08 g of tmah ( 25 wt % solution in h 2 o ). the contents in the flask were in 2 separate phases . the flask was immediately placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo by a water aspirator ( healing bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture was allowed to spatially separate . the upper layer ( biodiesel - rich layer ) weighed 16 . 6 g . the lower layer ( glycerol - rich layer ) was clear , slightly discolored , and free of metal - containing salts . into a single - necked round - bottom flask was charged 33 . 4 g of canola oil , 31 . 8 g of acetone , 33 . 5 g of anhydrous methanol , and 0 . 08 g of tmah ( 25 wt % solution in h 2 o ). the contents in the flask were clear and yellowish . the contents in the flask were stirred for 10 minutes . then , the contents of the flask were split evenly into 2 separate flasks ( ex . 10a and ex . 10b ). ( weight of contents = 48 . 2 g ) was immediately placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo by a water aspirator ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture was quickly formed two spatially separated layers . the upper layer ( biodiesel - rich layer ) weighed 16 . 6 g . the lower layer ( glycerol - rich layer ) was clear , slightly discolored , and free of metal - containing salts . ( weight of contents = 49 . 03 g ) was stirred with amberlyst ® a15 acidic ion - exchange resin for 5 minutes at room temperature . the ion - exchange resin was filtered by vacuum filtration , and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo by rotary evaporation ( healing bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture did not separate . thus , the reaction did not produce biodiesel and glycerol in sufficient yield to afford separation . into a 3 - necked round - bottom flask , equipped with a magnetic stirrer , was charged 50 . 5 g of canola oil , 48 . 7 g of thf , 50 . 8 g of anhydrous methanol , and 0 . 8 g of magnesium oxide . the contents were stirred at room temperature for 10 min . then , the magnesium oxide was filtered and discarded . then , the solution was transferred into a one - necked round bottom flask , placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture did not separate . thus , the reaction did not produce biodiesel and glycerol in sufficient yield to afford separation . into a 3 - necked round - bottom flask , equipped with a magnetic stirrer , was charged 50 . 2 g of canola oil , 47 . 1 g of thf , 51 . 0 g of anhydrous methanol , and 0 . 8 g of alumina silicate . the contents were stirred at room temperature for 10 min . then , the alumina silicate was filtered and discarded . then , the solution was transferred into a one - necked round bottom flask , placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture did not separate . thus , the reaction did not produce biodiesel and glycerol in sufficient yield to afford separation . into a 3 - necked round - bottom flask , equipped with a magnetic stirrer , was charged 49 . 8 g of canola oil , 48 . 0 g of thf , 51 . 0 g of anhydrous methanol , and 0 . 8 g of titanium isoproxide . the contents were stirred at room temperature for 10 min . then , the solution was transferred into a one - necked round bottom flask , placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture did not separate . thus , the reaction did not produce biodiesel and glycerol in sufficient yield to afford separation . into a 3 - necked round - bottom flask , equipped with a magnetic stirrer , was charged 17 . 7 g of canola oil , 17 . 0 g of thf , 16 . 8 g of anhydrous methanol , and 1 . 0 g of amberlite ira - 400 . the contents were stirred at room temperature for 10 min . then , the amberlite ira - 400 resin was filtered and discarded . the filtered solution was transferred into a one - necked round bottom flask , placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture did not separate . thus , the reaction did not produce biodiesel and glycerol in sufficient yield to afford separation . into a 3 - necked round - bottom flask , equipped with a magnetic stirrer , was charged 19 . 2 g of canola oil , 16 . 7 g of triethylamine ( tea ), 16 . 5 g of anhydrous methanol , and 0 . 04 g of ( 25 wt % solution in h 2 o ). the clear , yellowish solution was transferred into a one - necked round bottom flask , placed on a rotary evaporator , and the products were concentrated in vacuo ( heating bath temperature = 70 - 80 ° c .). after complete evaporation of the volatile components , the mixture did not separate . thus , the reaction did not produce biodiesel and glycerol in sufficient yield to afford separation . while the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure . it is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for purposes of exemplification , but is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claims , including the full range of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled .	1
the novel processes of this invention are depicted in the following reaction scheme . ## str11 ## in carrying out the resolution processes of this invention , racemic or optically enriched 2 - benzyl - 4 - piperidone - succinic acid is combined with (+)- cis - n - benzyl - 2 -( hydroxymethyl )- cyclohexylamine , (-)- cis - n - benzyl - 2 -( hydroxymethyl )- cyclohexylamine or (+)- dihydroabiethylamine in an appropriate solvent . the mixture is generally heated to achieve complete dissolution . such processes may be conducted in any solvent capable of dissolving the reactants , including but not limited to those solvents referred to above ( i . e ., acetone , acetonitrite , ethanol , ethyl acetate , methyl ethyl ketone and isopropanol ). hydrolysis of the diastereomeric salts obtained using the novel processes of this invention to yield either ( 2r )- 2 - benzyl - 4 - piperidone succinic acid or ( 2s )- 2 - benzyl - 4 - piperidone succinic acid may be carried out using methods that will be obvious to those skilled in the art . the procedures by which ( 2r )- 2 - benzyl - 4 - piperidone - succinic acid can be used to prepare the renin inhibiting compound having formula i and related renin inhibiting peptides are set forth in european patent application ep 0438233a2 , published on jul . 24 , 1991 , which application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . the renin inhibiting compound having formula i and the related renin inhibiting peptides that can be synthesized using the methods of this invention are useful in the treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure in animals , including humans . u . s . patent application ser . no . 638 , 238 now abandoned and published european patent application ep 0438233a2 , referred to above , sets forth in detail the appropriate dosage ranges and methods of administration of such therapeutic compounds . the aforesaid reference sets forth a method by which the renin inhibiting activity of such compounds may be determined . the following examples illustrate the methods and compounds of the present invention . it will be understood , however , that the invention is not limited to the specific details of these examples . a mixture of 2 - benzyl - 4 - piperidone - succinic acid ( 316 mg , 1 . 09 mmol ) and (+)- cis - n - benzyl - 2 -( hydroxymethyl )- cyclohexylamine ( 240 mg , 1 . 09 mmol ) in acetonitrile ( 2 . 5 ml ) was heated under reflux until complete dissolution . the resulting solution was seeded with a crystal of chiral salt and allowed to cool with magnetic stirring . after 2 hours , the precipitated solid was collected by filtration , washed with acetonitrile and dried in a vacuum oven at 45 ° c . overnight . two hundred ten milligrams of dried white solid was obtained ( 76 % yield ). the above white solid salt ( 118 mg ) was recrystallized by dissolving in acetonitrile ( 1 ml ) with heating , and then cooled for over 3 hours with magnetic stirring . the resulting white solid was collected by filtration , washed with acetonitrile and dried in a vacuum oven at 50 ° c . for 2 days . the dried white solid weighed 75 mg ( 64 % yield ), which represents 48 % yield for the overall resolution . the salt was analyzed by chiral hplc and found to have a diastereomeric ratio of 96 : 4 and e . e . ( enantiomeric excess ) of 92 %. a mixture of 2 - benzyl - 4 - piperidone - succinic acid ( 297 mg , 1 . 03 mmol ) and (+)- cis - n - benzyl - 2 -( hydroxymethyl )- cyclohexylamine ( 225 mg , 1 . 03 mmol ) in ethyl acetate ( 3 ml ) was heated under reflux and more ethyl acetate ( 3 ml ) was added to complete dissolution . the mixture was allowed to cool and seeded with a crystal of chiral salt as solid gradually precipitated out . the solid was collected by filtration , washed with ethyl acetate and dried in a vacuum oven at 50 ° c . for 4 hours . two hundred twenty - eight milligrams of dried white solid was obtained ( 87 % yield ). the above white solid ( 140 mg ) was warmed and dissolved in ethyl acetate ( 2 . 5 ml ), and then allowed to cool down with stirring . the precipitated white solid was collected by filtration , washed with ethyl acetate and dried in a vacuum oven at 50 ° c . for 4 hours . the dried salt weighed 101 mg ( 72 % yield ) and represents 63 % yield for the overall resolution . the salt was analyzed by chiral hplc and found to have a diastereomeric ratio of 90 : 10 and an e . e . of 80 %. a mixture of 2 - benzyl - 4 - piperidone - succinic acid ( 305 mg , 1 . 05 mmol ) and (+)- cis - n - benzyl - 2 -( hydroxymethyl )- cyclohexylamine ( 231 mg , 1 . 05 mmol ) was dissolved in methyl ethyl ketone ( 3 ml ) with heating . the resulting mixture was cooled with stirring for over 3 hours . the precipitated white solid was collected by filtration , washed with methyl ethyl ketone and dried in a vacuum oven at 50 ° c . for 2 days . two hundred twenty - two milligrams of dried white solid was obtained ( 83 % yield ). the above white solid ( 171 mg ) was recrystallized by dissolving in methyl ethyl ketone ( 2 . 2 ml ) with warming and then allowed to cool with stirring for over 2 hours . the precipitated solid was collected by filtration , washed with methyl ethyl ketone and dried in a vacuum oven at 50 ° c . overnight . the dried salt weighted 120 mg ( 70 % yield ) and represents 50 % overall yield for the resolution . the salt was analyzed by chiral hplc and found to have a diastereomeric ratio of 88 : 12 and an e . e . of 76 %. a mixture of 2 - benzyl - 4 - piperidone - succinic acid ( 274 mg , 0 . 95 mmol ) and (+)- cis - n - benzyl - 2 -( hydroxymethyl )- cyclohexylamine ( 208 mg , 0 . 95 mmol ) was heated in isopropanol ( 3 ml ) to complete dissolution . the resulting mixture was seeded with a crystal of chiral salt and allowed to cool . white solid crashed out of solution within an hour and was collected and washed with isopropanol . after drying in a vacuum oven at 45 ° c . overnight , 179 mg of white solid ( 74 %) as obtained . the optical purity of the salt was found to be 70 % e . e . ( diastereomeric ratio = 85 : 15 ) by chiral hplc assay . a mixture of 2 - benzyl - 4 - piperidone - succinic acid ( 396 mg , 1 . 37 mmol ) and (+)- cis - n - benzyl - 2 -( hydroxymethyl )- cyclohexylamine ( 300 mg , 1 . 37 mmol ) was dissolved in ethanol ( 1 . 5 ml ) with heating . the resulting mixture was allowed to cool and seeded with a crystal of chiral salt . white solid precipitated out and was collected by filtration , washed with ethanol , and then dried in a vacuum oven at 50 ° c . for 4 hours . two hundred twelve milligrams of dried white solid was obtained and the optical purity was found to be 48 % e . e . ( diastereomeric ratio = 69 : 21 ) by chiral hplc assay . a solution of (+)- dehydroabietylamine ( 548 mg , 1 . 92 mmol ) in acetone ( 15 ml ) was treated with 2 - benzyl - 4 - piperidone - succinic acid ( 555 mg , 1 . 92 mmol ) and heated with stirring until complete dissolution . the resulting mixture was allowed to cool and solid precipitated out . the solid was collected by filtration , washed first with acetone , and then with hexane , and then sucked dry on the filtration funnel . three hundred seventy - five milligrams ( 88 % yield ) of solid was obtained and the optical purity was found to be 66 % e . e . ( diastereomeric ratio = 83 : 17 ) by chiral hplc assay . the above solid ( 330 mg ) was recrystallized by dissolving in acetone ( 4 . 5 ml ) with heat and then allowed to cool with stirring . the precipitated solid was collected by filtration , washed with acetone and then with hexane , and sucked dry on the filtration funnel . 120 mg ( 36 %) of dry solid was obtained and the optical purity was found to be 92 % e . e . ( diastereomeric ratio = 94 : 4 ) by chiral hplc assay . the resolved salt ( 240 mg , 0 . 47 mmol ) was dissolved in a mixture of methylene chloride ( ch 2 ci 2 ) ( 10 ml ) and water ( 10 ml ). five percent aqueous hydrochloric acid was added slowly to the mixture until ph - 3 . 5 was obtained . the aqueous hydrochloric layer was separated and extracted once with ch 2 ci 2 . the combined ch 2 ci 2 was washed twice with water and then dried over sodium sulfate . removal of solvent provided 80 mg of the acid ( 59 %).	2
fig1 shows the initialization steps of a method according to an embodiment of the invention . the neural field is initialized in the space representation ( sr ) and then transformed to the fr . equally , the interaction kernel is defined in the space representation ( sr ) before being down - sampled and transformed to the fr . ( i ) dft stands for the ( inverse ) discrete fourier transform . the crucial issue in efficiently solving the given differential equation is , as was explained before , the computation of the convolution operation . a discrete convolution may be computed much more efficiently if the neural field and the interaction kernel are transformed to the so - called “ fourier representation ” ( fr ) by application of a transform known as the discrete fourier transform ( dft ). if more than one interaction kernel is to be convolved with the neural field , or if the same convolution kernel is repeatedly applied to the neural field , significant speed gains are possible since the transformation of the interaction kernel to the fourier representation needs be computed only once ( since it is time independent ), and only one transformation and one back - transformation of the neural field are necessary for performing an arbitrary number of computationally cheap convolutions . consequently , it is proposed to perform all computations of one iteration in the fourier representation . this means effectively that the state of the neural field , after being initialized and transformed to fourier representation once , is maintained in the fourier representation and transformed back to a space representation ( sr ) only when a result must be given . in order for this to work , all other quantities appearing on the right - hand side of the amari differential equation must be trans - formed to or maintained in the fourier representation , which is trivial in the case of the neural field state itself ( is already in fr ) and the global excitation / inhibition as well as the interaction kernel ( both are constant in time , can be pre - transformed to the fourier representation ). however , the input to the neural field cannot be precomputed since it is time - dependent , albeit on a slower time scale than the neural field itself . as detailed before , it may be assumed to be constant for at least k iterations at a time . therefore , it must be transformed to the fourier representation only when it actually contains new information which happens at every k - th step . thus , the computational cost of the transform is distributed over k iterations . since k is usually chosen quite large , the cost of the transform is effectively reduced . the problems with this approach in the context of simulating amari dynamics ( ad ) are twofold : first of all , a convolution in the fourier representation implicitly enforces cyclic boundary conditions , i . e ., every edge pixel ( discretized neural field element ) is treated to be adjacent to the pixel at the opposite edge of the neural field , which is not always desirable . secondly , the application of the transfer function is , except for very simple functions , not possible in the fr . the issue of boundary conditions is important since an inappropriate treatment of boundaries will impair the homogeneity of the neural map , i . e . areas close to the borders will exhibit different behavior than areas far from edges . the correct application of a transfer function is a critical issue , making the differential equation nonlinear and therefore introducing qualitatively new desirable dynamics . fig2 shows an iteration of a method according to an embodiment of the invention . ds stands for “ downsampling ”, us for “ up - sampling ”, ( i ) dft for the ( inverse ) fourier transform , tf for the application of the transfer function , bc for the application of boundary corrections . mad stands for “ modified amari dynamics ”. the arrows labeled by “ init ” symbolize that previously computed quantities are used , see fig1 . as explained in the text , iterations are repeated k times before a new input is applied to the neural field . this is also the time that a field output can be computed by re - transforming the neural field back into the sr . according to one aspect of the invention , it is proposed to speed up the solution of the differential equation by performing the time - critical convolution operations in a size - reduced fourier representation , while applying the transfer function ( and possibly boundary conditions ) to a size - reduced spatial representation ( sr ). for this purpose , the amari differential equation must be slightly modified ; it can be shown , however , that the modified differential equation reproduces the intrinsic properties of the original equation . it is proposed to apply a smoothing operation to the neural field prior to applying the transfer function , for reasons that will be explained below . the modified amari equation thus reads as follows , where s ({ right arrow over ( x )}) is a smoothing kernel designed to remove high spatial frequencies from the field : τ { dot over ( a )} ( { right arrow over ( x )}, t )=− a ( { right arrow over ( x )}, t )+ i ( { right arrow over ( x )}, t )+ f ( { right arrow over ( x )} )* f [ s ( { right arrow over ( x )} )* a ( { right arrow over ( x )}, t )]+ h ( 3 ) the smoothing operation makes it possible to transform the neural map to a smaller size in the fr : by removing a determined amount of high frequencies from an image , it is possible to reduce its size without introducing errors and artifacts ; an identical reasoning applies in the described case , where the low - pass properties of the smoothing kernel are exploited to reduce the size of the neural field . since the field is represented in the fourier representation , perfect smoothing ( the removal of all frequencies higher than a given threshold ) may simply be effected by cutting out a central part of the neural field , corresponding to the fact that the ideal smoothing filter in the fourier representation is a box centered at the origin with which the neural field is multiplied . from the reduced - size , smoothed neural field in the fourier representation , a reduced - size representation in the space representation ( sr ) can be obtained by inverse fourier transform which can be performed very efficiently due to the size reduction . now , the transfer function and the boundary treatment can be applied in the space representation ( sr ) where they are efficient and feasible . subsequently , the result of these operations is trans - formed back into a size - reduced fourier representation , and the convolution with the interaction kernel can be performed in that size - reduced fourier representation provided it does not contain higher frequencies than the size - reduced fourier representation itself . in the fourier representation , this statement corresponds to the equivalent statement that the interaction kernel in the fourier representation must be band - limited to a region no larger than the smoothing filter . this is possible due to the usually chosen interaction kernel : a difference - of - gaussian function centered at the origin , given as it is known from elementary image processing that such a function will be band - limited in the fourier representation , depending only on the variance of the gaussian functions . in practice , this variance is often determined by application demands ; for this reason , it is easier to adapt the smoothing filter to fit the interaction kernel rather than the other way round . after performing the convolution , the neural field can be up - sampled to the original size without errors due to the previous reasoning . the expansion procedure in the fourier representation is a simple copying operation and thus very efficient . the expanded result can now be used to perform the whole iteration step entirely in the fr . the updated state of the neural map remains in the fourier representation to be used in the next iteration step . the factor σ by which the convolution result can be shrunk depends on the parameter σ of the interaction kernel . using common values as a guideline , a reduction by a factor of 2 in each dimension of the neural map is to be expected . for two - dimensional neural maps , this amounts to an at least 4 - fold reduction of the computational cost of the transform from and to the sr . higher values of σ lead to even higher size reduction factors . according to a third aspect of the invention , a different type of boundary condition is applied when performing convolution operations : so - called “ zero - padding ” boundary conditions . this is in contrast to the cyclic boundary conditions implicitly used by convolutions in the fourier representation ( this follows from the theory of the fourier representation ). zero padding amounts to treating the rectangular neural field as being enclosed by zerovalued entries from all sides . convolution operations that transcend the boundaries of the field simply process those zero entries . this is in contrast to e . g . periodic boundary conditions where convolutions that transcend the boundaries use pixel values from the opposite sides of the neural field , i . e . the neural field is continued periodically in all directions . in other words , zero - padding boundary conditions imply that , wherever an applied convolution filter exceeds the neural field dimensions , zero values are used instead of “ missing ” entries ( see , e . g ., [ jaehne , w . op . cit .]). in order to apply these boundary conditions , certain operations must be performed before the iterations start , as well as at each iteration . first of all , the initial state of the neural field must be enlarged in each spatial dimension , initializing undefined empty regions with zero values . the enlargement must be , at each border , more than half of the size of the convolution filter of the interaction kernel . this can be done at initialization , i . e ., before any iteration steps are performed . secondly , every k iterations , the ( new ) input to the neural field must be equally enlarged . thirdly , at each iteration , the down - sampled neural field must be multiplied point - wise with a mask which counteracts the effect of the edge introduced by the enlargement on the convolution of the neural field with the interaction kernel . since this is a linear operation , it commutes with the interaction kernel convolution which can therefore be safely performed afterwards , as described previously . each of these operations involves point - wise multiplications or copying , neither of which are time - consuming . furthermore , performing the boundary treatment in the down - sampled space representation ( sr ) is computationally still more favorable . the proposed invention can be beneficially applied in all applications where large numbers of systems evolving according to amari dynamics ( ad ) are required . especially in the field of intelligent autonomous systems ( which may , for example , be cars or autonomous robots ), such applications are encountered with increasing frequency , e . g ., in behavior control [ edelbrunner , h , handmann , u , igel , c , leefken , i and von seelen , w ( 2001 ). application and optimization of neural field dynamics for driver assistance . in the ieee 4th international conference on intelligent transportation systems ( itsc 01 ), pages 309 - 314 .] or visual image processing . in the latter case , the work on saliency maps [ conradt , j . et al ., op . cit . ; fix , j . et al ., op . cit . ; hamker , f ., op . cit . ; itti , l and koch , c op . cit . ; deco , g ., & amp ; zihl , j . “ neurodynamical mechanism of binding and selective attention for visual search ”, neurocomputing , 32 - 33 , 693 - 699 , 2000 ; frintrop , s ., op . cit . ; michalke , t . et al ., op . cit .] deserves special attention as it requires ( depending on the chosen model ) the simulation of comparatively large numbers of two - dimensional “ feature maps ” which evolve according to amari dynamics ( ad ). saliency map model are point - of - interest detectors , emulating human performance of finding the most currently conspicuous locations in an image , possibly in a task - and situation dependent manner . for this purpose , a number of approximately independent measurements is performed on the sensed image and later combiped according to biologically inspired strategies which in many models involve the simulation of amari dynamics ( ad ). fig3 shows a flowchart of a point - of - interest detection method embedded into an autonomous agent , e . g . a car or a mobile or humanoid robot . arrows represent data flows . not all possible components of autonomous agents are shown . the central role of point - of - interest detection for various following processing steps is clearly visible . it should also be transparent that the impact of poor point - of - interest detection performance will affect the whole system at many levels of abstraction . the right - most arrow represents the effect of actions of the agent on the world . fig4 shows the schematics of a simplified saliency map model using a method according to an embodiment of the invention for point - of - interest ( poi ) detection . it is assumed that the process that is shown here for generating a conspicuity map out of one measurement is repeated for all measurements . the conspicuity maps are then combined , usually by weighted summation , to form the final saliency map . points of interest are encoded as local maxima in the saliency map and can thus be easily extracted . all processing steps indicated here by circles are to be understood as placeholders w . r . t . implementations of [ 8 - 14 ]. the proposed invention is ideally suited for use with saliency map models for an additional reason which is , as mentioned before , the correct treatment of boundary conditions . since saliency map models usually analyze the image at multiple spatial resolutions ( or , equivalently , images down - sampled to different sizes ), boundary effects cannot be ignored especially at very low resolutions . the usual treatment would be to simply exclude the corrupted border areas from consideration ; however , at low resolutions , this would mean excluding almost all of an image area which is clearly undesirable . due to the correct boundary treatment in mad , saliency map models can work reliably even at very low resolutions . feature maps are usually generated by applying the same linear filter but at multiple spatial resolutions . this means that feature maps can have different sizes , resulting in a stringent need for correct boundary treatment in mad , especially at small feature map sizes . pre - and postprocessing stages were included for the sake of generality : they may include image rectification / contrast normalization / noise removal in the case of preprocessing , and maxima enhancement or thresholding in the case of postprocessing . the modulation step may include multiplying all feature maps by scalar values to influence the behavior of the mad . the weighted combination step scales all feature maps to a common size and then combines them , usually by weighted summation , where the weights may reflect preferences for certain image properties due to the current application , situation or context . finally , the number of measurements can be quite large , as well as the number of feature maps per measurement . therefore , the total number of modified amari dynamics ( mad ) processes to be simulated can be large for realistic saliency map models . in the following , steps according to further embodiments of the invention are listed . a method for simulating systems evolving according to modified ad on a digital computer or an analog hardware device , maintaining an internal state in the fr and using a reduced - size sr and fr to perform the necessary computations , wherein the parameters are the number of simulation steps to be performed for constant input : k and the variance of the gaussian filters in the interaction kernel , given by and 2 , 1 . initialization of the internal state in the sr 2 . transformation to the fr 3 . each time an input is presented : 3 . 1 . transformation of the input into the fr 3 . 2 . k - fold repetition of an iteration step according to the equations of modified ad , making use of the fr , a reduced - size fr and a reduced - size sr 3 . 3 . re - transformation of the internal state into the sr 3 . 4 . return of the re - transformed internal state to the calling process in a further embodiment , this method may be modified in that the iteration step may be a sequence of the following operations : 1 . determination of the correct smoothing filter size , depending on the size of the interaction kernel of the modified ad 2 . computation of a down - sampled version of the interaction kernel , where the size depends on the chosen smoothing filter 3 . application of the perfect smoothing filter to the neural field in the fr 4 . down - sampling the result of step 3 to a size given by the size of the smoothing filter in the fr 5 . transformation of the result into a size - reduced sr 6 . application of boundary correction and transfer function in the sr 7 . inverse transformation of the result of step 6 into a size - reduced fr 8 . performing the convolution of the result of step 7 with the size - reduced interaction kernel of step 2 9 . up - sampling of the result of step 8 to the original neural field size 10 . updating the internal state of the neural field according to the equations of modified ad using the result of step 9 both methods may implement zero - padding instead of periodic boundary conditions when performing convolutions . the initialization step of the first method may perform an enlargement of internal state prior to transformation to the fr . the internal state may be enlarged by a quantity determined from the parameter , see step 2 in method 1 . furthermore , step 3 . 1 may perform an identical enlargement of the input prior to transformation to the fr . all other internal and temporary states may be chosen according to the new sizes of input and internal state . when enlarging , areas not covered by the neural field are filled with values of zero . boundary treatment is performed in the size - reduced sr by point - wise multiplication with a correction function . a further embodiment of the invention may comprise operating the above - described methods in a mobile robot or in a car , for approximately simulating large numbers of systems evolving according to ad . finally , the method may also be operated in a mobile robot or in a vehicle such as e . g . a car or a plane , using the modified ad technique to operate saliency map models of visual processing .	6
fig1 shows a roller card 1 in which the processed fiber advances in the direction a . upstream of the roller card 1 — as viewed in the fiber processing direction a — a roller card feeder 31 is arranged which may be , for example , a scanfeed model manufactured by trützschler gmbh & amp ; co . kg , mönchengladbach , germany . the feeder 31 has a housing 27 which is provided with wheels 28 a , 28 b for displacing the feeder 31 on the supporting floor in the direction of the arrows b , c . the feeder 31 further includes a vertical reserve chute 2 supplied from above with a flow i composed of air and finely opened fiber , advanced in a supply and distributor conduit 3 . in the upper region of the reserve chute 2 air outlet openings 4 ′, 4 ″ are provided through which the conveying air stream ii enters into a suction device 5 after the fiber tufts iii have been separated from the stream ii . a slowly rotating delivery roll 6 at the lower end of the reserve chute 2 advances the fiber material in cooperation with a feed tray 7 from the reserve chute 2 to a rapidly rotating opening roll 8 which is provided with a pin or sawtooth clothing . a circumferential portion of the opening roll 8 borders the entrance at the upper end of a downwardly extending feed chute 9 into which the opening roll 8 advances the fiber material . at the lower , outlet end of the feed chute 9 a slowly rotating delivery roll 10 is provided which , in cooperation with a feed tray 14 , advances the fiber material to the roller card 1 . the walls forming the feed chute 9 are , in the region of their lower portion and up to a certain height , provided with air outlet openings 11 ′, 11 ″. for uniformly densifying and maintaining constant the discharged fiber quantities , at the upper , entrance end the feed chute 9 communicates with an air passage 12 coupled to a blower . as a result , the fiber material is exposed to an air stream at the delivery roll 6 from the air passage 12 , so that an air / fiber tuft mixture iv advances in the feed chute 9 . the air is withdrawn at the lower part of the feed chute 9 through the air outlet openings 11 ′, 11 ″. the fiber material is continuously introduced into the feed chute 9 at a predetermined flow rate by the feed roll 6 and the opening roll 8 , and the fiber material is discharged at the same flow rate from the feed chute 9 by the delivery roll 10 and the feed tray 14 . the feed tray 14 is composed of a series of individual feed tray elements rotatable about pivot 15 of a tray support structure 13 which , in turn , is mounted on the inside of the housing 27 of the feeder 31 . the delivery roll 10 and the feed tray 14 of the feeder 31 form a feeding device for supplying the fiber material ( fiber batt ) directly to the roller card 1 . for this purpose the feeder 31 is , from its position shown in fig1 rolled to the immediate vicinity of the roller card 1 . the feeding device 10 , 14 is followed in the working direction a by a first preliminary roll 16 1 , a second preliminary roll 16 2 , a preliminary cylinder 17 ( licker - in ), a transfer roll 18 , a main cylinder 19 , a doffer 20 and a stripping roll 21 . with the licker - in 17 two roll pairs and with the main cylinder 19 six roll pairs cooperate , each being formed of a working roll 25 and a reversing roll 26 . the stripping roll 21 is adjoined by and is cooperating with two calender rolls 22 , 23 . all the above - noted rolls of the roller card 1 rotate at high circumferential velocities . turning to fig2 the feed tray 14 ′ is positioned above the feed roll 10 which rotates in the direction 10 a . the feed roll 10 is followed by an opening roll 16 rotating in the direction 16 a . these two directions of rotation are opposite to one another so that along the cooperating circumferential regions of the two rolls the latter move in the same direction . in this arrangement the opening roll 16 of fig2 functions as the roll 16 1 of fig1 and directly transfers fiber material to the preliminary drum 17 , whereby the second opening roll 16 2 of fig1 is advantageously dispensed with . the preliminary roll 16 is arranged for pivotal adjustment about the rotary axis m 1 of the feed roll 10 . for this purpose , one end of a lever 29 is mounted on the shaft of the feed roll 10 and the opposite end of the lever 29 is mounted on the shaft or supporting bracket of the preliminary roll 16 . by means of this construction the lever 29 may pivot in the direction of the arrows d , e about the axis m 1 of the feed roll 10 , and thus likewise , the preliminary roll 16 may swing about the axis m 1 . in this manner the distance between the clamping location ( that is , the smallest distance between the feed roll 10 and the feed tray 14 ′) and the transfer location ( that is , the smallest distance between the feed roll 10 and the preliminary roll 16 ) is changed . during the arcuate displacement of the axis m 2 of the preliminary roll 16 about the axis m 1 of the feed roll 10 , the distance between the non - illustrated clothings of the feed roll 10 and the preliminary roll 16 remains constant . in this construction the preliminary roll 16 is a structural component of the roller card feeder 31 . turning to the embodiment shown in fig3 a and 3 b , the feeding device ( composed of the feed roll 10 and the feed tray 14 ) of the roller card feeder , as well as the preliminary rolls 16 1 and 16 2 of the roller card are arranged in series . in this embodiment the preliminary roll 16 1 is arranged to swing about the axis m 3 of the subsequent preliminary roll 16 2 . for this purpose the two rolls 16 1 and 16 2 are coupled to one another by a lever 30 in a manner similar to the connection between rolls 10 and 16 by the lever 29 of the fig2 embodiment . the lever 30 is pivotal in the direction of the arrows g , h about the axis m 3 . in this manner , the preliminary roll 16 1 may swing about the rotary axis m 3 of the preliminary roll 16 2 . by rotation in the direction of the arrow g , the distance e 1 according to fig3 a is increased to e 2 according to fig3 b , that is , the distance between the clamping location defined by the components 10 and 14 and the transfer location between the components 10 and 16 1 is adjustable . further , a change of at least some of the distances a 1 , b 1 , c 1 and d 1 shown in fig3 a to distances a 2 , b 2 , c 2 and d 2 shown in fig3 b results from a displacement of the feeding device 10 , 14 by rolling the roller card feeder 31 toward the roller card 1 ( fig1 ) in the direction of the arrow f . the swinging and shifting motions of the rolls will be described in further detail with reference to fig4 a , 4 b , 4 c and 5 a , 5 b , 5 c which relate to the two embodiments shown in fig2 and in fig3 a , 3 b , respectively . in fig4 a , 4 b and 4 c the preliminary roll 16 1 is arcuately displaceable about the axis m 1 of the feed roll 10 as shown in fig2 . fig4 a shows the starting position of the feeding device ( feed roll 10 and feed tray 14 ) and the preliminary rolls 16 1 and 16 2 ( in fig2 the preliminary roll 16 2 was omitted ). in a first step , according to fig4 b , the preliminary roll 16 1 is swung in the direction d about the axis m 1 of the feed roll 10 . as a result , the distance between the clothings of the preliminary rolls 16 1 and 16 2 and the distance between the clamping and transfer locations defined by the feeding device 10 , 14 and the roll 16 1 rolls increases . in order to reestablish the required initial distance between the clothings of the preliminary rolls 16 1 and 16 2 shown in fig4 a , in a second step according to fig4 c , the feeding device 10 , 14 is , together with the preliminary roll 16 1 , shifted in the direction f toward the preliminary roll 16 2 by rolling the feeder 31 toward the roller card 1 as noted earlier . as a result , the distance between the clamping location defined by the feed roll 10 and the feed tray 14 and the transfer location defined by the feed roll 10 and the preliminary roll 16 1 is enlarged , while the distance between the rolls 10 and 16 1 and between the rolls 16 1 and 16 2 remains the same , as may be seen by a comparison between fig4 a and 4 c . in fig5 a , 5 b and 5 c an arcuate displacement of the preliminary roll 16 1 about the axis m 3 of the preliminary roll 16 2 is shown in accordance with the embodiment illustrated in fig3 a and 3 b . in fig5 a the initial position of the feeding device ( feed roll 10 , and feed tray 14 ), the preliminary roll 16 1 and the preliminary roll 16 2 is shown . in a first step according to fig5 b , the feeding device 10 , 14 is shifted in the direction of the arrow i away from the preliminary roll 16 1 by rolling the feeder 31 away from the roller card 1 ( fig1 ). as a result , the distance between the clothings of the feed roll 10 and the preliminary roll 16 1 is increased . in order to reestablish the required initial distance between the feed roll 10 and the preliminary roll 16 1 according to fig5 a , in a second step according to fig5 c the preliminary roll 16 1 is swung in the direction of the arrow h about the axis m 3 of the preliminary roll 16 2 . in this manner , the distance between the clamping location defined by the feed roll 10 and the feed tray 14 and the transfer location defined between the feed roll 10 and the preliminary roll 16 1 is reduced as compared to that shown in fig5 a and also , the distance between the two rolls 10 and 16 1 is re - established . while in the preceding description the invention was set forth in connection with a roller card and roller card feeder , it will be understood that in the same manner a mobile card feeder ( incorporating the feeding device 10 , 14 ) and a carding machine may be used . fig6 shows an embodiment in which the feeding device 10 , 14 is an integral part of the fiber processing machine , such as a schematically and partially shown carding machine cm . the feeding device 10 , 14 is followed by three licker - ins 16 3 , 16 4 and 16 5 . the feeding device 10 , 14 receives the fiber tufts as a fiber batt from , for example , a non - illustrated card feeder and advances the fiber material to the licker - in 16 3 . the fiber material is then consecutively transferred to the licker - ins 16 4 and 16 5 and the latter transfers the fiber material to the main carding cylinder 35 . for varying , according to the invention , the distance between the clamping location defined by the feed roll 10 and the feed tray 14 and the transfer location at the licker - in 16 3 , the latter may be swung either about the rotary axis of the feed roll 14 as described in connection with fig2 a , 4 b and 4 c or about the licker - in 16 4 as described in connection with fig3 a , 3 b , 5 a , 5 b and 5 c . for the required shifting of at least the feeding device 10 , 14 in the direction of the arrow k , the feeding device 10 , 14 is mounted on a support block 36 which may be displaced on a base block 37 which , in turn , is stationarily secured to the card frame 38 . it will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications , changes and adaptations , and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims .	3
referring to fig1 , there is shown a tubular type carrier 10 for percussion instruments that comprises a belly plate 30 , with lower support rods 32 and 34 . the figure also has upper body vertical support rods or tubes 42 and 44 . the upper and lower body support rods or tubes are connected to each other with a compound hinge mechanism 300 . the lower rods or tubes 32 and 34 are bent to allow the tubes to connect to the compound hinge in a narrow position , independently spread to parallel portions 36 and 38 where they attach to supporting belly plate 30 . upper rods or tubes 42 and 44 having out - turned portions 45 and 46 supporting rigid shoulder straps 50 and 55 and back bar 70 . back bar 70 may be removably secured to shoulder straps 50 and 55 or may be fixed as by welding or the like . shoulder straps 50 , 55 , and back bar 70 have cushions 60 , 62 and 64 , respectively . the cushions are of a type used to pad the interior of football and other sports helmets and are shown in more detail in co - issued u . s . pat . no . 6 , 028 , 257 . the cushions have a backing strip of polyvinyl plastic film . a thin sheet of polyvinyl film encloses blocks of closed pore plastic ( e . g ., polystyrene or polyurethane ) foam and is sealed to the backing strip to enclose separate blocks which are separately compressible and provide more comfort to the wearer of the carrier when fully loaded . belly plate 30 is removably secured on the lower ends of tubes or rods 36 and 38 by clamping receptacles 72 and 74 . clamping mechanisms 72 and 74 consist of a semi - circular receptacle that tubes 36 and 38 fit through . tightening hardware 78 and 79 clamps the tube or rod to secure them within the receptacle and prevent movement . the receptacles 72 and 74 are secured on belly plate 30 . the receptacles are shown mounted to the belly plate 30 , and the tubes can be re - positioned within the receptacle , but the receptacles can be mounted to slots that allow the locations of the receptacles to be moved . the upper , out - turned ends 45 and 46 of supporting rods or tubes are supported in clamping receptacles 92 and 94 on shoulder straps 50 and 55 . clamps 92 and 94 hold rods or tubes 45 and 46 on the shoulder supports . clamping mechanisms 92 and 94 consist of a semi - circular receptacle that tubes 45 and 46 fit through . tightening hardware 98 and 99 clamps the tube or rod to secure them within the receptacle and prevent movement . fig1 shows the compound hinge 300 locked in a forward position on the tubular construction carrier . the components of the compound hinge are shown and described in more detail in fig3 to 10 . the materials of construction used in this carrier 10 are very important for achieving the desired result . the belly plate 30 , supporting rods or tubes 32 , 34 , 42 , and 44 , shoulder straps 50 and 55 and back bar 70 are rigid and made of a light metal such as aluminum , magnesium or titanium . the metal shoulder straps have the advantage that different sizes are readily accommodated . the operation of this carrier should be apparent but will be described briefly for clarity . the carrier 10 is worn by a musician with the shoulder straps 50 and 55 positioned over the shoulders . the position of the shoulder straps and the upper portion of the carrier can be adjusted by loosening bolts 98 and 99 . when the bolts are loosened , clamps 92 and 94 open to allow tubes 45 and 46 to slide within the clamps . when the clamps are loose , the position of the clamps on the shoulder straps can also be adjusted . the adjustment of the shoulder straps allows users of different sizes to use the carrier . the width between the shoulder straps can also be adjusted by rotating the tubes 42 and 44 within hinge 300 . when tubes 42 and 44 are rotated the width of the shoulder straps are moved in and out . the rotational adjustment 41 allows the tubes to be toed - in so the width and or the position of the tubes can be adjusted . the toe - in adjustment is mostly used with tubular construction , but a similar adjustment could be made with other types of carrier construction . the belly plate 30 is attached to rods 36 and 38 that are inserted in position and secured in place by tightening bolts 78 and 79 . the short outer ends of the rods are inserted into the receptacles 72 and 74 on the belly plate . when bolts 78 and 79 are loosened , tubes 36 and 38 can be moved to allow positioning of the belly plate on the carrier . this adjustment allows the carrier to accommodate user of various sizes . the belly plate has an additional attachment mechanism 110 for the percussion instrument being carried 120 , e . g ., drums ( single or array ), cymbals , xylophone , marimba , or the like . the attachment mechanism 110 allows height adjustment of the instrument . the height adjustment in this embodiment is independent from the adjustment for the belly plate 30 . the carrier is adjustable to the comfort of the wearer and also to fit different sized instruments . clamp - receptacles 92 and 94 permit pivotal , lateral and angular adjustment of shoulder straps 50 and 55 on the out - turned ends or rod or tubes 45 and 46 . clamp - receptacles 74 and 72 permit vertical sliding adjustment of rods or tubes 36 and 38 . clamping bolt 78 holds tubes or rods 36 and or 38 onto the belly plate . fig2 shows a complete carrier using the compound hinge . in this figure , the shoulder straps 292 and 294 are shown attached to the upper end of tubes 232 and 234 . the tubes are shown clamed to the shoulder supports . the shoulder supports are connected to a back member 296 . the back member may be adjustable for width to allow the carrier to fit a variety of users . the back member may also be removable . the belly plate 290 is shown folded near the shoulder straps . this folded configuration allows a smaller storage size and makes the carrier easier to transport . referring to fig3 to 14 , there is shown a compound hinge 300 . the compound hinges allow pivoting on two axes 310 and 320 . fig3 is a detailed view of the compound hinge mechanism . fig4 is a detailed view of the compound hinge shaft from fig3 where some of the parts are shown in exploded view to provide additional details regarding the construction of the compound hinge . the two axes are connected to a tubular construction carrier . where tubes 332 and 334 are part of the upper portion of the carrier and 342 and 344 are connected to the lower portion of the carrier . axis 310 and 320 can move rotate freely from each other . the components in each axis consist of central hex shaft 301 and 302 that bolts 303 , 304 , 305 , and 306 thread into . a hex shaft is used so the shaft is easier to hold while the adjustment bolts are tightened or loosened . the tubes 332 , 334 , 342 and 344 have pivoting members 351 to 554 connected to the ends of the tubes . the pivoting mechanism also includes links 362 and 364 . the bolts 303 to 306 go through connectors 351 to 354 , then through links 362 and 364 , and thread into central hex shafts 301 and 302 . the bolts can be independently tightened or loosened to adjust that amount of movement in each hinge . refer now to fig4 , that show details regarding the interface between members 362 , 352 and members 362 , 351 . from fig4 , washers 381 and 382 are shown connected between bolts 304 , 303 and members 351 , 362 . these washers are shown here as flat washers , but the washers may be any variety of washers including but not limited to wave washers , compression washers , and fiber washers or may be optionally excluded . the purpose of the washers is to provide a bearing surface for the bolts to rotate upon as they are being tightened . the interface surface between member 362 and members 351 and 352 can be a variety of types . in the preferred embodiment , the interface between the mating bearing surfaces of member 362 , 364 and members 351 , 352 , 353 , 354 is smooth . in the case of smooth mating surfaces , one or all of bolts 303 to 306 can be loosened to allow the components of the compound hinge to move , rotate freely or provide infinite locking positions . while only two sets of compound hinge components are shown and described , more than two hinges can be utilized in the construction of the carrier . it is also contemplated that an entire carrier could be constructed with hinge components where each hinge can be individually adjusted . if the interface between the member 362 and members 351 and 352 are smooth an infinite number of angular settings can be made and locked with bolts 303 and 304 to fix the angular relationship between the compound hinge components . using smooth interfacing surfaces , bolts 303 to 306 can be partially tightened to allow various degrees of frictional movement between the compound hinge components , or locked into position or a combination thereof . an alternate embodiment of the mating surfaces of the compound hinge is shown with a ball 391 and hole 392 configurations . in this embodiment , one or more balls or raised areas exist of one member . the ball or raised member is shown here as 391 on item 352 , the hole or recess is shown here as 392 on item 362 . in this embodiment , the members can be locked in 45 - degree increments , or in the positions where the ball or raised area falls into the hole or depressed area . in another embodiment of the mating surfaces of the compound hinge is shown as radial lands and groves as identified as items 395 and 396 . in this embodiment four , eight or more radial lands and groves exist on the mating members 352 and 362 . in this embodiment , the members can be locked in 45 - degree increments , but can be manufactured with any number of increments , or positions where a land in one component falls into a groove in the mating component . in the previous described embodiment the angle between the members is adjusted by loosening bolts 303 to 306 rotating the members into position and tightening bolts 303 to 306 . three different types of mating surfaces have been described , but other types can be utilized that allow the hinge components to move and or lock in various positions . fig5 to 10 show the articulating or compound hinge in a variety of locked configurations . fig6 shows the compound hinge in a vertical orientation where axis 410 and 420 are in vertical alignment with each other . fig5 shows how this arrangement would appear when used to support a shoulder mounted carrier with a drum . fig8 shows the compound hinge in a forward biased orientation where axis 420 is forward of axis 410 when viewed from a person wearing the drum mounted carrier shown in fig7 . fig7 shows how this arrangement would appear when used to support a shoulder mounted carrier with a drum . this configuration would be useful if the carrier needs forward adjustment due to the physical characteristics of the person wearing the carrier . fig1 shows the compound hinge in a back biased orientation where axis 420 is behind axis 410 when viewed from a person wearing the drum - mounted carrier shown in fig9 . fig9 shows how this arrangement would appear when used to support a shoulder mounted carrier with a drum . this configuration would be useful if the carrier needs rearward adjustment due to the physical characteristics of the person wearing the carrier . fig5 to 10 have shown various orientation of the compound hinge . an infinite number of orientations are possible where the hinges can be located in positions other than orthogonal orientations . it is also contemplated that only one axis be fixed and the second axis can freely rotate . fig1 show an orientation where one axis is locked and the second axis can rotate . this figure shows motion 570 where the drum can swing with only one axis fixed . a frictional member such as a bearing , felt , washer , wave washer or other spacer material may be used between the joined hinge members to provide some resistance to rotation or pivoting . referring to fig1 to 14 , there is shown three variations on articulating vest type carriers with a variety of compound hinge designs that are contemplated . these figures show variation of compound hinge configurations that perform similar pivoting functions . in these figures , the belly plate 620 , or lower component , is shown with hinge connection 685 to the upper component shown in fig1 and 13 as a chest plate 610 , and in fig1 as a combination chest plate and shoulder support . a variety of shoulder strap and linkage configurations can be added to the chest plate . the shoulder straps can be added to the recessed areas 650 , and connected using a fastener using holes 655 . while this and other figures show a recess for the shoulder connection , the connection of the shoulder straps can be flat with the vest or raised from the vest . in fig1 , the compound hinge mechanism includes horizontal hex members 632 that are not present in fig1 . the horizontal members 632 help maintain the chest plate and belly plate in a parallel orientation . the clamping member ( s ) 680 can be loosened to allow vertical separation adjustment between the chest and belly plates . the tension bolts 685 can be adjusted to allow free , frictional or locked movement to each hinge independently . fig1 also shows integrated shoulder members 675 that are part of the upper chest component 610 . fig1 shows a similar embodiment for a single vertical articulating hinge . this configuration allows vertical separation adjustment between the chest and belly plates using clamping members 680 . one of the clamping members 680 may also be adjusted to allow for twist between the chest plate and the belly plate . the tension bolts 685 can be adjusted to allow free , frictional or locked movement to each hinge independently . various configurations of the carriers have been disclosed that show a number of different methods for construction of an instrument carrier with a clamp located in the carrier . the configuration of the carrier has been shown as tubular and vest construction , but any type of carrier construction may be utilized provided a front articulating hinge mechanism is incorporated that allows the upper and lower portions to pivot for movement or folding . the construction of the carrier has been shown with adjustable and or movable shoulder straps , but the shoulder straps can be integrate into the upper portion of the carrier as manufactured , welded , bonded , or permanently attached . other configurations of the compound hinge may include more than two hinged links . in an extreme configuration , the carrier can be made entirely of hinged links so each section can be individually adjusted and set . thus , specific embodiments and applications for single , compound , and elastomeric hinge configurations for percussion instrument carrier have been disclosed . it should be apparent , however , to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein . the inventive subject matter , therefore , is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims .	6
hereinafter , the technical idea of the present application will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art easily understand the technical idea of the present application . fig1 is a view illustrating a multi - party interaction system according to an embodiment of the inventive concept . referring to fig1 , the multi - party interaction system includes a robot 10 , an active participant 20 , an addressee 30 , a side - participant 40 , and a bystander 50 . the robot 10 performs an interaction operation with a plurality of participants . for natural interaction with a plurality of participants , the robot 10 mounts an interaction device according to an embodiment of the technical idea of the present application , which will be described below with reference to fig2 to 8 . the interaction device mounted on the robot 10 may classify the roles of a plurality of participants according to a participation degree and / or a participation action state . for example , the interaction device mounted on the robot 10 may classify a plurality of participants in the order of the active participant 20 , the addressee 30 , the side - participant 40 and the bystander 50 according to the size order of a participation degree value corresponding to each participant . as another example , the interaction device mounted on the robot 10 classifies a participant with the highest participation degree among a plurality of participants as the active participant 20 , classifies a participant in a participation action state having a high participation degree among the plurality of participants but waiting for an interaction order as the addressee 30 , classifies a participant with a relatively low participation degree among the plurality of participants as the side - participant 40 , and classifies a participant with the lowest participation degree among the plurality of participants as the bystander 50 . the interaction device mounted on the robot 10 may control the robot 10 to provide a customized interaction for each participant according to the classified roles . for example , the interaction device may control the flow of turn taking so that the interaction is progressed based on the active participant 20 and the addressee 30 . in addition , the interaction device may alter the subject of conversation or create a question to induce the side - participant 40 and the bystander 50 to participate in the interaction . in such a way , an interaction device according to the technical idea of the present application and the robot 10 equipped with the interaction device may perform natural interaction operations by classifying the roles of a plurality of participants according to a participation degree and / or a participation action state and providing customized interactions for each participant according to the classified roles . moreover , it should be understood that the above description is exemplary and that the technical idea of the present application is not limited thereto . for example , it is assumed in fig1 that the number of participants interacting with a robot is four . however , this is exemplary , and an interaction device according to the technical idea of the present application and a robot equipped with the interaction device may perform an interaction operation with two or three participants and also may perform an interaction operation with five or more participants . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating an interaction device 100 according to the technical idea of the present application . referring to fig2 , the interaction device 100 includes a multi - modal sensor unit 110 , a participation action state classifying unit 120 , a role classifying unit 130 , an action adjusting unit 140 , and a control unit 150 . the multi - modal sensor unit 110 senses an external stimulus for each of a plurality of participants and provides the sensed external stimulus to the participation action state classifying unit 120 and the role classifying unit 130 . the multi - modal sensor unit 110 includes a voice sensing module 111 , a gaze sensing module 112 , a movement sensing module 113 , a head direction sensing module 114 , and a touch sensing module 115 . the voice sensing module 111 senses the voice of each of a plurality of participants . the voice sensing module 111 , for example , may be implemented using a voice recognition sensor connected to a microphone or a micro - microphone . the voice sensing module 111 provides voice information on each of a plurality of participants to the participation action state classifying unit 120 and the role classifying unit 130 . the gaze sensing module 112 senses the gaze direction of each of a plurality of participants . the movement sensing module 113 senses movements such as hand movements , gestures , body postures , and the like for each of a plurality of participants . the head direction sensing module 114 senses to which direction the head direction of each of the plurality of participants points with respect to a robot . each of the gaze sensing module 112 , the movement sensing module 113 , and the head direction sensing module 114 may be implemented by a camera , a 3d depth camera , or they may be implemented integrally by a single camera or a single 3d depth camera . each of the gaze sensing module 112 , the movement sensing module 113 , and the head direction sensing module 114 provides sensed gaze direction information , movement information , and head direction information to the participation action state classifying unit 120 and the role classifying unit 130 . the touch sensing module 115 senses whether each of a plurality of participants directly touches the interaction device 100 or a robot with the interaction device 100 . the touch sensing module 115 , for example , may be implemented using a tactile sensor . the touch sensing module 115 provides touch information on each of a plurality of participants to the participation action state classifying unit 120 and the role classifying unit 130 . the participation action state classifying unit 120 receives external stimulus information on each of a plurality of participants from the multi - modal sensor unit 110 . for example , the participation action state classifying unit 120 receives voice information , gaze direction information , movement information , head direction information , and touch information on each of a plurality of participants from the multi - modal sensor unit 110 . the participation action state classifying unit 120 determines the participation action state of each of a plurality of participants based on the received external stimulus information . the participation action state classifying unit 120 may classify the participation action state of each of a plurality of participants into one of a grab state , a release state , a wait state , and a keep state . an operation and configuration of the participation action state classifying unit 120 will be described in more detail with reference to fig3 . the role classifying unit 130 receives external stimulus information on each of a plurality of participants from the multi - modal sensor unit 110 . for example , the role classifying unit 130 receives voice information , gaze direction information , movement information , head direction information , and touch information on each of a plurality of participants from the multi - modal sensor unit 110 . the role classifying unit 130 determines the role of each of a plurality of participants based on the received external stimulus information . for example , the role classifying unit 130 may classify the role of each of a plurality of participants into one of an active participant , an addressee , a side - participant , and a bystander . a configuration and operation of the role classifying unit 130 will be described in more detail with reference to fig4 . the action adjusting unit 140 receives participation action state information on each of a plurality of participants from the participation action state classifying unit 120 and receives role information on each of a plurality of participants from the role classifying unit 120 . based on the received participation action state information and role information , the action adjusting unit 140 controls the interaction device 100 or a robot equipped with the interaction device 100 to perform a customized interaction operation with respect to each of a plurality of participants . for example , when receiving four participation action state information ( e . g ., grab state , release state , wait state , and keep state ) from the participation action state classifying unit 120 and receiving four role information ( e . g ., active participant , addressee , side - participant , and bystander ) from the role classifying unit 130 , the action adjusting unit 140 may provide various different customized interaction operations using the participation action state information and the role information . for example , if any one of a plurality of participants corresponds to a grab state and an addressee , the participation action state classifying unit 120 may control the interactive device 100 so that a turn taking operation which changes the dialogue order of a corresponding participant is performed . however , this is exemplary and may be applied variously according to a designer . for example , an interaction expression method and / or content of a customized interaction type and a robot &# 39 ; s gaze , voice , gesture , and operation with respect to each participant may be variously changed according to a designer . moreover , the control unit 150 is connected to the multi - modal sensor unit 110 , the participation action state classifying unit 120 , the role classifying unit 130 , and the action adjusting unit 140 and controls an overall operation of the interaction device 100 . fig3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the participation action state classifying unit of fig2 in detail . referring to fig3 , the participation action state classifying unit 120 includes a clue generating unit 121 and a participation action state determining unit 122 . the clue generating unit 121 receives external stimulus information on each of a plurality of participants from the multi - modal sensor 110 , and generates a state determination clue for each of a plurality of participants using the external stimulus information . the clue generating unit 121 includes a voice clue module 121 _ 1 , a gaze clue module 121 _ 2 , a movement clue module 121 _ 3 , and a touch clue module 121 _ 4 . the voice clue module 121 _ 1 receives voice information from the voice sensing module 111 , and generates a voice state determination clue based on the received voice information . the voice state determination clue may include , for example , utterance , temporary pause ( i . e ., pause ) of utterance , high intonation , and flat intonation . the gaze clue module 121 _ 2 receives gaze direction information from the gaze sensing module 112 , and generates a voice state determination clue based on the received gaze direction information . the gaze state determination clue , for example , may include information ( i . e ., eye contact ) on whether a participant is looking at the interaction device 100 or a robot equipped with the interaction device 100 . the movement clue module 121 _ 3 receives movement information from the movement sensing module 113 , and generates a movement state determination clue based on the received movement information . the movement state determination clue may include , for example , information on whether there is a beck or a gesture , and information on the posture of a body . the touch clue module 121 _ 4 receives touch information from the touch module 114 and generates a touch state determination clue based on the received touch information . the touch state determination clue , for example , may include information on whether a participant has a clear touch to the interactive device 100 or a robot equipped with the interaction device 100 . the participation action state determining unit 122 receives a state determination clue such as a voice state determination clue , a gaze state determination clue , a movement state determination clue , and a touch state determination clue for each of a plurality of participants from the clue generating unit 121 , and determines a participation action state for each of a plurality of participants using the state determination clue . the participation action state may include , for example , a grab state , a release state , a wait state , and a keep state . the grab state means a state to fetch the order of interaction . for example , when the state determination clues of a specific participant include clues such as utterance , eye contact , and touch , the participation action state determining unit 122 may determine the participation action state of a corresponding participant as the grab state . the release state means a state in which the order of interaction is to be handed over to another participant . for example , when the state determination clues of a specific participant include clues such as a pause , no beck , or no gesture , the participation action state determining unit 122 may determine the participation action state of a corresponding participant as the release state . the wait state means a state to wait for interaction order . for example , when the state determination clues of a specific participant include a voice state determination clue to agree with the opponent &# 39 ; s speech , the participation action state determining unit 122 may determine the participation action state of a corresponding participant as the wait state . the keep state means a state having the order of interaction . for example , when the state determination clues of a specific participant include clues such as a high intonation , a constant intonation , a beck , or a gesture , the participation action state determining unit 122 may determine the participation action state of a corresponding participant as the keep state . meanwhile , the participation action state determining unit 122 provides the determined participation action state information on each of a plurality of participants to the action adjusting unit 140 , and the action adjusting unit 140 uses the provided participation action state information on each of the plurality of participants to support a customized interaction operation . fig4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the role classifying unit 130 of fig2 in detail . referring to fig4 , the role classifying unit 130 includes a stimulus analyzing unit 131 , a participation degree calculating unit 132 , and a role determining unit 133 . the stimulus analyzing unit 131 receives external stimulus information on each of a plurality of participants from the multi - modal sensor 110 , and generates a participation degree factor for each of a plurality of participants using the external stimulus information . the stimulus analyzing unit 131 includes a voice analyzing module 131 _ 1 , a gaze analyzing module 131 _ 2 , a movement analyzing module 131 _ 3 , and a head direction analyzing module 131 _ 4 . the voice analyzing module 131 _ 1 receives voice information from the voice sensing module 111 , and generates a voice participation degree factor based on the received voice information . the voice participation degree factor may include , for example , a state of speaking , a state of no speaking for a certain period of time , or a state of no speaking beyond a certain period of time . the gaze analyzing module 131 _ 2 receives gaze direction information from the gaze sensing module 112 , and generates a gaze participation degree factor based on the received gaze information . the gaze participation degree factor , for example , may include information on whether a participant is looking at the interaction device 100 or a robot equipped with the interaction device 100 ( i . e ., eye contact ). the movement analyzing module 131 _ 3 receives movement information from the movement sensing module 113 , and generates a movement participation degree factor based on the received movement information . the movement participation degree factor may include , for example , information on whether there is a beck or a gesture , or information on the posture of a body . the head direction analyzing module 131 _ 4 receives head direction information from the touch module 114 , and generates a head direction participation degree factor based on the received head direction information . the head direction participation degree factor , for example , may include information on whether the head of a participant is facing upward , downward , leftward or rightward with respect to a robot . the participation degree calculating unit 132 receives a voice participation degree factor , a gaze participation degree factor , a movement participation degree factor , and a head direction participation degree factor for each of a plurality of participants from the stimulus analyzing unit 131 , and determines a participation degree for each of the plurality of participants using these factors . more specifically , the participation degree of a particular participant may be expressed as p d ( i ). the voice participation degree factor , the gaze participation degree factor , the movement participation degree factor , the head direction participation degree factor , and the participation action state factor , each of which is a factor to determine the participation degree p d ( i ), may be expressed as v s ( i ), g s ( i ), m s ( i ), h p ( i ), and a s ( i ), respectively . the participation degree of a particular participant p d ( i ) may be determined by a set of the voice participation degree factor v s ( i ), the gaze participation degree factor g s ( i ), the movement participation degree factor m s ( i ), the head direction participation degree factor h s ( i ), and the participation action state factor a s ( i ). specifically , for example , if a particular participant is in a talking state , this positively affects the voice participation degree factor v s ( i ) and the participation degree p d ( i ). on the other hand , if a particular participant belongs to a state without speech for a certain period of time or beyond a certain period of time , this negatively affects the voice participation degree factor v s ( i ) and the participation degree p d ( i ). if the gaze of a particular participant is directed to the interaction device 100 or a robot equipped with the interaction device 100 , this positively affects the gaze participation degree factor g s ( i ) and the participation degree p d ( i ). on the other hand , if the gaze of a particular participant is not directed to the interaction device 100 or a robot equipped with the interaction device 100 , this negatively affects the gaze participation degree factor g s ( i ) and the participation degree p d ( i ). if a particular participant &# 39 ; s beck or gesture is sensed , this positively affects the movement participation degree factor m s ( i ) and the participation degree p d ( i ). on the other hand , if a particular participant &# 39 ; s beck or gesture is not sensed , this negatively affects the movement participation degree factor m s ( i ) and the participation degree p d ( i ). if the head direction of a particular participant is directed to the front based on the interaction device 100 or a robot equipped with the interaction device 100 , this positively affects the head direction participation degree factor h s ( i ) and the participation degree p d ( i ). on the other hand , if the head direction of a particular participant is directed to another direction based on the interaction device 100 or a robot equipped with the interaction device 100 , this negatively affects the head direction participation degree factor h s ( i ) and the participation degree p d ( i ). the calculation method of the participation degree p d ( i ) may be expressed as equation 1 below . herein , p d ( x ) represents a participation degree value for a participant x . f s ( i ) represents a set of the voice participation degree factor v s ( i ), the gaze participation degree factor g s ( i ), the movement participation degree factor m s ( i ), the head direction participation degree factor h s ( i ), and the participation action state factor a s ( i ). because f s ( i ) uses five characteristic values , n = 5 . in addition , a weight for each participation degree factor may be used in the calculation of the participation degree p d ( i ). the weight may be expressed by w i as shown in equation 1 . referring to fig4 , the role determining unit 133 receives a participation degree value for each of a plurality of participants from the participation degree calculating unit 132 . the role determining unit 130 may determine the role of each of a plurality of participants as one of an active participant , an addressee , a side - participant , and a bystander based on the received participation degree value . for example , the role determining unit 133 may classify a participant having the highest participation degree value among a plurality of participants as an active participant . in this case , the role determining unit 133 may determine an active participant according to an equation 2 below . p a ( x )= max { p d ( 1 ), p d ( 2 ), p d ( 3 ) . . . p d ( k )} [ equation 2 ] here , p d ( 1 ) and p d ( 2 ) indicate a first participant and a second participant , respectively . p a ( x ) indicates an active participant , and k indicates the number of participants . as another example , the role determining unit 133 may classify a plurality of participants as the order of an addressee , a side - participant , and a bystander according to the size order of a participation degree value . however , this is exemplary and it should be understood that the role determining unit 133 may classify the participants &# 39 ; roles in various ways based on a participation degree value for each of a plurality of participants . meanwhile , the role determining unit 133 provides the determined role information on each of a plurality of participants to the action adjusting unit 140 ( see fig2 ), and the action adjusting unit 140 uses the provided role information on each of the plurality of participants together with the participation action state information to support a customized interaction operation . fig5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the interaction device 100 of fig2 . in operation s 110 , the multi - modal sensor unit 110 senses an external stimulus for each of a plurality of participants and provides the sensed external stimulus to the participation action state classifying unit 120 and the role classifying unit 130 . for example , the multi - modal sensor unit 110 provides voice information , gaze direction information , movement information , head direction information , and / or touch information on each of a plurality of participants to the participation action state classifying unit 120 and the role classifying unit 130 . in operation s 120 , the participation action state classifying unit 120 determines the participation action state of each of a plurality of participants based on the received external stimulus information and the role classifying unit 130 determines the role of each of a plurality of participants based on the received external stimulus information . in this case , the participation action state classifying unit 120 and the role classifying unit 130 may perform a participation action state determining operation and a role determining operation in parallel . for example , the participation action state classifying unit 120 may classify the participation action state of each of a plurality of participants into one of a grab state , a release state , a wait state , and a keep state ( operation s 121 ). the role classifying unit 130 may classify the role of each of a plurality of participants into one of an active participant , an addressee , a side - participant , and a bystander . each of the participation action state classifying unit 120 and the role classifying unit 130 provides participation action state information and role information to the action adjusting unit 140 . in operation s 130 , based on the received participation action state information and role information , the action adjusting unit 140 controls the interaction device 100 or a robot equipped with the interaction device 100 to perform a customized interaction operation with respect to each of a plurality of participants . fig6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the role classifying unit 130 of fig4 . in operation s 210 , the stimulus analyzing unit 131 receives external stimulus information on each of a plurality of participants from the multi - modal sensor unit 110 . in operation s 220 , the stimulus analyzing unit 131 generates a participation degree factor for each of a plurality of participants by using the received external stimulus information . the stimulus analyzing unit 131 , for example , may generate a voice participation degree factor , a gaze participation degree factor , a movement participation degree factor , and a head direction participation degree factor for each of a plurality of participants . in operation s 230 , the participation degree calculating unit 132 calculates a participation degree value for each of a plurality of participants using a voice participation degree factor , a gaze participation degree factor , a movement participation degree factor , and a head direction participation degree factor for each of a plurality of participants from the stimulus analyzing unit 131 . in operation s 240 , the role determining unit 130 may determine the role of each of a plurality of participants as one of an active participant , an addressee , a side - participant , and a bystander based on a participation degree value for each of a plurality of participants . for example , the role determining unit 133 may classify a plurality of participants as the order of an addressee , a side - participant , and a bystander according to the size order of a participation degree value . as described above , the interaction device 100 according to the technical idea of the present application classifies the roles of a plurality of participants according to a participation degree value , and provides a customized interaction for each of a plurality of participants based on a role and a participation action state for each of a plurality of participants . thus , the interaction device 100 may perform a natural interaction . fig7 is a view illustrating an interaction device 200 according to another embodiment of the technical ideal of the inventive concept . the interaction device 200 of fig7 is similar to the interaction device 100 of fig2 . thus , for clear description , like elements are described using like reference numerals . further , for simple description , components identical or similar to those of the interaction device 100 of fig2 will not be described . referring to fig7 , the interaction device 200 includes a multi - modal sensor unit 210 , a participation action state classifying unit 220 , a role classifying unit 230 , an action adjusting unit 240 , and a control unit 250 . unlike the participation action state classifying unit 120 of the interaction device 100 of fig2 , the participation action state classifying unit 220 of fig7 provides participation action state information to the role classifying unit 230 . the role classifying unit 230 includes a role determining unit 233 , and the role determining unit 233 determines the role for each of a plurality of participants referring to the received participation action state information . in other words , the role determining unit 233 may determine the role for each of a plurality of participants using not only a participation degree value for each of a plurality of participants calculated by the role classifying unit 230 , but also participation action state information on each of a plurality of participants received from the participation action state classifying unit 220 . for example , the role determining unit 233 classifies a participant in a participation action state having a high participation degree among a plurality of participants but waiting for an interaction order as an addressee 30 and classifies a participant in a participation action state having a low participation degree among a plurality of participants but waiting for an interaction order as a side - participant 40 . however , it should be understood that the role determining unit 233 may classify the roles of a plurality of participants in various ways by using various combinations of the participation action state information and the role information . fig8 is a view illustrating an interaction device 300 according to another embodiment of the technical ideal of the inventive concept . the interaction device 300 of fig8 is similar to the interaction device 100 of fig2 . thus , for clear description , like elements are described using like reference numerals . further , for simple description , components identical or similar to those of the interaction device 100 of fig2 will not be described . referring to fig8 , the interaction device 300 includes a participation action state classifying unit 320 , a role classifying unit 330 , an action adjusting unit 340 , and a control unit 350 . unlike the participation action state classifying unit 120 of the interaction device 100 of fig2 , the interaction device 300 of fig8 does not include a multi - modal sensor unit . in other words , the interaction device 300 of fig8 receives external stimulus information on each of a plurality of participants from an externally installed multi - modal sensor . in this case , the participation action state classifying unit 320 and the role classifying unit 330 may receive external stimulus information on each of a plurality of participants from outside via wired or wireless communication . an interaction device according to an embodiment of the present application classifies the roles of a plurality of participants according to a participation degree and / or an action state and provides a customized interaction operation for each of participants according to the classified roles . accordingly , an interaction device according to an embodiment of the present application may perform a natural interaction operation with a plurality of participants . although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described , it is understood that the present invention should not be limited to these exemplary embodiments but various changes and modifications can be made by one ordinary skilled in the art within the spirit and scope of the present invention as hereinafter claimed .	6
it has now been found that a low - viscosity starting material containing halogen and hydroxyl groups for producing flame - resistant polyurethane and polyisocyanurate resins may be prepared by a very simple process and the finished products produced from this starting material , e . g . isocyanurate foams , are found not to become brittle and are found to adhere firmly to the covering layers ( see example 9 herein ). according to the instant invention , halogenated bisphenol - bis - β - hydroxyalkylethers which may be prepared in the conventional manner are used as starting materials and are esterified with a dicarboxylic or polycarboxylic acid in the presence of an excess of dialkylene or polyalkylene glycol . furthermore , it has been found that it is not necessary to prepare the bis - ether separately and to isolate it in bulk . instead , to simplify the preparation of the products according to the invention , a bisphenol which is halogenated in the nucleus can be dissolved in a dialkylene or polyalkylene glycol . the phenolated groups of the bisphenol can then be alkoxylated by the addition of an alkylene oxide at elevated temperature and the resulting mixture of bis - ethers and polyalkylene glycol can be esterified . the new polyether esters obtained in this way may contain 50 % or more of halogenated bisphenol - bis - ethers ( chemically - bound ). the products have a low viscosity and hydroxyl numbers of from about 100 to 300 , depending on the amount of excess of di - or polyalkylene glycol employed . the invention therefore relates to hydroxyl - containing polyether esters having an acid number of from 0 to 5 , preferably from 0 to 1 , and a hydroxyl number of from 100 to 300 , preferably from 150 to 250 , obtained by the esterification of : ( a ) bis - hydroxyalkyl ethers of halogenated 2 , 2 - diphenylolpropanes corresponding to the general formula : ## str1 ## wherein r 1 through r 6 may be the same or different and each represent h , c 1 - c 4 alkyl , and preferably represent h , ch 3 and c 2 h 5 ; and r 7 through r 10 may be the same or different , and each represent h , c 1 - c 4 alkyl or halogen , and preferably represent h , br , cl , ch 3 or c 2 h 5 ; and , at least one of the groups r 7 - r 10 is a halogen atom , and preferably a bromine atom ; ( c ) dihydric alcohols corresponding to the following general formula : ## str2 ## wherein x 1 through x 8 may be the same or different and each represent h or c 1 - c 4 alkyl , and preferably represent h , ch 3 or c 2 h 5 ; the products of the instant invention retain their liquid consistency even when stored at low temperatures , in spite of the high proportion of high melting bisphenol bis - ethers contained in them . this is particularly surprising because in view of the large excess of hydroxyl groups present in the esterification reaction , one would assume that part of the bis - ether in the resulting ester mixture would be in an unesterified or semi - esterified form and therefore liable to crystallize . the polyether esters according to the invention generally have a viscosity of from 10 to 200 poises / 25 ° c ., and preferably from 20 to 100 poises / 25 ° c . bisphenols of the following structure may be used as starting material for the polyether esters according to the invention : ## str3 ## wherein r 7 , r 8 , r 9 and r 10 may be the same or different and each representing h , c 1 - c 4 alkyl or halogen , and at least one such substituent represents halogen . preferably r 7 through r 10 represent h , ch 3 , c 2 h 5 , cl or br . tetrabromobisphenol of the formula : ## str4 ## is preferably used as starting material . tetrachlorobisphenol and dibromobisphenol are also preferable starting materials for preparing the products according to the invention . in accordance with the described variation of the process , these bisphenols may be directly alkoxylated with di - or polyalkylene glycols in solution and subsequently esterified . essentially any of the known alkylene oxides may be used to alkoxylate . substances which are alkaline in reaction may be used as catalysts for the alkoxylation in the di - or polyalkylene glycol solution . such catalysts include naoh , koh , sodium methylate , sodium phenolate , potassium acetate , potassium carbonate , and the like . alkoxylation may be carried out at temperatures of from 80 ° to 180 ° c ., preferably from 110 ° to 140 ° c ., in known manner . the bisphenol - bis - ethers which may be used as starting components for esterification include those compounds which may be obtained by reacting halogenated bisphenols with , e . g . ethylene oxide , 1 , 2 - propylene oxide , epichlorohydrin , 1 , 2 - butylene oxide or 3 - hydroxymethyl - 3 - ethyl oxetane . if desired , alkoxylation to produce the bisethers may be carried out with alkylene carbonates in known manner instead of with alkylene oxides . suitable carbonates include : ethylene carbonate , 1 , 2 - propylene carbonate , 1 , 2 - butylene carbonate and glycerol carbonate . the acids used for esterifying the bis - ethers in accordance with the invention may be aliphatic , cycloaliphatic or aromatic polycarboyxlic acids including succinic acid , adipic acid , sebacic acid , diglycolic acid , thiodiglycolid acid , maleic acid , fumaric acid , citric acid , cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid , tetrahydrophthalic acid , endomethylene tetrahydrophthalic acid , endomethylene hexachlorotetrahydrophthalic acid ( het acid ), ortho -, iso - and tere - phthalic acids , tetrachlorophthalic acid , tetrabromophthalic acid and trimellitic acid . instead of the free polycarboxylic acids , the corresponding polycarboxylic acid anhydrides or esters of lower alcohols or mixtures thereof may be used for preparing the polyesters . if desired , mixtures of the acids may be used . suitable dihydric alcohols in accordance with the general formula indicated above include , in particular , diethylene glycol and polyethylene glycols corresponding to the formula : as well as thiodiglycol , bis - β - hydroxyethyl sulphone and the polyethers and polythioethers mentioned below as well as dipropylene glycol and polypropylene glycol of the formula : ## str5 ## in addition to the above - mentioned diols , up to 20 mols % of monoalkylene glycols , such as ethylene glycol , 1 , 2 - propylene glycol , 1 , 2 - butylene glycol , neopentyl glycol or α - chlorohydrin may be included for esterification . esterification is generally carried out at temperatures of from 120 ° to 200 ° c ., and preferably from 140 ° to 170 ° c ., with the introduction of a stream of inert gases at normal pressure or under vacuum . esterification catalysts , such as toluenesulphonic acid , litharge , dibutyl tin oxide , antimony trioxide , salts and alcoholates of titanium , may be added . solvents may be used as azeotropic carriers for the esterification reaction although esterification is preferably carried out in the absence of solvents . a small acid number often remains after esterification in spite of the high glycol excess used and does not disappear even with continued heating under esterification conditions . in cases where the residual acid number , which is generally below 10 , interferes with working - up of the ester , it may be completely removed by treating the ester with alkylene oxides at temperatures of from 100 ° to 150 ° c ., preferably from 120 to 130 ° c . the alkylene oxides mentioned above may be used for this purpose . the polyether esters according to the invention are valuable starting materials for the production of synthetic resins based on isocyanates , and in particular , for the production of non - inflammable isocyanurate foams which have excellent mechanical properties and high flame resistance . the starting isocyanates used with the polyether esters of the instant invention include aliphatic , cycloaliphatic , araliphatic , aromatic and heterocyclic polyisocyanates , such as those described , e . g . by w . siefken in justus liebigs annalen der chemie , 562 , pages 75 to 136 . specific examples include ethylene diisocyanate ; tetramethylene - 1 , 4 - diisocyanate ; hexamethylene - 1 , 6 - diisocyanate ; dodecane - 1 , 12 - diisocyanate ; cyclobutane - 1 , 3 - diisocyanate ; cyclohexane - 1 , 3 - and - 1 , 4 - diisocyanate and mixtures of these isomers ; 1 - isocyanato - 3 , 3 , 5 - trimethyl - 5 - isocyanatomethylcyclohexane ( german auslegeschrift no . 1 , 202 , 785 ; u . s . pat . no . 3 , 401 , 190 ); hexahydrotolylene - 2 , 4 - and - 2 , 6 - diisocyanate and mixtures of these isomers ; hexahydrophenylene - 1 , 3 - and / or - 1 , 4 - diisocyanate ; perhydrodiphenylmethane - 2 , 4 &# 39 ;- and / or - 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanate ; phenylene - 1 , 3 - and - 1 , 4 - diisocyanate ; tolylene - 2 , 4 - and - 2 , 6 - diisocyanate and mixtures of these isomers ; diphenylmethane - 2 , 4 &# 39 ;- and / or - 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diisocyanate ; naphthylene - 1 , 5 - diisocyanate ; triphenylmethane - 4 , 4 &# 39 ;-, 4 &# 34 ;- triisocyanate ; polyphenol - polymethylene polyisocyanates of the type obtained by aniline - formaldehyde condensation followed by phosgenation such as have been described , in british pat . 874 , 430 and 848 , 671 ; m - and p - isocyanatophenyl sulphonyl isocyanates as described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 454 , 606 ; perchlorinated aryl polyisocyanates as described in u . s . pat . 3 , 277 , 138 ; polyisocyanates which contain carbodiimide groups as described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 152 , 162 ; diisocyanates of the type described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 492 , 330 ; polyisocyanates which contain allophanate groups as described in british pat . no . 994 , 890 , belgian pat . no . 761 , 626 and published dutch patent application 7 , 102 , 524 ; polyisocyanates which contain isocyanurate groups as described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 001 , 973 , in german patents no . 1 , 022 , 789 ; 1 , 222 , 067 and 1 , 027 , 394 , and in german offenlegungsschriften nos . 1 , 929 , 034 and 2 , 004 , 048 ; polyisocyanates which contain urethane groups as described in belgian pat . no . 752 , 261 or in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 394 , 164 ; polyisocyanates which contain acylated urea groups as described in german pat . no . 1 , 230 , 778 ; polyisocyanates which contain biuret groups as described in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 124 , 605 and 3 , 201 , 372 ; and in british pat . no . 889 , 050 ; polyisocyanates prepared by telomerization reactions as described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 654 , 106 ; polyisocyanates which contain ester groups as described in british pat . nos . 965 , 474 and 1 , 072 , 956 , in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 567 , 763 and in german patent 1 , 231 , 688 ; reaction products of the above - mentioned isocyanates with acetals as described in german pat . no . 1 , 072 , 385 ; and polymeric polyisocyanates which contain fatty acid groups as described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 455 , 883 . the distillation residues obtained from the commercial production of isocyanates and still containing isocyanate groups may also be used , optionally dissolved in one or more of the above - mentioned polyisocyanates . mixtures of the above - mentioned polyisocyanates may also be used . it is generally preferred to use readily available polyisocyanates such as tolylene - 2 , 4 - and 2 , 6 - diisocyanate and mixtures of these isomers (&# 34 ; tdi &# 34 ;); polyphenyl - polymethylene polyisocyanates which may be prepared by aniline - formaldehyde condensation followed by phosgenation (&# 34 ; crude mdi &# 34 ;); and polyisocyanates which contain carbodiimide groups , urethane groups , allophanate groups , isocyanurate groups , urea groups or biuret groups (&# 34 ; modified polyisocyanates &# 34 ;). according to the invention , water and / or readily volatile organic substances can be used as blowing agents . suitable organic blowing agents include acetone ; ethyl acetate ; halogenated alkanes , such as methylene chloride , chloroform , ethylidene chloride , vinylidene chloride , monofluorotrichloromethane , chlorodifluoromethane , dichlorodifluoromethane ; butane ; hexane ; heptane ; and diethyl ether . compounds which decompose at temperatures above room temperature to liberate gases , such as nitrogen , e . g . azo compounds , such as azoisobutyric acid nitrile , may also be used as blowing agents . other examples of blowing agents and details concerning the use thereof may be found in kunststoff - handbuch , volume vii , published by vieweg and hochtlen , carl - hanser - verlag , munich , 1066 , pages 108 and 109 , 453 to 455 and 507 to 510 . where isocyanurate products are desired , catalysts used for such polymerization reactions may be used and include compounds which initiate a polymerization reaction of the nco - group at room temperature . compounds of this type have been described , for example , in french pat . no . 1 , 441 , 565 , belgian pat . nos . 723 , 153 and 723 , 152 and german pat . 1 , 112 , 285 . particularly suitable catalysts of this type are the mono - or poly - nuclear mannich bases obtained from condensable phenols , optionally substituted with alkyl , aryl , or aralkyl groups , oxo - compounds and secondary amines , especially those in which formaldehyde has been used as the oxo - compound and dimethylamine as secondary amine . according to ir spectroscopic analyses , substantial quantities of carbodiimide structures are generally formed in the foams , the quantity varying according to the conditions , and in particular the reaction temperature reached . other suitable polyisocyanurate catalysts include alkali metal and alkaline earth metal salts of carboxylic acids and phenols . the quantity of polymerization catalyst used is mainly determined by the nature of the catalyst ( and in some cases its basicity ). the catalyst component may be used in quantities of from 0 . 1 to 100 % by weight , preferably from 0 . 3 to 25 % by weight , based on the isocyanate component . according to the invention , conventional catalysts may be used for the polyurethane reaction , including tertiary amines , such as triethylamine , tributylamine , n - methyl - morpholine , n - ethyl morpholine , n - cocomorpholine , n , n , n &# 39 ;, n &# 39 ;- tetramethylethylene diamine , 1 , 4 - diaza - bicyclo -( 2 , 2 , 2 )- octane , n - methyl - n &# 39 ;- dimethylaminoethyl - piperazine , n , n - dimethyl benzylamine , bis -( n , n - diethylaminoethyl ) adipate , n , n - diethyl benzylamine , pentamethyl diethylene triamine , n , n - dimethyl cyclohexylamine , n , n , n &# 39 ;, n &# 39 ;- tetramethyl - 1 , 3 - butane diamine , n , n - dimethyl - β - phenyl ethylamine , 1 , 2 - dimethyl imidazole and 2 - methyl imidazole . tertiary amines containing hydrogen atoms which are reactive with isocyanate groups may also be used and include triethanolamine , triisopropanolamine , n - methyl - diethanolamine , n - ethyl diethanolamine , n , n - dimethyl ethanolamine and reaction products thereof with alkylene oxides , such as propylene oxide and / or ethylene oxide . silaamines which contain carbon - silicon bonds may also be used as catalysts , such as those described in german pat . no . 1 , 229 , 290 including 2 , 2 , 4 - trimethyl - 2 - silamorpholine or 1 , 3 - diethylaminomethyl - tetramethyl - disiloxane . organo - metal compounds , such as organo - tin compound may also be used as polyurethane catalysts according to the invention . the organo - tin compounds used are preferably tin ( ii )- salts of carboxylic acids , such as tin ( ii )- acetate , tin ( ii )- octoate , tin ( ii )- ethyl hexoate and tin ( ii )- laurate , and the dialkyl tin salts of carboxylic acids , such as dibutyl tin diacetate , dibutyl tin dilaurate , dibutyl tin maleate or dioxtyl tin diacetate . other examples of catalysts which may be used according to the invention and the mode of action of the catalysts have been described in kunststoff - handbuch , volume vii , published by vieweg and hochtlen , carl - hanser - verlag , munich 1966 , pages 96 to 102 . these catalysts are generally used in quantities of from about 0 . 001 to 10 % by weight , based on the total weight of the polyether esters of the instant invention and any compounds mentioned below which have a molecular weight of from 62 to 10 , 000 and contain at least two hydrogen atoms which are reactive with isocyanates . surface - active additives ( emulsifiers and foam stabilizers ) may also be used according to the invention . suitable emulsifiers include the sodium salts of ricinoleic sulphonates , or of fatty acids , or salts of fatty acids with amines , such as oleic acid diethylamine or stearic acid diethanolamine . alkali metal or ammonium salts of sulphonic acids , such as dodecyl benzene sulphonic acid or dinaphthyl methane disulphonic acid , or of fatty acids , such as ricinoleic acid , or of polymeric fatty acids , may also be used as surface - active additives . the foam stabilizers used are mainly water - soluble polyether siloxanes . these compounds generally have a copolymer of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide attached to a polydimethyl siloxane group . foam stabilizers of this type are known and have been described in u . s . pat . nos . 2 , 834 , 748 ; 2 , 917 , 480 and 3 , 629 , 308 . reaction retarders may also be used according to the invention , e . g . substances which are acid in reaction , such as hydrochloric acid or organic acid halides . other additives which may be used include cell regulators , such as paraffins or fatty alcohols or dimethyl polysiloxanes ; pigments ; dyes ; flame - retarding agents and a tris - chloroethyl phosphate or ammonium phosphate and polyphosphate ; stabilizers against ageing and weathering ; plasticizers ; fungistatic and bacteriostatic substances ; and fillers , such as barium sulphate , kieselguhr , carbon black or whiting . other examples of surface - active additives , foam stabilizers , cell regulators , reaction retarders , stabilizers , flame - retarding substances , plasticizers , dyes , fillers and fungistatic and bacteriostatic substances optionally used according to the invention and details concerning the use and mode of action of these additives may be found in kunststoff - handbuch , volune vii , published by vieweg and hochtlen , carl - hanser - verlag , munich 1066 , pages 103 to 113 . other starting materials optionally included according to the invention for producing the synthetic resins are compounds which contain at least two hydrogen atoms capable of reacting with isocyanates and which generally have a molecular weight of from 400 to 10 , 000 . these compounds include not only compounds containing amino groups , thiol groups or carboxyl groups , but especially also polyhydroxyl compounds , and in particular compounds containing from 2 to 8 hydroxyl groups , especially those with a molecular weight of from 800 to 10 , 000 and preferably from 1000 to 6000 . examples include polyesters , polyethers , polythioethers , polyacetals , polycarbonates and polyester amides containing at least two , generally from 2 to 8 and preferably from 2 to 4 hydroxyl groups of the type which are used and generally known for the production of both homogeneous and cellular polyurethanes . suitable polyesters with hydroxyl groups include the reaction products of polyhydric , preferably dihydric , alcohols with the optional addition of trihydric alcohols , with polybasic , preferably dibasic , carboxylic acids . instead of using free polycarboxylic acids , the corresponding polycarboxylic acid anhydrides or esters of lower alcohols or mixtures thereof may be used for preparing the polyesters . the polycarboxylic acids may be aliphatic , cycloaliphatic , aromatic and / or heterocyclic and may be substituted , e . g . with halogen atoms , and / or be unsaturated . the following are mentioned as examples : succinic acid , adipic acid , suberic acid , azelaic acid , sebacic acid , phthalic acid , isophthalic acid , trimellitic acid , phthalic acid anhydride , tetrahydrophthalic acid anhydride , hexahydrophthalic acid anhydride , tetrachlorophthalic acid anhydride , endomethylene tetrahydrophthalic acid anhydride , glutaric acid anhydride , maleic acid , maleic acid anhydride , fumaric acid , dimeric and trimeric fatty acids , such as oleic acid optionally mixed with monomeric fatty acids , dimethyl terephthalate and bis - glycol terephthalate . suitable polyhydric alcohols include , e . g . ethylene glycol , propylene - 1 , 2 - and - 1 , 3 - glycol , butylene - 1 , 4 - and - 2 , 3 - glycol , hexane - 1 , 6 - diol , octane - 1 , 8 - diol , neopentyl glycol , cyclohexane dimethanol ( 1 , 4 - bis - hydroxymethyl cyclohexane ), 2 - methyl - propane - 1 , 3 - diol , glycerol , trimethylolpropane , hexane - 1 , 2 , 6 - triol , butane - 1 , 2 , 4 - triol , trimethylolethane , pentaerythritol , quinitol , mannitol and sorbitol , methyl glycoside , diethylene glycol , triethylene glycol , tetraethylene glycol , polyethylene glycols , dipropylene glycol , polypropylene glycols , dibutylene glycol and polybutylene glycols . the polyesters may also contain a proportion of carboxyl endgroups . polyesters of lactones , such as ε - caprolactone , or hydroxycarboxylic acids , such as ω - hydroxycaproic acid , may also be used . the polyethers useable include those which contain at least two , generally from two to eight and preferably two to three hydroxyl groups , and are also known . they may be prepared by polymerization of epoxides , such as ethylene oxide , propylene oxide , butylene oxide , tetrahydrofuran , styrene oxide or epichlorohydrin , either alone , e . g . in the presence of bf 3 , or , by an addition reaction of these epoxides , optionally as mixtures or successively , to starting components which contain reactive hydrogen atoms , such as water , alcohols or amines including ethylene glycol , propylene - 1 , 3 - or - 1 , 2 - glycol , trimethylolpropane , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dihydroxydiphenylpropane , aniline , ammonia , ethanolamine or ethylene diamine . sucrose polyethers such as those described in german auslegeschrift nos . 1 , 176 , 358 and 1 , 064 , 938 may also be used according to the invention . it is frequently preferred to use polyethers which contain predominant amounts of primary oh - groups ( up to 90 %, by weight , based on all the oh - groups present in the polyether ). polyethers which are modified with vinyl polymers , e . g . the polyethers obtained by polymerizing styrene or acrylonitrile in the presence of polyethers ( u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 383 , 351 ; 3 , 304 , 273 ; 3 , 523 , 093 and 3 , 110 , 695 , and german patent 1 , 152 , 536 ) as well as polybutadienes which contain oh - groups are also suitable . suitable polythioethers include the condensation products obtained by condensing thiodiglycol either on its own and / or with other glycols , dicarboxylic acids , formaldehyde , aminocarboxylic acids or amino alcohols . the products obtained are polythio mixed ethers , polythioether esters or polythioether ester amides , depending on the co - components . suitable polyacetals include the compounds which may be prepared from glycols ( such as diethylene glycol , triethylene glycol , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dioxethoxy - diphenyldimethylmethane and hexane diol ) and formaldehyde . polyacetals suitable for the purpose of the invention may also be obtained by polymerizing cyclic acetals . suitable polycarbonates which contain hydroxyl groups are known , and include the compounds obtained by reacting diols ( such as propane - 1 , 3 - diol , butane - 1 , 4 - diol and / or hexane - 1 , 6 - diol , diethylene glycol , triethylene glycol or tetraethylene glycol ) with diaryl carbonates ( such as diphenyl carbonate ) or phosgene . suitable polyester amides and polyamides include the predominantly linear condensates obtained from polybasic saturated and unsaturated carboxylic acids or anhydrides thereof and polyvalent saturated and unsaturated amino alcohols , diamines , polyamines and mixtures thereof . polyhydroxyl compounds which contain urethane or urea groups and modified or unmodified natural polyols , such as castor oil , carbohydrates or starch , may also be used . addition products of alkylene oxides with phenol - formaldehyde resins or with ureaformaldehyde resins may also be used according to the invention . examples of these compounds which may be included according to the invention are known and have been described , e . g . in high polymers , volume xvi , &# 34 ; polyurethanes , chemistry and technology &# 34 ;, published by saunders - frisch , interscience publishers , new york , london , volume i , 1962 , pages 32 - 42 and pages 44 - 54 and volume ii , 1964 , pages 5 - 6 and 198 - 199 and in kunststoff - handbuch , volume vii , vieweg - hochtlen , carl - hanser - verlag , munich 1966 , pages 45 to 71 . compounds with a molecular weight of from 32 to 400 which contain at least two hydrogen atoms capable of reacting with isocyanate may also be used as starting components according to the invention . these substances are also compounds which contain hydroxyl groups and / or amino groups and / or thio groups and / or carboxyl groups . preferably , these compounds have hydroxyl groups and / or amino groups , and serve as chain - lengthening or cross - linking agents . these compounds generally contain from 2 to 8 hydrogen atoms capable of reacting with isocyanates , preferably 2 or 3 such hydrogen atoms . the following are mentioned as examples of such compounds : ethylene glycol , propylene - 1 , 2 - and - 1 , 3 - glycol , butylene - 1 , 4 - and - 2 , 3 - glycol , pentane - 1 , 5 - diol , hexane - 1 , 6 - diol , octane - 1 , 8 - diol , neopentyl glycol , 1 , 4 - bishydroxymethyl cyclohexane , 2 - methyl - 1 , 3 - propanediol , glycerol , trimethylolpropane , hexane - 1 , 2 , 6 - triol , trimethylolethane , pentaerythritol , quinitol , mannitol and sorbitol , diethylene glycol , triethylene glycol , tetraethylene glycol , polyethylene glycols with a molecular weight up to 400 , dipropylene glycol , polypropylene glycols with a molecular weight up to 400 , dibutylene glycol , polybutylene glycols with a molecular weight up to 400 , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dihydroxy diphenylpropane , dihydroxy methyl hydroquinone , ethanolamine , diethanolamine , triethanolamine , 3 - aminopropanol , ethylene diamine , 1 , 3 - diaminopropane , 1 - mercapto - 3 - aminopropane , 4 - hydroxyphthalic acid or 4 - aminophthalic acid , succinic acid , adipic acid , hydrazine , n , n &# 39 ;- dimethyl hydrazine and 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diaminodiphenylmethane . according to the invention , the starting components can be reacted together by the known one - step process , prepolymer process or semi - prepolymer process , in many cases using mechanical devices , such as those described in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 764 , 565 . details concerning processing apparatus which may also be used according to the invention may be found in kunststoff - handbuch , volume vi , published by vieweg and hochtlen , carl - hanser - verlag , munich 1966 , pages 121 to 205 . ir spectroscopic investigation of the isocyanurate foams produced according to the invention shows high proportions of isocyanurate rings in addition to small quantities of carbodiimide groups . the foams obtained according to the invention may be used as insulating materials in the building industry or in the technical field or as constructional material and in the furniture industry . the ether esters obtained according to the invention may also be used as starting materials for the production of cellular or homogeneous polyurethane resins which in turn may be used as coatings , insulations or lacquers . ( a ) 50 parts by weight of the ether were dissolved in 50 parts by weight of triethylene glycol by heating . the bromine content of the solution is approximately 25 %. the hydroxyl number of the solution is 464 . the solution solidifies to a stiff crystalline paste on cooling to room temperature . ( b ) 50 parts by weight of the above - mentioned ether were dissolved in 50 parts by weight of polyethylene glycol ( molecular weight 400 ). the bromine content is approximately 25 % and the hydroxyl number of the mixture 218 . the solution solidifies to a crystalline product on cooling to 20 ° c . ( c ) 50 parts by weight of the above - mentioned ether are dissolved in 50 parts by weight of an ester which contains hydroxyl groups . the ester was prepared by condensing 2 mols of adipic acid with 3 mols of triethylene glycol . the bromine content is about 25 % and the hydroxyl number of the solution 175 . the solution , which is clear when hot , solidifies to a crystalline product on cooling to room temperature . 1150 parts by weight of bis - β - hydroxyethyl tetrabromobisphenol , 750 parts by weight of triethylene glycol , 403 parts by weight of adipic acid and 2 parts by weight of titanium tetrabutylate are heated to 170 ° c . for 19 hours in a conventional esterification apparatus and stirred while nitrogen is passed through it . the acid number drops to 3 . 5 mg of koh per g . over a condensation time of 15 hours and does not drop any further thereafter . the reaction mixture is cooled to from 120 ° to 125 ° c . and the acid number is reduced to zero by the introduction of ethylene oxide over a period of 6 hours . the reaction mixture is then stirred under vacuum at from 80 ° to 100 ° c . for 1 hour to remove unreacted ethylene oxide dissolved therein . 2180 parts by weight of a brownish - colored oil are obtained . the product contains approximately 52 % of tetrabromobisphenol bis - ether . the product retains its liquid consistency even when stored at from 0 ° to 10 ° c . 1150 parts by weight of bis - β - hydroxyethyl tetrabromobisphenol , 750 parts by weight of triethylene glycol , 520 parts by weight of adipic acid , 18 . 5 parts by weight of maleic acid anhydride , and 2 parts by weight of titanium tetrabutylate are heated to 170 ° c . for 24 hours as described in example 1 . at the end of this time , the esterification product has an acid number of 4 , which is reduced to zero by treating the product with ethylene oxide at 130 ° c . 2310 parts by weight of a brownish , viscous oil which has the following characteristics are obtained : ______________________________________viscosity : 140 p / 25 ° cbromine content : 24 . 0 - 24 . 1 % oh - number : 150 - 151______________________________________ 1150 parts by weight of bis - β - hydroxyethyl tetrabromobisphenol , 750 parts by weight of triethylene glycol , 420 parts by weight of tetrahydrophthalic acid , and 2 parts by weight of titanium tetrabutylate are heated to 170 ° c . for 24 hours as described in example 1 , the acid number dropping to 4 in the course of this time . the reaction product is cooled to 125 ° c . ethylene oxide is then introduced for several hours , during which time the acid number drops to zero . the esterification mixture is heated to 120 ° c . under a vacuum for 1 hour to remove unreacted ethylene oxide . the resultant product is a brownish - colored oil which shows no tendency to crystallization even when left to stand at low temperatures for some time . 230 parts by weight of bis - β - hydroxyethyl tetrabromobisphenol , 75 parts by weight of triethylene glycol , 100 parts by weight of polyethylene glycol ( molecular weight 400 ), 73 parts by weight of adipic acid and 1 / 2 part by weight of titanium tetrabutylate are heated to from 160 ° to 167 ° c . for 21 hours as described in example 1 . the acid number of the resulting ester is 2 . 3 . the reaction mixture is then treated with ethylene oxide at from 118 ° to 122 ° c . to eliminate the acid number . 470 parts by weight of a dark - brown resins which has the following characteristics are obtained : 1896 parts by weight of bis - β - hydroxyethyl tetrabromobisphenol , 1125 parts by weight of diethylene glycol and 1023 parts by weight of adipic acid are heated to 160 ° c . for 33 hours while nitrogen is passed through the mixture . the acid number of the esterification product at the end of this time is 5 . 4 . the reaction mixture is then treated with ethylene oxide at 130 ° c . until no acid number can be found . 3440 parts by weight of a brownish , viscous oil which has the following characteristics are obtained : 990 parts by weight of tetrabromobisphenol are dissolved in 750 parts by weight of triethylene glycol with the addition of 2 parts by weight of sodium phenolate and heated to 125 ° c . with stirring . 190 parts by weight of ethylene oxide are then introduced at a temperature of from 125 ° to 130 ° c . in the course of 71 / 2 hours . a vacuum is applied when all the ethylene oxide has been added , and the reaction mixture is maintained at from 125 to 130 ° c . for 1 hour with stirring to remove unreacted ethylene oxide . the reaction mixture solidifies to a crystalline mass on cooling . 403 parts by weight of adipic acid and 2 parts by weight of titanium tetrabutylate are then added under normal pressure at a temperature of 110 ° c . the reaction mixture is heated to 160 ° c . for 1 hour while nitrogen is introduced and it is then stirred at this temperature for 4 hours . 57 parts by weight of h 2 o distil off during this time . a vacuum is then applied and heating is continued at a pressure of from 16 to 18 torr for 3 hours , during which time a further 20 parts by weight of water is split off . a pale - yellow , viscous oil which has the following characteristics is obtained : ______________________________________viscosity : 52 p / 25 ° cbromine content : 26 . 0 % oh - number : 197 - 203acid number : 1 . 2______________________________________ a mixture of 66 . 7 parts by weight of the polyether ester from example 2 , 33 . 3 parts by weight of a propoxylated ethylene diamine ( oh - number 650 ), 1 part by weight of a commercial foam stabilizer ( l 5320 , union carbide co . ), 1 part by weight of triethylamine and 25 parts by weight of trichlorofluoromethane is vigorously mixed with 100 parts by weight of a crude 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diphenylmethane diisocyanate ( nco content 31 % b . w .) by stirring for 5 seconds . the setting time is 15 seconds . a hard polyurethane foam which is &# 34 ; normally inflammable &# 34 ; according to din 4102 and has a gross density of 30 kg / m 2 is obtained , whereas foams which do not contain the polyether ester according to the invention , but are otherwise similar are found to be &# 34 ; easily inflammable &# 34 ;. a mixture of 30 parts by weight of the polyether ester from example 4 , 10 parts by weight of trichloroisopropyl phosphate , 3 parts by weight of the aminopolyether from example 7 , 1 part by weight of glycerol , 1 part by weight of the stabilizer from example 7 , 1 . 5 parts by weight of a 25 % solution of potassium acetate in diethylene glycol and 22 parts by weight of trichloro fluoromethane is mixed with 100 parts by weight of an isocyanate prepolymer in an hk 500 foaming machine manufactured by hennecke / birlinghoven . the prepolymer was prepared from 95 parts by weight of the isocyanate from example 7 and 5 parts by weight of a polypropylene glycol with oh - number 200 . the reaction mixture is introduced for 15 seconds into a mold measuring 1 × 1 m . the foam rises to a height of about 50 cm and sets after 40 seconds . the foam , which contains predominantly polyisocyanurate groups , has a gross density of 35 kg / m 3 and is classified as &# 34 ; flame - resistant &# 34 ; according to din 4102 . the block of foam can be cut up into panels and semi - finished half shells which can be used as insulating material in building constructions and for insulating pipes . the procedure is the same as in example 8 , but the quantity of catalyst ( potassium acetate solution ) is increased to 2 . 0 parts by weight and in addition 0 . 5 parts by weight of tris ( dimethylaminomethyl )- phenol are used . this formulation is worked - up in a commercially available double conveyor belt installation manufactured by hennecke / birlinghoven , siegkreis . polyethylene - coated aluminum foils are used as covering layers . the foam adheres firmly to these layers . the panels can be used for roofing buildings . if in this formulation the polyether ester according to the invention is replaced by a bisphenol - a - polyether ( with the same bromine content ) which has been brominated according to u . s . application ser . no . 373 , 230 filed july 3 , 1972 the foam will not adhere to the covering layers because it is brittle on the surface . it is to be understood that any of the components and conditions mentioned herein as suitable can be substituted for its counterpart in the foregoing examples and that although the invention has been described in considerable detail in the foregoing , such detail is solely for the purpose of illustration . variations can be made in the invention by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	2
