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we will now disclose one or more example embodiments for better understanding of the present invention . while the following descriptions and discussion will be related to audio - only conferences , and especially to telephone - based audio - only conferences , it will be readily recognized by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be employed in various embodiments to enhance other types of conferences , including but not limited to internet - based audio - only conferences , and video conferences . turning to fig3 , a time diagram ( 30 ) in which time progresses from left to right ( 32 ) is shown for a traditional conference call , during which a first user user — 1 is talking for a period of time ( 33 ). during this time , the voice signal from user — 1 is broadcast ( 36 ) to all of the other members ( 37 ) of the conference . customarily , if another potential speaker , such as user_ 2 wished to interrupt , he or she would also speak for a period of time ( 34 ), or press a dtmf key , in the hopes that the concurrently speaking conferee , user_ 1 , would hear them interrupting and would yield the conversation ( e . g . quit talking ). however , if the currently speaking conferee is using a half - duplex terminal ( e . g . phone , web browser , etc . ), or if the interrupting conferee is not sufficiently loud to overcome the sound of the currently speaking conferee &# 39 ; s voice , the interrupt attempt may be unsuccessful , as well as other attempts ( 35 ) may also be unsuccessful . to better understand the solution provided by the present invention , it is useful to review some basic operations of such traditional teleconferencing systems . as shown ( 40 ) in fig4 , a conference bridge ( 44 ) is interconnected by a network ( 41 ) to a number of terminals ( 42 . . . 43 ) being used by a number of users . the terminals are most often telephones or wireless phones , but can also include video conferencing terminals , web browsers , and the like . as such , the public switched telephone network (“ pstn ”) is the most common type of network employed during conferencing , but other arrangements include , but are not limited to , the internet , an intranet , and a virtual private network (“ vpn ”). generally speaking , the conference bridge operates in one of two manners , the first of which is shown in fig5 . in this arrangement ( 50 ), the signals ( 51 ) from the microphones ( or cameras ), rx_ 1 through rx_n , from a number n of conferees are received by the conference bridge . to produce a signal to each conferee ( 52 ), the summation of all of the input signals from all conferees except the signal from the destination conferee is sent to each conferee . for example , the signal tx_ 1 sent to user_ 1 includes the summation of microphone signals from user_ 2 through user_n , but not the microphone signal from user_ 1 . likewise , the signal tx_ 2 sent to user_ 2 includes the summation of microphone signals from user_ 1 plus user_ 3 through user_n , but not the microphone signal from user_ 2 . this is done to avoid feedback or echos caused by sending the same signal back to the transmitter of the signal . fig6 shows an alternative implementation ( 60 ) of a conference bridge , in which all of the microphone signals ( 51 ) from all of the conferees are first summed , but the corresponding microphone signal is removed or subtracted out ( 63 , 64 ) of the total summation ( 62 ) before sending speaker signals ( 52 ) to each conferee . for example , for a conference of n users , all microphone signals rx_ 1 through rx_n are summed ( 61 ) to produce a total signal a : σ ( rx — 1 . . . rx — n )= a ( eq . 1 ) then , prior to delivery of this total signal a to a particular user , the microphone signal for that user is removed ( 63 , 64 ) from the total signal a to yield the specific output signal for that user . for example , for user_ 1 , the signal tx_ 1 signal is computed as : tx_ 1 = a - rx_ 1 = ∑ ( rx_ 1 … rx_n ) - ( rx_ 1 ) = ∑ ( rx_ 2 … rx_n ) ( eq . 2 ) likewise , the signal tx_ 2 sent from the conference bridge to user_ 2 would be formed as : tx_ 2 = a - rx_ 2 = ∑ ( rx_ 1 … rx_n ) - ( rx_ 2 ) = ∑ ( rx_ 1 , rx_ 3 … rx_n ) ( eq . 3 ) conference bridges often use custom circuits , such as application specific integrated circuits (“ asic ”), software , such as digital signal processing methods , or combinations of both to achieve these signal computations . particularly problematic are conferences in which one or more of the conferees utilize a “ half - duplex telephone ”, as shown in fig7 a . in this arrangement ( 70 ) of a terminal device , the user ( 42 ) speaks ( 76 ) into a microphone ( 71 ), and listens to the conference on a speaker or acoustic transducer ( 72 ). for simplicity , the device only allows speaking or listening at any given time , but not both simultaneously . this is done often for cost savings , using a simple switch ( 73 ) to select the microphone or speaker operation . it is particularly difficult to interrupt a conferee using a half - duplex telephone for this reason : as he or she is speaking , his or her speaker is disconnected such that any audible attempt by other conferees is blocked from being heard by the speaking conferee . fig7 b shows a full - duplex ( 70 ′) arrangement for a telephone , in which the talk / listen selector switch is functionally replaced with an echo canceller . an echo canceller removes the component of signal detected by the microphone ( 71 ) which represents a delayed and / or attenuated “ copy ” of the user &# 39 ; s speech ( 76 ), such as an echo ( 79 ) from a wall or ceiling ( 78 ). in some situations , portions of the audible output from the speaker ( 72 ) are also detected by the microphone , which must be removed from the signal rx_n sent to the conference bridge to avoid additional echo or feedback . echo cancellers allow simultaneous listening and talking by a user , but add significant cost to a telephone unit . to solve these problems , and to avoid the need to modify or upgrade millions of existing telephones , the logical processes of the present invention are preferrably realized as additions to or enhancements of software and / or circuitry found in conference bridges . in this manner , the invention can be realized and deployed only to conference bridge systems , and legacy terminals can be employed while enjoying benefit of the invention . turning to fig1 , the a logical process ( 11 ) according to the invention is shown . normal conference operations are performed ( 11 ), such as summation of signals as previously described , while also monitoring the signal for the present of an interrupt request signal ( 12 ), such as a specific combination of dtmf tones . if a user presses the specific combination of dtmf keys while another user is speaking , this is detected ( 12 ), and an interrupt signal is sent to the currently speaking conferee , but not to the other members . this can be done by summing the interupt signal into the signal destined to the currently speaking conferee , or can be done by summing the interrupt signal into the total conference signal followed by subtracting it from each signal sent to a conferee who is not currently speaking . for example , if user_x wishes to request an interrupt while user_y is talking , user_x may press a key combination such as * 1 , which is detected by the invention . the invention then sends ( 13 ) an alert tone or voice message ( e . g . “ another conferee has requested to talk ”) by summing the tone or voice recording into the tx_x signal , but not into other signals tx_y , or tx 1 . . . tx_n . alternatively , the alert tone or voice message may be summed into the total signal followed by subtracting the alert tone or voice message signal from all signals to users who are not currently speaking : tx — y = σ ( rx — 1 . . . rx — n , alert_tone )−( rx — y ) ( eq . 5 ) tx — x = σ ( rx — 1 . . . rx — n , alert_tone )−( rx — x )−( alert_tone ) ( eq . 6 ) tx — 1 = σ ( rx — 1 . . . rx — n , alert_tone )−( rx — 1 )−( alert_tone ) ( eq . 7 ) tx — 2 = σ ( rx — 1 . . . rx — n , alert_tone )−( rx — 2 )−( alert_tone ) ( eq . 8 ) during this step , if an indicator of which user is currently speaking is not available from the rest of the conference bridge system , this determination can be made using a voice signal detector applied to each received microphone signal rx_ 1 through rx_n . any received microphone signal which exceeds a certain threshold of voice - band energy can be declared as a “ currently speaking conferee ”, to which an alert tone or message can be sent . this alternate embodiment allows the system to interrupt multiple simultaneous speakers . alternatively , the received microphone signal with the greatest voice energy can be determined as the currently speaking conferee , to which the interrupt alert tone or message is sent . as long as the currently speaking conferee is still speaking ( 16 ), the invention continues to transmit ( 13 ) the alert tone , preferrably . this allows the requesting user to discontinue pressing the dtmf key combination , but keeps the signal in transmission to the currently speaking conferee in order to maximize the chance of hearing it , such as the situation while a conferee talks into a half - duplex telephone . when the currently speaking conferee stops talking as determined by a voice energy monitor applied to the currently speaking conferee &# 39 ; s microphone signal , the interrupt alert tone or message is discontinued ( 17 ), and normal conference operation continues ( 11 ), which produces an opportunity of quiet for another conferee to speak . optionally , the invention provides a capability of the currently speaking conferee to acknowledge the interrupt request , but to continue speaking . this is useful for situations where the currently speaking conferee , such as a class leader or presenter , would like to finish a train of thought or conversation before yielding the floor to the requester . but , through the acknowledgment , the requester knows his or her request has been received , and repeated requests are not necessary . so , if the currently speaking conferee acknowledges the request ( 18 ), such as by pressing a predetermined dtmf key combination such as *#, the interrupt alert tone or message is discontinued ( 17 ), and the acknowledgment is sent to the requester . acknowledgment may take the form of another tone , or another recorded voice message , such as “ the currently speaking conferee has received your request ”. in yet another optional embodiment , a maximum time to speak following a request can be enforced automatically by the invention . by initiation of a timer upon detection ( 12 ) of an interrupt request , if the currently speaking conferee does not yield the floor ( e . g . go silent ) ( 19 ) by the time the timer expires , then the microphone signal from the currently speaking conferee is automatically removed from the conference total signal , effectively muting ( 100 ) the currently speaking conferee and allowing a quiet period during which other conferees may speak . fig8 illustrates the enhanced conference operation when the invention is employed . like fig3 , this diagram shows signal contents over time , with time progressing from left to right ( 32 ). while user_y is talking ( 81 ), all conferees , except the currently speaking conferee , receive user_y &# 39 ; s speech signal ( 88 ). another user , such as user_x , may temporally make an interrupt request ( 82 ), such as pressing * 1 dtmf keys , which is detected by the enhanced conference bridge . the conference bridge then transmits ( 84 ) an interrupt alert tone or message only to the currently speaking conferee , user_y , for a period of time t i until such time as user_y stops talking , and acknowledgment signal is received ( 82 ) from user_y , or a timeout occurs ( not shown ). at the end of period t i , normally a short period of silence t s will ensue , following which another user , such as user_x , will begin speaking ( 86 ). this signal will then be broadcast ( 85 ) to all other conferees , except for user_x , as previously described . the invention is preferably realized as a feature or addition to the software already found present on well - known computing platforms such as personal computers , web servers , and web browsers , and in well known conference bridges . these common computing platforms and conference bridges can include personal computers as well as portable computing platforms , such as personal digital assistants (“ pda ”), web - enabled