referring to the figures , the trigger device according to the invention is disposed in a housing 20 below the path of movement m of a movable element 2 of a linear action breech block . the housing 20 is provided in its frontal region 48 with a receptacle 62 for a pressure member 94 and at its top 22 with a front opening 24 for a catch lever 100 and a rear opening 30 for a release lever 210 . between the two openings 24 and 30 there is disposed a bridge 26 . in the area to the rear of the opening 30 , transversely to the path of movement m , a bearing bolt 188 , identified in fig2 for pivotally supporting a holding lever 180 extends along an axis 182 . in the front region of the opening 30 , in the vicinity of the underside 38 of housing 20 , transversely to the path of movement m , a bearing bolt 133 , identified in fig3 for pivotally supporting a trigger lever 130 extends along an axis 132 . directly in front of the axis 132 an abutment face 44 extends transversely to the path of movement m , and in front of face 44 there is provided a recess 50 housing a spring bearing 52 . the rear boundary of abutment face 44 is defined by a control edge 46 . between edge 46 and a lower edge 39 , an opening 40 for the trigger lever 130 is provided at the underside 38 of the housing 20 . the two ends of bearing 133 and 188 are fixed in respective ones of the two sidewalls of the housing 20 . these sidewalls extend parallel to the plane of each figure and are not shown and identified in detail . in the vicinity of the rear end of the opening 30 at the top of housing 20 , a spring bearing 32 is provided . the catch lever 100 is provided with a frontal bearing face 102 which establishes a pivot bearing with a mating concave surface 95 of the pressure member 94 . the lever 100 further presents a rear side catch face 104 , an upper side control face 108 , and an intermediate face 107 between faces 104 and 108 . below the catch face 104 , lever 100 is provided with a control recess 116 , identified in fig4 which does not extend across the entire width of the lever and is not visible in the plane of the figures . a recess 114 , identified in fig3 for a catch spring 84 is disposed between a rear face 110 and a front face 112 of the underside of lever 100 . the trigger lever 130 is equipped with a bearing bush 134 , identified in fig3 for bearing bolt 133 , and an arm 154 , identified in fig2 which extends upwardly beyond the bearing bush 134 in the direction of the top 22 of the housing 20 . arm 154 carries a control tongue 156 which is oriented toward the control recess 116 of the catch lever 100 and which presents an upper edge 160 , identified in fig3 . edge 160 is followed at the top by a rear face 158 which includes a recess 145 and a control cam 144 extending along an arm 136 and ending in a spring bearing 146 and a rear abutment face 148 . in the region of the underside 137 of the arm 136 , identified in fig1 the trigger lever 130 is provided with a fork -, or yoke - shaped bearing member 138 presenting bearing 139 receiving the ends of a bearing bolt 140 carrying a control roller 142 . a third , frontal , arm 150 of the trigger lever 130 , identified in fig4 normally extends horizontally and is provided , below the control tongue 156 , with a bearing bush 166 accommodating a bearing bolt 152 , identified in fig3 supporting a one - armed lower setting lever 162 , identified in fig1 having a pivot axis 164 , identified in fig3 which is transverse to the path of movement m . in the region of the bearing bolt 152 there is disposed a reset spring 86 , identified in fig1 . the lower setting lever 162 is limited at its upper end by a lower setting face 172 , identified in fig4 which corresponds with a counterface in the form of the rear side underside face 110 of the catch lever 100 . as indicated in fig2 and 4 , the two - armed holding lever 180 is provided with a bearing bush 190 having a bearing opening 186 for the bearing bolt 188 . the front arm 192 of lever 180 , identified in fig2 ends in a holding tongue 202 , identified in fig3 having an upper edge 204 and a detent face 203 , identified in fig4 . in a supporting region 198 of lever 180 , and in the vicinity of the front of the bearing bolt 188 , there is disposed a bearing bolt 214 , identified in fig3 for supporting the release lever 210 . the rear arm 194 of the holding lever 180 has an upwardly open spring bearing 196 , identified in fig1 which is associated with the spring bearing 32 in that a holding spring 90 is accommodated in bearing 196 and is compressed between that bearing and bearing 32 . the resetting force produced by this holding spring 90 urges holding lever 180 in a clockwise direction . the release lever 210 is arranged so that , if it is deflected counterclockwise , this occurs against the resetting force of a release spring 92 , identified in fig1 and about an axis 212 , identified in fig3 which is transverse to the path of movement m . a first arm 216 of lever 210 , with a tongue 218 , identified in fig2 in the position shown in fig1 is oriented essentially perpendicularly to the path of movement m . a second arm 220 , identified in fig4 has a lateral control projection 222 , identified in fig3 and a control face 224 . the latter corresponds with the outline of control cam 144 of the trigger lever 130 . in the upper region of the control projection 222 , a spring bearing 226 , identified in fig4 is provided for the first arm 92 . 1 of the release spring 92 , while the second arm 92 . 2 of spring 92 is supported at a point 200 forming part of a downwardly facing surface 33 , identified in fig1 provided by housing 20 in the vicinity of the rear part of opening 30 . the one rear face 217 of the release lever 210 , identified in fig2 rests against a circumferential face of the bush 190 . in the front region 48 of the housing 20 , a control opening 54 , identified in fig1 with guide faces 56 and 58 , identified in fig2 is provided to receive a control bolt 68 presenting counterfaces 70 and 72 , identified in fig 3 , a lower control tongue 74 and an upper active face 78 , identified in fig1 . the control tongue 74 corresponds with the face 74 &# 39 ; of a weapon housing 700 to which the housing 20 is releasably fastened in a manner not shown . a recess 36 in the rear portion 34 of the housing 20 serves to form - lockingly accommodate the front end 36 &# 39 ; of a conventional buffer spring 36 &# 34 ;. fig1 shows the trigger device and the breech block 2 , which is shown in dot - dash lines , in the caught position . a locking spring arrangement 36 &# 34 ; presses the catch shoulder 6 of the breech block 2 , identified in fig4 against the catch face 104 of the catch lever 100 . the tongue 218 of the release lever 210 rests against the horizontal bottom face 10 of the breech block 2 and its rear face 217 rests against the circumferential face of the bush 190 . the holding lever 180 is in the illustrated deflected position with the holding spring 90 compressed . the counterface 171 of the lower setting lever 162 facing away from the lower setting face 172 rests on the abutment face 44 . the lower setting spring 86 , which is designed as a bending spring , has its first arm 86 . 1 resting against a spring bearing 170 ( fig3 ) of the lower setting lever 162 and its second arm 86 . 2 resting against a spring bearing 153 ( fig3 ) of the trigger lever 130 . to fire a shot , a trigger table ( not shown ) on the side of the gun mount is moved upwardly against the control roller 142 in such a way that the trigger lever 130 is deflected counterclockwise against the force of trigger spring 88 , until its rear abutment face 148 comes to lie against the surface 33 on the housing . each of faces 148 and 33 encloses a spring abutment receptacle for a respective end of spring 88 , as shown in fig2 . this causes the following other procedures to take place : the control tongue 156 at arm 154 of the trigger lever 130 presses onto control abutment 117 in the control recess 116 of the catch lever 100 and pivots the latter clockwise downwardly into the housing 20 ; the deflecting movement of the horizontal arm 150 of the trigger lever 130 causes the lower setting spring 86 to be tensioned in that the lower setting lever 162 is deflected clockwise by the control edge 46 ; the control cam 144 presses against the control face 224 at the control projection 222 of the release lever 210 and pivots lever 210 counterclockwise in such a manner that the lower part of one frontal face 219 of lever 210 enters into the recess 145 and the tongue 218 moves away from the lower face 10 of the breech block 2 ; and one edge 109 of the catch lever 100 passes the lower edge 8 of the breech block catch shoulder 6 and the breech block 2 is accelerated in the direction of the movement arrow m1 under the force of the locking spring arrangement . the holding lever 180 is able to move clockwise , under the urging of spring 90 , and its upper face 204 can rest against a downwardly directed face 29 at the top of the housing . the trigger device is now in the state shown in fig2 in the firing position , and remains in this position as long as the trigger table on the gun mount holds the trigger lever 130 in the position shown in fig2 . the result is a predetermined burst of fire or continuous fire , respectively . the actuating arm 136 bearing the control roller 142 on the trigger lever 130 acts as a primary actuation input , which is independent of the breech block , for the kinematic chain represented by the lever and spring arrangement for placing the catch lever 100 into the &# 34 ; fire &# 34 ; position shown in fig2 . to interrupt firing , a corresponding actuation movement is fed into the primary actuation input of the kinematic chain in that the trigger table on the gun mount side is released to cause the trigger lever 130 to return to its starting position under the force of the trigger spring 88 . the control tongue 156 at the upper arm 154 of the trigger lever 130 now releases the control abutment 117 at the catch lever 100 . under the force of the catch spring 84 , the catch lever 100 is pivoted counterclockwise and thus its control tongue 118 comes against a detent face 203 of holding tongue 202 of holding lever 180 , which face holds the catch lever 100 in the intermediate position shown in fig3 in such a manner that the upper face 108 , in the form of a control face , projects into the path of movement m of block 2 . the tongue 218 of the release lever 210 also enters the path of movement m so that as a whole a state results as shown in fig3 . the breech block 2 , whose return movement is in the direction m2 , presses , in a frontal region of the inclined control face 14 , which is not identified in detail , and thereafter in a region of the underside 10 , against the upper side control face 108 of the catch lever 100 and pivots it clockwise back into the housing 20 . during the further return movement of the breech block 2 in direction m2 , there finally results the state shown in fig4 . due to the fact that the control face 14 and finally the underside 10 of the breech block 2 abut on tongue 218 of the release lever 210 , the holding lever 180 is deflected counterclockwise so that the detent face 203 goes out of contact with the control tongue 118 of the catch lever 100 . due to the concave surface 120 of the catch lever 100 the catch lever is allowed to move clockwise in respect to the lower setting lever 162 . as soon as , during the further return movement of the breech block 2 in the direction m2 , the lower edge 8 of the catch shoulder 6 has moved past the catch lever 100 , the latter is driven , under the force of the catch spring 84 , fully into the catch position shown in fig1 . as soon as the breech block 2 , after its reversal of movement , advances again in the forward direction m1 under the force of the locking spring arrangement , its catch shoulder 6 abuts fully on the catch face 104 of the catch lever 100 . the kinetic energy , or momentum , thus dissipated by the breech block 2 leads to an axial movement of the housing 20 in the direction m1 during which the control tongue 74 of the control bolt 68 is flung against the already mentioned face 74 &# 39 ; of the weapon housing so that the active face 78 of the control bolt 68 is quickly moved against the underside face 112 of the catch lever 100 and thus counteracts the impact of block 2 on the catch lever 100 . the path over which the control bolt 68 can move upwardly from its starting position shown in fig1 is defined by a recess 80 in bolt 68 cooperating with a holding pin 82 fixed to housing 20 . as can be seen from the above description , the trigger lever 130 again acts as the primary actuation input . due to its return movement , the catch lever 100 not only reaches its intermediate position shown in fig3 but the tongue 218 of the release lever 210 also enters into the path of movement m of the breech block 2 . the catch lever 100 as well as the release lever 210 in this way form a secondary actuation input which is activated by the trigger lever 130 , providing the primary actuation input , and is dependent on the breech block . as appears from the above description , the catch lever 100 can be moved into the path of movement m of the breech block 2 only if the latter , after it has passed over the trigger device in the direction m2 , has reversed its movement to the direction m1 and the secondary actuation input has been activated in time . otherwise , the breech block 2 passes over the trigger device with the catch lever 100 in the intermediate position shown in fig3 . the latter can be freed from its intermediate position only by a counterclockwise deflection of the holding lever 180 as shown in fig4 . the articulated connection of the lower setting lever 162 to the trigger lever 130 results , in an advantageous manner , in a structure in this region which is simple and effective . a reliable recoil protection for the catch lever 100 is advantageously assured by the arrangement of the housing 20 so that it can move in the axial direction . it will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications , changes and adaptations , and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims .	5
referring to the drawings , fig1 illustrates diagrammatically singling equipment 1 for singling can lids 5 ( see fig2 ) from a row 23 of lids being transported in the direction of the arrow 22 . the lids 5 are fed , in the direction of the arrow 25 , on a conveyor belt 24 to a spreader magnet buffer magazine 4 . sensors 26 are provided to indicate the state of fill of the spreader magnet buffer magazine 4 , so that onward movement of the lids 5 , in the direction indicated by the arrow 27 , to a turntable or the like ( not shown ), and then to a glueing machine , sealing machine or other equipment ( not shown ), can proceed in a controlled manner . as can be seen from fig2 and 5 , lateral , non - magnetic guides 28 for the lids 5 are provided in the zone of transfer from the end roller 2 of the conveyor 24 to the interior 9 of the spreader magnet buffer magazine 4 . the roller 2 is made of magnetic material . in the lower part of the interior 9 of the spreader magnet buffer magazine 4 , the stored can lids 5 are positionally stabilised by permanent magnets 29 . the stabilising magnets 29 extend to a level above the zone of the conveyor end roller 2 ( see fig2 ). two carriers 8 are secured to the inner faces 11 of the walls 12 defining the interior 9 of the magazine 4 . the walls 12 are components of a housing which accommodates the stabilising magnets 29 . the carriers 8 are made of plastics material , are in the form of plates , and they support curved tracks 6 , which extend towards the conveyor end roller 2 and the magazine interior 9 . as can be seen best in fig3 and 6 , the carriers ( and therefore the curved tracks 6 ) are arranged off - centre on the right and on the left . as shown in fig2 and 5 , a can lid 5 arriving on the conveyor belt 24 in the direction of the arrow 25 , first takes up the position 5 &# 39 ; as it moves over the conveyor end roller 2 . as this happens , the leading edge ( see also fig3 ) of the lid bears against the two lateral curved tracks 6 . the distance between the shaft 18 of the conveyor end roller 2 and the curved tracks 6 ( that is to say the end faces 10 of the carriers 8 ) is such that the leading edge of the can lid assumes a downwardly inclined position ( see fig2 ). this position is also maintained when the lid leaves the magnetic end roller 2 and passes through the positions 5 &# 34 ; and 5 &# 39 ;&# 34 ; ( see fig2 ). when the trailing edge of the can lid has left the plane 17 extending approximately through the shaft 18 of the conveyor end roller 2 , the guiding function is taken over by a non - magnetic deflector 13 . this delfector 13 is constituted by a bifurcated member 14 ( see fig3 and 6 ) having two diverging limbs 15 . the free ( more widely spaced ) ends 16 of the limbs 15 are located approximately in the plane 17 . the more closely spaced ends 19 of the limbs 15 are solidly connected to a rear guide rod 20 , and lead the trailing edge of the can lid into the zone of a guiding edge 21 of the rear guide rod . in this position the can lid is substantially horizontal , as shown by the position 5 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; ( see fig2 and 6 ). as can also be seen in fig2 the conveyor end roller 2 directly adjoins the inside diameter d of the magazine interior 9 . the various positions 5 &# 39 ; to 5 &# 34 ;&# 34 ;, which the can lid 5 occupies as it changes its direction of movement , are represented in fig4 and 5 by means of the same reference numerals . fig6 provides a perspective illustration of the change in the direction of movement , and the components required for this purpose . to make the illustration clearer the housing accommodating the stabilising magnets 29 , as well as the non - magnetic guides 28 and the further lateral confines of the conveyor belt 24 have been omitted . also , the stabilising magnets 29 are not shown in their full height as seen in fig2 . it will be seen , however , that the stabilising magnets 29 stabilise the can lids in a precisely horizontal attitude , approximately in the position 5 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; ( see also fig2 ), so that additional positive guiding by curved tracks is not necessary . whereas the can lids are laterally fixed in position by the stabilising magnets 29 , the rear and front guiding is achieved by means of the rear guide rod 20 and a front guide rod 31 . the can lid 5 , therefore , leaves its horizontal position ( during movement in the direction indicated by the arrow 32 ) only to a slight extent , in the sense that the leading edge is inclined slightly downwardly , this being intended and occurring in a controlled manner .	1
throughout the drawings , the same reference numerals are used for the same elements and components . fig1 shows a plug 20 compatible with the rj45 standard . the plug 20 is provided with eight plug contacts 201 to 208 , via which the control signals and / or data streams are transmitted . a plug lock 24 is arranged opposite to the plug contacts 201 , 202 , 203 , 204 , 205 , 206 , 207 and 208 on the plug housing 22 , which allows locking the plug 20 in a suitably formed matching element ( such as a socket 40 ). by locking the plug lock 24 , the plug 20 is prevented from becoming detached and thus interrupting the control signals and / or data streams . fig2 shows a socket 40 compatible with the rj45 standard . the socket 40 matches the plug 20 described in fig1 . the socket 40 essentially consists of two basic components , the socket housing 42 and the plug receptacle 46 . the socket 40 is provided with eight socket contacts 401 to 408 arranged in the plug receptacle 46 . the control signals and / or data streams are transmitted via the socket contacts 401 , 402 , 403 , 404 , 405 , 606 , 407 and 408 . a socket lock 44 arranged in the socket housing 42 receives the plug lock 24 described in fig1 . by locking the socket lock 44 with the plug lock 24 , the plug 20 is prevented from becoming detached and thus interrupting the control signals and / or data streams . fig3 shows the plug 20 and the cable 12 comprising a plurality of conductors 14 , 15 , 16 and 17 . it further shows the plug contacts 201 to 208 and the interconnections among the plug contacts 201 to 208 . the first conductor 14 of the cable 12 is connected to the first plug contact 201 conductively connected to the fourth plug contact 204 . the second conductor 15 is connected to the second plug contact 202 conductively connected to the fifth plug contact 205 . the third conductor 16 is connected to the third plug contact 203 conductively connected to the seventh plug contact 207 . the fourth conductor 17 is connected to the sixth plug contact 206 conductively connected to the eighth plug contact 208 . fig4 shows the socket 40 with the cable 12 , which is also provided with a plurality of conductors 14 , 15 , 16 and 17 . it further shows the socket contacts 401 to 408 and the interconnections among the socket contacts 401 to 408 . the first conductor 14 is connected to the first socket contact 401 , which is connected to the fourth socket contact 404 . the second conductor 15 is connected to the second socket contact 402 , which is connected to the fifth socket contact 405 . the third conductor 16 is connected to the third socket contact 403 , which is connected to the seventh socket contact 407 . the fourth conductor 17 is connected to the sixth socket contact 406 , which is connected to the eighth socket contact 408 . the present invention comprises both a connector where the plug and socket each have their own cables , and thus a connection may be formed between the two , and a connector where the plug and socket can be attached to the same cable , for use for example an extension .	7
in the following discussion , numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details . in other instances , well - known elements have been illustrated in schematic or block diagram form in order not to obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail . additionally , for the most part , details concerning network communications , electromagnetic signaling techniques , and the like , have been omitted inasmuch as such details are not considered necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the present invention , and are considered to be within the understanding of persons of ordinary skill in the relevant art . it is further noted that , unless indicated otherwise , all functions described herein may be performed in either hardware or software , or some combinations thereof . in a preferred embodiment , however , the functions are performed by a processor such as a computer or an electronic data processor in accordance with code such as computer program code , software , and / or integrated circuits that are coded to perform such functions , unless indicated otherwise . referring to fig2 of the drawings , the reference numeral 200 generally designates an improved pll with current leakage correction circuit . the improved pll comprises a pfd 202 , a first charge pump 204 , an lpf 206 , a second charge pump 252 , a differentiator 250 , a vco 208 , and a frequency divider 210 . the illustration of the most basic components of the improved pll , though , do not necessarily lend to a complete explanation . the lpf 206 further comprises a capacitor 216 and a resistor 218 which operated on the principle of capacitive impedance where impedance of a capacitor is inversely proportional to the signal frequency . also , the first charge pump 204 further comprises a first current source 205 , a second current source 207 , a first switch 212 , and a second switch 214 . the second charge pump 252 further comprises a third current source 253 , a fourth current source 256 , a third switch 254 , and a fourth switch 255 . in a conventional pll as depicted in fig1 , though , maintaining a constant “ locked ” voltage can be difficult because of technological changes . due to better and better cmos technology , the thickness of the capacitor dielectric ( not shown ) has decreased . as a result , current leakage across the dielectric ( not shown ) becomes problematic because the voltage across the capacitor 116 of fig1 fluctuates . these fluctuations translate into severe short - term jitter in the output characteristic of the vco 108 . the addition of correction circuitry ( the second charge pump 252 of fig2 and a differentiator 250 of fig2 ) reduces the fluctuations resulting in a clean signal . the improved pll operates by maintaining charge on the capacitor 216 of the lpf 206 . a reference signal or input signal is input into the pfd 202 through a first node 222 along with feedback from the frequency divider 210 through a second node 232 . based on the comparison between the inputted signals , the pfd 202 either activates the first switch 212 of the first charge pump 204 through a third node 224 or activates the second switch 214 of the first charge pump 204 through a fourth node 226 . by activating the first switch 212 , the charge is added to the capacitor 216 of the lpf 206 through a fifth node 228 . by activating the second switch 214 , charge is removed from the capacitor 216 of the lpf 206 through the fifth node 228 . the active pulling down and pulling up the charge of the capacitor effectively changes the voltage of the lpf 206 . the voltage of the lpf 206 is then used to control the voltage of the frequency and phase of the vco 208 . the voltage of the lpf 206 is maintained at the fifth node 228 which is input into the vco 208 . the vco 208 then outputs an output signal through a sixth node 230 that has a phase and frequency that is synchronized with the input signal . the output signal from the vco 208 is input into the frequency divider 210 . also , the output signal of vco 208 is used in a variety of circuits to perform a variety of tasks . however , also attached to the fifth node 228 , is a second charge pump 252 and differentiator 250 . while the pfd 202 , first charge pump 204 , and lpf 206 are in the process of achieving phase and frequency lock , the differentiator 250 remains off . thus , initially , the second charge pump 252 and the differentiator 250 are inactive . a lock detector 260 monitors the voltages of the first node 222 and the second node 232 to determine if phase and frequency lock have been achieved . once lock is achieved , the differentiator 250 is enabled through the lock detection node 251 . the differentiator 250 then monitors the voltage at the fifth node 228 . in the process of monitoring the voltage at the fifth node 228 , the differentiator can determine the rate of change of the voltage at the fifth node 228 with respect to time or effectively determine the derivative of the voltage ( dv / dt ). the derivative of the voltage ( dv / dt ) is proportional to the leakage current through the capacitor 216 of the lpf 206 . if the rate of change of the voltage is greater than zero ( dv / dt & gt ; 0 ), then the voltage on the fifth node 228 is too high , and the fourth switch 255 of the second charge pump 252 is engaged . when the fourth switch 255 is engaged , the fourth current source 256 draws current from the fifth node 228 to lower the voltage to the proper level . if the rate of change of the voltage is less than zero ( dv / dt & lt ; 0 ), then the voltage on the fifth node 228 is too low , and the third switch 254 of the second charge pump 252 is engaged . when the third switch 254 is engaged , the third current source 253 supplies current to the fifth node 228 to increase the voltage to the proper level . also , when the rate of change of the voltage is zero ( dv / dt = 0 ), then the third switch 254 and the fourth switch 255 are disengaged . referring to fig3 a and 3 b of the drawings , the reference numeral 300 generally designates graphs depicting the comparative operations of a pll with and without current leakage correction . both fig3 a and 3 b voltages versus time graphs at node 228 of fig2 . in section 1 of fig3 a and 3 b , the first charge pump 204 of fig2 is on and the second charge pump 252 of fig2 is off . during this phase of operation , the pfd 202 and the first charge pump 204 of fig2 are actively seeking phase and frequency lock . the pfd 202 of fig2 actively engages the first switch 212 and second switch 214 of the first charge pump 204 of fig2 to achieve the proper voltage at the capacitor 216 of the lpf 206 of fig2 . in section 2 of fig3 a , when lock is achieved the first charge pump 204 of fig2 is off . also , the second charge pump 252 of fig2 is off for the purposes of illustration . after phase and frequency lock have been achieved , the voltage , in section 2 of fig3 a , is not constant . this is due to the leakage current associated with the capacitor 216 of fig2 . in section 2 of fig3 b , when phase and frequency lock are achieved , the first charge pump 204 of fig2 is off and the second charge pump 252 of fig2 is on . the second charge pump 252 of fig2 actively corrects voltage fluctuations across the lpf 206 of fig2 to maintain a constant voltage . therefore , after phase and frequency lock have been achieved , the voltage , in section 2 of fig3 b , is constant . it will further be understood from the foregoing description that various modifications and changes may be made in the preferred embodiment of the present invention without departing from its true spirit . this description is intended for purposes of illustration only and should not be construed in a limiting sense . the scope of this invention should be limited only by the language of the following claims .	7
referring now to the drawings in detail , the construction of the illustrated installation , via which the inventive method is typically carried out , will first be fundamentally described to provide for a better understanding of the operation of the inventive method . a mixture 11 , which is freed of solid contaminants , for example by filtration , sedimentation , or in some other suitable manner , is conveyed to a phase separation tank 12 ( see fig1 and 2 ). in this tank , pursuant to method step &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; a layer separation of the mixture 11 , which comprises materials that are soluble with one another to only a limited extent , is effected the separation of the mixture into an organically loaded water phase i , 13 and into a water - saturated organic phase ii , 14 is effected automatically due to gravity . the aqueous phase i , 13 contains organic components that are dissolved in a saturation concentration ; the organic phase ii , 14 is saturated with water . via a line 15 , and a three - way valve 16 that is disposed downstream therefrom , the organically loaded water phase i , 13 is first conveyed via the line 18 to a storage tank 19 ; subsequently , by shifting the three - way valve 16 , the water - saturated organic phase ii , 14 is conveyed via the line 17 to the storage tank 20 . the settling tank 12 is then ready to again accommodate the mixture 11 that is to be separated . a constant liquid stream , which is regulated in any suitable manner , is conveyed from the storage tank 20 , via a water separator 21 , to the pervaporization apparatus 29 . water that has subsequently escaped , or water that has been carried along in the storage tank 20 as a consequence of an inadequate layer separation in the phase separation tank 12 , is retained in the separator 21 . the pervaporization apparatus 29 is equipped with membranes that can absorb or adsorb water and can extract this water from the organic liquid that flows over the membranes . at the same time , entry of organic components , which cannot be prevented in every case , also occurs into the membrane ; however , this organic fraction can be suppressed to a relatively low value by selecting suitable membranes , so that the organic liquid iv leaves the pervaporization apparatus 29 , via the retentate discharge line 31 , in the desired ( low proportion of water ) form . the surface of the membrane in the pervaporization apparatus 29 is designed in such a way that the organic liquid complies with the purity requirements of a commercial product of this type , i . e . adheres to the requirements regarding residual water content for a return to a chemical process . the permeate side of the pervaporization apparatus 29 is connected via a line 3 with a condenser 33 , the back side of which is in turn connected via a line 34 to a vacuum pump 35 . by applying a vacuum to the permeate chamber of the pervaporization apparatus 29 , the water that is received by the membranes , as well as the undesired , accompanying organic fractions that enter the membranes , are conveyed by evaporation on the back side into the permeate chamber and pass via the condenser 33 into a collector tank 38 . the organically loaded water phase i , 13 that is disposed in the storage tank 19 is handled in a manner similar to the water - saturated phase ii , 14 that is disposed in the storage tank 20 . to separate non - dissolved , suspended organic drops that are carried along , the organically loaded water phase i , 13 passes through the separator 22 , which is designed as a lubricant , fuel , or solvent trap ; the separator 22 is generally a so - called gravity separator or coalescer . the stream of water leaving the separator 22 via the line 26 the contains only dissolved quantities of organic substances and in this form enters the pervaporization apparatus 28 . in this apparatus , the liquid is conveyed over membranes that primarily take up organic liquids , although here also a simultaneous receipt of relatively small quantities of water by the membrane cannot be entirely prevented . however , here also this undesired effect can be reduced to a value that is advantageous to the method by a suitable selection of the membranes . after leaving the membrane flow - over surface the surface area of which may be computed in the pervaporization apparatus 28 , the retentate iii water has the desired purity , with the degree of purity being adapted to be adjusted in conformity with the membrane parameters . the permeate side of the pervaporization apparatus 28 is again connected via the line 32 the condenser 33 , and the line 34 to the vacuum pump 35 . in other words , the permeate is conveyed to the collector tank 38 via the line 36 by means of continuous evaporation with the aid of the vacuum pump 35 and condensation . in relation to the product streams of the inventive method , i . e . the water iii recovered via the retentate discharge line 30 , and the organic liquid iv recovered via the retentate discharge line 31 , the permeate quantities that are produced in the installation as a whole and are collected in the tank 38 are small , typically being significantly less than 10 %, and , depending upon the purity requirement and the type of mixture 11 that is to be separated , even being less than 1 %. the permeate that is collected in the tank 38 is continuously or periodically returned to the settling tank 12 via the line 39 for further treatment or separation , thereby closing the cyclical process . an important and very advantageous characteristic of the inventive method is that no byproducts are formed , as is generally the case with distillation sumps , and no additional materials are introduced into the process , the removal of which presents further problems , as is typical for example with the known extraction processes and absorption processes . a special feature of the inventive method is also the very advantageous possibility of already being able to carry out this method at room temperature . this is particularly significant with materials that at higher temperatures undergo immediate transformations , such as styrene , which readily undergoes polymerization if heat is supplied and / or oxygen is supplied . in the embodiment illustrated in fig2 the parts of the installation that are the same as with the embodiment of fig1 have the same reference numerals . however , in contrast to the embodiment of fig1 in the embodiment of fig2 the parallel units for separating the organically loaded water phase i and the water - saturated organic phase ii are embodied as alternating units , each of which is provided with its own condenser system 33 ; 330 ( 331 ), and each of which is equipped with its own vacuum pump 35 ; 350 . such an installation is used in particular if , for example , the quantity of one group of materials ( organic components ) is much greater than the other group of materials ( water phase ). such a construction of the installation for carrying out the inventive method is selected if the ability of the permeates evaporated at the end of the pervaporization apparatus 28 , 29 to condense is different , and the performance characteristic of the membranes of the parallel processes that are utilized requires a different vacuum . as with the installation of fig1 also with the installation of fig2 the important control parameters of the method , in addition to the selection of the membrane , are the operating temperature , the operating vacuum , and the condensation temperature . the basic operating principle of the installation of fig2 is the same as that of the installation of fig1 . however , the storage tank 20 that contains the organically loaded water phase i , as well as the portion of the installation that follows , are several times larger than the storage tank 19 that is provided for the water - saturated organic phase ii . this is always expedient if the water - saturated organic phase ii is the considerably greater amount or in comparison to the organically dissolved portion in the water phase has a very high water content . from time to time , subsequently escaping , undissolved water can additionally be discharged via the line 27 in the installation of fig2 from the sump of the storage tank 20 into the collector tank 38 . in principle , the portion of the installation for the organically loaded water phase operates identically to that of the installation illustrated in fig1 . if the organic components of the water - saturated organic phase cannot be very easily evaporated or are highly toxic materials , a condensation variant using freezing technology can be selected , with the two condensers 330 , 331 provided therefor being supplied with cooling agents . since the permeate vapors that exit the pervaporization apparatus 28 at the line 32 partially freeze solidly in the condensers 330 , 331 , these permeate vapors can be alternately acted upon while at the same time the respective other side is melted and the liquid condensate is withdrawn into the collector tank 38 . this requires a series of switching , shutoff , and venting fittings , which are not separately indicated . this form of condensation is required if small quantities of highly toxic materials are involved that cannot be allowed to pass into the air via the discharge side of the vacuum pump . by means of the feed pump disposed at the outlet of the collector tank 38 , the permeates that have been collected , just as with the specific embodiment illustrated in fig1 are again conveyed via the line 39 to the settling tank 12 to close the cycle . in the embodiment illustrated in fig3 parts of the installation that were described in conjunction with the embodiments of fig1 and 2 have been leftoff for the sake of simplification . the embodiment of fig3 differs from the two preceding embodiments in that the settling tank 12 in which a first separation step of the mixture 11 that is supplied was achieved by the effect of gravity is omitted . in place of the settling tank 12 , a centrifuge or coalescer 43 is provided that undertakes the separation of the mixture 11 into an organically loaded water phase i and water - saturated organic phase ii . the modified installation illustrated in fig3 is selected in particular if the untreated mixtures are emulsions or tend to form emulsions . the phases i and ii that are separated by the centrifuge or coalescer 43 are conveyed into storage tanks 41 , 42 , from where they are in turn conveyed into the pervaporization apparatus 28 , 29 , as was the case in the preceding embodiments . to generate a vacuum , in the embodiment of fig3 a vacuum pump 35 in the form of a liquid closed - circuit pump is used with which the permeate formed at the condenser 33 , accompanied by a mixture with the circuit fluid of the pump ( water ), passes into a collector tank 38 that at the same time serves as a circuit liquid tank . due to the continuous flow of the permeate , an overflow results at the collector tank 38 that for further treatment flows via the line 39 into the centrifuge or coalescer 33 , from where it is treated in the same way as the mixture 11 that is constantly supplied to the installation . with all three of the installation variants described in conjunction with fig1 to 3 , in order to protect the environment during disruptions in operation or during loss in efficiency of the membranes , a simple safety disconnect or shutdown is provided in that merely the feed valves to the pervaporization apparatus 28 , 29 have to be regulated or closed . by means of analysis signals of the water content of the retentate of the organic phases , it is additionally possible to regulate the supply thereof relative to a set reference value . the organic residual load of water is similarly regulated in conformity with the regulating magnitude for the feed to the pervaporization apparatus 28 that is provided therefor . thus , for example , density resonators , differential refractometers , or similar devices , as signal emitters , can reliably control the process that takes place in the installation . where the membrane becomes damaged or fails , float switches can be effective that are disposed at a low spot of the permeate chamber of the pervaporization apparatus 28 , 29 , and that when liquid flows through immediately close appropriate regulating valves for the feed of the phases i , ii , while the contents of the membrane chambers can still be drawn into the collector tank 38 without difficulty . the same function can be assumed by pressure gauges in the permeate chamber that upon increase in pressure close off the feed means to the pervaporization apparatus 28 , 29 . in summary , it should be noted that the very simple safety precautions and uncomplicated emergency shutoff devices and measures that are possible pursuant to the present invention are not possible with the heretofore known hybrid techniques using distillation or reverse osmosis or even more complicated systems , even in combination with pervaporization processes . ______________________________________examples for providing parallel modular apparatuswith membranes : ______________________________________removal of water from the organic phase : suitability for removalmembrane type of water______________________________________polyethylene not with naphthenes andcarboxylate aliphaticsmembranespolyethylene not with naphthenes andsulfonic acid aliphaticsmembranesacetyl cellulose not with halogen hydro - membranes carbons and ketones ; otherwise universally usable______________________________________regeneratecelluloses universally usable______________________________________ion exchanger not in media that havemembranes a solvent effect upon ( polyelectrolytes ) the matrixon a base of acrylicacid , divinylbenzenesulfonic acidperfluorosulfonic not with alcoholsacidpolytertiary amines not in saponifying mediapolyquaternary not in saponifyingammonium salts mediapolyamides not with halogen hydrocarbons______________________________________removal of organic components from the waterphase : membrane type suitable for______________________________________silicone membranes aromatics , aliphaticspolyvinylidene esters , ketones , ethersfluoride membranesmicroporous ptfe mineral oil components , membranes ether - type oils , styrenepolypropylene olefins , naphthenesmembranes withor without amicroporousstructurepolyvinyl isobutyl carboxylic acids , ether membranes halogen hydrocarbonspolyether block aromatics , higheramide membranes alcohols , halogen hydrocarbonspolyeurethane fluorochlorohydro - membranes carbons , carburetor fuels , kerosenechlorinated rubber ketones , esters , membranes aromatics , halogen hydrocarbons______________________________________ ______________________________________example of the inventive method______________________________________cleaning a mixture of tank wash of a chemical tanker ( mono - styrene transport ) composition of the mixture : 4 % styrene ( contains 20 ppm 1 , 2 dihydroxi - 4 - tert .- butylbenzene ) 96 % water containing 1200 ppm dissolved inorganic salts , sodium chloride plus hardening constituentquantity untreated mixture : 25 , 000 kgoperating temperatures : 298 k . processing time : 24 hafter moving through the separator , two phases areobtained : 1 , 000 kg styrene with 400 ppm dissolved water plus20 ppm 1 , 2 dhtbb24 , 000 kg water phase with 225 ppm styrene plusinorganic saltsmembrane type 1 acetyl - cellulose 2 , 5 ( styrene drying ): membrane surface 1 : 6 m . sup . 2membrane type 2 polyether block amide ( decontamination ofwater ): membrane surface 2 : 31 m . sup . 2operating vacuum : less than 5 mbarinternal return via 0 , 7 % ( corresponding torecirculation pump : 7 , 2 kg / h ) composition of return : 10 , 2 % styrene 89 , 8 % waterproduct 1 : 41 , 67 kg / h styrene with 20 ppm stabilizer ( dhtbb ) and less than 10 ppm waterimmediately usable in a processproduct 2 : 1 , 000 kg / h purified water containing less than 10 ppm styrene and 1 , 200 ppm dissolved inorganic saltssatisfies the waste water regulations , and can be immediately discharged or reused______________________________________ 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 .	1
an embodiment of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings . fig4 shows an example of the optical recording / playback apparatus based on this invention . the apparatus 10 includes an optical system 20 disposed under a magneto - optical disk ( mo disk ) 18 . in this example , the optical system 20 consists of a fixed optical system 20a including a laser source and a movable optical system 20b which directs the laser beam from the laser source to the lower side of the disk 18 and implements the focusing and tracking servo control for the laser beam . the movable optical system 20b includes an objective lens 32 , a lens actuator ( not shown ) for moving the objective lens 32 for focusing and tracking , and a polarizing prism 30 for altering the light path . the fixed optical system 20a includes a laser source 22 which is a laser diode ld . the laser diode ld emits a laser beam , which is formed into a parallel light beam by a collimator lens 24 , diffracted by a grating 26 which is a diffraction prism , and is incident to a beam splitter ( bs ) 28 . the laser beam which has passed through the beam splitter 28 is directed by the polarizing prism 30 in the movable optical system 20b and projected by the objective lens 52 on to the surface of the mo disk 18 . the projected laser beam on the mo disk 18 has its reflected light optically polarized based on the kerr effect depending on the state of a recorded signal on the disk surface . the polarized and reflected laser beam goes through the beam splitter 28 and is incident to a wollaston prism 34 , which is a kind of double refraction prism , by which the reflected light is separated into a p - component wave and a s - component wave . the reflected light is converged by a lens 36 , and is incident to a multilens 38 , by which the p - component wave and s - component wave are directed to photosensors 40 which are photodiodes pd1 and pd2 . the photodiodes pd1 and pd2 have their output currents subjected to a differential process so that the common - phase noise components are cancelled and opposite - phase signal components are summed , and data recorded in the data recording area mo is read out in enhanced condition of s / n ratio . address data recorded in the address area add is retrieved from the light level signal resulting from the common - phase summation of the photodiode readout signals . although the number of photodiodes 40 and the treatment of their output currents differ depending on whether the optical pickup system is formed of an optical system that separates the reflected light into the p and s components , such as a wollaston optical system ( polarizing prism ), or a double astigmatism ( d - as ) optical system based on the astigmatism scheme , the final light level signal is produced by composing all photodiode currents in any of these optical systems and the signal is not significantly affected by the arrangement of optical system . this embodiment uses the wollaston optical system , in which case the focusing servo signal is produced by another optical system separately from the light level signal . the reflected light from the mo disk 18 is partly used in an automatic power control ( apc ) loop for stabilizing the emission output of the laser diode ld . specifically , part of the reflected light is directed to a polarizing beam splitter ( pbs ) 42 , by which the light is attenuated , and projected by a lens 44 to a photodiode ( front photodiode ) pd3 . the detected signal is fed through an operational amplifier 52 and another operational amplifier 54 , which determines the characteristics of a loop filter in the apc loop 48 , to a laser drive amplifier 56 in a laser drive system 50 . since the intensity of reflected light is proportional to the laser power ( emission power ), the state of driving of the laser diode ld is stabilized by the apc loop 48 and the s / n ratio is improved eventually . the laser drive system 50 includes a high - frequency signal generation circuit 58 , which supplies a high - frequency signal hf of the order of 100 mhz to the laser drive amplifier 56 so that the driving ( excitation ) of the laser diode ld is modulated at this frequency . the superimposition of the high - frequency signal on the drive current of the laser diode ld alleviates the laser noise . the light source 22 incorporates a photodiode ( rear photodiode ) pd4 located in close proximity to the laser diode ld , and it detects the intensity of the light emitted by the laser diode ld . the reflected light from the mo disk 18 partially returns to the laser diode ld by way of the beam splitter 28 as mentioned above , causing the creation of laser noise . it is not possible to place an optical isolator in the path of the return light , which is used in the optical system of compact disk , and therefore the level of this return light ( quantity of light ) is significantly high . the quantity of light emission is varied by the return light , and the output of the rear photodiode pd4 includes a noise component ( laser noise ) modulated by the return light . the detection output of light emission is fed to a current - to - voltage converting amplifier 60 having low - noise characteristics in a wide frequency range , by which noise components of the order of 100 khz to the order of 1 mhz that is the bandwidth of the readout signal , are taken out . the laser noise component has its bandwidth limited ( adaptation ) by a loop filter 62 in the negative feedback loop 64 , and the result is fed back negatively to the laser drive amplifier 56 . based on this feedback , particularly negative feedback in the wide band including the laser noise region , the emission of laser diode ld is stabilized and the influence of the return light on the laser diode ld can be avoided . consequently , the laser noise is reduced significantly . the light level signal produced by the common - phase summation of the output currents of the photodiodes 40 is fed to the data reproducing circuit 80 shown in fig1 by which address data is reproduced . in fig1 each of the photodiodes pd1 and pd2 represents expediently four photodiodes provided for each of two optical pickup systems , and its light level signal is simply the sum of the actual output currents of these photodiodes . the output currents of the photodiodes pd1 and pd2 are fed to respective d . c . amplifiers 81a and 81b , by which the current signals are converted into voltage signals . the resulting voltage signals are applied to one end of each separate input resistors r1a , r1b ( where r1a = r1b ) of a summing amplifier 83 , which is also a d . c . amplifier , having a feedback resistor r2 connected between the input and output terminals . the feedback resistor r2 is shunted by a switching means 85 when it turns on in response to a switching pulse sp received on the terminal 86 . the summing amplifier 83 has its output 83a fed to a data extracting comparator ( zero - cross detection circuit ) 88 by way of a high - pass filter 87 for a . c . coupling and d . c . blocking , and the extracted data is delivered to the output terminal 89 . in the data reproducing circuit 80 arranged as described above , the output currents of the photodiodes pd1 and pd2 are converted into voltage signals by the d . c . amplifiers 81a and 81b , and the voltage signals are summed by the summing amplifier 83 . the switching means 85 provided on the feedback path of the amplifier 83 turns on in response to the switching pulse sp during the period of the data recording area mo ( see fig2 b ). during the off - period of the switching means 85 for the address area add , the light level signal is amplified by the gain which is determined by the resistance values of the resistors r1a , r1b and r2 . the switching means 88 turns on during the period of the data recording area mo , causing the resistor r2 to be shunted by it so that the amplifier has a zero gain , resulting in an amplifier output waveform as shown by fig2 c . namely , the conventional circuit arrangement which does not alter the gain of amplifier has its d . c . output level of the light level signal varied greatly as shown by fig2 a , whereas the inventive circuit arrangement forces the amplifier to have a zero gain during the period of the data recording area mo so that only the amplified signal of the address area add has the d . c . level shown by fig2 a . the amplifier output of this waveform is fed to the high - pass filter , which then produces a differentiation pulse having a peak level determined from the d . c . level difference , i . e ., the output signal has a small level variation in the portion of the address area add as shown by fig2 d . this signal level variation is small enough for the comparator for data reproduction to follow accurately , and data in the address area add can be read out without error . fig3 shows another embodiment of this invention , in which component parts identical to those of fig1 are referred to by the same symbols . this circuit arrangement includes a resistor r3 connected in series to the switching means 85 . due to the presence of the resistor r3 , the on - state of the switching means 85 does not cause the summing amplifier 83 to have a completely zero gain , resulting in a small d . c . output during the period of the data recording area mo as shown by fig2 e . however , this d . c . output for the data recording area mo is eliminated when the signal is fed through the high - pass filter , which then produces the same differentiation output shown by fig2 d . the resistors r1 , r2 and r3 have their resistance values set arbitrarily . although the switching means 85 may also be closed in operational modes having a small d . c . level difference between the address area add and data recording area mo as in the reading mode , this operation may be omitted in the reading mode . in the recording mode , there is a great difference in laser power between the address area add and data recording area mo , and therefore the application of this invention obviously attains the same effect as in the erasing mode . fig1 shows the circuit arrangement for forming the switching pulse sp . when the optical recording / playback apparatus 10 is in the reading mode , data extracted by the zero - cross detection circuit 88 is sent from the output terminal 89 to an address data identifying circuit 91 . the address data identifying circuit 91 identifies address data add1 , add2 and add3 in the reproduced data and produces a pulse signal at each identification . accordingly , the circuit 91 produces three pulses at maximum in correspondence to the address data add1 , add2 and add3 . these pulses are fed to a flag generation circuit 92 . the flag generation circuit 92 generates a flag in a certain timing relationship with the sector marker sm regardless of the number of pulses ( one , two or three ) received . the flag indicates that any of address data add1 , add2 and add3 has been identified , and it is fed to a flag period measuring circuit 93 and window pulse generation circuit 94 . the flag period measuring circuit 93 counts period measuring clock pulses between time points of flag reception and delivers the count value as period data to the window pulse generation circuit 94 . the window pulse generation circuit 94 anticipates the timing of readout of the address area add based on the time point of flag generation and the period data , and generates a window pulse at the anticipated timing . in order to cope with the suspension of flag generation , the window pulse generation circuit 94 has a function of generating dummy flags that have timing information of the flag before it has ceased and holding the period data , so that the circuit produces window pulses from these information and delivers the window pulses uninterruptedly even if the supply of flag is suspended at the time of mode switching or the like . the generated window pulse is used for the switching pulse sp . although the optical recording / playback apparatus of the foregoing embodiments use the optical system which separates the reflected light into the p and s components , the present invention is also applicable to optical recording / playback apparatus which use the usual optical system having its objective lens 32 and laser diode accommodated in the same housing . as described above , the optical recording / playback apparatus based on this invention has its operational amplifier devised to have a zero or near - zero gain by being timed to the treatment of the light level signal of the data recording area . consequently , even if the light level signal varies the d . c . level greatly , the differentiation waveform can have a moderate peak level and the multiple precoded address data including the leading one can be read out reliably . accordingly , the present invention can be applied suitably to optical recording / playback apparatus using magneto - optical disks on which the precoded address area is read out in the form of a light level signal . in addition , the present invention can be applied suitably to optical recording / playback apparatus of phase - change recording type using optical recording mediums on which the precoded address area is read out in the form of a light level signal .	6
the present invention is here described in detail with reference to embodiments illustrated in the drawings , which form a part here . other embodiments may be used and / or other changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure . the illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description are not meant to be limiting of the subject matter presented here . embodiments may provide a readily available capability to store an emergency supply of potable water from any house faucet or spigot , in a short period of time . in some embodiments , the capacity of this supply may meet or exceed the fema - suggested 14 - liter per person amount ( 56 liters for a family of four ), and without sacrificing mobility or safety . embodiments may provide a rapidly fillable source of potable water that municipalities or other government agencies may distribute to citizens following disasters and in other emergencies . such embodiments may facilitate water distribution to citizens in larger amounts thereby reducing waste and contamination in makeshift receptacles ( e . g ., buckets ). reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings , and specific language will be used here to describe the same . it will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended . alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated here , and additional applications of the principles of the inventions as illustrated here , which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure , are considered within the scope of the invention . fig1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus 100 having a base 101 , an upper portion 109 , and panels 113 extending from the base 101 to the upper portion 109 forming a chamber 115 for housing a bladder 117 capable of storing fluids . the base 101 has side walls 102 and wheels 103 . a side wall 102 of the base may comprise a hole 105 through which a fluid dispensing attachment may be detachably coupled , such as a hose 107 or a spigot . as shown in fig1 , the exemplary hose 107 may comprise corners so as to have substantially rectangular shape , but it is to be appreciated that embodiments of such dispensing hose 107 may be rounded or be otherwise shaped so as to be capable of dispensing fluid . the base 101 may comprise a number of wheels 103 . in some embodiments , wheels 103 may be removably attached and rotatably coupled to an exterior facing , or lower side , of the base 101 . in some embodiments , such as the embodiment shown in fig1 , wheels 103 may be removably attached and rotatably coupled to axles protruding from side walls 102 of the base 101 . in some embodiments , such axles may be removably coupled to the side walls of the base . embodiments of the wheels 103 may be a size capable of mobilizing a water storage apparatus 100 through application of human - generated force . as detailed below , in some embodiments , the wheels 103 may be stored within a housing defined by the base 101 and the upper portion 109 when the side walls 102 of the base 101 are placed adjacent to side walls 110 of the upper portion 109 . in some embodiments , the wheels 103 may be a size capable of being stored in a housing between the base 101 and the upper portion 109 with the other components of the water storage apparatus 100 . a water storage apparatus 100 may comprise an upper portion 109 . embodiments of an upper portion 109 may comprise side walls 110 and an upper horizontal surface 111 . in some embodiments , a hole 112 may be formed in the upper horizontal surface 111 . in some embodiments , a cap 118 may be removably placed in the hole 112 . in some embodiments , handles 113 may be removably attached to the upper portion 109 . in the exemplary embodiment of the handles 113 , shown in fig1 , the handles 113 are attached to an upper horizontal surface 111 of the upper portion 109 . one of the exemplary handles 113 a is shown having two posts attached to the upper horizontal surface 111 of the upper portion 109 . another of exemplary handles 113 b is shown as having a first post attached to an upper horizontal surface 111 with the handle extending downward to have a second post attached to a column 116 of the chamber 115 . it is to be appreciated that embodiments of handles 113 may be attached to the water storage apparatus 100 at any number of locations such that the handles 113 are capable of aiding human grip and comfort when moving the water storage apparatus 100 by human - applied force . in some embodiments , the handles 113 may be stored in a housing between the base 101 and the upper portion 109 . in some embodiments , the handles 113 may be actuated so to provide carrying capabilities when the water storage apparatus 100 is collapsed and stored in the housing . in some embodiments , the handles 113 may be moved to another location on the water storage apparatus 100 , or detached and reattached to another location on the water storage apparatus 100 to provide carrying capabilities when the water storage apparatus 100 is collapsed and stored in the housing . a water storage apparatus 100 may comprise a chamber 115 housing a bladder 117 for storing fluids . the chamber 115 may comprise one or more panels 114 extending from a base 101 to an upper portion 109 and thereby defining the shape of the water storage apparatus 100 and the chamber 115 . embodiments of the chamber 115 may be collapsible or otherwise disassembled . in some embodiments , the panels 114 may be detached from abutting components ( e . g ., base 101 , upper portion 109 ). in some embodiments , the chamber 115 may comprise columns 116 extending from a base 101 to the upper portion 109 forming corners of the chamber 115 , the corners of the columns may have angles based on a number of sides . embodiments of the columns 116 may be detachably coupled to one or more abutting components ( e . g ., panels 114 , base 101 , upper portion 109 ). the exemplary embodiment of the water storage apparatus 100 shown in fig1 is a cube having six sides . however , it is to be appreciated that embodiments of the water storage apparatus 100 may comprise any number of sides capable of forming a chamber 115 housing a bladder 117 for fluid storage . in other words , it is to be appreciated that some embodiments of the potable water storage apparatus 100 may be substantially triangular , pyramidal , pentagonal , octagonal , or any other shape . it is to be appreciated that some embodiments of the water storage apparatus 100 may be substantially cylindrical in shape . it is also to be appreciated that the components of the water storage apparatus 100 described herein ( i . e ., a base 101 , an upper portion 109 , a chamber 115 ) may comprise a number of sides dependent upon the shape of the embodiment of the water storage apparatus 100 . thus , it is to be understood that the term “ sides ” used to describe embodiments of the water storage apparatus 100 is not intended to limit the shape of the water storage apparatus 100 , base 101 , upper portion 109 , or chamber 115 . for example , in embodiments forming a substantially cylindrical shape , the base 101 and the upper portion 109 may each form a circular shape . the chamber 115 may comprise one or more panels 113 extending from the base 101 to the upper portion 109 forming a substantially tubular shape . fig2 a shows an interior perspective view from a back side of an exemplary embodiment of a base 200 for a water storage apparatus . fig2 b shows an interior perspective from a front side of an exemplary embodiment of a base 200 for a water storage apparatus . a base 200 may comprise side walls 201 and a lower horizontal surface 202 , together defining a recess 203 on the interior of the base 200 . the base 200 may comprise a lower horizontal surface 202 having an interior side , or upper side , facing a chamber of the water storage apparatus , and an exterior side , or lower side , facing away from the chamber . the base 200 may comprise side walls 201 . the number of side walls may be based on a number of sides of an embodiment of the water storage apparatus . the side walls 201 of the base 200 may protrude upwards towards a chamber of the water storage apparatus . the lower horizontal surface 202 and the protrusion of the sides walls 201 away from the lower horizontal surface 202 , may define a recess 203 of the base 200 . in some embodiments , side walls 201 may comprise grooves 204 defined by an inner side wall 201 a and an outer side wall 201 b . these grooves 204 may receive an end of a panel or column of the chamber , and the side walls may protrude upwards an amount needed for supporting and controlling components defining the chamber . in some embodiments of the base 200 , as shown in fig2 a , bumpers 206 may be attached to a side wall on the back of the base 200 . in some embodiments of the base 200 , as shown in fig2 b , a hole 205 may be formed in a side wall 201 on the front side of the base 200 . in some embodiments , the hole 205 is may be airtight preventing fluids from escaping . in some embodiments , a bladder for storing fluids and resting in the recess 203 may comprise an orifice removably coupled to the hole 205 at an interior side of the side wall 201 . in some embodiments , a water dispenser ( e . g ., hose , spigot ) may be attached to the hole 205 on an exterior side of the side wall 201 . in some embodiments , an outer ring 205 a comprising a grommet , threaded ring , or other means for removably coupling the water dispenser may circumscribe the hole 205 . that is , embodiments of an outer ring 205 a may provide a means for attaching , screwing , or otherwise removably coupling the water dispenser to the hole 205 . fig3 shows an exterior perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an upper portion 300 for a water storage apparatus . the exemplary embodiment of the upper portion 300 comprising side walls 301 and an upper horizontal surface 302 defining a recess ( not shown ) in the upper portion 300 . embodiments of an upper portion 300 may comprise an upper horizontal surface 302 having an interior side , or lower side , facing a chamber of the water storage apparatus , and an exterior side , or upper side , facing away from the chamber . in some embodiments , the upper horizontal surface 302 may comprise a filling hole 303 that extends through the upper portion 300 to a bladder storing fluids on the interior side of the upper portion 300 . in some embodiments , the bladder may comprise an orifice that may be removably attached to the hole on an interior side of the upper portion 300 for receiving fluids to fill the bladder and / or for dispensing the contents of the bladder . in some embodiments , a cap 304 may seal the filling hole 303 formed in the upper horizontal surface 302 . the cap 304 may prevent loss of the contents of the bladder and may also prevent contamination of the contents of the bladder . as detailed later , in some embodiments , a filling hose , pipe , funnel , or other means for delivering fluids may be attached to an exterior side of the filling hole 303 and may deliver fluids to an orifice of a bladder attached at the interior side of the upper portion 300 . in some embodiments , an upper horizontal surface 302 may comprise a means for attaching handles to the upper horizontal surface 302 , for example , holes 305 for receiving posts of handles . however , other means for attaching handles to the water storage apparatus may be utilized . embodiments of an upper portion 300 may comprise a number of side walls 301 protruding downward , toward the interior of a water storage apparatus . the side walls 301 and the upper horizontal surface 302 may form a recess ( not shown ) on the interior side of the upper portion 300 . in some embodiments , the side walls 301 may comprise grooves 306 defined by an interior side wall 306 a and an exterior side wall 306 b . the grooves 306 may receive an end of a panel or column of a chamber , and the side walls may protrude downwards an amount needed for supporting and controlling the components defining the chamber . fig4 shows components defining a chamber 405 of an exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus 400 having a chamber 405 defined by a base 401 , an upper portion 403 , panels 406 and columns 407 . the water storage apparatus 400 may comprise a chamber 405 partitioning an interior space from an exterior space . the chamber 405 may be formed by the erection of the components of the water storage apparatus 400 . in some embodiments , a first end of side panels 406 and columns 407 may be inserted into grooves formed in a base 401 . in some embodiments , a flexible fluid bladder ( not shown ) may be placed in the interior space of the chamber 405 and an orifice of the bladder may be removably coupled to a hole 402 in the base 401 at the interior side of the hole 402 . the side panels 406 and columns 407 may provide a structure for containing a flexible fluid bladder while the bladder is being filled . in some embodiments , a second end of each of the side panels 406 and columns 407 may be inserted into grooves in an upper portion 403 . in some embodiments , once the orifice of the bladder is coupled to a filling hole ( not shown ) of the upper horizontal surface , the upper portion 403 may be adjoined to the side panels 406 and columns 407 of the chamber 405 , fitting the side panels 406 and columns 407 into the grooves of the upper portion 403 , thereby forming the chamber 405 . in some embodiments , the chamber 405 of the water storage apparatus 400 may be secured together by bungees ( not shown ) clipped to the upper portion 403 and base 401 , with a bungee wrapping around the chamber 405 . in some embodiments , clips , snaps , screws , or bolts may be used for securing joints of the water storage apparatus 400 . it is to be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment of the water storage apparatus 400 is shown having skeletal side panels 406 to exemplify the various features of the water storage apparatus 400 . some embodiments may comprise components having a different skeletal pattern . some embodiments may comprise components that are entirely solid . some embodiments may comprise chemical compositions rendering the components clear and see through . some embodiments may comprise chemical compositions rendering the components solid and unable to be seen through . fig5 shows an exemplary embodiment of a flexible bladder 500 for a water storage apparatus comprising a first orifice 501 and a second orifice 502 . the flexible bladder 500 may comprise one or more orifices 501 , 502 for filling the bladder 500 with fluids and / or extracting fluids from the bladder 500 . in some embodiments , a first orifice 501 may correspond with a hole in a chamber containing the bladder 500 . in some embodiments , the first orifice 501 may be detachably coupled to the corresponding hole in the chamber . in some embodiments , the first orifice 501 may be located near a top of the bladder 500 and correspond to a hole in an upper portion of the chamber . some embodiments of a bladder 500 may comprise a second orifice 502 for filling the bladder 500 with fluids and / or extracting fluids from the bladder 500 . in some embodiments , the second orifice 502 may correspond to a hole in a chamber containing the bladder 500 . in some embodiments , the second orifice 502 of the bladder 500 may be detachably coupled to the corresponding hole in the chamber . in some embodiments , the second orifice 502 may be located near a bottom of the bladder 500 and correspond to a hole in a base of the chamber . it is to be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment of fig5 shows the flexible bladder 500 as a cube merely to display the flexibility of the bladder 500 , i . e ., embodiments of a bladder 500 , when substantially filled with a fluid , may appear to take the shape of the containing chamber . the bladder 500 in fig5 is shown as being substantially cubed in shape due to the exemplary embodiment shown in the figures . however , it is to be appreciated that embodiments of the bladder 500 are not limited to the shapes shown in the exemplary embodiment of fig5 or any other exemplary embodiment described herein . it is to be appreciated that embodiments of the bladder 500 may have no pre - defined shape , embodiments of the bladder 500 may have any pre - defined shape , and / or embodiments of the bladder 500 may have a fluidly changing shape . fig6 shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus 600 from an exterior bottom - side underneath a base 601 . the water storage apparatus 600 has a base 601 , a chamber 611 housing a bladder 613 , and an upper portion 609 . the base 601 has side walls 603 and a lower horizontal surface 605 . as earlier described , a base 601 may comprise side walls 603 protruding upwards toward an upper portion 609 . in some embodiments , a rear side wall 603 a may comprise bumpers 604 or some other useful attachments . a base 601 may comprise a lower horizontal surface 605 having a face on an interior side , or upper side , and a face on an exterior side , or lower side . in some embodiments , an exterior side of the lower horizontal surface 605 may comprise a means for attaching wheels 607 to the base 601 . in some embodiments , the lower horizontal surface 605 may comprise holes ( not shown ) for receiving posts attached to wheels 607 . in other embodiments , however other means for removably attaching rotatable wheels 607 are possible . it is to be appreciated that any number of rotatably coupled wheels 607 may be attached to the water storage apparatus 600 at locations other than the base 601 or the lower horizontal surface 605 . it is to be appreciated that the wheels 607 may be of any size . fig7 shows a rear view of an assembled exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus 700 comprising a chamber 701 housing a bladder 711 , a base 703 , and an upper portion 705 . as shown in the exemplary embodiment of fig7 , a chamber 701 may be defined by a base 703 on a lower end of the water storage apparatus 700 and an upper portion 705 on an upper end of the water storage apparatus 700 . in some embodiments , sides of the chamber 701 may be defined by side panels 709 and columns 707 extending from the base 703 to the upper portion 705 . an upper portion 705 may comprise an upper horizontal surface 706 having an interior facing side , or lower side , and an exterior facing side , or upper side . in some embodiments , the upper portion 705 may comprise a filling hole 717 for accessing an orifice of a bladder 711 housed within the chamber 701 . the filling hole may be sealed with a cap 718 on the exterior side of the upper horizontal surface 706 . in some embodiments , the upper portion may comprise handles 715 . in some embodiments , the exterior side of the upper horizontal surface 706 may comprise holes or other means for attaching the handles 715 . some embodiments of a water storage apparatus 700 , may comprise a base 703 having rotatable wheels 713 detachably coupled to the base 713 . in some embodiments , a hose 719 may be detachably coupled to the water storage apparatus 700 for dispensing fluid from the bladder 711 . fig8 shows a front perspective view of an assembled exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus 800 comprising a chamber 801 housing a bladder 811 , a base 803 , and an upper portion 805 . as shown in the exemplary embodiment of fig8 , a chamber 801 may be defined by a base 803 on a lower end of the water storage apparatus 800 and an upper portion 805 on an upper end of the water storage apparatus 800 . in some embodiments , sides of the chamber 801 may be defined by side panels 809 and columns 807 extending from the base 803 to the upper portion 805 . an upper portion 805 may comprise an upper horizontal surface 806 having an interior facing side , or lower side , and an exterior facing side , or upper side . in some embodiments , the upper portion 805 may comprise a filling hole 817 for accessing an orifice of a bladder 811 housed within the chamber 801 . the filling hole may be sealed with a cap 818 on the exterior side of the upper horizontal surface 806 . in some embodiments , the upper portion may comprise handles 815 . in some embodiments , the exterior side of the upper horizontal surface 806 may comprise holes or other means of attaching the handles 815 . some embodiments of a water storage apparatus 800 , may comprise a base 803 having wheels 813 detachably connected to the base 803 . in some embodiments , a hose 819 may attach to a base 803 at a hole 820 formed into the base 803 for dispensing fluid from the bladder 811 . fig9 shows a side view of an assembled exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus 900 comprising a chamber 901 housing a bladder 911 , a base 903 , and an upper portion 905 . as shown in the exemplary embodiment of fig9 , a chamber 901 may be defined by a base 903 on a lower end of the water storage apparatus 900 and an upper portion 905 on an upper end of the water storage apparatus 900 . in some embodiments , sides of the chamber 901 may be defined by side panels 909 and columns 907 extending from the base 903 to the upper portion 905 . an upper portion 905 may comprise an upper horizontal surface 906 having an interior facing side , or lower side , and an exterior facing side , or upper side . in some embodiments , the upper portion 905 may comprise a filling hole 917 for accessing an orifice of a bladder 911 housed within the chamber 901 . the filling hole may be sealed with a cap 918 on the exterior side of the upper horizontal surface 906 . in some embodiments , such as that of fig9 , the upper portion may comprise detachable handles 915 extending from the upper portion 905 to columns 907 . the handles 915 comprise a first post removably attached to the upper portion 905 and second post removably attached to the column 915 . in some embodiments , the exterior side of the upper horizontal surface 906 may comprise holes or other means of attaching the handles 915 . some embodiments of a water storage apparatus 900 , may comprise a base 903 having wheels 913 detachably connected to the base 903 . in some embodiments , a hose 919 may attach at the base 903 of the water storage apparatus 900 and may dispense fluid from the bladder 911 . fig1 shows a top view of an assembled embodiment of a water storage apparatus 1000 comprising an upper portion 1001 having detachable handles 1007 , and a hose 1009 . in some embodiments of a water storage apparatus , such as the exemplary embodiment shown in fig1 , may comprise an upper portion 1001 having a filling hole 1005 for accessing an orifice of a bladder housed within the water storage apparatus . in some embodiments , the filling hole 1005 may be sealed by a removable cap 1005 a . in some embodiments , handles 1007 may be attached to the upper portion 1001 via handle holes 1011 in the upper portion 1001 . fig1 shows a perspective front view of an assembled exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus 1100 in which a bladder 1103 is being filled with a fluid . the exemplary embodiment of the water storage apparatus 1100 comprising an upper portion 1101 , and a chamber 1102 housing a bladder 1103 . in the exemplary embodiment of fig1 , a chamber 1102 may contain a bladder 1103 being filled with a fluid through an orifice of the bladder using a delivery hose 1107 . an upper portion 1101 may comprise a filling hole 1105 that may receive a delivery hose 1107 or other means for delivering a fluid , such as a pipe or a funnel . in some embodiments , the delivery hose 1107 may be detachably coupled to the filling hole 1105 . in some embodiments , the bladder 1103 may comprise an orifice ( not shown ) corresponding to the filling hole 1105 of the upper portion 1101 . in some embodiments , the corresponding orifice of the bladder 1103 may be detachably coupled to an interior side of the filling hole 1105 of the upper portion 1101 . a water storage apparatus 1100 may comprise a dispensing hole 1111 . in some embodiments , a fluid dispenser , such as a hose 1113 or a spigot , may be detachably connected to the dispensing hole 1111 of the water storage apparatus 1100 . in some embodiments , a bladder 1103 may comprise an orifice ( not shown ) corresponding to the dispensing hole 1111 . that is , in such embodiments , the corresponding orifice of the bladder 1103 may be detachably coupled to an interior side of the dispensing hole 1111 of the base . fig1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus in a disassembled configuration 1200 . that is , some embodiments of the water storage apparatus disclosed herein may be capable of various configurations . some embodiments of the water storage apparatus may comprise components capable of collapsing or otherwise disassembling . in some embodiments , some components , once collapsed or disassembled , may be capable of storing other components , which may also be collapsed or disassembled . as shown by fig1 , one exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus shown in a disassembled or collapsed configuration 1200 may comprise an upper portion 1201 and a base 1202 . in some embodiments , a upper portion 1201 may comprise a filling hole 1207 for filling a bladder at times when the water storage apparatus 1200 is in an assembled configuration . in some embodiments , the filling hole 1207 may be formed into an upper horizontal surface 1205 of the upper portion 1201 . in some embodiments , a base 1202 may comprise a hole 1206 formed into a side wall 1204 . in some embodiments , the hole 1206 may be for dispensing water , or other liquid , that may be stored in a bladder when the water storage apparatus 1200 is in an assembled configuration . in some embodiments , side walls 1204 of a base 1202 may protrude towards an upper portion 1201 . the upper portion 1201 may comprise side walls 1203 that may protrude towards the base 1202 , thereby forming a housing from the exemplary configuration of the disassembled water storage water storage apparatus 1200 . that is , the housing formed from the disassembled configuration of the water storage apparatus 1200 may be formed by placing the side walls 1204 of the base 1202 substantially adjacent to the side walls 1203 of the upper portion 1201 . in some embodiments , various components of the water storage apparatus in the disassembled configuration 1200 ( e . g ., panels , wheels , bladder ) may be stored within the housing . fig1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus 1300 comprising wheels 1307 protruding from side walls 1303 of a base 1301 . in some embodiments , removable axles 1305 may protrude from the side walls 1301 of the base 1301 . in such embodiments , removable wheels 1307 may be rotatably coupled to the axles 1305 on either side of the water storage apparatus 1300 . in some embodiments , the removable wheels 1307 may be rotatably coupled to axles 1305 that may attach to the base 1301 underneath the water storage apparatus 1300 at a lower horizontal surface of the base 1301 . in one example , the removable wheels 1307 may be wireframe wheels , such as bicycle wheels , and these wheels 1307 may be rotatably coupled to the axles 1305 . in some embodiments , wheels 1307 on one end of the water storage apparatus 1300 may be larger than wheels on another end of the water storage apparatus 1300 . fig1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus 1400 comprising an upper portion 1402 , a base 1404 , and a chamber 1406 situated between the upper portion 1402 and the base 1404 . in the exemplary embodiment of fig1 , the chamber 1406 comprises side panels 1408 , 1409 and columns 1410 , 1411 partitioned by a middle portion 1412 into upper panels 1408 , upper columns 1410 , lower panels 1409 , and lower columns 1411 . in some embodiments , components of a chamber 1406 may be partitioned by middle portion 1412 . the middle portion 1412 may be a coupling joint allowing adjoining panels 1408 , 1409 and columns 1410 , 1411 to be coupled together , thereby forming the chamber 1406 . in some embodiments , the middle portion 1412 may be defined by a bevel at the top of lower components 1409 , 1411 to which upper components 1408 , 1410 may be fastened . in some embodiments , the middle portion 1412 may be defined by a bevel at the bottom of upper components 1408 , 1410 . to which lower components 1409 , 1411 may be fastened . in some embodiments , the middle portion 1412 may be a solid partition partitioning the chamber 1406 , and allowing components of the chamber 1408 , 1409 , 1410 , 1411 to be fastened together and / or to the middle portion 1412 . in such embodiments , the water storage apparatus 1400 may comprise bladders within each partition of the chamber 1406 . in some embodiments , the upper portion 1402 may comprise handles facilitating human locomotion of the water storage apparatus 1400 . in some embodiments , wheels 1416 may be place on the sides of the water storage apparatus 1400 by axles protruding from the sides of the base 1404 allowing for wheels 1416 to be rotatably attached to the axles . additionally or alternatively , in some embodiments , pegs 1414 may be removably attached to the base 1404 . in some embodiments , such as the embodiment shown in fig1 , the base 1404 may comprise wheels 1416 and pegs 1414 on opposing ends of the base 1404 . the wheels 1406 may be positioned underneath handles 1418 attached to an upper 1418 such that weight of the water storage apparatus 1400 may be tilted on the axles of the base 1404 toward a human operator or other means of moving the water storage apparatus 1400 . when the water storage apparatus 1400 is relocated using the wheels 1416 , the weight may be shifted by the axles onto the pegs 1414 of the base 1404 . in some embodiments , the water storage apparatus 1400 may be disassembled in various ways for storage . in some embodiments , the components of the chamber 1408 , 1409 , 1410 , 1411 may be stored within a housing , as described earlier . in some embodiments , such as the exemplary embodiment shown in fig1 , the side panels 1408 , 1409 may be stacked onto one another and then the stack of side panels 1408 , 1409 may be placed in between the side walls of the base 1404 and the upper portion 1402 . fig1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a water storage apparatus in a disassembled configuration 1500 ready for storage . the exemplary embodiment of the disassembled or collapsed water storage apparatus 1500 may comprise an upper portion 1501 having a filling hole 1502 , a base 1503 , and a stack of side panels 1505 . in some embodiments , the side walls of a base 1503 may be abutted to side walls of an upper portion 1501 such that a housing is formed by a recess of the base facing the recess of the upper portion 1501 for storing various components of the water storage apparatus 1500 . in some embodiments , components of the water storage apparatus 1500 may fit within the storage housing formed by the base 1503 and the upper portion 1501 . in some embodiments , as in the exemplary embodiment of fig1 , side panels 1505 forming the collapsed chamber may be stacked on one another . in such embodiments , other components of the water storage apparatus 1500 may fit within a storage housing that may be formed by the base 1503 , upper portion 1501 , and the stackable side panels 1505 , such that the side walls of the base 1503 are adjacent to one end of the stack of side panels 1505 and the side walls of the upper portion 1501 are adjacent to the opposing end of the stack of side panels 1505 . in some embodiments , detachable handles 1507 may be stored within the storage housing . in some embodiments , as in fig1 , detachable handles 1507 may be attached to various areas of the storage housing to allow for easier mobility of the water storage apparatus 1500 having a different shape or construction when disassembled . the exemplary embodiments described herein relate to an apparatus capable of storing and conveying water . however , it should be appreciated that embodiments of the invention are not intended to be limited to water . it is to be appreciated that embodiments of the invention may store and / or dispense any fluids . the exemplary embodiments can relate to an apparatus for performing one or more of the functions described herein . skilled artisans may implement the described method and apparatus in varying ways for a particular use , but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention . while various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed , other aspects and embodiments are contemplated . the various aspects and embodiments disclosed are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting , with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims . the preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention . various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art , and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . thus , the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the following claims and the principles and novel features disclosed herein .	8
in the accompanying drawings the numeral 1 has been used to designate in its entirety the motive power unit of the farm implement , the numeral 3 has been used to designate generally the tiller assembly which is attached to the forward end of the motive power unit 1 to be pushed forwardly thereby . the numeral 5 generally designates the planter assembly which is towed by the motive power unit . the tiller and planter assemblies 3 and 5 may be of any suitable type which is found desirable for use in combination with a farm implement of this character . the motive power unit is mounted on a pair of front drive wheels 7 and a pair of rear drive wheels 9 . any suitable cab 11 in which the operator of the implement is seated and from which the various components of the implement are operated may be provided . adjacent the rear end of the motive power unit are positioned fertilizer , herbicide and / or insecticide tanks 13 from which the treating material is applied to the soil and incorporated by the tiller assembly 3 as the farm implement moves forwardly to the right as viewed in fig1 . any known and suitable means may be used for applying the soil treating media from the tanks 13 . as will become apparent as this description proceeds , a motor 15 ( see fig4 ) is cradled beneath the cab 11 and is operable to cause hydraulic actuation of the various components of the implement . a pair of exhaust stacks 17 eject the exhaust from the motor 15 . adjacent to but rearwardly spaced from the rear wheels 9 are a pair of transversely spaced apart scarifiers 19 , the purpose of which will be explained hereinafter in detail . as will be evident from consideration of fig2 of the drawings , batteries 21 are provided and the motive power unit may carry any other units which are necessary for the operation of the motor 15 , since these form no part of the present invention , it is not thought necessary to consider them in detail . in fig1 and 13 of the drawings , the chassis and certain other assemblies of the motive power unit of the implement are illustrated . the main frame of the motive power unit is designated generally by the numeral 23 and comprises a pair of transversely spaced apart longitudinally extending side members 25 . a rear transverse member 27 extends between and is fixed to the side members 25 . the chassis also includes a generally rectangular member designated generally by the numeral 29 which is adjacent to but slightly rearwardly removed from the forward ends of the side members 25 and this member includes a pair of transversely spaced vertically extending elements 31 and an upper and lower transversely extending element 33 , each of which is fixed to the vertically extending elements 31 . the rectangular frame like member 29 extends below the side frame members 25 as especially illustrated in fig1 of the drawings . the vertically extending elements 31 of the rectangular member 29 are fixed to each side member 25 in any suitable manner . i provide a motor mounting means or rocking cradle , which as has been explained , is mounted in the motive unit beneath the cab 11 and this motor mounting means or cradle which is designated generally by the numeral 35 is pivotally operable on a transverse horizontal axis between the vertically extending members 31 of the rectangular frame 29 . with reference particularly to fig1 of the drawings , it will be recognized that the cradle comprises a pair of transversely spaced side frame members 37 which extend forwardly from a reinforcing cross piece 39 which is fixed at its ends to the rear ends of the frame members 37 . a pair of longitudinally spaced apart motor supporting elements 41 and 43 extend between the frame members 37 and the ends of each are fixed to said frame members . it will be recognized that the motor 15 may be secured to the cross pieces in any suitable manner . each frame member 37 , adjacent to but forwardly spaced from their rear ends , is provided with circular apertures 45 , these apertures extend through the frame members 37 and are in alignment . extending through and beyond these apertures 45 is a preferably , though not necessarily , a tubular pivot member 47 and the pivot member 47 extends at each end outwardly beyond the frame members 37 and into the fixed side member 25 of the chassis . adjacent to but rearwardly spaced from the forward ends of the frame members 37 , i provide a member designated generally by the numeral 49 which comprises a transverse element 51 which is mounted on a pair of legs 53 which at their lower ends are fixed to the frame members 37 . centrally disposed on the transverse element 51 is a hitch 55 which may be of any suitable type and is adapted to hitch the tiller 3 to the motive power unit 1 . the forward ends of the frame members 37 are provided with forwardly extending knuckle elements 57 which function to raise and lower the tiller assembly 3 from and to the soil . with respect to this attaching means embodying in part the knuckles 57 , it will be recognized that anyone skilled in this discipline will understand this connection and since the connecting means does not per se form a part of this invention , it will not be described in detail . in order to cause rocking motion of the motor cradle 35 on its pivot 47 , i provide a pair of hydraulically operated cylinders 59 , the piston rods 61 thereof being pivotally attached as at 61 &# 39 ; in any suitable manner to the frame members 37 . the cylinders 59 are preferably pivotally attached at their upper ends to the upper element 33 , as at 59 &# 39 ;. any suitable means may be provided for charging the cylinders 59 with fluid and for releasing it from the cylinders when it is desired to lower the cradle , the actuation of these cylinders is controlled by the operator of the farm implement . it will now be appreciated that when it is desired to either raise or lower the tiller , the cylinders 59 are properly actuated to thereby lift or lower the motor cradle 35 which pivots on the tube or the like 47 , the knuckles 57 also being raised or lowered , and the power take off 63 will automatically and at all times be aligned with the tiller and motor . thus , the cradle 35 is rocked relative to chassis 23 . as i have stated above , the rear wheels 9 of the motive power unit are so mounted that rocking or tilting motion may occur on a longitudinal horizontal axis which i have designated by the letter t in fig5 . of the drawings , and it will be noted that in this figure the phantom lines clearly indicate this rocking or tilting motion of the rear wheels on the horizontal axis t . welded or otherwise securely fastened in transverse spaced relationship to the upper surface of the transverse member 27 are a pair of generally flat connecting members 65 for connecing the main chassis frame to the rear wheel frame and assembly . these connecting members 65 extend rearwardly from the transverse member 27 as clearly illustrated in fig6 and rearwardly extending from and fixed to the under surfaces of connecting members 65 are a pair of transversely spaced rearwardly and longitudinally extending frame members 67 . fixed to and extending between the rear ends of the members 67 is a rectangular frame member generally designated by the numeral 69 . the upper transverse member 71 of the rectangular frame 69 has fixed thereto any suitable type of planter hitch 73 and spaced therefrom and extending rearwardly from the rectangular frame 69 are a pair of connecting means 75 which function to operate means of any suitable type for raising and lowering the planter which is being towed . extending between and fixed at each end to the side members 25 of the main chassis are a pair of transverse elements 77 having a circular aperture therein which is designated generally by the numeral 87 and is substantially mid - way between the ends of the elements 77 and in line with the axis t . the rocking mounting and frame work for the rear wheels comprises a pair of upper arms 79 which extend laterally beyond the side frame members 25 . each of the upper arms 79 is positioned slightly rearwardly of the rear transverse members 27 and 27 &# 39 ; of the rear chassis and are provided with downwardly depending portions 81 from the bottoms of which extend a transverse rocking element 83 having a circular aperture therethrough which i have designated generally by the numeral 85 , this aperture being in line with the generally designated aperture 87 in the transverse fixed elements 77 and also in alignment with the generally designated circular aperture 89 in the lower transverse frame member 27 &# 39 ;. i provide a further transverse member 91 rearwardly spaced from said transverse element 83 and this transverse member is provided with a circular aperture 93 therein which is in line with the circular apertures 85 , 87 and 89 . a pair of transversely spaced rearwardly extending beam members 95 are provided and the forward ends of these beam members are spaced rearwardly from the side frame members 25 of the main chassis so that the arms 79 may rock , as will be explained , between the forward ends of the members 95 and the rear ends of the side frame members 25 . the transverse member 91 is fixed at each end as at 97 to the beam members 95 . reinforcing arms 99 may be provided between the arms 79 and the beam members 95 . what i shall term lower laterally extending arms 101 extend from each side of the arrangement in a plane below the upper arms 79 . i provide lower laterally extending arms 101 which extend beneath the beams 95 and are fixed thereto and at their inner ends are also fixed as at 103 to each end of the transverse rocking member 83 . a pivot tube or the like pivoting means 105 provides , in effect , a pivot means . the pivot element 105 is received in the aperture 87 and is fixed to the elements 77 , which it will be appreciated , are fixed to the main chassis . the pivot element 105 extends rearwardly through the aperture 89 in the transverse member 27 &# 39 ; and rearwardly from and rotatively extends through the aperture 85 in the transverse rocking element 83 . at its rear end , the pivot element 105 extends through the aperture 93 in the transverse member 91 and is fixed thereto . on each side of the transverse rocking element 83 the pivot element has fixed thereto a collar or the like 107 . consideration particularly of fig7 of the drawings indicates that each arm 79 and 101 is provided with cut - out sections 109 and that these cut - out sections in the upper and lower arms are in alignment . a steering yoke or frame of generally elongated construction is designated generally by the numeral 111 and is formed with upper and lower extending members 113 , an inner cross member 115 being connected to the ends of the upper and lower extending members 113 . the outer end 117 of the yoke is fixed in any suitable manner to a part of the wheel hub 119 . the yoke 111 is mounted for pivoting action on an axis s -- s and is mounted by means of a pair of king pins or the like 121 which are mounted in the cut - out section 109 of arms 79 and 101 . it will thus be appreciated that the yoke 111 when it is pivoted on the king pins on the axis s -- s will cause steering movement in the wheel 9 . this pivoting action is imparted to the yoke by means of a hydraulically operated cylinder 123 having a piston rod 125 extending from the front end thereof . the cylinder 123 at its other end is pivotally mounted on beam 95 . a clevis 127 operatively connects the outer end of the piston rod with the inner cross member 115 of the yoke , the fixation of the clevis to cross member 115 occurring at 129 . it will now be appreciated that upon actuation of the cylinder 123 , which is under the guidance of the operator and is controlled by the hydraulic circuit illustrated in fig1 , the yoke will be caused to pivot to thereby turn its particular wheel for steering . it will further be appreciated that each of the rear wheels and front wheels involves the mechanism just described and that such mechanism is individually and selectively operable under the guidance of the operator of the motive power unit . the front wheels 7 of the motive power unit are also individually and selectively steerable by the means which has just been described with respect to one of the rear wheels . with reference to fig1 of the drawings it is clearly indicated that the front wheels are mounted on the arms 79 and 101 and each front wheel is provided with a cylinder 123 , however , with respect to the front wheels assembly , the cylinders 123 are pivotally mounted at their rear ends to the side members 25 of the main chassis . consideration of fig5 of the drawings shows in phantom lines how the rear wheels rock to accommodate ground uneveness as the farm implement travels thereover and this rocking movement is especially illustrated and made clear in fig6 and 7 of the drawings . it must be understood that only the rear wheels are mounted to allow and produce such rocking motion . when the rear wheels rock the arm members 79 and 101 are pivoted either upwardly or downwardly on the pivot element 105 and since the arms 101 are fixed to the beams 95 these beams will also have up and down movement imparted thereto , as will the cylinders 123 to maintain their proper positions with respect to the arms 101 . thus , the rocking structure of this frame work includes the arms 79 and 101 , the yoke 111 , the cylinders 123 and the beams 95 as well as the rocking transverse member 83 . the frame work associated with the rocking frame work is fixed to the chassis and therefore will not rock and this includes the longitudinally extending frame work 67 and the rectangular frame member designated generally by the numeral 69 . it has been stated above that each wheel of the four wheel drive is independently and selectively operable by hydraulic means . in fig8 of the drawings one of the rear wheels has been illustrated and since the drive means for each wheel is similar , only one will be described in detail . it is to be appreciated that a hydraulic circuit and drive system for the wheels which is controllable by the operator of the motive power unit is provided and will be described in detail . the rim 150 of the wheel has fixed thereto an inwardly extending annular flange 152 which is bolted or otherwise affixed as at 154 to an integral part 156 of the torque hub 158 . the hydraulic motor 160 is operatively connected to the torque hub for driving the wheel . it is to be understood that the operation of each motor 160 is controllable by the operator in the cab of the motive power unit , through the hydraulic circuit disclosed in fig1 of the drawings . incorporated in this combination is a rear wheel centering device which is designated in its entirety by the numeral 131 and it is to be understood that each rear wheel mounting and steering mechanism , as disclosed in fig8 of the drawings , is provided with a rear wheel centering device 131 . this rear wheel centering device , which is shown in fig8 - 10 , comprises a plate 133 which is mounted on the underside of arm 79 , any desirable means may be used for mounting this plate . the under side of the plate is provided with a pair of cam segments 135 and 137 . mounted on the upper member 113 of the yoke 111 is a pair of micro switches 139 , each such switch having a feeler element 141 which is in contact with the cam segments 135 and 137 . when the operator desires , as when the implement is traveling over a road , he may place the switches 139 in operation with their feelers in contact with the segments and through an electric circuit , which will be understood by one skilled in this discipline , and when the feelers are in proper positions on the segments each rear wheel will be brought into centered position through the actuation of the solenoid controlled valves 294 and 296 which are disclosed in fig1 of the drawings . as the farm implement travels over the field , the tiller assembly 3 will work the soil and since the wheels of the motive power unit may compact the worked soil , the scarifiers 19 are mounted behind each rear wheel 9 to loosen the soil . each scarifier is mounted on a bracket member designated generally by the numeral 20 and each one of these brackets 20 is actuable to a raised position to move the scarifiers out of contact with the soil , this is accomplished by means of cylinders 22 , a piston rod 24 and a link member 26 which is operatively connected to the mounting bracket 20 . each hydraulic cylinder is controllable and operable by the operator of the motive power unit . the planter 5 may be raised and lowered from and to the soil by means of a draft linkage arrangement designated in its entirety by the numeral 28 . cylinders 30 are provided having piston rods 32 connected to a clevis 34 which is in turn connected to a draft mechanism 36 for this raising and lowering operation . in fig1 of the drawings , i have illustrated a hydraulic circuit for the wheel drive system for the farm implement . the numeral 200 has been used to designate the fluid reservior and a manual shut - off valve 202 is in the line from the reservoir . a filter 204 is included in the line and a charge pump 206 is included therein . at 208 a variable volume bi - directional hydraulic pump is employed so that under the control of the operator of the farm implement fluid under pressure may be directed through the line 210 or 212 . at 214 i have illustrated a right front wheel fixed displacement bidirectional hydraulic motor and at 216 in one of the lines from the right front wheel motor is inserted a flow control valve which is temperature compensated . a two way , two positioned pilot on - off valve 218 having a flow control pilot orifice 220 is provided . at 222 a 2 way , 2 position , solenoid controlled pilot actuated on - off valve with checked reverse flow is provided . a 2 way , 2 position , solenoid controlled pilot actuated on - off is at 226 while at 230 is another . at 234 &# 39 ; is a hydraulic motor for operating the right rear wheel ( one of the wheels 9 ). at 236 , i have disclosed the left front fixed displacement bidirectional hydraulic motor . a further temperature compensated flow control valve is shown at 238 and at 240 is illustrated a two way , two positioned pilot operated on - off valve and at 242 is disposed a flow controlled pilot orifice . a 2 way , 2 position , solenoid controlled pilot actuated on - off valve with checked reverse flow is at 244 . at 248 and 250 are 2 way , 2 position solenoid controlled pilot actuated on - off valves . the left rear wheel fixed displacement bi - directional hydraulic motor is illustrated at 256 . it will now be apparent that the operator of the motive power unit may control the drive actuation of the four wheels of the unit by causing actuation of the various solenoids to open and close the valves in the fluid flow lines as has just been described . fig1 illustrates the hydraulic circuit for the steering system of the motive power unit 1 . at 258 i have disclosed the fluid line from the fluid pump and a priority flow control valve 260 is inserted in this line which extends to a charlynn orbital steering unit 262 , an oil reservior 264 being provided . i have used the numeral 266 to designate the right steering cylinder which is one of the cylinders 123 , and the numeral 268 defines an oil reservior while the left front steering cylinder carries the numeral 270 and diagrametically denotes one of the cylinders 123 . the numeral 272 designates an adjustable sequence valve pilot operated and the numeral 274 designates an adjustable relief valve pilot operated . pilot operated check valves are indicated at 276 and 278 while the numeral 280 describes check valves . the right rear steering cylinder is designated by the numeral 282 , which corresponds to one of the cylinders 123 , and the left rear steering cylinder 284 corresponds to one of the cylinders 123 . at 286 is a three way , two position controlled directional control valve , and 288 designates a three way , two position controlled directional control valve . the automatic steering valves at 290 and 292 and are 3 way , 2 position solenoid controlled directional control valves . it will now be apparent that the steering of the four wheels of the unit may be controlled by the operator of the unit by causing actuation of the various solenoids to open and close the valves in the fluid flow lines as has just been described .	0
in the following discussion of an illustrative embodiment , the words “ signal ” and “ image ” are used interchangeably to refer to both one , two , and even beyond two dimensions of digital signal . examples will routinely switch back and forth between a one dimensional audio - type digital signal and a two dimensional image - type digital signal . in order to fully describe the details of an illustrative embodiment of the invention , it is necessary first to describe the basic properties of a digital signal . fig1 shows a classic representation of a one dimensional digital signal . the x - axis defines the index numbers of sequence of digital “ samples ,” and the y - axis is the instantaneous value of the signal at that sample , being constrained to exist only at a finite number of levels defined as the “ binary depth ” of a digital sample . the example depicted in fig1 has the value of 2 to the fourth power , or “ 4 bits ,” giving 16 allowed states of the sample value . for audio information such as sound waves , it is commonly accepted that the digitization process discretizes a continuous phenomena both in the time domain and in the signal level domain . as such , the process of digitization itself introduces a fundamental error source , in that it cannot record detail smaller than the discretization interval in either domain . the industry has referred to this , among other ways , as “ aliasing ” in the time domain , and “ quantization noise ” in the signal level domain . thus , there will always be a basic error floor of a digital signal . pure quantization noise , measured in a root mean square sense , is theoretically known to have the value of one over the square root of twelve , or about 0 . 29 dn , where dn stands for ‘ digital number ’ or the finest unit increment of the signal level . for example , a perfect 12 - bit digitizer will have 4096 allowed dn with an innate root mean square noise floor of ˜ 0 . 29 dn . all known physical measurement processes add additional noise to the transformation of a continuous signal into the digital form . the quantization noise typically adds in quadrature ( square root of the mean squares ) to the “ analog noise ” of the measurement process , as it is sometimes referred to . with almost all commercial and technical processes , the use of the decibel scale is used as a measure of signal and noise in a given recording medium . the expression “ signal - to - noise ratio ” is generally used , as it will be in this disclosure . as an example , this disclosure refers to signal to noise ratios in terms of signal power and noise power , thus 20 db represents a 10 times increase in signal amplitude . in summary , the presently preferred embodiments of the invention embed an n - bit value onto an entire signal through the addition of a very low amplitude encodation signal which has the look of pure noise . n is usually at least 8 and is capped on the higher end by ultimate signal - to - noise considerations and “ bit error ” in retrieving and decoding the n - bit value . as a practical matter , n is chosen based on application specific considerations , such as the number of unique different “ signatures ” that are desired . to illustrate , if n = 128 , then the number of unique digital signatures is in excess of 10 ^^ 38 ( 2 ^^ 128 ). this number is believed to be more than adequate to both identify the material with sufficient statistical certainty and to index exact sale and distribution information . the amplitude or power of this added signal is determined by the aesthetic and informational considerations of each and every application using the present methodology . for instance , non - professional video can stand to have a higher embedded signal level without becoming noticeable to the average human eye , while high precision audio may only be able to accept a relatively small signal level lest the human ear perceive an objectionable increase in “ hiss .” these statements are generalities and each application has its own set of criteria in choosing the signal level of the embedded identification signal . the higher the level of embedded signal , the more corrupted a copy can be and still be identified . on the other hand , the higher the level of embedded signal , the more objectionable the perceived noise might be , potentially impacting the value of the distributed material . to illustrate the range of different applications to which the principles of the present invention can be applied , the present specification details two different systems . the first ( termed , for lack of a better name , a “ batch encoding ” system ), applies identification coding to an existing data signal . the second ( termed , for lack of a better name , a “ real time encoding ” system ), applies identification coding to a signal as it is produced . those skilled in the art will recognize that the principles of the present invention can be applied in a number of other contexts in addition to these particularly described . the discussions of these two systems can be read in either order . some readers may find the latter more intuitive than the former ; for others the contrary may be true . the following discussion of a first class of embodiments is best prefaced by a section defining relevant terms : the original signal refers to either the original digital signal or the high quality digitized copy of a non - digital original . the n - bit identification word refers to a unique identification binary value , typically having n range anywhere from 8 to 128 , which is the identification code ultimately placed onto the original signal via the disclosed transformation process . in the illustrated embodiment , each n - bit identification word begins with the sequence of values ‘ 0101 ,’ which is used to determine an optimization of the signal - to - noise ratio in the identification procedure of a suspect signal ( see definition below ). the m &# 39 ; th bit value of the n - bit identification word is either a zero or one corresponding to the value of the m &# 39 ; th place , reading left to right , of the n - bit word . e . g ., the first ( m = 1 ) bit value of the n = 8 identification word 01110100 is the value ‘ 0 ;’ the second bit value of this identification word is ‘ 1 ’, etc . the m &# 39 ; th individual embedded code signal refers to a signal which has dimensions and extent precisely equal to the original signal ( e . g . both are a 512 by 512 digital image ), and which is ( in the illustrated embodiment ) an independent pseudo - random sequence of digital values . “ pseudo ” pays homage to the difficulty in philosophically defining pure randomness , and also indicates that there are various acceptable ways of generating the “ random ” signal . there will be exactly n individual embedded code signals associated with any given original signal . the acceptable perceived noise level refers to an application - specific determination of how much “ extra noise ,” i . e . amplitude of the composite embedded code signal described next , can be added to the original signal and still have an acceptable signal to sell or otherwise distribute . this disclosure uses a 1 db increase in noise as a typical value which might be acceptable , but this is quite arbitrary . the composite embedded code signal refers to the signal which has dimensions and extent precisely equal to the original signal , ( e . g . both are a 512 by 512 digital image ), and which contains the addition and appropriate attenuation of the n individual embedded code signals . the individual embedded signals are generated on an arbitrary scale , whereas the amplitude of the composite signal must not exceed the pre - set acceptable perceived noise level , hence the need for “ attenuation ” of the n added individual code signals . the distributable signal refers to the nearly similar copy of the original signal , consisting of the original signal plus the composite embedded code signal . this is the signal which is distributed to the outside community , having only slightly higher but acceptable “ noise properties ” than the original . a suspect signal refers to a signal which has the general appearance of the original and distributed signal and whose potential identification match to the original is being questioned . the suspect signal is then analyzed to see if it matches the n - bit identification word . the detailed methodology of this first embodiment begins by stating that the n - bit identification word is encoded onto the original signal by having each of the m bit values multiply their corresponding individual embedded code signals , the resultant being accumulated in the composite signal , the fully summed composite signal then being attenuated down to the acceptable perceived noise amplitude , and the resultant composite signal added to the original to become the distributable signal . the original signal , the n - bit identification word , and all n individual embedded code signals are then stored away in a secured place . a suspect signal is then found . this signal may have undergone multiple copies , compressions and decompressions , resamplings onto different spaced digital signals , transfers from digital to analog back to digital media , or any combination of these items . if the signal still appears similar to the original , i . e . its innate quality is not thoroughly destroyed by all of these transformations and noise additions , then depending on the signal to noise properties of the embedded signal , the identification process should function to some objective degree of statistical confidence . the extent of corruption of the suspect signal and the original acceptable perceived noise level are two key parameters in determining an expected confidence level of identification . the identification process on the suspected signal begins by resampling and aligning the suspected signal onto the digital format and extent of the original signal . thus , if an image has been reduced by a factor of two , it needs to be digitally enlarged by that same factor . likewise , if a piece of music has been “ cut out ,” but may still have the same sampling rate as the original , it is necessary to register this cut - out piece to the original , typically done by performing a local digital cross - correlation of the two signals ( a common digital operation ), finding at what delay value the correlation peaks , then using this found delay value to register the cut piece to a segment of the original . once the suspect signal has been sample - spacing matched and registered to the original , the signal levels of the suspect signal should be matched in an rms sense to the signal level of the original . this can be done via a search on the parameters of offset , amplification , and gamma being optimized by using the minimum of the mean squared error between the two signals as a function of the three parameters . we can call the suspect signal normalized and registered at this point , or just normalized for convenience . the newly matched pair then has the original signal subtracted from the normalized suspect signal to produce a difference signal . the difference signal is then cross - correlated with each of the n individual embedded code signals and the peak cross - correlation value recorded . the first four bit code (‘ 0101 ’) is used as a calibrator both on the mean values of the zero value and the one value , and on further registration of the two signals if a finer signal to noise ratio is desired ( i . e ., the optimal separation of the 0101 signal will indicate an optimal registration of the two signals and will also indicate the probable existence of the n - bit identification signal being present .) the resulting peak cross - correlation values will form a noisy series of floating point numbers which can be transformed into 0 &# 39 ; s and 1 &# 39 ; s by their proximity to the mean values of 0 and 1 found by the 0101 calibration sequence . if the suspect signal has indeed been derived from the original , the identification number resulting from the above process will match the n - bit identification word of the original , bearing in mind either predicted or unknown “ bit error ” statistics . signal - to - noise considerations will determine if there will be some kind of “ bit error ” in the identification process , leading to a form of x % probability of identification where x might be desired to be 99 . 9 % or whatever . if the suspect copy is indeed not a copy of the original , an essentially random sequence of 0 &# 39 ; s and 1 &# 39 ; s will be produced , as well as an apparent lack of separation of the resultant values . this is to say , if the resultant values are plotted on a histogram , the existence of the n - bit identification signal will exhibit strong bi - level characteristics , whereas the non - existence of the code , or the existence of a different code of a different original , will exhibit a type of random gaussian - like distribution . this histogram separation alone should be sufficient for an identification , but it is even stronger proof of identification when an exact binary sequence can be objectively reproduced . imagine that we have taken a valuable picture of two heads of state at a cocktail party , pictures which are sure to earn some reasonable fee in the commercial market . we desire to sell this picture and ensure that it is not used in an unauthorized or uncompensated manner . this and the following steps are summarized in fig2 . assume the picture is transformed into a positive color print . we first scan this into a digitized form via a normal high quality black and white scanner with a typical photometric spectral response curve . ( it is possible to get better ultimate signal to noise ratios by scanning in each of the three primary colors of the color image , but this nuance is not central to describing the basic process .) let us assume that the scanned image now becomes a 4000 by 4000 pixel monochrome digital image with a grey scale accuracy defined by 12 - bit grey values or 4096 allowed levels . we will call this the “ original digital image ” realizing that this is the same as our “ original signal ” in the above definitions . during the scanning process we have arbitrarily set absolute black to correspond to digital value ‘ 30 ’. we estimate that there is a basic 2 digital number root mean square noise existing on the original digital image , plus a theoretical noise ( known in the industry as “ shot noise ”) of the square root of the brightness value of any given pixel . in formula , we have : here , n and m are simple indexing values on rows and columns of the image ranging from 0 to 3999 . sqrt is the square root . v is the dn of a given indexed pixel on the original digital image . the & lt ; & gt ; brackets around the rms noise merely indicates that this is an expected average value , where it is clear that each and every pixel will have a random error individually . thus , for a pixel value having 1200 as a digital number or “ brightness value ”, we find that its expected rms noise value is sqrt ( 1204 )= 34 . 70 , which is quite close to 34 . 64 , the square root of 1200 . we furthermore realize that the square root of the innate brightness value of a pixel is not precisely what the eye perceives as a minimum objectionable noise , thus we come up with the formula : & lt ; rms addable noise n , m & gt ;= x * sqrt ( 4 +( v n , m − 30 )^ y ) ( 2 ) where x and y have been added as empirical parameters which we will adjust , and “ addable ” noise refers to our acceptable perceived noise level from the definitions above . we now intend to experiment with what exact value of x and y we can choose , but we will do so at the same time that we are performing the next steps in the process . the next step in our process is to choose n of our n - bit identification word . we decide that a 16 bit main identification value with its 65536 possible values will be sufficiently large to identify the image as ours , and that we will be directly selling no more than 128 copies of the image which we wish to track , giving 7 bits plus an eighth bit for an odd / even adding of the first 7 bits ( i . e . an error checking bit on the first seven ). the total bits required now are at 4 bits for the 0101 calibration sequence , 16 for the main identification , 8 for the version , and we now throw in another 4 as a further error checking value on the first 28 bits , giving 32 bits as n . the final 4 bits can use one of many industry standard error checking methods to choose its four values . we now randomly determine the 16 bit main identification number , finding for example , 1101 0001 1001 1110 ; our first versions of the original sold will have all 0 &# 39 ; s as the version identifier , and the error checking bits will fall out where they may . we now have our unique 32 bit identification word which we will embed on the original digital image . to do this , we generate 32 independent random 4000 by 4000 encoding images for each bit of our 32 bit identification word . the manner of generating these random images is revealing . there are numerous ways to generate these . by far the simplest is to turn up the gain on the same scanner that was used to scan in the original photograph , only this time placing a pure black image as the input , then scanning this 32 times . the only drawback to this technique is that it does require a large amount of memory and that “ fixed pattern ” noise will be part of each independent “ noise image .” but , the fixed pattern noise can be removed via normal “ dark frame ” subtraction techniques . assume that we set the absolute black average value at digital number ‘ 100 ,’ and that rather than finding a 2 dn rms noise as we did in the normal gain setting , we now find an rms noise of 10 dn about each and every pixel &# 39 ; s mean value . we next apply a mid - spatial - frequency bandpass filter ( spatial convolution ) to each and every independent random image , essentially removing the very high and the very low spatial frequencies from them . we remove the very low frequencies because simple real - world error sources like geometrical warping , splotches on scanners , mis - registrations , and the like will exhibit themselves most at lower frequencies also , and so we want to concentrate our identification signal at higher spatial frequencies in order to avoid these types of corruptions . likewise , we remove the higher frequencies because multiple generation copies of a given image , as well as compression - decompression transformations , tend to wipe out higher frequencies anyway , so there is no point in placing too much identification signal into these frequencies if they will be the ones most prone to being attenuated . therefore , our new filtered independent noise images will be dominated by mid - spatial frequencies . on a practical note , since we are using 12 - bit values on our scanner and we have removed the dc value effectively and our new rms noise will be slightly less than 10 digital numbers , it is useful to boil this down to a 6 - bit value ranging from − 32 through 0 to 31 as the resultant random image . next we add all of the random images together which have a ‘ 1 ’ in their corresponding bit value of the 32 - bit identification word , accumulating the result in a 16 - bit signed integer image . this is the unattenuated and un - scaled version of the composite embedded signal . next we experiment visually with adding the composite embedded signal to the original digital image , through varying the x and y parameters of equation 2 . in formula , we visually iterate to both maximize x and to find the appropriate y in the following : v dist ; n , m = v orig ; n , m + v comp ; n , m * x * sqrt ( 4 + v orig ; n , m ^ y ) ( 3 ) where dist refers to the candidate distributable image , i . e . we are visually iterating to find what x and y will give us an acceptable image ; orig refers to the pixel value of the original image ; and comp refers to the pixel value of the composite image . the n &# 39 ; s and m &# 39 ; s still index rows and columns of the image and indicate that this operation is done on all 4000 by 4000 pixels . the symbol v is the dn of a given pixel and a given image . as an arbitrary assumption , now , we assume that our visual experimentation has found that the value of x = 0 . 025 and y = 0 . 6 are acceptable values when comparing the original image with the candidate distributable image . this is to say , the distributable image with the “ extra noise ” is acceptably close to the original in an aesthetic sense . note that since our individual random images had a random rms noise value around 10 dn , and that adding approximately 16 of these images together will increase the composite noise to around 40 dn , the x multiplication value of 0 . 025 will bring the added rms noise back to around 1 dn , or half the amplitude of our innate noise on the original . this is roughly a 1 db gain in noise at the dark pixel values and correspondingly more at the brighter values modified by the y value of 0 . 6 . so with these two values of x and y , we now have constructed our first versions of a distributable copy of the original . other versions will merely create a new composite signal and possibly change the x slightly if deemed necessary . we now lock up the original digital image along with the 32 - bit identification word for each version , and the 32 independent random 4 - bit images , waiting for our first case of a suspected piracy of our original . storage wise , this is about 14 megabytes for the original image and 32 * 0 . 5 bytes * 16 million =˜ 256 megabytes for the random individual encoded images . this is quite acceptable for a single valuable image . some storage economy can be gained by simple lossless compression . we sell our image and several months later find our two heads of state in the exact poses we sold them in , seemingly cut and lifted out of our image and placed into another stylized background scene . this new “ suspect ” image is being printed in 100 , 000 copies of a given magazine issue , let us say . we now go about determining if a portion of our original image has indeed been used in an unauthorized manner . fig3 summarizes the details . the first step is to take an issue of the magazine , cut out the page with the image on it , then carefully but not too carefully cut out the two figures from the background image using ordinary scissors . if possible , we will cut out only one connected piece rather than the two figures separately . we paste this onto a black background and scan this into a digital form . next we electronically flag or mask out the black background , which is easy to do by visual inspection . we now procure the original digital image from our secured place along with the 32 - bit identification word and the 32 individual embedded images . we place the original digital image onto our computer screen using standard image manipulation software , and we roughly cut along the same borders as our masked area of the suspect image , masking this image at the same time in roughly the same manner . the word ‘ roughly ’ is used since an exact cutting is not needed , it merely aids the identification statistics to get it reasonably close . next we rescale the masked suspect image to roughly match the size of our masked original digital image , that is , we digitally scale up or down the suspect image and roughly overlay it on the original image . once we have performed this rough registration , we then throw the two images into an automated scaling and registration program . the program performs a search on the three parameters of x position , y position , and spatial scale , with the figure of merit being the mean squared error between the two images given any given scale variable and x and y offset . this is a fairly standard image processing methodology . typically this would be done using generally smooth interpolation techniques and done to sub - pixel accuracy . the search method can be one of many , where the simplex method is a typical one . once the optimal scaling and x - y position variables are found , next comes another search on optimizing the black level , brightness gain , and gamma of the two images . again , the figure of merit to be used is mean squared error , and again the simplex or other search methodologies can be used to optimize the three variables . after these three variables are optimized , we apply their corrections to the suspect image and align it to exactly the pixel spacing and masking of the original digital image and its mask . we can now call this the standard mask . the next step is to subtract the original digital image from the newly normalized suspect image only within the standard mask region . this new image is called the difference image . then we step through all 32 individual random embedded images , doing a local cross - correlation between the masked difference image and the masked individual embedded image . ‘ local ’ refers to the idea that one need only start correlating over an offset region of +/− 1 pixels of offset between the nominal registration points of the two images found during the search procedures above . the peak correlation should be very close to the nominal registration point of 0 , 0 offset , and we can add the 3 by 3 correlation values together to give one grand correlation value for each of the 32 individual bits of our 32 - bit identification word . after doing this for all 32 bit places and their corresponding random images , we have a quasi - floating point sequence of 32 values . the first four values represent our calibration signal of 0101 . we now take the mean of the first and third floating point value and call this floating point value ‘ 0 ,’ and we take the mean of the second and the fourth value and call this floating point value ‘ 1 .’ we then step through all remaining 28 bit values and assign either a ‘ 0 ’ or a ‘ 1 ’ based simply on which mean value they are closer to . stated simply , if the suspect image is indeed a copy of our original , the embedded 32 - bit resulting code should match that of our records , and if it is not a copy , we should get general randomness . the third and the fourth possibilities of 3 ) is a copy but doesn &# 39 ; t match identification number and 4 ) isn &# 39 ; t a copy but does match are , in the case of 3 ), possible if the signal to noise ratio of the process has plummeted , i . e . the ‘ suspect image ’ is truly a very poor copy of the original , and in the case of 4 ) is basically one chance in four billion since we were using a 32 - bit identification number . if we are truly worried about 4 ), we can just have a second independent lab perform their own tests on a different issue of the same magazine . finally , checking the error - check bits against what the values give is one final and possibly overkill check on the whole process . in situations where signal to noise is a possible problem , these error checking bits might be eliminated without too much harm . now that a full description of the first embodiment has been described via a detailed example , it is appropriate to point out the rationale of some of the process steps and their benefits . the ultimate benefits of the foregoing process are that obtaining an identification number is fully independent of the manners and methods of preparing the difference image . that is to say , the manners of preparing the difference image , such as cutting , registering , scaling , etcetera , cannot increase the odds of finding an identification number when none exists ; it only helps the signal - to - noise ratio of the identification process when a true identification number is present . methods of preparing images for identification can be different from each other even , providing the possibility for multiple independent methodologies for making a match . the ability to obtain a match even on sub - sets of the original signal or image is a key point in today &# 39 ; s information - rich world . cutting and pasting both images and sound clips is becoming more common , allowing such an embodiment to be used in detecting a copy even when original material has been thus corrupted . finally , the signal to noise ratio of matching should begin to become difficult only when the copy material itself has been significantly altered either by noise or by significant distortion ; both of these also will affect that copy &# 39 ; s commercial value , so that trying to thwart the system can only be done at the expense of a huge decrease in commercial value . an early conception of this invention was the case where only a single “ snowy image ” or random signal was added to an original image , i . e . the case where n = 1 . “ decoding ” this signal would involve a subsequent mathematical analysis using ( generally statistical ) algorithms to make a judgment on the presence or absence of this signal . the reason this approach was abandoned as the preferred embodiment was that there was an inherent gray area in the certainty of detecting the presence or absence of the signal . by moving onward to a multitude of bit planes , i . e . n & gt ; 1 , combined with simple pre - defined algorithms prescribing the manner of choosing between a “ 0 ” and a “ 1 ”, the invention moved the certainty question from the realm of expert statistical analysis into the realm of guessing a random binary event such as a coin flip . this is seen as a powerful feature relative to the intuitive acceptance of this invention in both the courtroom and the marketplace . the analogy which summarizes the inventor &# 39 ; s thoughts on this whole question is as follows : the search for a single identification signal amounts to calling a coin flip only once , and relying on arcane experts to make the call ; whereas the n & gt ; 1 preferred embodiment of this invention relies on the broadly intuitive principle of correctly calling a coin flip n times in a row . this situation is greatly exacerbated , i . e . the problems of “ interpretation ” of the presence of a single signal , when images and sound clips get smaller and smaller in extent . another important reason that the n & gt ; 1 case is the preferred embodiment over the n = 1 embodiment is that in the n = 1 case , the manner in which a suspect image is prepared and manipulated has a direct bearing on the likelihood of making a positive identification . thus , the manner with which an expert makes an identification determination becomes an integral part of that determination . the existence of a multitude of mathematical and statistical approaches to making this determination leave open the possibility that some tests might make positive identifications while others might make negative determinations , inviting further arcane debate about the relative merits of the various identification approaches . the n & gt ; 1 preferred embodiment of this invention avoids this further gray area by presenting a method where no amount of pre - processing of a signal — other than pre - processing which surreptitiously uses knowledge of the private code signals — can increase the likelihood of “ calling the coin flip n times in a row .” the fullest expression of the present system will come when it becomes an industry standard and numerous independent groups set up with their own means or ‘ in - house ’ brand of applying embedded identification numbers and in their decipherment . numerous independent group identification will further enhance the ultimate objectivity of the method , thereby enhancing its appeal as an industry standard . use of true polarity in creating the composite embedded code signal the foregoing discussion made use of the 0 and 1 formalism of binary technology to accomplish its ends . specifically , the 0 &# 39 ; s and 1 &# 39 ; s of the n - bit identification word directly multiplied their corresponding individual embedded code signal to form the composite embedded code signal ( step 8 , fig2 ). this approach certainly has its conceptual simplicity , but the multiplication of an embedded code signal by 0 along with the storage of that embedded code contains a kind of inefficiency . it is preferred to maintain the formalism of the 0 and 1 nature of the n - bit identification word , but to have the 0 &# 39 ; s of the word induce a subtraction of their corresponding embedded code signal . thus , in step 8 of fig2 , rather than only ‘ adding ’ the individual embedded code signals which correspond to a ‘ 1 ’ in the n - bit identification word , we will also ‘ subtract ’ the individual embedded code signals which correspond to a ‘ 0 ’ in the n - bit identification word . at first glance this seems to add more apparent noise to the final composite signal . but it also increases the energy - wise separation of the 0 &# 39 ; s from the 1 &# 39 ; s and thus the ‘ gain ’ which is applied in step 10 , fig2 can be correspondingly lower . we can refer to this improvement as the use of true polarity . the main advantage of this improvement can largely be summarized as ‘ informational efficiency .’ the foregoing discussion contemplates the use of generally random noise - like signals as the individual embedded code signals . this is perhaps the simplest form of signal to generate . however , there is a form of informational optimization which can be applied to the set of the individual embedded signals , which the applicant describes under the rubric ‘ perceptual orthogonality .’ this term is loosely based on the mathematical concept of the orthogonality of vectors , with the current additional requirement that this orthogonality should maximize the signal energy of the identification information while maintaining it below some perceptibility threshold . put another way , the embedded code signals need not necessarily be random in nature . use and improvements of the first embodiment in the field of emulsion - based photography the foregoing discussion outlined techniques that are applicable to photographic materials . the following section explores the details of this area further and discloses certain improvements which lend themselves to a broad range of applications . the first area to be discussed involves the pre - application or pre - exposing of a serial number onto traditional photographic products , such as negative film , print paper , transparencies , etc . in general , this is a way to embed a priori unique serial numbers ( and by implication , ownership and tracking information ) into photographic material . the serial numbers themselves would be a permanent part of the normally exposed picture , as opposed to being relegated to the margins or stamped on the back of a printed photograph , which all require separate locations and separate methods of copying . the ‘ serial number ’ as it is called here is generally synonymous with the n - bit identification word , only now we are using a more common industrial terminology . in fig2 , step 11 , the disclosure calls for the storage of the “ original [ image ]” along with code images . then in fig3 , step 9 , it directs that the original be subtracted from the suspect image , thereby leaving the possible identification codes plus whatever noise and corruption has accumulated . therefore , the previous disclosure made the tacit assumption that there exists an original without the composite embedded signals . now in the case of selling print paper and other duplication film products , this will still be the case , i . e ., an “ original ” without the embedded codes will indeed exist and the basic methodology of the first embodiment can be employed . the original film serves perfectly well as an ‘ unencoded original .’ however , in the case where pre - exposed negative film is used , the composite embedded signal pre - exists on the original film and thus there will never be an “ original ” separate from the pre - embedded signal . it is this latter case , therefore , which will be examined a bit more closely , along with observations on how to best use the principles discussed above ( the former cases adhering to the previously outlined methods ). the clearest point of departure for the case of pre - numbered negative film , i . e . negative film which has had each and every frame pre - exposed with a very faint and unique composite embedded signal , comes at step 9 of fig3 as previously noted . there are certainly other differences as well , but they are mostly logistical in nature , such as how and when to embed the signals on the film , how to store the code numbers and serial number , etc . obviously the pre - exposing of film would involve a major change to the general mass production process of creating and packaging film . fig4 has a schematic outlining one potential post - hoc mechanism for pre - exposing film . ‘ post - hoc ’ refers to applying a process after the full common manufacturing process of film has already taken place . eventually , economies of scale may dictate placing this pre - exposing process directly into the chain of manufacturing film . depicted in fig4 is what is commonly known as a film writing system . the computer , 106 , displays the composite signal produced in step 8 , fig2 , on its phosphor screen . a given frame of film is then exposed by imaging this phosphor screen , where the exposure level is generally very faint , i . e . generally imperceptible . clearly , the marketplace will set its own demands on how faint this should be , that is , the level of added ‘ graininess ’ as practitioners would put it . each frame of film is sequentially exposed , where in general the composite image displayed on the crt 102 is changed for each and every frame , thereby giving each frame of film a different serial number . the transfer lens 104 highlights the focal conjugate planes of a film frame and the crt face . getting back to the applying the principles of the foregoing embodiment in the case of pre - exposed negative film . . . . at step 9 , fig3 , if we were to subtract the “ original ” with its embedded code , we would obviously be “ erasing ” the code as well since the code is an integral part of the original . fortunately , remedies do exist and identifications can still be made . however , it will be a challenge to artisans who refine this embodiment to have the signal to noise ratio of the identification process in the pre - exposed negative case approach the signal to noise ratio of the case where the un - encoded original exists . a succinct definition of the problem is in order at this point . given a suspect picture ( signal ), find the embedded identification code if a code exists at al . the problem reduces to one of finding the amplitude of each and every individual embedded code signal within the suspect picture , not only within the context of noise and corruption as was previously explained , but now also within the context of the coupling between a captured image and the codes . ‘ coupling ’ here refers to the idea that the captured image “ randomly biases ” the cross - correlation . so , bearing in mind this additional item of signal coupling , the identification process now estimates the signal amplitude of each and every individual embedded code signal ( as opposed to taking the cross - correlation result of step 12 , fig3 ). if our identification signal exists in the suspect picture , the amplitudes thus found will split into a polarity with positive amplitudes being assigned a ‘ 1 ’ and negative amplitudes being assigned a ‘ 0 ’. our unique identification code manifests itself . if , on the other hand , no such identification code exists or it is someone else &# 39 ; s code , then a random gaussian - like distribution of amplitudes is found with a random hash of values . it remains to provide a few more details on how the amplitudes of the individual embedded codes are found . again , fortunately , this exact problem has been treated in other technological applications . besides , throw this problem and a little food into a crowded room of mathematicians and statisticians and surely a half dozen optimized methodologies will pop out after some reasonable period of time . it is a rather cleanly defined problem . one specific example solution comes from the field of astronomical imaging . here , it is a mature prior art to subtract out a “ thermal noise frame ” from a given ccd image of an object . often , however , it is not precisely known what scaling factor to use in subtracting the thermal frame , and a search for the correct scaling factor is performed . this is precisely the task of this step of the present embodiment . general practice merely performs a common search algorithm on the scaling factor , where a scaling factor is chosen and a new image is created according to : the new image is applied to the fast fourier transform routine and a scale factor is eventually found which minimizes the integrated high frequency content of the new image . this general type of search operation with its minimization of a particular quantity is exceedingly common . the scale factor thus found is the sought - for “ amplitude .” refinements which are contemplated but not yet implemented are where the coupling of the higher derivatives of the acquired image and the embedded codes are estimated and removed from the calculated scale factor . in other words , certain bias effects from the coupling mentioned earlier are present and should be eventually accounted for and removed both through theoretical and empirical experimentation . use and improvements in the detection of signal or image alteration apart from the basic need of identifying a signal or image as a whole , there is also a rather ubiquitous need to detect possible alterations to a signal or image . the following section describes how the foregoing embodiment , with certain modifications and improvements , can be used as a powerful tool in this area . the potential scenarios and applications of detecting alterations are innumerable . to first summarize , assume that we have a given signal or image which has been positively identified using the basic methods outlined above . in other words , we know its n - bit identification word , its individual embedded code signals , and its composite embedded code . we can then fairly simply create a spatial map of the composite code &# 39 ; s amplitude within our given signal or image . furthermore , we can divide this amplitude map by the known composite code &# 39 ; s spatial amplitude , giving a normalized map , i . e . a map which should fluctuate about some global mean value . by simple examination of this map , we can visually detect any areas which have been significantly altered wherein the value of the normalized amplitude dips below some statistically set threshold based purely on typical noise and corruption ( error ). the details of implementing the creation of the amplitude map have a variety of choices . one is to perform the same procedure which is used to determine the signal amplitude as described above , only now we step and repeat the multiplication of any given area of the signal / image with a gaussian weight function centered about the area we are investigating . the disclosure thus far has outlined how each and every source signal has its own unique set of individual embedded code signals . this entails the storage of a significant amount of additional code information above and beyond the original , and many applications may merit some form of economizing . one such approach to economizing is to have a given set of individual embedded code signals be common to a batch of source materials . for example , one thousand images can all utilize the same basic set of individual embedded code signals . the storage requirements of these codes then become a small fraction of the overall storage requirements of the source material . furthermore , some applications can utilize a universal set of individual embedded code signals , i . e ., codes which remain the same for all instances of distributed material . this type of requirement would be seen by systems which wish to hide the n - bit identification word itself , yet have standardized equipment be able to read that word . this can be used in systems which make go / no go decisions at point - of - read locations . the potential drawback to this set - up is that the universal codes are more prone to be sleuthed or stolen ; therefore they will not be as secure as the apparatus and methodology of the previously disclosed arrangement . perhaps this is just the difference between ‘ high security ’ and ‘ air - tight security ,’ a distinction carrying little weight with the bulk of potential applications . use in printing , paper , documents , plastic coated identification cards , and other material where global embedded codes can be imprinted the term ‘ signal ’ is often used narrowly to refer to digital data information , audio signals , images , etc . a broader interpretation of ‘ signal ,’ and the one more generally intended , includes any form of modulation of any material whatsoever . thus , the micro - topology of a piece of common paper becomes a ‘ signal ’ ( e . g . it height as a function of x - y coordinates ). the reflective properties of a flat piece of plastic ( as a function of space also ) becomes a signal . the point is that photographic emulsions , audio signals , and digitized information are not the only types of signals capable of utilizing the principles of the present invention . as a case in point , a machine very much resembling a braille printing machine can be designed so as to imprint unique ‘ noise - like ’ indentations as outlined above . these indentations can be applied with a pressure which is much smaller than is typically applied in creating braille , to the point where the patterns are not noticed by a normal user of the paper . but by following the steps of the present disclosure and applying them via the mechanism of micro - indentations , a unique identification code can be placed onto any given sheet of paper , be it intended for everyday stationary purposes , or be it for important documents , legal tender , or other secured material . the reading of the identification material in such an embodiment generally proceeds by merely reading the document optically at a variety of angles . this would become an inexpensive method for deducing the micro - topology of the paper surface . certainly other forms of reading the topology of the paper are possible as well . in the case of plastic encased material such as identification cards , e . g . driver &# 39 ; s licenses , a similar braille - like impressions machine can be utilized to imprint unique identification codes . subtle layers of photoreactive materials can also be embedded inside the plastic and ‘ exposed .’ it is clear that wherever a material exists which is capable of being modulated by ‘ noise - like ’ signals , that material is an appropriate carrier for unique identification codes and utilization of the principles of the invention . all that remains is the matter of economically applying the identification information and maintaining the signal level below an acceptability threshold which each and every application will define for itself . while the first class of embodiments most commonly employs a standard microprocessor or computer to perform the encodation of an image or signal , it is possible to utilize a custom encodation device which may be faster than a typical von neuman - type processor . such a system can be utilized with all manner of serial data streams . music and videotape recordings are examples of serial data streams — data streams which are often pirated . it would assist enforcement efforts if authorized recordings were encoded with identification data so that pirated knock - offs could be traced to the original from which they were made . piracy is but one concern driving the need for the present invention . another is authentication . often it is important to confirm that a given set of data is really what it is purported to be ( often several years after its generation ). to address these and other needs , the system 200 of fig5 can be employed . system 200 can be thought of as an identification coding black box 202 . the system 200 receives an input signal ( sometimes termed the “ master ” or “ unencoded ” signal ) and a code word , and produces ( generally in real time ) an identification - coded output signal . ( usually , the system provides key data for use in later decoding .) the contents of the “ black box ” 202 can take various forms . an exemplary black box system is shown in fig6 and includes a look - up table 204 , a digital noise source 206 , first and second scalers 208 , 210 , an adder / subtracter 212 , a memory 214 , and a register 216 . the input signal ( which in the illustrated embodiment is an 8 - 20 bit data signal provided at a rate of one million samples per second , but which in other embodiments could be an analog signal if appropriate a / d and d / a conversion is provided ) is applied from an input 218 to the address input 220 of the look - up table 204 . for each input sample ( i . e . look - up table address ), the table provides a corresponding 8 - bit digital output word . this output word is used as a scaling factor that is applied to one input of the first scaler 208 . the first scaler 208 has a second input , to which is applied an 8 - bit digital noise signal from source 206 . ( in the illustrated embodiment , the noise source 206 comprises an analog noise source 222 and an analog - to - digital converter 224 although , again , other implementations can be used .) the noise source in the illustrated embodiment has a zero mean output value , with a full width half maximum ( fwhm ) of 50 - 100 digital numbers ( e . g . from − 75 to + 75 ). the first scaler 208 multiplies the two 8 - bit words at its inputs ( scale factor and noise ) to produce — for each sample of the system input signal — a 16 - bit output word . since the noise signal has a zero mean value , the output of the first scaler likewise has a zero mean value . the output of the first scaler 208 is applied to the input of the second scaler 210 . the second scaler serves a global scaling function , establishing the absolute magnitude of the identification signal that will ultimately be embedded into the input data signal . the scaling factor is set through a scale control device 226 ( which may take a number of forms , from a simple rheostat to a graphically implemented control in a graphical user interface ), permitting this factor to be changed in accordance with the requirements of different applications . the second scaler 210 provides on its output line 228 a scaled noise signal . each sample of this scaled noise signal is successively stored in the memory 214 . ( in the illustrated embodiment , the output from the first scaler 208 may range between − 1500 and + 1500 ( decimal ), while the output from the second scaler 210 is in the low single digits , ( such as between − 2 and + 2 ).) register 216 stores a multi - bit identification code word . in the illustrated embodiment this code word consists of 8 bits , although larger code words ( up to hundreds of bits ) are commonly used . these bits are referenced , one at a time , to control how the input signal is modulated with the scaled noise signal . in particular , a pointer 230 is cycled sequentially through the bit positions of the code word in register 216 to provide a control bit of “ 0 ” or “ 1 ” to a control input 232 of the adder / subtracter 212 . if , for a particular input signal sample , the control bit is a “ 1 ”, the scaled noise signal sample on line 232 is added to the input signal sample . if the control bit is a “ 0 ”, the scaled noise signal sample is subtracted from the input signal sample . the output 234 from the adder / subtracter 212 provides the black box &# 39 ; s output signal . the addition or subtraction of the scaled noise signal in accordance with the bits of the code word effects a modulation of the input signal that is generally imperceptible . however , with knowledge of the contents of the memory 214 , a user can later decode the encoding , determining the code number used in the original encoding process . ( actually , use of memory 214 is optional , as explained below .) it will be recognized that the encoded signal can be distributed in well known ways , including converted to printed image form , stored on magnetic media ( floppy diskette , analog or dat tape , etc . ), cd - rom , etc . etc . a variety of techniques can be used to determine the identification code with which a suspect signal has been encoded . two are discussed below . the first is less preferable than the latter for most applications , but is discussed herein so that the reader may have a fuller context within which to understand the invention . more particularly , the first decoding method is a difference method , relying on subtraction of corresponding samples of the original signal from the suspect signal to obtain difference samples , which are then examined ( typically individually ) for deterministic coding indicia ( i . e . the stored noise data ). this approach may thus be termed a “ sample - based , deterministic ” decoding technique . the second decoding method does not make use of the original signal . nor does it examine particular samples looking for predetermined noise characteristics . rather , the statistics of the suspect signal ( or a portion thereof ) are considered in the aggregate and analyzed to discern the presence of identification coding that permeates the entire signal . the reference to permeation means the entire identification code can be discerned from a small fragment of the suspect signal . this latter approach may thus be termed a “ holographic , statistical ” decoding technique . both of these methods begin by registering the suspect signal to match the original . this entails scaling ( e . g . in amplitude , duration , color balance , etc . ), and sampling ( or resampling ) to restore the original sample rate . as in the earlier described embodiment , there are a variety of well understood techniques by which the operations associated with this registration function can be performed . as noted , the first decoding approach proceeds by subtracting the original signal from the registered , suspect signal , leaving a difference signal . the polarity of successive difference signal samples can then be compared with the polarities of the corresponding stored noise signal samples to determine the identification code . that is , if the polarity of the first difference signal sample matches that of the first noise signal sample , then the first bit of the identification code is a “ 1 .” ( in such case , the polarity of the 9th , 17th , 25th , etc . samples should also all be positive .) if the polarity of the first difference signal sample is opposite that of the corresponding noise signal sample , then the first bit of the identification code is a “ 0 .” by conducting the foregoing analysis with eight successive samples of the difference signal , the sequence of bits that comprise the original code word can be determined . if , as in the preferred embodiment , pointer 230 stepped through the code word one bit at a time , beginning with the first bit , during encoding , then the first 8 samples of the difference signal can be analyzed to uniquely determine the value of the 8 - bit code word . in a noise - free world ( speaking here of noise independent of that with which the identification coding is effected ), the foregoing analysis would always yield the correct identification code . but a process that is only applicable in a noise - free world is of limited utility indeed . ( further , accurate identification of signals in noise - free contexts can be handled in a variety of other , simpler ways : e . g . checksums ; statistically improbable correspondence between suspect and original signals ; etc .) while noise - induced aberrations in decoding can be dealt with — to some degree — by analyzing large portions of the signal , such aberrations still place a practical ceiling on the confidence of the process . further , the villain that must be confronted is not always as benign as random noise . rather , it increasingly takes the form of human - caused corruption , distortion , manipulation , etc . in such cases , the desired degree of identification confidence can only be achieved by other approaches . the presently preferred approach ( the “ holographic , statistical ” decoding technique ) relies on recombining the suspect signal with certain noise data ( typically the data stored in memory 214 ), and analyzing the entropy of the resulting signal . “ entropy ” need not be understood in its most strict mathematical definition , it being merely the most concise word to describe randomness ( noise , smoothness , snowiness , etc .). most serial data signals are not random . that is , one sample usually correlates — to some degree — with the adjacent samples . noise , in contrast , typically is random . if a random signal ( e . g . noise ) is added to ( or subtracted from ) a non - random signal , the entropy of the resulting signal generally increases . that is , the resulting signal has more random variations than the original signal . this is the case with the encoded output signal produced by the present encoding process ; it has more entropy than the original , unencoded signal . if , in contrast , the addition of a random signal to ( or subtraction from ) a non - random signal reduces entropy , then something unusual is happening . it is this anomaly that the preferred decoding process uses to detect embedded identification coding . to fully understand this entropy - based decoding method , it is first helpful to highlight a characteristic of the original encoding process : the similar treatment of every eighth sample . in the encoding process discussed above , the pointer 230 increments through the code word , one bit for each successive sample of the input signal . if the code word is eight bits in length , then the pointer returns to the same bit position in the code word every eighth signal sample . if this bit is a “ 1 ”, noise is added to the input signal ; if this bit is a “ 0 ”, noise is subtracted from the input signal . due to the cyclic progression of the pointer 230 , every eighth sample of an encoded signal thus shares a characteristic : they are all either augmented by the corresponding noise data ( which may be negative ), or they are all diminished , depending on whether the bit of the code word then being addressed by pointer 230 is a “ 1 ” or a “ 0 ”. to exploit this characteristic , the entropy - based decoding process treats every eighth sample of the suspect signal in like fashion . in particular , the process begins by adding to the 1st , 9th , 17th , 25th , etc . samples of the suspect signal the corresponding scaled noise signal values stored in the memory 214 ( i . e . those stored in the 1st , 9th , 17th , 25th , etc ., memory locations , respectively ). the entropy of the resulting signal ( i . e . the suspect signal with every 8th sample modified ) is then computed . ( computation of a signal &# 39 ; s entropy or randomness is well understood by artisans in this field . one generally accepted technique is to take the derivative of the signal at each sample point , square these values , and then sum over the entire signal . however , a variety of other well known techniques can alternatively be used .) the foregoing step is then repeated , this time subtracting the stored noise values from the 1st , 9th , 17th , 25 etc . suspect signal samples . one of these two operations will undo the encoding process and reduce the resulting signal &# 39 ; s entropy ; the other will aggravate it . if adding the noise data in memory 214 to the suspect signal reduces its entropy , then this data must earlier have been subtracted from the original signal . this indicates that pointer 230 was pointing to a “ 0 ” bit when these samples were encoded . ( a “ 0 ” at the control input of adder / subtracter 212 caused it to subtract the scaled noise from the input signal .) conversely , if subtracting the noise data from every eighth sample of the suspect signal reduces its entropy , then the encoding process must have earlier added this noise . this indicates that pointer 230 was pointing to a “ 1 ” bit when samples 1 , 9 , 17 , 25 , etc ., were encoded . by noting whether entropy decreases by ( a ) adding or ( b ) subtracting the stored noise data to / from the suspect signal , it can be determined that the first bit of the code word is ( a ) a “ 0 ”, or ( b ) a “ 1 ”. the foregoing operations are then conducted for the group of spaced samples of the suspect signal beginning with the second sample ( i . e . 2 , 10 , 18 , 26 . . . ). the entropy of the resulting signals indicate whether the second bit of the code word is a “ 0 ” or a “ 1 ”. likewise with the following 6 groups of spaced samples in the suspect signal , until all 8 bits of the code word have been discerned . it will be appreciated that the foregoing approach is not sensitive to corruption mechanisms that alter the values of individual samples ; instead , the process considers the entropy of the signal as a whole , yielding a high degree of confidence in the results . further , even small excerpts of the signal can be analyzed in this manner , permitting piracy of even small details of an original work to be detected . the results are thus statistically robust , both in the face of natural and human corruption of the suspect signal . it will further be appreciated that the use of an n - bit code word in this real time embodiment provides benefits analogous to those discussed above in connection with the batch encoding system . ( indeed , the present embodiment may be conceptualized as making use of n different noise signals , just as in the batch encoding system . the first noise signal is a signal having the same extent as the input signal , and comprising the scaled noise signal at the 1st , 9th , 17th , 25th , etc ., samples ( assuming n = 8 ), with zeroes at the intervening samples . the second noise signal is a similar one comprising the scaled noise signal at the 2d , 10th , 18th , 26th , etc ., samples , with zeroes at the intervening samples . etc . these signals are all combined to provide a composite noise signal .) one of the important advantages inherent in such a system is the high degree of statistical confidence ( confidence which doubles with each successive bit of the identification code ) that a match is really a match . the system does not rely on subjective evaluation of a suspect signal for a single , deterministic embedded code signal . from the foregoing description , it will be recognized that numerous modifications can be made to the illustrated systems without changing the fundamental principles . a few of these variations are described below . the above - described decoding process tries both adding and subtracting stored noise data to / from the suspect signal in order to find which operation reduces entropy . in other embodiments , only one of these operations needs to be conducted . for example , in one alternative decoding process the stored noise data corresponding to every eighth sample of the suspect signal is only added to said samples . if the entropy of the resulting signal is thereby increased , then the corresponding bit of the code word is a “ 1 ” ( i . e . this noise was added earlier , during the encoding process , so adding it again only compounds the signal &# 39 ; s randomness ). if the entropy of the resulting signal is thereby decreased , then the corresponding bit of the code word is a “ 0 ”. a further test of entropy if the stored noise samples are subtracted is not required . the statistical reliability of the identification process ( coding and decoding ) can be designed to exceed virtually any confidence threshold ( e . g . 99 . 9 %, 99 . 99 %, 99 . 999 %, etc . confidence ) by appropriate selection of the global scaling factors , etc . additional confidence in any given application ( unnecessary in most applications ) can be achieved by rechecking the decoding process . one way to recheck the decoding process is to remove the stored noise data from the suspect signal in accordance with the bits of the discerned code word , yielding a “ restored ” signal ( e . g . if the first bit of the code word is found to be “ 1 ,” then the noise samples stored in the 1st , 9th , 17th , etc . locations of the memory 214 are subtracted from the corresponding samples of the suspect signal ). the entropy of the restored signal is measured and used as a baseline in further measurements . next , the process is repeated , this time removing the stored noise data from the suspect signal in accordance with a modified code word . the modified code word is the same as the discerned code word , except 1 bit is toggled ( e . g . the first ). the entropy of the resulting signal is determined , and compared with the baseline . if the toggling of the bit in the discerned code word resulted in increased entropy , then the accuracy of that bit of the discerned code word is confirmed . the process repeats , each time with a different bit of the discerned code word toggled , until all bits of the code word have been so checked . each change should result in an increase in entropy compared to the baseline value . the data stored in memory 214 is subject to a variety of alternatives . in the foregoing discussion , memory 214 contains the scaled noise data . in other embodiments , the unscaled noise data can be stored instead . in still other embodiments , it can be desirable to store at least part of the input signal itself in memory 214 . for example , the memory can allocate 8 signed bits to the noise sample , and 16 bits to store the most significant bits of an 18 - or 20 - bit audio signal sample . this has several benefits . one is that it simplifies registration of a “ suspect ” signal . another is that , in the case of encoding an input signal which was already encoded , the data in memory 214 can be used to discern which of the encoding processes was performed first . that is , from the input signal data in memory 214 ( albeit incomplete ), it is generally possible to determine with which of two code words it has been encoded . yet another alternative for memory 214 is that is can be omitted altogether . one way this can be achieved is to use a deterministic noise source in the encoding process , such as an algorithmic noise generator seeded with a known key number . the same deterministic noise source , seeded with the same key number , can be used in the decoding process . in such an arrangement , only the key number needs be stored for later use in decoding , instead of the large data set usually stored in memory 214 . alternatively , if the noise signal added during encoding does not have a zero mean value , and the length n of the code word is known to the decoder , then a universal decoding process can be implemented . this process uses the same entropy test as the foregoing procedures , but cycles through possible code words , adding / subtracting a small dummy noise value ( e . g . less than the expected mean noise value ) to every nth sample of the suspect signal , in accordance with the bits of the code word being tested , until a reduction in entropy is noted . such an approach is not favored for most applications , however , because it offers less security than the other embodiments ( e . g . it is subject to cracking by brute force ). many applications are well served by the embodiment illustrated in fig7 , in which different code words are used to produce several differently encoded versions of an input signal , each making use of the same noise data . more particularly , the embodiment 240 of fig7 includes a noise store 242 into which noise from source 206 is written during the identification - coding of the input signal with a first code word . ( the noise source of fig7 is shown outside of the real time encoder 202 for convenience of illustration .) thereafter , additional identification - coded versions of the input signal can be produced by reading the stored noise data from the store and using it in conjunction with second through nth code words to encode the signal . ( while binary - sequential code words are illustrated in fig7 , in other embodiments arbitrary sequences of code words can be employed .) with such an arrangement , a great number of differently - encoded signals can be produced , without requiring a proportionally - sized long term noise memory . instead , a fixed amount of noise data is stored , whether encoding an original once or a thousand times . ( if desired , several differently - coded output signals can be produced at the same time , rather than seriatim . one such implementation includes a plurality of adder / subtracter circuits 212 , each driven with the same input signal and with the same scaled noise signal , but with different code words . each , then , produces a differently encoded output signal .) in applications having a great number of differently - encoded versions of the same original , it will be recognized that the decoding process need not always discern every bit of the code word . sometimes , for example , the application may require identifying only a group of codes to which the suspect signal belongs . ( e . g ., high order bits of the code word might indicate an organization to which several differently coded versions of the same source material were provided , with low - order bits identifying specific copies . to identify the organization with which a suspect signal is associated , it may not be necessary to examine the low order bits , since the organization can be identified by the high order bits alone .) if the identification requirements can be met by discerning a subset of the code word bits in the suspect signal , the decoding process can be shortened . some applications may be best served by restarting the encoding process — sometimes with a different code word — several times within an integral work . consider , as an example , videotaped productions ( e . g . television programming ). each frame of a videotaped production can be identification - coded with a unique code number , processed in real - time with an arrangement 248 like that shown in fig8 . each time a vertical retrace is detected by sync detector 250 , the noise source 206 resets ( e . g . to repeat the sequence just produced ) and an identification code increments to the next value . each frame of the videotape is thereby uniquely identification - coded . typically , the encoded signal is stored on a videotape for long term storage ( although other storage media , including laser disks , can be used ). returning to the encoding apparatus , the look - up table 204 in the illustrated embodiment exploits the fact that high amplitude samples of the input data signal can tolerate ( without objectionable degradation of the output signal ) a higher level of encoded identification coding than can low amplitude input samples . thus , for example , input data samples having decimal values of 0 , 1 or 2 may be correspond ( in the look - up table 204 ) to scale factors of unity ( or even zero ), whereas input data samples having values in excess of 200 may correspond to scale factors of 15 . generally speaking , the scale factors and the input sample values correspond by a square root relation . that is , a four - fold increase in a value of the sampled input signal corresponds to approximately a two - fold increase in a value of the scaling factor associated therewith . ( the parenthetical reference to zero as a scaling factor alludes to cases , e . g ., in which the source signal is temporally or spatially devoid of information content . in an image , for example , a region characterized by several contiguous sample values of zero may correspond to a jet black region of the frame . a scaling value of zero may be appropriate here since there is essentially no image data to be pirated .) continuing with the encoding process , those skilled in the art will recognized the potential for “ rail errors ” in the illustrated embodiment . for example , if the input signal consists of 8 - bit samples , and the samples span the entire range from 0 to 255 ( decimal ), then the addition or subtraction of scaled noise to / from the input signal may produce output signals that cannot be represented by 8 bits ( e . g . − 2 , or 257 ). a number of well - understood techniques exist to rectify this situation , some of them proactive and some of them reactive . ( among these known techniques are : specifying that the input signal shall not have samples in the range of 0 - 4 or 251 - 255 , thereby safely permitting modulation by the noise signal ; or including provision for detecting and adaptively modifying input signal samples that would otherwise cause rail errors .) while the illustrated embodiment describes stepping through the code word sequentially , one bit at a time , to control modulation of successive bits of the input signal , it will be appreciated that the bits of the code word can be used other than sequentially for this purpose . indeed , bits of the code word can be selected in accordance with any predetermined algorithm . the dynamic scaling of the noise signal based on the instantaneous value of the input signal is an optimization that can be omitted in many embodiments . that is , the look - up table 204 and the first scaler 208 can be omitted entirely , and the signal from the digital noise source 206 applied directly ( or through the second , global scaler 210 ) to the adder / subtracter 212 . it will be further recognized that the use of a zero - mean noise source simplifies the illustrated embodiment , but is not necessary to the invention . a noise signal with another mean value can readily be used , and d . c . compensation ( if needed ) can be effected elsewhere in the system . the use of a noise source 206 is also optional . a variety of other signal sources can be used , depending on application - dependent constraints ( e . g . the threshold at which the encoded identification signal becomes perceptible ). in many instances , the level of the embedded identification signal is low enough that the identification signal needn &# 39 ; t have a random aspect ; it is imperceptible regardless of its nature . a pseudo random source 206 , however , is usually desired because it provides the greatest identification code signal s / n ratio ( a somewhat awkward term in this instance ) for a level of imperceptibility of the embedded identification signal . it will be recognized that identification coding need not occur after a signal has been reduced to stored form as data ( i . e . “ fixed in tangible form ,” in the words of the u . s . copyright act ). consider , for example , the case of popular musicians whose performances are often recorded illicitly . by identification coding the audio before it drives concert hall speakers , unauthorized recordings of the concert can be traced to a particular place and time . likewise , live audio sources such as 911 emergency calls can be encoded prior to recording so as to facilitate their later authentication . while the black box embodiment has been described as a stand alone unit , it will be recognized that it can be integrated into a number of different tools / instruments as a component . one is a scanner , which can embed identification codes in the scanned output data . ( the codes can simply serve to memorialize that the data was generated by a particular scanner ). another is in creativity software , such as popular drawing / graphics / animation / paint programs offered by adobe , macromedia , corel , and the like . finally , while the real - time encoder 202 has been illustrated with reference to a particular hardware implementation , it will be recognized that a variety of other implementations can alternatively be employed . some utilize other hardware configurations . others make use of software routines for some or all of the illustrated functional blocks . ( the software routines can be executed on any number of different general purpose programmable computers , such as 80 × 86 pc - compatible computers , risc - based workstations , etc .) heretofore this disclosure postulated gaussian noise , “ white noise ,” and noise generated directly from application instrumentation as a few of the many examples of the kind of carrier signal appropriate to carry a single bit of information throughout an image or signal . it is possible to be even more proactive in “ designing ” characteristics of noise in order to achieve certain goals . the “ design ” of using gaussian or instrumental noise was aimed somewhat toward “ absolute ” security . this section of the disclosure takes a look at other considerations for the design of the noise signals which may be considered the ultimate carriers of the identification information . for some applications it might be advantageous to design the noise carrier signal ( e . g . the nth embedded code signal in the first embodiment ; the scaled noise data in the second embodiment ), so as to provide more absolute signal strength to the identification signal relative to the perceptibility of that signal . one example is the following . it is recognized that a true gaussian noise signal has the value ‘ 0 ’ occur most frequently , followed by 1 and − 1 at equal probabilities to each other but lower than ‘ 0 ’, 2 and − 2 next , and so on . clearly , the value zero carries no information as it is used in the service of this invention . thus , one simple adjustment , or design , would be that any time a zero occurs in the generation of the embedded code signal , a new process takes over , whereby the value is converted “ randomly ” to either a 1 or a − 1 . in logical terms , a decision would be made : if ‘ 0 ’, then random ( 1 ,− 1 ). the histogram of such a process would appear as a gaussian / poissonian type distribution , except that the 0 bin would be empty and the 1 and − 1 bin would be increased by half the usual histogram value of the 0 bin . in this case , identification signal energy would always be applied at all parts of the signal . a few of the trade - offs include : there is a ( probably negligible ) lowering of security of the codes in that a “ deterministic component ” is a part of generating the noise signal . the reason this might be completely negligible is that we still wind up with a coin flip type situation on randomly choosing the 1 or the − 1 . another trade - off is that this type of designed noise will have a higher threshold of perceptibility , and will only be applicable to applications where the least significant bit of a data stream or image is already negligible relative to the commercial value of the material , i . e . if the least significant bit were stripped from the signal ( for all signal samples ), no one would know the difference and the value of the material would not suffer . this blocking of the zero value in the example above is but one of many ways to “ optimize ” the noise properties of the signal carrier , as anyone in the art can realize . we refer to this also as “ quasi - noise ” in the sense that natural noise can be transformed in a pre - determined way into signals which for all intents and purposes will read as noise . also , cryptographic methods and algorithms can easily , and often by definition , create signals which are perceived as completely random . thus the word “ noise ” can have different connotations , primarily between that as defined subjectively by an observer or listener , and that defined mathematically . the difference of the latter is that mathematical noise has different properties of security and the simplicity with which it can either be “ sleuthed ” or the simplicity with which instruments can “ automatically recognize ” the existence of this noise . the bulk of this disclosure teaches that for absolute security , the noise - like embedded code signals which carry the bits of information of the identification signal should be unique to each and every encoded signal , or , slightly less restrictive , that embedded code signals should be generated sparingly , such as using the same embedded codes for a batch of 1000 pieces of film , for example . be this as it may , there is a whole other approach to this issue wherein the use of what we will call “ universal ” embedded code signals can open up large new applications for this technology . the economics of these uses would be such that the de facto lowered security of these universal codes ( e . g . they would be analyzable by time honored cryptographic decoding methods , and thus potentially thwarted or reversed ) would be economically negligible relative to the economic gains that the intended uses would provide . piracy and illegitimate uses would become merely a predictable “ cost ” and a source of uncollected revenue only ; a simple line item in an economic analysis of the whole . a good analogy of this is in the cable industry and the scrambling of video signals . everybody seems to know that crafty , skilled technical individuals , who may be generally law abiding citizens , can climb a ladder and flip a few wires in their cable junction box in order to get all the pay channels for free . the cable industry knows this and takes active measures to stop it and prosecute those caught , but the “ lost revenue ” derived from this practice remains prevalent but almost negligible as a percentage of profits gained from the scrambling system as a whole . the scrambling system as a whole is an economic success despite its lack of “ absolute security .” the same holds true for applications of this technology wherein , for the price of lowering security by some amount , large economic opportunity presents itself . this section first describes what is meant by universal codes , then moves on to some of the interesting uses to which these codes can be applied . universal embedded codes generally refer to the idea that knowledge of the exact codes can be distributed . the embedded codes won &# 39 ; t be put into a dark safe never to be touched until litigation arises ( as alluded to in other parts of this disclosure ), but instead will be distributed to various locations where on - the - spot analysis can take place . generally this distribution will still take place within a security controlled environment , meaning that steps will be taken to limit the knowledge of the codes to those with a need to know . instrumentation which attempts to automatically detect copyrighted material is a non - human example of “ something ” with a need to know the codes . there are many ways to implement the idea of universal codes , each with their own merits regarding any given application . for the purposes of teaching this art , we separate these approaches into three broad categories : universal codes based on libraries , universal codes based on deterministic formula , and universal codes based on pre - defined industry standard patterns . a rough rule of thumb is that the first is more secure than the latter two , but that the latter two are possibly more economical to implement than the first . the use of libraries of universal codes simply means that the techniques of this invention are employed as described , except for the fact that only a limited set of the individual embedded code signals are generated and that any given encoded material will make use of some sub - set of this limited “ universal set .” an example is in order here . a photographic print paper manufacturer may wish to pre - expose every piece of 8 by 10 inch print paper which they sell with a unique identification code . they also wish to sell identification code recognition software to their large customers , service bureaus , stock agencies , and individual photographers , so that all these people can not only verify that their own material is correctly marked , but so that they can also determine if third party material which they are about to acquire has been identified by this technology as being copyrighted . this latter information will help them verify copyright holders and avoid litigation , among many other benefits . in order to “ economically ” institute this plan , they realize that generating unique individual embedded codes for each and every piece of print paper would generate terabytes of independent information , which would need storing and to which recognition software would need access . instead , they decide to embed their print paper with 16 bit identification codes derived from a set of only 50 independent “ universal ” embedded code signals . the details of how this is done are in the next paragraph , but the point is that now their recognition software only needs to contain a limited set of embedded codes in their library of codes , typically on the order of 1 megabyte to 10 megabytes of information for 50 × 16 individual embedded codes splayed out onto an 8 × 10 photographic print ( allowing for digital compression ). the reason for picking 50 instead of just 16 is one of a little more added security , where if it were the same 16 embedded codes for all photographic sheets , not only would the serial number capability be limited to 2 to the 16th power , but lesser and lesser sophisticated pirates could crack the codes and remove them using software tools . there are many different ways to implement this scheme , where the following is but one exemplary method . it is determined by the wisdom of company management that a 300 pixels per inch criteria for the embedded code signals is sufficient resolution for most applications . this means that a composite embedded code image will contain 3000 pixels by 2400 pixels to be exposed at a very low level onto each 8 × 10 sheet . this gives 7 . 2 million pixels . using our staggered coding system such as described in the black box implementation of fig5 and 6 , each individual embedded code signal will contain only 7 . 2 million divided by 16 , or approximately 450k true information carrying pixels , i . e . every 16th pixel along a given raster line . these values will typically be in the range of 2 to − 2 in digital numbers , or adequately described by a signed 3 bit number . the raw information content of an embedded code is then approximately ⅜th &# 39 ; s bytes times 450k or about 170 kilobytes . digital compression can reduce this further . all of these decisions are subject to standard engineering optimization principles as defined by any given application at hand , as is well known in the art . thus we find that 50 of these independent embedded codes will amount to a few megabytes . this is quite reasonable level to distribute as a “ library ” of universal codes within the recognition software . advanced standard encryption devices could be employed to mask the exact nature of these codes if one were concerned that would - be pirates would buy the recognition software merely to reverse engineer the universal embedded codes . the recognition software could simply unencrypt the codes prior to applying the recognition techniques taught in this disclosure . the recognition software itself would certainly have a variety of features , but the core task it would perform is determining if there is some universal copyright code within a given image . the key questions become which 16 of the total 50 universal codes it might contain , if any , and if there are 16 found , what are their bit values . the key variables in determining the answers to these questions are : registration , rotation , magnification ( scale ), and extent . in the most general case with no helpful hints whatsoever , all variables must be independently varied across all mutual combinations , and each of the 50 universal codes must then be checked by adding and subtracting to see if an entropy decrease occurs . strictly speaking , this is an enormous job , but many helpful hints will be found which make the job much simpler , such as having an original image to compare to the suspected copy , or knowing the general orientation and extent of the image relative to an 8 × 10 print paper , which then through simple registration techniques can determine all of the variables to some acceptable degree . then it merely requires cycling through the 50 universal codes to find any decrease in entropy . if one does , then 15 others should as well . a protocol needs to be set up whereby a given order of the 50 translates into a sequence of most significant bit through least significant bit of the id code word . thus if we find that universal code number “ 4 ” is present , and we find its bit value to be “ 0 ”, and that universal codes “ 1 ” through “ 3 ” are definitely not present , then our most significant bit of our n - bit id code number is a “ 0 ”. likewise , we find that the next lowest universal code present is number “ 7 ” and it turns out to be a “ 1 ”, then our next most significant bit is a “ 1 ”. done properly , this system can cleanly trace back to the copyright owner so long as they registered their photographic paper stock serial number with some registry or with the manufacturer of the paper itself . that is , we look up in the registry that a paper using universal embedded codes 4 , 7 , 11 , 12 , 15 , 19 , 21 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 34 , 35 , 37 , 38 , 40 , and 48 , and having the embedded code 0110 0101 0111 0100 belongs to leonardo de boticelli , an unknown wildlife photographer and glacier cinematographer whose address is in northern canada . we know this because he dutifully registered his film and paper stock , a few minutes of work when he bought the stock , which he plopped into the “ no postage necessary ” envelope that the manufacturing company kindly provided to make the process ridiculously simple . somebody owes leonardo a royalty check it would appear , and certainly the registry has automated this royalty payment process as part of its services . one final point is that truly sophisticated pirates and others with illicit intentions can indeed employ a variety of cryptographic and not so cryptographic methods to crack these universal codes , sell them , and make software and hardware tools which can assist in the removing or distorting of codes . we shall not teach these methods as part of this disclosure , however . in any event , this is one of the prices which must be paid for the ease of universal codes and the applications they open up . the libraries of universal codes require the storage and transmittal of megabytes of independent , generally random data as the keys with which to unlock the existence and identity of signals and imagery that have been marked with universal codes . alternatively , various deterministic formulas can be used which “ generate ” what appear to be random data / image frames , thereby obviating the need to store all of these codes in memory and interrogate each and of the “ 50 ” universal codes . deterministic formulas can also assist in speeding up the process of determining the id code once one is known to exist in a given signal or image . on the other hand , deterministic formulas lend themselves to sleuthing by less sophisticated pirates . and once sleuthed , they lend themselves to easier communication , such as posting on the internet to a hundred newsgroups . there may well be many applications which do not care about sleuthing and publishing , and deterministic formulas for generating the individual universal embedded codes might be just the ticket . this category is a bit of a hybrid of the first two , and is most directed at truly large scale implementations of the principles of this technology . the applications employing this class are of the type where staunch security is much less important than low cost , large scale implementation and the vastly larger economic benefits that this enables . one exemplary application is placement of identification recognition units directly within modestly priced home audio and video instrumentation ( such as a tv ). such recognition units would typically monitor audio and / or video looking for these copyright identification codes , and thence triggering simple decisions based on the findings , such as disabling or enabling recording capabilities , or incrementing program specific billing meters which are transmitted back to a central audio / video service provider and placed onto monthly invoices . likewise , it can be foreseen that “ black boxes ” in bars and other public places can monitor ( listen with a microphone ) for copyrighted materials and generate detailed reports , for use by ascap , bmi , and the like . a core principle of simple universal codes is that some basic industry standard “ noiselike ” and seamlessly repetitive patterns are injected into signals , images , and image sequences so that inexpensive recognition units can either a ) determine the mere existence of a copyright “ flag ”, and b ) additionally to a , determine precise identification information which can facilitate more complex decision making and actions . in order to implement this particular embodiment of the present invention , the basic principles of generating the individual embedded noise signals need to be simplified in order to accommodate inexpensive recognition signal processing circuitry , while maintaining the properties of effective randomness and holographic permeation . with large scale industry adoption of these simple codes , the codes themselves would border on public domain information ( much as cable scrambling boxes are almost de facto public domain ), leaving the door open for determined pirates to develop black market countermeasures , but this situation would be quite analogous to the scrambling of cable video and the objective economic analysis of such illegal activity . one prior art known to the applicant in this general area of pro - active copyright detection is the serial copy management system adopted by many firms in the audio industry . to the best of applicant &# 39 ; s knowledge , this system employs a non - audio “ flag ” signal which is not part of the audio data stream , but which is nevertheless grafted onto the audio stream and can indicate whether the associated audio data should or should not be duplicated . one problem with this system is that it is restricted to media and instrumentation which can support this extra “ flag ” signal . another deficiency is that the flagging system carries no identity information which would be useful in making more complex decisions . yet another difficulty is that high quality audio sampling of an analog signal can come arbitrarily close to making a perfect digital copy of some digital master and there seems to be no provision for inhibiting this possibility . the principles of this invention can be brought to bear on these and other problems , in audio applications , video , and all of the other applications previously discussed . an exemplary application of simple universal codes is the following . a single industry standard “ 1 . 000000 second of noise ” would be defined as the most basic indicator of the presence or absence of the copyright marking of any given audio signal . fig9 has an example of what the waveform of an industry standard noise second might look like , both in the time domain 400 and the frequency domain 402 . it is by definition a continuous function and would adapt to any combination of sampling rates and bit quantizations . it has a normalized amplitude and can be scaled arbitrarily to any digital signal amplitude . the signal level and the first m &# 39 ; th derivatives of the signal are continuous at the two boundaries 404 ( fig9 c ), such that when it is repeated , the “ break ” in the signal would not be visible ( as a waveform ) or audible when played through a high end audio system . the choice of 1 second is arbitrary in this example , where the precise length of the interval will be derived from considerations such as audibility , quasi - white noise status , seamless repeatability , simplicity of recognition processing , and speed with which a copyright marking determination can be made . the injection of this repeated noise signal onto a signal or image ( again , at levels below human perception ) would indicate the presence of copyright material . this is essentially a one bit identification code , and the embedding of further identification information will be discussed later on in this section . the use of this identification technique can extend far beyond the low cost home implementations discussed here , where studios could use the technique , and monitoring stations could be set up which literally monitor hundreds of channels of information simultaneously , searching for marked data streams , and furthermore searching for the associated identity codes which could be tied in with billing networks and royalty tracking systems . this basic , standardized noise signature is seamlessly repeated over and over again and added to audio signals which are to be marked with the base copyright identification . part of the reason for the word “ simple ” is seen here : clearly pirates will know about this industry standard signal , but their illicit uses derived from this knowledge , such as erasure or corruption , will be economically minuscule relative to the economic value of the overall technique to the mass market . for most high end audio this signal will be some 80 to 100 db down from full scale , or even much further ; each situation can choose its own levels though certainly there will be recommendations . the amplitude of the signal can be modulated according to the audio signal levels to which the noise signature is being applied , i . e . the amplitude can increase significantly when a drum beats , but not so dramatically as to become audible or objectionable . these measures merely assist the recognition circuitry to be described . recognition of the presence of this noise signature by low cost instrumentation can be effected in a variety of ways . one rests on basic modifications to the simple principles of audio signal power metering . software recognition programs can also be written , and more sophisticated mathematical detection algorithms can be applied to audio in order to make higher confidence detection identifications . in such embodiments , detection of the copyright noise signature involves comparing the time averaged power level of an audio signal with the time averaged power level of that same audio signal which has had the noise signature subtracted from it . if the audio signal with the noise signature subtracted has a lower power level that the unchanged audio signal , then the copyright signature is present and some status flag to that effect needs to be set . the main engineering subtleties involved in making this comparison include : dealing with audio speed playback discrepancies ( e . g . an instrument might be 0 . 5 % “ slow ” relative to exactly one second intervals ); and , dealing with the unknown phase of the one second noise signature within any given audio ( basically , its “ phase ” can be anywhere from 0 to 1 seconds ). another subtlety , not so central as the above two but which nonetheless should be addressed , is that the recognition circuits should not subtract a higher amplitude of the noise signature than was originally embedded onto the audio signal . fortunately this can be accomplished by merely subtracting only a small amplitude of the noise signal , and if the power level goes down , this is an indication of “ heading toward a trough ” in the power levels . yet another related subtlety is that the power level changes will be very small relative to the overall power levels , and calculations generally will need to be done with appropriate bit precision , e . g . 32 bit value operations and accumulations on 16 - 20 bit audio in the calculations of time averaged power levels . clearly , designing and packaging this power level comparison processing circuitry for low cost applications is an engineering optimization task . one trade - off will be the accuracy of making an identification relative to the “ short - cuts ” which can be made to the circuitry in order to lower its cost and complexity . a preferred embodiment for the placement of this recognition circuitry inside of instrumentation is through a single programmable integrated circuit which is custom made for the task . fig1 shows one such integrated circuit 506 . here the audio signal comes in , 500 , either as a digital signal or as an analog signal to be digitized inside the ic 500 , and the output is a flag 502 which is set to one level if the copyright noise signature is found , and to another level if it is not found . also depicted is the fact that the standardized noise signature waveform is stored in read only memory , 504 , inside the ic 506 . there will be a slight time delay between the application of an audio signal to the ic 506 and the output of a valid flag 502 , due to the need to monitor some finite portion of the audio before a recognition can place . in this case , there may need to be a “ flag valid ” output 508 where the ic informs the external world if it has had enough time to make a proper determination of the presence or absence of the copyright noise signature . there are a wide variety of specific designs and philosophies of designs applied to accomplishing the basic function of the ic 506 of fig1 . audio engineers and digital signal processing engineers are able to generate several fundamentally different designs . one such design is depicted in fig1 by a process 599 , which itself is subject to further engineering optimization as will be discussed . fig1 depicts a flow chart for any of : an analog signal processing network , a digital signal processing network , or programming steps in a software program . we find an input signal 600 which along one path is applied to a time averaged power meter 602 , and the resulting power output itself treated as a signal p sig . to the upper right we find the standard noise signature 504 which will be read out at 125 % of normal speed , 604 , thus changing its pitch , giving the “ pitch changed noise signal ” 606 . then the input signal has this pitch changed noise signal subtracted in step 608 , and this new signal is applied to the same form of time averaged power meter as in 602 , here labelled 610 . the output of this operation is also a time based signal here labelled as p s - pcn , 610 . step 612 then subtracts the power signal 602 from the power signal 610 , giving an output difference signal p out , 613 . if the universal standard noise signature does indeed exist on the input audio signal 600 , then case 2 , 616 , will be created wherein a beat signal 618 of approximately 4 second period will show up on the output signal 613 , and it remains to detect this beat signal with a step such as in fig1 , 622 . case 1 , 614 , is a steady noisy signal which exhibits no periodic beating . 125 % at step 604 is chosen arbitrarily here , where engineering considerations would determine an optimal value , leading to different beat signal frequencies 618 . whereas waiting 4 seconds in this example would be quite a while , especially is you would want to detect at least two or three beats , fig1 outlines how the basic design of fig1 could be repeated and operated upon various delayed versions of the input signal , delayed by something like 1 / 20th of a second , with 20 parallel circuits working in concert each on a segment of the audio delayed by 0 . 05 seconds from their neighbors . in this way , a beat signal will show up approximately every ⅕th of a second and will look like a travelling wave down the columns of beat detection circuits . the existence or absence of this travelling beat wave triggers the detection flag 502 . meanwhile , there would be an audio signal monitor 624 which would ensure that , for example , at least two seconds of audio has been heard before setting the flag valid signal 508 . though the audio example was described above , it should be clear to anyone in the art that the same type of definition of some repetitive universal noise signal or image could be applied to the many other signals , images , pictures , and physical media already discussed . the above case deals only with a single bit plane of information , i . e ., the noise signature signal is either there ( 1 ) or it isn &# 39 ; t ( 0 ). for many applications , it would be nice to detect serial number information as well , which could then be used for more complex decisions , or for logging information on billing statements or whatnot . the same principles as the above would apply , but now there would be n independent noise signatures as depicted in fig9 instead one single such signature . typically , one such signature would be the master upon which the mere existence of a copyright marking is detected , and this would have generally higher power than the others , and then the other lower power “ identification ” noise signatures would be embedded into audio . recognition circuits , once having found the existence of the primary noise signature , would then step through the other n noise signatures applying the same steps as described above . where a beat signal is detected , this indicates the bit value of ‘ 1 ’, and where no beat signal is detected , this indicates a bit value of ‘ 0 ’. it might be typical that n will equal 32 , that way 232 number of identification codes are available to any given industry employing this invention . use of this technology when the length of the identification code is 1 the principles of this invention can obviously be applied in the case where only a single presence or absence of an identification signal — a fingerprint if you will — is used to provide confidence that some signal or image is copyrighted . the example above of the industry standard noise signature is one case in point . we no longer have the added confidence of the coin flip analogy , we no longer have tracking code capabilities or basic serial number capabilities , but many applications may not require these attributes and the added simplicity of a single fingerprint might outweigh these other attributes in any event . the term “ holographic ” has been used in this disclosure to describe how an identification code number is distributed in a largely integral form throughout an encoded signal or image . this also refers to the idea that any given fragment of the signal or image contains the entire unique identification code number . as with physical implementations of holography , there are limitations on how small a fragment can become before one begins to lose this property , where the resolution limits of the holographic media are the main factor in this regard for holography itself . in the case of an uncorrupted distribution signal which has used the encoding device of fig5 , and which furthermore has used our “ designed noise ” of above wherein the zero &# 39 ; s were randomly changed to a 1 or − 1 , then the extent of the fragment required is merely n contiguous samples in a signal or image raster line , where n is as defined previously being the length of our identification code number . this is an informational extreme ; practical situations where noise and corruption are operative will require generally one , two or higher orders of magnitude more samples than this simple number n . those skilled in the art will recognize that there are many variables involved in pinning down precise statistics on the size of the smallest fragment with which an identification can be made . for tutorial purposes , the applicant also uses the analogy that the unique identification code number is “ wallpapered ” across and image ( or signal ). that is , it is repeated over and over again all throughout an image . this repetition of the id code number can be regular , as in the use of the encoder of fig5 , or random itself , where the bits in the id code 216 of fig6 are not stepped through in a normal repetitive fashion but rather are randomly selected on each sample , and the random selection stored along with the value of the output 228 itself . in any event , the information carrier of the id code , the individual embedded code signal , does change across the image or signal . thus as the wallpaper analogy summarizes : the id code repeats itself over and over , but the patterns that each repetition imprints change randomly accordingly to a generally unsleuthable key . as earlier mentioned , the identification coding of the preferred embodiment withstands lossy data compression , and subsequent decompression . such compression is finding increasing use , particularly in contexts such as the mass distribution of digitized entertainment programming ( movies , etc .). while data encoded according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention can withstand all types of lossy compression known to applicant , those expected to be most commercially important are the ccitt g3 , ccitt g4 , jpeg , mpeg and jbig compression / decompression standards . the ccitt standards are widely used in black - and - white document compression ( e . g . facsimile and document - storage ). jpeg is most widely used with still images . mpeg is most widely used with moving images . jbig is a likely successor to the ccitt standards for use with black - and - white imagery . such techniques are well known to those in the lossy data compression field ; a good overview can be found in pennebaker et al , jpeg , still image data compression standard , van nostrand reinhold , n . y ., 1993 . towards steganography proper and the use of this technology in passing more complex messages or information this disclosure concentrates on what above was called wallpapering a single identification code across an entire signal . this appears to be a desirable feature for many applications . however , there are other applications where it might be desirable to pass messages or to embed very long strings of pertinent identification information in signals and images . one of many such possible applications would be where a given signal or image is meant to be manipulated by several different groups , and that certain regions of an image are reserved for each group &# 39 ; s identification and insertion of pertinent manipulation information . in these cases , the code word 216 in fig6 can actually change in some pre - defined manner as a function of signal or image position . for example , in an image , the code could change for each and every raster line of the digital image . it might be a 16 bit code word , 216 , but each scan line would have a new code word , and thus a 480 scan line image could pass a 980 ( 480 × 2 bytes ) byte message . a receiver of the message would need to have access to either the noise signal stored in memory 214 , or would have to know the universal code structure of the noise codes if that method of coding was being used . to the best of applicant &# 39 ; s knowledge , this is a novel approach to the mature field of steganography . in all three of the foregoing applications of universal codes , it will often be desirable to append a short ( perhaps 8 - or 16 - bit ) private code , which users would keep in their own secured places , in addition to the universal code . this affords the user a further modicum of security against potential erasure of the universal codes by sophisticated pirates . one master code signal as a distinction from n independent embedded code signals in certain sections of this disclosure , perhaps exemplified in the section on the realtime encoder , an economizing step was taken whereby the n independent and source - signal - coextensive embedded code signals were so designed that the non - zero elements of any given embedded code signal were unique to just that embedded code signal and no others . said more carefully , certain pixels / sample points of a given signal were “ assigned ” to some pre - determined m &# 39 ; th bit location in our n - bit identification word . furthermore , and as another basic optimization of implementation , the aggregate of these assigned pixels / samples across all n embedded code signals is precisely the extent of the source signal , meaning each and every pixel / sample location in a source signal is assigned one and only one m &# 39 ; th bit place in our n - bit identification word . ( this is not to say , however , that each and every pixel must be modified ). as a matter of simplification we can then talk about a single master code signal ( or “ snowy image ”) rather than n independent signals , realizing that pre - defined locations in this master signal correspond to unique bit locations in our n - bit identification word . we therefore construct , via this circuitous route , this rather simple concept on the single master noise signal . beyond mere economization and simplification , there are also performance reasons for this shift , primarily derived from the idea that individual bit places in our n - bit identification word are no longer “ competing ” for the information carrying capacity of a single pixel / sample . with this single master more clearly understood , we can gain new insights into other sections of this disclosure and explore further details within the given application areas . one case in point is to further explore the use of deterministic universal codes , labelled as item “ 2 ” in the sections devoted to universal codes . a given user of this technology may opt for the following variant use of the principles of this invention . the user in question might be a mass distributor of home videos , but clearly the principles would extend to all other potential users of this invention . fig1 pictorially represents the steps involved . in the example the user is one “ alien productions .” they first create an image canvas which is coextensive to the size of the video frames of their movie “ bud &# 39 ; s adventures .” on this canvas they print the name of the movie , they place their logo and company name . furthermore , they have specific information at the bottom , such as the distribution lot for the mass copying that they are currently cranking out , and as indicated , they actually have a unique frame number indicated . thus we find the example of a standard image 700 which forms the initial basis for the creation of a master snowy image ( master code signal ) which will be added into the original movie frame , creating an output distributable frame . this image 700 can be either black & amp ; white or color . the process of turning this image 700 into a pseudo random master code signal is alluded to by the encryption / scrambling routine 702 , wherein the original image 700 is passed through any of dozens of well known scrambling methods . the depiction of the number “ 28 ” alludes to the idea that there can actually be a library of scrambling methods , and the particular method used for this particular movie , or even for this particular frame , can change . the result is our classic master code signal or snowy image . in general , its brightness values are large and it would look very much like the snowy image on a television set tuned to a blank channel , but clearly it has been derived from an informative image 700 , transformed through a scrambling 702 . ( note : the splotchiness of the example picture is actually a rather poor depiction ; it was a function of the crude tools available to the inventor ). this master snowy image 704 is then the signal which is modulated by our n - bit identification word as outlined in other sections of the disclosure , the resulting modulated signal is then scaled down in brightness to the acceptable perceived noise level , and then added to the original frame to produce the distributable frame . there are a variety of advantages and features that the method depicted in fig1 affords . there are also variations of theme within this overall variation . clearly , one advantage is that users can now use more intuitive and personalized methods for stamping and signing their work . provided that the encryption / scrambling routines , 702 , are indeed of a high security and not published or leaked , then even if a would - be pirate has knowledge of the logo image 700 , they should not be able to use this knowledge to be able to sleuth the master snowy image 704 , and thus they should not be able to crack the system , as it were . on the other hand , simple encryption routines 702 may open the door for cracking the system . another clear advantage of the method of fig1 is the ability to place further information into the overall protective process . strictly speaking , the information contained in the logo image 700 is not directly carried in the final distributable frame . said another way , and provided that the encryption / scrambling routine 702 has a straightforward and known decryption / descrambling method which tolerates bit truncation errors , it is generally impossible to fully re - create the image 700 based upon having the distributable frame , the n - bit identification code word , the brightness scaling factor used , and the number of the decryption routine to be used . the reason that an exact recreation of the image 700 is impossible is due to the scaling operation itself and the concomitant bit truncation . for the present discussion , this whole issue is somewhat academic , however . a variation on the theme of fig1 is to actually place the n - bit identification code word directly into the logo image 700 . in some sense this would be self - referential . thus when we pull out our stored logo image 700 it already contains visually what our identification word is , then we apply encryption routine # 28 to this image , scale it down , then use this version to decode a suspect image using the techniques of this disclosure . the n bit word thus found should match the one contained in our logo image 700 . one desirable feature of the encryption / scrambling routine 702 might be ( but is certainly not required to be ) that even given a small change in the input image 700 , such as a single digit change of the frame number , there would be a huge visual change in the output scrambled master snowy image 704 . likewise , the actual scrambling routine may change as a function of frame numbers , or certain “ seed ” numbers typically used within pseudo - randomizing functions could change as a function of frame number . all manner of variations are thus possible , all helping to maintain high levels of security . eventually , engineering optimization considerations will begin to investigate the relationship between some of these randomizing methods , and how they all relate to maintaining acceptable signal strength levels through the process of transforming an uncompressed video stream into a compressed video stream such as with the mpeg compression methodologies . another desired feature of the encryption process 702 is that it should be informationally efficient , i . e ., that given any random input , it should be able to output an essentially spatially uniform noisy image with little to no residual spatial patterns beyond pure randomness . any residual correlated patterns will contribute to inefficiency of encoding the n - bit identification word , as well as opening up further tools to would - be pirates to break the system . another feature of the method of fig1 is that there is more intuitional appeal to using recognizable symbols as part of a decoding system , which should then translate favorably in the essentially lay environment of a courtroom . it strengthens the simplicity of the coin flip vernacular mentioned elsewhere . jury members or judges will better relate to an owner &# 39 ; s logo as being a piece of the key of recognizing a suspect copy as being a knock - off . it should also be mentioned that , strictly speaking , the logo image 700 does not need to be randomized . the steps of the invention could equally apply straight to the logo image 700 directly . it is not entirely clear to the inventor what practical goal this might have . a trivial extension of this concept to the case where n = 1 is where , simply and easily , the logo image 700 is merely added to an original image at a very low brightness level . the inventor does not presume this trivial case to be at all a novelty . in many ways this is similar to the age old issue of subliminal advertising , where the low light level patterns added to an image are recognizable to the human eye / brain system and — supposedly — operating on the human brain at an unconscious level . by pointing out these trivial extensions of the current invention , hopefully there can arise further clarity which distinguishes the novel principles of this invention in relation to such well known prior art techniques . it is desirable in some applications for the n - bit identification word to actually signify names , companies , strange words , messages , and the like . most of this disclosure focuses on using the n - bit identification word merely for high statistical security , indexed tracking codes , and other index based message carrying . the information carrying capacity of “ invisible signatures ” inside imagery and audio is somewhat limited , however , and thus it would be wise to use our n bits efficiently if we actually want to “ spell out ” alphanumeric items in the n - bit identification word . one way to do this is to define , or to use an already existing , reduced bit ( e . g . less than 8 - bit ascii ) standardized codes for passing alphanumeric messages . this can help to satisfy this need on the part of some applications . for example , a simple alphanumeric code could be built on a 5 - bit index table , where for example the letters v , x , q , and z are not included , but the digits 0 through 9 are included . in this way , a 100 bit identification word could carry with it 20 alphanumeric symbols . another alternative is to use variable bit length codes such as the ones used in text compression routines ( e . g . huffman ) whereby more frequently used symbols have shorter bit length codes and less frequently used symbols have longer bit lengths . more on detecting and recognizing the n - bit identification word in suspect signals classically speaking , the detection of the n - bit identification word fits nicely into the old art of detecting known signals in noise . noise in this last statement can be interpreted very broadly , even to the point where an image or audio track itself can be considered noise , relative to the need to detect the underlying signature signals . one of many references to this older art is the book kassam , saleem a ., “ signal detection in non - guassian noise ,” springer - verlag , 1988 ( available at the library of congress by catalog number tk5102 . 