wireless telephones , and other types of personal information management (“ pim ”) devices . therefore , it is useful to review a generalized architecture of a computing platform which may span the range of implementation , from a high - end web or enterprise server platform , to a personal computer , to a portable pda or web - enabled wireless phone . turning to fig2 a , a generalized architecture is presented including a central processing unit ( 21 ) (“ cpu ”), which is typically comprised of a microprocessor ( 22 ) associated with random access memory (“ ram ”) ( 24 ) and read - only memory (“ rom ”) ( 25 ). often , the cpu ( 21 ) is also provided with cache memory ( 23 ) and programmable flashrom ( 26 ). the interface ( 27 ) between the microprocessor ( 22 ) and the various types of cpu memory is often referred to as a “ local bus ”, but also may be a more generic or industry standard bus . many computing platforms are also provided with one or more storage drives ( 29 ), such as a hard - disk drives (“ hdd ”), floppy disk drives , compact disc drives ( cd , cd - r , cd - rw , dvd , dvd - r , etc . ), and proprietary disk and tape drives ( e . g ., iomega zip ™ and jaz ™, addonics superdisk ™, etc .). additionally , some storage drives may be accessible over a computer network . many computing platforms are provided with one or more communication interfaces ( 210 ), according to the function intended of the computing platform . for example , a personal computer is often provided with a high speed serial port ( rs - 232 , rs - 422 , etc . ), an enhanced parallel port (“ epp ”), and one or more universal serial bus (“ usb ”) ports . the computing platform may also be provided with a local area network (“ lan ”) interface , such as an ethernet card , and other high - speed interfaces such as the high performance serial bus ieee - 1394 . computing platforms such as wireless telephones and wireless networked pds &# 39 ; s may also be provided with a radio frequency (“ rf ”) interface with antenna , as well . in some cases , the computing platform may be provided with an infrared data arrangement (“ irda ”) interface , too . computing platforms are often equipped with one or more internal expansion slots ( 211 ), such as industry standard architecture (“ isa ”), enhanced industry standard architecture (“ eisa ”), peripheral component interconnect (“ pci ”), or proprietary interface slots for the addition of other hardware , such as sound cards , memory boards , and graphics accelerators . additionally , many units , such as laptop computers and pda &# 39 ; s , are provided with one or more external expansion slots ( 212 ) allowing the user the ability to easily install and remove hardware expansion devices , such as pcmcia cards , smartmedia cards , and various proprietary modules such as removable hard drives , cd drives , and floppy drives . often , the storage drives ( 29 ), communication interfaces ( 210 ), internal expansion slots ( 211 ) and external expansion slots ( 212 ) are interconnected with the cpu ( 21 ) via a standard or industry open bus architecture ( 28 ), such as isa , eisa , or pci . in many cases , the bus ( 28 ) may be of a proprietary design . a computing platform is usually provided with one or more user input devices , such as a keyboard or a keypad ( 216 ), and mouse or pointer device ( 217 ), and / or a touch - screen display ( 218 ). in the case of a personal computer , a full size keyboard is often provided along with a mouse or pointer device , such as a track ball or trackpoint ™. in the case of a web - enabled wireless telephone , a simple keypad may be provided with one or more function - specific keys . in the case of a pda , a touch - screen ( 218 ) is usually provided , often with handwriting recognition capabilities . additionally , a microphone ( 219 ), such as the microphone of a web - enabled wireless telephone or the microphone of a personal computer , is supplied with the computing platform . this microphone may be used for simply reporting audio and voice signals , and it may also be used for entering user choices , such as voice navigation of web sites or auto - dialing telephone numbers , using voice recognition capabilities . many computing platforms are also equipped with a camera device ( 2100 ), such as a still digital camera or full motion video digital camera . one or more user output devices , such as a display ( 213 ), are also provided with most computing platforms . the display ( 213 ) may take many forms , including a cathode ray tube (“ crt ”), a thin flat transistor (“ tft ”) array , or a simple set of light emitting diodes (“ led ”) or liquid crystal display (“ lcd ”) indicators . one or more speakers ( 214 ) and / or annunciators ( 215 ) are often associated with computing platforms , too . the speakers ( 214 ) may be used to reproduce audio and music , such as the speaker of a wireless telephone or the speakers of a personal computer . annunciators ( 215 ) may take the form of simple beep emitters or buzzers , commonly found on certain devices such as pdas and pims . these user input and output devices may be directly interconnected ( 28 ′, 28 ″) to the cpu ( 21 ) via a proprietary bus structure and / or interfaces , or they may be interconnected through one or more industry open buses such as isa , eisa , pci , etc . the computing platform is also provided with one or more software and firmware ( 2101 ) programs to implement the desired functionality of the computing platforms . turning to now fig2 b , more detail is given of a generalized organization of software and firmware ( 2101 ) on this range of computing platforms . one or more operating system (“ os ”) native application programs ( 223 ) may be provided on the computing platform , such as word processors , spreadsheets , contact management utilities , address book , calendar , email client , presentation , financial and bookkeeping programs . additionally , one or more “ portable ” or device - independent programs ( 224 ) may be provided , which must be interpreted by an os - native platform - specific interpreter ( 225 ), such as java ™ scripts and programs . often , computing platforms are also provided with a form of web browser or micro - browser ( 226 ), which may also include one or more extensions to the browser such as browser plug - ins ( 227 ). the computing device is often provided with an operating system ( 220 ), such as microsoft windows ™, unix , ibm os / 2 ™, ibm aix ™, open source linux , apple &# 39 ; s mac os ™, or other platform specific operating systems . smaller devices such as pda &# 39 ; s and wireless telephones may be equipped with other forms of operating systems such as real - time operating systems (“ rtos ”) or palm computing &# 39 ; s palmos ™. a set of basic input and output functions (“ bios ”) and hardware device drivers ( 221 ) are often provided to allow the operating system ( 220 ) and programs to interface to and control the specific hardware functions provided with the computing platform . additionally , one or more embedded firmware programs ( 222 ) are commonly provided with many computing platforms , which are executed by onboard or “ embedded ” microprocessors as part of the peripheral device , such as a micro controller or a hard drive , a communication processor , network interface card , or sound or graphics card . as such , fig2 a and 2 b describe in a general sense the various hardware components , software and firmware programs of a wide variety of computing platforms , including but not limited to personal computers , pdas , pims , web - enabled telephones , and other appliances such as webtv ™ units . as such , we now turn our attention to disclosure of the present invention relative to the processes and methods preferably implemented as software and firmware on such a computing platform . it will be readily recognized by those skilled in the art that the following methods and processes may be alternatively realized as hardware functions , in part or in whole , without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . the present invention has been described , including several illustrative examples . it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that these examples do not represent the full scope of the invention , and that certain alternate embodiment choices can be made , including but not limited to use of alternate programming languages or methodologies , use of alternate computing platforms , and employ of alternate communications protocols and networks . therefore , the scope of the invention should be determined by the following claims . | 7 |
the present invention is a combination lock and pump that has a flexible cable with first and second ends in which the first end is capable of both engaging the second end when in a locked position and engaging a valve of a bicycle tire for inflation . fig1 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the combination lock and pump that includes a flexible cable 10 with a first end 20 and a second end 30 . as shown in fig2 a and 2b , the second end 30 of the flexible cable 10 is a male end that includes a lock bolt 31 capable of being secured in a lock aperture 21 of the first end 20 of the flexible cable 10 when in a locked position . the lock bolt 31 of the second end 30 includes a circumferential groove 311 capable of being secured within the lock aperture 21 of the first end 20 when in the locked position . the first end 20 is a female end that includes the lock aperture 21 , a pump aperture 22 capable of receiving a tire valve stem of a tire , a lock cylinder 23 with a key hole 231 , and a lever arm 27 for releasably securing the first end 20 to the tire valve stem . the internal components of the first end 20 of the first embodiment are shown in fig3 a , 3b , and 3c . the first end 20 includes an aperture to receive the lock cylinder 23 . the lock cylinder 23 engages a lock lug 232 to releasably secure the groove 311 of the lock bolt 31 when in the locked position , as shown in fig3 b . as is known in the art , rotation of a key in the lock cylinder 231 results in the locking and unlocking engagement of the lock lug 232 . for example and without limitation , this application incorporates by reference the cable lock disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 075 , 878 . as shown in fig3 a , the flexible cable 10 includes steel rope 11 made of multiple strands of galvanized steel laid together and an inflation tube 12 that runs parallel to steel rope 11 . the flexible cable 10 further includes a coating 13 made of plastic or cloth to protect the steel rope 11 and inflation tube 12 from corrosion and damage . the coating 13 is swaged to the flexible cable 10 . the steel rope may also be a metal chain that runs parallel to the inflation tube 12 . fig3 d shows a cross - section of the flexible cable 10 in which the strands of the steel rope 11 run parallel to the inflation tube 12 and are encased by coating 13 . while the rope 11 is described as made of steel , the rope 11 may be made of any break - resistant material , such as high density plastic . the first end 20 of the first embodiment includes a cavity 24 for receiving a collar 14 of the flexible cable 10 that prevents flexible cable 10 from being withdrawn from the first end 20 . the inflation tube 12 of the flexible cable 10 extends from the first end 20 to the second end 30 , as described in further detail below . the cavity 24 of the first end 20 houses one end of the inflation tube 12 . the first end 20 includes an air passage 241 that connects the cavity 24 to the pump aperture 22 to allow air to pass from the inflation tube 12 to the pump aperture 22 . the pump aperture 22 houses an urging member 25 with a leakproof ring 251 and an elastic body 26 . when in a non - inflation position as shown in fig3 a , the lever arm 27 extends parallel to the body of the first end 20 . the lever arm 27 is rotatably attached to the first end 20 by a pin 271 . the lever arm 27 includes a head 272 with a first surface located a first distance r 1 from the pin 271 and a second surface located a second distance r 2 from the pin 271 . the second distance r 2 being a greater distance away from the pin 271 than the first distance r 1 . the urging member 25 of the first end 20 includes a protrusion 252 partly surrounded by a duct 253 . the urging member 25 also includes a through hole 254 to allow air to pass from the air passage 241 to the duct 253 . the urging member contacts the head 272 of the lever arm 27 on one end and the elastic body 26 at another end . the elastic body 26 includes a duct 261 . when in an inflation position as shown in fig3 c , the lever arm 27 extends upwardly from the first end 20 and the head 272 of the lever arm 27 pushes the urging member 25 downwardly because the second distance r 2 of the head is greater than the first distance r 1 . in turn , the urging member 25 pushes the elastic body 26 such that the elastic body 26 deforms to securely engage a tire valve stem 50 that has been placed in the duct 261 . the protrusion 252 of the urging member 25 releasably presses a pin of the tire valve stem 50 inwardly when the urging member 25 is pushes downwardly by the lever arm 27 . when pressurized air is pumped through the inflation tube 12 , as described below , the pressurized air passes from the cavity 24 of the first end 20 to the duct 253 via the air passage 241 and through hole 254 and into the tire valve stem 50 to inflate the bicycle tire tube . fig4 a and 4b show the second end 30 of the flexible cable 10 of the first embodiment of the present invention . the lock bolt 31 is securely attached to the steel rope 11 of the flexible cable 10 . the second end 30 includes a housing 32 having a cylinder 33 with one end in communication with an end of the inflation tube 12 . the pump of the combination lock and pump includes a piston rod 34 extending within the cylinder 33 , a piston 35 connected to one end of the piston rod 34 , and a seal 351 disposed around the outer periphery of the piston 35 . the seal 351 deforms on an upstroke permitting air to enter the cylinder 33 around the deformed seal 351 . the seal 351 seals the piston 35 within the cylinder 33 on a downstroke to create a pressurized air chamber . during the downstroke of the piston 35 , pressurized air travels from one end of the inflation tube 12 in the second end 30 to the pump aperture 22 in the first end 20 to inflate a bicycle tire tube when the first end is in the inflation position . the piston rod 34 includes another end rotatably connected to a handle 36 . the handle 36 is capable of rotating between a folded storage position , as shown in fig4 a , and an unfolded pump position , as shown in fig4 b . as shown in fig5 , the second embodiment of the present invention is similar in construction to the first embodiment described above with the principal difference being the first end 40 has a dual - use aperture 41 to receive both a lock bolt 51 in a locked position and a tire valve stem of a tire ( not shown ) in an inflation position . the second end 50 of the second embodiment includes the lock bolt 51 with a circumferential groove 511 . the internal components of the first end 40 of the second embodiment are shown in fig6 a , 6b , and 6c . the first end 40 includes an aperture to receive the lock cylinder with a key hole 431 . the lock cylinder 43 engages a lock lug 432 to releasably secure the groove 511 of the lock bolt 51 when in the locked position , as shown in fig6 b . as is known in the art , rotation of a key in the lock cylinder 43 results in the locking and unlocking engagement of the lock lug 432 . the lock lug 432 is positioned adjacent to the opening of the dual - use aperture 41 and includes a leakproof ring 433 to prevent the leakage of air when using the second embodiment as a pump . like in the first embodiment of the present invention , the second embodiment includes an urging member 45 with a leakproof ring 451 and an elastic body 46 . the urging member 45 and the elastic body 46 are housed in the dual - use aperture 41 . in the second embodiment , a portion of the elastic body 46 is removed to allow for the passage of the lock lug 432 into the groove 511 of the lock bolt 51 when in the locked position , as shown in fig6 b . a lever arm 47 pushes the urging member 45 downwardly when the lever arm 47 extends upwardly in an inflation position , as shown in fig6 c . the urging member 45 then pushes the elastic body 46 such that the elastic body 46 deforms to securely engage the tire valve stem 50 . protrusion 452 of the urging member 45 releasably presses the pin of the tire valve stem 50 inwardly when in the inflation position to allow pressurized air pumped through the inflation tube 12 to pass through the dual - use aperture 41 into the tire valve stem 50 to inflate the bicycle tire tube . the locking lug 432 does not impede the tire valve stem when in the unlocked position . as shown in fig7 a and 7b , the third embodiment of the present invention is similar in construction to the first and second embodiments described above with the principal difference being the first end 60 has a barrel lock configuration . the barrel lock configuration of the first end 60 has an end cap 601 and combination wheels 62 . the first end 60 receives an end of inflation tube 608 of flexible cable 77 . the second end 70 of the third embodiment includes a shackle 71 with circumferential grooves 711 , 712 , 713 , and 714 . the internal components of the first end 60 of the third embodiment are shown in fig8 a , 8b , 8c , and 8d . the first end 60 includes an aperture 651 to receive the shackle 71 . a distal end of the end cap 601 includes both a groove for housing a lever arm 63 and apertures 603 for receiving a pivot pin 604 . the first end 60 further includes a shaft body 65 , a collet 66 , and clutches 621 - 624 . the shaft body 65 includes a collar 652 at one end of the aperture 651 for receiving the shackle 31 . the collar 652 includes a collet bore 653 for receiving a head 661 of the collet 66 . as further shown in fig8 a - 8d , the collet 66 includes arms 662 extending in parallel from the head 661 and pin bores 664 on an end opposite the head 661 . integrally formed with head 661 of the collet 66 is a plurality of fingers 663 . when the collet 66 is inserted within the collet bore 653 , the arms 662 extend through passages 659 in a distal portion of the collet bore 653 such that the head 661 is housed within the collet bore 653 . when the collet 66 is inserted within the collet bore 653 , the arms 662 also extend through the passages 659 in the end cap 601 such that the pivot pin 604 may project through the collet pin bores 664 and apertures 603 in the end cap 601 . the collet 66 further includes a dimple 665 on each arm 663 . as further shown in fig8 a - 8d , the shaft body 65 includes four aligned cylindrical well holes 654 , 655 , 656 , 657 for receiving four locking balls 674 , 675 , 676 , 677 . each of the clutches 621 - 624 has a locking ball recess 671 into which one of the locking balls 674 - 677 moves when the respective clutch is in the unlocked position and shackle 71 is pulled for removal . each of clutches 621 - 624 also has projections 672 which can engage recesses 621 on each wheel 62 . the shaft body 65 further includes a pair of aligned cylindrical well holes 658 for receiving securing balls 678 . a cylindrical elastic body 68 having a valve insertion opening is disposed within the collet 66 such that the collet fingers 663 contact the elastic body 68 . the elastic body 68 is held in a central position within the collet bore 653 by a retaining ring 69 having a seating groove 691 . the first end 60 further includes an urging member 64 having a leakproof ring 641 and a protrusion 642 partly surrounded by a duct 643 . one end of the duct 643 receives a collar 609 of the inflation tube 608 . the end of the inflation tube 608 includes a cylindrical - shaped spring portion that urges the urging member 64 outwardly along the aperture 651 from a retracted position , as shown in fig8 c , to an extended position , as shown in fig8 b for use during inflation . to place the third embodiment in the locked position as shown in fig8 c , the wheels 62 are rotated to an unlocked combination , the shackle 71 is inserted into the collar 652 , collet bore 653 , and into the aperture 651 of the shaft 65 . as shackle 71 enters the aperture 651 , the shackle 71 pushes the urging member 64 inwardly to its retracted position and balls 674 - 678 are caromed outwardly through well holes 654 - 658 . in turn , the balls 674 - 677 enter the clutch recesses 671 . once the shackle 71 fully enters aperture 651 , the balls 674 - 677 descend into the shackle grooves 711 - 714 . one or more of the wheels 62 are then rotated to a locked position to retain at least one of the balls 674 - 677 in the shackle grooves 711 - 714 . to unlock the third embodiment , each wheel 62 is rotated to its respective unlocked combination , the shackle 71 is then removed from the aperture 651 of the shaft 65 . the protrusion or shackle 71 , or both , may be made of a magnetized material to aid in moving the urging member 64 from the retracted position to the extended position during removal of the shackle 71 from the first end 60 . when in an inflation position as shown in fig8 d , the lever arm 63 extends upwardly from the first end 60 and the head 631 pulls the pivot pin 604 upwardly thus pulling the collet 66 inwardly into the collet bore 653 . the outwardly projecting portions of the collet fingers 663 are deflected inwardly by the sliding interaction of the collet head 661 against the outer edge of the housing sidewalls of the collar 652 . the inward movement of the collet finger 663 causes the elastic body 68 to be squeezed inwardly to securely engage the tire valve stem 50 . because the urging member 64 had previously been urged outwardly by the springing action of the inflation tube 608 toward the collet bore 653 , the urging member 64 extends passed the pair of well holes 658 and securing balls 679 of the shaft body 65 . each dimple 665 of the collet 66 urges the respective securing ball 679 into a securing position when the pivot pin 604 pulls the collet 66 upwardly , thus securing the urging member 64 in the extended position adjacent the collet bore 653 . fig9 a - 11b show an alternative embodiment of the second end 90 of the flexible cable 10 in which a locking bolt 91 forms part of the piston rod of the piston - cylinder pump . as shown in fig1 a and 10b , the second end 90 includes a cap 92 with rotatably connected handle members 921 , 922 and a securing portion 93 with recesses 931 , 932 to accommodate a pair of projections 911 , 912 on the locking bolt 91 . the second end 90 further includes a cylinder 94 with one end in communication with an end of the inflation tube 12 . the cylinder 94 houses a piston 95 connected to one end of the locking bolt 91 and a seal 951 disposed around the outer periphery of the piston 95 . the seal 951 deforms on an upstroke permitting air to enter the cylinder 94 around the deformed seal 951 . the seal 951 seals the piston 95 within the cylinder 94 on a downstroke to create a pressurized air chamber . during the downstroke of the piston 95 , pressurized air travels from one end of the inflation tube 12 in the second end 90 to the first end of the present invention to inflate a bicycle tire tube when the first end is in the inflation position . when using the alternative embodiment as a lock as shown in fig9 a and 10a , the cap 92 is releasably secured to the housing of the second end 90 by projections 923 , 924 on the end of the handle members 921 , 922 . the projections 923 , 924 are releasably held by latches 961 , 962 in the housing of the second end 90 . the second end 90 further includes a push button 96 to move latches 961 , 962 to release the projections 923 , 924 of the handle members 921 , 922 . when in use as a lock , the locking bolt 91 is secured in place by projections 911 , 912 being retained in recesses 931 , 932 of the securing portion 93 . the locking bolt 91 further includes a circumferential groove 913 to lock the locking bolt 91 in place when inserted into the first end of the present invention . while the second member 90 is shown in fig9 a - 11b as having a locking bolt 91 , the second member 90 may include a shackle with shackle grooves for use in a barrel lock configuration , as described in the third embodiment . upon depressing push button 96 , the handle members 921 , 922 of the cap 92 are released so that the cap 92 may slide to the end of the locking bolt 91 to use the second end 90 as a pump , as shown in fig9 b and 10b . fig1 a shows a cut - away section of the locking bolt 91 and cap 92 , in which the cap 92 may include a spring 923 to urge the cap 92 upward toward the end of the locking bolt 91 . the cap 92 may also include teeth 924 along the inner portion of each handle member 921 , 922 . the teeth 924 may engage teeth 912 on the locking bolt 91 to form a rack and pinion configuration such that each handle member 921 , 922 rotates outwardly away from the cap 92 as the cap 92 slides toward