5 . k357 1988 ). to the best of this inventor &# 39 ; s current understanding , none of the material in this book is directly applicable to the issue of discovering the polarity of embedded signals of this invention , but the broader principles are indeed applicable . in particular , section 1 . 2 “ basic concepts of hypothesis testing ” of kassam &# 39 ; s book lays out the basic concept of a binary hypothesis , assigning the value “ 1 ” to one hypothesis and the value “ 0 ” to the other hypothesis . the last paragraph of that section is also on point regarding the initial preferred embodiment of this invention , i . e ., that the “ 0 ” hypothesis corresponds to “ noise only ” case , whereas the “ 1 ” corresponds to the presence of a signal in the observations . ( chapters 1 - 3 of kassam are attached hereto as appendix a .) the current preferred embodiment of using true polarity is not like this however , where now the “ 0 ” corresponds to the presence of an inverted signal rather than to “ noise - only .” also in the current preferred embodiment , the case of “ noise - only ” is effectively ignored , and that an identification process will either come up with our n - bit identification word or it will come up with “ garbage .” the continued and inevitable engineering improvement in the detection of embedded code signals will undoubtedly borrow heavily from this generic field of known signal detection . a common and well - known technique in this field is the so - called “ matched filter ,” which is incidentally discussed early in section 2 of the kassam book . many basic texts on signal processing include discussions on this method of signal detection . this is also known in some fields as correlation detection . furthermore , when the phase or location of a known signal is known a priori , such as is often the case in applications of this invention , then the matched filter can often be reduced to a simple vector dot product between a suspect image and the embedded signal associated with an m &# 39 ; th bit plane in our n - bit identification word . this then represents yet another simple “ detection algorithm ” for taking a suspect image and producing a sequence of 1s and 0s with the intention of determining if that series corresponds to a pre - embedded n - bit identification word . in words , and with reference to fig3 , we run through the process steps up through and including the subtracting of the original image from the suspect , but the next step is merely to step through all n random independent signals and perform a simple vector dot product between these signals and the difference signal , and if that dot product is negative , assign a ‘ 0 ’ and if that dot product is positive , assign a ‘ 1 .’ careful analysis of this “ one of many ” algorithms will show its similarity to the traditional matched filter . there are also some immediate improvements to the “ matched filter ” and “ correlation - type ” that can provide enhanced ability to properly detect very low level embedded code signals . some of these improvements are derived from principles set forth in the kassam book , others are generated by the inventor and the inventor has no knowledge of their being developed in other papers or works , but neither has the inventor done fully extensive searching for advanced signal detection techniques . one such technique is perhaps best exemplified by fig3 . 5 in kassam on page 79 , wherein there are certain plots of the various locally optimum weighting coefficients which can apply to a general dot - product algorithmic approach to detection . in other words , rather than performing a simple dot product , each elemental multiplication operation in an overall dot product can be weighted based upon known a priori statistical information about the difference signal itself , i . e ., the signal within which the low level known signals are being sought . the interested reader who is not already familiar with these topics is encouraged to read chapter 3 of kassam to gain a fuller understanding . one principle which did not seem to be explicitly present in the kassam book and which was developed rudimentarily by the inventor involves the exploitation of the magnitudes of the statistical properties of the known signal being sought relative to the magnitude of the statistical properties of the suspect signal as a whole . in particular , the problematic case seems to be where the embedded signals we are looking for are of much lower level than the noise and corruption present on a difference signal . fig1 attempts to set the stage for the reasoning behind this approach . the top fig7 contains a generic look at the differences in the histograms between a typical “ problematic ” difference signal , i . e ., a difference signal which has a much higher overall energy than the embedded signals that may or may not be within it . the term “ mean - removed ” simply means that the means of both the difference signal and the embedded code signal have been removed , a common operation prior to performing a normalized dot product . the lower fig7 then has a generally similar histogram plot of the derivatives of the two signals , or in the case of an image , the scalar gradients . from pure inspection it can be seen that a simple thresholding operation in the derivative transform domain , with a subsequent conversion back into the signal domain , will go a long way toward removing certain innate biases on the dot product “ recognition algorithm ” of a few paragraphs back . thresholding here refers to the idea that if the absolute value of a difference signal derivative value exceeds some threshold , then it is replaced simply by that threshold value . the threshold value can be so chosen to contain most of the histogram of the embedded signal . another operation which can be of minor assistance in “ alleviating ” some of the bias effects in the dot product algorithm is the removal of the low order frequencies in the difference signal , i . e ., running the difference signal through a high pass filter , where the cutoff frequency for the high pass filter is relatively near the origin ( or dc ) frequency . special considerations for recognizing embedded codes on signals which have been compressed and decompressed , or alternatively , for recognizing embedded codes within any signal which has undergone some known process which creates non - uniform error sources long title for a basic concept . some signal processing operations , such as compressing and decompressing an image , as with the jpeg / mpeg formats of image / video compression , create errors in some given transform domain which have certain correlations and structure . using jpeg as an example , if a given image is compressed then decompressed at some high compression ratio , and that resulting image is then fourier transformed and compared to the fourier transform of the original uncompressed image , a definite pattern is clearly visible . this patterning is indicative of correlated error , i . e . error which can be to some extent quantified and predicted . the prediction of the grosser properties of this correlated error can then be used to advantage in the heretofore - discussed methods of recognizing the embedded code signals within some suspect image which may have undergone either jpeg compression or any other operation which leaves these telltale correlated error signatures . the basic idea is that in areas where there are known higher levels of error , the value of the recognition methods is diminished relative to the areas with known lower levels of correlated errors . it is often possible to quantify the expected levels of error and use this quantification to appropriately weight the retransformed signal values . using jpeg compression again as an example , a suspect signal can be fourier transformed , and the fourier space representation may clearly show the telltale box grid pattern . the fourier space signal can then be “ spatially filtered ” near the grid points , and this filtered representation can then be transformed back into its regular time or space domain to then be run through the recognition methods presented in this disclosure . likewise , any signal processing method which creates non - uniform error sources can be transformed into the domain in which these error sources are non - uniform , the values at the high points of the error sources can be attenuated , and the thusly “ filtered ” signal can be transformed back into the time / space domain for standard recognition . often this whole process will include the lengthy and arduous step of “ characterizing ” the typical correlated error behavior in order to “ design ” the appropriate filtering profiles . briefly and for the sake of clarity , the phrases and terms “ signatures ,” “ invisible signatures ,” and “ signature codes ” have been and will continue to be used to refer to the general techniques of this invention and often refer specifically to the composite embedded code signal as defined early on in this disclosure . just as there is a distinction made between the jpeg standards for compressing still images and the mpeg standards for compressed motion images , so too should there be distinctions made between placing invisible signatures into still images and placing signatures into motion images . as with the jpeg / mpeg distinction , it is not a matter of different foundations , it is the fact that with motion images a new dimension of engineering optimization opens up by the inclusion of time as a parameter . any textbook dealing with mpeg will surely contain a section on how mpeg is ( generally ) not merely applying jpeg on a frame by frame basis . it will be the same with the application of the principles of this invention : generally speaking , the placement of invisible signatures into motion image sequences will not be simply independently placing invisible signatures into one frame after the next . a variety of time - based considerations come into play , some dealing with the psychophysics of motion image perception , others driven by simple cost engineering considerations . one preferred embodiment is the following . this example actually uses the mpeg compression standard as a piece of a solution . other motion image compression schemes could equally well be used , be they already invented or yet to be invented . this example also utilizes the scrambled logo image approach to generating the master snowy image as depicted in fig1 and discussed in the disclosure . a “ compressed master snowy image ” is independently rendered as depicted in fig1 . “ rendered ” refers to the generally well known technique in video , movie and animation production whereby an image or sequence of images is created by constructive techniques such as computer instructions or the drawing of animation cells by hand . thus , “ to render ” a signature movie in this example is essentially to let either a computer create it as a digital file or to design some custom digital electronic circuitry to create it . the overall goal of the procedure outlined in fig1 is to apply the invisible signatures to the original movie 762 in such a way that the signatures do not degrade the commercial value of the movie , memorialized by the side - by - side viewing , 768 , and in such a way that the signature optimally survives through the mpeg compression and decompression process . as noted earlier , the use of the mpeg process in particular is an example of the generic process of compression . also it should be noted that the example presented here has definite room for engineering variations . in particular , those practiced in the art of motion picture compression will appreciate the fact if we start out with two video streams a and b , and we compress a and b separately and combine their results , then the resultant video stream c will not generally be the same as if we pre - added the video streams a and b and compressed this resultant . thus we have in general , e . g . : where =\= is not equal to . this is somewhat an abstract notion to introduce at this point in the disclosure and will become more clear as fig1 is discussed . the general idea , however , is that there will be a variety of algebras that can be used to optimize the pass - through of “ invisible ” signatures through compression procedures . clearly , the same principles as depicted in fig1 also work on still images and the jpeg or any other still image compression standard . turning now to the details of fig1 , we begin with the simple stepping through of all z frames of a movie or video . for a two hour movie played at 30 frames per second , z turns out to be ( 30 * 2 * 60 * 60 ) or 216 , 000 . the inner loop of 700 , 702 and 704 merely mimics fig1 &# 39 ; s steps . the logo frame optionally can change during the stepping through frames . the two arrows emanating from the box 704 represent both the continuation of the loop 750 and the depositing of output frames into the rendered master snowy image 752 . to take a brief but potentially appropriate digression at this point , the use of the concept of a markov process brings certain clarity to the discussion of optimizing the engineering implementation of the methods of fig1 . briefly , a markov process is one in which a sequence of events takes place and in general there is no memory between one step in the sequence and the next . in the context of fig1 and a sequence of images , a markovian sequence of images would be one in which there is no apparent or appreciable correlation between a given frame and the next . imagine taking the set of all movies ever produced , stepping one frame at a time and selecting a random frame from a random movie to be inserted into an output movie , and then stepping through , say , one minute or 1800 of these frames . the resulting “ movie ” would be a fine example of a markovian movie . one point of this discussion is that depending on how the logo frames are rendered and depending on how the encryption / scrambling step 702 is performed , the master snowy movie 752 will exhibit some generally quantifiable degree of markovian characteristics . the point of this point is that the compression procedure itself will be affected by this degree of markovian nature and thus needs to be accounted for in designing the process of fig1 . likewise , and only in general , even if a fully markovian movie is created in the high brightness master snowy movie , 752 , then the processing of compressing and decompressing that movie 752 , represented as the mpeg box 754 , will break down some of the markovian nature of 752 and create at least a marginally non - markovian compressed master snowy movie 756 . this point will be utilized when the disclosure briefly discusses the idea of using multiple frames of a video stream in order to find a single n - bit identification word , that is , the same n - bit identification word may be embedded into several frames of a movie , and it is quite reasonable to use the information derived from those multiple frames to find that single n - bit identification word . the non - markovian nature of 756 thus adds certain tools to reading and recognizing the invisible signatures . enough of this tangent . with the intent of pre - conditioning the ultimately utilized master snowy movie 756 , we now send the rendered high brightness master snowy movie 752 through both the mpeg compression and decompression procedure 754 . with the caveat previously discussed where it is acknowledged that the mpeg compression process is generally not distributive , the idea of the step 754 is to crudely segregate the initially rendered snowy movie 752 into two components , the component which survives the compression process 754 which is 756 , and the component which does not survive , also crudely estimated using the difference operation 758 to produce the “ cheap master snowy movie ” 760 . the reason use is made of the deliberately loose term “ cheap ” is that we can later add this signature signal as well to a distributable movie , knowing that it probably won &# 39 ; t survive common compression processes but that nevertheless it can provide “ cheap ” extra signature signal energy for applications or situations which will never experience compression . [ thus it is at least noted in fig1 ]. back to fig1 proper , we now have a rough cut at signatures which we know have a higher likelihood of surviving intact through the compression process , and we use this “ compressed master snowy movie ” 756 to then go through this invention &# 39 ; s procedure of being scaled down 764 , added to the original movie 766 , producing a candidate distributable movie 770 , then compared to the original movie ( 768 ) to ensure that it meets whatever commercially viable criteria which have been set up ( i . e . the acceptable perceived noise level ). the arrow from the side - by - side step 768 back to the scale down step 764 corresponds quite directly to the “ experiment visually . . . ” step of fig2 , and the gain control 226 of fig6 . those practiced in the art of image and audio information theory can recognize that the whole of fig1 can be summarized as attempting to pre - condition the invisible signature signals in such a way that they are better able to withstand even quite appreciable compression . to reiterate a previously mentioned item as well , this idea equally applies to any such pre - identifiable process to which an image , and image sequence , or audio track might be subjected . this clearly includes the jpeg process on still images . it should be noted that the method steps represented in fig1 , generally following from box 750 up through the creation of the compressed master snowy movie 756 , could with certain modification be implemented in hardware . in particular , the overall analog noise source 206 in fig6 could be replaced by such a hardware circuit . likewise the steps and associated procedures depicted in fig1 could be implemented in hardware and replace the analog noise source 206 . as noted in the digression on markov and non - markov sequences of images , it is pointed out once again that in such circumstances where the embedded invisible signature signals are non - markovian in nature , i . e ., that there is some correlation between the master snowy image of one frame to that of the next , and furthermore that a single n - bit identification word is used across a range of frames and that the sequence of n - bit identification words associated with the sequence of frames is not markovian in nature , then it is possible to utilize the data from several frames of a movie or video in order to recognize a single n - bit identification word . all of this is a fancy way of saying that the process of recognizing the invisible signatures should use as much information as is available , in this case translating to multiple frames of a motion image sequence . the concept of the “ header ” on a digital image or audio file is a well established practice in the art . the top of fig1 has a simplified look at the concept of the header , wherein a data file begins with generally a comprehensive set of information about the file as a whole , often including information about who the author or copyright holder of the data is , if there is a copyright holder at all . this header 800 is then typically followed by the data itself 802 , such as an audio stream , a digital image , a video stream , or compressed versions of any of these items . this is all exceedingly known and common in the industry . one way in which the principles of this invention can be employed in the service of information integrity is generically depicted in the lower diagram of fig1 . in general , the n - bit identification word can be used to essentially “ wallpaper ” a given simple message throughout an image ( as depicted ) or audio data stream , thereby reinforcing some message already contained in a traditional header . this is referred to as “ header verification ” in the title of this section . the thinking here is that less sophisticated would - be pirates and abusers can alter the information content of header information , and the more secure techniques of this inventions can thus be used as checks on the veracity of header information . provided that the code message , such as “ joe &# 39 ; s image ” in the header , matches the repeated message throughout an image , then a user obtaining the image can have some higher degree of confidence that no alteration of the header has taken place . likewise , the header can actually carry the n - bit identification word so that the fact that a given data set has been coded via the methods of this invention can be highlighted and the verification code built right into the header . naturally , this data file format has not been created yet since the principles of this invention are currently not being employed . although all of the possible applications of the following aspect of the invention are not fully developed , it is nevertheless presented as a design alternative that may be important some day . the title of this section contains the silly phrase used to describe this possibility : the “ bodier .” whereas the previous section outlined how the n - bit identification word could “ verify ” information contained within the header of a digital file , there is also the prospect that the methods of this invention could completely replace the very concept of the header and place the information which is traditionally stored in the header directly into the digital signal and empirical data itself . this could be as simple as standardizing on , purely for example , a 96 - bit ( 12 bytes ) leader string on an otherwise entirely empirical data stream . this leader string would plain and simple contain the numeric length , in elemental data units , of the entire data file not including the leader string , and the number of bits of depth of a single data element ( e . g . its number of grey levels or the number of discrete signal levels of an audio signal ). from there , universal codes as described in this specification would be used to read the n - bit identification word written directly within the empirical data . the length of the empirical data would need to be long enough to contain the full n bits . the n - bit word would effectively transmit what would otherwise be contained in a traditional header . fig1 depicts such a data format and calls it the “ universal empirical data format .” the leader string 820 is comprised of the 64 bit string length 822 and the 32 bit data word size 824 . the data stream 826 then immediately follows , and the information traditionally contained in the header but now contained directly in the data stream is represented as the attached dotted line 828 . another term used for this attached information is a “ shadow channel ” as also depicted in fig1 . yet another element that may need to be included in the leader string is some sort of complex check sum bits which can verify that the whole of the data file is intact and unaltered . this is not included in fig1 . one intriguing variation on the theme of universal codes is the possibility of the n - bit identification word actually containing instructions which vary the operations of the universal code system itself . one of many examples is immediately in order : a data transmission is begun wherein a given block of audio data is fully transmitted , an n - bit identification word is read knowing that the first block of data used universal codes # 145 out of a set of 500 , say , and that part of the n - bit identification word thus found is the instructions that the next block of data should be “ analyzed ” using the universal code set # 411 rather than # 145 . in general , this invention can thus be used as a method for changing on the fly the actual decoding instructions themselves . also in general , this ability to utilize “ dynamic codes ” should greatly increase the sophistication level of the data verification procedures and increase the economic viability of systems which are prone to less sophisticated thwarting by hackers and would - be pirates . the inventor does not believe that the concept of dynamically changing decoding / decrypting instructions is novel per se , but the carrying of those instructions on the “ shadow channel ” of empirical data does appear to be novel to the best of the inventor &# 39 ; s understanding . [ shadow channel was previously defined as yet another vernacular phrase encapsulating the more steganographic proper elements of this invention ]. a variant on the theme of dynamic codes is the use of universal codes on systems which have a priori assigned knowledge of which codes to use when . one way to summarize this possibility is the idea of “ the daily password .” the password in this example represents knowledge of which set of universal codes is currently operative , and these change depending on some set of application - specific circumstances . presumably many applications would be continually updating the universal codes to ones which had never before been used , which is often the case with the traditional concept of the daily password . part of a currently transmitted n - bit identification word could be the passing on of the next day &# 39 ; s password , for example . though time might be the most common trigger events for the changing of passwords , there could be event based triggers as well . symmetric patterns and noise patterns : toward a robust universal coding system the placement of identification patterns into images is certainly not new . logos stamped into corners of images , subtle patterns such as true signatures or the wallpapering of the copyright circle - c symbol , and the watermark proper are all examples of placing patterns into images in order to signify ownership or to try to prevent illicit uses of the creative material . what does appear to be novel is the approach of placing independent “ carrier ” patterns , which themselves are capable of being modulated with certain information , directly into images and audio for the purposes of transmission and discernment of said information , while effectively being imperceptible and / or unintelligible to a perceiving human . steganographic solutions currently known to the inventor all place this information “ directly ” into empirical data ( possibly first encrypted , then directly ), whereas the methods of this disclosure posit the creation of these ( most - often ) coextensive carrier signals , the modulation of those carrier signals with the information proper , then the direct application to the empirical data . in extending these concepts one step further into the application arena of universal code systems , where a sending site transmits empirical data with a certain universal coding scheme employed and a receiving site analyzes said empirical data using the universal coding scheme , it would be advantageous to take a closer look at the engineering considerations of such a system designed for the transmission of images or motion images , as opposed to audio . said more clearly , the same type of analysis of a specific implementation such as is contained in fig9 and its accompanying discussion on the universal codes in audio applications should as well be done on imagery ( or two dimensional signals ). this section is such an analysis and outline of a specific implementation of universal codes and it attempts to anticipate various hurdles that such a method should clear . the unifying theme of one implementation of a universal coding system for imagery and motion imagery is “ symmetry .” the idea driving this couldn &# 39 ; t be more simple : a prophylactic against the use of image rotation as a means for less sophisticated pirates to bypass any given universal coding system . the guiding principle is that the universal coding system should easily be read no matter what rotational orientation the subject imagery is in . these issues are quite common in the fields of optical character recognition and object recognition , and these fields should be consulted for further tools and tricks in furthering the engineering implementation of this invention . as usual , an immediate example is in order . digital video and internet company xyz has developed a delivery system of its product which relies on a non - symmetric universal coding which double checks incoming video to see if the individual frames of video itself , the visual data , contain xyz &# 39 ; s own relatively high security internal signature codes using the methods of this invention . this works well and fine for many delivery situations , including their internet tollgate which does not pass any material unless both the header information is verified and the in - frame universal codes are found . however , another piece of their commercial network performs mundane routine monitoring on internet channels to look for unauthorized transmission of their proprietary creative property . they control the encryption procedures used , thus it is no problem for them to unencrypt creative property , including headers , and perform straightforward checks . a pirate group that wants to traffic material on xyz &# 39 ; s network has determined how to modify the security features in xyz &# 39 ; s header information system , and they have furthermore discovered that by simply rotating imagery by 10 or 20 degrees , and transmitting it over xyz &# 39 ; s network , the network doesn &# 39 ; t recognize the codes and therefore does not flag illicit uses of their material , and the receiver of the pirate &# 39 ; s rotated material simply unrotates it . summarizing this last example via logical categories , the non - symmetric universal codes are quite acceptable for the “ enablement of authorized action based on the finding of the codes ,” whereas it can be somewhat easily by - passed in the case of “ random monitoring ( policing ) for the presence of codes .” [ bear in mind that the non - symmetric universal codes may very well catch 90 % of illicit uses , i . e . 90 % of the illicit users wouldn &# 39 ; t bother even going to the simple by - pass of rotation .] to address this latter category , the use of quasi - rotationally symmetric universal codes is called for . “ quasi ” derives from the age old squaring the circle issue , in this instance translating into not quite being able to represent a full incrementally rotational symmetric 2 - d object on a square grid of pixels . furthermore , basic considerations must be made for scale / magnification changes of the universal codes . it is understood that the monitoring process must be performed when the monitored visual material is in the “ perceptual ” domain , i . e . when it has been unencrypted or unscrambled and in the form with which it is ( or would be ) presented to a human viewer . would - be pirates could attempt to use other simple visual scrambling and unscrambling techniques , and tools could be developed to monitor for these telltale scrambled signals . said another way , would - be pirates would then look to transform visual material out of the perceptual domain , pass by a monitoring point , and then transform the material back into the perceptual domain ; tools other than the monitoring for universal codes would need to be used in such scenarios . the monitoring discussed here therefore applies to applications where monitoring can be performed in the perceptual domain , such as when it is actually sent to viewing equipment . the “ ring ” is the only full rotationally symmetric two dimensional object . the “ disk ” can be seen as a simple finite series of concentric and perfectly abutted rings having width along their radial axis . thus , the “ ring ” needs to be the starting point from which a more robust universal code standard for images is found . the ring also will fit nicely into the issue of scale / magnification changes , where the radius of a ring is a single parameter to keep track of and account for . another property of the ring is that even the case where differential scale changes are made to different spatial axes in an image , and the ring turns into an oval , many of the smooth and quasi - symmetric properties that any automated monitoring system will be looking for are generally maintained . likewise , appreciable geometric distortion of any image will clearly distort rings but they can still maintain gross symmetric properties . hopefully , more pedestrian methods such as simply “ viewing ” imagery will be able to detect attempted illicit piracy in these regards , especially when such lengths are taken to by - pass the universal coding system . having discovered the ring as the only ideal symmetric pattern upon whose foundation a full rotationally robust universal coding system can be built , we must turn this basic pattern into something functional , something which can carry information , can be read by computers and other instrumentation , can survive simple transformations and corruptions , and can give rise to reasonably high levels of security ( probably not unbreakable , as the section on universal codes explained ) in order to keep the economics of subversion as a simple incremental cost item . one current preferred embodiment of the “ ring - based ” universal codes is what the inventor refers to as “ knot patterns ” or simply “ knots ,” in deference to woven celtic knot patterns which were later refined and exalted in the works of leonardo da vinci ( e . g . mona lisa , or his knot engravings ). some rumors have it that these drawings of knots were indeed steganographic in nature , i . e . conveying messages and signatures ; all the more appropriate . fig1 and 19 explore some of the fundamental properties of these knots . two simple examples of knot patterns are depicted by the supra - radial knots , 850 and the radial knots 852 . the names of these types are based on the central symmetry point of the splayed rings and whether the constituent rings intersect this point , are fully outside it , or in the case of sub - radial knots the central point would be inside a constituent circle . the examples of 850 and 852 clearly show a symmetrical arrangement of 8 rings or circles . “ rings ” is the more appropriate term , as discussed above , in that this term explicitly acknowledges the width of the rings along the radial axis of the ring . it is each of the individual rings in the knot patterns 850 and 852 which will be the carrier signal for a single associated bit plane in our n - bit identification word . thus , the knot patterns 850 and 852 each are an 8 - bit carrier of information . specifically , assuming now that the knot patterns 850 and 852 are luminous rings on a black background , then the “ addition ” of a luminous ring to an independent source image could represent a “ 1 ” and the “ subtraction ” of a luminous ring from an independent source image could represent a “ 0 .” the application of this simple encoding scheme could then be replicated over and over as in fig1 and its mosaic of knot patterns , with the ultimate step of adding a scaled down version of this encoded ( modulated ) knot mosaic directly and coextensively to the original image , with the resultant being the distributable image which has been encoded via this universal symmetric coding method . it remains to communicate to a decoding system which ring is the least significant bit in our n - bit identification word and which is the most significant . one such method is to make a slightly ascending scale of radii values ( of the individual rings ) from the lsb to the msb . another is to merely make the msb , say , 10 % larger radius than all the others and to pre - assign counterclockwise as the order with which the remaining bits fall out . yet another is to put some simple hash mark inside one and only one circle . in other words , there are a variety of ways with which the bit order of the rings can be encoded in these knot patterns . the preferred embodiment for the decoding of , first of all checking for the mere existence of these knot patterns , and second , for the reading of the n - bit identification word , is as follows . a suspect image is first fourier transformed via the extremely common 2d fft computer procedure . assuming that we don &# 39 ; t know the exact scale of the knot patterns , i . e ., we don &# 39 ; t know the radius of an elemental ring of the knot pattern in the units of pixels , and that we don &# 39 ; t know the exact rotational state of a knot pattern , we merely inspect ( via basic automated pattern recognition methods ) the resulting magnitude of the fourier transform of the original image for telltale ripple patterns ( concentric low amplitude sinusoidal rings on top of the spatial frequency profile of a source image ). the periodicity of these rings , along with the spacing of the rings , will inform us that the universal knot patterns are or are not likely present , and their scale in pixels . classical small signal detection methods can be applied to this problem just as they can to the other detection methodologies of this disclosure . common spatial filtering can then be applied to the fourier transformed suspect image , where the spatial filter to be used would pass all spatial frequencies which are on the crests of the concentric circles and block all other spatial frequencies . the resulting filtered image would be fourier transformed out of the spatial frequency domain back into the image space domain , and almost by visual inspection the inversion or non - inversion of the luminous rings could be detected , along with identification of the msb or lsb ring , and the ( in this case 8 ) n - bit identification code word could be found . clearly , a pattern recognition procedure could perform this decoding step as well . the preceding discussion and the method it describes has certain practical disadvantages and shortcomings which will now be discussed and improved upon . the basic method was presented in a simple - minded fashion in order to communicate the basic principles involved . let &# 39 ; s enumerate a few of the practical difficulties of the above described universal coding system using the knot patterns . for one ( 1 ), the ring patterns are somewhat inefficient in their “ covering ” of the full image space and in using all of the information carrying capacity of an image extent . second ( 2 ), the ring patterns themselves will almost need to be more visible to the eye if they are applied , say , in a straightforward additive way to an 8 - bit black and white image . next ( 3 ), the “ 8 ” rings of fig1 , 850 and 852 , is a rather low number , and moreover , there is a 22 and one half degree rotation which could be applied to the figures which the recognition methods would need to contend with ( 360 divided by 8 divided by 2 ). next ( 4 ), strict overlapping of rings would produce highly condensed areas where the added and subtracted brightness could become quite appreciable . next ( 5 ), the 2d fft routine used in the decoding is notoriously computationally cumbersome as well as some of the pattern recognition methods alluded to . finally ( 6 ), though this heretofore described form of universal coding does not pretend to have ultra - high security in the classical sense of top security communications systems , it would nevertheless be advantageous to add certain security features which would be inexpensive to implement in hardware and software systems which at the same time would increase the cost of would - be pirates attempting to thwart the system , and increase the necessary sophistication level of those pirates , to the point that a would - be pirate would have to go so far out of their way to thwart the system that willfulness would be easily proven and hopefully subject to stiff criminal liability and penalty ( such as the creation and distribution of tools which strip creative property of these knot pattern codes ). all of these items can be addressed and should continue to be refined upon in any engineering implementation of the principles of the invention . this disclosure addresses these items with the following current preferred embodiments . beginning with item number 3 , that there are only 8 rings represented in fig1 is simply remedied by increasing the number of rings . the number of rings that any given application will utilize is clearly a function of the application . the trade - offs include but are not limited to : on the side which argues to limit the number of rings utilized , there will ultimately be more signal energy per ring ( per visibility ) if there are less rings ; the rings will be less crowded so that there discernment via automated recognition methods will be facilitated ; and in general since they are less crowded , the full knot pattern can be contained using a smaller overall pixel extent , e . g . a 30 pixel diameter region of image rather than a 100 pixel diameter region . the arguments to increase the number of rings include : the desire to transmit more information , such as ascii information , serial numbers , access codes , allowed use codes and index numbers , history information , etc . ; another key advantage of having more rings is that the rotation of the knot pattern back into itself is reduced , thereby allowing the recognition methods to deal with a smaller range of rotation angles ( e . g ., 64 rings will have a maximum rotational displacement of just under 3 degrees , i . e . maximally dissimilar to its original pattern , where a rotation of about 5 and one half degrees brings the knot pattern back into its initial alignment ; the need to distinguish the msb / lsb and the bit plane order is better seen in this example as well ). it is anticipated that most practical applications will choose between 16 and 128 rings , corresponding to n = 16 to n = 128 for the choice of the number of bits in the n - bit identification code word . the range of this choice would somewhat correlate to the overall radius , in pixels , allotted to an elemental knot pattern such as 850 or 852 . addressing the practical difficulty item number 4 , that of the condensation of rings patterns at some points in the image and lack of ring patterns in others ( which is very similar , but still distinct from , item 1 , the inefficient covering ), the following improvement can be applied . fig1 shows an example of a key feature of a “ knot ” ( as opposed to a pattern of rings ) in that where patterns would supposedly intersect , a virtual third dimension is posited whereby one strand of the knot takes precedence over another strand in some predefined way ; see item 854 . in the terms of imagery , the brightness or dimness of a given intersection point in the knot patterns would be “ assigned ” to one and only one strand , even in areas where more than two strands overlap . the idea here is then extended , 864 , to how rules about this assignment should be carried out in some rotationally symmetric manner . for example , a rule would be that , travelling clockwise , an incoming strand to a loop would be “ behind ” an outgoing strand . clearly there are a multitude of variations which could be applied to these rules , many which would critically depend on the geometry of the knot patterns chosen . other issues involved will probably be that the finite width , and moreover the brightness profile of the width along the normal axis to the direction of a strand , will all play a role in the rules of brightness assignment to any given pixel underlying the knot patterns . a major improvement to the nominal knot pattern system previously described directly addresses practical difficulties ( 1 ), the inefficient covering , ( 2 ) the unwanted visibility of the rings , and ( 6 ) the need for higher levels of security . this improvement also indirectly address item ( 4 ) the overlapping issue , which has been discussed in the last paragraph . this major improvement is the following : just prior to the step where the mosaic of the encoded knot patterns is added to an original image to produce a distributable image , the mosaic of encoded knot patterns , 866 , is spatially filtered ( using common 2d fft techniques ) by a standardized and ( generally smoothly ) random phase - only spatial filter . it is very important to note that this phase - only filter is itself fully rotationally symmetric within the spatial frequency domain , i . e . its filtering effects are fully rotationally symmetric . the effect of this phase - only filter on an individual luminous ring is to transform it into a smoothly varying pattern of concentric rings , not totally dissimilar to the pattern on water several instances after a pebble is dropped in , only that the wave patterns are somewhat random in the case of this phase - only filter rather than the uniform periodicity of a pebble wave pattern . fig2 attempts to give a rough ( i . e . non - greyscale ) depiction of these phase - only filtered ring patterns . the top figure of fig2 is a cross section of a typical brightness contour / profile 874 of one of these phase - only filtered ring patterns . referenced in the figure is the nominal location of the pre - filtered outer ring center , 870 . the center of an individual ring , 872 , is referenced as the point around which the brightness profile is rotated in order to fully describe the two dimensional brightness distribution of one of these filtered patterns . yet another rough attempt to communicate the characteristics of the filtered ring is depicted as 876 , a crude greyscale image of the filtered ring . this phase - only filtered ring , 876 will can be referred to as a random ripple pattern . not depicted in fig2 is the composite effects of phase - only filtering on the knot patterns of fig1 , or on the mosaic of knot patterns 866 in fig1 . each of the individual rings in the knot patterns 850 or 852 will give rise to a 2d brightness pattern of the type 876 , and together they form a rather complicated brightness pattern . realizing that the encoding of the rings is done by making it luminous ( 1 ) or “ anti - luminous ” ( 0 ), the resulting phase - only filtered knot patterns begin to take on subtle characteristics which no longer make direct sense to the human eye , but which are still readily discernable to a computer especially after the phase - only filtering is inverse filtered reproducing the original rings patterns . returning now to fig1 , we can imagine that an 8 - bit identification word has been encoded on the knot patterns and the knot patterns phase - only filtered . the resulting brightness distribution would be a rich tapestry of overlapping wave patterns which would have a certain beauty , but would not be readily intelligible to the eye / brain . [ an exception to this might draw from the lore of the south pacific island communities , where it is said that sea travelers have learned the subtle art of reading small and multiply complex ocean wave patterns , generated by diffracted and reflected ocean waves off of intervening islands , as a primary navigational tool .] for want of a better term , the resulting mosaic of filtered knot patterns ( derived from 866 ) can be called the encoded knot tapestry or just the knot tapestry . some basic properties of this knot tapestry are that it retains the basic rotational symmetry of its generator mosaic , it is generally unintelligible to the eye / brain , thus raising it a notch on the sophistication level of reverse engineering , it is more efficient at using the available information content of a grid of pixels ( more on this in the next section ), and if the basic knot concepts 854 and 864 are utilized , it will not give rise to local “ hot spots ” where the signal level becomes unduly condensed and hence objectionably visible to a viewer . the basic decoding process previously described would now need the additional step of inverse filtering the phase - only filter used in the encoding process . this inverse filtering is quite well known in the image processing industry . provided that the scale of the knot patterns are known a priori , the inverse filtering is straightforward . if on the other hand the scale of the knot patterns is not known , then an additional step of discovering this scale is in order . one such method of discovering the scale of the knot patterns is to iteratively apply the inverse phase - only filter to variously scaled version of an image being decoded , searching for which scale - version begins to exhibit noticeable knot patterning . a common search algorithm such as the simplex method could be used in order to accurately discover the scale of the patterns . the field of object recognition should also be consulted , under the general topic of unknown - scale object detection . an additional point about the efficiency with which the knot tapestry covers the image pixel grid is in order . most applications of the knot tapestry method of universal image coding will posit the application of the fully encoded tapestry ( i . e . the tapestry which has the n - bit identification word embedded ) at a relative low brightness level into the source image . in real terms , the brightness scale of the encoded tapestry will vary from , for example , − 5 grey scale values to 5 grey scale values in a typical 256 grey scale image , where the preponderance of values will be within − 2 and 2 . this brings up the purely practical matter that the knot tapestry will be subject to appreciable bit truncation error . put as an example , imagine a constructed knot tapestry nicely utilizing a full 256 grey level image , then scaling this down by a factor of 20 in brightness including the bit truncation step , then resealing this truncated version back up in brightness by the same factor of 20 , then inverse phase - only filtering the resultant . the resulting knot pattern mosaic will be a noticeably degraded version of the original knot pattern mosaic . the point of bringing all of this up is the following : it will be a simply defined , but indeed challenging , engineering task to select the various free parameters of design in the implementation of the knot tapestry method , the end goal being to pass a maximum amount of information about the n - bit identification word within some pre - defined visibility tolerance of the knot tapestry . the free parameters include but would not be fully limited to : the radius of the elemental ring in pixels , n or the number of rings , the distance in pixels from the center of a knot pattern to the center of an elemental ring , the packing criteria and distances of one knot pattern with the others , the rules for strand weaving , and the forms and types of phase - only filters to be used on the knot mosaics . it would be desirable to feed such parameters into a computer optimization routine which could assist in their selection . even this would begin surely as more of an art than a science due to the many non - linear free parameters involved . a side note on the use of phase - only filtering is that it can assist in the detection of the ring patterns . it does so in that the inverse filtering of the decoding process tends to “ blur ” the underlying source image upon which the knot tapestry is added , while at the same time “ bringing into focus ” the ring patterns . without the blurring of the source image , the emerging ring patterns would have a harder time “ competing ” with the sharp features of typical images . the decoding procedure should also utilize the gradient thresholding method described in another section . briefly , this is the method where if it is known that a source signal is much larger in brightness than our signature signals , then an image being decoded can have higher gradient areas thresholded in the service of increasing the signal level of the signature signals relative to the source signal . as for the other practical difficulty mentioned earlier , item ( 5 ) which deals with the relative computational overhead of the 2d fft routine and of typical pattern recognition routines , the first remedy here posited but not filled is to find a simpler way of quickly recognizing and decoding the polarity of the ring brightnesses than that of using the 2d fft . barring this , it can be seen that if the pixel extent of an individual knot pattern ( 850 or 852 ) is , for example , 50 pixels in diameter , than a simple 64 by 64 pixel 2d fft on some section of an image may be more than sufficient to discern the n - bit identification word as previously described . the idea would be to use the smallest image region necessary , as opposed to being required to utilize an entire image , to discern the n - bit identification word . another note is that those practitioners in the science of image processing will recognize that instead of beginning the discussion on the knot tapestry with the utilization of rings , we could have instead jumped right to the use of 2d brightness distribution patterns 876 , qua bases functions . the use of the “ ring ” terminology as the baseline invention is partly didactic , as is appropriate for patent disclosures in any event . what is more important , perhaps , is that the use of true “ rings ” in the decoding process , post - inverse filtering , is probably the simplest form to input into typical pattern recognition routines . those skilled in the signal processing art will recognize that computers employing neural network architectures are well suited to the pattern recognition and detection - of - small - signal - in - noise issues posed by the present invention . while a complete discourse on these topics is beyond the scope of this specification , the interested reader is referred to , e . g ., cherkassky , v ., “ from statistics to neural networks : theory & amp ; pattern recognition applications ,” springer - verlag , 1994 ; masters , t ., “ signal & amp ; image processing with neural networks : c sourcebook ,” wiley , 1994 ; guyon , i , “ advances in pattern recognition systems using neural networks ,” world scientific publishers , 1994 ; nigrin , a ., “ neural networks for pattern recognition ,” mit press , 1993 ; cichoki , a ., “ neural networks for optimization & amp ; signal processing ,” wiley , 1993 ; and chen , c ., “ neural networks for pattern recognition & amp ; their applications ,” world scientic publishers , 1991 . 2d universal codes ii : simple scan line implementation of the one dimensional case the above section on rings , knots and tapestries certainly has its beauty , but some of the steps involved may have enough complexity that practical implementations may be too costly for certain applications . a poor cousin the concept of rings and well - designed symmetry is to simply utilize the basic concepts presented in connection with fig9 and the audio signal , and apply them to two dimensional signals such as images , but to do so in a manner where , for example , each scan line in an image has a random starting point on , for example , a 1000 pixel long universal noise signal . it would then be incumbent upon recognition software and hardware to interrogate imagery across the full range of rotational states and scale factors to “ find ” the existence of these universal codes . the universal commercial copyright ( ucc ) image , audio , and video file formats it is as well known as it is regretted that there exist a plethora of file format standards ( and not - so - standards ) for digital images , digital audio , and digital video . these standards have generally been formed within specific industries and applications , and as the usage and exchange of creative digital material proliferated , the various file formats slugged it out in cross - disciplinary arenas , where today we find a defacto histogram of devotees and users of the various favorite formats . the jpeg , mpeg standards for formatting and compression are only slight exceptions it would seem , where some concerted cross - industry collaboration came into play . the cry for a simple universal standard file format for audio / visual data is as old as the hills . the cry for the protection of such material is older still . with all due respect to the innate difficulties attendant upon the creation of a universal format , and with all due respect to the pretentiousness of outlining such a plan within a patent disclosure , the inventor does believe that the methods of this invention can serve perhaps as well as anything for being the foundation upon which an accepted world - wide “ universal commercial copyright ” format is built . practitioners know that such animals are not built by proclamation , but through the efficient meeting of broad needs , tenacity , and luck . more germane to the purposes of this disclosure is the fact that the application of this invention would benefit if it could become a central piece within an industry standard file format . the use of universal codes in particular could be specified within such a standard . the fullest expression of the commercial usage of this invention comes from the knowledge that the invisible signing is taking place and the confidence that instills in copyright holders . the following is a list of reasons that the principles of this invention could serve as the catalyst for such a standard : ( 1 ) few if any technical developments have so isolated and so pointedly addressed the issue of broad - brush protection of empirical data and audio / visual material ; ( 2 ) all previous file formats have treated the information about the data , and the data itself , as two separate and physically distinct entities , whereas the methods of this invention can combine the two into one physical entity ; ( 3 ) the mass scale application of the principles of this invention will require substantial standardization work in the first place , including integration with the years - to - come improvements in compression technologies , so the standards infrastructure will exist by default ; ( 4 ) the growth of multimedia has created a generic class of data called “ content ,” which includes text , images , sound , and graphics , arguing for higher and higher levels of “ content standards ”; and ( 5 ) marrying copyright protection technology and security features directly into a file format standard is long overdue . elements of a universal standard would certainly include the mirroring aspects of the header verification methods , where header information is verified by signature codes directly within data . also , a universal standard would outline how hybrid uses of fully private codes and public codes would commingle . thus , if the public codes were “ stripped ” by sophisticated pirates , the private codes would remain intact . a universal standard would specify how invisible signatures would evolve as digital images and audio evolve . thus , when a given image is created based on several source images , the standard would specify how and when the old signatures would be removed and replaced by new signatures , and if the header would keep track of these evolutions and if the signatures themselves would keep some kind of record . most of the disclosure focuses on pixels being the basic carriers of the n - bit identification word . the section discussing the use of a single “ master code signal ” went so far as to essentially “ assign ” each and every pixel to a unique bit plane in the n - bit identification word . for many applications , with one exemplar being that of ink based printing at 300 dots per inch resolution , what was once a pixel in a pristine digital image file becomes effectively a blob ( e . g . of dithered ink on a piece of paper ). often the isolated information carrying capacity of the original pixel becomes compromised by neighboring pixels spilling over into the geometrically defined space of the original pixel . those practiced in the art will recognize this as simple spatial filtering and various forms of blurring . in such circumstances it may be more advantageous to assign a certain highly local group of pixels to a unique bit plane in the n - bit identification word , rather than merely a single pixel . the end goal is simply to pre - concentrate more of the signature signal energy into the lower frequencies , realizing that most practical implementations quickly strip or mitigate higher frequencies . a simple - minded approach would be to assign a 2 by 2 block of pixels all to be modulated with the same ultimate signature grey value , rather than modulating a single assigned pixel . a more fancy approach is depicted in fig2 , where an array of pixel groups is depicted . this is a specific example of a large class of configurations . the idea is that now a certain small region of pixels is associated with a given unique bit plane in the n - bit identification word , and that this grouping actually shares pixels between bit planes ( though it doesn &# 39 ; t necessary have to share pixels , as in the case of a 2 × 2 block of pixels above ). depicted in fig2 is a 3 × 3 array of pixels with an example normalized weighting ( normalized --& gt ; the weights add up to 1 ). the methods of this invention now operate on this elementary “ bump ,” as a unit , rather than on a single pixel . it can be seen that in this example there is a fourfold decrease in the number of master code values that need to be stored , due to the spreading out of the signature signal . applications of this “ bump approach ” to placing in invisible signatures include any application which will experience a priori known high amounts of blurring , where proper identification is still desired even after this heavy blurring . as mentioned in the initial sections of the disclosure , steganography as an art and as a science is a generic prior art to this invention . putting the shoe on the other foot now , and as already doubtless apparent to the reader who has ventured thus far , the methods of this invention can be used as a novel method for performing steganography . ( indeed , all of the discussion thus far may be regarded as exploring various forms and implementations of steganography .) in the present section , we shall consider steganography as the need to pass a message from point a to point b , where that message is essentially hidden within generally independent empirical data . as anyone in the industry of telecommunications can attest to , the range of purposes for passing messages is quite broad . presumably there would be some extra need , beyond pure hobby , to place messages into empirical data and empirical signals , rather than sending those messages via any number of conventional and straightforward channels . past literature and product propaganda within steganography posits that such an extra need , among others , might be the desire to hide the fact that a message is even being sent . another possible need is that a conventional communications channel is not available directly or is cost prohibitive , assuming , that is , that a sender of messages can “ transmit ” their encoded empirical data somehow . this disclosure includes by reference all previous discussions on the myriad uses to which steganography might apply , while adding the following uses which the inventor has not previously seen described . the first such use is very simple . it is the need to carry messages about the empirical data within which the message is carried . the little joke is that now the media is truly the message , though it would be next to impossible that some previous steganographer hasn &# 39 ; t already exploited this joke . some of the discussion on placing information about the empirical data directly inside that empirical data was already covered in the section on replacing the header and the concept of the “ bodier .” this section expands upon that section somewhat . the advantages of placing a message about empirical data directly in that data is that now only one class of data object is present rather than the previous two classes . in any two class system , there is the risk of the two classes becoming disassociated , or one class corrupted without the other knowing about it . a concrete example here is what the inventor refers to as “ device independent instructions .” there exist zillions of machine data formats and data file formats . this plethora of formats has been notorious in its power to impede progress toward universal data exchange and having one machine do the same thing that another machine can do . the instructions that an originator might put into a second class of data ( say the header ) may not at all be compatible with a machine which is intended to recognize these instructions . if format conversions have taken place , it is also possible that critical instructions have been stripped along the way , or garbled . the improvements disclosed here can be used as a way to “ seal in ” certain instructions directly into empirical data in such a way that all that is needed by a reading machine to recognize instructions and messages is to perform a standardized “ recognition algorithm ” on the empirical data ( providing of course that the machine can at the very least “ read ” the empirical data properly ). all machines could implement this algorithm any old way they choose , using any compilers or internal data formats that they want . implementation of this device independent instruction method would generally not be concerned over the issue of piracy or illicit removal of the sealed in messages . presumably , the embedded messages and instructions would be a central valuable component in the basic value and functioning of the material . another example of a kind of steganographic use of the invention is the embedding of universal use codes for the benefit of a user community . the “ message ” being passed could be simply a registered serial number identifying ownership to users who wish to legitimately use and pay for the empirical information . the serial number could index into a vast registry of creative property , containing the name or names of the owners , pricing information , billing information , and the like . the “ message ” could also be the clearance of free and public use for some given material . similar ownership identification and use indexing can be achieved in two class data structure methods such as a header , but the use of the single class system of this invention may offer certain advantages over the two class system in that the single class system does not care about file format conversion , header compatibilities , internal data format issues , header / body archiving issues , and media transformations . prior art steganographic methods currently known to the inventor generally involve fully deterministic or “ exact ” prescriptions for passing a message . another way to say this is that it is a basic assumption that for a given message to be passed correctly in its entirety , the receiver of the information needs to receive the exact digital data file sent by the sender , tolerating no bit errors or “ loss ” of data . by definition , “ lossy ” compression and decompression on empirical signals defeat such steganographic methods . ( prior art , such as the previously noted komatsu work , are the exceptions here .) the principles of this invention can also be utilized as an exact form of steganography proper . it is suggested that such exact forms of steganography , whether those of prior art or those of this invention , be combined with the relatively recent art of the “ digital signature ” and / or the dss ( digital signature standard ) in such a way that a receiver of a given empirical data file can first verify that not one single bit of information has been altered in the received file , and thus verify that the contained exact steganographic message has not been altered . the simplest way to use the principles of this invention in an exact steganographic system is to utilize the previously discussed “ designed ” master noise scheme wherein the master snowy code is not allowed to contain zeros . both a sender and a receiver of information would need access to both the master snowy code signal and the original unencoded original signal . the receiver of the encoded signal merely subtracts the original signal giving the difference signal and the techniques of simple polarity checking between the difference signal and the master snowy code signal , data sample to data sample , producing a the passed message a single bit at a time . presumably data samples with values near the “ rails ” of the grey value range would be skipped ( such as the values 0 , 1 , 254 and 255 in 8 - bit depth empirical data ). the need for the receiver of a steganographic embedded data file to have access to the original signal can be removed by turning to what the inventor refers to as “ statistical steganography .” in this approach , the methods of this invention are applied as simple a priori rules governing the reading of an empirical data set searching for an embedded message . this method also could make good use of it combination with prior art methods of verifying the integrity of a data file , such as with the dss . ( see , e . g ., walton , “ image authentication for a slippery new age ,” dr . dobb &# 39 ; s journal , april , 1995 , p . 18 for methods of verifying the sample - by - sample , bit - by - bit , integrity of a digital image .) statistical steganography posits that a sender and receiver both have access to the same master snowy code signal . this signal can be entirely random and securely transmitted to both parties , or generated by a shared and securely transmitted lower order key which generates a larger quasi - random master snowy code signal . it is a priori defined that 16 bit chunks of a message will be passed within contiguous 1024 sample blocks of empirical data , and that the receiver will use dot product decoding methods as outlined in this disclosure . the sender of the information pre - checks that the dot product approach indeed produces the accurate 16 bit values ( that is , the sender pre - checks that the cross - talk between the carrier image and the message signal is not such that the dot product operation will produce an unwanted inversion of any of the 16 bits ). some fixed number of 1024 sample blocks are transmitted and the same number times 16 bits of message is therefore transmitted . dss techniques can be used to verify the integrity of a message when the transmitted data is known to only exist in digital form , whereas internal checksum and error correcting codes can be transmitted in situations where the data may be subject to change and transformation in its transmission . in this latter case , it is best to have longer blocks of samples for any given message content size ( such as 10k samples for a 16 bit message chunk , purely as an example ). the methods of this disclosure generally posit the existence of “ empirical signals ,” which is another way of saying signals which have noise contained within them almost by definition . there are two classes of 2 dimensional graphics which are not generally considered to have noise inherent in them : vector graphics and certain indexed bit - mapped graphics . vector graphics and vector graphic files are generally files which contain exact instructions for how a computer or printer draws lines , curves and shapes . a change of even one bit value in such a file might change a circle to a square , as a very crude example . in other words , there is generally no “ inherent noise ” to exploit within these files . indexed bit - mapped graphics refers to images which are composed of generally a small number of colors or grey values , such as 16 in the early cga displays on pc computers . such “ very - low - order ” bit - mapped images usually display graphics and cartoons , rather than being used in the attempted display of a digital image taken with a camera of the natural world . these types of very - low - order bit - mapped graphics also are generally not considered to contain “ noise ” in the classic sense of that term . the exception is where indexed graphic files do indeed attempt to depict natural imagery , such as with the gif ( graphic interchange format of compuserve ), where the concept of “ noise ” is still quite valid and the principles of this invention still quite valid . these latter forms often use dithering ( similar to pointillist paintings and color newspaper print ) to achieve near lifelike imagery . this section concerns this class of 2 dimensional graphics which traditionally do not contain “ noise .” this section takes a brief look at how the principles of this invention can still be applied in some fashion to such creative material . the easiest way to apply the principles of this invention to these “ noiseless ” graphics is to convert them into a form which is amenable to the application of the principles of this invention . many terms have been used in the industry for this conversion , including “ ripping ” a vector graphic ( raster image processing ) such that a vector graphic file is converted to a greyscale pixel - based raster image . programs such as photoshop by adobe have such internal tools to convert vector graphic files into rgb or greyscale digital images . once these files are in such a form , the principles of this invention can be applied in a straightforward manner . likewise , very - low - indexed bitmaps can be converted to an rgb digital image or an equivalent . in the rgb domain , the signatures can be applied to the three color channels in appropriate ratios , or the rgb image can be simply converted into a greyscale / chroma format such as “ lab ” in photoshop , and the signatures can be applied to the “ lightness channel ” therein . since most of the distribution media , such as videotapes , cd - roms , mpeg video , digital images , and print are all in forms which are amenable to the application of the principles of this invention , this conversion from vector graphic form and very - low - order graphic form is often done in any event . another way to apply the principles of this invention to vector graphics and very - low - order bitmapped graphics is to recognize that , indeed , there are certain properties to these inherent graphic formats which — to the eye — appear as noise . the primary example is the borders and contours between where a given line or figure is drawn or not drawn , or exactly where a bit - map changes from green to blue . in most cases , a human viewer of such graphics will be keenly aware of any attempts to “ modulate signature signals ” via the detailed and methodical changing of the precise contours of a graphic object . nevertheless , such encoding of the signatures is indeed possible . the distinction between this approach and that disclosed in the bulk of this disclosure is that now the signatures must ultimately derive from what already exists in a given graphic , rather than being purely and separately created and added into a signal . this disclosure points out the possibilities here nonetheless . the basic idea is to modulate a contour , a touch right or a touch left , a touch up or a touch down , in such a way as to communicate an n - bit identification word . the locations of the changes contours would be contained in a an analogous master noise image , though now the noise would be a record of random spatial shifts one direction or another , perpendicular to a given contour . bit values of the n - bit identification word would be encoded , and read , using the same polarity checking method between the applied change and the change recorded in the master noise image . plastic credit and debit card systems based on the principles of the invention growth in the use of plastic credit cards , and more recently debit cards and atm cash cards , needs little introduction . nor does there need to be much discussion here about the long history of fraud and illicit uses of these financial instruments . the development of the credit card hologram , and its subsequent forgery development , nicely serves as a historic example of the give and take of plastic card security measures and fraudulent countermeasures . this section will concern itself with how the principles of this invention can be realized in an alternative , highly fraud - proof yet cost effective plastic card - based financial network . a basic list of desired features for an ubiquitous plastic economy might be as follows : 1 ) a given plastic financial card is completely impossible to forge ; 2 ) an attempted forged card ( a “ look - alike ”) cannot even function within a transaction setting ; 3 ) intercepted electronic transactions by a would - be thief would not in any way be useful or re - useable ; 4 ) in the event of physical theft of an actual valid card , there are still formidable obstacles to a thief using that card ; and 5 ) the overall economic cost of implementation of the financial card network is equal to or less than that of the current international credit card networks , i . e ., the fully loaded cost per transaction is equal to or less than the current norm , allowing for higher profit margins to the implementors of the networks . apart from item 5 , which would require a detailed analysis of the engineering and social issues involved with an all out implementation strategy , the following use of the principles of this invention may well achieve the above list , even item 5 . fig2 through 26 , along with the ensuing written material , collectively outline what is referred to in fig2 as “ the negligible - fraud cash card system .” the reason that the fraud - prevention aspects of the system are highlighted in the title is that fraud , and the concomitant lost revenue therefrom , is apparently a central problem in today &# 39 ; s plastic card based economies . the differential advantages and disadvantages of this system relative to current systems will be discussed after a preferred embodiment is presented . fig2 illustrates the basic unforgeable plastic card which is quite unique to each and every user . a digital image 940 is taken of the user of the card . a computer , which is hooked into the central accounting network , 980 , depicted in fig2 , receives the digital image 940 , and after processing it ( as will be described surrounding fig2 ) produces a final rendered image which is then printed out onto the personal cash card 950 . also depicted in fig2 is a straightforward identification marking , in this case a bar code 952 , and optional position fiducials which may assist in simplifying the scanning tolerances on the reader 958 depicted in fig2 . the short story is that the personal cash card 950 actually contains a very large amount of information unique to that particular card . there are no magnetic strips involved , though the same principles can certainly be applied to magnetic strips , such as an implanted magnetic noise signal ( see earlier discussion on the “ fingerprinting ” of magnetic strips in credit cards ; here , the fingerprinting would be prominent and proactive as opposed to passive ). in any event , the unique information within the image on the personal cash card 950 is stored along with the basic account information in a central accounting network , 980 , fig2 . the basis for unbreakable security is that during transactions , the central network need only query a small fraction of the total information contained on the card , and never needs to query the same precise information on any two transactions . hundreds if not thousands or even tens of thousands of unique and secure “ transaction tokens ” are contained within a single personal cash card . would - be pirates who went so far as to pick off transmissions of either encrypted or even unencrypted transactions would find the information useless thereafter . this is in marked distinction to systems which have a single complex and complete “ key ” ( generally encrypted ) which needs to be accessed , in its entirety , over and over again . the personal cash card on the other hand contains thousands of separate and secure keys which can be used once , within milliseconds of time , then forever thrown away ( as it were ). the central network 980 keeps track of the keys and knows which have been used and which haven &# 39 ; t . fig2 depicts what a typical point - of - sale reading device , 958 , might look like . clearly , such a device would need to be manufacturable at costs well in line with , or cheaper than , current cash register systems , atm systems , and credit card swipers . not depicted in fig2 are the innards of the optical scanning , image processing , and data communications components , which would simply follow normal engineering design methods carrying out the functions that are to be described henceforth and are well within the capability of artisans in these fields . the reader 958 has a numeric punch pad 962 on it , showing that a normal personal identification number system can be combined with the overall design of this system adding one more conventional layer of security ( generally after a theft of the physical card has occurred ). it should also be pointed out that the use of the picture of the user is another strong ( and increasingly common ) security feature intended to thwart after - theft and illicit use . functional elements such as the optical window , 960 , are shown , mimicking the shape of the card , doubling as a centering mechanism for the scanning . also shown is the data line cable 966 presumably connected either to a proprietor &# 39 ; s central merchant computer system or possibly directly to the central network 980 . such a reader may also be attached directly to a cash register which performs the usual tallying of purchased items . perhaps overkill on security would be the construction of the reader , 958 , as a type of faraday cage such that no electronic signals , such as the raw scan of the card , can emanate from the unit . the reader 958 does need to contain , preferably , digital signal processing units which will assist in swiftly calculating the dot product operations described henceforth . it also should contain local read - only memory which stores a multitude of spatial patterns ( the orthogonal patterns ) which will be utilized in the “ recognition ” steps outlined in fig2 and its discussion . as related in fig2 , a consumer using the plastic card merely places their card on the window to pay for a transaction . a user could choose for themselves if they want to use a pin number or not . approval of the purchase would presumably happen within seconds , provided that the signal processing steps of fig2 are properly implemented with effectively parallel digital processing hardware . fig2 takes a brief look at one way to process the raw digital image , 940 , of a user into an image with more useful information content and uniqueness . it should be clearly pointed out that the raw digital image itself could in fact be used in the following methods , but that placing in additional orthogonal patterns into the image can significantly increase the overall system . ( orthogonal means that , if a given pattern is multiplied by another orthogonal pattern , the resulting number is zero , where “ multiplication of patterns ” is meant in the sense of vector dot products ; these are all familiar terms and concepts in the art of digital image processing ). fig2 shows that the computer 942 can , after interrogating the raw image 970 , generate a master snowy image 972 which can be added to the raw image 970 to produce a yet - more unique image which is the image that is printed onto the actual personal cash card , 950 . the overall effect on the image is to “ texturize ” the image . in the case of a cash card , invisibility of the master snowy pattern is not as much of a requirement as with commercial imagery , and one of the only criteria for keeping the master snowy image somewhat lighter is to not obscure the image of the user . the central network , 980 , stores the final processed image in the record of the account of the user , and it is this unique and securely kept image which is the carrier of the highly secure “ throw - away transaction keys .” this image will therefore be “ made available ” to all duly connected point - of - sale locations in the overall network . as will be seen , none of the point - of - sale locations ever has knowledge of this image , they merely answer queries from the central network . fig2 steps through a typical transaction sequence . the figure is laid out via indentations , where the first column are steps performed by the point - of - sale reading device 958 , the second column has information transmission steps communicated over the data line 966 , and the third column has steps taken by the central network 980 which has the secured information about the user &# 39 ; s account and the user &# 39 ; s unique personal cash card 950 . though there is some parallelism possible in the implementation of the steps , as is normally practiced in the engineering implementation of such systems , the steps are nevertheless laid out according to a general linear sequence of events . step one of fig2 is the standard “ scanning ” of a personal cash card 950 within the optical window 960 . this can be performed using linear optical sensors which scan the window , or via a two dimensional optical detector array such as a ccd . the resulting scan is digitized into a grey scale image and stored in an image frame memory buffer such as a “ framegrabber ,” as is now common in the designs of optical imaging systems . once the card is scanned , a first image processing step would probably be locating the four fiducial center points , 954 , and using these four points to guide all further image processing operations ( i . e . the four fiducial “ register ” the corresponding patterns and barcodes on the personal cash card ). next , the barcode id number would be extracted using common barcode reading image processing methods . generally , the user &# 39 ; s account number would be determined in this step . step two of fig2 is the optional typing in of the pin number . presumably most users would opt to have this feature , except those users who have a hard time remembering such things and who are convinced that no one will ever steal their cash card . step three of fig2 entails connecting through a data line to the central accounting network and doing the usual communications handshaking as is common in modem - based communications systems . the preferred embodiment of this system would obviate the need for standard phone lines , such as the use of optical fiber data links , but for now we can assume it is a garden variety belltone phone line and that the reader 958 hasn &# 39 ; t forgotten the phone number of the central network . after basic communications are established , step four shows that the point - of - sale location transmits the id number found in step 1 , along with probably an encrypted version of the pin number ( for added security , such as using the ever more ubiquitous rsa encryption methods ), and appends the basic information on the merchant who operates the point - of - sale reader 958 , and the amount of the requested transaction in monetary units . step five has the central network reading the id number , routing the information accordingly to the actual memory location of that user &# 39 ; s account , thereafter verifying the pin number and checking that the account balance is sufficient to cover the transaction . along the way , the central network also accesses the merchant &# 39 ; s account , checks that it is valid , and readies it for an anticipated credit . step six begins with the assumption that step five passed all counts . if step five didn &# 39 ; t , the exit step of sending a not ok back to the merchant is not depicted . so , if everything checks out , the central network generates twenty four sets of sixteen numbers , where all numbers are mutually exclusive , and in general , there will be a large but quite definitely finite range of numbers to choose from . fig2 posits the range being 64k or 65536 numbers . it can be any practical number , actually . thus , set one of the twenty four sets might have the numbers 23199 , 54142 , 11007 , 2854 , 61932 , 32879 , 38128 , 48107 , 65192 , 522 , 55723 , 27833 , 19284 , 39970 , 19307 , and 41090 , for example . the next set would be similarly random , but the numbers of set one would be off limits now , and so on through the twenty four sets . thus , the central network would send ( 16 × 24 × 2 bytes ) of numbers or 768 bytes . the actual amount of numbers can be determined by engineering optimization of security versus transmission speed issues . these random numbers are actually indexes to a set of 64k universally a priori defined orthogonal patterns which are well known to both the central network and are permanently stored in memory in all of the point - of - sale readers . as will be seen , a would - be thief &# 39 ; s knowledge of these patterns is of no use . step seven then transmits the basic “ ok to proceed ” message to the reader , 958 , and also sends the 24 sets of 16 random index numbers . step eight has the reader receiving and storing all these numbers . then the reader , using its local microprocessor and custom designed high speed digital signal processing circuitry , steps through all twenty four sets of numbers with the intention of deriving 24 distinct floating point numbers which it will send back to the central network as a “ one time key ” against which the central network will check the veracity of the card &# 39 ; s image . the reader does this by first adding together the sixteen patterns indexed by the sixteen random numbers of a given set , and then performing a common dot product operation between the resulting composite pattern and the scanned image of the card . the dot product generates a single number ( which for simplicity we can call a floating point number ). the reader steps through all twenty four sets in like fashion , generating a unique string of twenty four floating point numbers . step nine then has the reader transmitting these results back to the central network . step ten then has the central network performing a check on these returned twenty four numbers , presumably doing its own exact same calculations on the stored image of the card that the central network has in its own memory . the numbers sent by the reader can be “ normalized ,” meaning that the highest absolute value of the collective twenty four dot products can divided by itself ( its unsigned value ), so that brightness scale issues are removed . the resulting match between the returned values and the central network &# 39 ; s calculated values will either be well within given tolerances if the card is valid , and way off if the card is a phony or if the card is a crude reproduction . step eleven then has the central network sending word whether or not the transaction was ok , and letting the customer know that they can go home with their purchased goods . step twelve then explicitly shows how the merchant &# 39 ; s account is credited with the transaction amount . as already stated , the primary advantage of this plastic card invention is to significantly reduce fraud , which apparently is a large cost to current systems . this system reduces the possibility of fraud only to those cases where the physical card is either stolen or very carefully copied . in both of these cases , there still remains the pin security and the user picture security ( a known higher security than low wage clerks analyzing signatures ). attempts to copy the card must be performed through “ temporary theft ” of the card , and require photo - quality copying devices , not simple magnetic card swipers . the system is founded upon a modern 24 hour highly linked data network . illicit monitoring of transactions does the monitoring party no use whether the transmissions are encrypted or not . it will be appreciated that the foregoing approach to increasing the security of transactions involving credit and debit card systems is readily extended to any photograph - based identification system . moreover , the principles of the present invention may be applied to detect alteration of photo id documents , and to generally enhance the confidence and security of such systems . in this regard , reference is made to fig2 , which depicts a photo - id card or document 1000 which may be , for example , a passport or visa , driver &# 39 ; s license , credit card , government employee identification , or a private industry identification badge . for convenience , such photograph - based identification documents will be collectively referred to as photo id documents . the photo id document includes a photograph 1010 that is attached to the document 1000 . printed , human - readable information 1012 is incorporated in the document 1000 , adjacent to the photograph 1010 . machine readable information , such as that known as “ bar code ” may also be included adjacent to the photograph . generally , the photo id document is constructed so that tampering with the document ( for example , swapping the original photograph with another ) should cause noticeable damage to the card . nevertheless , skilled forgerers are able to either alter existing documents or manufacture fraudulent photo id documents in a manner that is extremely difficult to detect . as noted above , the present invention enhances the security associated with the use of photo id documents by supplementing the photographic image with encoded information ( which information may or may not be visually perceptible ), thereby facilitating the correlation of the photographic image with other information concerning the person , such as the printed information 1012 appearing on the document 1000 . in one embodiment of this aspect of the invention , the photograph 1010 may be produced from a raw digital image to which is added a master snowy image as described above in connection with fig2 - 24 . the above - described central network and point - of - sale reading device ( which device , in the present embodiment , may be considered as a point - of - entry or point - of - security photo id reading device ), would essentially carry out the same processing as described with that embodiment , including the central network generation of unique numbers to serve as indices to a set of defined orthogonal patterns , the associated dot product operation carried out by the reader , and the comparison with a similar operation carried out by the central network . if the numbers generated from the dot product operation carried out by the reader and the central network match , in this embodiment , the network sends the ok to the reader , indicating a legitimate or unaltered photo id document . in another embodiment of this aspect of the invention , the photograph component 1010 of the identification document 1000 may be digitized and processed so that the photographic image that is incorporated into the photo id document 1000 corresponds to the “ distributable signal ” as defined above . in this instance , therefore , the photograph includes a composite , embedded code signal , imperceptible to a viewer , but carrying an n - bit identification code . it will be appreciated that the identification code can be extracted from the photo using any of the decoding techniques described above , and employing either universal or custom codes , depending upon the level of security sought . it will be appreciated that the information encoded into the photograph may correlate to , or be redundant with , the readable information 1012 appearing on the document . accordingly , such a document could be authenticated by placing the photo id document on a scanning system , such as would be available at a passport or visa control point . the local computer , which may be provided with the universal code for extracting the identification information , displays the extracted information on the local computer screen so that the operator is able to confirm the correlation between the encoded information and the readable information 1012 carried on the document . it will be appreciated that the information encoded with the photograph need not necessarily correlate with other information on an identification document . for example , the scanning system may need only to confirm the existence of the identification code so that the user may be provided with a “ go ” or “ no go ” indication of whether the photograph has been tampered with . it will also be appreciated that the local computer , using an encrypted digital communications line , could send a packet of information to a central verification facility , which thereafter returns an encrypted “ go ” or “ no go ” indication . in another embodiment of the present invention , it is contemplated that the identification code embedded in the photograph may be a robust digital image of biometric data , such as a fingerprint of the card bearer , which image , after scanning and display , may be employed for comparison with the actual fingerprint of the bearer in very high security access points where on - the - spot fingerprint recognition systems ( or retinal scans , etc .) are employed . it will be appreciated that the information embedded in the photograph need not be visually hidden or steganographically embedded . for example , the photograph incorporated into the identification card may be a composite of an image of the individual and one -, or two - dimensional bar codes . the bar code information would be subject to conventional optical scanning techniques ( including internal cross checks ) so that the information derived from the code may be compared , for example , to the information printed on the identification document . it is also contemplated that the photographs of id documents currently in use may be processed so that information correlated to the individual whose image appears in the photograph may be embedded . in this regard , the reader &# 39 ; s attention is directed to the foregoing portion of this description entitled “ use in printing , paper , documents , plastic - coated identification cards , and other material where global embedded codes can be imprinted ,” wherein there is described numerous approaches to modulation of physical media that may be treated as “ signals ” amenable to application of the present invention principles . potential use of the invention in the protection and control of software programs the illicit use , copying , and reselling of software programs represents a huge loss of revenues to the software industry at large . the prior art methods for attempting to mitigate this problem are very broad and will not be discussed here . what will be discussed is how the principles of this invention might be brought to bear on this huge problem . it is entirely unclear whether the tools provided by this invention will have any economic advantage ( all things considered ) over the existing countermeasures both in place and contemplated . the state of technology over the last decade or more has made it a general necessity to deliver a full and complete copy of a software program in order for that program to function on a user &# 39 ; s computer . in effect , $ x were invested in creating a software program where x is large , and the entire fruits of that development must be delivered in its entirety to a user in order for that user to gain value from the software product . fortunately this is generally compiled code , but the point is that this is a shaky distribution situation looked at in the abstract . the most mundane ( and harmless in the minds of most perpetrators ) illicit copying and use of the program can be performed rather easily . this disclosure offers , at first , an abstract approach which may or may not prove to be economical in the broadest sense ( where the recovered revenue to cost ratio would exceed that of most competing methods , for example ). the approach expands upon the methods and approaches already laid out in the section on plastic credit and debit cards . the abstract concept begins by positing a “ large set of unique patterns ,” unique among themselves , unique to a given product , and unique to a given purchaser of that product . this set of patterns effectively contains thousands and even millions of absolutely unique “ secret keys ” to use the cryptology vernacular . importantly and distinctly , these keys are non - deterministic , that is , they do not arise from singular sub - 1000 or sub - 2000 bit keys such as with the rsa key based systems . this large set of patterns is measured in kilobytes and megabytes , and as mentioned , is non - deterministic in nature . furthermore , still at the most abstract level , these patterns are fully capable of being encrypted via standard techniques and analyzed within the encrypted domain , where the analysis is made on only a small portion of the large set of patterns , and that even in the worst case scenario where a would - be pirate is monitoring the step - by - step microcode instructions of a microprocessor , this gathered information would provide no useful information to the would - be pirate . this latter point is an important one when it comes to “ implementation security ” as opposed to “ innate security ” as will be briefly discussed below . so what could be the differential properties of this type of key based system as opposed to , for example , the rsa cryptology methods which are already well respected , relatively simple , etc . etc ? as mentioned earlier , this discussion is not going to attempt a commercial side - by - side analysis . instead , we &# 39 ; ll just focus on the differing properties . the main distinguishing features fall out in the implementation realm ( the implementation security ). one example is that in single low - bit - number private key systems , the mere local use and re - use of a single private key is an inherently weak link in an encrypted transmission system . [“ encrypted transmission systems ” are discussed here in the sense that securing the paid - for use of software programs will in this discussion require de facto encrypted communication between a user of the software and the “ bank ” which allows the user to use the program ; it is encryption in the service of electronic financial transactions looked at in another light .] would - be hackers wishing to defeat so - called secure systems never attack the fundamental hard - wired security ( the innate security ) of the pristine usage of the methods , they attack the implementation of those methods , centered around human nature and human oversights . it is here , still in the abstract , that the creation of a much larger key base , which is itself non - deterministic in nature , and which is more geared toward effectively throw - away keys , begins to “ idiot proof ” the more historically vulnerable implementation of a given secure system . the huge set of keys is not even comprehensible to the average holder of those keys , and their use of those keys ( i . e ., the “ implementation ” of those keys ) can randomly select keys , easily throw them out after a time , and can use them in a way that no “ eavesdropper ” will gain any useful information in the eavesdropping , especially when well within a millionth of the amount of time that an eavesdropper could “ decipher ” a key , its usefulness in the system would be long past . turning the abstract to the semi - concrete , one possible new approach to securely delivering a software product to only the bonafide purchasers of that product is the following . in a mass economic sense , this new method is entirely founded upon a modest rate realtime digital connectivity ( often , but not necessarily standard encrypted ) between a user &# 39 ; s computer network and the selling company &# 39 ; s network . at first glance this smells like trouble to any good marketing person , and indeed , this may throw the baby out with the bathwater if by trying to recover lost revenues , you lose more legitimate revenue along the way ( all part of the bottom line analysis ). this new method dictates that a company selling a piece of software supplies to anyone who is willing to take it about 99 . 8 % of its functional software for local storage on a user &# 39 ; s network ( for speed and minimizing transmission needs ). this “ free core program ” is entirely unfunctional and designed so that even the craftiest hackers can &# 39 ; t make use of it or “ decompile it ” in some sense . legitimate activation and use of this program is performed purely on a instruction - cycle - count basis and purely in a simple very low overhead communications basis between the user &# 39 ; s network and the company &# 39 ; s network . a customer who wishes to use the product sends payment to the company via any of the dozens of good ways to do so . the customer is sent , via common shipment methods , or via commonly secured encrypted data channels , their “ huge set of unique secret keys .” if we were to look at this large set as if it were an image , it would look just like the snowy images discussed over and over again in other parts of this disclosure . ( here , the “ signature ” is the image , rather than being imperceptibly placed onto another image ). the special nature of this large set is that it is what we might call “ ridiculously unique ” and contains a large number of secret keys . ( the “ ridiculous ” comes from the simple math on the number of combinations that are possible with , say 1 megabyte of random bit values , equaling exactly the number that “ all ones ” would give , thus 1 megabyte being approximately 10 raised to the ˜ 2 , 400 , 000 power , plenty of room for many people having many throwaway secret keys ). it is important to re - emphasize that the purchased entity is literally : productive use of the tool . the marketing of this would need to be very liberal in its allotment of this productivity , since per - use payment schemes notoriously turn off users and can lower overall revenues significantly . this large set of secret keys is itself encrypted using standard encryption techniques . the basis for relatively higher “ implementation security ” can now begin to manifest itself . assume that the user now wishes to use the software product . they fire up the free core , and the free core program finds that the user has installed their large set of unique encrypted keys . the core program calls the company network and does the usual handshaking . the company network , knowing the large set of keys belonging to that bonafide user , sends out a query on some simple set of patterns , almost exactly the same way as described in the section on the debit and credit cards . the query is such a small set of the whole , that the inner workings of the core program do not even need to decrypt the whole set of keys , only certain parts of the keys , thus no decrypted version of the keys ever exist , even within the machine cycles on the local computer itself . as can be seen , this does not require the “ signatures within a picture ” methods of the main disclosure , instead , the many unique keys are the picture . the core program interrogates the keys by performing certain dot products , then sends the dot products back to the company &# 39 ; s network for verification . see fig2 and the accompanying discussion for typical details on a verification transaction . generally encrypted verification is sent , and the core program now “ enables ” itself to perform a certain amount of instructions , for example , allowing 100 , 000 characters being typed into a word processing program ( before another unique key needs to be transmitted to enable another 100 , 000 ). in this example , a purchaser may have bought the number of instructions which are typically used within a one year period by a single user of the word processor program . the purchaser of this product now has no incentive to “ copy ” the program and give it to their friends and relatives . all of the above is well and fine except for two simple problems . the first problem can be called “ the cloning problem ” and the second “ the big brother problem .” the solutions to these two problems are intimately linked . the latter problem will ultimately become a purely social problem , with certain technical solutions as mere tools not ends . the cloning problem is the following . it generally applies to a more sophisticated pirate of software rather than the currently common “ friend gives their distribution cd to a friend ” kind of piracy . crafty - hacker “ a ” knows that if she performs a system - state clone of the “ enabled ” program in its entirety and installs this clone on another machine , then this second machine effectively doubles the value received for the same money . keeping this clone in digital storage , hacker “ a ” only needs to recall it and reinstall the clone after the first period is run out , thus indefinitely using the program for a single payment , or she can give the clone to their hacker friend “ b ” for a six - pack of beer . one good solution to this problem requires , again , a rather well developed and low cost real time digital connectivity between user site and company enabling network . this ubiquitous connectivity generally does not exist today but is fast growing through the internet and the basic growth in digital bandwidth . part and parcel of the “ enabling ” is a negligible communications cost random auditing function wherein the functioning program routinely and irregularly performs handshakes and verifications with the company network . it does so , on average , during a cycle which includes a rather small amount of productivity cycles of the program . the resulting average productivity cycle is in general much less than the raw total cost of the cloning process of the overall enabled program . thus , even if an enabled program is cloned , the usefulness of that instantaneous clone is highly limited , and it would be much more cost effective to pay the asking price of the selling company than to repeat the cloning process on such short time periods . hackers could break this system for fun , but certainly not for profit . the flip side to this arrangement is that if a program “ calls up ” the company &# 39 ; s network for a random audit , the allotted productivity count for that user on that program is accounted for , and that in cases where bonafide payment has not been received , the company network simply withholds its verification and the program no longer functions . we &# 39 ; re back to where users have no incentive to “ give this away ” to friends unless it is an explicit gift ( which probably is quite appropriate if they have indeed paid for it : “ do anything you like with it , you paid for it ”). the second problem of “ big brother ” and the intuitively mysterious “ enabling ” communications between a user &# 39 ; s network and a company &# 39 ; s network would as mentioned be a social and perceptual problem that should have all manner of potential real and imagined solutions . even with the best and objectively unbeatable anti - big - brother solutions , there will still be a hard - core conspiracy theory crowd claiming it just ain &# 39 ; t so . with this in mind , one potential solution is to set up a single program registry which is largely a public or non - profit institution to handling and coordinating the realtime verification networks . such an entity would then have company clients as well as user clients . an organization such as the software publishers association , for example , may choose to lead such an effort . concluding this section , it should be re - emphasized that the methods here outlined require a highly connected distributed system , in other words , a more ubiquitous and inexpensive internet than exists in mid 1995 . simple trend extrapolation would argue that this is not too far off from 1995 . the growth rate in raw digital communications bandwidth also argues that the above system might be more practical , sooner , than it might first appear . ( the prospect of interactive tv brings with it the promise of a fast network linking millions of sites around the world .) it should be briefly noted that certain implementations of the principles of this invention probably can make good use of current cryptographic technologies . one case in point might be a system whereby graphic artists and digital photographers perform realtime registration of their photographs with the copyright office . it might be advantageous to send the master code signals , or some representative portion thereof , directly to a third party registry . in this case , a photographer would want to know that their codes were being transmitted securely and not stolen along the way . in this case , certain common cryptographic transmission might be employed . also , photographers or musicians , or any users of this invention , may want to have reliable time stamping services which are becoming more common . such a service could be advantageously used in conjunction with the principles of this invention . details on the legitimate and illegitimate detection and removal of invisible signatures in general , if a given entity can recognize the signatures hidden within a given set of empirical data , that same entity can take steps to remove those signatures . in practice , the degree of difficulty between the former condition and the latter condition can be made quite large , fortunately . on one extreme , one could posit a software program which is generally very difficult to “ decompile ” and which does recognition functions on empirical data . this same bit of software could not generally be used to “ strip ” the signatures ( without going to extreme lengths ). on the other hand , if a hacker goes to the trouble of discovering and understanding the “ public codes ” used within some system of data interchange , and that hacker knows how to recognize the signatures , it would not be a large step for that hacker to read in a given set of signed data and create a data set with the signatures effectively removed . in this latter example , interestingly enough , there would often be telltale statistics that signatures had been removed , statistics which will not be discussed here . these and other such attempts to remove the signatures we can refer to as illicit attempts . current and past evolution of the copyright laws have generally targeted such activity as coming under criminal activity and have usually placed such language , along with penalties and enforcement language , into the standing laws . presumably any and all practitioners of this signature technology will go to lengths to make sure that the same kind of a ) creation , b ) distribution , and c ) use of these kinds of illicit removal of copyright protection mechanisms are criminal offenses subject to enforcement and penalty . on the other hand , it is an object of this invention to point out that through the recognition steps outlined in this disclosure , software programs can be made such that the recognition of signatures can simply lead to their removal by inverting the known signatures by the amount equal to their found signal energy in the recognition process ( i . e ., remove the size of the given code signal by exact amount found ). by pointing this out in this disclosure , it is clear that such software or hardware which performs this signature removal operation will not only ( presumably ) be criminal , but it will also be liable to infringement to the extent that it is not properly licensed by the holders of the ( presumably ) patented technology . the case of legitimate and normal recognition of the signatures is straightforward . in one example , the public signatures could deliberately be made marginally visible ( i . e . their intensity would be deliberately high ), and in this way a form of sending out “ proof comps ” can be accomplished . “ comps ” and “ proofs ” have been used in the photographic industry for quite some time , where a degraded image is purposely sent out to prospective customers so that they might evaluate it but not be able to use it in a commercially meaningful way . in the case of this invention , increasing the intensity of the public codes can serve as a way to “ degrade ” the commercial value intentionally , then through hardware or software activated by paying a purchase price for the material , the public signatures can be removed ( and possibly replaced by a new invisible tracking code or signature , public and / or private . ubiquitous and cost effective recognition of signatures is a central issue to the broadest proliferation of the principles of this invention . several sections of this disclosure deal with this topic in various ways . this section focuses on the idea that entities such as monitoring nodes , monitoring stations , and monitoring agencies can be created as part of a systematic enforcement of the principles of the invention . in order for such entities to operate , they require knowledge of the master codes , and they may require access to empirical data in its raw ( unencrypted and untransformed ) form . ( having access to original unsigned empirical data helps in finer analyses but is not necessary .) three basic forms of monitoring stations fall out directly from the admittedly arbitrarily defined classes of master codes : a private monitoring station , a semi - public , and a public . the distinctions are simply based on the knowledge of the master codes . an example of the fully private monitoring station might be a large photographic stock house which decides to place certain basic patterns into its distributed material which it knows that a truly crafty pirate could decipher and remove , but it thinks this likelihood is ridiculously small on an economic scale . this stock house hires a part - time person to come in and randomly check high value ads and other photography in the public domain to search for these relatively easy to find base patterns , as well as checking photographs that stock house staff members have “ spotted ” and think it might be infringement material . the part time person cranks through a large stack of these potential infringement cases in a few hours , and where the base patterns are found , now a more thorough analysis takes place to locate the original image and go through the full process of unique identification as outlined in this disclosure . two core economic values accrue to the stock house in doing this , values which by definition will outweigh the costs of the monitoring service and the cost of the signing process itself . the first value is in letting their customers and the world know that they are signing their material and that the monitoring service is in place , backed up by whatever statistics on the ability to catch infringers . this is the deterrent value , which probably will be the largest value eventually . a general pre - requisite to this first value is the actual recovered royalties derived from the monitoring effort and its building of a track record for being formidable ( enhancing the first value ). the semi - public monitoring stations and the public monitoring stations largely follow the same pattern , although in these systems it is possible to actually set up third party services which are given knowledge of the master codes by clients , and the services merely fish through thousands and millions of “ creative property ” hunting for the codes and reporting the results to the clients . ascap and bmi have “ lower tech ” approaches to this basic service . a large coordinated monitoring service using the principles of this invention would classify its creative property supplier clients into two basic categories , those that provide master codes themselves and wish the codes to remain secure and unpublished , and those that use generally public domain master codes ( and hybrids of the two , of course ). the monitoring service would perform daily samplings ( checks ) of publicly available imagery , video , audio , etc ., doing high level pattern checks with a bank of supercomputers . magazine ads and images would be scanned in for analysis , video grabbed off of commercial channels would be digitized , audio would be sampled , public internet sites randomly downloaded , etc . these basic data streams would then be fed into an ever - churning monitoring program which randomly looks for pattern matches between its large bank of public and private codes , and the data material it is checking . a small sub - set , which itself will probably be a large set , will be flagged as potential match candidates , and these will be fed into a more refined checking system which begins to attempt to identify which exact signatures may be present and to perform a more fine analysis on the given flagged material . presumably a small set would then fall out as flagged match material , owners of that material would be positively identified and a monitoring report would be sent to the client so that they can verify that it was a legitimate sale of their material . the same two values of the private monitoring service outlined above apply in this case as well . the monitoring service could also serve as a formal bully in cases of a found and proven infringement , sending out letters to infringing parties witnessing the found infringement and seeking inflated royalties so that the infringing party might avoid the more costly alternative of going to court .	6
referring now to fig1 a typical fibre channel arbitrated loop system is shown comprising three enclosures or loop ports each functioning as fc - al nodes . the enclosures ( 102 , 104 and 106 ) of the loop system 100 may contain a plurality of fibre channel devices 108 , for example storage devices , disk drives , etc . which may be implemented in a raid system ( redundant array of inexpensive disks ), for example . a primary fibre channel loop 110 provides a fibre channel arbitrated loop path for data transfer . the data flow on loop 110 enters each of enclosure at point 112 and egresses from each enclosure at point 114 , passing through each of the fibre channel devices 108 contained within the enclosure . since the loop 110 is a single closed path , any break or interruption of the loop 110 will bring down the entire system 100 in typical fibre channel arbitrated loop systems referring now to fig2 a typical fibre channel arbitrated loop ( fc - al ) 100 is shown comprising three enclosures ( 102 , 104 and 106 ) functioning as fc - al nodes ( also referred to as a loop port ). each enclosure may contain a plurality of fibre channel devices 108 , for example storage devices , disk drives , etc . which may be implemented in a raid system ( redundant array of inexpensive disks ), for example . a primary fiber channel loop 110 provides a fibre channel arbitrated loop path for data transfer . the data flow on primary loop 110 enters each of enclosure at point 112 and egresses from each enclosure at point 114 , passing through each of the fibre channel devices 108 contained within the enclosure . a second complete fibre channel loop 116 is further provided and is connected to each enclosure at points 118 and 120 . the secondary loop 116 is a complete and independent path being wholly separate from the primary loop 110 . data is nominally transferred only on the primary loop 110 so long as the primary loop 110 provides a complete uninterrupted path and all enclosures on the loop are properly powered and functioning . the primary loop is held in steady state by the signal being passed between nodes and being watched by the loop coherency circuit . the secondary standby loop does not carry data but does have signal passed around it to keep it in steady state . a loop coherency circuit will look for signal levels present to hold it in steady state . the secondary loop 116 is utilized only upon a condition of loop incoherency ( e . g ., a break in the primary loop or a node failure ). upon a condition of loop incoherency , data flow is transferred to the secondary loop 116 which in conjunction with the remaining coherent section of the primary loop 110 , provides a complete path for the flow of data to all functioning devices . thus , the secondary loop 116 may be referred to as a bypass loop . the primary loop 110 and the secondary loop 116 may be provided in a single fibre channel cable . control of the utilization of the secondary loop 116 upon a loop incoherency condition is maintained by a loop coherency circuit 122 provided within each enclosure ( 102 , 104 , 106 ). each loop coherency circuit includes first and second multiplexers , or mux , ( 124 and 126 ) operably connected to the primary loop 110 and the secondary loop 116 , respectively . each mux functions to reroute the data flow from its nominal loop to the other respective bypass loop . referring now to fig3 the fibre channel arbitrated loop of fig2 is shown illustrating a loop incoherency condition . as depicted is fig3 data normally flows on the primary loop 110 from node 102 to node 106 to node 104 and then back to node 102 . a loop incoherency condition may arise upon a break in the arbitrated loop 100 caused by an inadvertent disconnecting of cabling between enclosures 104 and 106 as illustrated as loop discontinuity 128 which is a physical break in both the primary loop 110 and the secondary loop 116 . the primary loop 110 thereupon becomes an open , incomplete path which would normally bring down a typical arbitrated loop . however , the loop coherency circuit 122 of enclosure 106 detects that downstream communications on the primary loop 110 to enclosure 104 have been lost and thereby activates multiplexer 126 associated with enclosure 104 to reroute data from point 114 on the primary loop 110 to point 118 on the bypass loop 116 for node 106 . data thereafter flows from enclosure 106 to enclosure 102 via the bypass loop 116 . the direction of signal flow on the bypass loop 116 is in the opposite direction of signal flow on the primary loop 110 . simultaneously , the loop coherency circuit 122 of node 104 detects the loss of upstream communications from enclosure 106 on the primary loop 110 upon the loop incoherency condition indicated at 128 and thereby activates multiplexer 124 associated with enclosure 104 to reroute data from point 118 on the bypass loop 116 to point 120 on the primary loop 110 through node 104 . thus , for a given break on the primary loop 110 , data is effectively rerouted to the bypass loop 116 for the failed portion of the loop 110 and then rerouted back the to remaining intact portion of the primary loop 110 such that loop coherency is maintained . the discontinuity 128 on the loop system 100 is thereby avoided and coherency of the loop system 100 is thereby maintained . further , a flag or warning may be indicated upon a loop coherency condition such that the discontinuity 128 may be found and remedied ( e . g ., reconnecting or replacing the cabling ). referring now to fig4 a fibre - channel arbitrated loop system is shown exhibiting a loop incoherency condition due to the failure of a node . a loop incoherency condition due to node failure may be caused by the removal of a node such as enclosure 102 from the arbitrated loop system 100 . the removal of an enclosure from the loop system 100 may arise in several situations , for example power failure or shutdown , failure of the internal components contained within the enclosure , temporary shutdown for servicing , etc . in order to provide coherency of the arbitrated loop system 100 , the loop coherency circuit 122 of enclosure 104 detects the loss of downstream communications to enclosure 102 due to the removal of enclosure 102 from the loop , thereby indicating a loop incoherency condition . upon detecting a loop incoherency condition , the loop coherency circuit 122 of enclosure 104 activates mux 126 associated with communications to enclosure 102 to switch the flow of data from the primary loop 110 to the secondary loop 116 . similarly , the loop coherency circuit 122 of enclosure 106 activates mux 124 when it detects a loop incoherency condition by the loss of upstream communications from the removal of enclosure 102 from the loop 110 . upon detecting a loop incoherency condition , the loop coherency circuit 122 of enclosure 106 activates mux 124 triggered by a loss of communications from enclosure 102 to switch the flow of data from the secondary loop 116 back to the primary loop 110 . the inoperable node 102 is removed from the arbitrated loop system 100 and coherency of the loop system 100 is thereby maintained . further , a return back to the redundant loop system 100 will occur automatically upon a loop coherency condition such that the failed node 102 being found and remedied ( e . g ., powered up or repaired ). referring now to fig5 a fibre channel arbitrated loop of the present invention is shown illustrating a host based configuration . a host configuration as shown in fig5 may utilized a host enclosure 130 for allocating storage and i / o resources to each of the nodes on the arbitrated loop 110 . the host 130 in the host based configuration of fig5 becomes a node on the arbitrated loop 100 . the host enclosure 130 includes a loop coherency circuit 122 such as the loop coherency circuits utilized in the other nodes ( 102 , 104 and 106 ) of the arbitrated loop system 100 . the loop coherency circuit 122 of the host enclosure 130 operates to maintain loop coherency in the event of a loop discontinuity or a node failure as described in the descriptions of fig3 and 4 . other fc - al devices may be utilized with the arbitrated loop of the present invention in a manner similar to the utilization of the host enclosure 130 . the cables between the devices utilize a single standard fc - al twin - axis cable . the devices may utilize the loop coherency circuit 122 of the present invention to protect the integrity and coherency of the arbitrated loop system 100 . referring now to fig6 a loop coherency circuit is shown fabricated on a single integrated circuit . the coherency circuit 122 may be fabricated entirely on an integrated circuit 132 for implementation on a fibre - channel controller board , for example on a series 3 fibre - channel raid controller available from symbios logic inc . of fort collins , colo . the loop coherency circuit 122 includes first and second multiplexers ( 124 , 126 ) and first and second detector circuits ( 134 , 136 ) respectively . dectors and multiplexors are known in the art , such as those available in repeater hub circuit p / n vsc7120 , available from vitesse semiconductor corporation in camarillo , calif . the detector circuits ( 134 , 136 ) are operably connected at 138 to the multiplexers ( 124 , 126 ) and function to control the switching of the multiplexers ( 124 , 126 ) upon detecting a loop incoherency condition . connection 138 also provides a data path between the detector circuits ( 134 , 136 ) and the multiplexors ( 124 , 126 ). the integrated circuit 132 may be utilized in an enclosure functioning as node n in a fibre channel arbitrated loop . as shown , the integrated circuit connects between the fibre channel devices contained in the node n enclosure , (&# 34 ; to box n devices &# 34 ;) and (&# 34 ; from box n devices &# 34 ;), to the previous node (&# 34 ; box n - 1 &# 34 ;) and to the succeeding node (&# 34 ; box n + 1 &# 34 ;) on the arbitrated loop . it is believed that the method and apparatus for providing loop coherency in fibre channel arbitrated loop environments of the present invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description , and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form , construction and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages . the form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof . it is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes .	7
fig1 is a perspective view of a sheet - like miniaturized electronic calculator , and fig2 ( a ) and ( b ) are exploded perspective views of the same . the electronic calculator comprises an electronic component assembly 1 , an upper cover 2 and a lower cover 3 . the electronic component assembly 1 includes a wiring base 11 , a semiconductor ic chip 12 , electronic components 13 , a display panel 14 and a solar battery 15 . the upper cover 2 includes an upper protective sheet 18 , a switch contact sheet 16 , a spacer 17 and a frame 19 , these parts being laminated together . the lower cover 3 includes a support sheet 20 and a lower protective sheet 21 , these parts being laminated together . the electronic calculator further comprises an adhesive layer consisting of an insulating adhesive 22 , which is shown in fig3 through 6 . the upper cover 2 is laminated on the upper side of the electronic component assembly 1 in close contact therewith , an adhesive layer 4 is provided on the underside of the electronic component assembly 1 , and the lower cover 3 is laminated on the underside of the adhesive layer 4 in close contact therewith . the entire structure thus has a form just like a thin sheet . the construction of the individual parts will now be described with reference to fig3 through 8 . fig3 is a fragmentary sectional view , partly broken away , taken along line a -- a in fig1 . first , the electronic component assembly 1 will be described . the wiring base 11 is a rectangular sheet of an insulating material approximately 220 μ thick ( microns = 10 - 6 m .) it has a plurality of fixed switch contact pairs 23 formed on its upper side in a lattice - like array . it also has wiring patterns including the fixed switch contact pairs 23 , as well as terminals 24 and 28 to be described later . these lead patterns are formed on the upper and lower sides of the wiring base 11 . the wiring base 11 further has see - through mounting holes 11a . the semiconductor ic chip 12 and electronic components 13 such as chip capacitors and diodes are mounted in the mounting holes 11a such that they penetrate these holes . they are connected to the lead patterns formed on the wiring base 11 . the display panel 14 is a liquid crystal display panel consisting of a liquid crystal packed in a film package . its thickness is approximately 550 μ . the liquid crstal is sealed between upper and lower films , which respectively serve as upper and lower electrode bases and have film ends l4a ( fig2 a ). the display panel 14 is disposed parallel to the wiring base 11 and in the base plane as the same . as shown in fig3 the terminals 24 of the wiring base 11 , formed on the underside thereof , are each connected to each terminal 25 formed on the underside of the upper electrode base of the display panel 14 through a flexible film 27 having a lead 26 consisting of a conductive adhesive . the terminals 24 , 25 and leads 26 are bonded together by applying heat and pressure . the solar battery 15 ( fig4 ) has a stainless steel base and a thin film of amorphous silicon formed on the base , and is approximately 180 μ in thickness . it is disposed parallel to the wiring base 11 and in the base plane as the same . as shown in fig4 the terminal 28 of the wiring base 11 , formed on the underside thereof , is connected to terminal 29 formed on the upper side of the base of the solar battery 15 through a flexible film 31 having a lead 30 consisting of a conductive adhesive . the terminals 28 and 29 and lead 30 are bonded together by applying heat and pressure . the flexible film 31 is provided against the wiring base 11 such that it prevents the short - circuit of the lead 30 to the base of the solar battery 15 . the lead 30 is led through a see - through hole 31a and electrically connected to the corresponding terminal 29 on the base of the solar battery 15 . the components of the electronic component assembly 1 are arranged in a planar arrangement and electrically connected together . the semiconductor ic chip 12 effects processing with signals supplied from the fixed switch contacts 23 using power furnished from the solar battery 15 to produce signals representing the results of processing for display on the display panel 14 . the upper cover 2 will now be described . the switch contact sheet 16 is a stainless steel sheet approximately 100 μ in thickness . it is rectangular in shape and corresponds in size to the frame 19 . it has a plurality of switch contact springs 32 , as shown in fig7 . these switch contact springs 32 are formed through an etching treatment . they are arranged in a lattice - like array and individually correspond to the respective fixed contact pairs 23 on the wiring base 11 . the switch contact sheet 16 also has a display window 33 and a battery window 34 , these windows also being formed through an etching treatment in positions corresponding to the display panel 14 and solar battery 15 , respectively . it further has recesses 35 ( fig2 b ) formed through an etching treatment on its underside in positions corresponding to the semiconductor ic chip 12 and electronic components 13 . each of the switch contact springs 32 has a movable contact 36 which can co - operate with a corresponding pair of the fixed contacts 23 for coupling signals . the movable contact 36 is formed by coating a carbon paint on a central portion of the underside of the switch contact spring 32 . the battery window 34 formed in the switch contact sheet 16 includes lead hole portions 34a , through which the leads of the flexible films 31 are led ( fig4 ). the spacer 17 is a transparent polyester film approximately 50 μ in thickness , which serves to hold the switch contact sheet 16 and wiring base 11 apart . it is rectangular in shape and corresponds in size to the wirin base 11 . it has switch contact holes 37 formed in a lattice - like arrangement such that they individually correspond in position to the respective fixed switch contacts 23 on the wiring base 11 . it further has openings 38 formed in positions corresponding to the semiconductor ic chip 12 and electronic components 13 , and is provided on each side thereof with a coating of a transparent insulating adhesive 43 with a thickness of approximately 25 μ . the frame 19 is formed from a stainless steel sheet approximately 400 μ thick . it is a rectangular frame surrounding the electronic component assembly 11 and having a partitioning projection l9a , by which the display panel 14 and solar battery 15 are spaced apart ( fig2 b ). it further has contacts 39a and 39b provided at suitable positions . as shown in fig5 and 6 , the contacts 39a and 39b are formed by cutting corresponding portions of the frame 19 and bending these portions upward and downward , respectively . the upper protective sheet 18 serves to protect the upper side of the switch contact sheet 16 . it is made from a transparent polyester film approximately 50 μ thick . it is rectangular in shape and slightly larger than the switch contact sheet 16 . its underside is provided with a non - transparent paint except for a see - through area 40 corresponding to the display panel 14 and a light - receiving area 41 corresponding to the solar battery 15 . its top is provided with an impression 42 of symbols for the respective switches . these symbols are provided in positions corresponding to the respective switch contact springs 32 of the switch contact sheet 16 ( fig2 b ). the underside of the upper protective sheet 18 is provided with a coating of the transparent insulation adhesive 43 to a thickness of approximately 25 μ . the spacer 17 is disposed over the wiring base 11 of the electronic component assembly 1 and bonded thereto by the insulating adhesive 43 coated on its underside . the switch contact sheet 16 is disposed over the spacer 17 and bonded to the same by the insulating adhesive coated on its upper side . the upper protective sheet 18 is disposed over the switch contact sheet 16 and bonded to the same by the transparent insulating adhesive 43 coated on its underside . the frame 19 is disposed beneath the switch contact sheet 16 such that it surrounds the electronic component assembly 1 and spacer 17 , and is bonded to the underside of the switch contact sheet 16 by the adhesive 43 coated on the underside thereof . as shown in fig4 the switch contact springs 32 of the switch contact sheet 16 and corresponding switch holes 37 of the spacer 17 overlap . the movable contacts 36 on the switch contact springs 32 are found over the corresponding fixed contacts 23 of the wiring base 11 via the respective switch holes 37 . the symbols of the impression 42 on the upper protective sheet 18 are found over the corresponding switch contact springs 32 . each switch contact spring 32 of the switch contact sheet 16 is normally held in its horizontal state by its own spring force as shown in fig4 with the movable contact 36 and fixed contact 23 being spaced apart . when a portion of the impression 42 on the upper protective sheet 18 corresponding to a given switch contact spring 32 of the switch contact sheet 16 , is pushed down with a finger , as shown in fig8 the switch contact spring 32 is flexed downward against its spring force into the switch hole 37 in the spacer 17 , whereby the movable contact 36 is brought into contact with the fixed contact pair 11 . as shown in fig3 the see - through area 40 of the upper protective sheet 18 and the display window 33 of the switch contact sheet 16 overlap . an upper portion of the display panel 14 is situated in the display window 33 , and its display surface faces the transparent see - through area 40 . the display on the display panel 14 can thus be read out through the see - through area 40 . the top of the display panel 14 is bonded to the upper protective sheet 18 by the transparent insulating adhesive 43 . as shown in fig4 the light - receiving area 41 of the upper protective sheet 18 and the battery window 34 of the switch contact sheet 16 overlap . the solar battery 15 is set in the battery window 34 , and its light - receiving element faces the transparent light - receiving area 41 . the solar battery 15 can thus receive external light through the light - receiving area 41 . its top is bonded to the upper protective sheet 18 by the transparent insulating adhesive 43 . fig3 shows the recesses 35 in the switch contact sheet 16 and openings 38 in the spacer 17 . the upper portions of the semiconductor ic chip 12 and electronic components 13 mounted in the wiring base 11 are set in the recesses 35 and openings 38 , respectively . meanwhile , they are insulated from the switch contact sheet 16 by the insulating adhesive 43 . the upper cover 2 is thus laminated over the upper surface of the electronic component assembly 1 in close contact therewith . in the present embodiment , the frame 19 is provided as part of the upper cover 2 , and it surrounds and holds the electronic component assembly 1 . the adhesive layer 4 will now be described . its insulating adhesive 22 consists of acrylic resin or an epoxy resin - based insulating adhesive of mixed two - liquid type . the insulating adhesive 22 is provided to fill a space defined between the protective sheet 18 of the upper cover 2 and the protective sheet 21 of the lower cover 3 . thus , it entirely covers the underside of the wiring base 11 of the electronic component assembly 1 and also the underside of the semiconductor ic chip 12 and electronic components 13 projecting from the underside of the wiring base 11 . further , it covers the underside of the display panel 14 and solar battery 15 . furthermore , it surrounds the outer side surfaces of the frame 19 in the upper cover 2 . the individual components of the electronic component assembly 1 thus have their underside secured in position by the insulating adhesive 22 . in addition , the irregularities of the height of the components projecting from the underside of the wiring base 11 of the electronic component assembly 1 , are made up for by the insulating adhesive 22 . where a case structure is used in lieu of the adhesive layer 4 on the underside of the electronic component assembly 1 , a complicated structure will be necessary for securing the electronic component assembly 1 in position . also , in this case , it is difficult to compensate for the irregularities of the height of the individual components . in particular , it is difficult to make up for errors , if any , in the mounting dimensions or thickness of the components of the electronic component assembly 1 . the adhesive layer 4 in the present embodiment , in contrast , has fluidity , so that it can reliably secure the components of the electronic component assembly 1 in correct positions while taking up the irregularities of the component &# 39 ; s thickness dimension . in particular , it is possible to absorb errors that may be introduced in the mounting dimensions or thickness of the components at the time of assembly . further , since the insulating adhesive 22 secures the outer side surfaces of the frame 19 positioned between the protective sheets 18 and 21 , the mechanical strength of the sheet - like miniaturized electronic calculator can be increased . moreover , the junctions between adjacent laminated parts on the sides of the calculator can be covered by the adhesive 22 to obtain an improved appearance . the lower cover 3 will now be described . the support sheet 20 , as shown in fig4 and 5 , is made from a stainless steel sheet approximately 100 μ thick . it is rectangular in shape and the same size as the frame 19 of the upper cover 2 . the lower protective sheet 21 is made from a transparent polyester film approximately 25 μ thick . it is rectangular in shape and is slightly greater in size than the support sheet 20 . a transparent insulating adhesive 43 is coated on its upper side to a thickness of approximately 25 μ . the support sheet 20 is secured to the underside of the adhesive layer 4 . it is provided on its upper side and at portions thereof facing the components of the electronic component assembly 1 with an insulating adhesive 43 so that it is insulated from the components . the lower protective sheet 21 is secured to the underside of the support sheet 20 via the adhesive 43 . the lower cover 3 can be disposed parallel to the upper cover 2 and , if necessary , precisely spaced apart therefrom , because the adhesive 22 , to which the support sheet 20 is secured , has fluidity . in addition , its distance 2 from the upper cover 2 , i . e ., the thickness of the calculator , can be adjusted during manufacture . the support sheet 20 supports the adhesive layer 4 from the underside thereof . the lower protective sheet 21 protects the underside of the support sheet 20 . its underside , i . e ., its outer side , may be provided with a decorative impression . in the sheet - like miniaturized electronic calculator as described above , the switch contact sheet 16 , frame 19 and support sheet 20 are made from metal sheets such as stainless steel sheets . thus , the calculator has high mechanical strength and is very rugged . the thickness of this calculator is approximately 800 μ . the sheet - like miniaturized electronic calculator as described above is further provided with electrostatic shielding means . to be more specific , the upwardly bent contact 39a of the frame 19 , as shown in fig5 is in contact with the underside of the switch contact sheet 16 , while the downwardly bent contact 39b , as shown in fig6 is in contact with the upper side of the support sheet 20 . with this arrangement , the switch contact sheet 16 , made of a stainless steel sheet which is disposed over the stainless steel frame 19 , and the support sheet 20 , also made from a stainless steel sheet which is disposed beneath the frame 19 , can be held at the same electric potential as the frame 19 . thus , it is possible to eliminate the effects of external static electricity on the semiconductor ic chip 12 mounted in the wiring base 11 , etc . now , the method of manufacture of the sheet - like miniaturized electronic calculator having the above construction will be described . the electronic component assembly 1 , as is seen from fig2 a , is assembled by mounting the semiconductor ic chip 12 and electronic components 13 in the wiring base 11 with the surface ( upper surface ) thereof as a reference surface , and then connecting the display panel 14 and solar battery 15 to the wiring base 11 with the flexible films 27 and 31 . the upper cover 2 is assembled by securing the frame 19 to the underside of the switch contact sheet 16 via the adhesive 43 by the application of heat and pressure , and then securing the upper protective sheet 18 to the upper side of the switch contact sheet 16 via the adhesive 43 , again by the application of heat and pressure . the electronic component assembly 1 and the lamination of the frame 19 and switch contact sheet 16 are then set on the upper and lower sides of the spacer 17 , respectively , and the three are secured together , via the adhesive 43 provided on both sides of the spacer 17 , by the application of heat and pressure . at this time , the surface of the upper protective sheet 18 is made a reference surface . when the three parts noted above have been secured , a semi - assembly consisting of the upper cover 2 and electronic component assembly 1 is obtained . this semi - assembly is flat on the side of the upper cover 2 and has a complicated configuration on the side of the electronic component assembly 1 in which the components project ( see fig9 and 10 ). the semi - assembly is then held inverted , i . e ., with the side of the upper cover 2 directed downwards and the side of the electronic component assembly 1 directed upwards . then , the top and four sides , i . e ., the periphery , of the inverted semi - assembly is covered with the adhesive 22 . the adhesive 22 at this time has fluidity , so that it can readily fill the spaces defined by the complicated configuration of the projecting components of the electronic component assembly 1 and cover all these components . the adhesive layer 4 formed in this way thus accommodates the irregularities of the height or thickness of the individual components of the electronic component assembly 1 . meanwhile , the lower cover 3 is prepared by securing together the support sheet 20 and lower protective sheet 21 via the adhesive 43 by the application of heat and pressure . the lower cover 3 thus prepared is placed on the adhesive 22 provided on the semi - assembly noted above , and it is then secured to the adhesive 22 by the application of pressure . at this time , the lower cover 3 is forced down to a position parallel with the upper cover 2 , and the total height of the final product is 800 μ . as the lower cover 3 is forced down , the adhesive 22 is forced out from the periphery of the final product . thus , the lower cover 3 can be forced down to a position corresponding to a preset height . it is thus possible to precisely dispose the upper and lower covers 2 and 3 parallel to each other and to precisely set the distance between them to a designated value . the adhesive 22 flows out freely from between the protective sheets 18 and 21 of the respective upper and lower covers 2 and 3 . after the adhesive has been solidified , the protective sheets 18 , 21 and the adhesive 22 that are found between these sheets are cut to the final shape along the dashed lines shown in fig1 and 11 . the protective sheets 18 and 21 are cut slightly greater than the final size . with the product obtained in the above way , the periphery of the switch contact sheet 16 , frame 19 and support sheet 20 , all made from stainless steel sheets , are covered by the adhesive 22 found between the protective sheets 18 and 21 . the adhesive 22 , together with the protective sheets 18 and 21 which are made of resin , provides a feel or resin to the periphery of the sheet - like miniaturized electronic calculator . second to fourth embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to fig1 to 14 . in these embodiments , as in the preceding first embodiment , the invention is applied to sheet - like miniaturized electronic calculators . in fig1 to 14 like reference numerals to those in fig2 and 3 designate like parts . in the second embodiment of fig1 , an adhesive 22 of an adhesive layer 4 is provided between an electronic component assembly 1 and a lower cover 3 and covers the outer four sides of the frame 19 between a switch contact sheet 16 of an upper cover 2 , and a support sheet 20 of a lower cover 3 . in this instance , the mechanical strength of the edges of the calculator is improved . the third embodiment of fig1 comprises an upper cover 44 made of hard vinyl chloride or the like which corresponds to the switch contact sheet 16 , spacer 17 and upper protective sheet 18 in the first embodiment , and an electronic component assembly 1 , an adhesive layer 45 and a lower cover 46 made of hard vinyl chloride which correspond to the support sheet 20 and lower protective sheet 21 in the first embodiment . the upper cover 44 does not have the function of the frame 19 in the first embodiment , but only holds the electronic component assembly 1 in close contact with the upper side thereof . the adhesive layer 45 holds the outer four sides of the electronic component assembly 1 in close contact therewith . the fourth embodiment of fig1 comprises an upper cover 47 made of hard vinyl chloride or the like , which corresponds to the switch contact sheet 16 , spacer 17 , upper protective sheet 18 and frame 19 in the first embodiment . a lower cover 46 in this embodiment has the same construction as that in the third embodiment . an adhesive layer 48 is provided between upper cover 47 and electronic component assembly 1 . as has been shown , the upper covers 2 , 44 , 47 may consist of a lamination of the switch contact sheet 16 , spacer 17 and upper protective sheet 18 , or may consist of a member which corresponds to some or all of these parts . the frame 19 may be provided as part of the upper cover or as an independent part . the lower covers 3 , 46 may consist of a lamination of the support sheet 20 and lower protective sheet 21 , or may consist of a single member corresponding to these sheets . the adhesive layers 4 , 45 , 48 are provided between the electronic component assembly 1 and lower covers 3 , 46 and , if necessary , cover the periphery . the constituents of the electronic component assembly 1 are not limited to those described above ; for instance , a sheet - like manganese battery may be used instead of the solar battery . further , the invention is not limited to sheet - like miniaturized electronic calculators and is applicable to other miniaturized electronic devices such as miniaturized electronic timepieces as well .	7
the following description of the preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention hereinafter claimed , its application , or uses . referring to figs . land 2 ; a grass trimmer 100 includes a front housing 10 , a rear housing 20 , a motor 30 , a battery pack 40 , a trimmer head 50 , a connecting means 60 and a shield 70 . the front housing 10 is disposed at the front of the grass trimmer 100 and the rear housing 20 is disposed at the rear of the grass trimmer 100 . the front and rear herein referenced are used only to indicate a relative positional relationship not an absolute positional relationship . the motor 30 is received in the front housing 10 . the trimmer head 50 is driven by the motor 30 and connected to a cutting member 51 which is used to cut grass . the cutting member 51 may be a trimmer line or a cutting blade . it should be noted that the trimmer head 50 can be replaced by other tool heads of others gardening tools . the battery pack 40 provides the power to the motor 30 and is capable of detachably connecting with the rear housing 20 . the connecting means 60 connects the front housing 10 and the rear housing 20 as a whole . the shield 70 is fixed to the front housing 10 for protecting users . as shown in fig2 and fig3 , the connecting means 60 includes a connecting tube assembly 61 that extends along a first direction 101 . the connecting tube assembly 61 includes a first connecting tube 61 a and a second connecting tube 61 b . the connecting means 60 also includes a connecting base 62 . the connecting base 62 interconnects the first connecting tube 61 a and the second connecting tube 61 b . the first connecting tube 61 a is connected to the front housing 10 . the second connecting tube 61 b is connected to the rear housing 20 . the connecting means 60 forms an air channel 60 a for allowing an airflow to pass there through . as shown in fig2 - 4 , the front housing 10 includes a receiving portion 11 which forms a receiving chamber 11 a for receiving the motor 30 and a coupling portion 12 for coupling with the first connecting tube 61 . the coupling portion 12 is used to connect the receiving chamber 11 a and the air channel 60 a . particularly , the receiving portion 11 and the coupling portion 12 are manufactured as one - piece . as shown in fig3 , the shield 70 is installed to the connecting housing 12 of the front housing 10 . the connecting housing 12 extends along a direction away from the side wall of the motor housing 11 and the extension direction oblique to and intersects with a rotating axis of the motor 30 . the connecting housing 12 defines a connecting chamber interconnecting with the battery chamber . the first connecting tube 61 a is installed through into the connecting chamber . the connecting housing provides a first mounting aperture for fixing the shield 70 . in the illustrated embodiment , the first mounting aperture is a threaded hole . the shield 70 is fixed to the connecting housing 12 by a bolt fastened to a threaded hole . this has the advantage of providing a low cost construction without additional parts as well as providing convenient installation and disassembly . generally , the cutting member 51 is a trimmer line . the trimmer line may abrade after use for a long time period of time which may affect the cutting quality . as shown in fig5 , a blade 71 is fixed at the inside of the shield 70 for cutting the trimmer line . as shown in fig5 , the blade 71 is constructed as an l shape . the blade 71 has a cutting edge 711 and an installing section 712 for fixing it . the cutting edge 711 is substantially perpendicular to the installing section 712 . the shield 70 provides a second mounting aperture . particularly , the second mounting aperture is a threaded hole . the blade 71 is fixed to the shield 70 by a bolt fastened to a threaded hole . the cutting edge 711 extends along a direction away from the shield 70 when the blade 71 is fixed to the shield 70 . as shown in fig2 - 3 and fig6 - 10 , the grass trimmer 100 further includes a trigger switch 81 , a speed - control switch 82 , a first connecting wire 83 , a speed - control button 84 , a trigger 85 , a second connecting wire 86 and a circuit board 87 while the rear housing 20 includes a handle portion 21 , a connecting portion 22 and an accommodating portion 23 . the trigger switch 81 is capable of activating the motor 30 and the trigger 85 is used to control the trigger switch 81 . the speed - control switch 82 is capable of controlling the rotational - speed of the motor 30 and the speed - control button 84 is used to control the speed - control switch 82 . the circuit board 87 is used to electrically connect the motor the battery pack . the first connecting wire 83 is used to electrically connect the circuit board 87 to the speed - control switch 82 . the second connecting wire 86 is used to electrically connect the circuit board 87 to the motor 30 . the circuit board 87 is disposed inside the connecting portion 22 . the handle portion 21 is intended to be gripped by the user when the user uses the grass trimmer 100 . the handle portion 21 extends substantially along a first direction 101 . as shown in fig8 , the rear housing 20 forms a clip structure 24 for clipping the first connecting wire 83 at the inside of the handle portion 21 . the clip structure 24 may include two claws 24 a , 24 b for contact the first connecting wire 83 at opposite sides of the first connecting wire 83 . the claws 24 a and 24 b project inwardly . as shown in fig9 , the inserting part of the second connecting tube 61 b in the rear housing 20 forms a wire slot 611 for allowing the first connecting wire 83 and the clip structure 24 to pass there through . the wire slot 611 allows the size of handle portion 21 to be smaller . the connecting portion 22 is used to detachably connect with the battery pack . the handle portion 21 is located between the motor 30 and the connecting portion 22 . as shown in fig1 , when the battery pack 40 is connected to the rear housing 20 , at least one part of the battery pack 40 is exposed outside of the rear housing 20 for better heat dissipation . as shown in fig7 , the rear housing 20 forms a support surface 223 to support the arm of the user when the user uses the ipsilateral hand to grip the handle portion 21 . the direction 102 in which the support surface 223 substantially extends along and the length direction ( first direction 101 ) of the handle portion 21 intersect at an obtuse angle β . the obtuse angle β may range from 100 ° to 170 °. particularly , the angle β may range from 120 ° to 160 °. the support surface 223 will decrease weariness of users when they use the grass trimmer 100 for a long time . the battery pack 40 has battery pack terminals , and the grass trimmer 100 has a connecting terminal 222 for electrically connecting with the battery pack terminals at the connecting portion 22 . the battery pack 40 is capable of coupling to the connecting portion 22 along the directions which are parallel to the first direction 101 . the accommodating portion 23 is located between the motor 30 and the handle portion 21 and forms an accommodating chamber 23 a which is used to accommodate the trigger switch 81 and the speed - control switch 82 . as shown in fig1 , the speed - control button 84 is slidably connected with the rear housing at the accommodating portion 23 . when a user operates the speed - control button 84 to slide to different positions , the motor 30 outputs different rotatational - speed . as shown in fig2 , fig3 , and fig6 - 10 , the rear housing 20 forms a housing chamber 20 a which includes the accommodating chamber 23 a , and the housing chamber 20 a is formed from the connecting portion 22 to the accommodating portion 23 . the trigger switch 81 and the circuit board 87 are all accommodated in the housing chamber 20 a . the grass trimmer 100 further includes a fan 31 inside the front housing 10 and the fan 31 is driven by the motor 30 . when the fan 31 rotates , it generates an airflow which flows air from the rear housing 20 to the front housing 10 by passing the air through the air channel 60 a . for cooling the electrical components inside the rear housing 20 , the rear housing 20 forms a plurality of air inlets to allow the air to flow into the rear housing 20 . specifically , the rear housing 20 forms a first air inlet 221 at the connecting portion 22 and a second air inlet 231 at the accommodating portion 23 so as to cause the air flow to pass through the circuit board 87 and the trigger switch 81 . the above illustrates and describes basic principles , main features and advantages of the present invention . those skilled in the art should appreciate that the above embodiments do not limit the present invention in any form , technical solutions obtained by equivalent substitution or equivalent variations all fall within the scope of the present invention .	0
referring now to fig4 , there is shown a bidirectional , passive optical network system . elements of the system similar to elements discussed with respect to the prior art system of fig1 and 3 carry common reference numbers . as shown , there is provided an intermediate distribution terminal 22 which is connected to optical communication equipment 40 at central office 20 by at least one primary pair of optical fibers 42 , and preferably by two primary pairs of optical fibers 42 and 44 . it is not uncommon for a spare pair of optical fibers to extend between an intermediate distribution terminal and a central office . intermediate distribution terminal 22 is shown as including an optical splitter device 46 connected to one of the optical fibers 42 a of fiber pair 42 and an optical combining device 48 connected to the other fiber 42 b of fiber pair 42 . it should also be noted that , although the pair of fibers 42 are illustrated in the figure with the two individual fibers 42 a and 42 b traveling together in a common sheath , such an arrangement , although common , is not necessary . the two individual fibers could be completely separate and independent of each other . all that is necessary is that the two separate fibers start and end at the same location . as indicated in fig4 , optical splitter device 46 and optical combining device 48 may typically be devices having a ratio of 32 : 1 . that is , the devices either receive light from or transmit light to thirty - two optical fibers , and this received or transmitted light is carried by a single fiber after either being split or combined , whichever is appropriate . for example , splitter 46 receives light carrying information from fiber 42 a of fiber pair 42 and splits the light into , for example only , thirty - two portions which are coupled to one of the fibers of thirty - two different pairs of fibers such as pairs 50 , 52 , 54 , 56 , 58 , 60 , 62 and 64 between intermediate terminal 22 and thirty - two destination terminals such as the thirty - two oius ( optical interface unit ), 66 , 68 , 70 , 72 , 74 , 76 , 78 and 80 found in thirty - two destination terminals at thirty - two different locations . likewise , combining device 48 located in intermediate terminal 22 receives light from the thirty - two oius on the other fiber of each of the fiber pairs 50 through 64 , combines the received light and couples it to the single fiber 42 b of fiber pair 42 such that it is transmitted to optical communication equipment 40 at central office 20 . thus , in the example shown in fig4 , there are thirty - two separate oius which may be installed at thirty - two distinct and separate locations including oiu 66 through 80 which are connected by one of the fibers of each of the thirty - two pairs of optical fibers 50 through 64 to the optical splitter device 46 in intermediate terminal 22 . the thirty - two oius are also connected by the other fiber of each pair to the optical combining or coupler unit 48 which is also located in intermediate terminal 22 . it will appreciated that the thirty - two oius , the thirty - two pairs of corresponding optical fibers and the 32 : 1 splitter unit 46 and 32 : 1 combining unit 48 represents a typical prior art passive optical network system . also , as was discussed above with respect to individual fibers 42 a and 42 b which make up pair 42 , it is not necessary that the individual fibers of the pairs 50 through 64 or any other pair of optical fibers discussed herein , run side by side in a common sheath . it is only necessary that the individual fibers in a pair start and terminate at the same locations . other prior art systems may use equipment which supports a number of destination terminals and corresponding pairs of optical fibers which is different than thirty - two . referring now to fig5 , there is shown a first embodiment wherein an existing passive optical network such as was discussed with respect to fig4 is suitable for being upgraded to an active optical network system for carrying broadband data signals . those elements of fig5 which are the same as those discussed with respect to fig4 continue to carry the same reference numbers . as shown , a primary pair of optical fibers 42 having individual fibers 42 a and 42 b extends between optical equipment 40 in the central office 20 , and optical to electrical conversion equipment 82 in the intermediate distribution terminal 22 . also similar to the optical network system shown in fig4 , there are included thirty - two corresponding pairs of optical fibers ( including the representative eight pairs of optical fibers 50 through 64 ) which extend between intermediate terminal 22 and thirty - two separate destination terminals , each of which in the embodiment of fig5 contains a boiu ( broadband optical interface unit ) such as represented by boius 66 a , 68 a , 70 a , 72 a , 74 a , 76 a , 78 a and 80 a . in addition to optical / electrical data converting equipment 82 located in intermediate terminal 22 , there are also included optical communication units such as units 84 and 86 each of which includes an output optical connector 88 and an input optical connector 90 . as was discussed above with respect to fig4 , a pair of optical fibers extend between the intermediate terminal 22 and each of the boius 66 a through 80 a . as an example , the pair of optical fibers 50 include a first fiber 92 and second fiber 94 , and as a further example , and only for convenience , the first fiber 92 is shown carrying light from to intermediate terminal 22 to boiu 66 a whereas the second fiber 94 is shown carrying light in the opposite direction from the boiu 66 a to intermediate terminal 22 . referring now to fig6 , there is shown a more detailed illustration of the connections between the optical equipment 84 , fiber optical pairs 50 and 52 and the boiu 66 a and boiu 68 a . as shown , the first fiber 92 of optical pair 50 includes a “ first ” optical connector at the intermediate end of fiber 92 such as optical connector 96 at the end of optical fiber 92 which terminates in intermediate terminal 22 . there is also included optical connector 98 on the destination terminal end of fiber 92 which terminates at boiu 66 a . likewise , the second optical fiber 94 includes a “ second ” connector on the intermediate terminal 22 end of fiber 94 such as optical connector 100 at the end of optical fiber 94 and optical connector 102 on the other end which terminates at boiu 66 a . it is also noted that boiu 66 a includes an input optical connector 104 and an output optical connector 106 which are connected to optical connectors 98 and 102 , respectively . likewise , the optical pair 52 which extends between boiu 68 a and intermediate terminal 22 also includes a first optical fiber 108 having a “ first ” optical connector 110 at the end of fiber 108 which terminates in intermediate terminal 22 and an optical connector 112 at the end of fiber 108 which terminates at boiu 68 a . similarly , the second optical fiber 114 of optical pair 52 includes a “ second ” optical connector 116 on the end which terminates at intermediate terminal 22 and optical connector 118 on the end of optical fiber 114 which terminates at the boiu 68 a . in the same manner as the boiu 66 a , boiu 68 a also includes an input terminal 120 and an output terminal 122 . therefore , referring to fig5 and 6 , it is seen that lightwaves carrying data information is provided at connector 88 of optical equipment 84 . when optical connector 96 of fiber 92 is connected to optical connector 88 of optical equipment 84 , light is provided from the unit 84 through the “ first ” optical fiber 92 to the boiu 66 a through connector 98 on fiber 92 to input optical connector 104 on boiu 66 a . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , data carried on “ first ” optical fiber 92 which is appropriate for or “ addressed to ” boiu 66 a will be extracted from the traveling lightwaves and put in suitable format for further transmission or use . in addition to extracting data from the light coming into boiu 66 on optical fiber 92 , boiu 66 a also inserts new data onto the light traveling through the unit which exits boiu 66 a on connector 106 to connector 102 and onto “ second ” fiber 94 of pair 50 . thus , new data inserted by boiu 66 a is now carried on “ second ” fiber 94 to connector 100 located in intermediate terminal 22 . however , it is noticed that connector 100 is not connected to the optical equipment 84 , but is instead connected to the “ first ” optical connector 110 on another “ first ” optical fiber 108 of fiber pair 52 . then , in the same manner as was discussed above with respect to boiu 66 a , light on “ first ” fiber 108 is connected through connector 112 at the destination terminal end to input connector 120 on boiu 68 a where the appropriate data for boiu 68 a is extracted and new data is injected onto the light and then the light is transmitted back out of output connector 122 on boiu 68 a to connector 118 of “ second ” fiber 114 of optical pair 52 to “ second ” connector 116 at the intermediate terminal end of optical fiber 114 . “ second ” optical connector 116 is then connected to a first optical connector on a first optical fiber of optical fiber pair 54 which extends from intermediate terminal 22 to boiu 70 a . after the data is extracted from the light on the first fiber of optical pair 54 and any new data is inserted onto the light traveling to the second fiber of optical pair 54 , it is again routed back to the intermediate terminal 22 and then to the first fiber of optical pair 56 to boiu 72 a . the light coming from the output of boiu 72 a again travels back to the intermediate terminal 22 on the second fiber of pair 56 wherein the second fiber of optical pair 56 has a “ second ” connector at the intermediate end connected to the input terminal 90 of optical equipment 84 . thus , it is seen that there has been described a transmission loop which extends initially from the output connector 88 of optical equipment 84 through boiu 66 a back to intermediate terminal 22 then out to boiu 68 a back to intermediate terminal 22 then out to boiu 70 a then back to intermediate terminal 22 and then to boiu 72 a and back to intermediate terminal 22 where it is connected to the input terminal 90 of optical equipment 84 . in the embodiment illustrated in fig5 , there are a plurality of units similar to optical equipment 84 , each of which is connected to a transmission loop with four separate boius in the same manner as just discussed . for example , electrical equipment 86 in intermediate terminal 22 is part of the transmission loop made up by boiu 74 a , 76 a , 78 a and 80 a along with corresponding optical fiber pairs 58 , 60 , 62 and 64 . it will also be appreciated , that although in the embodiment discussed , there are four boius for every piece of optical equipment in intermediate terminal 86 , the number of boius could be greater or less than four . it will also , of course , be appreciated that there are electrical connections between the optical to electrical equipment 82 and the optical equipment 84 and 86 . thus , there has been described a transmission path wherein a plurality of boiu units are connected to a single piece of optical equipment at the intermediate terminal 22 by means of a serial transmission loop . as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art , it would be possible that a single communication channel could be handled by each of the boiu units or a large number of channels could be handled . when the equipment is initially installed , a smaller number of channels would be handled by each boiu unit in a transmission loop and as new customers request service , the number of channels handled by each boiu unit in the loop could increase . eventually the number of channels being serviced by each boiu unit could increase to such a level that optical equipment unit 84 at the intermediate terminal 22 could no longer handle the volume . in such a case , one of the boiu units may necessarily have to be taken out of the loop so that there might be only three boiu units in the loop because of the increased traffic . the boiu unit taken out of the overloaded transmission loop would then be combined into another transmission loop and perhaps with a new piece of optical equipment similar to that of optical equipment 84 . it should be noted that each of the optical fiber pairs 50 through 56 are handling four times the number of channels because of the serial transmission loop than would be handled by each pair if each boiu unit went to a separate piece of optical equipment such as optical equipment 84 . thus , it can be seen that as more and more service is demanded and added at the boiu units , it is a simple matter to rearrange the transmission loops and add equipment only as it is needed . fig7 illustrate two embodiments for upgrading an optical system which does not require active elements , and only incorporates passive elements at the intermediate or remote distribution terminal . for example , instead of the active elements 82 , 84 and 86 which converted data from optical signals to electrical signals and from electrical signals to optical signals , and as was discussed with respect to fig5 and 6 , the embodiment of fig7 use passive elements such as an optical coupler / splitter to combine various wavelengths of light arriving on a plurality of optical fibers such that all of the optical signals can be carried on a single optical fiber . similarly , an optical coupler / splitter with cwdm ( continuous wave division multiplexing ) may be used to separate the different wavelengths of light carrying the various signals , one each onto a plurality of different optical fibers . as an example only , a single fiber may be used to carry light having a wavelength of 1 , 310 nanometers as is typically used for telephony service as well as four different wavelengths , such as 1 , 510 , 1530 , 1 , 550 and 1 , 570 rather than a single nominal wavelength of 1 , 550 nanometers . more specifically , and as shown in fig7 , central office 20 is connected to intermediate or remote distribution terminal 22 by at least two primary optical fibers such as optical fiber pair 42 which has individual fibers 42 a and 42 b . intermediate terminal 22 is also connected to a plurality ( such as thirty - two ) of boiu ( broadband optical interface unit ) by a like plurality of pairs of optical fibers . it should be noted that boiu terminals 130 and 132 represent the first and eighth boius forming a first optical loop of eight different boius . the loop is connected by a corresponding eight pairs of optical fibers as represented by optical fiber pairs 134 and 136 in the same manner as the loop of four different boius discussed with respect to fig5 and 6 . similarly , the ninth boiu 138 and the sixteenth boiu 140 , along with a first optical fiber pair 142 and an eighth optical fiber pair 144 represent a second optical loop of eight additional boius and their corresponding eight pairs of optical fibers . likewise , the seventeenth boiu 146 and the twenty - fourth boiu 148 , along with the seventeenth and twenty - fourth pairs of optical fibers 150 and 152 , respectively , represent a third optical loop of eight boius . finally , the twenty - fifth and thirty - second boius 154 and 156 , respectively , with their corresponding pairs of optical fibers 158 and 160 represent a fourth optical data loop . in the example as shown , each of the four optical data loops carry light at slightly different wavelengths . for example , in the embodiment shown the optical loops 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 operate at 1 , 510 , 1 , 530 , 1 , 550 and 1 , 570 nanometers of light , respectively . as shown in fig7 , intermediate or remote distribution terminal 22 also includes an optical combination device or coupler 162 having its output side optically connected to optical fiber 42 a of optical pair 42 . also as shown , the four inputs of optical coupler 162 are fibers 134 a from optical fiber pair 134 , optical fiber 142 a from fiber pair 142 , optical fiber 150 a from fiber pair 150 and optical fiber 158 a from fiber pair 150 . thus , it is seen that each of the four serial transmission loops has an input to the optical coupling device 162 . in a similar manner , there is an optical separation or splitter 164 in combination with a four - way optical filter 166 . the splitter / coupler 164 has its input 168 connected to optical fiber 42 b of optical fiber 42 . each of the four outputs are connected to one output of the four - way filter 166 and are in turn connected one each to the last fiber of each of the four loops . for example , fiber 136 b from the first loop is connected to the filter 166 and then to splitter / coupler 164 and the optical fiber 144 b from the second optical loop is also connected to filter 166 and then to coupler 164 . likewise , optical fiber 152 b from the third optical loop and optical fiber 160 b from the fourth optical loop are connected through the filter 166 to the splitter / coupler 164 . thus , it is seen that by using a 4 : 1 splitter / couplers 162 and 164 , and by putting eight boius in each loop , all thirty - two of the boius can be serviced . it should also be noted that there is a route protection switch such as switches 170 and 172 located between each of the boius and their corresponding fiber optical pair . for example , protection switch 170 is located between boiu 130 and optical pair 134 . likewise , route protection switch 172 is located between boiu 132 and optical pair 136 . the purpose of the route protection switches is that in the event a single boiu , such as for example boiu 130 , were to fail , the route protection switch would operate to bypass that boiu such that only the customers or subscribers associated with and receiving service through boiu 30 would lose service . the fault protection switch simply bypasses boiu 130 and couples the optical signal directly from the optical fiber 134 a to optical fiber 134 b of the optical pair 134 . fig8 a and 8b illustrate the normal light path and the fault light path , respectively , through the fault protection switches . thus , the seven remaining boius can continue to cover and provide service without interruption . also as shown , control office 20 includes an optical splitter / coupler 174 in combination with a cwdm filter 176 connected to optical fiber 42 a of pair 42 . similarly , optical coupler / splitter 178 connected to optical fiber 42 b of pair 42 . also as shown , there are four optical receivers and four optical transmitters such as receiver 180 and transmitter 182 . each of the four receivers and transmitters are for receiving and transmitting light having one of the four different wavelengths . thus , each receiver such as receiver 180 is coupled to the wave division multiplexer filter 176 such that only light of the proper wavelength is directed to the proper receiver . similarly , each transmitter is connected to optical coupler 178 . in an alternate embodiment , there may be a second pair 184 of primary fibers made up of fibers 184 a and 184 b . in the event there are two pairs of fibers extending between the intermediate or remote distribution terminal 22 in the central office 20 , redundancy may be provided such that if a fiber in the first primary pair 42 were to be cut or otherwise damaged , a fiber in the second fiber pair 184 can take over . this is accomplished by a pair of route protection switches 186 and 188 which are connected so that if , for example , fiber 42 a of pair 42 were to be damaged or separated , switch 186 would activate such that the input of the optical coupler / splitter 174 would be connected to optical fiber 184 a of fiber pair 184 rather than fiber 42 a of pair 42 . likewise , if optical fiber 42 b were to be severed or damaged , then switch 188 would activate such that the output of optical coupler 178 is routed to fiber 184 b of pair 184 rather than to optical fiber 42 b of pair 42 . fig9 illustrates the normal and fault positions of the route protection switches . it should be also be noted , however , that this alternate embodiment also requires that the optical coupler / splitter 162 and 164 discussed with respect to intermediate terminal 22 should have two outputs rather than a single output as was discussed before . that is , the optical coupler / splitters should be a 4 : 2 rather than a 4 : 1 splitter / coupler . thus , it is seen there has been described a method of using existing fiber optical pairs to upgrade a system to a passive system with minimal change of equipment and no additional fibers required to be installed . referring now to fig1 , there is shown still another alternate embodiment of the present invention where only two single wavelengths of light 1 , 550 and 1 , 310 are used . it is noted that the four optical loops are substantially the same as discussed with respect to fig6 . however , instead of a single pair 42 of fibers 42 a and 42 b , the primary optical fiber bundle 186 is not made up of two fibers but is made up of four fibers 186 a , 186 b , 186 c and 186 d . further , if there is to be redundancy of the primary fiber 186 , it will be necessary to include a second four - fiber bundle 188 made up of fibers 188 a , 188 b , 188 c and 188 d . in such an arrangement , it is not necessary to use the cwdm filters ; it is only necessary to use a 2 × 2 optical coupler / splitter as indicated by optical coupler / splitters 190 , 192 , 194 and 196 in intermediate terminal 22 , and 2 × 2 optical coupler / splitter 198 , 200 , 202 and 204 in central office . thus , in this arrangement , there is a fiber dedicated for each of the terminal loops each of which carries eight boius . likewise at the central office 20 in end of fibers 186 and 188 , each of the fibers are connected to its own receiver and transmitter , such as receiver 206 and transmitter 208 . to achieve redundancy in the event of a primary fiber bundle failure in this embodiment , there is also included four route protection switches such as switch 210 which operate similarly to the switches 186 and 187 with respect to fig7 above . thus , in the event of one of the primary fibers of optical bundle 186 , the appropriate switch , such as switch 210 , would switch positions such that the information is now routed through the appropriate fiber of fiber bundle 188 and then back to its appropriate optical splitter 190 . the corresponding structures , materials , acts and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure , material , or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed .	7
the present invention will be explained in detail according to the accompanying drawings of the embodiment thereof . fig1 shows the circuit diagram of an embodiment of the annunciator for the automatic focus adjusting device according to the invention . in the drawing , 1 is the automatic focus adjusting device , whereby the outputs a and b are of l level when the lens is in the in - focus state , while either a or b is of h level when the lens is in the out - of - focus state . the output c is of h level while the distance measuring operation is being carried out . the automatic focus adjusting device 1 will be explained later according to fig2 . the outputs a , b and c are delivered to the switching circuit , consisting of transistors 17 , 12 , diodes 2 , 3 , 14 , 19 and 20 , zener diode 16 , condensers 8 , 18 and so on , while the output of the switching circuit is connected to the astatic multivibrator 4 through a lp ( low - pass ) filter , consisting of the resistance 76 and the condenser 77 . further , a power source identified by the numeral 7 and a switch 6 allow the operator to select &# 34 ; display on &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; display off &# 34 ;. the switch 6 can be opened when the display disturbs other photographing operations . an acoustic element is identified by the numeral 5 . the operation of the circuit shown in fig1 is as follows . when the automatic focus adjusting device 1 operates while the switch 6 is being closed , the output c is of h ( high ) level until the distance measuring operation has been finished . then the transistor 12 is brought into the switched - on state , while the transistor 49 of the astatic multivibrator 4 is brought into the switched - off state , so that the circuit 4 does not operate . if the lens is in the out - of - focus state when the distance measuring operation has been finished and the level of the output becomes l , either output a or b of the circuit 1 is at the h level . in this way the transistor 17 is put in the switched - on state and the level of the input of the transistor 49 becomes l ( low ) so that the astatic multivibrator 4 does not operate . when the circuit 1 assumes the in - focus state , the level of the outputs a and b of the circuit 1 becomes l so that the transistor 17 is brought into the switched - off state . because at this time the output c of the circuit 1 is on the l level , the condenser 18 is charged through the resistance 13 , while at the same time the condenser 17 is charged through the resistance 76 . when the voltage of the condenser 77 becomes higher than the sum of the base - emitter voltage v be of the transistor 49 of the circuit 4 and the forward voltage v f of the diode 75 , the transistor 49 is switched - on to actuate the astatic multivibrator 4 , by means of whose output the acoustic element 5 is excited to acoustically annunciate the in - focus state . along with the charge of the condenser 18 , the terminal voltage v c thereof becomes higher than the sum of the voltage v z of the zener diode 16 and the base - emitter voltage v be of the transistor 17 . the transistor 17 is switched - on to put the transistor 49 in the switched - off state , whereby the astatic multivibrator 4 stops oscillating so that the acoustic element 5 stops operation . in the embodiment shown in fig1 the acoustic element 5 operates so as to acoustically annunciate the in - focus state for a certain determined time after the focus adjusting operation has been finished . further , when the lens is driven by means of the servomechanism of the automatic focus adjusting device moves somewhat to and fro near the in - focus position , the transistor 17 is placed in the switched - off state when the in - focus state is obtained the first time . no display is obtained until the condenser 77 has been charged . when the in - focus state is terminated before the condenser 77 has been charged fully , the focus determining means detects it and send a signal to the lens driving means so as to put the transistor 17 in the switched - on state , so that there will be no display . consequently , when the time from the start of the charge of the condenser 77 till the transistor 49 has been put into the switched - on state is set longer than that during the first in - focus time in case the in - focus state is over , it is possible that any display cannot be carried out before the in - focus state has been stabilized even when the in - focus state is over . fig2 shows the circuit diagram of an example of the automatic focus adjusting device shown as a block 1 in fig1 . the apparatus includes a distance detecting circuit 21 , whose details are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 189 , 232 ( filed jan . 5 , 1978 , granted to asano et al . for an invention entitled &# 34 ; range detecting method and apparatus &# 34 ; assigned to canon kabushiki kaisha ). accordingly , only the outline thereof is explained here . 101 is a photo sensor array , while 102 is another photo sensor array having the same form as that of array 101 but having more photo sensors than those of 101 . the image of the same object is formed on the respective photo sensor arrays 101 , 102 by means of an image forming optics ( not shown in the drawing ) in such a manner that the relative positions of the images vary according to the distance to the object . in order to detect the different positions of the images the output of the sensor array 101 is memorized in the register 104 , while the output of the sensor array 102 is successively shifted by one bit in the register 105 by means of the clock pulses from the clock pulse producing circuit 107 . the contents in the registers 104 and 105 are compared at each shift by means of the coincidence detecting circuit 106 in such a manner that the number of the clock pulses spent for the shifts , from the start of the shift of the output of the photo sensor array 102 , till the contents of the two registers coincide with each other is counted . the count value is considered as the difference amount , namely the distance to the object . the register control circuit 103 is for carrying out the above operation , while 108 is a flip - flop , whose output remains on the h level from the start of the shift of the output of the photo sensor array 102 till the coincidence detecting circuit 106 has detected the coincidence of the contents in the two registers . an and gate 109 is provided for obtaining the logic product of the output of the above - mentioned flip - flop 108 with the clock pulses , while register 111 is provided for memorizing the content ( namely the information of the distance to the object ) of the counter 110 when the coincidence detecting circuit 106 has detected the coincidence of the contents of the two registers 104 , 105 . 24 is the photographing lens , whose forward movement is converted into a digital amount by means of an a / d converter 23 . a magnitude comparator 22 is provided for comparing the two digital amounts with each other in such a manner that when one of the two digital amounts is larger than the other , the ouptut terminal a is on h level , while the output terminal b is on l level and when one is larger than the other the output terminal a is on l level , while the output b is on h level . when the two digital amounts are equal , the output terminals a and b are at an l level . the output ( distance information ) of the above - mentioned register 111 is compared with the output ( advance amount information of the lens ) of the converter by means of the magnitude comparator 22 , the outputs of whose terminals a and b are delivered to the lens driving circuit 44 through the inverters 25 and 26 . the driving circuit is disclosed , for example , in the west german laid - open publication 2842348 ( apr . 12 , 1979 ), so that the circuit is not explained in detail . a flip - flop 28 is set when the power source for the circuit 21 is closed and reset with the output signal of the coincidence detecting circuit 106 upon completion of distance measurement . the output of the flip - flop 28 is the signal c for the distance measurement operation . furthermore , the two outputs of the comparator 22 are respectively the signal a for the in - focus state and b for the out - of - focus state in fig1 . since the distance detecting device 21 started to operate along with the closure of the switch 73 till the distance measurement has been carried out to deliver an output to the register 111 , the flip - flop 28 remains set , whereby the output c is at the h level . when the value of the register 111 is larger than the output of the converter 23 , a of the output of 22 is at the h level to operate the lens driving circuit 44 in the direction along which the output of the converter increases . when the value of the register 111 is smaller than the output of the converter 23 , b of the outputs of 22 is at the h level . when the value of the register 111 is equal to the output of the converter 23 , the outputs a and b of 22 are at the l level , which is the in - focus state . the signals a , b and c , obtained through the above - mentioned operation , are delivered to the circuit shown in fig1 and the in - focus state is annunciated after the aforementioned operations . in the case , for example , of a single lens reflex camera , in which the lens driving circuit is provided at the side of the interchangeable lens , the position information is delivered from the driving circuit at a side of the lens to the camera body through the contact provided at the mount to be converted into a digital signal by means of an a / d converter at the side of the camera body . fig3 shows the circuit diagram of another embodiment of the annunciation circuit of the invention . in the circuit shown in the drawing the signals a and b from the automatic focus adjusting device 1 are at the l level in the in - focus state , the output of the nor gate 60 is at the h level and delivered to a circuit consisting of the resistance 74a and the condenser 74b and then to the monostable multivibrator 71 , after the stabilized in - focus state has been detected . in this manner the output of the circuit 71 remains at the h level for a determined time , during which the astatic multivibrator 72 oscillates to excite the acoustic element 5 . as long as the c output of the circuit 1 is at the h level ( in the distance measuring operation ), the output of the monostable multivibrator 71 is always at the l level , so that the astatic multivibrator 72 does not oscillate , and thus no annunciation occurs . in the above embodiment the in - focus state is annunciated only after the stabilized in - focus state has been established along with the operation of the automatic focus adjusting device , so that premature operation due to annunciation during the distance measurement can be avoided . further , in case the annunciation is made only for a certain predetermined time , the disturbance of photographing operations such as framing , object confirmation , etc . due to this annunciation can be avoided , which is remarkably convenient .	6
the apparatus and method of the present invention can be adapted for use in the introduction of any material into any bone that contains a lesion or sufficient porosity to accept the materials . the employment of the apparatus and surgical procedure of the present invention in vertebroplasty ; particularly to treat vertebral compression failures which result from osteoporotic conditions is herein described below as illustrative of the present invention . the following description of the device of the present invention relates to fig1 - 3 . the apparatus of the present invention is an intraosseous injection device generally shown at 1 . one object of the present invention is to use the injection device i in a surgical procedure for the safe , effective introduction of materials into a lesion within a bone , whereby the procedure includes the introduction of a first guide wire 2 having a tapered end 4 for effectively breaching the dense compact bone , for example , the cortical bone of the vertebra . an aligning cannulae 6 is configured and sized to easily pass over the first guide wire 2 and when passed down the shaft of the guide wire 2 serves as a soft tissue protective sleeve from the point of entry of the apparatus into the body to the contact point at the exterior surface of the bone being treated . the aligning cannulae 6 has a blunt first end 8 which has a textured surface to facilitate handling and a tapered second end 10 which during operation of the instrument is brought into contact with the bone being treated . a delivery cannulae 12 , which is sized and configured to easily pass over the aligning cannulae 6 is inserted over the aligning cannulae 6 for purpose of providing a material conduit 14 through which the injectable material can be introduced into the bone being treated . the delivery cannulae 12 is configured at the delivery cannulae distal end 16 to have a securing edge 18 which serves to hold the delivery cannulae 12 in place on the outer surface of the bone being treated . the delivery cannulae proximal end 20 is configured to have a handle retention member 22 , which serves to releasably secure a handle member 24 to the delivery cannulae 12 . the handle member 24 can be used for insertion of the delivery cannulae 12 over the aligning cannulae 6 and for improving the grip of the user when placing the securing edge 18 of the delivery cannulae 12 firmly into position on the outer surface of the bone being treated . the removable handle member 24 also can be useful at a later step of the surgical procedure for providing a secure grip , which may be necessary to disengage the delivery cannulae 12 from the surface of the bone prior to extracting the device i from the body of the patient . the surface of the delivery cannulae can be provided with graduated indicia 30 which provide depth of penetration information during insertion by the user . the cannulae can be configured such that the cannulae is primarily radiotranslucent with portions being radioopaque to provide indicia along a portion of the entire length of the cannulae . the indicia can be equally disposed along the length of the cannulae , can be disposed in a graduated increasing or decreasing scale , or can be a combined arrangement whereby some portion is of equal graduations and some portion is of sliding increasing or decreasing graduations . it is also within the concept of the present invention to provide a radioopaque cannulae having portions , which are radiotranslucent to provide indicia . one aspect of the present invention is to include a radioopaque distal end of the cannulae to enable precise determination of the location of the distal end during operation of the device . the radioopaque indicia can be made radioopaque by any means known in the art to include the use of gold or other metals . the guide wire 2 can be provided with graduated guide wire indicia 26 which extend from the tapered end 4 to the more proximal guide wire blunt end 28 . the guide wire indicia 26 provides a means by which the user can easily determine the depth of insertion of the guide wire 2 into the patient during the surgical procedure of the present invention . the guide wire indicia can be arranged in an equal distribution along the length of the guide wire or can be distributed in increasing or decreasing graduation or a combination thereof . a plunger member 32 can be provided with an ergonomically configured gripping member 34 at a first end which is used by the user to exert pressure on the plunger member 32 as it snuggly passes through the material conduit 14 of the delivery cannulae 12 . the second end of the plunger member 32 is configured to have a blunt smooth tip 36 . the fit of the plunger member 32 within the material conduit 14 of the delivery cannulae 12 is such that easy sliding engagement of the plunger is permitted without allowing the passage of the injectable material proximally past the blunt smooth tip 36 . further , the plunger member 32 is sized diametrically to provide a fit within the material conduit 14 so as to permit the release of air proximally past the plunger while maintaining the psi of the injected material as the plunger forces the material distally through the outer cannulae and into the subject . the user can , upon exerting force against the gripping member 34 , displace the plunger member 32 through the length of the material conduit 14 of the delivery cannulae 12 and , in doing so , displace any preloaded injectable material out of the distal end of the material conduit 14 , through the breach formed by the tapered end 4 of the guide wire 2 and into the interior of the bone being treated . alternatively , the movement of the material through the material conduit 14 and into the cancellous bone of the vertebrae could be accomplished by means of a syringe system , generally shown in fig4 at 38 . the syringe system of the present invention can include a fluid connector 40 , such as , for example , a conventional luer lock , a bayonet fitting , a hydraulic quick disconnect fitting , or any other fluid tight fitting as is well known in the art . the fluid connector 40 , which would be attached to the delivery cannulae 12 and in fluid tight communication with the material conduit 14 can be attached directly to a syringe 42 , to a syringe via a flexible conduit 44 , or alternatively to an automated infusion device as is well know in the art ( not shown ). the syringe system 42 can be provided with a syringe plunger tip 42 a , which can include one or multiple sealing rings diametrically sized to slidably move within the syringe 42 in a manner conventional to syringes but with one or more air passages 42 b to allow the proximal flow of air past the plunger tip 42 a while the plunger tip 42 a forces the material distally through and out of the syringe 42 a . the air passages 42 b are sized to permit the flow of air but not the flow of the injectable material in a proximal direction within the syringe 42 . further , the air passages 42 b can be arranged on one or more than one annular rings 42 c on the plunger tip 42 a . when multiple air passages 42 b are arranged on multiple annular rings 42 c , it is preferred that the air passages 42 b through one annular ring 42 c are offset from the air passages 42 b from an adjacent annular ring 42 c . the fluid connector 40 can be attached to the delivery cannulae 12 in approximate alignment to the longitudinal axis of the delivery cannulae 12 , at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the delivery cannulae 12 , or at any position or any angular arrangement to the delivery cannulae 12 , which will permit fluid flow through the connector into the material conduit 14 . in the process of the present invention , the mixing of the injectable material , such as bone cement , could be accomplished within the syringe system . another alternative mode of operation would permit the movement of the plunger can be automated by attachment of an electromechanical or pneumomechanical servo mechanism which would be under control of the physician . without departing from the concept of the present invention presented in fig1 - 4 , alternative embodiments of the intraosseous injection device and peripheral elements as shown in fig5 - 12 b can be provided for use in the method of the present invention . as best shown in fig5 a locking guide wire 46 , having an attached longitudinally aligned male luer lock 48 and female luer lock 50 can be provided for use with a corresponding alternative delivery cannulae 52 , the locking guide wire having corresponding guide wire connectors 54 . fig7 shows the alternative delivery cannulae 52 assembled with the locking guide wire 46 . fig8 shows a locking guide wire handle 56 , which can be secured to the locking guide wire by the luer lock 48 . as best shown in fig9 a - 9 c , the locking guide wire handle 56 defines a longitudinal lumen 58 , which is sized and configured to permit passage of the locking guide wire 46 as well as the larger cross dimension diameter of the delivery cannulae 52 . the guide wire handle 56 can be provided with a view slot 60 , which may be equipped with a magnifying or non - magnifying clear cover ( not shown ). the viewing slot 60 is sized and configured in the guide wire handle 56 to permit the user to view the graduated guide wire indicia 26 during operation of the present invention . the ability to view the guide wire indicia 26 during operation of the present invention provides a safety feature , which permits the operator to know the depth of insertion of the subsequently positioned aligning cannulae and / or outer cannulae . the guide wire handle 56 can define a first clearance hole 62 , which provides cross access to the 10 longitudinal lumen 58 and has an orifice diameter sized and configured to correspond to the guide wire 46 and can be used to help drive the aligning cannulae into position . the guide wire handle 56 can be similarly configured to define a second clearance hole 66 , which serves much the same function as the first clearance hole with the exception that the second clearance hole is sized and configured to assist in the insertion of the large delivery cannulae 52 . the impact connector element 64 can be provided in cross - sectional diameters , which correspond to either the first clearance hole 62 or the second clearance hole 66 . the handle distal end 68 can be provided with a handle luer connector 70 which corresponds to connectors 54 of the alternative delivery cannulae 52 , thus providing a secure , quickly released connection between the guide wire handle 56 and the alternative delivery cannulae 52 . an enlarged cross - sectional view of the handle luer connector 70 is shown in fig9 b . although the luer type connection disclosed in detail is the preferred means of providing the handle connection described above , it is within the concept of the present invention to provide the handle connection using any known connection means , such as , for example , other threaded connections , snap - fit connections , cotterpin connections , friction connections , and the like . the locking guide wire 46 in combination with the attached guide wire handle 56 and the alternative delivery cannulae 52 provides a very effective modular pedicle finder which can be used to facilitate the location and penetration of the pedicle of a vertebra . the advantageous use of the alternative delivery cannulae 52 in combination with such a modular pedicle finder provides the user with a device accessing the vertebral body by a transpedicular approach far superior to that known in the art . the positioning and direction of insertion of the guide wire 2 , or locking guide wire 46 can be facilitated by using image guidance means such as fluoroscopy , cat scan , mri or the like . stereotactic methods and the employment of registration diodes can also be employed to provide accuracy in guide wire insertion when the process of the invention is practiced from any approach to the vertebral body , including the use of the locking guide wire 46 to perform a transpedicular approach to the vertebral body . it is also within the concept of the present invention to employ robotic systems to control the accuracy of the insertion of the device . as best shown in fig9 d , one alternative embodiment of the guide wire handle 56 can be provided with a removable proximal end 72 . the removable proximal end 72 permits the user to expose the proximal end of the guide wire for ease in movement , insertion , and extraction from the delivery cannulae . the removable proximal end 72 of the guide wire handle 56 can be releasably secured to the guide wire handle 56 by any known releasable connection means , such as , for example , threaded connections , snap - fit connections , cotter - pin connections , friction connections , and the like . fig9 e - 9 f show examples of some of the alternative end attachments which can be employed with the alternative embodiment of the guide wire handle shown in fig9 d . any configuration for the removable proximal end 72 that provides a gripping surface for the user is within the concept of the present invention . preferred alternative embodiments of the removable proximal end 72 are the spherical or oval gripping surface 76 ( fig9 e ) and the t - handle form 78 ( fig9 f ). alternative handles which can be used with the present invention includes the cannulated t - handle shown in fig9 g - 9 h . fig9 i provides a partial sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention utilizing another option for the removable proximal end 72 , that of a removable impact extension member 72 a . this optional member enables the user to attach an impact surface which surrounds and protects the guide wire if impacting the device is necessary during operation . fig &# 39 ; s 10 a - 10 c show details of an alternative plunger assembly 80 which can have a removable gripping member 82 , which is secured by a removable lock pin 84 or similar securing member . the alternative plunger assembly 80 with the gripping member 82 removed can be configured to an automated impelling means ( not shown ) much like automated infusion devices , which are known in the art . with the alternative plunger assembly 80 so configured , the degree of pressure applied to the plunger assembly in moving the material through the material conduit can be automatically controlled by the user to avoid over pressurizing the material into the spaces within the bone . the plunger assembly can be manufactured with a lock pin 84 , which is not removable . so configured , the plunger assembly would essentially be that of the earlier described unitary plunger member 32 . fig1 d - 10 j provide depictions of alternative embodiments of the present invention , which can use a standard threaded plunger and cannulae ( fig1 d - 10 e ) or , as shown in fig1 f - 10 g a long - threaded or optional mixing - tip plunger ( fig1 k ). such embodiments of the present invention provide a controlled insertion of the plunger and an inherent resistance to any back pressure from the material being injected through the device . fig1 h - 10 j depict alternative handles which can be used with any of the earlier described embodiments of the present invention ; particularly those shown in fig1 d - 10 g . the swivel ball gripping member 82 a can be used to provide ease of movement of the plunger ; particularly one of the threaded plungers depicted in fig1 d - 10 g . [ 0053 ] fig1 a shows a hand operated plunger actuator 86 , which can be used to assist in the impelling of the material through the material conduit 14 of the present invention . fig1 b shows a type of syringe 42 which can be used to contain the material for use in the method of the present invention , the syringe being an example of the type syringe which can be used with the hand operated plunger actuator shown in fig1 a . other impelling devices can also be used to assist in the movement of the material into the material conduit 14 without departing from the concept of the present invention . the present invention also contemplates the use of an intraosseous injection device similar to the embodiments described above with the alternative modification of providing lumens which incorporate rifling along the bore of the lumen which can be of assistance to the user in enabling the ease of material insertion and allowing the escape of air or other fluids of less consistency than that of the material being infused into the body . the tolerances between the plunger assembly 32 or 80 and the sides of the material conduit 14 are such that the material is easily forced through the conduit without loss of the material around the plunger , yet air or other light consistency fluids within the material conduit 14 are allowed to pass away from the body around the plunger to freely escape . it is also within the concept of the present invention to provide an intraosseous injection device which has multiple lumens for passage of the material into the body , thus allowing for the possibility of mixing of material components at the time of injection . a multi - lumen device 116 such as that shown in fig1 c - 11 e can be used in a variety of situations , to include , for example , when it is desirable to withhold mixing of injectable material components as long as possible prior to injecting the mixed components into a subject . as best shown in fig1 e , the device can be provided with a separate plunger 118 a , 118 b for each lumen ; the plungers being configured such that they can be operated independently or can be operated together by apply pressure to the overriding handle of one of the plungers 118 a . [ 0056 ] fig1 a shows an application of the method of the present invention , which employs a flexible delivery cannulae 88 for delivery of a material into the bone material of a joint , such as , for example into the acetabulum 90 . a sealing washer 92 can be provided to assist in maintaining the delivery cannulae 88 in place at the point of entry into the bone . fig1 b is an enlarged cross - sectional depiction of the flexible cannulae shown in fig1 a showing an example of a mechanism which can be employed to steer the flexible delivery cannulae 88 . fig1 b depicts a steering wire system 94 ,, which employs at least two steering wires 96 , one end of each steering wire being attached at the delivery cannulae distal end 98 in opposition one to the other and the other end of the respective steering wires being attached in opposition one to the other to a rotary reel control 100 located adjacent to the luer lock of the delivery cannulae . the steering wire system 94 described herein and shown in fig1 b is provided as an example of a steering system which can be used in the present invention . it is , however , within the concept of the present invention to employ any of the known means of producing a steerable catheter . also provided is a specialized impact forceps 102 , as shown in fig1 a - 13 b . the specialized impact forceps can be used in conjunction with the device of the present invention for purpose of facilitating the entry of the device into the bone . the impact forceps 102 , are operated by a user much like surgical forceps known in the art . a hinge member 104 connects the opposing halves 106 a and 106 b of the forceps allowing the halves 106 a and 106 b to be closed tightly together . a forceps lock 108 allows the halves 106 a and 106 b to be locked into a closed position . unique to the specialized forceps of the present invention is a first groove 110 and a second groove 112 found in the end of the forceps which is tightly closed when the forceps is in the closed and locked position . the first groove 110 is sized and configured to securely grasp the guide wire element 2 , which is sized to fit the first clearance hole 62 of the guide wire handle . the second groove 112 is sized and configured to securely grasp an impact connector element 64 , which is sized to fit the second clearance hole 66 of the guide wire handle . the forceps 102 can have a striking plate 114 , which is configured to receive driving blows from an operator using a mallet , hammer , springloaded driver , or other impacting device . in combination , the forceps 102 and the first clearance hole 62 can be used to facilitate driving the guide wire 46 into position in the bone . similarly , the forceps 102 and the second clearance hole 66 can be used to facilitate driving the delivery cannulae into position . in its most general form , the surgical procedure of the present invention includes the step of the physician , by tactile sensation , recognizing the appropriate back - pressure on the plunger gripping member and thereafter ceasing the manual introduction of injectable material into the cancellous bone . it is , however , within the scope of the present invention to provide a back - pressure sensor attached to the device 1 such that when the preselected back - pressure on the plunger member is reached , the physician is apprised of the situation and introduction of material can be discontinued . it is further , within the scope of the present invention for the alternative embodiment which provides for automatic infusion of the biomaterial through the device 1 , to provide a processor which receives a back - pressure signal at a preselected back - pressure and in turn transmits a pressure cut - off signal to the automatic infusion system . the injection device of the present invention can be fabricated from any of a variety of materials , which are compatible for use as surgical instruments . examples of such materials include metallic materials and non - metallic materials , which are suitable for use in surgical instrument manufacturing processes . metallic materials can include , for example , surgical instrument grade stainless steel and alloys thereof , anodized aluminum and alloys thereof , and titanium and alloys thereof to include nickel - titanium . non - metallic materials can include , for example , thermoplastics , ceramic materials , carbon fiber materials , composite materials , and the like . portions of the device which are radioopaque can be constructed or coated with any radioopaque material , to include but not limited to gold or other metals . it is within the scope of the present invention to provide a kit , which includes the injection device disclosed above . the kit could also include some or all of the alternative features discussed herein , to include the injectable material . such a kit could be provided in an appropriate packaging , which could be designed for autoclaving or other means of sterilization . in operation , the user can insert the guide wire 2 using a posterior lateral approach to the vertebral body . this can be safely done with the patient under general or local anesthetic . the surgical procedure of the present invention can be performed by direct vision , open or percutaneously , laproscopically , thorascopically , or by open surgical procedures . performance of the surgery percutaneously is preferred . a very important feature of the present invention is the ability to perform the surgical procedure percutaneously by a posterior - lateral approach in addition to the transpedicular approach . the use of a posterior - lateral approach is preferred over the transpedicular approach because the physician can quickly , effectively and , most importantly , safely perform a vertebroplasty without bringing any instruments within close proximity to the spinal cord . alternatively , the method of the present invention can be performed using a transpedicular approach with the limited bone penetration and accuracy of employment aspects of the present invention providing improved safety over conventional transpedicular approaches . the surgical procedure is also easily adapted to be performed on any vertebrae from t3 down , which also represents a major expansion of applicability over the convention methods used . additionally , the procedure has been shown to be useful in fixing vertebral bodies which have tumors to the extent that the tumors have not caused the formation of holes in the compact bone of the vertebrae adjacent to the spinal cord . of major importance is the very limited degree of penetration of the guide wire 2 through the compact bone of the vertebrae . unlike conventional vertebroplasty , which requires cat scanning to precisely control drilling using a conventional vertebroplasty apparatus through the pedicle ( see fig1 and fig1 ), the present invention can be more efficiently , and more quickly accomplished being aided only by the use of fluoroscopy . fig1 , shows the angle relative to the spinal column for transpedicular approaches using the conventional vertebroplasty apparatus and the conventional procedure of deeply penetrating into the cancellous bone of the vertebral body . the preferred posterior - lateral approach to the vertebra by the guide wire 2 and the penetration of the tapered end , which need only penetrate the compact cortical bone of the vertebral body , results in the cancellous bone of the vertebra being left in tact . in the alternative transpedicular approach of the present invention the transpedicular approach angle is similar to conventional methods , however , the improved control of depth of penetration of the apparatus of the present invention provides greater accuracy and therefore greater safety over conventional apparatus and methods . it is well known in the art , as evidenced by the discussion in gray &# 39 ; s anatomy , 38th ed . ( 1995 ) at page 427 and 454 , that the relatively thin - walled exterior compact bone derives powerful support from the trabeculae of cancellous bone located within . conventional vertebroplasty drills through and penetrates well into the cancellous bone of the vertebrae ( see fig1 ), thus severely disrupting the natural internal reinforcing structure of the vertebra . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention the guide wire 2 does not penetrate through the cancellous bone and therefore does not radically disrupt the trabeculae of the cancellous bone .. the result is that when the bone cement is introduced through the material conduit 14 of the delivery cannulae 12 , it flows into the naturally porous configuration of the intact cancellous bone thus taking advantage of , not replacing , the natural internal supporting trabeculae structure of the vertebra . as depicted in fig1 , in a first embodiment of the process of the present invention the vertebra are infused with bone cement using an entry port on one side only of the vertebra . this unilateral infusion process does not completely fill the porous structure of the natural matrix of the cancellous bone ; but fills it sufficiently on one side to fully support the failed vertebra . as depicted in fig1 , in an alternative embodiment of the process of the present invention the surgery can be done as a bilateral procedure by first infusing the failed vertebra from one side and then repeating the entire process from the opposite side of the vertebra . by such a bilateral approach , it is possible for the physician , if he desires , to substantially fill all of the porous structure of the cancellous bone of the vertebra . as depicted in fig1 , a further alternative embodiment of the process of the present invention could include the step of extending the guide wire 2 further into the cancellous bone of the vertebra and thus positioning the material conduit 14 of the delivery cannulae 12 more central to the cancellous bone portion of the vertebrae . as the porous structure of the cancellous bone is infused with bone cement using this alternative process , the delivery cannulae 12 can be slowly withdrawn from the cancellous bone structure while continuing to infuse the bone with bone cement . the result would be a substantially filled vertebrae using a unilateral process . as depicted in fig1 , an adjustable handle member , generally shown as 120 in an exploded view , can be employed with the present invention . while the preferred embodiment of this adjustable handle member 120 can have a t shaped grip 121 to improve the users grip - for turning the device , it is within the concept of the invention to have a handle of any shape , which is suited for manual use . the handle shaft 122 , can be removably connected to the grip 121 by a grip connector 123 . located within a recess 124 of the handle shaft is an adjustment control 125 , which preferably can be in the form of a thumb wheel although other equivalent embodiments are within the concept of the invention . the adjustment control can have an adjustment connector 126 , which can be in the configuration of a pin . within the handle shaft 122 , a lumen 127 is provided which can contain a torque connector assembly , generally shown at 127 . the torque connector assembly 127 includes a tensioner 128 , which is surrounded by a hollow torque sleeve 129 . the torque sleeve 129 is provided with an adjustment connector receiving slot 130 , which cooperates in a pin - slot manner with the adjustment connector 126 . the torque sleeve 129 at its most distal end 131 is provided with a sleeve connection member 132 , the sleeve connection member 132 preferably being a female luerlock , although other type connectors can also be used . in operation , as the adjustment control 125 is manually operated , it causes a corresponding movement in the adjustment connector 126 . the adjustment connector 126 being in a pin - slot , or equivalent , operating arrangement with the torque sleeve 129 causes a movement of the torque sleeve so as to effect an engagement of the sleeve connection member 132 at the distal end 131 of the torque connector 129 to a complementary connector , preferably a male luerlock , on a cannulae or guide wire of the present invention . the tensioner 128 , which is retained within the torque connector 129 serves to maintain tension on the assembly during operation . as depicted in fig2 a small stature luerlock guide wire 133 can be provide for use in particularly small areas of operation . while used primarily for small areas of operation , the small stature luerlock guide wire 133 can be made in any size as needed . further , the guide wire 133 is provided with a luerlock connector 133 a for ease of connection to any handle complementarily equipped . other configurations of connectors can also be employed within the concept of the invention . as depicted in fig2 a , 21b and 21 c , a loading syringe , generally shown at 134 is provided with a loading syringe plunger and handle assembly 135 and a loading syringe vessel 136 . the loading syringe plunger and the loading syringe vessel 136 can be provided with graduated indicia 137 , 138 to assist the user in determining the volume of material loaded in the syringe as well as the volume expelled during operation . the loading syringe 134 can also be provided with a flexible loading syringe connector tube 138 , which provides flexible connection between the parts of the assembly . connection between parts of the assembly are preferably by luerlock , although other connectors are within the scope of the invention . the proximal end 139 of the syringe vessel 136 can be provided with a threaded connector 140 , which cooperates with a complimentary threaded connector 141 on the proximal end 142 of the flexible loading syringe connector tube 138 . this entire assembly can be used as a means to facilitate loading of material into the cannulae of the present invention . as depicted in fig2 , hand operated syringe gun , generally shown at 142 is provided , which can be used to facilitate the accurate expulsion of material from the cannulae of the present invention . the syringe gun 142 is preferably hand operated , however , it is within the concept of the invention to provide a mechanical or computer controlled assist to operate the syringe gun 142 . in its preferred configuration of manual operation , the syringe gun 142 is provided with a gun gripping member 143 and an operably connected gun actuator 144 . upon operation of the actuator 144 , the driving member 145 , which is preferably formed in a rod - like configuration , is moved in carefully graduated amounts so as to force the integrally assembled plunger member 146 into a removably connected gun syringe tube 147 . flow control members can be disposed along the length of the driving member 145 . the flow control members can operationally interact with the actuator 144 to limit flow of material out of the syringe gun 142 to as little as 1 cc of material per actuation by an operator . the syringe tube 147 can be removably mounted onto the syringe gun by a standard luerlock type connection or any other connection known in the art . in operation , as the plunger member 146 moves through the lumen of the syringe tube 147 , the air contained within the lumen is vented through air vents 148 , which can be formed in at least one of the concentrically arranged plunger ribs 149 which form a sliding connection between the interior wall of the syringe tube 147 and the plunger member 146 . the air vents 148 are preferably multiple and not aligned with air vents 148 for sequentially placed plunger ribs 149 . this arrangement permits air within the syringe tube 147 to escape during operation without the loss of the fluid contents of the syringe tube . it should be known that while the surgical process of the present invention described above is particularly appropriate to provide fixation of vertebral compression failures due to osteoporosis , tumor or other pathogenic bone conditions , the process can also be used in cases of trauma induced compression failures . further , it is possible that the process could be used as a preventive or protective measure that could conceivably be used for patients , which present themselves as being extremely likely to suffer vertebral compression failures .	0