the end of the locking bolt 91 . when the cap 92 reaches the end of the locking bolt 91 and the handle members 921 , 922 are fully rotated outwardly , the cap 92 may be rotated to rotate the locking bolt 91 to slide projections 911 , 912 along recesses 931 , 932 of the securing portion 93 . fig1 b shows a cut - away section of the locking bolt 91 , the securing portion 93 , and the piston 95 . once completely rotated , the projections 911 , 912 of the locking bolt 91 clear the recesses 931 , 932 of the securing portion 93 such that the locking bolt 91 is no longer secured in place by the securing portion 93 . as a result , the locking bolt 91 may act as a piston rod to slide piston 95 along cylinder 94 to use the the second end 90 as a pump . as shown in fig1 , the fourth embodiment of the present invention is similar in construction to the previous embodiments described above with the principal difference being the first end 80 has a first pump aperture 81 capable of receiving a schrader tire valve stem and a second pump aperture 82 capable of receiving a presta tire valve stem of a tire ( not shown ). as shown in fig1 , the fifth embodiment of the present invention is similar in construction to the previous embodiments described above with the principal difference being the first end 100 has a rectangular - shaped lock aperture 101 capable of receiving a rectangular - shaped shackle 102 with a slot 103 for locking the shackle 102 within aperture 101 . the first end 100 also includes a pump aperture 105 capable of receiving a tire valve stem of a tire ( not shown ). as shown in fig1 , the sixth embodiment of the present invention is similar in construction to the previous embodiments described above with the principal difference being the first end 110 has a dual - use aperture 111 to receive both a rectangular - shaped shackle 112 in a locked position and the tire valve stem 50 in an inflation position . the shackle 112 includes a slot 113 for locking the shackle 112 within aperture 111 . as shown in fig1 , the seventh embodiment of the present invention is similar in construction to the previous embodiments described above with the principal difference being the flexible cable 120 , and not the second end 121 , includes a piston - cylinder pump 122 of the combination lock and pump . as shown in fig1 , the eighth embodiment of the present invention is similar in construction to the previous embodiments described above with the principal difference being the second end 130 includes a locking bolt 131 projecting perpendicular to the body of the second end 130 , a rotating projection 132 on a side of the second end 130 opposing the locking bolt 131 , and an elongated pump piston - cylinder configuration 133 for use as a floor pump . each of the previous embodiments may also include an end of the flexible tube with a nozzle to receive a pressurized air cartridge for inflation of the bicycle tire . in the drawings , which are not necessarily drawn to scale , like numerals may describe similar components in different views . like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components . the drawings illustrate generally , by way of example , but not by way of limitation , various embodiments discussed in the present document . the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive . for example , the above - described examples ( or one or more aspects thereof ) may be used in combination with each other . other embodiments can be used , such as by one of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the above description . the abstract is provided to comply with 37 c . f . r . 1 . 72 ( b ) to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure . it is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims . also , in the above detailed description , various features may be grouped together to streamline the disclosure . this should not be interpreted as intending that an unclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim . rather , inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a particular disclosed embodiment . thus , the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description , with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment , and it is contemplated that such embodiments can be combined with each other in various combinations or permutations . the scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the following claims , along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled . while the present invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that those of ordinary skill in the art will no doubt devise certain alterations and modifications in form and detail to the present invention . the following claims are therefore intended to cover all such alterations and modifications that nevertheless incorporate the true spirit and scope of the invention . | 4 |
i will first describe the overall process of heating the skelp , forming it into a c - shape , and then overheating the edges and finally welding it into a closed tubing according to the invention . in fig1 a flat skelp 10 is passed through a preheat furnace 11 to achieve the strip temperature between 1500 ° f . and 2000 ° f . the skelp is then formed into a c - shape by a pair of rolls 12 or a series of rolls 12 &# 39 ;, etc . the seam 14 formed by the spaced linear edges 13 and 13 &# 39 ; of the skelp passes adjacent and in spaced relation to the induction heating coil 15 where the edges of the seam are overheated to the required welding temperature . the skelp is then compressed by the welding rolls 17 producing a butt weld between the edges of the seam . tube 18 thus has a weld zone 16 which may be thicker than the original skelp thickness . this increase in section is termed &# 34 ; upset &# 34 ;. in fig2 the induction heating coil 15 of fig1 is shown comprised of two ( 2 ) series connected loops formed from hollow water cooled conductors . the first loop is composed of inner conductor 43 and an outer conductor 24 . the second loop is composed of inner conductor 42 and an outer conductor 22 . the inner conductors 42 and 43 are insulated from each other ( not shown ) and placed within magnetic flux guides 44 . the flux guides 44 may be insulated electrically from the conductors or preferably they may be split in two pieces 44 and 44 &# 39 ;, as also shown in fig4 and joined to conductors 42 and 43 in order that their internal losses might be dissipated in the cooling water of the hollow conductors . in fig2 a portion of the magnetic flux guides 44 are shown removed to further illustrate the construction used therein . the two loops are terminated in connections typically shown as 26 , 28 , 30 and 32 . cooling water to remove the losses caused by electrical currents flowing within the conductors can enter and depart the cooling passages in the conductor via connection tubes shown as 37 and 38 . fig3 is a diagrammatic drawing of the conductors which form the current carrying parts of the induction heating coil 15 of fig2 . the main conductors 42 and 43 and the return conductors 22 and 24 that form the two loops of the heating coil are shown . also shown are the leads 26 , 28 , 30 and 32 which connect to the two loops . the loops are placed electrically in series by the jumper 54 which joins leads 26 and 28 . leads 30 and 32 are the connections to the power source that supplies the ac current necessary to produce the induction heating field for the welding process . as shown in fig7 the two main conductors 42 and 43 are positioned in spaced proximity to the open edges of the formed skelp . the use of series connection of the two loops results in the equality of currents in both conductors 42 and 43 and in even heating of edges 13 and 13 &# 39 ;. previous construction utilized parallel connection of the inductor loops and equality of the currents could not be assured . fig4 shows a cut - away isometric view of the portion of the induction heating coil 15 , and a corresponding section of the formed c - shaped skelp 14 prior to its passage through weld rolls 17 . as can be seen , the main conductors 42 and 43 are positioned within the magnetic flux guides 44 and 44 &# 39 ; while the return conductors 22 and 24 are positioned external to the magnetic flux guides in spaced relation thereto . fig5 shows the formed skelp 14 and illustrates the current paths that result from the induction heating coil of the invention . note that the main heating currents 20 and 21 which are adjacent to conductors 42 and 43 , respectively , produce a concentration of current along the edges 13 and 13 &# 39 ; of the formed skelp while the return currents 20 &# 39 ; and 21 &# 39 ; are distributed over a wide area . this concentration of current produces a favorable distribution of energy within the skelp whereby most of the energy is concentrated along the edge and therefore results in high electrical efficiency . fig6 shows the same broken isometric view of fig4 with an additional magnetic flux guide 56 inserted within the formed skelp 14 . the purpose of this additional guide is to assist in further concentration of currents 20 and 21 of fig5 along the edge of the skelp and thereby improve the operating efficiency of the system . the interior magnetic flux guide 56 may be supported on the mill and in a position prior to passage through the forming rolls 12 where the skelp is an open c - shape . fig7 is a cross - sectional view cut through the induction heating coil 15 and the formed skelp 14 . in order for the edges 13 and 13 &# 39 ; of the formed skelp to achieve substantially the same temperature to provide a weld of superior quality the edges must have substantially the same current in each of the edges . in the induction heating coil of this invention currents in main conductors 42 and 43 are exactly equal . in the cross - section view of fig7 a the centerline of the induction coil assembly and the centerline of the gap or open seam in the formed skelp 56 are shown to be coincident and it can be expected that the currents in the edges 13 and 13 &# 39 ; and the temperatures of the edges 13 and 13 &# 39 ; will be essentially equal . as the skelp passes through the mill , it is not unusual for the formed c - shape to rotate around the longitudinal axis of the tube and the seam is thereby displaced from the neutral position shown in fig7 a . fig7 b shows the centerline displaced to the left or counter - clockwise position by an angle θ from the centerline , 55 , of the induction heating coil assembly . i have found that a satisfactory weld may be obtained with angular displacements up to 5 ° when welding a 5 &# 34 ; diameter tube . this tolerance for angular displacement of the closed seam formed by the edges , 13 and 13 &# 39 ;, and the inductor centerline , 55 , can be expressed by the formula ## equ1 ## where depth of penetration is defined by the equation , ## equ2 ## with p in ohm inches , and f in hertz . if the angular displacement of the centerline of the formed skelp is within the maximum tolerance angle a satisfactory weld can be achieved . if this angle is exceeded , other problems associated with the welding process may occur and will require adjustments of the mill . it has been found preferable that the gap between the formed skelp and the inductor be kept to a minimum as the efficiency of the operation decreases if this spacing increases . although preferred embodiments have been described and illustrated herein , the invention is not intended to be limited thereby , except by the appended claims . | 1 |