elements of the same design or function are referenced by the same reference numerals in the figures . fig1 shows a first embodiment of the spring element 2 . the spring element 2 has a ( main ) longitudinal axis l , a first axial end 4 a and a second axial end 4 b . the ( main ) longitudinal axis l may extend between the first axial end 4 a and the second axial end 4 b . the first axial end 4 a of the spring element 2 comprises and may , in particular , be formed by a first end winding 6 a . the second axial end 4 b of the spring element 2 comprises and may , in particular , be formed by a second end winding 6 b . the first end winding 6 a and the second end winding 6 b each comprise a free end 8 a and 8 b , respectively . multiple windings , preferably 5 or more , may be present between the two free ends . the respective end winding 6 a , 6 b may form a respective bearing surface of the spring element 2 . the first end winding 6 a is , preferably permanently , connected to , in particular fixed to , a consecutive winding , preferably the immediately consecutive winding , by a rigid transverse connection . the , preferably permanent , rigid transverse connection is arranged at the free end 8 a of the first end winding 6 a . the rigid transverse connection may cross an intermediate space between two successive windings . the two windings may be firmly connected by the rigid transverse connection . the consecutive windings may be kept together , in particular joined , by means of the , preferably permanent , rigid transverse connection . the spring element may be a spring . preferably , the spring element 2 is designed as a coil spring , particularly preferably as a helical coil spring . the spring element 2 can be , for example , designed as a pressure spring , in particular a pressure coil spring . in a preferred embodiment , the rigid transverse connection comprises a material connection . for example , the rigid transverse connection can be designed as a welding 10 , as it is shown in fig1 . for example , the welding 10 can a laser welding . this facilitates a production of a very precise welding 10 by laser welding , particularly if the dimensions of the spring element 2 are very small . of course , the more precise the welding , the more reliably a constant spring strength may be achieved when fabricating a number of spring elements . however , the rigid material connection may also be a bonding or a soldering . the rigid transverse connection is expediently designed such that it is non - elastic . this enables a reliable propagation of a spring force by preventing windings of the spring element 2 effectively from being elastically deformed in a radial direction and / or from sliding over a consecutive winding . in a preferred embodiment , as it is shown in fig1 , the second axial end 4 b of the spring element 2 also comprises a separate rigid transverse connection of the second end winding 6 b to a consecutive winding . fig2 shows a second embodiment of the spring element 2 . the spring element 2 essentially corresponds to the one described in conjunction with fig1 . in contrast thereto , the rigid transverse connection , e . g . a welding 10 , couples , preferably permanently , the first end winding 6 a and the second end winding 6 b rigidly with several consecutive windings , respectively . in a preferred embodiment , an axial distance between consecutive windings varies along the spring element 2 . for example , consecutive windings being arranged in the region of the first axial end 4 a or of the second axial end 4 b of the spring element 2 can be arranged at a first axial distance d 1 from each other . further consecutive windings of the spring element 2 , for example windings being arranged in the middle section of the spring element , can be arranged at a further axial distance d 2 from each other , where d 2 is different from d 1 , for example d 2 & gt ; d 1 . this enables a very reliable spring element 2 . if the rigid transverse connection is arranged in a region in which the distance between consecutive windings is small anyway , mechanical load on the rigid material connection may be kept advantageously small . in a preferred embodiment , the respective rigid transverse connection is dislocated in regard to the first free end 8 a or the second free end 8 b of the respective end winding 6 a and 6 b . this may further reduce a mechanical tension being exerted on the rigid transverse connection resulting in a reliable spring element 2 having a long lifetime . fig3 shows the second embodiment of the spring element 2 being provided as a clutch spring for a mechanical clutch . the mechanical clutch is arranged at the first axial end 4 a of the spring element 2 and comprises a first clutch member 12 a and a second clutch member 14 a . the clutch members 12 a and 14 a are kept in engagement by the spring force exerted by the spring element 2 . for example , relative rotational movement of the clutch members may be prevented during engagement . the clutch members 12 a and 14 a may be parts of a drug delivery device , for example a drive mechanism thereof . the spring element 2 may , therefore , be used as a clutch spring . a further clutch may be arranged at the second axial end 4 b of the spring element 2 . the further clutch may comprise a third clutch member 12 b and a fourth clutch member 14 b . the spring element 2 may keep the clutch members 12 b and 14 b rotationally locked . alternatively , the spring element 2 may bear on a simple bearing surface on that side which is remote from the mechanical clutch , i . e . the further clutch may be dispersed with . each of the previously shown embodiments of the spring element 2 can be used in a drug delivery device , for example as a clutch spring . the drug delivery device may be a pen - type device . the spring element 2 may be used in a drug delivery device configured for providing an accurate dose of a medical or pharmaceutical product . the term “ medical or pharmaceutical product ”, as used herein , preferably means a pharmaceutical formulation containing at least one pharmaceutically active compound , wherein in one embodiment the pharmaceutically active compound has a molecular weight up to 1500 da and / or is a peptide , a proteine , a polysaccharide , a vaccine , a dna , a rna , a antibody , an enzyme , an antibody , a hormone or an oligonucleotide , or a mixture of the above - mentioned pharmaceutically active compound . in a further embodiment the pharmaceutically active compound is useful for the treatment and / or prophylaxis of diabetes mellitus or complications associated with diabetes mellitus such as diabetic retinopathy , thromboembolism disorders such as deep vein or pulmonary thromboembolism , acute coronary syndrome ( acs ), angina , myocardial infarction , cancer , macular degeneration , inflammation , hay fever , atherosclerosis and / or rheumatoid arthritis . in a further embodiment the pharmaceutically active compound comprises at least one peptide for the treatment and / or prophylaxis of diabetes mellitus or complications associated with diabetes mellitus such as diabetic retinopathy . in a further embodiment the pharmaceutically active compound comprises at least one human insulin or a human insulin analogue or derivative , glucagon - like peptide ( glp - 1 ) or an analogue or derivative thereof , or exedin - 3 or exedin - 4 or an analogue or derivative of exedin - 3 or exedin - 4 . insulin analogues are for example gly ( a21 ), arg ( b31 ), arg ( b32 ) human insulin ; lys ( b3 ), glu ( b29 ) human insulin ; lys ( b28 ), pro ( b29 ) human insulin ; asp ( b28 ) human insulin ; human insulin , wherein proline in position b28 is replaced by asp , lys , leu , val or ala and wherein in position b29 lys may be replaced by pro ; ala ( b26 ) human insulin ; des ( b28 - b30 ) human insulin ; des ( b27 ) human insulin and des ( b30 ) human insulin . insulin derivates are for example b29 - n - myristoyl - des ( b30 ) human insulin ; b29 - n - palmitoyl - des ( b30 ) human insulin ; b29 - n - myristoyl human insulin ; b29 - n - palmitoyl human insulin ; b28 - n - myristoyl lysb28prob29 human insulin ; b28 - n - palmitoyl - lysb28prob29 human insulin ; b30 - n - myristoyl - thrb29lysb30 human insulin ; b30 - n - palmitoyl - thrb29lysb30 human insulin ; b29 - n —( n - palmitoyl - y - glutamyl )- des ( b30 ) human insulin ; b29 - n —( n - lithocholyl - y - glutamyl )- des ( b30 ) human insulin ; b29 - n -( ω - carboxyheptadecanoyl )- des ( b30 ) human insulin and b29 - n -( ω - carboxyheptadecanoyl ) human insulin . exendin - 4 for example means exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), a peptide of the sequence h - his - gly - glu - gly - thr - phe - thr - ser - asp - leu - ser - lys - gln - met - glu - glu - glu - ala - val - arg - leu - phe - ile - glu - trp - leu - lys - asn - gly - gly - pro - ser - ser - gly - ala - pro - pro - pro - ser - nh2 . exendin - 4 derivatives are for example selected from the following list of compounds : h -( lys ) 4 - des pro36 , des pro37 exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 )- nh2 , h -( lys ) 5 - des pro36 , des pro37 exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 )- nh2 , des pro36 [ asp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ isoasp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ met ( o ) 14 , asp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ met ( o ) 14 , isoasp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ trp ( o2 ) 25 , asp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ trp ( o2 ) 25 , isoasp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ met ( o ) 14 trp ( o2 ) 25 , asp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ met ( o ) 14 trp ( o2 ) 25 , isoasp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ); or des pro36 [ asp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ isoasp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ met ( o ) 14 , asp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ met ( o ) 14 , isoasp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ trp ( o2 ) 25 , asp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ trp ( o2 ) 25 , isoasp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ met ( o ) 14 trp ( o2 ) 25 , asp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), des pro36 [ met ( o ) 14 trp ( o2 ) 25 , isoasp28 ] exendin - 4 ( 1 - 39 ), wherein the group - lys6 - nh 2 may be bound to the c - terminus of the exendin - 4 derivative ; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate of any one of the afore - mentioned exedin - 4 derivative . hormones are for example hypophysis hormones or hypothalamus hormones or regulatory active peptides and their antagonists as listed in rote liste , ed . 2008 , chapter 50 , such as gonadotropine ( follitropin , lutropin , choriongonadotropin , menotropin ), somatropine ( somatropin ), desmopressin , terlipressin , gonadorelin , triptorelin , leuprorelin , buserelin , nafarelin , goserelin . a polysaccharide is for example a glucosaminoglycane , a hyaluronic acid , a heparin , a low molecular weight heparin or an ultra low molecular weight heparin or a derivative thereof , or a sulphated , e . g . a poly - sulphated form of the above - mentioned polysaccharides , and / or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof . an example of a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of a poly - sulphated low molecular weight heparin is enoxaparin sodium . pharmaceutically acceptable salts are for example acid addition salts and basic salts . acid addition salts are e . g . hcl or hbr salts . basic salts are e . g . salts having a cation selected from alkali or alkaline , e . g . na +, or k +, or ca2 +, or an ammonium ion n +( r1 )( r2 )( r3 )( r4 ), wherein r1 to r4 independently of each other mean : hydrogen , an optionally substituted c1 - c6 - alkyl group , an optionally substituted c2 - c6 - alkenyl group , an optionally substituted c6 - c10 - aryl group , or an optionally substituted c6 - c10 - heteroaryl group . further examples of pharmaceutically acceptable salts are described in “ remington &# 39 ; s pharmaceutical sciences ” 17 . ed . alfonso r . gennaro ( ed . ), mark publishing company , easton , pa ., u . s . a ., 1985 and in encyclopedia of pharmaceutical technology .	5
the present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter , in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown . this invention may ; however , be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein . rather , these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete , and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art . a method for distributing ice in accordance with the present invention may include some or all of the following steps : a ) receiving an order for packaged ice from a foodservice distributor ; b ) packaging ice in plastic bags , wherein the each bag typically contains 5 pounds or 20 pounds of ice ; c ) inserting 2 plastic bags of ice into a container , wherein the container is typically an adequately sized cardboard box ; d ) closing and sealing the container ; e ) palletizing the containerized packaged ice as necessary ; f ) delivering the pallets of containerized packaged ice to the foodservice distributor &# 39 ; s warehouse ; and g ) collecting revenue from the foodservice distributor for the ice pallets . the present invention provides a method for the distribution of packaged ice using the foodservice distribution infrastructure . the ice manufacturer typically has an ice manufacturing plant to make ice . the ice is packaged in plastic bags and sold in bulk . here , the ice manufacturer acts as an ice selling vendor , selling ice to the foodservice distributor . the foodservice distributor sells and distributes the packages ice end users such as , for example , restaurants , cafeterias , institutions , hospitals . if the ice manufacturer or ice selling vendor does not have the plant capacity to produce an order of packaged ice or it is not profitable to fulfill the order , the ice selling vendor can enter a contract with a third party ice vendor to fulfill the order . for example , the third party ice vendor may be an ice manufacturer closer to the foodservice distributor &# 39 ; s warehouse . also , the third party ice vendor may have a larger ice manufacturing plant and has the ability to fulfill the order quicker and with less production costs . as shown in fig1 , an exemplary embodiment of the invention includes a container 10 . the container 10 may be a typical cardboard box sized to hold to bags of packaged ice 20 as shown in fig2 . the size , shape , and material composition of the container 10 are immaterial to this method of distributing packaged ice . other suitable materials may include wood , plastic , metal , or other materials suitable for forming containers . the container may be lined with a thermal insulating material to keep the ice from melting or the container walls may be un - insulated or bare . the ice container 5 may be taped , glued , or sealed closed by any common technique . as shown in fig2 , there are two ( 2 ) bags of packaged ice 20 placed inside the container 10 . each bag of packaged ice 20 typically contains 5 pounds or 20 pounds of ice ; however , the amount of ice that a bag holds is immaterial . other size bags of packaged ice 20 are suitable . as shown in fig2 and fig3 , the ice containers 5 may be stacked on pallets 25 to facilitate shipping and delivery . the ice containers 5 may have small gaps or spaces 15 between each other while stacked on the pallet 25 . packaged ice is delivered to the foodservice distributor &# 39 ; s warehouse where the ice is stored below freezing temperature while awaiting for distribution to end users such as , for example , restaurants , cafeterias , institutions , or hospitals . the foodservice distributor may be sysco or u . s . foodservice , but and foodservice distributor with an adequate distribution infrastructure is adequate . as shown in fig4 an exemplary , general overview of the flow of information through distribution system 95 occurs as follows : ( i ) the foodservice distributor places an order for packaged ice with ice selling vendor in step 100 ; ( ii ) the ice selling vendor confirms that the order can be fulfilled in step 105 ( if no , the ice selling vendor contracts with a third party ice vendor to fulfill order in step 108 ); ( iii ) the vendor ( whichever vendor fulfills the order ) packages the ice in plastic bags in step 110 ; ( iv .) the vendor inserts the plastic bags inside the container in step 115 ; ( v ) the vendor closes and seals the container in step 120 ; ( vi ) the vendor confirms that the order is large enough to justify shipment on pallets in step 125 and if so , the containers are placed on pallets for shipment in step 130 ( if not , the vendor does not use pallets , the containers are shipped independently ); ( vii ) the vendor delivers the containers ( either on pallets or shipped independently ) to the foodservice distributor &# 39 ; s warehouse in step 135 ; ( viii ) foodservice distributor pays ice selling vendor in step 140 ; ( ix ) ice selling vendor confirms whether or not the order was contracted out to a third party ice vendor in step 145 ( if yes , ice selling vendor pays third party ice vendor in step 150 ); ( x ) order is complete in step 155 . an ice manufacturer ( ice selling vendor ) in lincolnton , ga . receives a bulk order for bulk ice from sysco in columbia , s . c . the ice selling vendor confirms that the order can be fulfilled , packages the ice in plastic bags , and inserts the bags inside a container . the ice selling vendor confirms that the order is large enough to justify shipment on pallets , so the containers are stacked on pallets . the ice selling vendor delivers the pallets to sysco &# 39 ; s warehouse in columbia , s . c . sysco pays ice selling vendor in lincolnton , ga . for the ice shipment . the order is complete . an ice manufacturer ( ice selling vendor ) in lincolnton , ga . receives a bulk order for bulk ice from sysco in los angeles , calif . due to the long distance , the ice selling vendor confirms that the order is not feasible to fulfill from his ice manufacturing facility in lincolnton , ga . the ice selling vendor locates an ice manufacturer ( third party ice vendor ) in anaheim , calif . which is relatively close to sysco in los angeles , calif . the ice selling vendor lincolnton , ga . contracts ( legal binding contract ) with the third party ice vendor in anaheim , calif . to fulfill the order . the third party ice vendor in anaheim , calif . packages the ice in plastic bags , and inserts the bags inside a container . the third party ice vendor confirms that the order is large enough to justify shipment on pallets , so the containers are stacked on pallets . the third party ice vendor delivers the pallets to sysco &# 39 ; s warehouse in los angeles , calif . sysco pays ice selling vendor in lincolnton , ga . for the ice shipment . the ice selling vendor in lincolnton , ga . confirms the order was contracted out to a third party ice vendor in anaheim , calif . and pays third party ice vendor per the contract . the order is complete . while the above description contains much specificity , these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention , but rather as exemplification of preferred embodiments . numerous other variations of the present invention are possible , and it is not intended herein to mention all of the possible equivalent forms or ramifications of this invention .	6
in a typical procedure for the preparation of a clay based catalysts , the raw clay is upgraded by sedimentation to remove quartz , grits etc impurities . wet solid clay is separated from the clay slurry by ultracentrifuge and naturally dried from 6 to 12 hours , followed by drying at 80 ° c . to 120 ° c . for 4 to 8 hours . thus dried clay was treated with acid solution to convert the clay into h - form 10 gm of the clay thus prepared h - form of clay was refluxed with 100 ml of 0 . 01 m solution of soluble salt like nitrate , chloride or acetate of relative lanthanide cations for 6 hours . then catalysts was filtered washed with hot distilled water till the filtrate became anion free and dried overnight 110 ° c . for removing the moistures , clay was activated at 120 ° c . for 4 - 6 hrs before using for reactions . a typical chemical analysis of clay used for making catalysts was . the clays prepared were characterized for crystallinity by using x - ray powder diffraction using philips x &# 39 ; perts mpd model and for bet surface area using micromeritics asap - surface area analyzers . catalytic studies using above catalysts were done in continuous stirred tank reactor ( cstr ) of 50 ml capacity having temperature controller , water circulator , magnetic stirrer and moisture trap . typically , 5 . 5 g of veratrole ( or 4 . 3 g of anisole ) and 3 . 5 g of acetic anhydride were taken in a 50 ml capacity round bottom flask to which 2 gm of the catalyst after activation at 120 ° c . for 4 to 10 hours in muffle furnace was added . the round bottom flask was fitted with a condenser through which constant temperature water was circulated . moisture trap was attached at the end of the condenser . the contents of the flask were constantly stirred using a magnetic stirrer . the flask was kept in an oil bath whose temperature was slowly raised to desired reaction temperature . the contents of the flask were analyzed by gas chromatography at different time intervals ranging from 1 to 8 hours . the yield was followed over time by taking aliquots which were analyzed by gas chromatography hp model 6890 using capillary column hp - 5 . percent yield of p - acyl anisole or p - acyl veratrole was calculated using following equation percent yield = number of moles of para acyl aromatic ether actually formed / number of moles of para acyl aromatic ether theoretically expected , in the present invention upgraded clay was exchanged with soluble salt of lanthanide cations like lanthanum cerium , neodymium , praseodymium , samarium ranging from 5 to 10 wt % of the clay to make them more active towards acylation of anisole and veratrole . further this improved catalytic process obviates the need of any solvent and the reaction can be carried out at atmospheric pressure . the lanthanide cations in the interlayer space of clays helps the catalytic conversion to be carried out at moderate temperature . the inventive steps adopted in this invention are : ( i ) clays are modified with rare earth in the range of 5 to 10 weight % to make the catalysts more compatible with acylation reactions ; ( ii ) the acylation reaction is carried out in single step so that the multi - step process can be avoided ; ( iii ) the lower temperature and pressure favors the selectivity for para position , which is desired ; ( iv ) the catalytic reaction proceeds at relatively moderate temperature of 100 ° c . and at atmospheric pressure , which obviates the need of high temperature and pressure , ( v ) acylation occurs without use of any solvent and without using hazardous and effluent generating acylating agent . the following examples are given by way of illustration and therefore should not be construed to limit the scope of the present invention . 100 grams of raw clay was mixed with 10 liters of distilled water and thus formed slurry was thoroughly stirred at ambient temperature for 6 hours . the slurry was then sedimented for 24 hours followed by decantation of suspended clay solution . upgraded solid clay was recovered first by natural drying followed by drying in oven at 110 ° c . for 6 hours . thus crude clay was further refluxed with 2 normal solution of sulfuric acid in a round bottom flask with a solid to liquid ratio 1 ; 5 at 80 ° c . for 2 hours . clay was filtered and washed with distilled water till it became free from sulphate ion as tested by barium sulphate and was finally dried at 110 ° c . for 6 hours . thus obtained clay was termed as h - clay . 40 milimoles of aromatic ether and 40 milimoles of acetic anhydride were reacted with 2 gms of h - clay catalysts in abut 50 ml capacity of round bottom flask kept in oil bath and the temperature of oil bath was slowly raised to desired temperature of 100 ° c . the round bottom flask provided with a water - circulator , temperature - controller , magnetic stirrer and moisture trap the contents of the flask were analyzed by gas chromatography at different time intervals ranging from 1 to 9 hours . the percent yield of p - acyl veratrole and p - acyl anisole respectively shown in table 1a and 1b from 31 to 77 % and 12 to 41 % were obtained . 10 grams of h - clay prepared as described in example - 1 was refluxed with 100 ml of the 0 . 01 m solution of soluble salt ( nitrate , chloride or acetate ) of lanthanum for 6 hours . then the catalysts was filtered , washed with hot distilled water till the filtrated became anion free and dried overnight at 110 ° c . for removing the moisture clay catalysts , la - clay thus obtained was activated at 120 ° c . for 4 to 6 hours before using for reaction . 40 milimoles of aromatic ether and 40 milimoles of acetic anhydride were reacted with 2 grams catalyst in abut 50 ml capacity of round bottom flask kept in oil bath and the temperature of oil bath was slowly raised to desired temperature of 100 ° c . the round bottom flask provided with a water - circulator , temperature - controller , magnetic stirrer and moisture trap . the contents of the flask were analyzed by gas chromatography at different time intervals ranging from 1 to 5 hours . the percent yield of p - acyl veratrole and p - acyl anisole respectively shown in table 1a and 1b form 56 to 88 % and 38 to 49 % were obtained . 10 grams of h - clay prepared as described in example - 1 was refluxed with 100 ml of the 0 . 01 m solution of soluble salt ( nitrate , chloride or acetate ) of cerium for 6 hours . then the catalysts was filtered , washed with hot distilled water till the filtrated became anion free and dried overnight at 110 ° c . for removing the moisture . clay catalysts , ce - clay thus obtained was activated at 120 ° c . for 4 to 6 hours before using for reaction . 40 milimoles of aromatic ether and 40 milimoles of acetic anhydride were reacted with 2 grams catalysts in abut 50 ml capacity of round bottom flask kept in oil bath and the temperature of oil bath was slowly raised to desired temperature of 100 ° c . the round bottom flask provided with a water - circulator , temperature - controller , magnetic stirrer and moisture trap . the contents of the flask were analyzed by gas chromatography at different time intervals ranging from 1 to 5 hours . the percent yield of p - acyl veratrole and p - acyl anisole respectively shown in table 1a and 1b from 57 to 91 % and 35 to 52 % were obtained . 10 grams of h - clay prepared as described in example - 1 was refluxed with 100 ml of the 0 . 01 m solution of soluble salt ( nitrate , chloride or acetate ) of neodymium for 6 hours . then the catalysts was filtered , washed with hot distilled water till the filtrated became anion free and dried overnight at 110 ° c . for removing the moisture . clay catalysts , la - clay thus obtained was activated at 120 ° c . for 4 to 6 hours before using for reaction . 40 milimoles of aromatic ether and 40 milimoles of acetic anhydride were reacted with 2 grams catalysts in abut 50 ml capacity of round bottom flask kept in oil bath and the temperature of oil bath was slowly raised to desired temperature of 100 ° c . the round bottom flask provided with a water - circulator , temperature - controller , magnetic stirrer and moisture trap . the contents of the flask were analyzed by gas chromatography at different time intervals ranging from 1 to 5 hours . the percent yield of p - acyl veratrole and p - acyl anisole respectively shown in table 1a and 1b from 49 to 71 % and 8 to 16 % were obtained . 10 grams of h - clay prepared as described in example - 1 was refluxed with 100 ml of the 0 . 01 m solution of soluble salt ( nitrate , chloride or acetate ) of praseodymium for 6 hours . then the catalysts was filtered , washed with hot distilled water till the filtrated became anion free and dried overnight at 110 ° c . for removing the moisture . clay catalysts , pr - clay thus obtained was activated at 120 ° c . for 4 to 6 hours before using for reaction . 40 milimoles of aromatic ether and 40 milimoles of acetic anhydride were reacted with 2 grams catalysts in abut 50 ml capacity of round bottom flask kept in oil bath and the temperature of oil bath was slowly raised to desired temperature of 100 ° c . the round bottom flask provided with a water - circulator , temperature - controller , magnetic stirrer and moisture trap . the contents of the flask were analyzed by gas chromatography at different time intervals ranging from 1 to 5 hours . the percent yield of p - acyl veratrole and p - acyl anisole respectively shown in table 1a and 1b from 23 to 62 % and 12 to 39 % were obtained . 10 grams of h - clay prepared as described in example - 1 was refluxed with 100 ml of the 0 . 01 m solution of soluble salt ( nitrate , chloride or acetate ) of samarium for 6 hours . then the catalysts was filtered , washed with hot distilled water till the filtrated became anion free and dried overnight at 110 ° c . for removing the moisture . clay catalysts , sm - clay thus obtained was activated at 120 ° c . for 4 to 6 hours before using for reaction . 40 milimoles of aromatic ether and 40 milimoles of acetic anhydride were reacted with 2 grams catalysts in abut 50 ml capacity of round bottom flask kept in oil bath and the temperature of oil bath was slowly raised to desired temperature of 100 ° c . the round bottom flask provided with a water - circulator , temperature - controller , magnetic stirrer and moisture trap . the contents of the flask were analyzed by gas chromatography at different time intervals ranging from 1 to 4 hours . the percent yield of p - acyl veratrole and p - acyl anisole respectively shown in table 1a and 1b from 56 to 63 % and 6 to 39 % were obtained clay catalysts used in example - 3 was regenerated by washing with a polar solvent like acetone and heated at 120 for 4 hours and reused for acylation of veratrole as described in example - 3 . percent yield of veratrole after first and second regeneration cycle were 80 % and 75 % respectively . 10 grams of h - clay prepared as described in example - 1 was refluxed with 100 ml of the 0 . 01 m solution of soluble salt like nitrate , chloride or acetate of lanthanum for 6 hours . then the catalysts was filtered , washed with hot distilled water till the filtrated became anion free and dried overnight at 110 ° c . for removing the moisture . clay catalysts , la - clay thus obtained was activated at 120 ° c . for 4 to 6 hours before using for reaction . 40 milimoles of aromatic ether and 40 milimoles of acetic anhydride were reacted with 2 grams catalysts in about 50 ml capacity of round bottom flask kept in oil bath and the temperature of oil bath was slowly raised to desired temperature of 80 ° c . the round bottom flask provided with a water - circulator , temperature - controller , magnetic stirrer and moisture trap . the contents of the flask were analyzed by gas chromatography at different time intervals ranging from 1 to 4 hours . the percent yield of p - acyl veratrole and p - acyl anisole respectively shown in table 1a and 1b from 29 to 40 % and 15 to 30 % were obtained . 1 . acylation is done without use of any solvent , i . e ., it is solvent free single step reaction . 2 . high atom utilization and low mass ratio of waste to desired product ( e - factor ) for these conversion reflecting the environmentally friendly production of p - acylated aromatic ether . atom utilization is calculated by dividing the molecular weight of the desired product by the sum of the all substances produced in the stochiometric equation , i . e . if we consider the acylation of the anisole and veratrole by acetic anhydride by using clay , reactions are represented as under . therefore in this reaction atom utilization is 151 / 210 = 71 % for the acylation of anisole and 180 / 240 = 75 % for the acylation of veratrole . e - factor is defined by the mass ratio of waste to desired product . in this reaction e - factor will be 60 / 151 = 0 . 4 for the acylation for anisole and 60 / 80 = 0 . 33 for the acylation of veratrole . 3 . catalyst being solid in nature can be easily separated the reaction mixture by filtration or centrifuge . clay can be regenerated up to second cycle and re - used . 4 shape selectivity towards para selectivity is observed in very high yield values for the products , 5 clay based catalysts are easy in handling in comparison conventional friedel - craft acylation catalysts like h 2 so 4 , hf , alcl 3 and other lewis acid . 6 process uses inexpensive clay as a starting material for catalyst preparation .	2
in developing this invention , a consistent effort was undertaken to synthesize porous siliceous particles with morphology different from discrete spherical silica particles . in contrast to spherical colloidal silica particles , which achieve porosity upon drying and rearrangement of the spheres , the process of precipitating silicic acid via controlled ph change introduces porosity in the “ worm - like ” siliceous particles of the present invention . by choosing the initial ph typically below the point of zero charge (“ pzc ”) of silica and introducing an additive ( e . g ., ions or organic templates ) to modify the growth of the precipitated particles , the surface area , morphology , and porosity become tunable . some additives added to the acid sol during synthesis are typically effective at extremely low ph levels , such as 0 to 5 , where the polymerization reaction is catalyzed with the rate being proportional to the concentration , addition rate , etc . of additive . doping metals such as aluminum ( and , for example , to a lesser extent iron ) tend to offset the effect of some additives by forming complexes with the doping metal and retard polymerization in this ph range . in one embodiment , the invention includes “ undoped ” worm - like or elongated siliceous materials . the materials typically have multiple branches , which have an outer diameter ranging from about 3 nm to about 120 nm , as illustrated in fig1 . under certain circumstances , the branches may have a smaller outer diameter range , for example from about 20 nm to about 70 nm . the branches generally grow in no particular direction and may form either a more elongated particle or may curl up into ring - type structures . aggregation , such as isotropic aggregation , is also possible and may be due to the preferential attachment of small silica particles at the ends of a floc where the repulsion energy barrier is at a minimum . not wishing to be bound to a particular theory , one theory is that directional charged particles present less of an electrical potential barrier for particle addition than the sides ( see i . l . thomas and k . h . mccorkle , “ theory of oriented flocculation ,” j . colloid interface sci ., 36 : 110 to 118 , 1971 ). in some embodiments , pits and crevices ( sometimes numerous ) with varying shape cover the surface of the branches thus increasing the total surface area . pores may alternatively be unconnected or interconnected . although the reaction may be carried out at any suitable temperature , preferably it is carried out at room temperature . since the reaction is typically exothermic , the temperature in the reaction vessel may be controlled by , for example , circulating cooling water flushing through a double walled reactor to keep the reaction at the desired temperature . in an embodiment , an additive is introduced during the synthesis of the siliceous material of the invention to create porosity , create a certain structure , as a template or templating agent , or as a structure director . drying and calcining also have a major effect on final particle morphology with regard to pore characteristics . such additives are generally inorganic bases , organic bases , organic acids , fluoride ion sources , surfactants , and combinations thereof . for example , the template effect of carboxylic acid in worm - type silica is demonstrated in the graph of fig2 . the sample ( as explained in example 5 ) was synthesized using a citric acid — ammonia complex , which was included within the silica matrix . the sample dried at 150 ° c . exhibited moderate surface area and pore volume indicating that the template was still present within the pores . after calcination at 600 ° c . for two hours , the silica material was template free . the surface area of the calcined material increased significantly , while the pore volume doubled and the pore diameter dropped a small amount . fig3 shows the barret - joyner - hallenda ( bjh ) adsorption plot of a sample ( as explained in example 5 ). the pore diameter of the two considered materials was plotted as a function of the nitrogen adsorption parameter . interestingly , the peaks of both materials essentially overlapped . it can be seen that the porosity curves in fig3 overlap quite accurately and the dried sample contains a large amount of porosity , indicating that porosity may be created by decomposing the ammonium citrate complex at low ph conditions before drying and calcination . though other scenarios are possible , a potential scenario for this process is illustrated in the schematic in fig4 . silica condenses along the ammonium citrate crystal coating the template . since the ph conditions are still very low , the ammonium citrate complex may be partially extracted in situ during the synthesis ( i . e ., under acidic conditions void space may be left behind creating porosity ). synthesis of the worm - like siliceous material of the invention may be modified using various templates to adjust porosity in terms of pore diameter and pore volume , which both directly influence surface area . typically , unmodified precipitated silica reflects pore size in the range of about 100 nm to about 200 nm . part of the development of worm - like silica focused on the modification of pore diameter , pore volume , and surface area . adsorption characteristics change with pore size and hence porosity may be classified as , for example , submicro -, micro -, meso -, and macroporosity . such terms for porosity may be defined generally as follows with regard to diameter : submicropores are below 1 å ; micropores are up to about 20 å ; mesopores range from about 20 å to about 500 å ; and macropores are greater than about 500 å . as exemplified in the graph in fig5 , the range of porosity spans a large range of pore diameters . the light line represents an ammonium citrate templated sample , where the reaction conditions were kept at the lower acidic end . the porosity achieved was a high volume microporosity with additional porosity in the mesoporous range . the sample represented by the bold line followed a similar synthesis set - up but the amount of ammonium citrate added was six - fold greater and shifted the porosity range into a high pore volume mesoporous material . the highest pore volume was achieved in the sample represented by the dotted line ( synthesis explained in example 4 ), which contained no ammonium citrate ; instead , it contained ions to modify the polycondensation and gelation process of silicic acid . as can bee seen in fig5 , the porosity range changes to the upper mesoporous / lower macroporous range with a concomitant increase in the pore volume . in alternative embodiments , the versatility of the material can be further stretched in creating bi - modal , porous silica . fig6 shows three such samples with different porosity values . the sample represented by the dashed line ( synthesis discussed in example 6 ) was synthesized using ammonium citrate templates at very low ph . that material exhibited micro - and mesoporosity . the reaction conditions for the sample shown by the solid line was modified with respect to the ph range by starting the reaction at low ph and forcing gelation at ph 6 and above . for the sample represented by the dotted line ( synthesis discussed in example 2 ), ammonium citrate was added starting at an initial ph of 1 with its final ph being ph 11 . further flexibility in terms of porosity ranges has been given by the addition of various carboxylic acids and organic materials employed as templates or additives . these additives provide a means to create pores of desired size and / or structure . variation in ion addition changes reaction conditions with respect to amount of gelation occurring and porosity created . representative additives include fluoride ion sources , such as naf , lif , kf , and the like ; organic fluoride ion sources , such as vinyl fluoride and ethylene fluoride polymers ; organic bases including organic acids , such as citric acid , oxalic acid , succinic acid , tartaric acid , acetic acid , and the like ; combinations of organic acids and organic bases ; polymers , such as polyethylene glycol ; surfactants ; the like ; and combinations thereof . in another embodiment , the siliceous material of the invention includes silica particles doped with metal . representative dopants include solutions containing metal salts including salts of palladium , silver , platinum , nickel cerium , cobalt , copper , iron , molybdenum , chrome , vanadium , titanium , tin , zinc , and aluminum ; other suitable solutions ; the like ; and their combinations . doping the silica source with various metal sources changes reaction conditions and kinetics / thermodynamics . consequently , porosity may also be altered , thus providing an alternative mechanism for tuning porosity characteristics . in the following , conditions and properties of worm - like silica doped with metals such as aluminum , palladium , titanium , and zinc as well as the combinations thereof are discussed . it should be appreciated that the class of potential metals for doping is broad , with representative examples being transition metals , heavy metals , noble metals , rare earth metals , and their combinations . several ways of doping worm - like silica were explored in the development of this invention . metal salts were added to cooled silicic acid with a specific gravity of up to about 1 . 044 g / ml keeping the ph at or below about ph 3 . 5 . generally , the specific gravity of such silicic acid ranges from about 1 . 03 to about 1 . 05 g / ml , or more broadly from about 0 . 8 to about 1 . 31 grams / ml . stem and eds experiments were performed to validate the distribution of the doping metal in the silica matrix . a homogeneous distribution of the metals such as aluminum in the silica matrix can be achieved under the correct reaction set - up . metals such as palladium , zinc , and the like were , in contrast , heterogeneously incorporated into the matrix . the heterogeneous nature of the catalyst typically occurs due to cluster formation on the surface and throughout the silica matrix . secondary and tertiary metals are usually not included in the metal nanoclusters . the cluster may have a size ranging from sub - nm to about 50 nm , with smaller clusters being more desirable . metals are typically added as metal salts and are occluded in the silica matrix by incipient wetness or other suitable impregnation techniques . upon reduction by hydrogen or other reducing agent , the metal ions become metallic in nature . for example , chloroplatanic acid includes platinum in the pt 2 + oxidation state . exposure to a reducing agent reduces the platinum ion to the pt 3 + state . an issue that may occur during metal doping and further processing and application is migration and subsequent sintering of the metal ( s ). in many catalysis applications , the metal clusters should be as small as possible to maximize metallic surface area . the metal clusters , as observed using stem , are generally in the range of less than 1 nm to about 10 nm . designing a well functioning doped siliceous material catalyst typically entails finding the ideal relationship between robust immobilization of the catalytic metal onto the support material to prevent surface migration ( and sintering ) of small clusters and in parallel , the availability of the metal as active sites to catalyze the intended reaction . for example , in situ surface migration studies were performed using stem in developing the present invention with a palladium doped aluminum silicate catalyst . the pd - clusters appeared as high - contrast spots on the surface and have an average size of about 2 nm to about 3 nm . it was observed that the pd - clusters became mobile on the al 2 o 3 — sio 2 surface under the experimental conditions . surface migration took place and , after electron beam irradiation , the clusters sintered to form a larger pd cluster thereby decreasing surface area . in addition , weak bonding between the catalyst clusters and the support material may cause detaching of the metal catalyst . as a result , a decrease in activity of the catalyst can be expected . consequently , an ideal bonding balance between the metal cluster and the support material should be engineered by an advantageous combination of the metal dopant and the modified silica matrix , potentially via homogeneous metal doping . in an embodiment , immobilization of palladium nanoclusters on a silica - based support was achieved by doping titania - silica composite with a palladium salt in solution subsequent to the sol - gel synthesis . homogeneous distribution of the titania in the silica matrix was observed , while nano - clusters of the palladium was detected . the distribution of both metals may be within and / or without the pores structure . through eds elemental mapping , such “ palladium islands ” were found on the surface of the titania - silica material as well as within the porous titania - silica matrix . typically , the clusters generally vary in size from about 2 nm to about 20 nm . the elemental maps of si , o , and ti overlapped and resembled the same shape of the particle indicating a homogeneous distribution of the titania within the silica matrix . the presence of palladium nanoclusters was verified via stem imaging and computed intensity profiles as seen in fig7 . the intensity profile relates directly to the z - contrast image . as the palladium nanoclusters in points a and d are seen in the image , the clusters at points b and c are located in the sub - matrix of the material below the surface and are not apparent in the image . it should be appreciated that though palladium was discussed in this embodiment , any of the metals described herein or their combinations are suitable . in an alternative embodiment , the needs of a different catalyst market may be addressed with a siliceous material doped with aluminum to generate an acidic porous catalyst . preferably , the metal must be embedded within the silica network on the atomic scale to act as a favorable acid catalyst providing an ideal level of acidity and requisite number of active sites . therefore , the interaction mode of the template and the metal / metal oxide / silicate during the synthesis of the worm - like silica is of importance . according to another embodiment , aluminum doping of worm - like silica was achieved at low ph without using a carboxylic acid based template . as seen in fig9 , the porosity changed according to the synthesis parameters ( i . e ., ph of the reaction ). the samples studied in this embodiment were synthesized according to example 8 — al 2 o 3 — sio 2 . under certain conditions , it was observed that higher pore volume was generally attained at lower ph conditions . the porosity of this material was observed to be between about 30 å and about 200 å , with a peak centered around 50 ± 10 å . under certain conditions , doping the silicic acid with one or more metals , such as aluminum , zinc , and palladium , before the synthesis of worm - like silica changes kinetics / thermodynamics and condensation conditions , typically resulting in a decrease in porosity . the addition of titanium should be mentioned as an exception . if titanium is added at low ph to silicic acid , for example as titanium sulfate , the titania salt by itself will precipitate at alkaline ph generating additional porosity . in an embodiment , zinc may be doped into the matrix by addition of zinc nitrate into silicic acid . zinc can be immobilized on the surface of worm - like silica without reducing activity of the catalyst and produce an economical recyclable catalyst or antibacterial material . in a further embodiment , the surface of the siliceous material of the invention may be modified . representative surface - modifying agents include silanes , silanols , metal organic compounds , metals , metal oxides , polymers , fluorescent moieties , the like , and their combinations . heavy metal removal from wastewater is a potential application for such surface - modified worm - like siliceous materials . for example , thiol groups were placed on the surface of worm - like silica via silanol modification , which were added to the reaction after the worm - like silica reaction was completed . the examined wastewater contained 130 mg / liter cu and 140 mg / liter mn at ph 3 . a sample as depicted in fig1 was tested for copper removal and was found to remove about 75 % of the copper in the system . in an embodiment , silica modified with edta during the silicic acid preparation step was tested and shown to remove about 98 % of the copper . considering the porosity of the material , a surface modification using , for example , silanol groups decreased pore volume and surface area of the sample by about 50 %. fig1 shows an stem image of a porous silica particle and examples of silane chemistries that were employed to modify surface properties of the worm - like silica . moreover , in a preferred embodiment , the siliceous materials of the invention may be synthesized without the use of surfactants as additive . the use of surfactants in materials synthesis of this kind may be economically reasonable under certain circumstances . for example , if the surfactant may effortlessly be removed from the pores and in turn be recycled and reused for subsequent syntheses . the foregoing may be better understood by reference to the following examples , which are intended for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention . brunauer , emmett , and teller ( bet ) sample preparation included degassing for about 1 to 4 hrs ( and ranging up to about 24 hrs ) at up to about 300 ° c . such degassing ( and drying ) may be performed at a temperature ranging from about room temperature to about 300 ° c . nitrogen physisorption measurements were carried out using an autosorb - 1c instrument ( quantachrome instruments in boynton beach , fla .). the data for the below examples includes multi - point bet surface area , pore volume , and bjh adsorption pore size distribution . analytical electron microscopy ( aem ) characterization was performed on calcined samples . calcination typically was carried out from about 300 ° c . to about 1 , 200 ° c . for a period of about 2 hrs . selected samples were prepared using a holey carbon film coated cu tem grid . a small amount of the calcined powder was dispersed in deionized water or isopropanol and treated in an ultrasonic bath to increase sample dispersion . one to two drops of the sample were mounted on the tem grid followed by a drying step at 60 ° c . the tem images were acquired using a jeol 2010f fastem stem / tem with a schottky feg — source . the microscope was operated at 200 kv . in stem mode the microscope was capable of producing a probe size of 0 . 13 nm with 15 pa of current enabling magnifications in excess of 10 , 000 , 000 ×. the microscope was equipped with a standard ultra - high - resolution objective lens pole piece , a jeol annular dark - field detector , a post - column gatan imaging filter ( gif ), and a noran vista edx system with a light element detector including drift correction . the lens conditions in the microscope were defined for a probe size of 0 . 2 nm , with a convergence angle of 13 mrad , and a collection angle of 52 mrad . using these settings , the probe current at 40 pa was sufficient to obtain statistically significant information with the z - contrast image being incoherent and enabling the acquisition of direct images of the structure . stem - xeds was applied to obtain elemental maps of the material to assess composition . resolution using this technique was limited to about 1 nm . elemental maps were obtained by probing the sample a statistically significant number of times and applying the energy window method . the settings were selected carefully since detectability limits may be affected when elemental mapping is conducted for minor amounts of elements ( e . g ., several atomic %). the quality of stem - xeds maps was modified by post experiment image processing . color saturation adjustment , contrast level separation , and high - pass filtering have been performed in a skillful manner to improve image quality and appearance . worm - like porous siliceous materials were synthesized by preparing silicic acid through cationic ion exchange of 3 wt % to 6 . 5 wt % solution of chilled sodium silicate . the cation exchange step may be performed through any means of exposing or contacting the silicic acid with the ion exchange resin , for instance mixed in a vessel or through a column . 1130 ml of sodium silicate solution was diluted to 2 , 600 ml with deionized water . the dilute sodium silicate solution was deionized with a dowex monosphere ® 650 - h resin ( available from dow chemical co . in midland , mich .) of acid form into a 1 : 2 ratio of resin : solution through a column . the resin in the column was first flushed with deionized water and the dilute sodium silicate solution was then passed through the column . when the effluent reached a ph of 3 . 5 ( signifying the presence of silicic acid sol ), the effluent was collected . the resulting silicic acid sol had a specific gravity generally in the range of 1 . 0384 g / ml to 1 . 0457 g / ml , depending upon the deionized water to silicate ratio . if the sol was doped with a metal source such as aluminum , it was added in the form of aluminum chlorohydrate . if titanium oxide was the desired dopand in the sol , a 15 wt % solution of ti ( so 4 ) 2 was added to the sol . the reaction setup is illustrated in fig1 . the depicted laboratory reactor included a 5 - liter , double walled , triple necked round bottom flask . to remove any residue or contaminants from the walls of the flask , the reactor was soaked in 0 . 5 n caustic soda , and rinsed to neutrality with deionized water . the flask was stirred with standard , uncalibrated lightening mixers . a thermocouple was passed through a neck while one opposing neck housed an addition hose . a solution of deionized water and hcl was added to the flask under stirring at 300 rpm to keep the ph below 2 . the previously prepared doped / undoped acid sol was added to the flask . structural modifiers may be added at this point . in order to induce silica precipitation , adding a doped or undoped ammonia solution at various feed rates imposed a confined ph change of the silica heel . doping of ammonia may also include hydroxyl - carboxylic acids . since the reaction occurring in the flask was exothermic , the flask was cooled using tap water running through the double walls of the flask to keep the reaction temperature at room temperature . during the addition of the ammonia solution , the ph may rise above ph 4 and hcl may be introduced to the reaction to lower the ph , if desired . subsequent metal doping was performed by adding , for instance , a mixture of sodium tetrachloropalladate and deionized water using a peristaltic pump at a predefined rate from a reservoir . in some reactions , the ph changed gradually to higher ph values , up to a final ph of 10 . 5 . to obtain the final product , the samples were dried overnight at temperatures ranging from 65 ° c . to 150 ° c ., followed by a calcination process at 500 ° c . to 600 ° c . for 2 hrs . the following examples describe a selection of synthesized “ worm - like ” siliceous materials , which include the modification of a silica matrix using various fluoride ions and organic acids . in addition , these examples describe the doping of metal oxides into the silica matrix as well as metal doping of metal oxide doped silica via incipient wetting . silicic acid was prepared by cationic exchange of approximately 6 . 5 wt % solution of chilled sodium silicate , prepared by diluting 600 ml of sodium silicate solution to 4 liters with deionized water . the dilute sodium silicate solution was deionized with a dowex monosphere ® 650 - h resin ( available from dow chemical co . in midland , mich .) of acid form into a 1 : 2 ratio of resin : solution through a column . the resin in the column was first flushed with deionized water and the diluted sodium silicate solution was then passed through the column . as soon as the effluent became acidic , signifying the presence of silicic acid , the effluent was collected . six ml of deionized water was added to a reaction flask at room temperature and 2 ml of hcl was added to the heel . in addition , the heel was charged 18 . 8 g of acid sol ( specific gravity : 1 . 0443 ) and was constantly stirred at 300 rpm . an ammonia solution was prepared , including 36 g of a 28 % nh4oh solution having 0 . 54 g of dissolved citric acid monohydrate . in order to induce silica precipitation , the ammonia solution was added to the heel at a feed rate of 0 . 12 ml / min . increasing stirring to 800 rpm broke up unwanted gelation . the final sample was held under reflux for 2 hrs with a ph of 11 . 5 . physisorption data indicated a surface area of 186 m 2 / g , a pore volume of 1 . 65 cc / g , and a pore diameter of 353 . 8 å . six ml of deionized water was added to a reaction flask at room temperature and 2 ml of hcl was added to the heel . the heel was charged with 18 . 8 g of acid sol ( specific gravity : 1 . 0455 ) and 0 . 01 mol naf was added . the heel was kept stirred at 300 rpm . an ammonia solution was prepared , including 9 g of a 28 % nh4oh solution and 0 . 1 g of dissolved citric acid monohydrate . in order to induce silica precipitation , the ammonia solution was added to the heel at a feed rate of 13 . 8 ml / 2 hrs . the final sample was a gel at ph 5 . physisorption data indicated a surface area of 128 . 8 m 2 / g , a pore volume of 1 . 73 cc / g and a pore diameter of 536 . 3 å . two ml of hcl was added to a reaction flask at room temperature containing 6 ml deionized water . the heel was charged with 18 . 8 g of acid sol ( specific gravity 1 . 0426 ) and 0 . 01 mol naf was added . the heel was kept stirred at 500 rpm . an ammonia solution was prepared , which include 9 g of a 28 % nh4oh . in order to induce silica precipitation , the ammonia solution was added to the heel at a feed rate of 13 . 8 ml / 2 hrs . the final sample was a gel at ph 5 . physisorption data indicated a surface area of 119 . 5 m 2 / g , a pore volume of 1 . 1 ml / g and a pore diameter of 368 . 4 å . 222 . 2 ml of hcl was added to a reaction flask at room temperature containing 666 . 6 ml of deionized water . the heel was charged with 2 , 000 g of acid sol ( specific gravity 1 . 0457 ), and was constantly stirred at 450 rpm . an ammonia solution was prepared , which included 295 . 6 grams of a 28 % nh 4 oh and 4 . 4 g of citric acid monohydrate . in order to induce silica precipitation , the ammonia solution was added to the heel at various feed rates with 240 ml at 240 ml / hr and 60 ml at 960 ml / hr . the ph was monitored during the reaction and was adjusted back to ph 1 with 100 ml hcl after reaching ph 7 . the final sample ph was 1 . the final product was oven dried at 150 ° c . for 3 . 5 hrs (“ dried ” curve in fig2 ), followed by milling and calcination of the powder at 600 ° c . for 2 hrs (“ cal ” curve in fig2 ). physisorption data indicated a surface area of 344 . 2 m 2 / g , a pore volume of 1 . 24 ml / g , and a pore diameter of 143 . 5 å . 111 ml of hcl was added to a reaction flask at room temperature containing 333 . 3 ml of deionized water and the heel was charged with 1 , 000 g of acid sol ( specific gravity 1 . 0392 ). the heel was kept stirred at 230 rpm . an ammonia solution was prepared , including 147 . 8 g of a 28 % nh 4 oh and 2 . 2 g of citric acid monohydrate . to induce silica precipitation , the ammonia solution was added at various feed rates with 120 ml at 120 ml / hr and 30 ml at 960 ml / hr to the heel . the ph was monitored during the reaction and was adjusted from ph 2 to ph 1 with 25 ml hcl after ¾ of the ammonia solution was fed . the final sample ph was 1 . gelling was decreased during this reaction . the product was oven dried at 150 ° c . for 2 hrs , followed by milling and calcination of the powder at 600 ° c . for 2 hrs . physisorption data indicated a surface area of 636 . 8 m 2 / g , a pore volume of 0 . 643 ml / g , and a pore diameter of 40 . 39 å . 111 . 1 ml of hcl was added to a reaction flask at room temperature containing 333 . 3 ml of deionized water and the heel was charged with 1 , 000 grams of acid sol ( specific gravity 1 . 0396 ). the heel was kept stirred at 330 rpm . an ammonia solution having 147 . 8 g of a 28 % nh4oh and 6 . 6 g of citric acid monohydrate was prepared . in order to induce silica precipitation , the ammonia solution was fed to the heel at a rate of 200 ml / hr . the ph was monitored during the reaction and was adjusted from ph 2 to ph 1 with 25 ml hcl after ¾ of the ammonia solution was fed . the final sample ph was 1 . gelling was decreased during this reaction . the final product was achieved by oven drying at 150 ° c . for 2 hrs , followed by milling and calcination of the powder at 600 ° c . for 2 hrs . physisorption data indicated a surface area of 307 . 1 m 2 / g , a pore volume of 0 . 977 ml / g , and a pore diameter of 127 . 3 å . 111 . 1 ml of h 2 so 4 was added to a reaction flask at room temperature containing 333 . 3 ml of deionized water . 117 . 92 g of al ( no 3 ) 3 was dissolved in 117 . 9 ml deionized water and added to 1 , 000 g of acid sol ( specific gravity 1 . 0263 ), which was then charged to the heel . the heel was kept stirred at 230 rpm . an ammonia solution was prepared , which included 150 g of a 28 % nh 4 oh and 8 . 8 g of citric acid monohydrate . in order to induce silica precipitation , the ammonia solution was added to the heel at 120 ml / hr . decreased gelling was observed during this reaction . the product was oven dried at 150 ° c . for 2 hrs , followed by milling and calcination of the powder at 600 ° c . for 2 hrs . physisorption data indicated a surface area of 476 . 4 m 2 / g , a pore volume of 0 . 546 ml / g , and a pore diameter of 45 . 86 å . 253 g of hcl was added to a reaction flask at room temperature containing 763 . 25 ml of deionized water . 7 . 51 g of al 2 ( oh ) cl 5 was dissolved in 70 ml deionized water having 210 . 75 g acid sol ( specific gravity 1 . 0384 g / ml ). this solution was added to 2 , 300 g of acid sol ( specific gravity 1 . 0384 g / ml ) and charged to the heel . the heel was kept stirred at 450 rpm . an ammonia solution was prepared , which included 710 g of a 28 % nh 4 oh and 43 . 5 grams of citric acid monohydrate . to induce silica precipitation , the ammonia solution was added at 320 ml / hr to the heel . increased gelling was observed during the reaction , which was disrupted by increasing stirring to 700 rpm . this product was doped with a pd - solution ( 5 . 8 g na2pdcl4 diluted in 58 ml di ), by adding the pd - solution to the precipitated gel after 30 min of reflux . the product was achieved by oven drying at 150 ° c . for 3 hrs , followed by milling and calcination of the powder at 600 ° c . for 2 hrs . physisorption data indicated a surface area of 286 . 1 m 2 / g , a pore volume of 0 . 952 ml / g , and a pore diameter of 133 . 1 å . 131 . 3 g of hcl was added to a reaction flask containing 333 . 3 ml of deionized water at room temperature . 0 . 7 g kf dissolved in 17 ml of deionized water was added to 1 , 000 g acid sol ( specific gravity 1 . 0384 g / ml ), which was charged to the heel . the heel was kept stirred at 450 rpm . an ammonia solution was prepared , which included 210 . 6 g of a 28 % nh 4 oh and 13 . 2 g of dl - tartaric acid . to induce silica precipitation , the ammonia solution was added to the heel at 320 ml / hr . the final product was a lower viscosity gel with a final ph of 10 , achieved by oven drying at 150 ° c . for 3 hrs , followed by milling and calcination of the powder at 600 ° c . for 2 hrs . physisorption data indicated a surface area of 181 . 5 m 2 / g , a pore volume of 1 . 58 cc / g , and a pore diameter of 348 . 6 å . 393 . 9 grams of hcl was added to a reaction flask containing 1 , 000 ml of deionized water at room temperature . 2 . 1 g kf dissolved in 30 ml of deionized water and was added to 3 , 000 g acid sol ( specific gravity 1 . 0414 ). tio 2 doping was performed by adding 5 wt % ti ( so 4 ) 2 , based on silica , 2 . 9 g hcl , and 23 . 4 ml deionized water to the acid sol . this solution was to the heel and was kept stirred at 450 rpm for 10 min . an ammonia solution has been prepared , which included 221 . 2 g of a 28 % nh 4 oh and 26 . 4 grams of dl - tartaric acid . to induce silica precipitation , the ammonia solution was added to the heel at 320 ml / hr . the reaction was kept stirring at 315 rpm . this product was doped with a pd - solution ( 0 . 78 g na 2 pdcl 4 diluted in 100 ml di ), by adding the pd - solution to the precipitated gel after 30 min of reflux at a feed rate of 160 ml / hr . this reaction was constantly stirred for 2 hrs at 400 rpm and was ph 1 . the final product was achieved by oven drying at 150 ° c . for 3 hrs , followed by milling and calcination of the powder at 600 ° c . for 2 hrs . physisorption data indicated a surface area of 587 . 5 m 2 / g , a pore volume of 0 . 56 ml / g , and a pore diameter of 38 . 07 å . it should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art . such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without diminishing its intended advantages . it is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims .	2
the description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description , but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed . many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art . the embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention the practical application to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . with reference now to the figures and in particular with reference to fig2 a storage controller system is illustrated in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . input / output ( i / o ) host 202 sends read and write data access requests to storage module 210 . the storage module includes storage controller 220 and disk drives 230 . storage controller 220 performs read and write operations to satisfy the data access requests of the i / o host . the depicted example illustrated in fig2 and above - described examples are not meant to imply architectural limitations . for example , drives 230 may be hard disk drives . however , other storage devices , such as tape drives , optical disk drives , and the like , may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware shown in fig2 . storage controller 220 includes i / o cache 222 , which serves as the storage controller level 1 ( l1 ) cache . i / o cache 222 may be a random access memory ( ram ). a typical example of a storage controller system may allocate 1 gb of memory for storage controller level 1 cache ; however , more or less memory may be allocated for cache depending on the implementation . advances in memory technologies have led to the emergence of solid state disks . solid state disk devices are essentially a non - volatile random access memory connected to an i / o channel . due to the i / o channel protocol , memory access is not as fast for solid state disks as it is for the memory on the storage controller . however , the underlying random access memory generally has much improved i / o latency , i / o rate and sustained bandwidth as compared to hard disk drives . in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention , drives 230 also include solid state disk drive 232 , which serves as the storage controller level 2 cache . with the improved performance characteristics of solid state disks over hard disk drives , solid state disk drive 232 may be used as a second level cache by a storage processor using standard multi - level cache management algorithms . with reference now to fig3 a and 3b , block diagrams are shown illustrating example storage controller architectures in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . particularly , fig3 a illustrates a single - memory storage controller architecture . storage controller 300 employs a peripheral component interconnect ( pci ) local bus architecture . although the depicted example employs a pci bus , other bus architectures such as industry standard architecture ( isa ) may be used . microprocessor 302 , with internal level 1 cache , and memory pool 308 are connected to pci local bus 310 through memory controller 304 . microprocessor level 2 cache 306 is also connected to memory controller 304 . pci bridge 310 also may include an integrated memory controller and cache memory for processor 302 . in the depicted example , ethernet adapter 314 , pci to isa bridge 312 , drive channel adapters 316 - 318 , and host channel adapter 320 are connected to pci bus 310 by direct component connection . pci to isa bridge 312 provides a connection through isa bus 330 for basic input output system ( bios ) 332 and serial port 324 . processor 302 is used to coordinate and provide control of various components within storage controller 300 in fig3 a . instructions for the storage controller may be located on storage devices , such as bios 322 , and may be loaded into memory pool 308 for execution by processor 302 . memory pool 308 is a single memory pool that is logically partitioned into two regions . a first region serves as processor memory . this portion of memory is used by processor 302 , for example , as “ scratch pad ” memory to perform the operations of the storage controller . the second region of memory pool 308 serves as i / o buffer memory or level 1 storage controller cache . drive channel adapters 316 - 318 provide drive channels for storage devices , such as hard disk drives . a storage controller may have , for example , four drive channels . each drive channel may support multiple drives per channel . the number of drives is limited by i / o hardware and communication protocol . in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention , solid state disk 340 is connected to one of the drive channel adapters , such as drive channel adapter 318 in fig3 a . solid state disk 340 serves as storage controller level 2 cache to supplement the level 1 cache stored in memory pool 308 . the solid state disk may store , for example , 8 gb of data . therefore , read request performance may be greatly improved due to an increased probability of the data residing either in the storage controller level 1 cache or the high - speed solid state disk . turning now to fig3 b , a dual - memory storage controller architecture is shown in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . storage controller 350 employs a peripheral component interconnect ( pci ) local bus architecture . although the depicted example employs a pci bus , other bus architectures such as industry standard architecture ( isa ) may be used . microprocessor 352 , with internal level 1 cache , and memory pool 358 are connected to pci local bus 360 through memory controller 354 . microprocessor level 2 cache 356 is also connected to memory controller 354 . pci bridge 360 also may include an integrated memory controller and cache memory for processor 352 . in the depicted example , ethernet adapter 364 , pci to isa bridge 362 , drive channel adapters 366 - 368 , and host channel adapter 370 are connected to pci bus 360 by direct component connection . pci to isa bridge 362 provides a connection through isa bus 380 for basic input output system ( bios ) 382 and serial port 384 . processor 352 is used to coordinate and provide control of various components within storage controller 350 in fig3 b . instructions for the storage controller may be located on storage devices , such as bios 382 , and may be loaded into memory pool 358 for execution by processor 352 . memory pool 358 is used by processor 352 , for example , as “ scratch pad ” memory to perform the operations of the storage controller . memory pool 374 is connected to pci bus 360 by memory controller 372 . memory pool 374 serves as i / o buffer memory or level 1 storage controller cache . drive channel adapters 366 - 368 provide drive channels for storage devices , such as hard disk drives . in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention , solid state disk 390 is connected to one of the drive channel adapters , such as drive channel adapter 368 in fig3 b . solid state disk 390 serves as storage controller level 2 cache to supplement the level 1 cache stored in memory pool 374 . the solid state disk may store , for example , 8 gb of data . therefore , read request performance may be greatly improved due to an increased probability of the data residing either in the storage controller level 1 cache or the high - speed solid state disk . those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in fig3 a and 3b may vary depending on the implementation and the depicted examples in fig3 a and 3b and above - described examples are not meant to imply architectural limitations . for example , the examples shown in fig3 a and 3b illustrate bus architectures ; however , the present invention may be implemented using other architectures , such as a switched architecture . for example , the present invention may be implemented using a fibre channel architecture . with reference now to fig4 a flowchart illustrating the operation of a storage controller is shown in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the process begins and receives a data access request ( step 402 ). a determination is made as to whether the data access request is a read request or a write request ( step 404 ). if the data access request is a read request , a determination is made as to whether the data is in level 1 cache ( step 406 ). if the data is in level 1 cache , the process fetches the data from level 1 cache ( step 408 ) and the process ends . if the data is not in level 1 cache in step 406 , a determination is made as to whether the data is in the level 2 cache stored in the solid state disk ( step 410 ). if the data is stored in the storage controller level 2 cache , the process fetches the data from level 2 cache in the solid state disk ( step 412 ) and the process ends . however , if the data is not stored in level 2 cache in step 410 , the process reads the data from the storage device ( step 414 ) and ends . returning to step 404 , if the data access request is a write request , a determination is made as to whether the data is cached ( step 416 ). if the data is cached , a determination is made as to whether the data is cached in level 1 cache or level 2 cache ( step 418 ). if the data is cached in level 1 cache , the process overwrites the data in level 1 cache in memory ( step 420 ) and ends . if the data is cached in level 2 cache in step 418 , the process overwrites the data in the level 2 cache in the solid state disk ( step 422 ) and the process ends . if the data is not cached in step 416 , the process allocates space in level 1 cache for the written data ( step 424 ). a determination is made as to whether level 1 cache needs to be flushed to make space to cache the written data ( step 426 ). if a flush of level 1 cache is not necessary , the process ends . if a flush of level 1 cache is necessary in step 426 , the process writes data from level 1 cache to the level 2 cache in the solid state disk ( step 428 ) and a determination is made as to whether a flush is necessary to make space to write data in level 2 cache ( step 430 ). if a flush is not necessary , the process ends . however , if a flush is necessary in step 430 , the process flushes data from level 2 cache ( step 432 ) and ends . thus , the present invention provides a second level of storage controller cache using a solid state disk device . read request performance is improved due to an increased probability of data residing in either the storage controller level 1 cache in memory or the solid state disk device . certain applications and i / o profiles may greatly benefit from such a feature . specifically , some database applications use small , frequently accessed data volumes for transaction logging , in addition to the large volumes for actual record storage . even though the volumes are small , the nature of the database application would generally allow the data to be flushed out of the storage processor cache in memory to accommodate caching other volume data , resulting in cache misses and longer latencies for this data . using a second - level cache increases the probability that the data will be present in either the level 1 cache in memory or the second level cache in the solid state disk . the performance improvement can be achieved by simply attaching a solid state disk in parallel to the storage controller and configuring the transaction log volumes on this secondary device . however , by incorporating the solid state disk into the storage system cache , the storage system cache management would encompass this device , reducing system management complexity . retrieving the data from this second level cache is a less expensive operation than reading the data from the hard disks , especially if the data is striped across several disks as in a raid storage system . allowing the volumes to be configured as second level cacheable allows users to tune system performance for specific applications . solid state disk devices are available in standard hard disk drive form factors . using these devices as customer replaceable units in hard drive modules allows users to upgrade and expand simply by populating additional units in the system .	6
prior to discussing the various embodiments , a review of the definitions of some exemplary terms used throughout the disclosure is appropriate . both singular and plural forms of all terms fall within each meaning . as described herein , when one or more components are described as being connected , joined , affixed , coupled , attached , or otherwise interconnected , such interconnection may be direct as between the components or may be indirect such as through the use of one or more intermediary components . also as described herein , reference to a “ member ,” “ component ,” or “ portion ” shall not be limited to a single structural member , component , or element but can include an assembly of components , members , or elements . also as described herein , the terms “ substantially ” and “ about ” are defined as at least close to ( and includes ) a given value or state ( preferably within 10 % of , more preferably within 1 % of , and most preferably within 0 . 1 % of ). referring now to fig2 a , an exemplary insulator 200 is shown . the insulator 200 protects objects surrounding a flue 202 from the hot gasses flowing through the flue 202 . the insulator 200 is made from an insulation blanket 210 or any bendable insulation body that is bent at a bend or bending portion 212 . a first leg 216 of the insulation blanket 210 is formed between the bend 212 and the first end 214 of the blanket 210 . a second leg 222 of the blanket 210 is formed between the bend 212 and the second end 220 . a first opening 218 and a second opening 224 are formed in each of the first and second legs 216 , 220 , respectively . in some embodiments , the insulation blanket 210 used in the insulation 200 may be formed of glass fibers , mineral fibers , or the like . in some embodiments , the insulation blanket 210 may be about 1 inch to about 3 inches thick . in some embodiments , the insulation 210 may be about 2 inches thick . the ends 214 , 220 and openings 218 , 224 are substantially aligned when the insulation blanket 210 is bent at the bend 212 , allowing the flue 202 to be inserted through both openings 218 , 224 . the bent insulation blanket 210 has an inner surface 226 and an outer surface 228 . the insulator 200 is bent when it is assembled to the flue 202 , thereby causing it to elastically deform . the elasticity of the material of the blanket 210 causes it to resist the bending force used to bend the insulator , resulting in an elastic force that opposes the bending force . no adhesive or fastener is needed to hold the insulator 200 in place on the flue 202 because the elastic force resisting the bending of the insulator 200 causes the insulator to grip the flue 202 at the openings 218 , 224 . referring now to fig2 b , a top view of the insulator 200 is shown . the openings 218 , 224 position the flue 202 in the insulator 200 so that it is surrounded by the insulation blanket 210 on all sides . the size of the insulation blanket 210 and the position of the opening 218 are selected based on the required safety distance between the flue 202 and surrounding objects . the hot gasses passing through the flue 202 heat the flue 202 to up to around 700 degrees fahrenheit . heat from the flue is prohibited or otherwise retarded by the insulation blanket 210 from flowing into the surrounding surfaces because the insulation blanket 210 is a poor conductor of heat . referring now to fig2 c , a side view of the insulator 200 is shown . bending the insulation blanket 210 generates tensile stress 230 near the outer surface 228 and compression stress 232 near the inner surface 226 . opposing restorative forces ( i . e ., the elastic force ) in the insulation blanket 210 resist the bending , generating straightening forces 234 that oppose the bending of the insulation blanket 210 . the straightening forces 234 exerted on each leg 216 , 220 of the insulation blanket 210 cause the areas of the insulation near the openings 218 , 224 to be pressed against the flue 202 with gripping forces 236 . the gripping forces 236 cause an increase in friction between the flue 202 and the insulation blanket 210 , thereby holding the insulation blanket 210 in place along the flue 202 . the magnitude of the gripping forces 236 is directed related to the elasticity of the insulation blanket 210 . the friction between the flue 202 and the insulation blanket 210 is directly related to the magnitude of the gripping forces 236 and the friction coefficient of the materials used for the flue 202 and insulation . referring now to fig3 a and 3b , an exemplary insulator 300 for a flue ( not shown ) is shown in an unbent condition . the insulator 300 is generally rectangular in shape and formed of an insulation blanket 301 similar to the insulation blanket 210 described above . the insulator 300 has a first end 302 , a second end 304 , and a bending portion 306 between the first and second ends 302 , 304 . in some embodiments , the bending portion 306 may include relief cuts 308 to reduce the stiffness of the insulation blanket 301 in the area of the bending portion 306 . flue opening cuts 310 through the first and second ends 302 , 304 allow a flue ( not shown ) to be inserted through both ends 302 , 304 of the insulator 300 when it is in a bent condition . a plurality of transverse cuts 312 intersect the opening cuts 310 creating fingers 314 of insulation material that can be compressed to create a flue opening 320 ( fig3 b ) large enough to fit accept a flue inserted through the insulator 300 . the fingers 314 expand to contact the flue to provide gripping force in addition to the force supplied by the resistance to the bending of the insulator 300 . in some embodiments , at least one of the fingers 314 is compressed or expanded a different amount than the other fingers 314 to accommodate variations in the size and shape of the flue . in some embodiments , the fingers 314 compress different amounts to accommodate a flue having a non - rectangular cross - section , such as , for example , an ellipse , a circle , a rounded rectangle , or any other shape suitable for a flue . in some embodiments , the opening cuts 310 are expanded or stretched open to form the flue opening 320 without the addition of any transverse cuts 312 . while various inventive aspects , concepts and features of the disclosures may be described and illustrated herein as embodied in combination in the exemplary embodiments , these various aspects , concepts , and features may be used in many alternative embodiments , either individually or in various combinations and sub - combinations thereof . unless expressly excluded herein all such combinations and sub - combinations are intended to be within the scope of the present application . still further , while various alternative embodiments as to the various aspects , concepts , and features of the disclosures — such as alternative materials , structures , configurations , methods , devices , and components , alternatives as to form , fit , and function , and so on — may be described herein , such descriptions are not intended to be a complete or exhaustive list of available alternative embodiments , whether presently known or later developed . those skilled in the art may readily adopt one or more of the inventive aspects , concepts , or features into additional embodiments and uses within the scope of the present application even if such embodiments are not expressly disclosed herein . additionally , even though some features , concepts , or aspects of the disclosures may be described herein as being a preferred arrangement or method , such description is not intended to suggest that such feature is required or necessary unless expressly so stated . still further , exemplary or representative values and ranges may be included to assist in understanding the present application , however , such values and ranges are not to be construed in a limiting sense and are intended to be critical values or ranges only if so expressly stated . moreover , while various aspects , features and concepts may be expressly identified herein as being inventive or forming part of a disclosure , such identification is not intended to be exclusive , but rather there may be inventive aspects , concepts , and features that are fully described herein without being expressly identified as such or as part of a specific disclosure , the disclosures instead being set forth in the appended claims . descriptions of exemplary methods or processes are not limited to inclusion of all steps as being required in all cases , nor is the order that the steps are presented to be construed as required or necessary unless expressly so stated . the words used in the claims have their full ordinary meanings and are not limited in any way by the description of the embodiments in the specification .	5
a flow chart of a preferred specific method of the present invention is illustrated in fig1 . the method is generally designated 100 and commences with a facial image of individual being acquired at block 101 . the facial image is acquired preferably using a digital camera of a wireless communication device such as a wireless mobile telephone , personal digital assistant (“ pda ”) or the like . alternatively , the facial image is acquired from a pc or the like . at block 102 , the facial image is transmitted over a network to an image classification server , preferably over a wireless network . the facial image is preferably sent to a male or female designation site at the image classification server . the facial image is subsequently sent over the internet using http or e - mail to the image classification server . the facial image , preferably a compressed digital facial image such as a jpeg image , is sent to a wireless carrier as a mms , a sms , a smtp , or wap upload . alternatively , the facial image is uploaded to a pc from a digital camera , or scanner and then transferred over the internet to the image classification server as an e - mail attachment , or http upload . at block 103 , the facial image is analyzed at the image classifications server to determine if the facial image is of adequate quality to be processed for matching . quality issues with the facial image include but are not limited to a poor pose angle , brightness , shading , eyes closed , sunglasses worn , obscured facial features , or the like . at block 104 , an image determination is made concerning the quality of the image . a negative image determination is made at block 105 . at block 106 , a transmission is sent to the sender informing then sender that the facial image provided is inadequate and requesting that the sender provide a new facial image . the matching procedure for such a negative image may continue , and the matched images will be sent with an additional statement informing the sender that the image was of bad quality and that a better match may be possible with a higher quality image . at block 107 , if the facial image is positive , then the facial image is processed at block 108 . it should be noted that the facial image is previously unknown to the image classification and is the first time that the facial image has been analyzed by the image classification server . thus , the method of present invention involves processing an unknown image to find a match with facial images of other individuals , which is unlike typical facial recognition systems which involve matching an image of an individual with a known image of the individual in the database . at block 108 , processing of image preferably comprises using an algorithm which includes a principle component analysis technique to process the face of the facial image into an average of a multitude of faces , otherwise known as the principle component and a set of images that are the variance from the average face image known as the additional components . each is reconstructed by multiplying the principal components and the additional components against a feature vector and adding the resulting images together . the resulting image reconstructs the original face of the facial image . processing of the facial image comprises factors such as facial hair , hair style , facial expression , the presence of accessories such as sunglasses , hair color , eye color , and the like . essentially a primary feature vector is created for the facial image . at block 109 , processed image or primary feature vector is compared to a plurality of database processed images preferably located at the image classification server . during the comparison , the primary feature vector is compared a plurality of database feature vectors which represent the plurality of database processed images . the database preferably includes at least 10 , 000 processed images , more preferably at least 50 , 000 processed images , and most preferably from 50 , 000 processed images to 100 , 000 processed images . those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize that the database may contain any number of images without departing from the scope ans spirit of the present invention . the processed images preferably include multiple images of one individual , typically from two to twenty images , more preferably from four to ten images of a single individual in different poses , different facial expressions , different hair styles and the like . the database of processed images preferably includes celebrities , including , but not limited to actors , actresses , musicians , athletes , models , government officials , and other publicly well - known individuals . again , it should be noted that the facial image sent by the sender is an unknown image which is being best matched to a known image . at block 110 , the processed image undergoes raw matching of a small plurality of database images with each having a feature vector value that is close to the value of the primary feature vector . at block 110 a , the iterative processing of the raw matching is performed wherein the human perception of what is a good match is one of the primary factors in creating the matched images . at block 111 , a perception value for the matched images is determined based on the feature vector values . the perception value ranges from 0 % to 100 %, with 100 % being an ideal match . at block 112 , the matched images and the perception value are transmitted to the sender over a network as discussed above for the initial transmission . the entire process preferably occurs within a time period of sixty seconds , and most preferably within a time of ten seconds . the process may be delayed due to the wireless carrier , and network carrier . in this manner , the sender will know which celebrity the facial image best matches . the output of the matched images and any additional text is preferably sent to the sender &# 39 ; s wireless communication device for instantaneous feedback of their inquiry of which celebrity does the facial image look like . further , the output is also sent to a sender &# 39 ; s web page on a web site hosted through the image classification server wherein the sender can control access to the sender &# 39 ; s web page and modify the matched images and the additional text . further , the output is sent to a voting site as discussed below . at decision 113 , the quality of the matched images is determined to decide if the matched images should be sent to voting site on the web site . at block 115 , the matched images are sent to the sender &# 39 ; s wireless communication device , the sender &# 39 ; s web page on the web site for viewing by the sender and other viewers determined by the sender . at block 114 , the matched images are sent to the voting site if of sufficient quality , preferably based on the perception value , to be voted upon by visitors to the voting site . in this manner , a statistical modeling element is added to the matching process to better match images based on human perception as determined by the scores for previously matched images on the voting site . in other embodiments regression analysis or bayesian analysis is utilized . under this alternative scenario , a support vector machine , preferably a high - dimensional neural network , with two feature vectors of a match , along with average vote scores collected from viewers of the web site will be utilized to provide better matching of images . a more detailed explanation of a support vector machine is set forth in cortes & amp ; vapnik , support vector networks , machine learning , 20 , 1995 , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . the previous voting patterns are implemented in a statistical model for the algorithm to capture the human perception element to better match images as perceived by humans . a more general method of the present invention is illustrated in fig2 . the general method is designated 150 . at block 151 , an unknown image from a wireless communication device such as a mobile telephone is transmitted from a sender to an image classification server over a network such as a wireless network with subsequent internet transmission . at block 152 , the unknown image is processed to create a primary feature vector such as discussed above . at block 153 , the primary feature vector value is compared to a plurality of database feature vectors . at block 154 , a database feature vector that best matches the primary feature vector is selected to create matched images . at block 155 , the matched images are transmitted to the sender , along with a confidence value and other information about the matching image . a system of the present invention is illustrated in fig3 . the system is generally designated 50 . the system 50 preferably comprises a wireless communication device 51 , a wireless network 52 , an image classification server 53 and a web site 55 , not shown , which may be viewed on a computer 54 or alternate wireless communication device 54 ′ with internet access . the wireless communication device preferably comprises means for generating a digital facial image of an individual and means for wirelessly transmitting the digital facial image over a wireless network . the image classification server 53 preferably comprises means for analyzing the digital facial image , means for processing the digital facial image to generate a processed image , means for comparing the processed image to a plurality of database processed images , means for matching the processed image to a database processed image to create matched images , means for determining a perception value , means for applying a statistical model based on human perception as determined by user &# 39 ; s votes of previous third party matched images , and means for transmitting the matched images and the perception value to the wireless communication device . the present invention preferably uses facial recognition software commercially or publicly available such as the faceit brand software from identix , the facevacs brand software from cognetic , and others . those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize that there are many facial recognition softwares , including those in the public domain , that may be used without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention . the operational components of the image classification server 53 are schematically shown in fig3 a . the image classification server 53 preferably comprises an input module 62 , transmission engine 63 , input feed 64 , feature vector database 65 , sent images database 66 , facial recognition software 67 , perception engine 68 , output module 69 and the celebrity image database 70 . the input module 62 is further partitioned into wireless device inputs 62 a , e - mail inputs 62 b and http ( internet ) inputs 62 c . the output module 69 is further partitioned into wireless device outputs 69 a , a sender &# 39 ; s web page output 69 b and a voting web page output 69 c . the feature vector database 65 is the database of processed images of the celebrities from which the previously unknown facial image is matched with one of the processed images . the celebrity image database is a database of the actual images of celebrities which are sent as outputs for the matched images . such image databases are commercially available from sources such as photorazzi . the sent images database 66 is a database of all of the images sent in from users / senders to be matched with the processed images . the perception engine 68 imparts the human perception processing to the matching procedure . as shown in fig4 , an unknown facial image 80 sent by an individual is matched to a celebrity image 75 selected from the database of processed images using a method of the present invention as set forth above . the table provides a comparison of the facial values for each of the images . 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 modification 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 claim . therefore , the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined in the following appended claims .	8
fig1 depicts a diagram 100 of an example of a system for providing gamification of a health care system . the system of the example of fig1 includes a computer - readable medium 102 , a user device 104 , a health care system , a patient interface 108 , and an interaction based gamification system 110 . in the example system shown in fig1 , the user device 104 , the health care system 106 , the patient portal 108 , and the interaction based gamification system 110 are coupled to each other through the computer - readable medium 102 . as used in this paper , a “ computer - readable medium ” is intended to include all mediums that are statutory ( e . g ., in the united states , under 35 u . s . c . 101 ), and to specifically exclude all mediums that are non - statutory in nature to the extent that the exclusion is necessary for a claim that includes the computer - readable medium to be valid . known statutory computer - readable mediums include hardware ( e . g ., registers , random access memory ( ram ), non - volatile ( nv ) storage , to name a few ), but may or may not be limited to hardware . the computer - readable medium 102 is intended to represent a variety of potentially applicable technologies . for example , the computer - readable medium 102 can be used to form a network or part of a network . where two components are co - located on a device , the computer - readable medium 102 can include a bus or other data conduit or plane . where a first component is co - located on one device and a second component is located on a different device , the computer - readable medium 102 can include a wireless or wired back - end network or lan . the computer - readable medium 102 can also encompass a relevant portion of a wan or other network , if applicable . the computer - readable medium 102 , the user device 104 , the health care system 106 , the patient portal 108 , the interaction based gamification system 110 , and other applicable systems or devices described in this paper can be implemented as a computer system , a plurality of computer systems , or parts of a computer system or a plurality of computer systems . in general , a computer system will include a processor , memory , non - volatile storage , and an interface . a typical computer system will usually include at least a processor , memory , and a device ( e . g ., a bus ) coupling the memory to the processor . the processor can be , for example , a general - purpose central processing unit ( cpu ), such as a microprocessor , or a special - purpose processor , such as a microcontroller . the memory can include , by way of example but not limitation , random access memory ( ram ), such as dynamic ram ( dram ) and static ram ( sram ). the memory can be local , remote , or distributed . the bus can also couple the processor to non - volatile storage . the non - volatile storage is often a magnetic floppy or hard disk , a magnetic - optical disk , an optical disk , a read - only memory ( rom ), such as a cd - rom , eprom , or eeprom , a magnetic or optical card , or another form of storage for large amounts of data . some of this data is often written , by a direct memory access process , into memory during execution of software on the computer system . the non - volatile storage can be local , remote , or distributed . the non - volatile storage is optional because systems can be created with all applicable data available in memory . software is typically stored in the non - volatile storage . indeed , for large programs , it may not even be possible to store the entire program in the memory . nevertheless , it should be understood that for software to run , if necessary , it is moved to a computer - readable location appropriate for processing , and for illustrative purposes , that location is referred to as the memory in this paper . even when software is moved to the memory for execution , the processor will typically make use of hardware registers to store values associated with the software , and local cache that , ideally , serves to speed up execution . as used herein , a software program is assumed to be stored at an applicable known or convenient location ( from non - volatile storage to hardware registers ) when the software program is referred to as “ implemented in a computer - readable storage medium .” a processor is considered to be “ configured to execute a program ” when at least one value associated with the program is stored in a register readable by the processor . in one example of operation , a computer system can be controlled by operating system software , which is a software program that includes a file management system , such as a disk operating system . one example of operating system software with associated file management system software is the family of operating systems known as windows ® from microsoft corporation of redmond , wash ., and their associated file management systems . another example of operating system software with its associated file management system software is the linux operating system and its associated file management system . the file management system is typically stored in the non - volatile storage and causes the processor to execute the various acts required by the operating system to input and output data and to store data in the memory , including storing files on the non - volatile storage . the bus can also couple the processor to the interface . the interface can include one or more input and / or output ( i / o ) devices . the i / o devices can include , by way of example but not limitation , a keyboard , a mouse or other pointing device , disk drives , printers , a scanner , and other i / o devices , including a display device . the display device can include , by way of example but not limitation , a cathode ray tube ( crt ), liquid crystal display ( lcd ), or some other applicable known or convenient display device . the interface can include one or more of a modem or network interface . it will be appreciated that a modem or network interface can be considered to be part of the computer system . the interface can include an analog modem , isdn modem , cable modem , token ring interface , satellite transmission interface ( e . g . “ direct pc ”), or other interfaces for coupling a computer system to other computer systems . interfaces enable computer systems and other devices to be coupled together in a network . the computer systems can be compatible with or implemented as part of or through a cloud - based computing system . as used in this paper , a cloud - based computing system is a system that provides virtualized computing resources , software and / or information to client devices . the computing resources , software and / or information can be virtualized by maintaining centralized services and resources that the edge devices can access over a communication interface , such as a network . “ cloud ” may be a marketing term and for the purposes of this paper can include any of the networks described herein . the cloud - based computing system can involve a subscription for services or use a utility pricing model . users can access the protocols of the cloud - based computing system through a web browser or other container application located on their client device . a computer system can be implemented as an engine , as part of an engine , or through multiple engines . as used in this paper , an engine includes one or more processors or a portion thereof . a portion of one or more processors can include some portion of hardware less than all of the hardware comprising any given one or more processors , such as a subset of registers , the portion of the processor dedicated to one or more threads of a multi - threaded processor , a time slice during which the processor is wholly or partially dedicated to carrying out part of the engine &# 39 ; s functionality , or the like . as such , a first engine and a second engine can have one or more dedicated processors , or a first engine and a second engine can share one or more processors with one another or other engines . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , an engine can be centralized or its functionality distributed . an engine can include hardware , firmware , or software embodied in a computer - readable medium for execution by the processor . the processor transforms data into new data using implemented data structures and methods , such as is described with reference to the figs . in this paper . the engines described in this paper , or the engines through which the systems and devices described in this paper can be implemented , can be cloud - based engines . as used in this paper , a cloud - based engine is an engine that can run applications and / or functionalities using a cloud - based computing system . all or portions of the applications and / or functionalities can be distributed across multiple computing devices , and need not be restricted to only one computing device . in some embodiments , the cloud - based engines can execute functionalities and / or modules that end users access through a web browser or container application without having the functionalities and / or modules installed locally on the end - users &# 39 ; computing devices . as used in this paper , datastores are intended to include repositories having any applicable organization of data , including tables , comma - separated values ( csv ) files , traditional databases ( e . g ., sql ), or other applicable known or convenient organizational formats . datastores can be implemented , for example , as software embodied in a physical computer - readable medium on a general - or specific - purpose machine , in firmware , in hardware , in a combination thereof , or in an applicable known or convenient device or system . datastore - associated components , such as database interfaces , can be considered “ part of ” a datastore , part of some other system component , or a combination thereof , though the physical location and other characteristics of datastore - associated components is not critical for an understanding of the techniques described in this paper . datastores can include data structures . as used in this paper , a data structure is associated with a particular way of storing and organizing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently within a given context . data structures are generally based on the ability of a computer to fetch and store data at any place in its memory , specified by an address , a bit string that can be itself stored in memory and manipulated by the program . thus , some data structures are based on computing the addresses of data items with arithmetic operations ; while other data structures are based on storing addresses of data items within the structure itself . many data structures use both principles , sometimes combined in non - trivial ways . the implementation of a data structure usually entails writing a set of procedures that create and manipulate instances of that structure . the datastores , described in this paper , can be cloud - based datastores . a cloud - based datastore is a datastore that is compatible with cloud - based computing systems and engines . the user device 104 functions according to an applicable device through which a user can send and receive data . the user device 104 can be a mobile device . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the user device 104 can be a thin client or an ultra - thin client . through the user device 104 , a user can interact with a health care system . in interacting with a health care system , a user can send and receive patient data . patient data includes information related to providing and receiving care and wellness . for example , patient data can include data used in booking appointments , lab results , symptoms , personal information of a patient , contact information of a patient , billing information , intake information , and follow up information . in various implementations , the user device 104 is a kiosk at health care provider location . in such various implementations , a user can login to their account and check in with the health care provider for appointments . in a specific implementation , the user device 104 functions to transmit patient data captured by a wearable of a user . wearables include applicable devices for monitoring functioning of a human body . for example , a wearable can be a heart monitor , and readings captured by the heart monitor can be transmitted by the user device 104 . in various implementations , the user device 104 includes a wireless interface through it can be wirelessly coupled to wearables . for example the user device 104 can include a bluetooth ® transmitter / receiver which allows it to communicate with wearables as they are worn by a user . the health care system 106 functions according to an applicable system of a health care provider for providing health care to patients . the health care system 106 can store patient data for a specific patient . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the health care system 106 can request patient data from a patient . for example , the health care system 106 can request that a user register before treatment is given . in another example , the health care system 106 can request follow up information from a patient after being seen by a health care provider . the health care system 106 can maintain calendars of health care providers . using calendars of health care providers , the health care system 106 can register appointments for patients . in a specific implementation , the health care system 106 can send data used by a patient in obtaining medications or outside treatment . in various implementations , the health care system 106 can send an electronic prescription to a pharmacy , where a user can pick up their prescription . further in the various implementations , the health care system 106 can refill a prescription at a pharmacy using an electronic prescription . the patient portal 108 functions as a portal through which a user can interact with a health care system . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the patient portal 108 can be implemented as a native application executing on a user device . further depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the patient portal 108 can be implemented as a web based application that is accessed through a web browser executing at a user device . in a specific implementation , the patient portal 108 is utilized by a user to schedule appointments with a health care provider . for example , the patient portal 108 can retrieve calendar data of health care providers and provide the calendar data to a user to allow a user to select an available time . further in the example , the patient portal 108 can transmit data indicating a desired time for a user to a health care provider system , where the user can be scheduled for the desired time . in a specific implementation , the patient portal 108 is utilized by a user to view patient data . for example , the patient portal 108 can be used to access health records , lab results , medication information , and other applicable information used in providing health care . in various implementations , the patient portal 108 can retrieve patient data from a health care provider system and provide the patient data to a user device . in a specific implementation , the patient portal 108 is utilized to facilitate communication between a user and health care provider . specifically , a user can send messages to a health care provider through the patient portal 108 . additionally , a health care provider can send messages to a user through the patient portal 108 . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the patient portal can include a chat window that allows users and health care providers to freely communicate between each other . in a specific implementation , the patient portal 108 is utilized by a health care provider to manage the providing of health care . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , a health care provider can use the patient portal 108 to access their calendar on a health care system . for example , the patient portal 108 can receive calendar data indicating a schedule of a health care provider and send the calendar data to a user device of the health care provider . further depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , a health care provider can use the patient portal 108 to view patient data . for example , a health care provider can user the patient portal 108 to access lab results of one of their patient . in a specific implementation , the patient portal 108 transmits patient data captured by a wearable device to a health care system . the patient portal 108 can receive patient data captured by a wearable device from a user device or the wearable device itself and subsequently transmit the patient data to a health care system . for example , the patient portal 108 can transmit heard rate readings captured by a heart rate monitor to a health care system . as a result , a health care provider can monitor patients even when they are not at the physical location of the patient . the interaction based gamification system 110 functions to reward a user for interacting with a health care system through a patient portal . a reward , as used in this paper , includes an applicable incentive for getting a patient to perform at least one task . in various implementations , a reward can be a monetary value or capable of being converted into a monetary value . for example a reward can be points that can be converted to a gift card . in a specific implementation , the interaction based gamification system can reward a user according to reward rules . reward rules , as used in this paper , specify a task to complete , an amount of a reward to be given for completing the task , and a reward type to be given for completing a task . for example , a reward rule can specify to give 50 points to a user when they register through a patient portal . depending upon implementation - specific or other conditions , reward rules can be specific to fitness goals . for example , a reward rule can specify to award 100 points to a user if they walk a mile in a day . further depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , reward rules can be specific to health goals . for example , a reward rule can specify to award 100 points to a user if they lose 10 pounds . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , reward rules can be specific to medication goals . for example , a reward rule can specify to award 100 points to a user if they complete a medical regimen . reward rules can be generated or specified by an applicable entity for specifying reward rules . in various implementations , a health care provider can specify reward rules . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , reward rules can be specific to a patient . for example , if a patient needs to lower their blood sugar level , then a health care provider can specify reward rules for tasks related to lowering blood sugar for the patient . in a specific implementation , the interaction based gamification system 110 can receive data through a patient portal to determine if a user is entitled to a reward . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the interaction based gamification system 110 can receive patient data captured by a wearable of a user . for example , the interaction based gamification system 110 can receive patient data indicating the amount of steps a user has taken from a pedometer worn by the patient and subsequently determine if the user is entitled to a reward . further depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the interaction based gamification system 110 can receive patient data from a health care system . for example , the interaction based gamification system 110 can receive patient data indicating a user passed a test and subsequently determine if the user is entitled to a reward . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the interaction based gamification system 110 can receive monitoring data captured by a patient portal itself . monitoring data includes data indicating how a user interacted with a patient portal and subsequently a health care system through the patient portal . for example the interaction based gamification system 110 can receive monitoring data indicating that a user scheduled an appointment and subsequently determine if the user is entitled to a reward . in an example of operation of the example system shown in fig1 , the user device 104 functions to send and receive data to the patient portal 108 . in the example of operation of the example system shown in fig1 , the patient portal 108 transmits patient data between the health care system 106 and the user device 104 . further , in the example of operation of the example system shown in fig1 , the interaction based gamification system 110 rewards a user based on the interactions with the health care system 106 through the patient portal 108 according to rewards rules . fig2 depicts a diagram 200 of an example of a patient portal . the example system shown in fig2 includes a patient portal 202 . the patient portal 202 functions according to an applicable system for transmitting data between a user device and a health care system , such as the patient portals described in this paper . the patient portal 202 can retrieve patient data from either or both a health care system and a user device and subsequently transmit the patient data . the patient portal 202 can transmit patient data to either or both a health care system and a user device . the patient portal 202 shown in fig2 includes a data retrieval engine 204 , a data transmission engine 206 , a user activity monitoring engine 208 , and a user activity datastore 210 . the data retrieval engine 204 functions to retrieve data from either or both a user device and a health care system . the data retrieval engine 204 can retrieve patient data . for example , the data retrieval engine 204 can retrieve test results from a health care system . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the data retrieval engine 204 can retrieve patient data captured by a wearable device of a user from a user device . for example , the data retrieval engine 204 can capture data indicating a heart rate of a patient . in a specific implementation , the data retrieval engine 204 can request data and subsequently retrieve the requested data . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the data retrieval engine 204 can request data from a user . for example , the data retrieval engine 204 can request that a user provide their demographic information for registering the user to access patient data through the patient portal 202 . in another example , if a user inputs that they want to access their test results , then the data retrieval engine 204 can request the test results from a health care system . the data transmission engine 206 functions to transmit data to either or both a user device and a health care system . the data transmission engine 206 can transmit patient data . for example , the data transmission engine 206 can transmit test results to a user device . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the data transmission engine 206 can transmit patient data captured by a wearable device of a user from a user device . for example , the data transmission engine 206 can transmit data indicating a heart rate of a patient to a health care system . in a specific implementation , the data transmission engine 206 functions to transmit data indicating activities that are eligible for reward as the user interacts with the patient portal 202 . in various implementations , reward eligible activities are marked by indicia that can be activated to indicate what reward is available . for example , the data transmission engine 206 can provide an email form with a ribbon indicating that sending of an email to a health care provider earns a user 5 points . the user activity monitoring engine 208 functions to track activity of a user . in tracking activity of a user , the user activity monitoring engine 208 can monitor how a user interacts with the patient portal 202 , and subsequently a health care system through the patient portal 202 . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the user activity monitoring engine 208 can determining activities performed by a user based on data transmitted through the patient portal 202 . for example if lab results are sent to a user device , then the user activity monitoring engine 208 can determine that a user has viewed their lab results . the user activity datastore 210 functions to store monitoring data . monitoring data stored in the user activity datastore 210 can be generated by the user activity monitoring engine 208 . for example , if a user makes an appointment to visit a health care provider , then the user activity datastore 210 can store monitoring data indicating that the user made an appointment to visit a health care provider . in an example of operation of the example system shown in fig2 , the data retrieval engine 204 retrieves patient data from a user device . in the example of operation of the example system shown in fig2 , the data transmission engine 206 transmits the patient data to a health care system . further , in the example of operation of the example system shown in fig2 , the user activity monitoring engine 208 generate monitoring data stored in the user activity datastore 210 based on the patient data . fig3 depicts a diagram 300 of an interaction based gamification system for a patient portal . the example system shown in fig2 includes an interaction based gamification system 302 . the interaction based gamification system 302 functions according to an applicable system for providing rewards to users based on their interactions with a patient portal , such as the interaction based gamification systems described in this paper . the interaction based gamification system 302 can provide rewards based on monitoring data or patient data collected for a user . for example , if patient data indicates a user has lost 10 pounds , then the interaction based gamification system 302 can provide a reward to the user . the interaction based gamification system 302 shown in fig3 includes a data receipt engine 304 , a reward rules management engine 306 , a reward rules datastore 308 , a reward determination engine 310 , and a user datastore 312 . the data receipt engine 304 functions to receive data used in determining whether to provide a reward to a user . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the data receipt engine 304 can receive patient data from either or both a health care system or a user device through a patient portal . for example , the data receipt engine 304 can receive test results for a patient . in another example the data receipt engine 304 can receive patient data captured by a wearable utilized by a user . further depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the data receipt engine 310 receives monitoring data from a patient portal . for example , the data receipt engine 304 can receive monitoring data indicating that a user has scheduled an appointment with a health care provider . the reward rules management engine 306 functions to manage reward rules . in managing reward rules , the reward rules management engine 306 can generate and / or updated reward rules data indicating reward rules . in managing reward rules , the reward rules management engine 306 can determine a task to reward , a type of reward to give for completing the task , and an amount of reward to give . the reward rules management engine 306 can manage reward rules according to received input . for example , a health care provider can input tasks to reward , a type of reward to give , and an amount of reward to give , and the reward rules management engine 306 can subsequently create reward rules according to the input . in a specific implementation , the reward rules management engine 306 manages reward rules specific to a user . in managing reward rules specific to a user , the reward rules management engine 306 can create reward rules to apply to a specific user . the reward rules management engine 306 can generate reward rules data indicating the reward rules and an identifier of a user specific to the reward rules . the reward rules datastore 308 functions to store reward rules data indicating reward rules . reward rules data stored in the reward rules datastore 308 can indicate a task to provide an award for , a type of reward to provide , and an amount of reward to provide . the reward determination engine 310 functions to determine whether to give a reward to a user . the reward determination engine 310 can determine whether to give a reward to a user according to receive data . depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the reward determination engine 310 can determine whether to give a reward to a user based on receiving monitoring data . for example , the reward determination engine 310 can determine that a user has scheduled an appointment based on monitoring data , and subsequently give a reward to the user . further depending upon implementation - specific or other considerations , the reward determination engine 310 can determine whether to give a reward to a user based on received patient data for the user . for example , the reward determination engine 310 can determine that a user has passed a health screening , and subsequently give a reward to the user . in another example , the reward determination engine 310 can determine that a user has walked a mile in a day , based on patient data captured from a wearable , and subsequently give a reward to the user . the reward determination engine 310 determines whether to give a reward to a user according to reward rules . in using reward rules to determine whether to give a reward , the reward determination engine 310 can determine a task to give an award for upon completion . for example , the reward determination engine 310 can determine to provide a reward when a patient successfully registers to use a patient portal . further , in using reward rules to determine whether to give a reward , the reward determination engine 310 can determine a reward type to give . for example , the reward determination engine 310 can determine to reward a user with points . additionally , in using reward rules to determine whether to give a reward , the reward determination engine 310 can determine an amount to reward a user . for example , the reward determination engine 310 can determine to reward a user 50 points . in a specific implementation , the reward determination engine 310 notifies a user that they have received a reward . the reward determination engine 310 can notify a user that they have received a reward through a patient portal . for example the reward determination engine 310 can send a message to a user device of a user through a patient portal indicating that they have been rewarded . in various implementations , the reward determination engine 310 notifies a user an activity the user has completed to receive a reward , a type of reward the user has received , and / or an amount of reward the user has received . in a specific implementation , the reward determination engine 310 provides a summary of earned rewards to a user . a summary of earned rewards can include an indication of rewards earned for different subsets of activities . for example , a summary of earned rewards can include that a user earned 70 points by tracking their lab activities and 45 points by tacking their medication properly . the user datastore 312 functions to store user reward data . user reward data specifies rewards a user has received , activities the user completed to receive a reward , types of rewards the user has received , and the amounts of each reward the user has received . in an example of operation of the example system shown in fig3 , the data receipt engine 304 receives data from a patient portal . in the example of operation of the example system shown in fig3 , the reward rules management engine 306 manages reward rules indicated by reward rules data stored in the reward rules datastore 308 . further , in the example of operation of the example system shown in fig3 , the reward determination engine 310 determines whether to grant a user a reward based on the reward rules indicated by the reward rules data stored in the reward rules datastore 308 and the data received from the patient portal by the data receipt engine 304 . in the example of operation of the example system shown in fig3 , the user datastore 312 stores user reward data generated by the reward determination engine 310 and indicating reward a user has been granted . fig4 depicts a flowchart 400 of an example of a method for rewarding a user for interacting with a health care system through a patient portal . the flowchart 400 begins at module 402 , where patient data of a user is transmitted between a user device and a health care system through a patient portal . an applicable system for transmitting patient data between a user device and a health care system , such as the patient portals described in this paper , can transmit the patient data between a user device and health care system . in a specific implementation , patient data of a user is data captured by a wearable of the user . for example , patient data can include data indicating that a user has walked a mile in a day . the flowchart 400 continues to module 404 , where a reward is determined based on the patient data and reward rules . an applicable system for determining a reward , such as the reward determination engines described in this paper , can determine a reward based on the patient data and reward rules . in determining a reward , a task that has been completed or an accomplishment that has been achieved can be determined from the patient data . the task or accomplishment can then be looked up in the reward rules to determine whether to give a reward , a reward type to give , and a reward amount to give . the flowchart 400 continues to module 406 , where the reward is provided to the user . in various implementations , the reward can be claimed by the user through a patient portal . further in various implementations , a notification can be sent to the user indicating that the user has been give the reward . the notification can be sent as part of a reward summary indicating all of the rewards that have been given to the user . fig5 depicts a flowchart 500 of an example of a method for rewarding a user for interacting with a health care system through a patient portal . the flowchart 500 begins at module 502 , where patient data of a user is transmitted between a user device and a health care system through a patient portal . an applicable system for transmitting patient data between a user device and a health care system , such as the patient portals described in this paper , can transmit the patient data between a user device and health care system . in a specific implementation , patient data of a user is data captured by a wearable of the user . for example , patient data can include data indicating that a user has walked a mile in a day . the flowchart 500 continues to module 504 , where monitoring data is determined based on the transmission of the patient data between the user device and the health care system . an applicable system for determining monitoring data , such as the user activity monitoring engines described in this paper , can determine monitoring data based on the transmission of the patient data between the user device and the health care system . monitoring data can be determined based on what type of patient data is transmitted between the user device and the health care system . for example , if a test result is transferred from the health care system to the user device , then monitoring data can indicate that a user is viewing their test results . the flowchart 500 continues to module 506 , where a reward is determined based on the monitoring data and reward rules . an applicable system for determining a reward , such as the reward determination engines described in this paper , can determine a reward based on the patient data and reward rules . in determining a reward , a task that has been completed or an accomplishment that has been achieved can be determined from the patient data . the task or accomplishment can then be looked up in the reward rules to determine whether to give a reward , a reward type to give , and a reward amount to give . the flowchart 500 continues to module 508 , where the reward is provided to the user . in various implementations , the reward can be claimed by the user through a patient portal . further in various implementations , a notification can be sent to the user indicating that the user has been give the reward . the notification can be sent as part of a reward summary indicating all of the rewards that have been given to the user . fig6 depicts an example screenshot 600 of an interface of a patient portal through which a health care provider can manage healthcare . the interface includes a schedule tab that can be activated to view a schedule for health care provider . the interface also includes a patients tab through which a health care provider can with patient data . additionally , the interface includes a requests tab through which a health care provider can view requests and act accordingly . fig7 depicts an example screenshot 700 of an interface of a patient portal through which a user can view patient data . the interface includes a medications tab through which a user can view medication information , including information related to medications given the user . the interface also includes a labs tab through which a user can monitor their lab and test results . additionally , the interface includes a vitals tab through which a user can monitor their vital statistics . further , the interface includes a procedures tab through which a user can view information related to procedures , including procedures that have been or will be performed on the user . the interface also includes an encounters tab , through which a user can view appointments a user has or appointments to which a user has attended . fig8 depicts an example screenshot 800 of an interface of a patient portal through which a user can view their health summary . the interface includes ribbons . the ribbons can be activated to reveal a reward a user can receive based on completing tasks . for example , the vitals section includes a ribbon that can be activated to indicate rewards a user can receive based on their vitals . fig9 depicts an example screenshot 900 of an interface of a patient portal through which a user can view a rewards summary . the interface includes a medication section indicating the rewards a user has earned for their medication taking the interface also includes a section for tracking lab records indicating the rewards a user has earned for tracking their lab results . additionally , the interface includes an immunization section indicating the rewards a user has earned for their immunizations . further , the interface includes a vitals section indicating the rewards a user has earned for tracking their vitals . the interface also includes a message section indicating the rewards a user has earned in sending messages to providers . the interface includes a sharing records section indicating the rewards a user has earned for receiving their health records . the interface also includes a consent section indicating rewards a user has earned in providing electronic consent . additionally , the interface includes a phr usage section indicating the rewards a user has earned in using a patient portal . the interface includes a redemption button that upon activation causes a user to redeem their rewards . these and other examples provided in this paper are intended to illustrate but not necessarily to limit the described implementation . as used herein , the term “ implementation ” means an implementation that serves to illustrate by way of example but not limitation . the techniques described in the preceding text and figures can be mixed and matched as circumstances demand to produce alternative implementations .	6
referring to fig1 , an electronic device enclosure includes a base 20 , a bracket 10 which is rotatably received in the base 20 , and a pair of connecting pieces 30 connecting the base 20 with the bracket 10 . the bracket 10 includes a pair of opposite parallel sidewalls 11 and a front wall 13 connected between front ends of the sidewalls 11 . a pivot hole 113 is defined in a rear end of each sidewall 11 . a pair of spaced tabs 117 depends from adjacent a top edge of each sidewall 11 . a protrusion 111 is arranged at front of the pivot hole 113 . a pair of spaced openings 15 is defined in the front wall 13 , and electronic components such as hard disc drives received in the bracket 10 can be accessed via the openings 15 . a pair of rings 133 is arranged on the front wall 13 adjacent the openings 15 respectively , for facilitating manipulating the bracket 10 . a pair of spring screws 131 depends from the front wall 13 . the base 20 includes a bottom panel 25 , a pair of side panels 21 extending perpendicularly upward from opposite side edges of the bottom panel 25 , and a front panel 23 extending perpendicularly upward from a front edge of the bottom panel 25 . the front panel 23 is lower than the side panels 21 in height . a pivot 211 is arranged on an inner side of each side panel 21 , and a projection 213 is projected inwardly from the inner side of each side panel 21 . a flange 23 is bent inward from a top edge of each side panel 21 , and a pair of slots 231 is defined in the flange 23 corresponding to the tabs 117 of each sidewall 11 . a pair of fasteners 70 such as screws is provided corresponding to the pivots 211 . a pair of fixing holes 231 is defined in the front panel 23 corresponding to the spring screws 131 of the bracket 10 . each connecting piece 30 is generally an elongate strip . each connecting piece 30 defines an aperture 31 in a distal end thereof , corresponding to the protrusions 111 , the aperture 31 includes an entrance portion 311 and a pivot portion 313 in communication with the entrance portion 311 , the entrance portion 311 is dimensioned to allow a corresponding protrusion 111 extending therethrough , and the pivot portion 313 is dimensioned to prevent the corresponding protrusion 111 existing theretfrom . a pair of rivets 33 is formed on each connecting piece 30 adjacent the aperture 31 . an elongate guideway 35 is defined in each connecting piece 30 corresponding to the projections 213 , an entrance hole 351 is defined in communication with a first end of the guideway 35 adjacent the rivets 33 , and a retaining hole 353 is defined in a proximal end of the connecting piece 30 in communication with a second end of the guideway 35 . the retaining hole 353 is generally perpendicular to the guideway 35 . the guideway 35 and the retaining hole 353 are dimensioned to prevent corresponding projection 213 from withdrawing therefrom . a pair of fixing plates 50 is provided to attach the connecting pieces 30 to the bracket 10 . each fixing plate 50 defines a notch 51 in a distal first end thereof , corresponding to the pivot portion 313 of the aperture 31 of each connecting piece 30 , and a pair of rivet holes 53 in a second end thereof , for receiving the rivets 33 of each connecting piece 30 . in assembly , the bracket 10 is rotatably attached to base 20 via the pivots 211 of the side panels 21 extending through corresponding pivot holes 113 of the bracket 10 , and the fasteners 70 are engaged in the pivots 211 for preventing the pivots 211 from withdrawing from the pivot holes 113 . each fixing plate 50 is attached to corresponding connecting piece 30 with the rivets 33 engaging the rivet holes 53 , the notch 51 of each fixing plate 50 overlaps the pivot portion 313 of the aperture 31 of the corresponding connecting piece 30 , and the first end of the fixing plate 50 covers the entrance portion 311 of the aperture 31 . each assembled connecting piece 30 and fixing plate 50 is attached to corresponding side panel 21 of the base 20 by means of the projection 213 extending through the entrance hole 351 and relatively sliding in the guideway 35 , the distal end of the connecting piece 30 is pressed toward the protrusion 111 of corresponding sidewall 11 of the bracket 10 , the protrusion 111 extends through the entrance portion 311 of the aperture 31 of the connecting piece 30 and pushes the first end of the fixing plate 50 outwardly , the bracket 10 is rotated outwardly until the protrusion 111 enters the pivot portion 313 of the aperture 31 , the fixing plate 50 is restored to cover the entrance portion 311 , and the notch 51 engages the protrusion 111 to attach the assembled connecting piece 30 and fixing plate 50 to the bracket 10 . alternatively , each connecting piece 30 can be pivotally attached to corresponding side panel 21 of the base 20 directly via other fixing means such as screws . in use , fig2 shows the bracket 10 is fixed to the base 20 . the bracket 10 is generally accommodated in the base 20 , and a plurality of components 90 including , for example , motherboard , hard disc drives , etc . is fixed on the bottom panel 25 under the bracket 10 . the tabs 117 of the bracket 10 are engaged in the slots 231 of the base 20 respectively . the spring screws 131 of the bracket 10 are engaged in the fixing holes 231 of the front panel 23 of the base 20 . to maintain the components under the bracket 10 , the springs screws 131 are disengaged from the front panel 23 of the base 20 , the bracket 10 is rotated outwardly from inside the base 20 by the rings 133 . the bracket 10 is rotated around a fixed axis defined by the pivots 211 of the base 20 . the connecting pieces 30 are stretched slantingly outwardly , and the projections 213 of the base 20 are relatively slid along the guideways 35 of the connecting pieces 30 respectively , until the projections 213 engage in the retaining holes 353 of the connecting pieces 30 respectively such that the bracket 10 is suspended over the base 20 . the components 90 in the base 20 are exposed to facilitate servicing thereof . to close the bracket 10 , the connecting pieces 30 are pulled by the proximal ends thereof to disengage the projections 213 from the retaining holes 353 of the connecting pieces 30 respectively . the bracket 10 is then rotated back toward the base 20 until the front wall 13 of the bracket 10 seats on the front panel 23 of the base 20 . the tabs 117 of the bracket 10 are engaged in the slots 231 of the base 20 respectively . the spring screws 131 of the bracket 10 are engaged in the fixing holes 231 of the front panel 23 to fix the bracket 10 to the base 20 . as an alternative embodiment , the connecting pieces 30 can be reversely connected to the bracket 10 and the base 20 . that is , the apertures 31 of the connecting pieces 30 are respectively engaged with the projections 213 of the base 20 respectively , and the guideways 35 of the connecting pieces 30 engages with the protrusions 111 of the bracket 10 respectively . it is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description , and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages , the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments .	7
a zirconium compound of the invention can be formed in a simple process by the addition of a zirconium salt to an aqueous solution of a selected aldehyde or dialdehyde . suitable zirconium salts include carbonate , ammonium carbonate , oxychloride , acetate , tetrachloride and o - sulfate . the preferred salt is zirconium carbonate due to the nature of the by - products produced , as will be more fully described . the aldehyde or dialdehyde ( sometimes referred to collectively hereafter as &# 34 ; aldehyde &# 34 ;) which is reacted with the zirconium salt is preferably selected from the group consisting of dialdehydes having 2 - 4 carbon atoms , keto aldehydes having about 3 - 4 carbon atoms , hydroxyl aldehydes having 2 - 4 carbon atoms , ortho substituted aromatic dialdehydes and ortho substituted aromatic hydroxyl aldehydes . preferred aldehydes and dialdehydes include , for example , glyoxal , propane dialdehyde , 2 - keto propanal , 1 , 4 - butanedial , 2 - keto butanal , 2 , 3 - butadione , phthaldehyde , salicaldehyde , etc . the most preferred co - reactant is glyoxal , a dialdehyde , due to its ready availability from a number of commercial sources . the zirconium carbonate is preferably reacted with the glyoxal in a molar ratio of zirconium ion to glyoxal in the range from about 1 : 0 . 5 to 1 : 20 , most preferably in the range from about 1 : 2 . 5 to 1 : 7 . the process can be initiated by adding the zirconium carbonate to an aqueous solution of 40 % aqueous glyoxal . because zirconium carbonate is used , the reaction results in a by - product of carbon dioxide . thus , during the reaction , carbon dioxide is given off as a gas which simply bubbles out of solution so that filtering and washing of the zirconium product is unnecessary . a precipitate is immediately observed . the aqueous glyoxal solution is very acidic , normally with a ph of about 2 . 5 . at low ph , the zirconium product formed appears as a precipitate . if desired , this precipitate can be removed from solution by filtering and dried for later use . by further neutralizing the solution with a suitable base , the zirconium precipitate can be dissolved and used as a crosslinking additive for crosslinking various viscous aqueous gels used as fracturing fluids . the solids can be slowly dissolved by neutralizing with base and heating from about 30 minutes to about 6 hours . the preferred temperature for heating can range from ambient to about 250 ° f . the most preferred heating temperature is about 200 ° f . for at least two hours . the base can be added while the solution is still hot or after cooling . after the addition of base , the solution can be cooled or heating can continue . preferred bases to use for neutralization include the alkali metal hydroxides such as potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide . other bases include the alkanolamines , ammonium hydroxide and alkali metal carbonates and bicarbonates . the most preferred base is potassium hydroxide . the preferred procedure used to make the crosslinker and its performance are described in the non - limiting examples which follow : an aqueous solution of 40 %( wt ) glyoxal weighing 44 . 25 gr . was heated to 200 ° f . then , 20 . 0 gr . of zirconium carbonate ( 40 . 4 % zro 2 ) slurried in 20 . 0 gr . of di water was slowly added to the glyoxal solution and stirred for 60 minutes . during that time , 30 . 0 gr of water was added to help suspend the solids . after the 60 minutes , 25 . 24 gr . of 46 % aqueous potassium hydroxide was slowly added to the slurry . the heating continued at 200 ° f . for another 120 minutes . during this time , the solids slowly dissolved . the dark colored solution was then cooled to ambient . the zirconium content measured as zro 2 is 5 . 5 % and the ph was 5 . 55 . a liter of tap water was treated with 20 . 0 gr . of technical grade potassium chloride to produce a 2 % weight per volume ( wt / vol ) potassium chloride solution . then , with agitation , 4 . 8 gr . of a fracturing fluid quality guar gum was added , together with 1 . 2 gr . of sodium bicarbonate , and hydrated for 60 minutes . afterward , an aliquot of 250 ml of sol was taken and treated with 0 . 3 gr sodium thiosulfate and 0 . 06 ml of 50 %( wt ) monoethanolamine . lastly , 0 . 1 ml of crosslinker prepared in example 1 was added to the sol and stirred vigorously for 60 seconds . the ph of the sol was 8 . 85 . for the testing , a fann 50 viscometer ( baroid testing equipment ) with an r1b5 bob and cup were used . a sample of 48 . 0 gr was poured into the viscometer cup . the cup was screwed onto the viscometer and pressured to 200 psi with n 2 . the sample was then continuously sheared at 42 sec - 1 while heating to 250 ° f . at temperature , a rate sweep using 105 , 84 , 63 and 42 sec - 1 was made and repeated every 30 minutes . the interim rate between the sweeps was 42 sec - 1 . the stresses corresponding to each rate of the rate sweep , together with the rates , were converted to their logarithmic value . the power law indices , n &# 39 ; and k , were then determined as described by the american petroleum institute &# 39 ; s bulletin rp - 39 . the n &# 39 ; values presented in tables 1 - 14 are unitless whereas the k values have the units of dyne / cm 2 - sec . the power law indices were then used to calculate the gel &# 39 ; s viscosity at 105 , 85 and 42 sec - 1 . these data , over time , are shown in table 1 . table 1______________________________________temperature (° f .) 250additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . guar gum , 0 . 3 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , 0 . 06ml 50 % ( wt ) monoethanol amine , and 0 . 1 ml crosslinkerph : 8 . 85 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________29 246 0 . 740 13 . 791 411 434 52260 247 0 . 691 15 . 471 367 392 48791 248 0 . 664 14 . 889 312 335 424122 248 0 . 652 14 . 447 286 308 393152 248 0 . 671 12 . 524 271 290 366183 248 0 . 680 11 . 151 251 269 337214 248 0 . 714 9 . 103 241 255 313245 248 0 . 715 8 . 506 226 240 293______________________________________ the testing of the fluids described in the examples 3 - 15 are conducted as stated in example 2 . another 250 ml aliquot of sol prepared in example 2 was treated with 0 . 3 gr of sodium thiosulfate and 0 . 08 ml of 45 %( wt ) aqueous potassium carbonate . then , 0 . 1 ml of crosslinker prepared in example 1 was added with vigorous stirring for 60 sec . the ph of the sol was 8 . 83 and the data from the theological evaluation are shown in table 2 . table 2______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 250additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . guar gum , 0 . 3 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , 0 . 08ml 45 % ( wt ) k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 and 0 . 1 ml crosslinkerph : 8 . 83 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________34 248 0 . 676 21 . 613 478 512 64465 248 0 . 665 18 . 521 390 418 53096 248 0 . 641 18 . 057 340 366 472126 248 0 . 665 14 . 958 315 338 428157 248 0 . 663 13 . 684 285 306 388188 248 0 . 670 12 . 760 275 295 372219 248 0 . 742 8 . 532 257 271 325249 248 0 . 727 8 . 423 236 250 304277 248 0 . 709 8 . 6484 223 237 291______________________________________ the example 3 was repeated except that the potassium carbonate buffer was reduced to 0 . 02 ml and the crosslinker increased to 0 . 12 ml . the sol ph was 8 . 55 . these test data are shown in table 3 . table 3______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 250additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . guar gum , 0 . 3 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , 0 . 02 ml45 % ( wt ) k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 and 0 . 12 ml crosslinkerph : 8 . 55 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________34 248 0 . 585 35 . 220 510 557 74764 248 0 . 613 27 . 269 450 489 64295 248 0 . 618 23 . 132 391 424 555126 248 0 . 632 19 . 179 346 374 485156 248 0 . 634 16 . 792 306 330 428187 248 0 . 623 15 . 897 275 298 388218 248 0 . 621 15 . 0486 258 279 365249 248 0 . 64 12 . 6557 237 256 330276 248 0 . 697 8 . 6348 211 225 278______________________________________ in this next example , a 250 ml aliquot was treated with 0 . 3 gr of sodium thiosulfate and 0 . 05 ml of 45 %( wt ) potassium carbonate . afterwards , 0 . 12 ml of crosslinker prepared in example 1 was added to the vigorously stirred sol . the sol ph was 8 . 81 and the rheological data obtained at 250 ° f . are presented in table 4 . table 4______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 250additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . guar gum , 0 . 3 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , 0 . 05 ml45 % ( wt ) k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 and 0 . 12 ml crosslinkerph : 8 . 81 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________34 248 0 . 337 43 . 733 200 230 36762 248 0 . 659 24 . 222 495 532 67792 248 0 . 622 23 . 972 413 447 584123 249 0 . 586 25 . 954 378 412 552154 248 0 . 554 26 . 897 337 371 508185 249 0 . 884 5 . 4826 320 327 355216 249 0 . 699 10 . 1253 249 266 329247 248 0 . 689 9 . 6167 226 242 301278 249 0 . 728 7 . 5082 212 224 272309 249 0 . 73 6 . 8318 194 206 249340 249 0 . 760 5 . 643 185 194 230370 249 0 . 750 5 . 636 176 186 221401 249 0 . 769 5 . 073 173 182 214432 249 0 . 773 4 . 687 163 171 201463 249 0 . 779 4 . 290 153 161 188493 249 0 . 770 4 . 312 148 155 183524 249 0 . 748 4 . 612 143 151 180554 249 0 . 780 3 . 825 137 144 168585 249 0 . 744 4 . 837 147 155 186616 249 0 . 763 4 . 630 154 162 191647 249 0 . 757 4 . 560 147 155 184678 249 0 . 727 4 . 848 136 144 175709 249 0 . 725 4 . 453 124 131 159740 249 0 . 775 3 . 263 114 120 141771 249 0 . 748 3 . 325 103 109 130802 249 0 . 733 3 . 192 92 97 118832 249 0 . 793 2 . 231 85 89 103863 249 0 . 754 2 . 442 78 82 97894 95 0 . 542 18 . 5404 220 242 335______________________________________ another 250 ml aliquot of sol described in example 2 was treated with 0 . 30 gr sodium thiosulfate and 0 . 08 ml of 45 %( wt ) potassium carbonate . then , 0 . 12 ml of crosslinker described in example 1 was added to the vigorously stirred sol . the sol ph was 9 . 00 and the rheological data obtained at 250 ° f . is presented in table 5 . table 5______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 250additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . guar gum , 0 . 30 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , 0 . 08 ml45 % ( wt ) k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 and 0 . 12 ml crosslinkerph : 9 . 00 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________34 248 0 . 542 63 . 259 751 827 114265 249 0 . 541 60 . 143 710 783 108296 248 0 . 522 60 . 192 651 720 1008126 248 0 . 500 61 . 778 603 670 953157 248 0 . 498 59 . 425 575 639 910188 249 0 . 482 60 . 0358 539 601 866219 248 0 . 469 60 . 4491 511 571 831250 248 0 . 483 54 . 9207 495 552 795281 248 0 . 479 54 . 3202 481 537 775312 249 0 . 482 51 . 2398 460 513 739343 249 0 . 475 50 . 945 443 494 716374 249 0 . 477 48 . 841 428 478 692404 249 0 . 472 48 . 797 418 467 678435 249 0 . 485 44 . 742 407 454 653444 249 0 . 480 45 . 127 401 448 646475 249 0 . 471 46 . 581 397 444 645506 249 0 . 468 45 . 321 381 426 620537 249 0 . 473 44 . 167 380 425 616567 249 0 . 483 41 . 667 376 419 603598 248 0 . 465 44 . 375 368 412 601629 248 0 . 470 42 . 310 359 402 584660 248 0 . 476 39 . 888 348 389 563691 248 0 . 476 38 . 688 338 377 546722 248 0 . 489 35 . 133 326 363 520753 248 0 . 474 36 . 299 314 351 508784 248 0 . 478 35 . 062 309 345 498815 248 0 . 480 33 . 105 294 329 474845 98 0 . 456 63 . 1739 502 584 827______________________________________ in this example , a liter of 2 %( wt / vol ) aqueous potassium chloride was vigorously stirred while adding 4 . 8 gr of fracturing fluid quality carboxymethylhydroxypropyl guar ( cmhpg ), a dual derivatized guar gum . afterward , 1 . 2 gr of sodium bicarbonate was added as a buffer to accelerate polymer hydration . after adequate dispersing , the stirring rate was slowed and the polymer was allowed to hydrate for about an hour . then , as in the preceding examples , a 250 ml aliquot was withdrawn and treated with 0 . 45 gr of sodium thiosulfate . next , acetic acid was added dropwise until the sol ph declined to 5 . 70 . afterward , 0 . 19 ml of crosslinker , prepared in example 1 , was added with vigorous stirring to the sol . the final ph of the fluid was 5 . 70 and 45 . 0 gr of the sol was poured into the fann 50 cup . the rheological evaluation was conducted at 250 ° f . and as described in example 2 . these data are presented in table 6 . table 6______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 250additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . cmhpg , 1 . 2 gr . nahco . sub . 3 , 0 . 45 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , acetic acid added to adjust ph and0 . 19 ml crosslinkerph : 5 . 70 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________32 248 0 . 579 56 . 054 790 864 116261 248 0 . 557 46 . 181 588 645 88290 248 0 . 507 40 . 588 409 454 643119 248 0 . 504 29 . 040 289 321 455148 248 0 . 520 20 . 366 218 241 339177 249 0 . 551 12 . 402 153 169 232206 248 0 . 560 8 . 259 107 117 159235 248 0 . 562 7 . 043 92 101 137263 248 0 . 530 5 . 347 60 66 92292 248 0 . 529 4 . 430 49 55 76321 248 0 . 591 2 . 475 37 40 54350 248 0 . 428 4 . 082 28 32 48379 248 0 . 408 3 . 689 23 27 40408 248 0 . 456 2 . 686 21 24 35432 249 0 . 516 1 . 856 20 22 30461 249 0 . 420 2 . 458 17 19 28490 249 0 . 363 2 . 642 14 16 24519 248 0 . 364 2 . 339 12 14 22548 248 0 . 439 1 . 506 11 12 18577 248 0 . 440 1 . 382 10 11 17606 248 0 . 400 1 . 461 9 10 16635 248 0 . 265 2 . 462 8 9 16663 248 0 . 548 1 . 239 8 9 15693 248 0 . 207 2 . 882 7 9 15722 248 0 . 166 3 . 338 7 8 15751 248 0 . 239 2 . 416 7 8 14780 248 0 . 268 2 . 136 7 8 14809 248 0 . 276 2 . 070 7 8 14838 100 0 . 672 0 . 513 1l 12 15______________________________________ in this example , another 250 ml aliquot was withdrawn from the stock solution prepared as described in example 2 . this sol was treated with 0 . 3 gr of sodium thiosulfate and 0 . 10 gr of fumaric acid . the sol ph , after dissolution of the acid , was 5 . 70 . lastly , with vigorous stirring of the sol , 0 . 38 ml of crosslinker prepared in example 1 was added . the sol ph was 5 . 57 and the data from the rheological evaluation at 250 ° f . is presented in table 7 . table 7______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 250additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . guar gum , 0 . 3 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , 0 . 10 gr . fumaric acid and 0 . 38 ml crosslinkerph : 5 . 57 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________32 248 0 . 708 19 . 068 490 521 64060 249 0 . 689 15 . 292 360 384 47889 251 0 . 760 6 . 962 228 240 284118 251 0 . 786 3 . 731 138 144 168147 251 0 . 724 3 . 238 90 95 115______________________________________ another 250 ml aliquot was withdrawn from the stock solution prepared as described in example 2 . the sol was treated with 0 . 3 gr sodium thiosulfate and 0 . 5 ml of a 45 %( wt ) solution of potassium carbonate . the crosslinker prepared in example 1 was diluted to 50 %( wt ) with tap water . then , with vigorous stirring of the sol , 0 . 25 ml of the diluted crosslinker was added . the sol ph was 8 . 50 and the data for the rheological evaluation at 200 ° f . is presented in table 8 . table 8______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 200additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . guar gum , 0 . 3 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , 0 . 5 ml 45 % ( wt ) k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 and 0 . 25 ml of diluted crosslinkerph : 8 . 50 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________34 199 0 . 647 25 . 919 501 540 69365 199 0 . 676 18 . 865 418 447 56296 199 0 . 621 21 . 635 371 402 525127 199 0 . 592 21 . 943 329 358 478155 199 0 . 579 21 . 185 299 326 439185 199 0 . 661 13 . 478 278 299 380216 199 0 . 648 13 . 356 260 280 358247 199 0 . 628 13 . 914 246 267 346278 199 0 . 631 12 . 953 233 251 326308 199 0 . 633 12 . 231 222 240 310339 199 0 . 656 10 . 562 213 229 292370 199 0 . 654 10 . 145 203 218 278401 199 0 . 665 9 . 402 198 212 269432 199 0 . 654 9 . 439 189 203 259463 199 0 . 685 7 . 614 176 188 235494 199 0 . 689 7 . 154 168 180 224525 199 0 . 705 6 . 622 168 179 220556 199 0 . 701 6 . 685 166 177 219586 199 0 . 680 6 . 899 156 166 209617 199 0 . 707 5 . 938 152 162 199627 199 0 . 737 5 . 131 151 160 192658 199 0 . 724 5 . 288 146 155 188689 199 0 . 682 5 . 982 136 146 182720 199 0 . 702 5 . 371 134 143 176751 199 0 . 727 4 . 707 132 140 170781 199 0 . 709 4 . 917 127 135 166812 199 0 . 686 5 . 280 122 131 163843 199 0 . 718 4 . 305 116 123 150874 199 0 . 689 4 . 7115 111 118 147905 199 0 . 732 3 . 831 110 116 141936 199 0 . 675 4 . 9115 108 116 146967 199 0 . 73 3 . 7031 105 112 135998 199 0 . 695 4 . 31 104 111 1381028 85 0 . 464 32 . 3876 267 299 437______________________________________ in this example , a liter of 2 %( wt / vol ) aqueous potassium chloride was vigorously stirred while adding 4 . 8 gr of fracturing fluid quality hydroxypropyl guar ( hpg ), a derivatized guar gum and 1 . 2 gr of sodium bicarbonate . after adequate dispersing , the stirring rate was slowed and the polymer was allowed to hydrate for about an hour . a 250 ml aliquot was withdrawn and treated with 0 . 3 gr of sodium thiosulfate and 0 . 08 ml of 45 % potassium carbonate . then , with vigorous stirring , 0 . 12 ml of crosslinker prepared in example 1 was added to the sol . the sol ph was 9 . 04 and the data acquired from the rheological evaluation at 250 ° f . is presented in table 9 . table 9______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 250additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . hpg , 1 . 2 gr . nahco . sub . 3 , 0 . 3 gr . na . sub . 2s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , 0 . 08 ml 45 % ( wt ) k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 and 0 . 12 ml crosslinkerph : 9 . 04 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________32 248 0 . 675 16 . 072 354 379 47761 249 0 . 580 20 . 483 290 317 42689 249 0 . 629 15 . 632 278 301 391118 249 0 . 577 17 . 076 238 261 351145 249 0 . 617 13 . 297 224 243 318173 249 0 . 565 15 . 686 207 227 309202 249 0 . 581 13 . 393 191 208 280231 249 0 . 571 12 . 945 176 192 260260 249 0 . 586 11 . 859 173 188 252289 249 0 . 592 11 . 005 165 180 239318 249 0 . 661 7 . 727 160 171 218347 249 0 . 599 9 . 329 144 157 208376 249 0 . 596 9 . 236 141 153 204405 249 0 . 650 6 . 918 136 146 187434 249 0 . 621 7 . 377 126 137 179463 249 0 . 611 7 . 373 121 131 172492 249 0 . 597 7 . 572 116 126 168521 249 0 . 619 6 . 385 108 117 154550 249 0 . 664 5 . 014 105 113 143579 249 0 . 689 4 . 331 102 109 135608 249 0 . 654 4 . 854 97 104 133616 249 0 . 629 5 . 273 94 101 132645 249 0 . 613 5 . 329 88 95 125674 249 0 . 663 4 . 124 86 92 117703 249 0 . 689 3 . 751 88 94 117732 249 0 . 661 4 . 005 83 89 113761 249 0 . 675 3 . 766 83 89 112790 249 0 . 698 3 . 294 81 86 107819 249 0 . 702 3 . 119 78 83 102848 249 0 . 688 3 . 2253 76 81 100877 249 0 . 686 3 . 1348 73 78 97906 249 0 . 706 2 . 8311 72 77 94935 249 0 . 691 3 . 0418 72 77 96964 249 0 . 662 3 . 236 67 72 91993 250 0 . 643 3 . 4503 66 71 911022 249 0 . 657 3 . 1647 64 69 881051 249 0 . 657 3 . 0802 62 67 851080 249 0 . 663 2 . 9762 62 67 841109 249 0 . 64 3 . 2035 60 65 831137 100 0 . 511 19 . 5655 201 223 315______________________________________ in this example , a 250 ml aliquot of cmhpg prepared as described in example 7 was treated with 0 . 3 gr of sodium thiosulfate . then , with stirring , acetic acid was added dropwise until the sol ph was 5 . 70 . lastly , with vigorous stirring of the sol , 0 . 19 ml of crosslinker prepared in example 1 was added . the final sol ph was 5 . 70 and the data obtained from the rheological evaluation at 200 ° f . are presented in table 10 . table 10______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 200additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . cmhpg , 0 . 3 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , acetic acid added to adjust ph , and 0 . 19 ml crosslinkerph : 5 . 70 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________32 205 0 . 444 70 . 514 530 596 88361 202 0 . 455 70 . 838 561 629 92490 202 0 . 435 76 . 512 552 622 926118 202 0 . 425 78 . 281 539 608 913147 202 0 . 434 74 . 248 533 601 895176 202 0 . 446 68 . 372 519 583 862205 202 0 . 466 61 . 856 515 577 841234 202 0 . 441 65 . 286 484 545 808263 202 0 . 454 59 . 014 465 522 767292 202 0 . 444 58 . 220 438 492 729______________________________________ in this example , a 250 ml aliquot of cmhpg prepared as described in example 7 was treated with 0 . 3 gr of sodium thiosulfate and 0 . 06 ml of 45 %( wt ) potassium carbonate . then , with vigorous stirring of the sol , 0 . 15 ml of crosslinker prepared in example 1 was added . the final sol ph was 9 . 00 and the data acquired from the rheological evaluation at 275 ° f . are shown in table 11 . table 11______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 275additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . cmhpg , 0 . 3 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , 0 . 06 ml 45 % ( wt ) k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 and 0 . 15 ml crosslinkerph : 9 . 00 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________31 274 0 . 622 47 . 012 809 877 114560 274 0 . 564 48 . 740 641 703 95589 274 0 . 533 44 . 902 511 564 784118 274 0 . 510 41 . 733 427 473 668147 274 0 . 546 31 . 878 385 424 584176 274 0 . 498 36 . 050 349 388 552205 275 0 . 522 30 . 511 330 365 511234 275 0 . 535 25 . 977 298 329 457263 274 0 . 516 26 . 552 279 309 435292 274 0 . 571 18 . 883 256 281 380321 274 0 . 558 20 . 908 267 293 401350 274 0 . 542 21 . 471 255 281 388379 274 0 . 548 19 . 449 237 261 359408 274 0 . 532 19 . 154 217 239 333437 273 0 . 569 15 . 422 207 227 308466 274 0 . 598 12 . 429 191 208 277495 274 0 . 527 15 . 677 173 192 268524 274 0 . 505 15 . 872 159 176 250553 274 0 . 544 12 . 159 146 160 221582 274 0 . 535 11 . 503 132 146 202610 274 0 . 559 9 . 375 120 132 180639 274 0 . 520 10 . 076 108 119 168668 274 0 . 566 7 . 544 100 110 149697 274 0 . 567 6 . 818 91 100 135726 274 0 . 533 7 . 229 82 91 126755 274 0 . 562 5 . 840 76 83 114773 274 0 . 581 5 . 025 71 78 105802 274 0 . 607 4 . 143 67 72 95831 273 0 . 558 4 . 847 62 68 93860 274 0 . 554 4 . 5336 57 63 86889 273 0 . 565 4 . 123 54 60 81918 274 0 . 574 3 . 7038 51 56 75947 273 0 . 528 4 . 1565 46 51 71976 274 0 . 581 3 . 0997 44 48 65______________________________________ in this example , a 250 ml aliquot of cmhpg prepared as described in example 7 was treated with 0 . 3 gr of sodium thiosulfate and 0 . 06 ml of 45 %( wt ) potassium carbonate . then , with vigorous stirring of the sol , 0 . 18 ml of crosslinker prepared in example 1 was added . the final sol ph was 8 . 95 and the data acquired from the rheological evaluation at 300 ° f . are shown in table 12 . table 12______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 300additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . cmhpg , 0 . 3 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , 0 . 06 ml 45 % ( wt ) k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 and 0 . 18 ml crosslinkerph : 8 . 95 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________30 305 0 . 728 29 . 502 832 881 106759 284 0 . 624 31 . 910 555 600 78388 298 0 . 571 30 . 819 419 458 620117 299 0 . 539 28 . 911 338 373 516146 299 0 . 537 24 . 060 279 308 426175 299 0 . 553 18 . 374 229 252 346204 299 0 . 568 13 . 462 180 198 268233 299 0 . 581 9 . 721 138 151 203262 298 0 . 584 7 . 375 106 116 156291 299 0 . 618 4 . 815 81 88 115320 299 0 . 602 3 . 859 61 66 87349 298 0 . 619 2 . 809 48 52 68378 298 0 . 630 2 . 125 38 41 53407 298 0 . 552 2 . 526 31 35 47436 299 0 . 401 4 . 026 25 28 43465 299 0 . 314 5 . 343 22 25 41493 298 0 . 438 2 . 767 20 23 34522 298 0 . 445 2 . 493 19 21 31551 298 0 . 438 2 . 344 17 19 29580 298 0 . 518 1 . 456 15 17 24609 298 0 . 606 0 . 833 13 14 19638 298 0 . 667 0 . 556 12 13 16667 299 0 . 619 0 . 615 10 11 15696 298 0 . 446 1 . 166 9 10 15725 298 0 . 397 1 . 347 8 9 14754 298 0 . 263 2 . 300 7 9 15783 298 0 . 218 2 . 649 7 8 14812 298 0 . 207 2 . 680 7 8 14841 298 0 . 161 3 . 2311 7 8 14851 298 0 . 197 2 . 7087 6 8 13880 298 0 . 231 2 . 2448 6 7 13909 298 0 . 088 4 . 2004 6 7 14938 298 0 . 155 3 . 0535 6 7 13967 298 0 . 208 2 . 515 6 7 13995 298 0 . 167 2 . 9336 6 7 131024 298 0 . 158 2 . 8262 6 7 121053 298 0 . 194 2 . 4537 6 7 121082 298 0 . 13 3 . 2029 6 7 121111 297 0 . 174 2 . 6641 6 7 121140 297 0 . 198 2 . 281 5 6 111169 298 0 . 162 2 . 6941 5 7 121198 297 0 . 093 3 . 8153 6 7 131227 298 0 . 119 3 . 4276 6 7 13______________________________________ in this example , another 250 ml aliquot was withdrawn from the stock solution prepared as described in example 2 . this sol was treated with 0 . 3 gr of sodium thiosulfate . then acetic acid was added dropwise until the sol ph achieved 5 . 70 . lastly , with vigorous stirring of the sol , 0 . 38 ml of crosslinker prepared in example 1 was added . the sol ph was 5 . 70 and the data from the rheological evaluation at 200 ° f . is presented in table 13 . table 13______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 200additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . guar gum , 0 . 3 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , acetic acid to adjust ph and 0 . 38 ml crosslinkerph : 5 . 70 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________32 200 0 . 546 25 . 628 310 341 47061 202 0 . 552 22 . 357 278 306 41989 202 0 . 563 20 . 055 262 288 392118 202 0 . 625 14 . 912 260 282 367147 202 0 . 529 21 . 147 236 261 364176 202 0 . 550 17 . 726 218 240 330205 202 0 . 567 15 . 597 208 228 309234 202 0 . 559 15 . 232 196 215 293262 202 0 . 589 12 . 378 183 199 266291 202 0 . 626 9 . 481 166 180 234______________________________________ another 250 ml aliquot of sol described in example 2 was treated with 0 . 30 gr sodium thiosulfate and 0 . 38 ml of 45 %( wt ) potassium carbonate . then , 0 . 12 ml of crosslinker described in example 1 was added to the vigorously stirred sol . the sol ph was 8 . 50 and the rheological data obtained at 275 ° f . is presented in table 14 . table 14______________________________________temperature (° f . ): 275additives : 2 % kcl , 4 . 8 gr . guar gum , 0 . 30 gr . na . sub . 2 s . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 . 5h . sub . 2 o , 0 . 38 ml 45 % ( wt ) k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 and 0 . 12 ml crosslinkerph : 8 . 50 viscosity at rates in sec . sup .- 1time temp n &# 39 ; k &# 39 ; 105s - 1 85s - 1 42s - 1______________________________________32 271 0 . 603 21 . 522 339 369 48861 272 0 . 575 20 . 274 280 307 41490 273 0 . 595 14 . 999 228 248 330119 273 0 . 652 10 . 192 202 217 278148 273 0 . 659 8 . 537 175 188 239177 273 0 . 692 6 . 438 154 164 204206 273 0 . 683 5 . 891 135 144 180235 273 0 . 762 3 . 680 122 128 151264 273 0 . 720 4 . 060 110 117 143293 273 0 . 725 3 . 473 97 102 124322 273 0 . 652 4 . 396 87 94 120351 273 0 . 663 3 . 688 77 83 105380 272 0 . 724 2 . 731 76 80 97408 273 0 . 673 3 . 063 67 72 90______________________________________ when using the zirconium compounds of the invention as crosslinking agents for aqueous polymer gels used as fracturing fluids , a gelled polymer fracturing fluid is first prepared by adding between about 1 % or less by weight of a soluble polymer such as guar , guar derivative or carboxylated cellulose to water . the zirconium crosslinking agent is then added to the gelled fluid in solution while mixing . the amount of the crosslinking agent used to carry out the method of the invention will vary over a wide range and therefore the amounts will vary according to the formation being treated . preferably , the amount of crosslinking agent used will be in the range from about 0 . 005 to in excess of 1 . 00 weight percent , most preferably about 0 . 01 to 0 . 10 weight percent , based on the total weight of aqueous fluid . additionally , proppants and other additives , such as gel stabilizers , buffers , crosslink delaying agents and surfactants , may be added to the fluid prior to pumping into an oil or gas well . the fluid is then pumped into the well at a sufficiently high rate or pressure to cause fractures within the hydrocarbon bearing areas of the formation . the zirconium compound is particularly useful when treating high temperature wells , i . e . those having temperatures in excess of 200 ° f ., due to the good thermal stability and retained viscosity of the crosslinked polymer gel . an invention has been provided with several advantages . the method of the invention allows organo - zirconium compounds to be formed without producing undesirable by - products that must be removed by washing and filtering procedures . because zirconium carbonate is used as the starting material , the reaction results in the production of carbon dioxide gas as a by - product . the carbon dioxide merely bubbles from solution as a gas so that no additional separating techniques are required . this eliminates the loss of product that would otherwise occur during the washing and filtering steps . there is also no chloride to be recovered and disposed of . the novel organo - zirconium compounds of the invention overcome many of the disadvantages of the prior art compounds , such as high cost , as well as being more applicable for guar gums utilized in aqueous based fracturing fluids . while the invention has been shown in only one of its forms , it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but is susceptible to various changes without departing from the scope of the invention .	2
a spindle motor control circuit in a recording or reproducing device according to this invention will be described with reference to fig1 through 4 . in these figs ., parts corresponding functionally to those already described with reference to fig5 - 9 are designated by the same reference numerals or characters . in fig1 the motor control signal s 6 is supplied to a mode control section 100 rotation direction indicating signal s 8 is also applied that mode control unit 100 by a phase comparator 200 . according to these signals s 6 and s 8 , the mode control section 100 applies a first mode control signal s 9 to the switch 24 and a second mode control signal s 10 to a motor drive amplifier 300 . when the first mode control signal s 9 is at the level &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the switch 24 is turned on to transmit the voltage signal s 4 to the amplifier 27 . when the signal s 9 is at the level &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the switch 24 is turned off to interrupt the transmission of the signal s 4 . as is described later , when the second mode control signal s 10 is at the level &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the motor drive amplifier 300 operates to cause the spindle motor 7 to produce torque in the forward direction , and when the second mode control signal s 10 is at the level &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the amplifier 300 operates to cause the spindle motor 7 to produce torque in the reverse direction . according to the phase relation between two frequency signals fg and fg &# 39 ; provided by a two - phase frequency generator 29 &# 39 ;, the phase comparator 200 applies the signal s 8 indicating the direction of rotation of the spindle motor 7 to the mode control section 100 . fig2 shows the arrangement of the mode control section 100 and the phase comparator 200 . the mode control section 100 includes a d flip - flop 101 , and an and gate 102 . the motor control signal s 6 is applied to the clock input terminal cl of the flip - flop 101 , and one of the input terminals of the and gate 102 . the data input terminal d of the flip - flop 101 is connected to a &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; level ( vcc potential ), and the set terminal s is connected to a &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; level ( ground potential ). the reset terminal r of the flip - flop 101 receives the rotation direction indicating signal s 8 from the phase comparator 200 . when the motor control signal s 6 is raised to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; from &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the flip - flop 101 clocks in the data input &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and provides output signals &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; at the output terminals q and q , respectively . when the rotation direction indicating signal s 8 is raised to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; from &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the flip - flop 101 is reset , so that output signals &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; are provided at the output terminals q and q , respectively . the output signal s 13 provided at the inversion output terminal q is applied to the other input terminal of the and gate 102 , and the output voltage of the latter gate 102 is applied as the first mode control signal s 9 to the switch 24 . the output signal provided at the output terminal q of the flip - flop 101 is supplied , as the second mode control signal s 10 , to the motor drive amplifier 300 ( fig3 ). the phase comparator 200 includes waveform shaping circuits 201 and 202 , a reference voltage generating circuit 203 , and a d flip - flop 204 . in the waveform shaping circuit 201 , an operational amplifier 205 and resistors 206 and 207 form an inversion amplifier , and an operational amplifier 208 forms a voltage comparator . similarly , in the waveform shaping circuit 202 , an operational amplifier 209 and resistors 210 and 211 form an inversion amplifier , and an operational amplifier 212 forms a voltage comparator . the reference voltage generating circuit 203 includes an operational amplifier 213 . the non - inversion input terminal (+) of the operational amplifier 213 receives a reference voltage v fo which is provided by resistors 214 and 215 and a capacitor , and the inversion input terminal (-) thereof is connected directly to the output terminal of the operational amplifier 213 . a reference voltage v f provided at the output terminal of the operational amplifier 213 is applied to the non - inversion input terminals (+) of the operational amplifiers 205 , 208 , 209 and 212 . the two frequency signals fg and fg &# 39 ; different in phase , for instance by 90 °, provided by two - phase frequency generator 29 &# 39 ; are so designed that , when the spindle motor 6 is rotated in the forward direction , the signal fg leads the signal fg &# 39 ; by a phase angle of 90 °, and when the motor 7 is rotated in the reverse direction the signal fg lags the signal fg &# 39 ; by a phase angle of 90 °. in fig2 the frequency signals fg and fg &# 39 ; are applied through capacitors 217 and 218 to the inversion amplifiers ( 205 , 206 and 207 ) and ( 209 , 210 and 211 ), respectively , where they are subjected to inversion and amplification . the outputs of the inversion amplifiers are applied to the voltage comparators 208 and 212 , respectively , where they are compared with the reference voltage v f set at a middle level , so as to be shaped into square - wave pulse signals s 11 and s 12 , respectively . these pulse signals s 11 and s 12 are supplied to the data input terminal d and the clock input terminal cl of the d flip - flop 204 , respectively . the set terminal s and the reset terminal r of the flip - flop 204 are connected to the &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; level ( ground potential ). in the d flip - flop 204 , with the rise of the clock input s 12 , the logic state of the data input s 11 is received , and an output signal having a logic state opposite to that logic state is provided at the inversion output terminal q . more specifically , if , when the pulse s 12 is raised to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; from &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the pulse s 11 is at &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, then an output voltage of &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; is provided at the output terminal q , and if the pulse s 11 is at &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; when the pulse s 12 is raised to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, then an output voltage of &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is obtained at the output terminal q . the output voltages indicate the relative phase relationships between the pulse signals s 11 and s 12 ( the frequency signals fg and fg &# 39 ;), thus showing the direction of rotation of the spindle motor 7 . the output signal of &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is applied , as the rotation direction indicating signal s 8 , to the mode control section 100 . fig3 is a circuit diagram showing the arrangement of the motor drive amplifier 300 . in fig3 the drive voltage signal s 5 from the amplifier 27 ( fig1 ) is applied to the non - inversion input terminal (+) of an operational amplifier 302 . the inversion input terminal (-) of amplifier 303 is connected to voltage amplifier stage drivers 305 , 306 and 307 . the operational amplifier 302 forms a voltage - to - current converter . as the voltage signal s 5 changes , i . e ., the input voltages applied to the operational amplifier 302 become different from each other , the amount of current flowing in the feedback resistor 303 is also increased . the voltage thus increased is fed back to the inversion input terminal (-) of the operational amplifier 302 , whereby the imaginary short condition is maintained . the output current i 0 of the operational amplifier 302 is applied to an input terminal d of a three - phase logic circuit 304 . the mode control signal s 10 from the mode control section 100 is applied through a buffer circuit 301 to an input terminal c of the three - phase logic circuit 304 . spindle motor 7 is a brushless dc motor with position detecting elements 308 , 309 and 310 . the position detection signals h u , h v and h w of the position detecting elements 308 , 309 and 310 are applied through amplifiers 311 , 312 and 313 to input terminals g 1 , g 2 and g 3 of the three - phase logic circuit 304 selectively allots the exciting current i 0 to the windings 314 , 315 , 316 of the phases l u , l v and l w of the spindle motor ( brushless dc motor ) 7 . furthermore , according to the logic state of the mode control signal s 10 applied to the control input terminal c , the three - phase logic circuit 304 controls the switching of the exciting current i 0 applied to the spindle motor 7 . more specifically , when the mode control signal s 10 is at &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the three - phase logic circuit 304 is placed in the forward rotation mode . when , in this case , the position detection signals are switched in the order of h u - h v - h w , the exciting currents i 01 , i 02 and i 03 are distributed through the output terminals 0 1 , 0 2 and 0 3 to the windings 314 , 315 and 316 in the stated order ( i 01 - i 02 - i 03 ), respectively , whereby torque is produced in the forward direction . on the other hand , when the mode control signal s 10 is at &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the threephase logic circuit 304 is placed in the reverse torque mode . when , in this case , the position detection signals are switched in the order of h u - h v - h w , the exciting currents i 01 , i 02 and i 03 are distributed in the order of i 03 , i 02 and i 01 to the windings 314 , 315 and 316 , respectively , whereby torque is produced in the reverse direction . the operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to fig4 . when the spindle motor 7 is normally rotated with center core 2 of the recording or reproducing magnetic disk 3 mounted on the spindle 7a , the motor control signal s 6 is at &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. in this case , the &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; level signal s 6 is applied to one input terminal of the and gate 103 in the mode control section 100 ( fig2 ) and therefore the first mode control signal s 9 provided at the output terminal 103 of the and gate 102 is at &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. accordingly , the switch 24 ( fig1 ) is in the &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; state , so that the voltage signal s 4 is applied to the amplifier 27 , and the drive voltage signal s 5 is supplied to the motor drive amplifier 300 . on the other hand , when the spindle motor 7 is normally rotated , i . e . when it is rotated in the forward direction , the signal fg leads the signal fg &# 39 ; by a phase angle of about 90 ° as shown in fig4 . the relative phase relation of these signals is determined by the flip - flop 204 of the phase comparator 200 with the aid of the pulse signals s 11 and s 12 obtained by shaping the frequency signals fg and fg &# 39 ;, as a result of which the rotation direction indicating signal s 8 of &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; is obtained at the inversion output terminal q of the flip - flop 204 as shown in fig4 . that is , with the timing of each rise of the pulse s 12 , the &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; level of the signal s 11 is applied to the data input terminal d of the flip - flop 204 , and the logic level &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; obtained by inverting the &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; level thus applied is provided at the inversion output terminal q . the rotation direction indicating signal s 8 of &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; does not act on the flip - flop 101 . on the other hand , the motor control signal s 6 of &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; is applied to the clock input terminal cl of the flip - flop 101 , and therefore flip - flop 101 is not triggered thereby . accordingly , the flip - flop 101 is maintained at reset . that is , the signal s 13 at the output terminal q is at &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, while the signal s 10 at the output terminal q is at &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, ( fig4 ). as the second mode control signal s 10 is at &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the three - phase logic circuit 304 in the motor drive amplifier 300 operates in the forward torque mode , and performs the distribution of the exciting currents so that the spindle motor 7 produces torque in the forward direction . when the motor control signal s 6 is raised to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; for indicating stop at the time instant t 1 in fig4 the flip - flop 101 in the mode control section 100 is triggered so that the logic levels of the signals s 10 and s 13 provided at the output terminals q and q are changed as shown in fig4 . accordingly , as one input terminal of the and gate 102 receives the signal s 13 of &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; although the other input terminal receives the signal s 6 of &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the first mode control signal s 9 provided at the output terminal is maintained at &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, and therefore the switch 24 is kept turned on ( fig1 ). when the second mode control signal s 10 is raised to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the operation mode of the three - phase logic circuit 304 in the motor drive amplifier 300 is switched over to the reverse torque mode . as a result , the three - phase logic circuit 304 distributes the exciting currents so that the spindle motor 7 produces torque in the reverse direction as described above . therefore , the speed of the spindle motor 7 is abruptly decreased at a large negative acceleration by the action of the reverse torque , and the frequency signals fg and fg &# 39 ; having a frequency and a voltage which correspond to the speed of rotation thereof are abruptly attenuated as shown in fig4 . in the deceleration or brake mode , the direction of rotation of the spindle motor 7 is the forward direction , and therefore the relative phase relation of the frequency signals fg and fg &# 39 ; ( pulse signals s 11 and s 12 ) is maintained unchanged , and the rotation direction indicating signal s 8 provided by the phase comparator 200 is maintained at &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; as shown in fig4 . the spindle motor 7 , being decelerated by the action of the reverse torque , is stopped , and then it is rotated in the opposite direction . therefore , the frequency signal fg lags the frequency signal fg &# 39 ; by a phase angle of about 90 °. accordingly , when the pulse s 12 rises at the time instant t 2 immediately after the spindle motor is started to turn in the opposite direction , the pulse s 11 is set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. therefore , the rotation direction indicating signal s 8 outputted by the phase comparator 200 is raised to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, thus resetting the flip - flop 101 in the mode control section 100 . therefore , the signal s 13 at the inversion output terminal q of the flip - flop 101 is set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. as the signal s 13 is raised to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; as described above , the first mode control signal s 9 at the output terminal of the and gate 102 is raised to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, as a result of which the switch 24 ( fig1 ) is turned off to interrupt the transmission of the voltage signal s 4 . when the second mode control signal s 10 is set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the reverse torque mode of the three - phase logic circuit 304 of the motor drive amplifier 300 is switched over to the forward torque mode . however , since the switch 24 is turned off so that no drive voltage signal s 5 is applied to the motor drive amplifier 300 , no exciting current is applied to the spindle motor 7 , and therefore no torque is produced thereby . accordingly , the spindle motor is stopped quickly . as was described above , in response to the stop instructing control signal s 6 (&# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;), the second mode control signal s 10 of the mode control section is raised to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, so that the motor drive amplifier 300 is operated in the reverse torque mode to supply the exciting currents to the spindle motor for production of reverse torque . as a result , the spindle motor 7 is quickly decelerated at a larger negative acceleration and substantially stopped in an extremely short time . when the spindle motor thus stopped is turned slightly in the opposite direction , the rotation direction indicating signal from the phase comparator 200 is raised to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, and the first mode control signal s 9 provided by the mode control section 100 turns off the switch 24 to interrupt the transmission of the exciting currents to the spindle motor 7 . as a result , no torque is produced , and the spindle motor 7 is stopped . therefore , even when the outer cover 12 and the jacket holder 10 ( fig6 through 8 ) are opened immediately after the recording or reproducing operation , the center core 2 of the magnetic disk 3 is disengaged from the spindle which is substantially stopped . furthermore , even when the magnetic disk 3 or another magnetic disk is loaded immediately thereafter , its center core 2 is fitted on the spindle 7a which is substantially stopped . thus , the magnetic disk can be smoothly fitted on the spindle and removed therefrom , and set correctly . in order to rotate the spindle motor again , the motor control signal s 6 is set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; as a for rotation instruction . as a result , the first mode control signal s 9 from the and gate 12 ( fig2 ) is set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, and the switch 24 ( fig1 ) is turned on , so that the drive voltage signal s 5 is applied to the motor drive amplifier 300 . the motor drive amplifier 300 supplies the exciting currents to the spindle motor 7 to produce the forward torque , because the operation mode of the motor drive amplifier 300 has been switched over to the forward torque mode when the spindle motor 7 stopped . in the above - described embodiment , a brushless dc motor is employed . however , it is possible to use other servo motors such as for instance a dc motor with brushes . furthermore , in addition to the aforementioned magnetic disk , a recording and reproducing disk or sheet of optical or electrostatic capacity type may be employed as the rotary recording medium in the invention . unlike the conventional method in which the supply of the exciting currents is merely interrupted to stop the spindle motor , the time required for stopping the spindle motor can be greatly reduced in the present invention . accordingly , even when the rotary recording medium is removed from the spindle immediately after recording or reproducing and the rotary recording medium is loaded immediately thereafter , the center core of the rotary recording medium is removed from or fitted on a spindle which is substantially stopped , and the center core pushing means depresses a center core which is substantially stopped . the surface of the center core which are brought into contact with the spindle and the center core pushing member are thus less worn . furthermore , as the center core is fitted on a spindle which is substantially stopped , the rotary recording medium can be positively set or chucked , which eliminates inclined or eccentric settings .	6
the invention will now be described more particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings , which show , by way of example only , one embodiment of the peel board carrier frame apparatus of the invention . fig1 is an isometric view of the peel board carrier frame ; fig2 a is a plan view of a peel board carrier frame outer member ; fig2 b is an end view of a peel board carrier frame outer member ; fig2 c is a side elevation of a peel board carrier frame outer member ; fig3 a is a plan view of the peel board carrier frame ; fig3 b is an end elevation of the peel board carrier frame ; fig4 a is a plan view of a peel board carrier frame cross - member ; fig4 b is an end view of the peel board carrier frame cross - member ; fig4 c is a side elevation of the peel board carrier frame cross - member ; fig5 b is a side elevation of the peel board ; fig5 c is a plan view of the peel board underside . referring initially to fig1 , a peel board carrier frame 1 comprises side members 100 , 101 , end members 102 , 103 , a cross - member 104 and bracing members 105 , 106 . in this example a board received in the frame 1 is a peel board but it will be appreciated that that the frame may equally be employed with other types of board . the frame 1 comprises an outer framework and an inner network of reinforcing cross - members . the outer framework comprises the side members 100 , 101 , spaced apart from and parallel to each other and the end members 102 , 103 , spaced apart from and parallel to each other so that when arranged as shown in fig1 , they define a rectangular opening . the outer framework members 100 , 101 102 , 103 are formed from elongate stainless steel members having an l - shaped cross section with a vertical in use leg and a horizontal in use leg arranged at right angles to each other . the ends of the horizontal legs of said members are bevelled inwardly at 45 - degree angles . the common overall shape of the members 100 , 101 , 102 and 103 is shown schematically in fig2 a , 2 b and 2 c . for clarity and simplicity the member shown is labelled 100 only . when positioned together to define frame 1 as shown in fig3 a , the bevelled ends of the members 100 , 101 , 102 and 103 meet to form 90 - degree mitre - joint corners 112 . the respective end edges of the vertical legs are also coincident at the corners of the frame 1 . the contacting end edges of the respective members 100 , 101 , 102 and 103 are welded together so that the horizontal legs of the members define a continuous inwardly facing ledge . a continuous vertical wall is defined by the connected vertical legs of the outer frame 1 . other suitable ways are possible for joining the outer members 100 , 101 , 102 and 103 , and indeed integral constriction of the outer members defining the outer framework is possible . to increase the rigidity of the framework structure an inner network of reinforcing members is provided . the inner framework comprises the transverse cross - member 104 , which lies parallel with , and equidistant from , the frame end members 102 , 103 . the cross - member 104 extends between and is connected to the side members 100 , 101 . to stiffen the frame 1 along the longitudinal axis , the two shorter bracing members 105 , 106 , which are of equal length , are connected perpendicularly in relation to the cross - member 104 between the cross - member 104 and the end members 102 and 103 of the outer framework , respectively . referring to fig4 a and 4 b , the reinforcing members 104 , 105 and 106 are each formed from initially flat stainless steel sheet that is shaped to create a channel cross - section . the shape of the channel cross - section , which is common to transverse cross - member 104 and the longitudinal bracing members 105 and 106 , is substantially trapezoidal and is shown schematically in fig4 a , 4 b and 4 c . for clarity and simplicity the member shown is labelled 104 only . the cross - member 104 comprises a flat top portion 111 and two side portions 109 , 110 which converge towards the top portion 111 . horizontal lip portions 107 and 108 are provided at the free edges of the side portions 109 , 110 , respectively . it will be appreciated that the reinforcing members 104 , 105 and 106 can have any other suitable configuration which enables the reinforcing function of the members . referring to fig3 a , the length of the cross - member 104 is such that , when in position within the outer framework , the opposing ends of the cross - member 104 extend between the inner faces of the vertical legs of the side members 101 and 102 . the respective ends of the cross - member 104 overlap the horizontal legs of side members 101 , 102 . at the overlapping regions 113 , 114 ( fig3 a ), the undersides of the lips 107 , 108 of the cross - member 104 rest upon the upper surface of the horizontal legs of the side members 101 and 102 , with the ends of the cross - member 104 abutting the inner surfaces of the respective vertical legs . permanent fastening of the cross - member 104 ends to the side members 101 , 102 is effected by seam welding the lips 107 , 108 of the cross - member 104 to the upper surfaces of the horizontal legs at the overlapping regions 113 , 114 . other suitable ways are possible for securing the cross - member 104 in position . the longitudinal bracing members 105 , 106 each extend from the lips 107 , 108 respectively of the cross - member 104 to the inner faces of the vertical legs of the end members 102 and 103 of the outer framework , respectively . in this arrangement , as shown in fig3 a , the ends of the brace members 105 , 106 overlap the lips 107 , 108 of the cross - member 104 and the upper surfaces of the horizontal legs of end members 102 , 103 , respectively . permanent fastening of the bracing members 105 , 106 to the cross member 104 and the respective outer frame end members 102 , 103 is effected by seam welding the overlapping portions . other ways are possible for securing the bracing members 105 , 106 in position . fig5 a and 5 b show a peel board 2 . the peel board is a one - piece injection moulded plastics construction that is manufactured having an upper section 21 that provides a substantially rectangular shaped upper surface 21 a which is suitable for receiving dough in the manufacture of baked products , and a substantially rectangular and hollow lower section that is defined by a wall 22 extending along the periphery of the underside of the board . the wall 22 in use resides within the rectangular opening defined by the outer framework members 100 , 101 , 102 and 103 of the frame 1 when the board 2 is in place . within the confines of the wall 22 , the interior of the lower section contains a plurality of reinforcing webs 24 integrally moulded with the underside surface of the board 2 . the reinforcing webs 24 project from the underside of the board 2 to a position level with the lower edge of the wall 22 . an exemplary arrangement of webs 24 is shown in fig5 c . they provide reinforcement to the board structure in all its axes . a load - bearing lip 23 extends around the entire perimeter of the board 2 and projects outwardly and laterally from the upper section 21 beyond the boundaries of the wall 22 . the overall dimensions of the wall 22 are such that when it is placed into position within the frame 1 , a close clearance fit between the wall 22 and the outer members 100 , 101 , 102 and 103 is achievable . with the wall 22 of the board 2 placed into the frame 1 , the underside of the lip 23 rests on upper edges of the outer framework members 100 , 101 , 102 and 103 . the lip 23 also projects laterally beyond the confines of the outer framework of the frame 2 at a distance that is sufficient to allow easy removal of the board from the frame by gripping the lip 23 . the upper , dough receiving , surface 21 a of the peel - board 2 is provided with a plurality of shallow diamond - shaped indents 25 . semolina flour that is typically sprinkled onto peel - boards is retained in the indents and assists the removal of dough from the board 2 after proving of the dough . the inner faces of the vertical legs of the outer members 100 to 103 of the frame 1 may be provided with a plurality of inwardly projecting protuberances 115 defined by hollow impressions made in their outer surfaces . the protuberances 115 abut the wall 22 of the board 2 when it is placed into position within the frame 1 . by occupying the clearance gap between the outer members 100 to 103 and the wall 22 , the protuberances 115 hold the board 2 more firmly in position in the frame 2 so as to restrict lateral fluctuations of the board 2 within the frame 1 thus reducing wear of the board 2 during use . the frame according to the invention affords a strong and robust protection to a peel - board carried by it when the frame and board are passing through various stages of an automated process . inevitably , the frame will experience some jarring , collisions and other rough treatment as it passes through the factory , but since it is constructed robustly from a strong material , it will not readily be damaged by such exposure , whereas the more fragile peel board retained within the confines of the frame will be protected by the frame elements . this elongates the useful working life of the peel boards . for maintenance and cleaning purposes , the peel board and frame can readily be disassembled . it will of course be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details described herein , which are given by way of example only and that various modifications and alterations are possible within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims .	0
[ 0023 ] fig1 a is a flow diagram that depicts one example method for dressing linearly adjacent cables according to the present invention . first , the distance between two subsystems that must be wired together must be determined ( step 5 ). also , the number of ports that must be connected from one subsystem to the next must also be determined ( step 10 ). an amount of ribbon cable is cut the length ( step 15 ) in order to accommodate the distance between the two subsystems . this ribbon cable typically comprises a plurality of network or communications cable , for example cat - 5 cable . it should be noted that any type of network or commutations cable may be utilized in the ribbon . also , it may be necessary to adjust the number of cables that constitute the ribbon cable according to the number of ports that must be connected from one system to the next ( step 20 ). then , the length of individual cables in the ribbon cable must be adjusted ( step 25 ) in order to accommodate the location of connections made from the ribbon cable to a subsystem . [ 0024 ] fig1 b is a continuation of the flow diagram presented in fig1 for dressing linearly adjacent cables according to the present invention . accordingly , once the individual cables in the ribbon cable are adjusted to length , this length adjusted end may then be introduced to a subsystem ( step 30 ). the individual cables to the ribbon cable may then be terminated with connectors ( step 35 ). typically , the connectors are mated ( step 40 ) with corresponding connectors comprising the subsystem ( e . g . receptacles ). the ribbon cable may then be positioned in a cable way ( step 45 ). a cable may then be fanned away from the ribbon ( step 50 ) and directed to an access port ( step 55 ). [ 0025 ] fig2 a , 2b and 2 c constitute a flow diagram that depicts one alternative method for dressing linearly adjacent cables according to the present invention . according to this alternative method , cables may be contained in a bundle ( step 60 ) and then encased in a decorative shroud ( step 65 ). encasing the cable bundle in a decorative shroud may be accomplished by enveloping the bundle with linear ribbon cable ( step 70 ) and then restraining the linear ribbon cable about the bundle ( step 75 ). according to one alternative variation of this method , the cable bundle is enveloped with a ribbon cable facade casing ( step 80 ). this casing may then be restrained about the bundle ( step 85 ). [ 0026 ] fig3 is a pictorial diagram that depicts one embodiment of a ribbon cable according to the present invention for interconnecting one subsystem to another . according to this illustrative embodiment , a plurality of communication or network cables 91 are held together linearly to form a ribbon cable 100 . at one end of the ribbon cable 100 , the length of individual cables is adjusted corresponding to the placement of connectors 105 ( e . g . receptacles ) constituting a communications or networking subsystem 90 . individual cables 91 are also fanned away from the ribbon cable in a like manner ( i . e . corresponding to the placement of connectors 105 constituting a subsystem 90 ). [ 0027 ] fig4 is a pictorial diagram that depicts the use of a ribbon cable to connect a subsystem to an access port according to the present invention . once individual ribbons and the ribbon cable are connected to a subsystem in a subsystem rack 115 , the ribbon cable may be disposed in a cable way 125 . as the ribbon cable 120 proceeds through an installation , an individual ribbon 117 may be fanned away from the ribbon cable 120 and directed to an access port 130 . [ 0028 ] fig5 is a pictorial that depicts the structure of a ribbon cable after it has been bundled according to method of the present invention . according to one alternative method of the present invention , a ribbon cable 120 emanating from a system subrack 115 may be rolled into a spiral bundle 140 . individual cables 91 in the ribbon cable 120 typically progressed from one side of the ribbon cable which is positioned substantially at the center of the spiral 145 . the outermost end of the spiral 145 is generally associated with the other side of the ribbon cable . [ 0029 ] fig6 a is a pictorial diagram depicting one example structure for a ribbon cable comprising a plurality of communications and / or network cables according to the present invention . according to this example of embodiment , a plurality of individual cables 91 are attached to a flexible planner component 170 . the individual cables 91 are typically attached tangent to their outermost perimeter and are spaced substantially at the distance equal to the diameter of an individual cable 92 . however , the spacing between individual cables may be varied according to various applications . for example , the individual cables 91 are may be spaced greater then the distance equal to their diameter ribbon cable that is intended to interface directly with a plurality of connectors , e . g . in a subsystem . the flexible planner component 170 may be any type of a flexible material . for example , a pliable form of polyvinyl chloride or poly - tetra - fluoro - ethylene ( ptfe ) may be used . these , however , are only examples of the type of material that may be used and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . attachment may be accomplished by any suitable adhesive that is disposed onto the planner component 170 . according to one alternative embodiment of the invention , the planner surface 170 may be thermally fused to an insulative jacket constituting an individual cable 91 . [ 0030 ] fig6 b is a pictorial diagram that depicts one alternative embodiment of the ribbon cable comprising a plurality of network and / or telecommunications cables according to the present invention . according to this alternative embodiment of the invention , a ribbon cable may be constructed by adhering the insulative jacket 150 of one cable 91 to another . typically , this is accomplished linearly along each of the two cables . one cable may be adhered to another using any suitable adhesive , which may , for example , be deposited at the junction 155 of the two insulative jackets as the two cables are positioned in a linearly adjacent manner . according to yet another alternative embodiment of the present invention , a plurality of cables may be drawn into a single insulative jacket 145 . these alternative embodiments are intended to depict the variety of means for fabricating a ribbon cable comprising network or telehphonic cables and these examples are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . [ 0031 ] fig7 is a pictorial diagram of one example embodiment of a decorative shroud according to the present invention . according to this example embodiment , a decorative shroud comprises a pliable material performed into a strip having an inner surface and an outer surface 190 . the pliable material may optionally be “ pre - performed ” into a circular profile and dispensed linearly relative to the profile . however , the pliable material is generally maintained a substantially flat positioned . according to this example embodiment , the outer surface comprises a ribbon cable facade such that grooves 200 are introduced into the surface linearly with a relationship to the strip constituting the pliable material . the grooves may be formed by a partial circle pattern 205 so as to provide the visual appearance of linearly adjacent cables running the length of the strip . according to one embodiment of the present invention , the pliable material may be thermally formed in order to emboss the grooves into said outer surface . any pliable material , e . g . ptfe or poly - vinyl - chloride , may be used in constructing the decorative shroud . [ 0032 ] fig8 is a pictorial diagram that depicts one alternative embodiment of a decorative shroud according to the present invention . according to this alternative embodiment , a decorative shroud comprises a ribbon cable comprising a plurality of linearly adjacent cylindrical members 210 . these cylindrical members 210 may comprise electrical cable ( e . g . network or communications cable ). the ribbon cable may be constructed according to the teachings of the present invention heretofore described . [ 0033 ] fig9 is a pictorial diagram that depicts the usage of the decorative shroud to encase a bundle of network or communications cables according to the teachings of the present invention . where a bundle of cables 225 may exist in disarray , e . g . they are not positioned in a linearly adjacent manner ; a decorative shroud 230 may be disposed about the bundle of cables 225 . the bundle of cables 225 may be temporarily or permanently contained so that they may be positioned within the envelope of the decorative shroud 230 . this may be accomplished by either physically holding the cables together ( e . g . to effect a temporary containment ) or by tying the cables together at intervals ( e . g . by using wire ties ). once the decorative shroud 230 is in position about the bundle of cables 225 , it may be secured in place . according to one alternative method , this may be accomplished through the use of wire ties 250 . while this invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments , it is contemplated that alternatives , modifications , permutations , and equivalents thereof will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the specification and study of the drawings . it is therefore intended that the true spirit and scope of the present invention include all such alternatives , modifications , permutations , and equivalents .	7
the embodiments described herein have features in common including a retrieval basket having at least one loop having a plurality of beads , which in a proper configuration form the basic shape of the basket . the retrieval basket of the invention is used to retrieve one or more stones and / or other calculi , objects , or other material from a body tract such as biliary and pancreatic ducts , hepatic ducts , cystic duct , common bile duct , ureters , urinary bladder , urethra , renal pelvis , and kidney . referring to fig1 one embodiment of the retrieval device 10 is shown according to the invention . the retrieval device 10 includes a distal portion 15 , a proximal portion 20 , and an intermediate portion 25 therebetween . a basket 30 is located at the distal portion 15 , an elongated member 35 extends along the intermediate portion 25 , and a proximal handle 45 is located at the proximal portion 20 . the elongated member 35 is joined to a basket base 44 at the distal end of the elongated member 35 , and to the handle 45 at the proximal end of the elongated member 35 . in one embodiment of the invention , the elongated member 35 includes a central lumen 40 longitudinally disposed in the elongated member 35 . a sheath 37 defining a lumen 39 extends from the handle 45 to the distal portion 15 of the retrieval device 10 . referring now to fig2 a , the elongated member 35 is longitudinally disposed and slideably moveable in the lumen 39 of the sheath 37 . sheath 37 is preferably made of commonly available materials which provide sufficient strength and flexibility for adequate operation , but which are soft enough to avoid trauma or irritation to the body lumen in which the sheath 37 is deployed . materials which may be used to form the sheath 37 include biocompatible polyethylenes , nylons , pebax ( ato chimie corporation , allee des vosges courbevoie , france ), teflon ( e . i . du pont de nemours and company , wilmington , del . ), urethane , silicones , other suitable polymer materials , and combinations of the aforementioned materials . referring again to fig1 in one embodiment , the proximal handle 45 includes a first actuator 47 and a second actuator 49 . at least one of the actuators 47 , 49 is disposed within the proximal handle 45 and connected to one or more basket connecting lines 50 . the one or more basket connecting lines 50 are disposed and slideably moveable in the lumen 39 of the sheath 37 or , alternatively , in the lumen 40 of the elongated member 35 . in one embodiment , with continued reference to fig2 a , basket connecting lines 50 are slideably moveable within the central lumen 40 of the elongated member 35 . the basket conntecting lines 50 are attached to the basket 30 at the distal portion 15 and are attached to the proximal handle 45 ( not shown ) at the proximal portion 20 . the basket 30 includes a basket tip 55 at a distal end and the basket base 43 at a proximal end of the basket 30 . a cuff 44 is disposed around the basket base 43 . the basket 30 is slideably positionable relative to a distal end 99 of the sheath 37 . for example , in one embodiment according to the invention , the basket 30 can be fixed in a stationary position with the sheath 37 operably joined to one of the actuators 47 , 49 and slideably moveable in a first direction to deploy and open the basket 30 as illustrated in fig2 a , and in a second direction to retract and constrain the basket 30 within the lumen 39 of the sheath 37 as illustrated in fig2 b . in an alternative embodiment , the sheath 37 is in a fixed position and the elongated member 35 is operably joined to one of the actuators 47 , 49 and is slideably moveable in a first direction within the lumen 39 of the sheath 37 to deploy and open the basket 30 and in a second direction to cover and collapse the basket 30 within the lumen 39 of the sheath 37 . with renewed reference to fig2 a , the basket 30 further includes one or more loops 65 which extend between the basket tip 55 and the basket base 43 to form the shape of the basket 30 . the basket base 43 is disposed at the distal end of the elongated member 35 . the basket tip 55 and the basket base 43 define the respective distal and proximal portions of the basket 30 . in one embodiment according to the invention , the basket is defined by a plurality of legs 77 formed by the loops 65 . for n legs 77 , there are n / 2 loops 65 . for example , a basket 30 having two legs 77 contains one loop 65 , a basket 30 having four legs 77 contains two loops 65 , a basket 30 having six legs 77 contains three loops 65 , and so on . other configurations of the basket 30 are contemplated by the invention . with continued reference to fig2 a in one embodiment according to the invention , the basket base 43 has a plurality of lumens 62 a , 62 b . alternatively , the basket base 43 may have only one lumen 62 . each loop 65 includes a plurality of beads 70 each bead having a lumen 73 . the beads 70 are strung together along a wire 74 extending through the lumen 73 disposed in each of the beads 70 . a first end 75 of the wire 74 is disposed through a lumen 62 a of the basket base 43 and attached at a wire attachment point 80 , or alternatively attached to the distal end of the elongated member 35 . referring still to fig2 a in one embodiment according to the invention , the basket base 43 includes a cuff 44 through which the wire 74 passes . the basket cuff 44 is interposed between the basket base 43 and the beads 70 . a second end 76 of the wire 74 is slideably disposed through a lumen 62 b of the basket base 43 and is attached to the distal end 78 of the basket connecting line 50 . the lumen 62 b of the basket base 43 is sized with a diameter large enough to allow slideable movement of the second end of the wire 76 and yet small enough to prevent passage of the beads 70 through the basket base 43 ( and basket cuff 44 , if so included ). accordingly , when tension is applied to the basket connecting line 50 to make the basket connecting line 50 taut , the beads 70 of the loop 65 are compressed together along the wire 74 and against the basket base 43 and the basket shape is formed as shown in fig2 a . when the connecting line 50 is released to relax the connecting line 50 , the beads 70 separate from one another and the basket 30 collapsed as illustrated in fig2 c . referring now to fig3 the distal end of the basket 30 includes one or more wires 74 that are threaded through the basket tip 55 and the lumen 73 of each of the plurality of beads 70 to form the loops 65 that make the basket 30 . in one embodiment , for example , shown in fig4 a and 4b , the wire 74 extends through wire aperture 81 disposed through a proximal portion 82 of the basket tip 55 . as shown in fig4 b , a distal portion 83 of the basket tip 55 is tapered or frusto - conical in shape to provide atraumatic passage through a body lumen . referring to fig4 c , in one embodiment according to the invention , the basket tip 55 may have a plurality of apertures 81 to receive one or more wires 74 . referring to fig4 b in one embodiment , for example , four wire apertures 81 may be disposed within the basket tip 55 . this arrangement of apertures 81 is suitable for two wires 74 ( a pair of apertures for each wire 74 ). three or more wires 74 are also contemplated , requiring six of more wire apertures 81 , accordingly . the basket tip 55 can be shaped to provide ease of insertion and passage through a body lumen . the portion of the basket tip 55 interfacing with the other beads 70 of the loops 65 ( fig4 a ) can be shaped to modify the basket shape when the connecting line 50 and wire 74 is pulled taut as illustrated in fig2 a . in one embodiment , the beads 70 are made of a thermoplastic , polymeric or ceramic material that is substantially resistant to holmium laser energy . alternatively , the beads 70 can be made of a metal such as nitinol , stainless steel , or any combination of the aforementioned materials . the wire 74 can be made from a suture material . in one preferred embodiment , the wire 74 is a nitinol core with a polytetrafluoroethylene ( ptfe ) outer coating . referring now to fig5 a - 5c , the beads 70 of the loop 65 can be formed into specific shapes , particularly at the mating surfaces 71 between the beads 70 , so that the beads are self - aligning in that the shape of the basket 30 is formed when tension is applied to the connecting line 50 and the wire 74 that runs through the lumen 73 of each of the beads 70 . the beads 70 of the device 10 are each any suitable pierced member for forming the basket 30 . the beads may comprise a variety of shapes , including , for example , cylindrical , spherical , ellipsoidal , toroidal , parallelapipedal , and cubical . referring to fig5 a , in one particular embodiment , the profile geometry of the basket 30 may include beads 70 of the loop 65 having mating surfaces 71 that are canted at various angles to form a basket 30 of desired configuration . in one particular embodiment , two kinds of beads 70 are used : a 9 - degree bead whereby the mating surfaces 71 at each end of the bead 70 is canted 9 degrees from the vertical as shown in fig5 b ; and an 11 - degree bead whereby the mating surfaces 71 at each end of the bead 70 is canted 11 degrees from the vertical as shown in fig5 c . the beads 70 may be canted at other angles at one or both ends of the bead 70 and / or the bead 70 may also be curved along the longitudinal axis of the bead 70 ( not shown ). for example , the radii of the basket 30 defining the configuration illustrated in fig5 a , is shown with r1 equal to measured 0 . 3130 inches , r2 equal to 0 . 3645 inches , and r3 equal to 0 . 2097 inches . the distance , d from the basket base equals 0 . 2953 inches . other basket configurations and dimensions including other radii are contemplated by the invention . the beads 70 can also include surface characteristics for specific applications . for example , in one embodiment , the beads 70 can be textured to enhance the material gripping properties . all or a portion of the surface of any of the beads 70 can be roughened by a variety of means including , but not limited to , applying a material coating , forming teeth or ribs on the bead surface , or etching the bead surface . referring to fig6 a and 6b , the diameter of the lumen 73 of the beads 70 is sized at least with a diameter sufficient to allow the wire 74 to slideably move through the lumen 73 . as shown in fig6 c - 6e in one embodiment , the mating surfaces 71 may be angled to effect the shape of the basket 30 when the wire 74 is pulled taut . in other embodiments , the mating surfaces 71 of the beads 70 can be adapted for specific use or application to modify the basket into other desired shapes when tension is applied to the wire 74 . referring now to fig7 a , in one embodiment , the first actuator 47 is similar to the actuator described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 944 , 728 , co - owned with the present application , the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference . slideably moving the first actuator 47 in a distal direction towards the distal end of the sheath 37 indicated by arrow 91 ( fig7 b ) causes the sheath 37 to cover and constrain the basket 30 within the sheath lumen 39 as shown in fig7 b . conversely , slideably moving the first actuator 47 in a proximal direction towards the operator indicated by arrow 92 ( fig7 c ) causes the sheath 37 to retract from the basket 30 as shown in fig7 c . the loops 65 of the basket 30 are biased in an outwardly radial direction such that the loops 65 spring outward when the sheath 37 is withdrawn from the basket 30 deploying the basket 30 from the distal end 99 of the sheath 37 , the loops 65 assuming an arcuate shape , thereby forming basket 30 as shown in fig7 c . once the first actuator 47 positions the basket 30 in the deployed and opened position illustrated in fig7 c , the second actuator 49 can collapse the basket 30 as illustrated in fig7 d , without retracting the basket 30 into the sheath 37 . referring to fig8 a , a sectional view of the second actuator 49 , identified by area b of fig7 a is depicted . the second actuator is disposed within the proximal handle 45 . in the embodiment shown in fig8 a , the second actuator 49 includes a thumb button 100 slideably disposed and retained by an outer cap 105 . the outer cap 105 is affixed to the proximal end of the proximal handle 45 . the thumb button 100 slides within the retaining slots 110 of the outer cap 105 . the thumb button 100 is biased in a proximal direction by a spring tensioner 115 , the spring tensioner 115 is disposed between a spring plate 120 and the thumb button 100 . one or more basket connecting lines 50 extend from the basket 30 at the distal portion 15 of the device 10 through the central lumen 40 of the elongated member 35 , or , alternatively , through the lumen 39 of the sheath 37 , through the proximal handle 45 , and through the spring tensioner 115 for attachment to the thumb button 100 . referring still to fig8 a , pushing the thumb button 100 compresses the spring tensioner 115 between the button 100 and the spring plate 120 and moves the basket connecting line 50 in a distal direction to substantially reduce the tension in the wire 74 of each of the loops 65 in the basket 30 . this , in turn , collapses the basket 30 as illustrated in fig8 c , and permits release of captured material . this release capability is applicable in instances requiring immediate and unexpected removal of the device 10 from the body . releasing the thumb button 100 permits the spring tensioner 115 to restore tension to the basket connecting line 50 , the wire 74 , and the loops 65 , thereby re - forming the expanded basket shape of the basket 30 as illustrated in fig7 c . although only a single basket connecting line 50 is shown in fig7 c for clarity , multiple connection lines 50 corresponding to multiple loops 65 of the basket 30 are contemplated . in an alternative embodiment , the second actuator 49 can be configured as shown in fig8 b . a thumb button 100 ′ is disposed through an outer cap 155 and is coupled to an inner spool 160 . the inner spool 160 is slideably disposed within the outer cap 155 , and engages an actuator cam 157 attached to outer cap 155 . the inner spool 160 is affixed to the outer cap 155 , therefore rotating the outer cap 155 causes rotation of the inner spool 160 . the inner spool 160 is biased in a proximal direction by a spring tensioner 165 . the spring tensioner 165 is longitudinally compressed between a mandrel 169 and the inner spool 160 . the basket connecting line 50 is threaded through a bore in the mandrel 170 , the spring tensioner 165 , and around the inner spool 160 and finally the connecting line 50 terminates at the wire attachment point 175 disposed on the inner spool 160 . depressing the thumb button 150 compresses the spring tensioner 165 between the mandrel 169 and the inner spool 160 , and moves the basket connecting line 50 in a distal direction to substantially reduce the tension in the wire 74 of each of the loops 65 in the basket 30 . this in turn collapses the basket 30 and permits the release of the captured material . fully depressing the thumb button 150 causes the inner spool 160 to engage the actuator cam 157 and releasably lock the thumb button 150 in the depressed position and the basket 30 in the open and collapsed position . with the thumb button 150 locked in the depressed position , the operator can rotate the outer cap 155 in a first direction , thereby rotating the inner spool 160 in a first direction . the rotation of the inner spool 160 winds the basket connecting line 50 onto the inner spool 160 and advances the connecting line 50 in a proximal direction to increase the compressive force of the basket 30 . this allows the operator to set a threshold retention force for retaining the captured material or to apply sufficient force to the material captured within the basket 30 for fragmentation of the stone . the operator can rotate the outer cap 155 in a second direction , opposite the first direction , which in turn rotates the inner spool 160 in an opposite direction and unwinds the basket connecting line 50 from the inner spool 160 . this advanced the connecting line 50 in a distal direction and allows the basket 30 to collapse and open . with this arrangement , the second actuator 49 can be locked at one or more positions to secure the basket 30 in an open state , a closed state , or various positions therebetween in one of two ways . this configurations allows the operator to tighten the basket connecting lines 50 with varying force , permitting the operator to selectively set the compressive strength of the basket 30 for retrieving and retaining material from the body . as shown in fig7 b , an operator ( e . g ., a physician ) introduces the device 10 into a body tract 180 of the patient with the basket 30 retracted into the lumen 39 of the sheath 37 at its distal end 99 to achieve the retracted position . in one embodiment , the operator can then position the distal portion 15 of the retrieval device 10 proximate to the material to be retrieved such as , for example , a kidney stone , a ureteral stone , urethral stone , a bladder stone , a gallbladder stone , cholelith , or bile duct stone . as schematically depicted in fig7 c , the operator moves the first actuator 47 in the direction of the arrow 92 to withdraw the sheath 37 from the basket 30 to fully deploy the basket 30 from the lumen 39 of the sheath 37 into a deployed expanded position . with the basket 30 fully deployed from the lumen 39 , the basket loops 65 extend radially and the basket 30 becomes sized and configured into a shape , for example , as illustrated in fig7 c , that can be manipulated over the material to be retrieved ( e . g ., a calculus 200 ). referring to fig7 c , once the operator positions the basket loops 65 generally around the material , the material can be captured within the basket 30 for subsequent removal from the body or the operator can readily release the material should the anatomical environment require it . by now advancing the sheath 37 over the basket 30 in the direction of the arrow 91 ( fig7 b ), the device may also serve as a mechanical lithotripsy system for crushing or fragmenting stones that are too large to removed intact from the body tract 180 by compressing the stone within the basket 30 . a situation can arise during the course of a clinical procedure performed by the operator where ready release of the captured material from the basket 30 is required to permit removal of the device 10 from the patient . referring now to fig7 d , in one embodiment , after capture of the material in the body and while the basket 30 is in the deployed expanded position extending from the end of the sheath 37 , the captured material ( such as calculus 200 ) can be released from the basket 30 , by depressing the thumb button 100 of the second actuator 49 to rapidly release tension from the basket connecting lines 50 thereby collapsing the basket 30 into a deployed collapsed position and releasing the material disposed within the basket 30 . to restore the loops 65 to the previous radially outward position ( illustrated in fig7 c , the operator releases the thumb button 100 thereby returning tension to the basket connecting lines 50 and the wire 74 of the loops 65 . accordingly , referring again to fig2 a , the beads 75 strung along the wire 74 of each loop 65 are compressed together between the basket tip 55 and the basket cuff 44 of the basket 30 . the mating surfaces 71 of the beads 75 are configured to from a basket 30 having a predetermined size and shape . in general , the basket , elongated member 35 , and proximal handle 45 are not necessarily shown in their correct size or proportion to each other . the size of the basket 30 and elongated member 35 are dimensioned for the application of the retrieval device in the body . for example , for most biliary type applications , the total working length of the distal portion 15 and the intermediate portion 25 ranges from about 60 inches ( 150 cm ) to about 120 inches ( 300 cm ), and preferably about 71 inches ( 180 cm ). in one embodiment , the size of the basket 30 and elongated member 35 are dimensioned for use within a 3 . 2 mm or larger diameter working channel of an endoscope . in one embodiment , the length of the beads 70 ranges from 0 . 040 inches ( 1 mm ) to 0 . 197 inches ( 5 mm ), the outer diameter of the beads 70 can range from 0 . 006 inches ( 0 . 152 mm ) to 0 . 015 inches ( 0 . 381 mm ), and the inner diameter of the beads 70 can range from 0 . 004 inches ( 0 . 102 mm ) to 0 . 006 inches ( 0 . 152 mm ). the invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . therefore , it must be expressly understood that the foregoing embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects illustrative rather than limiting on the invention described herein . scope of the invention is thus 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 .	0