fig1 - 7 and 9 - 11 show the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention designated generally by the numeral 10 . marine lifting apparatus 10 provides a pair of spaced apart vessels or hulls 11 , 12 , each providing a deck 30 . hulls 11 , 12 can be barges , dynamically positioned vessels , or any other buoyant structure . a pair of frames or trusses 13 , 14 are provided , each frame 13 , 14 spanning between the vessels 11 , 12 . each frame 13 , 14 connects to one vessel 11 or 12 with a universal joint 15 or 17 ( see fig1 , 4 , 9 ) and to the other hull 11 or 12 with a hinged or pinned connection 16 or 19 ( see fig4 ). the first frame 13 connects to hull 11 with universal joint 15 ( or articulating connection ). the first frame 13 connects to vessel 12 with a pinned connection or hinge 16 . similarly , the second frame 14 connects to hull 12 with a universal joint 17 ( or articulating connection ) and to hull 11 with a hinge or pinned connection 18 ( see fig4 ). an interface such as a deck beam or load spreader platform can be provided on the upper deck 30 of each hull 11 , 12 for forming an interface between the frames 13 , 14 and the vessels 11 , 12 . for example , vessel 11 is provided with deck beam or load spreader platform 19 on its deck 30 that forms an interface between each of the frames 13 , 14 and the barge or vessel 11 deck 30 . deck beam or load spreader platform 20 provides an interface between each of the frames 13 , 14 and deck 30 of the vessel or barge 12 . in fig4 , a plan or top view of the apparatus 10 of the present invention is shown . a lifting area 21 is that area that is in between the vessels 11 , 12 , the area 21 having a length defined by dimension arrow 23 and a width defined by dimension arrow 22 in fig4 . this area 21 is sized and shaped to receive a vessel having a cargo to be lifted if that cargo ( e . g . deck package ) is to be installed . alternatively , the area 21 can be an area that receives a vessel for supporting and transporting an item to be salvaged from an ocean floor ( see fig5 and 11 - 15 ) such as a hurricane smashed or damaged offshore platform section 34 , sunken boat 33 or the like . in either case , a clearance is provided above the water surface 24 . in fig3 , a clearance between water surface 24 and frame 13 or 14 is indicated schematically by the dimension line 25 . similarly , a clearance 26 is provided above the maximum deck elevation 35 of the hulls 11 , 12 as shown in fig3 . each of the frames 13 , 14 can be in the form of a truss as shown . the frames are generally speaking in the shape of an arch or inverted u so that an area is provided under the frames and above the water surface for raising an item that is being salvaged or to lift an item from a barge or other vessel or support that is under the frames . each truss or frame 13 , 14 can be a one piece structure ( see fig1 ) or a multi - section truss ( see fig1 - 4 ). for multi - section frames 13 , 14 they provide a center truss section 27 , a smaller side truss section 28 and another smaller side truss section 29 . pinned connections 31 , 32 can be provided for attaching the smaller truss sections 28 , 29 to the larger center truss section 27 as shown in fig3 and 4 . slings can optionally be provided for connecting the center section 27 to the lower end portion of each of the smaller truss sections 28 , 29 . shackles can be used to attach each of the slings to eyelets or padeyes on the center section 27 . likewise , shackles can be used to attach the slings to eyelets or padeyes on the smaller truss sections 28 , 29 . a hook 40 or other lifting fitting can be attached to a lifting line 41 and payed out from winch 42 . more than one lifting line 41 and hook 40 can be provided as shown . sheaves 43 , 44 , 45 as needed can be used to route the line 41 from winch 42 to hook 40 . line 41 can be a multiple line assembly to increase lift capacity such as is shown in fig1 . hook 40 can be any lifting fitting such as any known commercially available crown block , for example . fig6 - 9 illustrate the articulation that is achieved with the method and apparatus of the present invention , even in rough seas . in fig6 and 7 , rough sea conditions are shown wherein the vessels 11 , 12 assume differing orientations relative to each other caused by the rough sea state . notwithstanding the orientation of the vessels 11 , 12 the combination of an articulating connection 15 , 17 with hinged or pinned connections 16 , 18 enables complete articulation between each of the frames or trusses 13 , 14 and each of the vessels or hulls 11 , 12 . in fig9 a - 9d , an exemplary articulating connection 15 , 17 is shown . in fig9 a - 9d , a frame or truss 13 , 14 connects to a load spreader platform 19 or 20 at padeyes 61 , 62 . a first shaft 63 is pivotally attached to the padeyes 61 , 62 . a second shaft 64 is pivotally attached to the first shaft 63 at opening 69 in first shaft 63 . the second shaft 64 also defines a pivotal connection for the frame 13 or 14 to the first shaft 63 as shown . this universal joint arrangement enables the frame 13 ( or 14 ) to move in an articulating fashion with respect to the load spreader platform 19 or 20 and with respect to the underlying vessel 11 or 12 as indicated schematically by arrows 65 , 66 in fig9 . fig1 - 17 show the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention when fitted with a block and tackle arrangement . vessels 11 , 12 are also shown fitted with anchor lines 67 that connect conventional anchors ( not shown ) to anchor winches 68 on the vessels 11 , 12 . the anchor winches 68 can be used to exactly position vessels 11 , 12 and to stabilize their positions during a lift . a block and tackle arrangement ( fig1 - 17 ) can be used to lift an item to be salvaged from the seabed 55 such as the damaged platform section 34 in fig1 . in fig1 - 17 , each of the frames 13 , 14 is rigged with an upper sheave 48 and upper pulley block 49 . each frame 13 or 14 can be rigged with a lifting line 41 and one or more winches 42 . in fig1 - 12 for example , each frame 13 , 14 has two winches 42 , each winch 42 having a lifting line or cable 41 . lower pulley block 50 is positioned below upper pulley block 49 . the pulley blocks 49 , 50 can provide multiple pulleys such as is shown in fig1 , 13 and 17 . slings 51 can be rigged to each lower pulley block 50 . each sling 51 can support a lifting beam or spreader bar 54 . each spreader bar 54 can support one or more slings 53 as shown in fig1 , 17 . the slings 53 can be provided with any selected additional rigging such as clamps , shackles or grabs 60 , as examples . arrows 47 in fig1 show lines 41 being payed out to lower the lower pulley blocks 50 to damaged platform section 34 ( see arrow 56 , fig1 ). the damaged platform section 34 to be salvaged can be fitted with beams 52 such as i - beams as an example . as the damaged or sunken platform section 34 rests upon seabed 55 , grabs 60 can be attached to the beams 52 with slings 53 as shown in fig1 for a lifting operation . arrow 56 in fig1 schematically illustrates a lowering of the lower pulley blocks 50 to the sunken , damaged platform section 34 . after the grabs 60 are connected to the beams 52 , arrow 57 in fig1 schematically illustrates an elevating of the platform section 34 as each line 41 is wound upon its winch 42 . in fig1 , the transport vessel 46 is moved into the area 21 under frames 12 , 13 , 14 . arrow 58 schematically illustrates a lowering of the damaged platform section 34 to the vessel 46 . in fig1 , grabs 60 have been released from beams 52 and lifted upwardly in the direction of arrow 59 , away from the damaged platform section 34 . the damaged or salvaged item such as a vessel 33 or damaged platform section 34 can then be transported to a selected locale using the transport vessel or transport barge 46 . in fig1 , an alternate load spreader platform construction is shown . a smaller load spreader platform 36 is placed under each universal joint 15 or 17 of the frame 13 or 14 . a larger load spreader platform 37 is placed under each pinned connection or hinge 16 or 18 of the frame 13 or 14 . each platform 36 , 37 can comprise a plurality of longitudinal beams 38 and a plurality of transverse beams 39 as shown . the beams 38 , 39 can be structurally connected together ( e . g . welded together ). the following is a list of parts and materials suitable for use in the present invention . all measurements disclosed herein are at standard temperature and pressure , at sea level on earth , unless indicated otherwise . all materials used or intended to be used in a human being are biocompatible , unless indicated otherwise . the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only ; the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims . | 1 |
fig2 shows a portion of a resistive memory device according to the invention . the device includes an array 200 of magnetic random access memory ( mram ) elements , a plurality of electrically conductive row lines 210 , and a plurality of electrically conductive column lines 220 . each row line is connected to each of the plurality of column lines by a respective mram resistive element 230 . a plurality of switches 240 , typically implemented as transistors , are each switchingly connected between one of the row lines and a first source of constant potential ( ground ) 250 . a plurality of sensing circuits 260 , are respectively connected to the plurality of column lines 220 . each sensing circuit 260 includes a source of constant electrical potential ( v a ) which is applied to the respective column line . a plurality of pull - up voltage sources 215 , supplying voltage v a , are respectively connected to each of the plurality of row lines 210 . in operation , an exemplary switch 240 , such as switch 270 associated with a particular row line 280 , is closed so as to bring that row line to ground potential and a particular column line , e . g ., 320 is sensed to read the resistance value of a particular resistor 310 . fig3 shows the resulting electrical circuit for the relevant portion 300 of the memory array when row 280 is grounded . as shown , memory element 310 to be sensed is connected between a grounded row line 280 and a particular column line 320 . also connected to the column line 320 is a plurality of other resistive memory elements ( e . g . elements 330 , 340 , 350 , 360 , 370 ) each of which is connected at its opposite end to a pull - up voltage source v a 215 through a respective row line 210 . in addition , a respective sensing circuit 400 is connected to the column line 320 . the sensing circuit 400 indudes a voltage supply that maintains the column line 320 at electrical potential v a . the other resistive memory elements ( those tied to ungrounded row lines ) 330 , 340 , 350 , 360 , 370 , form an equivalent resistance referred to as sneak resistance . the effective resistance of the sneak resistance is small . a typical value for sneak resistance might be 1 kω . nevertheless , because both ends of each ungrounded resistor are ideally maintained at the same potential ( here v a ) as the column line 320 , net current flow through the sneak resistance is desirably nearly zero . in contrast , a measurable current flows through the grounded resistor memory element 310 . this measurable current allows evaluation of the resistance of the memory clement 310 by the sensing circuit 400 . one proposal for sensing the resistance value of a memory cell is to charge a capacitor to a predetermined first voltage and then discharge the capacitor through the memory cell resistance until it holds a second lower predetermined voltage . the time taken for the capacitor to discharge from the first to the second voltage is a measure of cell resistance . a problem with this approach is that since the resistance values representing the different logic states of a cell are very close in value ( only 5 % difference ) it is difficult to obtain an accurate and reliable resistance measurement , even if digital counting techniques are employed to measure the discharge time of the capacitor . thus , even when using digital counting techniques , the discharge time of the capacitor must be counted quite precisely to sense the different resistance values and distinguish logic states . to achieve this precision , either the counting clock must be operated at a high frequency or the capacitor must be discharged relatively slowly . neither of these options is desirable , since slow capacitor discharge means slow reading of stored memory values , and a high dock frequency requires high frequency components . in either case , a counter having a large number of stages is also required . the present invention provides a resistive measuring circuit and operating method which rapidly ascertains a resistive value without storing large data counts , and without requiring highly precisioned components . fig4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a resistance sensing circuit 500 constructed in accordance with the invention . sensing circuit 500 relies on the cyclical discharge of a capacitor 510 to determine the value of a memory cell resistance 520 . the duty cycle of a recharging signal for the capacitor 510 represents a value of resistance 520 . the resistance measuring circuit 500 outputs a bit stream from an output 900 of a comparator 910 . the ratio of logic one bits to a total number of bits ( or , in another aspect of the invention , the ratio of logic one bits to logic zero bits ) in the bit stream yields a numerical value . this numerical value corresponds to the current that flows through the resistance 520 in response to a known applied voltage . for example , assume that a current source can deliver current at two discrete current levels , corresponding to two different states of a logical input signal . when the signal is in logic one state , the source delivers , for example , 2 μa . when the signal is in a logic zero state , the source delivers , for example , 0 μa . the logical input signal is monitored over a finite time span corresponding to a number of bit - length time periods . over that time span , the numbers of logic one and logic zero bits arc recorded . by straightforward algebra , the average current delivered by the current source over the corresponding time span may be calculated as follows : as an example , if , over a time span corresponding to 4 cycles , there is one logic one bit and three logic zero bits then the average current over the four cycles is 0 . 