hereinafter , an example clothes treatment will be described with reference to fig1 to 4 and 16 . the clothes treatment apparatus 1 according to this implementation includes a cabinet 10 , which defines a treatment chamber 12 that is open at the front thereof , and a door 20 configured to open and close the front of the cabinet 10 . the interior of the cabinet 10 is partitioned into upper and lower interior parts by a partition plate 11 . a treatment chamber 12 , in which clothes are hung , is defined in the interior of the cabinet 10 above the partition plate 11 . a cycle chamber 14 , in which machinery is installed , is defined in the interior of the cabinet 10 below the partition plate 11 . clothes may be hung in the treatment chamber 12 . in the treatment chamber 12 , wrinkles in the clothes may be smoothed , or the clothes may be deodorized , by the circulation of steam or air . a hanger support bar 13 is configured to support clothes hangers , on which clothes may be hung , is provided in the upper part of the treatment chamber 12 . the hanger support bar 13 may be configured to be moved in the treatment chamber 12 in forward and rearward directions , in upward and downward directions , and / or in leftward and rightward directions by a driving device , such as a motor . the hanger support bar 13 may be periodically reciprocated . an air blowing port 16 and a steam discharge port 17 are formed in the treatment chamber 12 . in this implementation , the air blowing port 16 and the steam discharge port 17 are formed in a discharge panel 15 . the air blowing port 16 and the steam discharge port 17 may be formed in different panels . in this implementation , the discharge panel 15 constitutes a portion of the cycle chamber 14 . the discharge panel 15 is located at the rear side of the partition plate 11 . the discharge panel 15 and the partition plate 11 form a continuous surface . the discharge panel 15 may be inclined toward the partition plate 11 . air blown by a blowing unit 30 is discharged through the air blowing port 16 . steam generated by a steam unit 40 is discharged through the steam discharge port 17 . a blowing unit 30 for circulating air in the treatment chamber 12 , a steam unit 40 for supplying steam into the treatment chamber 12 , a heat pump unit 50 for conditioning air in the treatment chamber 12 , and a control unit 60 for controlling the respective units 30 , 40 , and 50 may be installed in the cycle chamber 14 . in this implementation , an assembly of machinery , including the blowing unit 30 , the steam unit 40 , the heat pump unit 50 , and the control unit 60 , which are required to perform respective cycles of the clothes treatment apparatus , is defined as a cycle assembly . the blowing unit 30 includes a blowing fan 32 and an inlet duct 34 . the inlet duct 34 is installed at the suction side of the blowing fan 32 to guide air in the treatment chamber 12 to the blowing fan 32 . the blowing fan 32 may be rotated to blow air . the blowing fan 32 suctions air from the treatment chamber 12 , and discharges the suctioned air to the heat pump unit 50 . when the steam unit 40 is powered on , heat is generated from the steam unit 40 . the steam unit 40 converts water supplied from a water supply tank 80 , which will be described hereinafter , into steam . the generated steam may be discharged into the treatment chamber 12 . in this implementation , a flow channel may be defined such that the steam flows into the treatment chamber 12 via the heat pump unit 50 . the heat pump unit 50 may include a heat pump cycle that includes a compressor , a condenser , an evaporator , and an expansion valve . based on the operation mode of the heat pump unit 50 , cooled air or heated air may be discharged into the treatment chamber 12 . in particular , the heat pump unit 50 may heat air around the condenser through heat exchange with a refrigerant , and may supply the heated air into the treatment chamber 12 through the blowing unit 30 . the high - temperature air , which may be supplied into the treatment chamber 12 , is used to treat clothes that are hung on the clothes hangers , which are supported by the hanger support bar 13 . in a case which the heat pump unit 50 is not operated , but only the blowing unit is operated , room - temperature air is supplied into the treatment chamber 12 . in addition , air cooled by the evaporator may be supplied into the treatment chamber 12 through the blowing unit 30 . the heat pump unit 50 may dehumidify the air in the treatment chamber 12 . a tank module 70 for storing water may be installed in front of the cycle chamber 14 . the tank module 70 may include a water supply tank 80 for supplying water to the steam unit 40 and a drainage tank 90 for collecting and storing condensed water that is generated in the treatment chamber 12 . a water supply level sensor 81 for sensing the level of water stored in the water supply tank 80 is installed in the water supply tank 80 , and a drainage level sensor 91 for sensing the level of water stored in the drainage tank 90 is installed in the drainage tank 90 . water from the water supply tank 80 flows to the steam unit 40 via a water supply pump 45 . water that is condensed in the treatment chamber 12 flows to the lower side of the treatment chamber 12 due to gravity , and may then be pumped to the drainage tank 90 by a drainage pump 46 . water that is condensed in the heat pump unit 50 also flows to the drainage tank 90 via the drainage pump 46 . the water supply pump 45 or the drainage pump 46 is controlled by the control unit 60 . in this implementation , a tank module frame 71 may be installed in front of the inlet duct 34 . a tank installation space 73 may be defined between the tank module frame 71 and the door 20 . the tank module frame 71 may be coupled to the partition plate 11 to isolate the cycle chamber 14 from the outside . a tank support bar 75 , which is configured to interfere with at least one selected from between the water supply tank 80 and the drainage tank 90 , may be installed in front of the tank installation space 73 . the tank support bar 75 prevents the water supply tank and / or the drainage tank 90 from being unintentionally separated from the tank installation space 73 . the tank support bar 75 is configured to support the front of the water supply tank 80 and the front of the drainage tank 90 . when the door 20 is opened and closed , the water supply tank 80 and the drainage tank 90 are prevented from being separated from the tank installation space 73 . in this implementation , the lower end of the water supply tank 80 may be placed on the upper end of the tank support bar 75 , and the lower end of the drainage tank 90 may be placed on the upper end of the tank support bar 75 . a tank support end 79 , which is configured to interfere with the tank support bar 75 , may be formed on at least one selected from between the water supply tank 80 and the drainage tank 90 . the front of the tank support bar 75 and the front of the water supply tank 80 may be configured to form a continuous surface due to the tank support end 79 . in addition , the front of the tank support bar 75 and the front of the drainage tank 90 may be configured to form a continuous surface due to the tank support end 79 . the water supply tank 80 and the drainage tank 90 may be disposed in the tank installation space 73 such that the water supply tank 80 and the drainage tank 90 are arranged parallel to each other in rightward and leftward directions . when the door 20 is in an opened position , the water supply tank 80 and the drainage tank 90 are exposed to a user . the water supply tank 80 and the drainage tank 90 may be withdrawn by the user . the water supply tank 80 and the drainage tank 90 may be separated from the tank module frame 71 . the water supply tank 80 and the drainage tank 90 may be separably mounted in the tank installation space 73 . the water supply tank 80 may be connected to the steam unit 40 to supply water to the steam unit 40 . the drainage tank 90 may be connected to the treatment chamber 12 to store water discharged from the treatment chamber 12 or the heat pump unit 50 . the drainage tank 90 may be configured to function identical to the water supply tank 80 . the drainage tank 90 may be disposed alongside the water supply tank 80 . the clothes treatment apparatus 1 may further include a scent diffuser 100 configured to diffuse scent into the treatment chamber 12 . the scent diffuser 100 may be disposed in the treatment chamber 12 . after the scent diffuser 100 is completely used , the user may replace the scent diffuser 100 with a new one . in this implementation , the scent diffuser 100 may be separably mounted in the discharge panel 15 . the scent diffuser 100 may be inserted into an opening formed in the discharge panel 15 . the user may simply pull the scent diffuser 100 to separate the scent diffuser 100 from the discharge panel 15 . the scent diffuser 100 may be provided with a handle 129 . the user may pull the scent diffuser 100 while holding the handle 129 to separate the scent diffuser 100 from the discharge panel 15 . the scent diffuser 100 may be provided in a flow channel along which air blown by the blowing unit 30 is guided to the air blowing port 16 . alternatively , the scent diffuser 100 may be separably provided at any constructional component , such as the door 20 , other than the discharge panel 15 as long as the scent diffuser 100 can supply scent into the treatment chamber 12 . hereinafter , an example scent diffuser 100 will be described in detail with reference to fig5 to 17 . a replaceable scent member 5 may be mounted in the scent diffuser 100 . the scent diffuser 100 may be separably mounted in the discharge panel 15 . the scent diffuser 100 includes a holder 110 , in which the scent member 5 is mounted , the holder 110 having at least one discharge port 124 , and a slider 140 movably provided at the holder 110 for adjusting the extent of opening of the discharge port 124 based on the position thereof . the scent member 5 may be made of a material that diffuses scent . when the scent member 5 is exposed to the air , the scent member 5 diffuses scent into the air . in this implementation , the scent member 5 may be provided in a sheet type form . the scent member 5 may be provided in various other forms , such as a particle type form and a liquid type form . when the scent member 5 is completely used , the user may separate the scent member 5 from the discharge panel 15 of the treatment chamber 12 , and may then mount a new one in the discharge panel 15 of the treatment chamber 12 . the holder 110 may be provided with a scent member installation space 111 , in which the scent member 5 is received . scent discharged from the scent member 5 may be diffused to the outside through the discharge port 124 . a plurality of discharge ports 124 may be provided . in this implementation , the discharge ports 124 constitute a plurality of lines . the discharge ports 124 constitute a plurality of lines in a longitudinal direction . the discharge ports 124 constitute two lines l 1 and l 2 ( see fig5 ), which are spaced apart from each other in a direction in which the slider 140 moves . the extents of opening of the discharge ports 124 constituting each line l 1 or l 2 are simultaneously adjusted by the slider 140 . hereinafter , the discharge ports 124 constituting the first line l 1 will be referred to as first discharge ports , and the discharge ports 124 constituting the second line l 2 will be referred to as second discharge ports , as needed . at least a portion of the slider 140 may be exposed outward from the holder 110 such that the user can manipulate the slider 140 . the slider 140 may be moved by a user &# 39 ; s manipulation , whereby the extent of opening of the first discharge ports and the second discharge ports may be adjusted . the holder 110 includes a first holder member 120 and a second holder member 130 . the scent member installation space 111 , in which the scent member 5 is mounted , may be formed between the first holder member 120 and the second holder member 130 . the scent member installation space 111 may be formed in the first holder member 120 or the second holder member 130 . in this example , the scent member installation space 111 may be formed in the second holder member 130 . a slider installation space 113 , in which the slider 140 is mounted , may be formed in the first holder member 120 . the discharge ports 124 may be formed in the first holder member 120 or the second holder member 130 . in this implementation , the discharge ports 124 are formed in the first holder member 120 . the first holder member 120 includes a first housing 121 , in which the slider installation space 113 is formed . the second holder member 130 includes a second housing 131 , in which the scent member installation space 111 is formed . the scent member 5 and the slider 140 are arranged opposite to each other . the discharge ports 124 and a slit 125 are formed in the first housing 121 . the slit 125 extends in a longitudinal direction of the first holder member 120 to guide the movement of the slider 140 . the slit 125 may be formed separately from the discharge ports 124 . in this implementation , the slit 125 may be connected to one of the discharge ports 124 , i . e . a discharge port 124 a . in this implementation , the discharge port 124 a connected to the slit 125 is used as a manipulation part installation hole , in which the slider 140 is mounted . the manipulation part installation hole may be formed separately from the discharge port 124 a . the discharge port 124 a is formed so as to be wider than the slit 125 . the first holder member 120 and the second holder member 130 may be separably coupled to each other . furthermore , the first holder member 120 and the second holder member 130 may be connected to each other such that the first holder member 120 and the second holder member 130 can be rotated relative to each other . to this end , one selected from between the first holder member 120 and the second holder member 130 may include a pivot 127 , which is used as a rotational shaft about which the other selected from between the first holder member 120 and the second holder member 130 can be rotated , and the other selected from between the first holder member 120 and the second holder member 130 may include a hinge coupling unit 132 , which is rotatably coupled to the pivot 127 . the hinge coupling unit 132 may be separably coupled to the pivot 127 . the hinge coupling unit 132 extends so as to correspond to the pivot 127 . the hinge coupling unit 132 may be provided with a recess 132 a ( see fig6 ), through which the pivot 127 is inserted . the hinge coupling unit 132 may be formed from an elastic material ( e . g . a synthetic resin ) such that the circumference of the recess 132 a is elastically deformed to some extent when the pivot 127 is inserted into the recess 132 a . the first holder member 120 , the second holder member 130 , and / or the slider 140 may be made of a synthetic resin by injection molding . the pivot 127 may be forcibly inserted into the hinge coupling unit 132 . when the pivot 127 is inserted into the hinge coupling unit 132 , the hinge coupling unit 132 is elastically deformed such that the pivot 127 can be inserted into the hinge coupling unit 132 . when the pivot 127 is separated from the hinge coupling unit 132 , the hinge coupling unit 132 may also be elastically deformed . the slider 140 includes a plate 141 disposed in the holder 110 such that the plate 141 can move along the holder 110 . a manipulation part 142 may be formed at the plate 141 , the manipulation part 142 being exposed outward from the holder 110 . the manipulation part 142 may be manipulated by a user , and is configured to move along the slit 125 . the opening adjustment ports 144 may be formed in the plate 141 , the opening adjustment ports 144 being configured to overlap the discharge ports 124 so as to expose the scent member 5 . the plate 141 may be disposed in the holder 110 to change the area that covers the discharge ports 124 based on the position of the slider 140 . the manipulation part 142 is the exposed portion of the slider 140 , and is exposed outward from the holder 110 . the manipulation part 142 constitutes a portion of the slider 140 . in this implementation , the manipulation part 142 protrudes from the plate 141 . in a case where the holder is configured to have a structure in which a portion of the plate 141 is exposed outward , the exposed portion of the plate 141 , which is exposed outward from the holder , may be used as the manipulation part . the extent of opening the discharge ports 124 may be adjusted based on the area covered by the plate 141 . one side part of the plate 141 is configured to adjust the extent of opening of the first discharge ports 124 , and the other side part of the plate 141 is configured to adjust the extent of opening of the second discharge ports 124 , on the basis of the manipulation part 142 . the slit 125 , which extends in a direction in which the manipulation part 142 moves , may be formed in the holder 110 . in this case , the manipulation part 142 may move along the slit 125 . the slit 125 may extend from one of the discharge ports 124 , i . e . the discharge port 124 a . the discharge port 124 a , which is connected to the slit 125 , is sufficiently large to allow the manipulation part 142 to pass therethrough . the manipulation part 142 may be inserted into the discharge port 124 a from the inside of the discharge port 124 a such that the manipulation part 142 protrudes outward from the first holder member 120 . the slit 125 is formed so as to be narrower than each of the discharge ports 124 . the slit 125 extends in a direction in which the slider 140 moves . the manipulation part 142 is connected to the plate 141 via a connection part that is narrow enough to pass through the slit 125 . the amount of scent discharged from the scent diffuser 100 may be set based on the extent of opening of the discharge ports 124 . the extent of opening of the discharge ports 124 corresponds to the position of the manipulation part 142 . the plate 141 is configured to move to adjust the area of the discharge ports 124 that is covered . referring to fig1 to 17 , it can be seen that the extent of opening of the discharge ports 124 can be adjusted through several stages based on the position of the manipulation part 142 . in the slider 140 , the manipulation part 142 may be located at the middle of the opening adjustment ports 144 . the opening adjustment ports 144 disposed at the upper side of the manipulation part 142 and the opening adjustment ports 144 disposed at the lower side of the manipulation part 142 may be arranged symmetrically . the slit 125 may be located in the middle of the holder 110 . the manipulation part 142 is configured to move along the slit 125 , which is located in the middle of the holder 110 . the user may intuitively check the position of the manipulation part 142 . a plurality of opening adjustment ports 144 is provided . the opening adjustment ports 144 simultaneously overlap the discharge ports 124 constituting the first line l 1 or the discharge ports 124 constituting the second line l 2 . for example , the opening adjustment ports 144 may simultaneously adjust the extent of opening of the discharge ports 124 constituting the first line l 1 . the scent member 5 may be exposed from the discharge ports 124 through the opening adjustment ports 144 . in this implementation , one opening adjustment port 144 overlaps one discharge port 124 . the opening adjustment ports 144 and the manipulation part 142 are arranged in a line . the opening adjustment ports 144 move the same distance as the manipulation part 142 . in the above arrangement , it is possible for the user to intuitively check the extent of opening of the discharge ports 124 . the extent of opening of the discharge ports 124 is adjusted based on the position of the manipulation part 142 . when the manipulation part 142 is completely aligned with the discharge ports 124 , the discharge ports 124 are completely open . on the other hand , when the manipulation part 142 completely deviates from the discharge ports 124 , the discharge ports 124 are completely closed . the slider 140 may be provided with at least one interference protrusion 143 . the holder 110 may be provided with one or more positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f , which are located in a path along which the interference protrusion 143 moves and which interfere with the interference protrusion 143 when the slider 140 is moved . the number of positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f may be greater than the number of interference protrusions 143 . when the user moves the manipulation part 142 , the user may perceive the sensation of the interference protrusions 143 moving over the positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f . since the positions of the positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f are set so as to correspond to the extent of opening of the discharge ports 124 , the user may manipulate the slider 140 such that the slider 140 can be appropriately positioned based on a predetermined extent of opening of the discharge ports 124 . the holder 110 may be provided with at least one movement restriction protrusion 128 a and 128 b for limiting a movable range of the slider 140 . the slider 140 may be disposed between the movement restriction protrusion 128 a and 128 b . the movement of the slider 140 in one direction may be restricted by the first movement restriction protrusion 128 a , and the movement of the slider 140 in the other direction is restricted by the second movement restriction protrusion 128 b . the discharge ports 124 may be completely closed ( see fig1 or 11 ) at a position at which the slider 140 cannot move any further due to the first movement restriction protrusion 128 a . the discharge ports 124 may be completely open ( see fig1 or 17 ) at a position at which the slider 140 cannot move any further due to the second movement restriction protrusion 128 b . the movement restriction protrusions 128 a and 128 b are formed in a direction crossing the movement path of the slider 140 . in this implementation , each of the movement restriction protrusions 128 a and 128 b may be formed to have a rib shape . referring to fig8 , the interference protrusions 143 may be provided at opposite sides of the manipulation part 142 . in the first housing 121 , positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f for restricting the position of one interference protrusion 143 may be disposed at one side of the slit 125 such that the positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f are arranged in a line . in the first housing 121 , positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f for restricting the position of the other interference protrusion 143 may be disposed at the other side of the slit 125 , such that the positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f are arranged in a line . the positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f for restricting the position of one interference protrusion 143 and the positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f for restricting the position of the other interference protrusion 143 may be disposed symmetrically . referring to fig1 to 17 , the scent diffuser 100 may be configured such that the discharge ports 124 can be adjusted to have four extents of opening , for example , fully open , ⅓ open , ⅔ open , and fully closed . the six positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f may be arranged along the movement path of the interference protrusions 143 in a line . referring to fig1 or 11 , the first positioning protrusion 126 a is configured to interfere with the interference protrusion 143 when the slider 140 is moved from the left to the right . after the interference protrusion 143 moves over the first positioning protrusion 126 a , the slider 140 comes into contact with the first positioning protrusion 126 a , with the result that the slider 140 does not move any further . referring to fig1 or 13 , the second positioning protrusion 126 b and the third positioning protrusion 126 c are provided so as to set the position of the slider 140 at which the discharge ports 124 are ⅓ open . in a state in which the discharge ports 124 are ⅓ open , the interference protrusion 143 is located between the second positioning protrusion 126 b and the third positioning protrusion 126 c ( hereinafter , referred to as a ⅓ open position ). referring to fig1 or 15 , the fourth positioning protrusion 126 d and the fifth positioning protrusion 126 e are provided so as to correspond to the position of the slider 140 at which the discharge ports 124 are ⅔ open . in a state in which the discharge ports 124 are ⅔ open , the interference protrusion 143 is located between the fourth positioning protrusion 126 d and the fifth positioning protrusion 126 e ( hereinafter , referred to as a ⅔ open position ). referring to fig1 or 17 , when the slider 140 is moved from the position at which the discharge ports 124 are ⅔ open , the interference protrusion 143 moves over the six positioning protrusion 126 f . at this time , the slider 140 comes into contact with the second movement restriction protrusion 128 b , with the result that the slider 140 does not move any further . as described above , the positioning protrusions 126 a to 126 f may enable the user to recognize the positions of the slider 140 that correspond to the extent of opening of the discharge ports 124 based on the sensation of manipulation during the manipulation of the slider 140 , and may prevent the movement of the slider 140 after the interference protrusions 143 are located at the predetermined positions ( e . g . the ⅓ open position and the ⅔ open position ). according to implementations , the positioning protrusions may be configured differently . for example , a larger number of positioning protrusions may be provided in order to adjust the extent of opening of the discharge ports 124 through a larger number of stages . in another implementation , one selected from between the slider 140 and the holder 110 may include an interference protrusion , and the other selected from between the slider 140 and the holder 110 may include positioning insertion parts , into which the interference protrusion is inserted when the slider 140 is located at predetermined positions . in this case , the positioning insertion parts may be provided at positions corresponding to the extent of opening of the discharge ports 124 and the interference protrusion may be inserted into the positioning insertion parts during the movement of the slider 140 . it will be apparent that , although implementations have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings , the disclosure is not limited to the above - described implementations , and therefore various modifications and variations can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the appended claims . thus , modifications and variations should not be understood independently of the technical spirit or prospect of the disclosure . the above implementations are therefore to be construed in all aspects as illustrative and not restrictive .	3
luminosity level detectors may be used in combination with illuminated display screens in devices such as telephones , tablets , computers , photographic cameras , etc . to automatically adjust the screen backlighting power according to the ambient luminosity , and thus achieve power savings and / or improve the user - friendliness . a luminosity level can be deduced from the measurement of the voltage across the photodiode , at the end of an integration period before and after the detector is reset by recharging of its photodiode . the voltage decrease across the photodiode during the integration depends on the amount of light received by the photodiode . a problem is that , if the integration period is too long , in case of a strong luminosity , the photocurrent may be such that the photodiode reaches , before the end of the integration period , a so - called saturation discharge threshold , beyond which luminosity differences can no longer be discriminated . however , if the integration period is too short , in case of a low luminosity , the photodiode discharge during the integration period may not be sufficient to enable to discriminate luminosity differences . in practice , it is thus provided to adjust the integration period according to the order of magnitude of the luminosity level to be measured . to achieve this , it is generally provided to repeat several times the measurement by starting from a short integration period , and by progressively increasing this period until a useable measurement is obtained . the time necessary to obtain a useable measurement may be relatively long . further , this time is dependent from the luminosity level to be measured , which may pose certain problems . another problem is that possible linearity defects in the photodiode response may cause inaccuracies in the measurement provided by the detector . another problem is that a luminosity level detector is often sensitive to the flickering of artificial light sources , supplied in a . c . mode , for example , by the mains voltage . such a flickering may significantly disturb the measurements performed by the detector . to solve this problem , it may be provided to select an integration sub - period of the photodiode which is a multiple of the half - period of the a . c . power supply voltage , for example , a multiple of 10 ms for a 50 - hz power supply source , or a multiple of 8 . 33 ms for a 60 - hz power supply source . this indeed enables to ascertain that the duration when the light source is off during the integration period of the photodiode is independent from the phase - shift between the integration period of the photodiode and the a . c . power supply of the light source . however , this necessitates that the photodiode integration period may not be shorter than the half - period of the a . c . power supply source . now , in case of a strong luminosity , the detector may saturate before the end of a half - period of the a . c . power supply voltage . the discrimination of the higher luminosity levels is then impossible . fig1 is a simplified schematic diagram of an embodiment of a luminosity level detector 100 . detector 100 comprises a photodiode 101 having its anode connected to a low power supply rail gnd , for example , the ground , and having its cathode k connected , via a reset switch 103 , for example , a mos transistor , to a high power supply rail v rt . in this example , cathode k of diode 101 is further connected to an input el of a comparator 105 . comparator 105 further comprises an input e 2 , and an output s . in this example , the operation of comparator 105 is such that voltage v cmp on its output s is at a first level when the voltage between inputs e 1 and e 2 is positive , and at a second level , for example , higher than the first level , when the voltage between inputs e 1 and e 2 is negative . in this example , detector 100 further comprises a control circuit 107 , receiving output signal v cmp of comparator 105 , and providing a signal rst for controlling reset switch 103 . circuit 107 further comprises an output out configured to provide a value representative of a luminosity level measured by the detector . fig2 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of detector 100 of fig1 . fig2 shows the variation of signal rst for controlling reset switch 103 , of voltage v px on cathode k of photodiode 101 , of voltage v ref on input e 2 of comparator 105 , and of voltage v cmp on output s of comparator 105 . in this example , when signal rst is in a high state , the switch is turned on , which causes the charging of photodiode 101 . voltage v px on cathode k of photodiode 101 is then substantially equal to high power supply voltage v rt ( to within the voltage drop of switch 103 ). however , when signal rst is in a low state , switch 103 is off and photodiode 101 is disconnected from rail v rt . the photodiode is then sensitive to light , and voltage v px of its cathode decreases at a rate which depends on the light intensity received by the photodiode . according to an aspect , detector 100 is configured so that , within a luminosity level measurement time interval t m , each time photodiode 101 reaches a discharge threshold , a counter 109 ( cp ), for example , comprised within control circuit 107 , is updated , that is , incremented or decremented . detector 100 is further configured so that , in measurement interval t m , each time photodiode 101 reaches the discharge threshold triggering the update of counter 109 , the photodiode is reset . in the illustrated example , measurement interval t m starts with a resetting of photodiode 101 . to achieve this , control circuit 107 applies to signal rst a pulse 201 1 for controlling the turning - on of transistor 103 . during pulse 201 1 , cathode voltage v px of diode 101 is substantially equal to high power supply voltage v rt . falling edge 202 1 of pulse 201 1 marks the beginning of an integration period of the photodiode , during which voltage v px decreases at a rate depending on the light intensity received by the photodiode . during this integration period , a constant voltage v ref , lower than voltage v rt , is applied to input node e 2 of comparator 105 . voltage v ref is for example slightly greater than the saturation threshold of photodiode 101 . during the reset phase ( pulse 201 1 ) and at the beginning of the integration period , voltage v px being higher than voltage v ref , output voltage v cmp of comparator 105 is in the low state . after a discharge time t d1 which depends on the light intensity received by the photodiode , and which is thus not known before the beginning of the integration period , voltage v px reaches voltage v ref , and comparator 105 switches state . control circuit 107 is configured to detect such a state switching ( that is , a rising edge of signal v cmp in this example ) and , as a response , to update counter 109 and reset the photodiode by applying to signal rst a pulse 201 2 for controlling the turning - on of switch 103 . a new integration period of the photodiode then starts , and the above - mentioned sequence ( discharge of the photodiode down to threshold v ref , detection of a state switching of the comparator , counter update , and resetting of the photodiode ) is repeated , and so on until the end of measurement interval t m . thus , during measurement interval tm , detector 100 carries out n ( n being an integer greater than or equal to 1 ) discharge cycles of photodiode 101 , each cycle comprising a photodiode reset step , followed by an integration period . each cycle ends after the photodiode has reached the discharge threshold set by voltage v ref , except for the last cycle which may end before voltage v px reaches threshold v ref . counter 109 is updated at the end of each full discharge cycle . the number of cycles carried out within an interval t m depends on the light intensity received by the photodiode , and is thus not known before the beginning of interval t m . the higher the light intensity received by the photodiode , the greater the photodiode discharge speed , and the higher the number of cycles performed within interval t m . conversely , the lower the light intensity received by the photodiode , the lower the photodiode discharge speed , and the smaller the number of cycles performed within interval t m . below a given luminosity threshold , the photodiode never reaches the discharge threshold set by voltage v ref during interval t m . in this case , interval t m only contains a partial discharge cycle . thus , the number of updates of counter 109 during interval t m is representative of the luminosity level received by the photodiode during interval t m . at the end of measurement interval t m , a luminosity level received by the photodiode during interval t m may be deduced from the state of counter 109 . as an example , counter 109 may be reset at the beginning of interval t m , and the state of counter 109 at the end of interval t m may be directly used as a measurement of the luminosity level , and transferred onto output out of the detector . in this case , an advantage is that detector 100 does not require providing an analog - to - digital converter to sample a discharge level of its photodiode . this enables to decrease the bulk , the cost , and the power consumption of the detector . as a variation , to make the measurement more accurate still , detector 100 may comprise an analog - to - digital converter ( not shown ) and may be configured so as to , at the end of the last discharge cycle of photodiode 101 , which may be a partial discharge cycle , sample the discharge level of photodiode 101 . an output value out representative of the luminosity level received by the photodiode can then be determined by taking into account not only the number of updates of counter 109 during interval t m , but also the level reached by the photodiode at the end of the last discharge cycle . the duration of interval t m may be set before the beginning of the measurement . in this case , the total effective discharge time of the photodiode during interval t m depends on the luminosity received by the photodiode . indeed , the higher the luminosity , the larger the number of discharges cycles during interval t m , and the larger the portion of interval t m used to reset the photodiode and update counter 109 . conversely , the lower the luminosity , the lower the number of discharges cycles during interval t m , and the smaller the portion of interval t m used to reset the photodiode and update counter 109 . it should indeed be noted that the duration of the photodiode reset and counter update phases between discharge cycles is independent from the luminosity level received by the detector . thus , for a given measurement interval t m , the higher the luminosity , the shorter the total effective photodiode discharge time during interval t m , and conversely . in an embodiment , only total effective photodiode discharge time t d during interval t m is set before the beginning of the measurement , and interval t m varies according to the luminosity received by the photodiode . for this purpose , in each photodiode discharge time during measurement interval t m , effective discharge time t di ( i being an integer ranging from 1 to n ) of the photodiode , between falling edge 202 i of reset pulse 201 i and the time of the cycle when the photodiode reaches the discharge threshold set by voltage v ref , is measured , for example , by means of a time measurement circuit 111 which may be part of control circuit 107 . circuit 111 for example comprises a clock ( not shown ) and a counter ( not shown ) capable of being triggered by the rising and / or falling edges of the clock . the end of interval t m coincides with the time when the addition of discharge times t di measured from the beginning of interval t m reaches a reference threshold duration t d set before the beginning of the measurement . for a given effective discharge time t d , measurement interval t m will be all the longer as the luminosity is high , and conversely . total discharge time t d of the photodiode preferably is a multiple of the half - period of the mains a . c . power supply voltage . this enables to make the detector insensitive to the flickering of artificial light sources powered by the mains . preferably , time t d is a multiple of 50 ms . indeed , most a . c . electric power supply distribution networks operate either at 50 hz or at 60 hz , and 50 ms is a multiple both of the half - period of a 50 - hz a . c . signal ( 10 ms ) and of the half - period of a 60 - hz a . c . signal ( 8 . 33 ms ). the selection of a time t d which is a multiple of 50 ms thus enables to make the detector insensitive to flickering , whatever the location where the detector is used . an advantage of the embodiment described in relation with fig1 and 2 is that it is not necessary to repeat the measurement several times to adjust an integration period of the photodiode according to the ambient luminosity level to obtain a useable measurement . indeed , in the embodiment of fig1 and 2 , measurement interval t m , or the effective total discharge time t d of the photodiode , may be selected to be sufficiently long to be compatible both with the lowest luminosity levels and with the highest luminosity levels . it should indeed be noted that , in the embodiment of fig1 and 2 , the selection of a long measurement time t m or total discharge time t d is not incompatible with the discrimination of high luminosity levels . generally , it should be noted that in the embodiments of fig1 and 2 , whatever the luminosity level to be measured , the longer the measurement time t m or total discharge time t d of the photodiode , the higher the accuracy of the measurement provided by the detector . another advantage of the embodiment of fig1 and 2 is that total effective discharge time t d of the photodiode may be selected to be sufficiently long to provide a measurement independent from the flickering of artificial light sources power in a . c . mode , without for the discrimination of the highest luminosity levels to be adversely affected by this . another advantage of the embodiment of fig1 and 2 is that the measurement of the luminosity level provided by the detector is not , or is only slightly , affected by possible linearity defects of photodiode 101 . this especially results from the fact that diode 101 operates in full discharge cycles always ending at a same level , set by voltage v ref , and that the indication of the luminosity level does not depend , for the most part , on a measurement of a discharge level of the photodiode at the end of an integration period . another advantage is that the signal - to - noise ratio of the measurements provided by detector 100 is higher than that of the measurements provided by a detector where the indication of the luminosity level essentially results from a measurement of the discharge level of the photodiode after an integration period . fig3 is a simplified electric diagram of an alternative embodiment of the luminosity level detector of fig1 . detector 300 of fig3 comprises a photodiode 101 having its anode connected to a low power supply rail gnd , for example , the ground , and having its cathode k connected , via a reset switch 103 , for example , a mos transistor , to a high power supply node or rail v rt . in this example , cathode k of diode 101 is further connected to the gate of a mos transistor 301 assembled as a voltage follower , having its conduction nodes n and m respectively connected to a high power supply rail v dd , via a current source 302 , and to low power supply rail gnd . it should be noted that high voltage node v rt may be directly connected to high power supply rail v dd or may be connected to the output of a regulator providing a high - level voltage different from voltage v dd . in this example , node n is connected to a first electrode of a capacitor c having its second electrode connected to an input el of a comparator 105 . comparator 105 further comprises an input e 2 and an output s . as in the example of fig1 , in operation , voltage v cmp on output s of comparator 105 is at a first level when the voltage between inputs e 1 and e 2 is positive , and at a second level when the voltage between inputs e 1 and e 2 is negative . detector 300 further comprises a switch 303 connecting input e 1 to output s of the comparator . switch 303 , when it is in the on state , forms a negative feedback loop resetting the detector by forcing input e 1 of comparator 105 to the voltage of input e 2 . in operation , the turning - on of switch 303 causes the resetting of capacitor c to a charge level set by a voltage v ref applied to terminal e 2 of the comparator . in this example , detector 300 further comprises a control circuit 307 , receiving output signal v cmp of comparator 105 , and providing a signal rst for controlling reset switch 103 of photodiode 101 , and a signal az for controlling switch 303 for resetting capacitor c . circuit 107 further comprises an output out configured to provide a value representative of a luminosity level measured by the detector . in operation , in a detector reset step , switches 103 and 303 are turned on , which causes the charge of photodiode 101 to a level set by voltage v rt , and the resetting of capacitor c to a level set by voltage v ref . in a photodiode integration or discharge phase , following a reset step , switches 103 and 303 are off . the cathode voltage of photodiode 101 , substantially equal to voltage v rt at the beginning of the integration , is transferred onto input e 1 of comparator 105 via transistor 301 and capacitor c . the voltage at node e 1 then decreases at a rate depending on the luminosity level received by the photodiode , to reach level v ref , which causes a state switching of the comparator and the updating of counter 109 . the embodiment of fig3 has all the advantages of the embodiment of fig1 and 2 and is compatible with the operation described in relation with fig1 and 2 . another advantage of the embodiment of fig3 is that transistor 301 and capacitor c enable to achieve an impedance matching between photodiode 101 and comparator 105 . as a variation , a complementary circuit , not shown , may be provided to apply a first reference voltage on input el of the comparator during detector reset steps , and a second reference voltage lower than the first voltage during photodiode discharge phases . specific embodiments have been described . various alterations , modifications , and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art . in particular , the described embodiments are not limited to the detection circuit examples of fig1 and 3 . based on the teachings of the present application , it will be within the abilities of those skilled in the art to form other circuits for detecting the luminosity level , capable of implementing the desired operation , that is , counting , during a measurement time interval , the number of discharge cycles of a photodiode , and deducing therefrom a luminosity level received by the photodiode . such alterations , modifications , and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure , and are intended to be within the spirit and the scope of the present invention . accordingly , the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting . the present invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto .	6
while this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms , there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail one or more specific embodiments , with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as exemplary of the principles of the invention and not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments shown and described . in the description below , like reference numerals are used to describe the same , similar or corresponding parts in the several views of the drawings . vector processing may be performed by general - purpose processor or specialized processor . an example is the reconfigurable streaming vector processor ( rvsp ) described in the co - pending patent application ser . no . 10 / 184 , 583 titled “ reconfigurable streaming vector processor ”, filed jun . 28 , 2002 , which is hereby incorporated herein by reference . an exemplary processing unit incorporating an addressing system of the present invention is shown in fig1 . referring to fig1 , the system includes a processing unit 10 , which may comprise a number of functional elements and storage for intermediate results , an input unit 12 and an output unit 14 . the input and output units incorporate addressing hardware or arithmetic unit 100 that will be described in more detail below with reference to fig2 . the function of the input unit 12 is to retrieve data elements via an external interface 16 ( e . g . a system bus ) and pass them to the processing unit 10 . the function of the output unit 14 is to receive data elements from the processing unit 10 and pass them to the external interface 16 . the system also includes a program sequencer 18 that controls the operation of the processing unit via link 20 . the program sequencer 18 also controls the input and output units via links 22 and 24 respectively . the program sequencer executes a program of instructions that may be stored locally in a memory . the program of instructions may be received via the external interface 16 , or via a separate interface . in the latter case , the processing system may have both a memory interface and a host interface . an important element of a processor is its ability to access a vector of data elements stored in memory . memory access is simplified when data elements are stored sequentially in memory . the data may be interleaved , in which case consecutive elements are not contiguous but are separated by an amount called a stride . the stride may be measured in a variety of different units , such as the number of elements between elements to be accessed , the number of words , the number of bytes or the number of bits . the stride may be a fractional number to enable to access of subwords , for example . when large data structures are involved , data may be stored in different memory partitions . also , when two - or three - dimensional data structures are stored in a linear memory , each row or column of the structure may be considered to be stored in a separate partition . consecutive elements stored in different partitions may be separated by an amount that is different from the stride . this amount will be referred to as the “ skip ”. prior techniques do not use a “ skip ” value and so cannot be used where the elements are not separated by a constant amount , as when parts of a data vector are stored in different memory partitions . prior techniques require the issuance of one or more additional instructions to access multiple memory partitions . this results in reduced performance and more complicated programming . when accessing a sub - array from 2 - dimensional array , the skip value may be used to move an address pointer to a new row or column of the array . when accessing a sub - array from 3 - dimensional array , a second skip value may be used to move an address pointer to a new level of the array . an exemplary embodiment of the address calculator 100 of present invention is shown in fig2 . referring to fig2 , the address calculator 100 comprises a set of storage elements 102 . the storage elements will be referred to as registers in the sequel , but may be other types of memory circuits or devices . the storage elements 102 include a type register 104 , a stride register 106 , a skip register 108 and a span register 110 . the registers are accessed by an arithmetic unit 112 . the arithmetic unit may , for example , comprise a state machine and adder . the arithmetic unit 112 is initialized by a set of initialization values 114 that include the start address , denoted by ea_start , of a vector of data to be accessed , the initial value , denoted by left_start , of a counter that indicates the number of data elements remaining in the first partition , and the total number of data elements , denoted by total , to be accessed in the memory . once initialized , the arithmetic unit 112 is operable to calculate the address of a current data element in memory from the address of the previous element . the current address is stored in address pointer 116 and may be output at 118 to access the memory . the address calculator 100 may be used in concert with a pre - fetch architecture , such as a cache , so as to mitigate the adverse effects of slower memory . in this way , a processor may access data in almost every clock cycle , and be used with cheaper ( slower ) memory in cost sensitive applications . the register values type , stride , skip and span may be controlled by instructions sent from a program sequencer . the initial values ea_start , left_start and total may be set in a similar fashion . if any of the values type , stride , skip , span or left_start is not specified , default values may be used . for example , the default values may assume that the data is stored in memory in a single partition of contiguous data . a diagrammatic representation of an exemplary partitioned memory is shown in fig3 . in this simplified example , the memory has three partitions ( partition 0 , partition 1 and partition 2 ). the data vector to be accessed is interleaved so that , within each partition , every third memory element is an element of the vector . the address of the first data element is indicated as ea_start . five data elements are stored in each memory partition , so the left counter is initialized to 5 . the total number of elements to be accessed is total = 15 , so a second counter is initialized with the value 15 and is decremented as each vector element is accessed . after the first element is accessed , the left counter is decremented to 4 , indicating that only 4 values remain in the current partition , and the total counter is decremented to 14 . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that vector elements may be counted by incrementing or decrementing counters . the address of the next element is calculated by adding the product of the stride value and the type value to the address of the current element . in this example , stride = 3 , since every third element is to be accessed . type denotes the length ( in bits for example ) of each data value . the process continues until the last element of the partition is accessed . the left value is than decremented from 1 to 0 . when the left value goes to zero , the next memory address is calculated by adding the product of the skip value and the type value to the current address . in this example , skip = 5 . the address then points to the first value in partition 1 . the left value is reset to 5 , to indicate that 5 values remain in partition 1 . this process continues until all vector elements ( 15 in this example ) have been accessed . a further example of a partitioned memory is shown in fig4 . referring to fig4 , the same partitioned data structure is used , but in this example the starting address ea_start is part way through a partition , rather than at the start of a partition . the arithmetic unit is initialized with left = 4 and total = 14 . all of the other components of the partitioned memory remain as in the previous example . since the data structure is preserved , this approach allows access to any vector element at anytime while still maintaining access to other elements . a pseudo - code listing of an embodiment of the arithmetic unit ( 112 in fig2 ) is given below . if the stride and skip values specify memory values , rather than a number of elements , the type value is unity and may be omitted . in the embodiment described in the pseudo code above , the stride value is applied after each element is addressed . in a further embodiment , the stride value is not applied at the end of block , and the skip value modified accordingly . for example , for uniformly spaced elements , skip = 0 for the first embodiment , while skip = stride for the second embodiment . the second embodiment may be described by the pseudo code given below . in the special case , where an equal number of elements are to be accessed from each partition , the left value is initialized with span value , where span is the number of elements in a partition . equivalently , the number of elements accessed in a partition may be counted and compared with the value span , to determine if a skip should be made to the next partition . in a further embodiment of the invention , the skip and stride values denote the number of bits between elements , rather than the number of elements ( words of length type ). in this embodiment , the type parameter is not required . data from a three - dimensional structure ( such as a video clip ) is partitioned in two levels . the first level represents to rows of a particular image while the second level represents the image at a different time . a pseudo - code listing of a further embodiment of the arithmetic unit ( 112 in fig2 ) for accessing three - dimensional data is given below . in this embodiment an additional counter left 2 and additional parameters span 2 and skip 2 are required to allow for the extra dimensional . it will be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art how the technique may be expanded to access higher dimensioned data structures . an exemplary embodiment of the address calculator 100 of present invention is shown in fig5 . referring to fig5 , the address calculator 100 comprises a set of storage elements 102 . in one embodiment the storage elements 102 include a type register 104 , a stride register 106 , a skip register 108 and span registers 110 and 110 ′. the registers are accessed by an arithmetic unit 112 . the arithmetic unit may , for example , comprise counters 502 , 502 ′ and 504 and a state machine and adder 506 . the address pointer 116 ( ea ) is initialized to the start address denoted by ea_start . the first counter 502 indicates the number of data elements remaining in the first partition of a first memory level and is initialized to the value left_start . the first counter 502 ′ indicates the number of data elements remaining in the first partition of a second memory level and is initialized to the value left 2 _start . the third counter 504 indicates the total number of data elements to be accessed in the memory and is initialized to the value total . once initialized , the arithmetic unit 112 is operable to calculate the address of a current data element in memory from the address of the previous element . the current address ( ea ) is stored in address pointer 116 and may be output at 118 to access the memory . those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the present invention has application in general purpose processors as well as microprocessor based computers , digital signal processors , microcontrollers , dedicated processors , and other hardware accelerators including vector processors . the present invention , as described in embodiments herein , is implemented using hardware elements operating as broadly described in pseudo - code form above . however , those skilled in the art will appreciate that the processes described above can be implemented in any number of variations . for example , the order of certain operations carried out can often be varied , additional operations can be added or operations can be deleted without departing from the invention . such variations are contemplated and considered equivalent . further , the invention may be constructed using custom circuits , asic &# 39 ; s and / or dedicated hard - wired logic or alternative equivalents . while the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications , permutations and variations will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the foregoing description . accordingly , it is intended that the present invention embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variations as fall within the scope of the appended claims .	6
while this invention may be embodied in many forms , there are specific embodiments of the invention described in detail herein . this description is an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiments illustrated . for the purposes of this disclosure , like reference numerals in the figures shall refer to like features unless otherwise indicated . in general , this disclosure is directed toward systems and methods for managing microgrid operations . the disclosure proposes installing at least one intelligent microgrid coordinator on a microgrid site . this microgrid coordinator aggregates communications to and from the microgrid , and contains intelligent software capable of managing microgrid operations in more sophisticated a manner than has previously been applied in any single microgrid management solution . referring to fig1 , which is a diagram illustrating a potential example of how the components of the systems and methods may interact , microgrid 100 is connected to the bes 114 through any communications interface known in the art . communications from external entities 102 connect to microgrid 100 through microgrid coordinator 104 . in this embodiment microgrid coordinator 104 is located on the same premises as microgrid 100 , but in other embodiments it may be located remotely . further , while only one microgrid coordinator 104 is illustrated here , in some embodiments multiple microgrid coordinators 104 may be installed for redundancy purposes . microgrid coordinator 104 passes all communications received from external entities 102 through validation software 106 , shown here as located within microgrid coordinator 104 . validation software 106 validates the propriety of all communications it receives to determine that the communications originated from known , reputable sources . validation software 106 may be any type of software known in the art that performs data validation . this will often be performed via public key infrastructure certification but may also analyze communications themselves in addition to the signatures attached thereto . for example , validation software 106 may ensure that all microgrid commands contained in received communications have all necessary data and pass microgrid constraints , such as checking for voltage , frequency , or minimum load violations resulting from dispatch commands . these constraints could be established by utilities or microgrid owners . if communications are approved by validation software 106 , they are sent by microgrid coordinator 104 to the corresponding assets in the microgrid by any communication protocol known in the art . load generating devices 108 , load storage devices 110 , and load consuming devices 112 are examples of assets to which communications may be passed . these communications will typically be usage commands such as “ turn on ,” “ turn off ,” “ ramp up ,” “ ramp down ,” and “ deliver load to ,” among others . microgrid coordinator 104 may also accept communications from load generating devices 108 , load storage devices 110 , and load consuming devices 112 . these communications will typically be instantaneous asset properties , such as “ amount of load being generated ,” “ amount of load stored ,” “ amount of load being consumed ,” and various other status messages . load generating devices 108 may deliver generated load within microgrid 100 to either load storage devices 110 or load consuming devices 112 . load storage devices 110 may deliver stored load to load consuming devices 112 . microgrid 100 may transmit load to bes 114 as it is being generated by load generating devices 108 , from load storage devices 110 , or from load - consuming devices 112 in the form of dispatched load . using the systems and methods of this application , the total load of the microgrid can be forecasted more accurately than standard bes forecasting methods would allow by using a grouping and averaging forecasting process . this process is shown in fig2 . this process may be performed on a microgrid coordinator located within the microgrid or located remotely . to begin , the microgrid &# 39 ; s load demanding assets are be sorted into at least two different load - type categories in load type sorting 200 . these load - type categories are shown here as load type a and load type b , but in other embodiments there may be more load types . this sorting may be based on numerous different asset properties that are likely to affect the load forecast for those assets ( e . g ., whether the load demanded by the asset is dependent on outdoor temperature , time of day , day of the week , or others ; whether the load consuming asset has a ramp - up and ramp - down rate , and others ). once assets are sorted into load type a and load type b , multiple estimation methods may be used to estimate the forecasted load for that particular asset on the microgrid . these estimation methods are shown here as estimation method a , estimation method b , and estimation method c , but in other embodiments a different number of estimation methods may be used . the particular methods of estimation used are not critical to the systems and methods , but the box - jenkins method , winters - taylor method , and kalman filter load model are examples of potential estimation methods that could be used in this process . once all methods have estimated the forecasted load for the corresponding load type , the estimate results for each method are analyzed to identify inaccuracies . method results may be analyzed , for example , to determine whether the results from one method are above a certain number of standard deviations above or below the mean value of the results of all methods combined . method results may also be analyzed to determine whether they are significantly different from a historical or otherwise expected value . the results from methods that are shown to be inaccurate are discarded , and the remaining results are averaged . as depicted here , load estimate average 212 is composed of all results from estimation methods 206 - 210 , whereas load estimate average 214 is composed of only results from estimation methods 206 - 208 ; results from estimation method 210 were rejected . load estimate average 212 and load estimate average 214 are then summed to determine total load estimate 216 . this accurate load forecast is useful for many microgrid operations , including but not limited to determining the microgrid &# 39 ; s availability to participate in demand response events or generation optimization for the microgrid . the systems and methods of this application utilize a microgrid optimization process to ensure that the microgrid is obtaining its load in the most economically advantageous fashion while conforming to microgrid constraints . a microgrid optimization process calculates , for any amount of microgrid load , the percentage of electricity to acquire from multiple electricity resources in order to serve that load most economically . fig3 provides a general illustration of one embodiment of this this process as utilized by the systems and methods discussed herein . to begin , microgrid coordinator 300 obtains resource data 302 . resource data 302 may include , but is not limited to , cost curves ( e . g ., price per kilowatt ) for microgrid generators , microgrid storage devices , microgrid dispatchable load , and obtaining from the bes . microgrid coordinator 300 may obtain resource data 302 from multiple sources depending on data type . for example , cost curves for local generators may be acquired from said generators on the microgrid and real - time or forecasted costs of the fuel used by that generation . cost curves for microgrid dispatchable load may be obtained from real - time load demand by microgrid assets or from microgrid load forecasts . cost curves for obtaining electricity from the bes may be obtained from multiple outside sources with real - time or forecasted information on electricity prices in the geographic location of the microgrid . in some embodiments , resource data 302 may incorporate a consideration of the opportunity cost of one or more potential resources . including opportunity cost of resources enables the valuation of dispatchable load . the value of dispatchable load is beneficial when determining optimal microgrid function both in terms of responding to demand - response events and in terms of reducing the cost of operating the microgrid in general . there are several different components to consider when valuing dispatchable load . efficiency cost , for example , includes factors such as the wear and tear that electrical equipment suffers when it is switched between one state and another over a long period of time . these costs may be negligible in residential and smaller commercial microgrids , but can add up in larger microgrids , especially those that participate in demand - response events quickly . productivity cost , as opposed to efficiency cost , includes factors that tend to affect the microgrid owner &# 39 ; s profit . for an owner of a microgrid running a commercial office building , for example , load may be dispatched by temporarily shutting down air conditioning units . as temperature in the office increases , employees in the office may get uncomfortable , causing their productivity to decrease . the effect that this productivity has on the microgrid owner &# 39 ; s profits may greatly affect the valuation that dispatchable load . these productivity costs may be determined by different factors in different situations . for example , if load were dispatched in the above commercial office building by shutting off non - critical software - development servers at a software company , the effects on long - term profit caused by not developing software on those servers for the time period they are shut off would affect the valuation of dispatching the corresponding load . in industrial setting , dispatchable load may power large equipment that takes a long time to cycle on once it is shut off , so a short - term load - shedding event may have longer effects on productivity for those machines . further , if those machines are involved in a manufacturing process that cannot be completed by the start of the load - shedding event and cannot be stopped without forfeiting the progress made by that point , the microgrid owner may suffer lost product . this may be common , for example , in processes that are required to be performed at a constant temperature , such as preparing food and smelting metals . in residential settings , such as a microgrid containing a large apartment , dormitory , or condominium complex or even a house running a microgrid , valuation of dispatchable load may include the negative effect shedding that load has on the comfort of residents , rather than on the profit of the microgrid owner . once resource data 302 has been obtained , microgrid coordinator 300 formulates the optimization function 304 in the form of a minimization objective function . the optimization function at this point takes into account resource data 302 and the target load amount to be provided by the function . the particular minimization function used is not material to this application . once the optimization function is formulated , microgrid controller 300 applies constraints 306 to the objective function . potential constraints include , but are not limited to , ( 1 ) generator availability , ( 2 ) generator maximum and minimum limits , ( 3 ) generator ramping rates , ( 4 ) minimum generation limit produced by the heating / cooling requirements of combined heat and power ( chp ) generating units needs for the microgrid for the chp portion of the generation , ( 5 ) dispatchable load limits , ( 6 ) storage device availability , and ( 7 ) reserve requirements . these constraints are used to eliminate potential objective - function solutions that fall outside what is feasible , possible , permitted , or preferred . for example , microgrid generator availability and ramping properties would foreclose solutions that would require more generation by microgrid resources than those resources could provide or that would not respect the ramping rates of microgrid generation resources . dispatchable load maximum limits would foreclose solutions that would require more target load to be provided by dispatching microgrid resources than microgrid owners would prefer . once microgrid coordinator 300 applies constraints 306 , it proceeds to minimize the objective function 308 . the minimized solution of the objective function is the operating plan to procure the target load . with the solution , microgrid coordinator 300 formulates optimization commands 310 to be transmitted to all assets involved in the optimized operating plan . these optimization commands could take the form of a command to a microgrid generator to ramp up or down generation , to a load asset to reduce consumption as part of load dispatch , to a storage device to release electricity to load assets , or to cut off a generator &# 39 ; s or storage device &# 39 ; s feed to a load asset , forcing the asset to source electricity from a different generator , a different storage device , or from the bes . once these commands are available , microgrid coordinator 300 transmits optimization commands 312 to all involved assets . in addition to the benefits of coordinating microgrid activities in an economically optimal way , the systems and methods herein protect the microgrid from certain risks associated with being attached to the bes . for example , when variable generation resources ( such as solar panels and wind turbines ) are exposed to low - voltage situations , inverters within the variable generation resources may cease to operate . the systems and methods of the present disclosure protect these resources from low - voltage situations by equipping those resources with a protective device that enables them to operate while exposed to low voltage . a further embodiment of microgrid protection provided by the systems and methods involves high levels of current . when microgrid load assets are exposed to unexpectedly high levels of current , they can be damaged , destroyed , and cause risk to operators of those assets . the systems and methods of this disclosure include over - current protection to protect microgrid load and generation assets from overcurrent faults , whether those overcurrents originate while the microgrid is connected to the bes or from internally while the microgrid is islanded ( when isolated from the bes ). however , over - current situations while connected to the bes and over - current situations present in the local islanded microgrid have different properties and different solutions . additionally , a microgrid with a diverse and / or geographically disparate design can require different over - current protection settings depending on internal state conditions in the microgrid . over - current situations while connected to the bes will involve higher fault current levels than over - current situations present in the local islanded microgrid . thus , the microgrid coordinator must dynamically re - classify fault current levels and settings on - the - fly , pending real - time evaluation of the current state of the microgrid . further , faults may require the microgrid coordinator to isolate all or some of the microgrid from the bes , or isolate components or feeders internal within the microgrid until the fault is cleared . such an embodiment is illustrated in fig4 . fault limits for both the islanded and bes - connected configurations are established in step 400 . if a fault is detected , the microgrid coordinator determines which fault limit to apply depending on whether the microgrid is islanded in step 402 . if the microgrid is not islanded , the bes - connected fault limit is applied in step 404 . if the fault is over the bes - connected fault limit , the microgrid is disconnected from the bes in step 406 . in this illustration only total microgrid disconnection is shown , but in some situations it may be possible to isolate only the faulting portion of the microgrid from the bes . if , on the other hand , the microgrid is islanded , the microgrid coordinator applies the islanded fault limit in step 408 . if the fault is over the islanded fault limit , the faulting portion of the microgrid is isolated from other portions of the microgrid in step 410 . the systems and methods of the present disclosure include testing on a specially developed microgrid simulator in order to ensure that the systems and methods are safe to be implemented in the operating environment . the test system may simulate the key touch points of the microgrid coordinator , such as simulating data acquisition , supervisory control , and the microgrid to grid connection . in fig5 , microgrid coordinator 500 represents a final or prototype microgrid coordinator device that has not yet been implemented in a production operation environment , but is rather connected to microgrid coordinator simulator 502 . within microgrid coordinator 500 , 504 - 514 represent a nonexhaustive list of responsibilities microgrid coordinator 500 is expected to perform . in order to simulate proper data acquisition 504 , microgrid coordinator simulator 502 provides data to microgrid coordinator 500 in the same method operational assets would provide the same data in a production operation . microgrid coordinator simulator 502 is presented with actual microgrid measurements that may be duplicated and slightly altered to provide a larger sample size . the result is simulation seed data 516 . simulation events 518 represent potential microgrid and bes events relating to these simulation seed data 516 , and are created through an import process or through a user - interface . these simulation seed data 516 and simulation events 518 are communicated to microgrid coordinator 500 through the protocols recognized by microgrid coordinator 500 . thus , microgrid coordinator simulator 502 may contain protocol emulators such as dnp emulator 520 , modbus emulator 522 , bacnet emulator 524 , and external data emulator 526 . it is important to note that these protocols are illustrative only , and are not intended to be presented as an exhaustive list of all potential protocols that may be emulated by microgrid coordinator simulator 502 . in embodiments in which data , events , or commands are entered into microgrid coordinator simulator 502 through a user interface , microgrid coordinator simulator 502 may also contain simulator ui 528 . simulator ui 528 may be used to configure simulation settings , add data , add or configure events , trigger communications with microgrid coordinator 500 , and others . in this embodiment simulator ui 528 is presented as separate from ui 514 , but in some embodiments microgrid coordinator simulator 502 and microgrid coordinator 500 may use the same interface or two different interfaces accessible by the same computer device . by sending simulation seed data 516 and simulation events 518 to microgrid coordinator 500 through the requisite protocols , the ability of the microgrid coordinator to properly acquire data ( data acquisition 504 ), control the microgrid ( supervisory control 506 ), forecast load ( load forecast 508 ), configure resource and asset characteristics ( config management 510 ), and control assets during dispatching ( control & amp ; dispatch 512 ). in embodiments in which microgrid coordinator 500 allows users to interact with the microgrid or microgrid coordinator 500 via a user interface , the user interface functionality ( ui 514 ) could also be tested in this fashion .	8
reading a document on a computing device display screen may become inconvenient as the length of a document increases and a reader must scroll to sections of the document that are not currently displayed . depending on the presentation of the document , scrolling may include side - to - side scrolling as well as up - and - down scrolling . the smaller the display screen , such as on tablets and mobile phones , the greater the need for scrolling . in addition , many computing devices may not be able to differentiate between display inactivity , due to document read time , versus inactivity due to an idle device , and may attempt to save power on the device by dimming the display , turning off the display , initiating a screen saver , or otherwise making the document unreadable . a reader may be forced to periodically create an interrupt , for example by touching the screen , to notify the computing device that the device should not be deemed idle . either of the above scenarios may disturb a reader &# 39 ; s concentration and reading experience . these and other shortcomings in the prior art are addressed by embodiments of the present disclosure . various embodiments may present a document as a scrolling stream of text and figures in a single display line , utilizing only a limited portion of the display screen area . certain embodiments may reduce power usage to the display screen while a document is presented as a single display line , by turning off portions of the display screen that are not used for the single display line . the reduced power usage may prolong the battery life in a mobile computing device . fig1 illustrates a functional block diagram of an exemplary computing device 122 , in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure . computing device 122 may include a document controller 110 , document storage 150 , a figure analyzer 120 , an illumination controller 140 , preferences 160 , and an interrupt handler 130 , all of which may be stored , for example , on a computer readable storage medium , such as computer readable storage medium ( media ) 730 ( fig7 ), portable computer readable storage medium ( media ) 770 , and / or ram ( s ) 722 . computing device 122 represents a computing device , system or environment , and may be a laptop computer , notebook computer , personal computer ( pc ), desktop computer , tablet computer , thin client , mobile phone or any other electronic device or computing system capable of performing the required functionality of embodiments of the disclosure . computing device 122 may include internal and external hardware components , as depicted and described in further detail with respect to fig7 . in other various embodiments of the present disclosure , computing device 122 may represent a computing system utilizing clustered computers and components to act as a single pool of seamless resources . in general , computing device 122 is representative of any programmable electronic devices or combination of programmable electronic devices capable of executing machine - readable program instructions in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure . in various embodiments , the computing device 122 may provide an option to present a document on its display screen as a scrolling stream of text and figures in a single display line . in various embodiments , a touch , gesture , or key input may be used to switch between a standard document display and a streamed single display line of text and figures . in certain embodiments , both a streamed single display line and a standard document display may be simultaneously displayed on the computing device 122 display screen . the touch , gesture , or key input controlling the display format switch may be configurable , and stored in preferences 160 . in various embodiments , document controller 110 may receive a request to present a document stored in document storage 150 , hereinafter “ original document ”, as a streaming single line display of text and figures . the original document may be a downloaded document , stored in document storage 150 , which includes document control tags , such as xml , html , or microsoft ® word tags , used to format and display the original document . document controller 110 may pass control to figure analyzer 120 to identify any figures , including , but not limited to , objects , drawings , tables , charts , and graphics , in the original document , and to link those figures to the text that references them in the original document . document controller 110 may then reformat the original document into a single stream of text and referenced figures , hereinafter “ converted document ,” beginning at the top of the document and continuing to the bottom . in various embodiments , document controller 110 may strip , for example , all control tags , format tags , figures , and style tags from the original document while reformatting it into the converted document , leaving only the text and links to the saved figures in the converted document . document controller 110 may then present the converted document as an unformatted streaming single line of text and referenced figures . in certain embodiments , document controller 110 may leave certain text formatting , for example , bold , font , and italics , from the original document in the converted document , in order to display the text in the same format as the original document . in various embodiments , figure analyzer 120 may identify figures in the original document by utilizing the control and format tags in the original document , for a document that includes control and format tags . figure analyzer 120 may also use document tags , such as cross reference tags , to identify any text in the original document that references the identified figure . in certain embodiments , figure analyzer 120 may store an identified figure separately from the original document in document storage 150 , and insert a link into the original document that document controller 110 may use when reformatting the original document into a converted document , to ensure the figure is presented with its referencing text on the display screen . in various embodiments , for an original document without control tags that cross reference figures and text , figure analyzer 120 may analyze the text in the original document , recognizing textual references in the document to the identified figure , such as textual references to a number or name in the figure caption . figure analyzer 120 may link the recognized text to the identified figure for document controller 110 . in certain embodiments , figure analyzer 120 may link a figure , without any identifiable referencing text , to the text at the beginning of the page in the original document that includes the figure . in other embodiments , figure analyzer 120 may link a figure , without any identifiable referencing text , to the text at the beginning of the paragraph in the original document that includes the figure . in certain other embodiments , figure analyzer 120 may link a figure , without any identifiable referencing text , to the text in the original document just prior to the included figure . in various embodiments , the rules for linking a figure without any identifiable referencing text may be configurable and stored in preferences 160 . in various embodiments , figure analyzer 120 may convert the format , resize , change resolution or compress the figures as required . fig2 depicts an exemplary document 200 presented on a computing device 122 , for example , a mobile phone or other mobile computing device . the exemplary document 200 , shown as a standard document display , illustrates the portion of the document 200 that may fit on the display screen of a computing device 122 . in the exemplary embodiment , the document , as presented , may need to be scrolled , both left and right and up and down , for the entire document to be read . exemplary document 200 includes a fig2 with referencing text 222 . fig3 a depicts the exemplary document 200 presented on a computing device 122 display screen as a stream of text , in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure . in the exemplary embodiment , text from the exemplary document 200 is depicted as a single display line of streaming text in an exemplary text display area 310 on the display screen of computing device 122 . various embodiments may allow the text display area 310 to be resized and relocated to other locations on the computing device 122 display screen . the exemplary single display line of text may stream right to left , left to right , up to down , or down to up , across the text display area 310 . since various languages are read in a variety of directions , the direction of text streaming may be configured and stored in preferences 160 . in certain embodiments , the direction of text streaming may be temporarily modified , for example to re - display text recently scrolled off the text display area 310 . in certain embodiments , the touch , gesture , or key input controlling a temporary text streaming direction change may be configurable and stored in preferences 160 . fig3 b depicts the exemplary document 200 presented on a computing device 122 display screen as a stream of text with the referenced fig2 , in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure . in the exemplary embodiment , the top of the figure display area 320 is directly below the bottom of the text display area 310 . various embodiments may allow the figure display area 320 to be resized and relocated to other locations on the computing device 122 display screen . exemplary fig2 is displayed along with its referencing text 222 . in various embodiments , document controller 110 may open and close the figure display area 320 as figures are referenced in the text display area 310 . returning to fig1 , document controller 110 may maintain parallel pointers into the original document , in document storage 150 , and the converted document , corresponding to the text being displayed in the text display area 310 of the display screen . in various embodiments , document controller 110 may save these pointers when the presentation of the single display line of text is paused or stopped , or when the text display area 310 is closed . document controller 110 may resume the single display line streaming using the saved pointers to resume streaming at the text position where the streaming was paused , stopped , or the text display area 310 was closed . in certain embodiments , the touch , gesture , or key input controlling a pause , stop , resume , and text display area close may be configurable and stored in preferences 160 . in certain embodiments , document controller 110 may switch the presentation of the document between a streamed , single display line and a standard document display . in various embodiments , document controller 110 may switch to a standard document display , using the parallel pointers to locate and display the portion of the original document that includes the text that was being displayed in the text display area 310 when the display format switch occurred . in certain embodiments , document controller 110 may enhance the text in the standard document display , which corresponds to the text that was displayed in the text display area 310 when the display format switch occurred , for example , by highlighting , enlarging , or bolding the corresponding text . in certain embodiments , document controller 110 may pause the single display line streaming in the text display area 310 on a display format switch and open a simultaneous standard document display on another portion of the display screen , such that the text in the text display area 310 may be viewed , in context , in the original document displayed in the standard document display . fig4 a and 4b illustrate an exemplary display format switch from a single display line to a standard document display , in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure . fig4 a depicts exemplary computing device 122 presenting the exemplary document 200 as a single display line stream of text on its display screen . the exemplary stream of text in the text display area 310 represents the text displayed in the text display area 310 when document controller 110 receives a display format switch interrupt . fig4 b depicts exemplary computing device 122 presenting the exemplary document 200 in a standard document display after a display format switch . computing device 122 displays the portion of the exemplary document 200 that includes the exemplary text that was in the text display area 310 at the time of the display format switch . document controller 110 may enhance that exemplary text , as depicted by enhancement 499 . returning to fig1 , document controller 110 may , in various embodiments , present the converted document using document display preferences stored in preferences 160 . document display preferences , stored in preferences 160 , may include , but are not limited to , display area characteristics , such as text display area 310 screen dimensions , screen orientation , text display area 310 location on the computing device 122 display screen , text size , text color , text display area 310 background color , figures display area 320 screen dimensions , figures display area 320 location on the computing device 122 display screen , figures to text linking rules , text streaming speed , and text streaming direction . in certain embodiments , document display preferences , in preferences 160 , may be pre - set with default values . in other embodiments , document display preferences may be configurable , and stored in preferences 160 . in certain embodiments , document display preferences may be temporarily overwritten with a touch , gesture , or key input . for example , a gesture that enlarges the text display area 310 screen dimensions may also enlarge the text size . other exemplary document display preferences that may be temporarily overwritten include text display area 310 location , text streaming speed , figure display area 320 location , and figure display area 320 screen dimensions . in certain embodiments , document controller 110 may discard the overwritten document display preferences when the text or figure display area 310 , 320 is closed . in other embodiments , document controller 110 may store any overwritten document display preferences with the original document , in document storage 150 , such that document controller 110 may present the same document , in the future , with the overwritten document display preferences . in various embodiments , the touch , gestures , and key inputs that may be used to overwrite the document display preferences may be configurable and stored in preferences 160 . in various embodiments , document controller 110 may close the text display area 310 after it has streamed the last of the single line of text through the text display area 310 . in other embodiments , document controller 110 may leave the text display area open until a touch , gesture , or key input is received to close the text display area 310 . certain embodiments may provide an optional energy saving mode . in energy saving mode , document controller 110 may signal illumination controller 140 to turn off or dim the lighting for any areas of the computing device 122 display screen not being used for document presentation , in order to save energy , and prolong battery life for a mobile device . in various energy saving mode embodiments , document controller 110 may present a figure as a preview or a thumbnail in the text display area 310 instead of in a separate figure display area 320 . in certain embodiments a touch , gesture , or key input may open a figure display area 320 for the previewed figure . in certain embodiments , a figure display area 320 may temporarily illuminate to display a figure . in various embodiments , the figure presentation options and energy saving options may be configurable and stored in preferences 160 . in various embodiments , illumination controller 140 may receive a signal from document controller 110 to either illuminate or turn off portions of the computing device 122 display screen . illumination controller 140 may determine whether backlighting or light emitting pixels ( such as led ) illuminate the display screen of computing device 122 . for a computing device 122 display screen with pixels that emit light in response to electric current , illumination controller 140 may , in various embodiments , turn off the specified display screen portions by defining the background color of those portions as “ black ”, thus turning off any electric current to the pixels and saving energy . in other embodiments in which the computing device 122 display screen may be equipped with programmable backlights illuminating the display screen , illumination controller 140 may turn off the specified portions of the display screen by turning off appropriate backlights . for example , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 930 , 671 b2 , dated aug . 16 , 2005 , by kyu - don choi , titled “ method for dynamically lightening backlights of mobile communications terminal ,” describes a method for controlling backlights of a mobile communications terminal individually by allocating and coupling a general purpose input output ( gpio ) to each backlight of the mobile communications terminal in one - by - one manner in order to provides various backlight emitting modes according to user operations of the mobile communications terminal and in order to reduce power consumption to emit the backlight . in various embodiments , an interrupt handler 130 may receive control when an external interrupt , such as an incoming call , text , tweet , etc ., occurs . in various embodiments , interrupt handler 130 may , for example , read the short messaging service ( sms ) data for an incoming call . interrupt handler 130 may limit the amount of the incoming call &# 39 ; s caller details displayed and may limit the portion of the display screen illuminated , if the computing device 122 is in an energy saving mode . in various embodiments , interrupt handler 130 may utilize the text display area 310 to display information related to the interrupt , rather than utilizing the entire display screen . certain other embodiments may include a configurable display area , defining a portion of the computing device 122 display screen , to utilize for displaying the interrupt , if a text display area 310 is not open . in various embodiments , interrupt handler 130 may notify document controller 110 to pause or stop streaming the single display line of text . interrupt handler 130 may display the interrupt details , text message , etc . in the text display area 310 already illuminated for document controller 110 , instead of lighting the entire computing device 122 display screen . in certain embodiments , interrupt handler 130 may re - position , re - size , and reduce the amount of information and controls normally displayed with an interrupt , in order to save energy and utilize only the text display area 310 , to alert the reader of the interrupt . in certain embodiments with an energy saving display area configured , the re - positioned , re - sized , and reduced information and controls may be displayed in the configured area . in certain embodiments , interrupt handler 130 may notify document controller 110 , when the interrupt completes , for example , the phone call disconnects . document controller 110 may then resume the presentation of streaming text . in certain embodiments , document controller 110 may reload the text display area 310 and remain in a pause state , waiting for a touch , gesture , or key input to resume streaming the text . fig5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of document controller 110 presenting a document as a streaming single display line of text , in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure . after receiving a request to present a document for reading as a streaming single display line of text , document controller 110 may , in various embodiments , reformat , at 505 , the requested document into a single line of text . in order to conserve energy while the document is read , document controller 110 may signal illumination controller 140 , which may at 510 , turn off the power that illuminates the portions of the computing device 122 display screen not used for reading the streaming single display line of text . document controller 110 may determine , at 515 , whether the document is being read from the beginning or is being resumed . when reading from the beginning , document controller 110 may locate the beginning of the converted document . when resuming from a saved text location in the converted document , saved when the presentation of the single display line of text was paused or stopped , or when the text display area 310 was closed , document controller 110 may locate the text within the converted document . document controller 110 may , at 520 , fill the text display area 310 with a portion of the single line of text , starting at the text location determined at 515 . document controller 110 may determine the size and location for the text display area 310 on the computing device 122 display screen , from values saved in preferences 160 . document controller 110 may establish the text display area 310 with the text size , text color , and background color values saved in preferences 160 . if document controller 110 determines , at 525 , that the portion of the single line of text in the text display area 310 references a figure , document controller 110 may establish a figure display area 320 , and if necessary , signal illumination controller 140 to turn power on to the portions of the computing device 122 display screen that illuminate the figure display area 320 . document controller 110 may determine the size and location on the computing device 122 display screen for the figure display area 320 from values saved in preferences 160 . document controller 110 may , at 530 , load the referenced figure into the figure display area 320 . document controller 110 may , at 535 , update the text location in the single line of text in order to stream the text . if document controller 110 determines , at 540 , that there is no additional text to stream , document controller 110 may , at 560 , close the text display area 310 and the figure display area 320 , if necessary , and signal illumination controller 140 to illuminate the computing device 122 display screen . document controller 110 processing may then end . if , at 540 , document controller 110 determines there is additional text to stream , document controller 110 may determine if the figure displayed in the figure display area 320 , if any , is still referenced by the updated text location . for a figure that is no longer referenced by the updated text , as determined at 545 , document controller 110 may , at 550 , close the figure display area 320 and if necessary , signal illumination controller 140 to turn off the power to the portion of the computing device 122 display screen that illuminated the figure display area 320 . document controller 110 may , at 520 , again fill the text display area 310 with a portion of the single line of text , starting with the updated text location . fig6 is a flowchart illustrating interrupt handling by document controller 110 and interrupt handler 130 , in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure . various interrupts may occur while document controller 110 is streaming the single display line in the text display area 310 . interrupts may include a reader interrupt , such as a pause of the stream of text , a stop of the stream of text , a close of the text display area 310 , and a display format switch to a standard document display , and an external interrupt , such as a receipt of an incoming call , text . tweet , etc . when an interrupt occurs , at 600 , document controller 110 may , at 610 , stop streaming the text in the text display area 310 and save the text location , of the displayed text , in the converted document and original document for later use . the location , in the converted document and original document may be saved , by document controller 110 , with the original document in document storage 150 and with the converted document . the saved text location may be used when document controller 110 resumes streaming the text . if the interrupt is determined , by document controller 110 , to be a user initiated stop or pause , at 615 , document controller 110 has already stopped or paused the streaming text . if the interrupt is determined to be a user initiated close of the text display area 310 , as determined at 620 , document controller 110 may , at 625 , close the text display area 310 and the figure display area 320 , if necessary , and signal illumination controller 140 to illuminate the computing device 122 display screen . document controller 110 processing may then end . if the interrupt is determined , by document controller 110 , to be a user initiated display format switch , at 630 , document controller 110 may , at 635 , close the text display area 310 and the figure display area 320 , if necessary , and signal illumination controller 140 to illuminate the computing device 122 display screen . document controller 110 may switch to a standard document display , at 640 , displaying the portion of the document that includes the text that was being displayed in the text display area 310 when the display format switch interrupt occurred . document controller 110 may enhance the text that corresponds to the text that was displayed in the text display area 310 when display format switch interrupt occurred . after switching the display to a standard document display , document controller 110 may end its streaming single display line processing . if the interrupt , at 650 , is an incoming call / text / tweet / etc ., interrupt handler 130 may display , at 655 , the interrupt details , text message , etc . in the text display area 310 already illuminated for document controller 110 , in order to save energy , instead of illuminating the entire computing device 122 display screen . interrupt handler 130 may re - position , re - size , and reduce the amount of information and controls normally displayed with an interrupt , in order to utilize the text display area 310 . interrupt handler 130 may notify document controller 110 , at 660 , when the interrupt completes , for example , the phone call disconnects . document controller 110 may then resume the document presentation from the saved stopping point . fig7 depicts a block diagram of components of computing device 122 of fig1 , in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure . it should be appreciated that fig7 provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented . many modifications to the depicted environment may be made . computing device 122 can include one or more processors 720 , one or more computer - readable rams 722 , one or more computer - readable roms 724 , one or more computer readable storage medium 730 , device drivers 740 , read / write drive or interface 732 , and network adapter or interface 736 , all interconnected over a communications fabric 726 . communications fabric 726 can be implemented with any architecture designed for passing data and / or control information between processors ( such as microprocessors , communications and network processors , etc . ), system memory , peripheral devices , and any other hardware components within a system . one or more operating systems 728 , document controllers 110 , figure analyzers 120 , interrupt handlers 130 , illumination controllers 140 , document storage 150 , and preferences 160 are stored on one or more of the computer - readable storage medium 730 for execution by one or more of the processors 720 via one or more of the respective rams 722 ( which typically include cache memory ). in the illustrated embodiment , each of the computer readable storage medium 730 can be a magnetic disk storage device of an internal hard drive , cd - rom , dvd , memory stick , magnetic tape , magnetic disk , optical disk , a semiconductor storage device such as ram , rom , eprom , flash memory or any other computer readable storage medium that can store a computer program and digital information . computing device 122 can also include a r / w drive or interface 732 to read from and write to one or more portable computer readable storage medium 770 . document controller 110 , figure analyzer 120 , interrupt handler 130 , illumination controller 140 , document storage 150 , and preferences 160 can be stored on one or more of the portable computer readable storage medium 770 , read via the respective r / w drive or interface 732 , and loaded into the respective computer readable storage medium 730 . computing device 122 can also include a network adapter or interface 736 , such as a tcp / ip adapter card or wireless communication adapter ( such as a 4g wireless communication adapter using ofdma technology ). document controller 110 , figure analyzer 120 , interrupt handler 130 , illumination controller 140 , document storage 150 , and preferences 160 can be downloaded to the computing device from an external computer or external storage device via a network ( for example , the internet , a local area network or other , wide area network or wireless network ) and network adapter or interface 736 . from the network adapter or interface 736 , the programs are loaded into the computer readable storage medium 730 . the network may comprise copper wires , optical fibers , wireless transmission , routers , firewalls , switches , gateway computers , and / or edge servers . computing device 122 can also include a display screen 750 , a keyboard or keypad 760 , and a computer mouse or touchpad 755 . device drivers 740 interface to display screen 750 for imaging , to keyboard or keypad 760 , to computer mouse or touchpad 755 , and / or to display screen 750 for pressure sensing of alphanumeric character entry and user selections . the device drivers 740 , r / w drive or interface 732 , and network adapter or interface 736 can comprise hardware and software ( stored in computer readable storage medium 730 and / or rom 724 ). the present invention may be a system , a method , and / or a computer program product . the computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium ( or media ) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention . the computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device . the computer readable storage medium may be , for example , but is not limited to , an electronic storage device , a magnetic storage device , an optical storage device , an electromagnetic storage device , a semiconductor storage device , or any suitable combination of the foregoing . a non - exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following : a portable computer diskette , a hard disk , a random access memory ( ram ), a read - only memory ( rom ), an erasable programmable read - only memory ( eprom or flash memory ), a static random access memory ( sram ), a portable compact disc read - only memory ( cd - rom ), a digital versatile disk ( dvd ), a memory stick , a floppy disk , a mechanically encoded device such as punch - cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon , and any suitable combination of the foregoing . a computer readable storage medium , as used herein , is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se , such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves , electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media ( e . g ., light pulses passing through a fiber - optic cable ), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire . computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing / processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network , for example , the internet , a local area network , a wide area network and / or a wireless network . the network may comprise copper transmission cables , optical transmission fibers , wireless transmission , routers , firewalls , switches , gateway computers and / or edge servers . a network adapter card or network interface in each computing / processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing / processing device . computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions , instruction - set - architecture ( isa ) instructions , machine instructions , machine dependent instructions , microcode , firmware instructions , state - setting data , or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages , including an object oriented programming language such as smalltalk , c ++ or the like , and conventional procedural programming languages , such as the “ c ” programming language or similar programming languages . the computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user &# 39 ; s computer , partly on the user &# 39 ; s computer , as a stand - alone software package , partly on the user &# 39 ; s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server . in the latter scenario , the remote computer may be connected to the user &# 39 ; s computer through any type of network , including a local area network ( lan ) or a wide area network ( wan ), or the connection may be made to an external computer ( for example , through the internet using an internet service provider ). in some embodiments , electronic circuitry including , for example , programmable logic circuitry , field - programmable gate arrays ( fpga ), or programmable logic arrays ( pla ) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry , in order to perform aspects of the present invention . aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods , apparatus ( systems ), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention . it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams , and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams , can be implemented by computer readable program instructions . these computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer , special purpose computer , or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine , such that the instructions , which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus , create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . these computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer , a programmable data processing apparatus , and / or other devices to function in a particular manner , such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . the computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer , other programmable data processing apparatus , or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer , other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process , such that the instructions which execute on the computer , other programmable apparatus , or other device implement the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks . the flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture , functionality , and operation of possible implementations of systems , methods , and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention . in this regard , each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module , segment , or portion of instructions , which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function ( s ). in some alternative implementations , the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures . for example , two blocks shown in succession may , in fact , be executed substantially concurrently , or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order , depending upon the functionality involved . it will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and / or flowchart illustration , and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowchart illustration , can be implemented by special purpose hardware - based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions . although preferred embodiments have been depicted and described in detail herein , it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that various modifications , additions , substitutions and the like can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention , and these are , therefore , considered to be within the scope of the invention , as defined in the following claims .	6

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