5 μa . the operation of the fig4 sensing circuit is now described in greater detail . an mram resistive memory element 520 to be sensed has a first end 530 connected to a column line 540 and a second end 550 connected to ground 250 through a row line 560 and switch 565 . also connected to the column line 540 is a first end 570 of a sneak resistance 580 . the sneak resistance has a second end 590 connected to a source of constant potential v a 215 . the sneak resistance 580 represents a plurality of mram resistive elements associated with the particular column line 540 and with a respective plurality of unselected row lines , as described above with reference to fig3 . a first operational amplifier ( op - amp ) integrator 600 is provided which has a non - inverting ( positive ) input 610 , an inverting ( negative ) input 620 , a calibrate offset input 630 , and an output 640 . the output 640 of the first op - amp 600 is connected to a control input ( gate ) 700 of a first transistor 710 , which in this exemplary embodiment is an n - channel transistor . the first transistor 710 includes a drain 720 connected to both the selected column line 540 and the inverting input 620 of the first op - amp 600 . the first transistor also includes a source 730 operatively connected to a first terminal 740 of a capacitor 510 . the capacitor 510 includes a second terminal 750 operatively connected to a ground potential 250 . the source 730 of the first transistor 710 is also connected to a drain 760 of a second transistor 770 . in this exemplary embodiment , this second transistor 770 is a pmos transistor . the second transistor 770 includes a source 780 and a gate 790 , in addition to the drain 760 . the source 780 is operatively connected to a supply voltage 800 , which in this exemplary embodiment is 2 . 5 volts . the gate 790 is operatively connected to an output 900 of a clocked comparator 910 . the docked comparator 910 , shown as a docked second operational amplifier , includes the output 900 , a non - inverting ( positive ) input 920 , an inverting ( negative ) input 930 , and a dock input 940 connected to a source of a clock signal 950 . the comparator 910 may be implemented as a simple clocked latch , or the comparator 910 may be simply enabled by the dock clk signal . the output 900 of the second op - amp is also connected to a counter 1000 which counts the rising transitions at the comparator output 900 . the non - inverting input 920 of the second op - amp 910 is connected to a source of a reference voltage 960 ( 1 volt in the exemplary embodiment shown ). a second counter 1010 counts the total number of transitions of the clock 950 during a measuring cycle . this counter 1010 includes an input 1020 for receiving clock signal 950 and at output 1030 that exhibits a signal when counter 1010 reaches a predetermined count . the output 1030 is connected to a latch input 1040 of a latching buffer 1050 . the latching buffer 1050 includes a data input 1060 and data output 1070 . the data input 1060 is connected to a data output 1080 of the first counter 1000 . the data output 1070 is connected to a first data input 1090 of a digital comparator 1100 . the digital comparator 1100 includes a second data input 1110 connected to a data output 1120 of a source of a reference value 1130 . in one embodiment , the source of the reference value 1130 is a buffer or other device holding a digital number . the sensing circuit 500 operates in the following manner when activated when a row line is grounded and a resistance value is to be sensed . capacitor 510 is initially discharged , resulting in a negative output signal on the output 900 of the second op - amp 910 . this causes the second transistor 770 to be placed in a conductive state , permitting capacitor 510 to begin charging . when the voltage on capacitor 510 equals that applied to the non - inverting input 920 of the second op - amp 910 ( here 1 volt ), the output 900 of the second op - amp changes state to a positive value at the next transition of the clock 950 . this turns off the second transistor 770 . the charge stored on capacitor 510 is discharged through the first transistor 710 and cell resistance 520 under the control of the first op - amp 600 . the first op - amp 600 tries to maintain a constant voltage va on the selected column line 540 . as charge is depleted from capacitor 510 the voltage on the capacitor drops until it falls below the voltage ( 1 volt ) applied to the reference input 920 of the clocked comparator 910 . after this threshold is passed , the next positive clock transition applied to the dock input 940 causes the output of comparator 910 to go low again turning on the second transistor 770 and causing current to begin flowing through the second transistor 770 to recharge capacitor 510 . in one embodiment , the capacitor 510 is recharged during one dock cycle of dock source 950 , so the comparator output 900 switches to high and the second transistor 770 is shut off again at the next positive clock transition . transistor 770 is sized to allow a substantially constant current ( e . g ., 2 . 5 μa ) to flow to capacitor 510 when transistor 770 is in a conductive state . the described charging and discharging of capacitor 510 under the control of the first 710 and second 770 transistors occurs repeatedly during one sense cycle . each time the output of the comparator 910 goes low , a current pulse is allowed to pass through the second transistor 770 and the first counter 1000 incremented . each time the clock signal 950 transitions positive , the second counter 1010 is incremented . when the second counter 1010 reaches a preset value , it triggers the latch 1050 , which latches that number of pulses counted by the first counter 1000 during the sensing period . the number of pulses counted is latched onto the data output 1070 ( and data input 1090 ). the comparator 1100 then evaluates the values presented at the first and second data inputs 1090 , 1110 , and ascertains whether the value at the first data input 1090 is larger or smaller than the reference value at the second data input 1110 . the reference value at input 1110 is set between two count values which correspond to “ hi ” and “ low ” resistance states for resistor 520 . thus if the value of the first data input 1090 is larger than the reference value , then a first logical value ( e . g . logic one ) is output on an output 1140 of the digital comparator 1100 . if the value of the first data input 1090 is smaller than the reference value , then a second logical value ( e . g . logic zero ) is output on the output 1140 of the digital comparator 1100 . in a variation , a comparator 1100 capable of comparing the digital value applied at the data input 1090 to a plurality of reference values 1110 can distinguish a value stored in a single resistive memory element as between multiple resistance values . in a further variation , the capacitor 510 is pre - charged prior to a measuring cycle . by pre - charging the capacitor 510 , the number of cycles of the clock signal 950 required to measure the state of the memory element is reduced . in another variation the capacitor is not pre - charged , in which case sensing the resistance of the memory element takes longer , but the circuitry and / or process is simplified . fig5 and 6 show an exemplary relationship between the output signal produced at output 900 of the clocked comparator 910 and the voltage on capacitor 510 over time . fig5 shows the output signal produced by the clocked comparator when a 100 mhz dock signal is applied to the dock input 940 . at a clock frequency of 100 mhz , clock pulses are spaced at an interval of 10 ns . in the example shown , the output of the clocked comparator is high 1160 for one dock pulse ( 10 ns ) and low 1170 for three clock pulses ( 30 ns ). this corresponds to the voltage waveform shown in fig6 . in fig6 , the voltage of the capacitor 510 is shown to begin rising when the output 900 of the clocked comparator goes low ( time a ), thereby turning on the pmos transistor 770 . the voltage rises for 30 ns , or three clock pulses until time b . at time b , the output of the clocked comparator goes high again , turning off the pmos transistor . the voltage on the capacitor 510 then begins to drop again while the pmos device remains off for one clock pulse , or 10 ns ( until time c ). accordingly , in the example shown , the duty cycle of the signal output by the docked comparator 910 is 75 % ( three on - pulses for every off - pulse ). fig7 shows a computer system 1200 including a digital memory 1210 having a resistance measuring memory cell sensor according to the invention . the computer 1200 , as shown includes a central processing unit ( cpu ) 1220 , for example , a microprocessor , that communicates with one or more input / output ( i / o ) devices 1230 over a bus 1240 . the computer system also includes peripheral devices such as disk storage 1250 and a user interface 1260 . it may be desirable to integrate the processor and memory on a single ic chip . while preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated above , it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting . additions , deletions , substitutions , and other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention . accordingly , the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims . | 6 |
examples disclosed herein enable remote and interactive access , navigation , and analysis of reactions from one or more viewers to a specific media instance . here , the reactions include , but are not limited to , physiological responses , survey results , verbatim feedback , event - based metadata , and derived statistics for indicators of success and failure from the viewers . the reactions from the viewers are aggregated and stored in a database and are delivered to a user via a web - based graphical interface or application , such as a web browser . through the web - based graphical interface , the user is able to remotely access and navigate the specific media instance , together with one or more of : the aggregated physiological responses that have been synchronized with the media instance , the survey results , and the verbatim feedbacks related to the specific media instance . instead of being presented with static data ( such as a snapshot ) of the viewers &# 39 ; reactions to the media instance , the user is now able to interactively divide , dissect , parse , and analysis the reactions in any way he / she prefer . the examples disclosed herein provide automation that enables those who are not experts in the field of physiological analysis to understand and use physiological data by enabling these non - experts to organize the data and organize and improve presentation or visualization of the data according to their specific needs . in this manner , the examples disclosed herein provide an automated process that enables non - experts to understand complex data , and to organize the complex data in such a way as to present conclusions as appropriate to the media instance . in the following description , numerous specific details are introduced to provide a thorough understanding of , and enabling description for , example systems and methods . one skilled in the relevant art , however , will recognize that these examples can be practiced without one or more of the specific details , or with other components , systems , etc . in other instances , well - known structures or operations are not shown , or are not described in detail , to avoid obscuring aspects of the disclosed examples . having multiple reactions from the viewers ( e . g ., physiological responses , survey results , verbatim feedback , events tagged with metadata , etc .) available in one place and at a user &# 39 ; s fingertips , along with the automated methods for aggregating the data provided herein , allows the user to view the reactions to hundreds of media instances in one sitting by navigating through them . for each of the media instances , the integration of multiple reactions provides the user with more information than the sum of each of the reactions to the media instance . for a non - limiting example , if one survey says that an ad is bad , that is just information ; but if independent surveys , verbatim feedbacks and physiological data across multiple viewers say the same , the reactions to the media instance become more trustworthy . by combining this before a user sees it , the correct result is presented to the user . fig1 is an illustration of an example system to support automated remote access and analysis of media and reactions from viewers . although this diagram depicts components as functionally separate , such depiction is merely for illustrative purposes . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the components portrayed in this figure can be arbitrarily combined or divided into separate software , firmware and / or hardware components . furthermore , it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that such components , regardless of how they are combined or divided , can execute on the same computing device or multiple computing devices , and wherein the multiple computing devices can be connected by one or more networks . referring to fig1 , an authentication module 102 is operable to authenticate identity of a user 101 requesting access to a media instance 103 together with one or more reactions 104 from a plurality of viewers of the media instance remotely over a network 107 . here , the media instance and its pertinent data can be stored in a media database 105 , and the one or more reactions from the viewers can be stored in a reaction database 106 , respectively . the network 107 can be , but is not limited to , one or more of the internet , intranet , wide area network ( wan ), local area network ( lan ), wireless network , bluetooth , and mobile communication networks . once the user is authenticated , a presentation module 108 is operable to retrieve and present the requested information ( e . g ., the media instance together with one or more reactions from the plurality of viewers ) to the user via an interactive browser 109 . the interactive browser 109 comprises at least two panels including a media panel 110 , which is operable to present , play , and pause the media instance , and a response panel 111 , which is operable to display the one or more reactions corresponding to the media instance , and provide the user with a plurality of features to interactively divide , dissect , parse , and analyze the reactions . fig2 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process to support remote access and analysis of media and reactions from viewers . although this figure depicts functional steps in a particular order for purposes of illustration , the process is not limited to any particular order or arrangement of steps . one skilled in the art will appreciate that the various steps portrayed in this figure could be omitted , rearranged , combined and / or adapted in various ways . referring to fig2 , a media instance and one or more reactions to the instance from a plurality of viewers are stored and managed in one or more databases at step 201 . data or information of the reactions to the media instance is obtained or gathered from each user via a sensor headset , one example of which is described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 12 / 206 , 676 , filed sep . 8 , 2008 , u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 804 , 517 , filed may 17 , 2007 , and u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 681 , 265 , filed mar . 2 , 2007 . at step 202 , the identity of a user requesting access to the media instance and the one or more reactions remotely is authenticated . at step 203 , the requested media instance and the one or more reactions are retrieved and delivered to the user remotely over a network ( e . g ., the web ). at step 204 , the user may interactively aggregate , divide , dissect , parse , and analyze the one or more reactions to draw conclusions about the media instance . in some examples , alternative forms of access to the one or more reactions from the viewers other than over the network may be adopted . for non - limiting examples , the reactions can be made available to the user on a local server on a computer or on a recordable media such as a dvd disc with all the information on the media . in some examples , with reference to fig1 , an optional analysis module 112 is operable to perform in - depth analysis on the viewers &# 39 ; reactions to a media instance as well as the media instance itself ( e . g ., dissecting the media instance into multiple scenes / events / sections ). such analysis provides the user with information on how the media instance created by the user is perceived by the viewers . in addition , the analysis module is also operable to categorize viewers &# 39 ; reactions into the plurality of categories . in some examples , user database 113 stores information of users who are allowed to access the media instances and the reactions from the viewers , and the specific media instances and the reactions each user is allowed to access . the access module 106 may add or remove a user for access , and limit or expand the list of media instances and / or reactions the user can access and / or the analysis features the user can use by checking the user &# 39 ; s login name and password . such authorization / limitation on a user &# 39 ; s access can be determined based upon who the user is , e . g ., different amounts of information for different types of users . for a non - limiting example , company abc can have access to certain ads and survey results of viewers &# 39 ; reactions to the ads , which company xyz cannot or have only limited access to . in some examples , one or more physiological responses aggregated from the viewers can be presented in the response panel 111 as lines or traces 301 in a two - dimensional graph or plot as shown in fig3 . horizontal axis 302 of the graph represents time , and vertical axis 303 of the graph represents the amplitude ( intensity ) of the one or more physiological responses . here , the one or more physiological responses are aggregated over the viewers via one or more of : max , min , average , deviation , or a higher ordered approximation of the intensity of the physiological responses from the viewers . the responses are synchronized with the media instance at each and every moment over the entire duration of the media instance , allowing the user to identify the second - by second changes in viewers &# 39 ; emotions and their causes . a cutting line 304 marks the physiological responses from the viewers corresponding to the current scene ( event , section , or moment in time ) of the media instance . the cutting line moves in coordination with the media instance being played . in some examples , change ( trend ) in amplitude of the aggregated responses is also a good measure of the quality of the media instance . if the media instance is able to change viewers emotions up and down in a strong manner ( for a non - limiting example , mathematical deviation of the response is large ), such strong change in amplitude corresponds to a good media instance that puts the viewers into different emotional states . in contrast , a poor performing media instance does not put the viewers into different emotional states . the amplitudes and the trend of the amplitudes of the responses are good measures of the quality of the media instance . such information can be used by media designers to identify if the media instance is eliciting the desired response and which key events / scenes / sections of the media instance need to be changed in order to match the desired response . a good media instance should contain multiple moments / scenes / events that are intense and produce positive amplitude of response across viewers . a media instance that failed to create such responses may not achieve what the creators of the media instance have intended . in some examples , other than providing a second by second view for the user to see how specific events in the media instance affect the viewers &# 39 ; emotions , the aggregated responses collected and calculated can also be used for the compilation of aggregate statistics , which are useful in ranking the overall affect of the media instance . such statistics include but are not limited to average liking and heart rate deviation . in some examples , the viewers of the media instance are free to write comments ( e . g ., what they like , what they dislike , etc .) on the media instance , and the verbatim ( free flowing text ) comments or feedbacks 401 from the viewers can be recorded and presented in a response panel 111 as shown in fig4 . such comments can be prompted , collected , and recorded from the viewers while they are watching the specific media instance and the most informative ones are put together and presented to the user . the user may then analyze , and digest keywords in the comments to obtain a more complete picture of the viewers &# 39 ; reactions . in addition , the user can search for specific keywords he / she is interested in about the media instance , and view only those comments containing the specified keywords . in some examples , the viewers &# 39 ; comments about the media instance can be characterized as positive or negative in a plurality of categories / topics / aspects related to the product , wherein such categories include but are not limited to , product , event , logo , song , spokesperson , jokes , narrative , key events , storyline . these categories may not be predetermined , but instead be extracted from the analysis of their comments . in some examples , answers to one or more survey questions 501 aggregated from the viewers can be rendered graphically , for example , by being presented in the response panel 111 in a graphical format 502 as shown in fig5 alternatively , fig6 is an exemplary histogram displaying the response distribution of viewers asked to rate an advertisement on a scale of 1 - 5 . here , the graphical format can be but is not limited to , a bar graph , a pie chart ( e . g ., as shown in fig5 ), a histogram ( e . g ., as shown in fig6 ), or any other suitable graph type . in some examples , the survey questions can be posed or presented to the viewers while they are watching the specific media instance and their answers to the questions are collected , recorded , summed up by pre - defined categories via a surveying module 114 . once the survey results are made available to the user ( creator of the media instance ), the user may pick any of the questions , and be automatically presented with survey results corresponding to the question visually to the user . the user may then view and analyze how viewers respond to specific questions to obtain a more complete picture of the viewers &# 39 ; reactions . in some examples , many different facets of the one or more reactions from the viewers described above can be blended into a few simple metrics that the user can use to see how it is currently positioned against the rest of their industry . for the user , knowing where it ranks in its industry in comparison to its competition is often the first step in getting to where it wants to be . for a non - limiting example , in addition to the individual survey results of a specific media instance , the surveying module may also provide the user with a comparison of survey results and statistics to multiple media instances . this automation allows the user not only to see the feedback that the viewers provided with respect to the specific media instance , but also to evaluate how the specific media instance compares to other media instances designed by the same user or its competitors . fig7 shows an exemplary graph displaying the percentages of viewers who “ liked ” or “ really liked ” a set of advertisements , which helps to determine if a new ad is in the top quartile with respect to other ads . some examples disclosed herein provide a user not only with tools for accessing and obtaining a maximum amount of information out of reactions from a plurality of viewers to a specific media instance , but also with actionable insights on what changes the user can make to improve the media instance based on in - depth analysis of the viewers &# 39 ; reactions . such analysis requires expert knowledge on the viewers &# 39 ; physiological behavior and large amounts of analysis time , which the user may not possess . here , the reactions include but are not limited to , physiological responses , survey results , and verbatim feedbacks from the viewers , to name a few . the reactions from the viewers are aggregated and stored in a database and presented to the user via a graphical interface , as described above . in some examples , predefined methods for extracting information from the reactions and presenting that information are provided so that the user is not required to be an expert in physiological data analysis to reach and understand conclusions supported by the information . making in - depth analysis of reactions to media instances and actionable insights available to a user enables a user who is not an expert in analyzing physiological data to obtain critical information that can have significant commercial and socially positive impacts . fig8 is an illustration of an exemplary system to support providing actionable insights based on in - depth analysis of reactions from viewers . although this diagram depicts components as functionally separate , such depiction is merely for illustrative purposes . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the components portrayed in this figure can be arbitrarily combined or divided into separate software , firmware and / or hardware components . furthermore , it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that such components , regardless of how they are combined or divided , can execute on the same computing device or multiple computing devices , and wherein the multiple computing devices can be connected by one or more networks . referring to fig8 , a collection module 803 is operable to collect , record , store and manage one or more reactions 802 from a plurality of viewers of a media instance 801 . the viewers from whom reactions 802 are collected can be in the same physical location or different physical locations . additionally , the viewers can be viewing the media instance and the reactions collected at the same time , or at different times ( e . g ., viewer 1 is viewing the media instance at 9 am while viewer 2 is viewing the media instance at 3 pm ). data or information of the reactions to the media instance is obtained or gathered from each user via a sensor headset . in some examples , the sensor headset integrates sensors into a housing which can be placed on a human head for measurement of physiological data . the device includes at least one sensor and can include a reference electrode connected to the housing . a processor coupled to the sensor and the reference electrode receives signals that represent electrical activity in tissue of a user . the processor generates an output signal including data of a difference between an energy level in each of a first and second frequency band of the signals . the difference between energy levels is proportional to release level present time emotional state of the user . the headset includes a wireless transmitter that transmits the output signal to a remote device . the headset therefore processes the physiological data to create the output signal that correspond to a person &# 39 ; s mental and emotional state ( reactions or reaction data ). an example of a sensor headset is described in u . s . patent application ser . no . 12 / 206 , 676 , filed sep . 8 , 2008 , ser . no . 11 / 804 , 517 , filed may 17 , 2007 , and ser . no . 11 / 681 , 265 , filed mar . 2 , 2007 . the media instance and its pertinent data can be stored in a media database 804 , and the one or more reactions from the viewers can be stored in a reaction database 805 , respectively . an analysis module 806 performs in - depth analysis on the viewers &# 39 ; reactions and provides actionable insights on the viewers &# 39 ; reactions to a user 807 so that the user can draw its own conclusion on how the media instance can / should be improved . a presentation module 808 is operable to retrieve and present the media instance 801 together with the one or more reactions 802 from the viewers of the media instance via an interactive browser 809 . here , the interactive browser includes at least two panels — a media panel 810 , operable to present , play , and pause the media instance , and a reaction panel 811 , operable to display the one or more reactions corresponding to the media instance as well as the key insights provided by the analysis module 806 . fig9 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary automatic process to support providing actionable insights based on in - depth analysis of reactions from viewers . although this figure depicts functional steps in a particular order for purposes of illustration , the process is not limited to any particular order or arrangement of steps . one skilled in the art will appreciate that the various steps portrayed in this figure could be omitted , rearranged , combined and / or adapted in various ways . referring to fig9 , one or more reactions to a media instance from a plurality of viewers are collected , stored and managed in one or more databases at step 901 . at step 902 , in - depth analysis is performed on the viewers &# 39 ; reactions using expert knowledge , and actionable insights are generated based on the viewers &# 39 ; reactions and provided to a user at step 903 so that the user can draw its own conclusion on the media instance can / should be improved . at step 904 , the one or more reactions can be presented to the user together with the actionable insights to enable the user to draw its own conclusions about the media instance . the configuration used to present the reactions and actionable insights can be saved and tagged with corresponding information , allowing it to be recalled and used for similar analysis in the future . in some examples , the analysis module is operable to provide insights or present data based in - depth analysis on the viewers &# 39 ; reactions to the media instance on at least one question . an example question is whether the media instance performs most effectively across all demographic groups or especially on a specific demographic group , e . g ., older women ? another example question is whether certain elements of the media instance , such as loud noises , were very effective at engaging viewers in a positive , challenging way ? yet another example question is whether thought provoking elements in the media instance were much more engaging to viewers than product shots ? also , an example question includes whether certain characters , such as lead female characters , appearing in the media instance were effective for male viewers and / or across target audiences in the female demographic ? still another example question includes whether physiological responses to the media instance from the viewers were consistent with viewers identifying or associating positively with the characters in the media instance ? a further question is whether the media instance was universal — performed well at connecting across gender , age , and income boundaries , or highly polarizing ? the analysis module therefore automates the analysis through use of one or more questions , as described above . the questions provide a context for analyzing and presenting the data or information received from viewers in response to the media instance . the analysis module is configured , using the received data , to answer some number of questions , where answers to the questions provide or correspond to the collected data . when a user desires results from the data for a particular media instance , the user selects a question to which they desire an answer for the media instance . in response to the question selection , the results of the analysis are presented in the form of an answer to the question , where the answer is derived or generated using the data collected and corresponding to the media instance . the results of the analysis can be presented using textual and / or graphical outputs or presentations . the results of the analysis can also be generated and presented using previous knowledge of how to represent the data to answer the question , the previous knowledge coming from similar data analyzed in the past . furthermore , presentation of data of the media instance can be modified by the user through user or generation of other questions . the analysis module performs the operations described above in conjunction with the presentation module , where the presentation module includes numerous different renderings for data . in operation , a rendering is specified or selected for a portion of data of a media instance , and the rendering is then tagged with one or more questions that apply to the data . this architecture allows users to modify how data is represented using a set of tools . the system remembers or stores information of how data was represented and the question or question type that was being answered . this information of prior system configurations allows the system , at a subsequent time , to self - configure to answer the same or similar questions for the same media instance or for different media instances . users thus continually improve the ability of the system to answer questions and improve the quality of data provided in the answers . in some examples , the presentation module is operable to enable the user to pick a certain section 1001 of the reactions to the media instance 1002 , such as the physiological responses 1003 from the viewers shown in the reaction panel 1011 via , for a non - limiting example , “ shading ”, as shown in fig1 . the analysis module 1006 may then perform the analysis requested on the shaded section of media instance and / or physiological responses automatically to illustrate the responses in a way that a lay person can take advantage of expert knowledge in parsing the viewers &# 39 ; reaction . the analyzed results can then be presented to the user in real time and can be shared with other people . in some examples , the analysis module is operable to analyze the shaded section of the media instance and / or responses by being preprogrammed either by an analyst or the user themselves . usually , a user is most often interested in a certain number of attributes of the viewers &# 39 ; responses . the analysis module provides the user with insights , conclusions , and findings that they can review from the bottom up . although the analysis result provides inside and in - depth analysis of the data as well as various possible interpretations of the shaded section of the media instance , which often leaves a conclusion evident , such analysis , however , is no substitute for reaching conclusion by the user instead the user is left to draw his / her own conclusion about the section based on the analysis provided . in some examples , a user may pick a section and choose one of the questions / tasks / requests 1004 that he / she is interested in from a prepared list . the prepared list of questions may include but is not limited to any number of questions . some example questions follow along with a response evoked in the analysis module . an example question is “ where were there intense responses to the media instance ?” in response the analysis module may calculate the intensity of the responses automatically by looking for high coherence areas of responses . another example question is “ does the media instance end on a happy note ?” or “ does the audience think the event ( e . g ., joke ) is funny ?” in response the analysis module may check if the physiological data shows that viewer acceptance or approval is higher in the end than at the beginning of the media instance . yet another example question is “ where do people engage in the spot ?” in response to this question the analysis module may check if there is a coherent change in viewers &# 39 ; emotions . still another example question is “ what is the response to the brand moment ?” in response the analysis module may check if thought goes up , but acceptance or approval goes down during the shaded section of the media . an additional example question is “ which audience does the product introduction work on best ?” in response the analysis module analyzes the responses from various segments of the viewers , which include but are not limited to , males , females , gamers , republicans , engagement relative to an industry , etc . in some examples , the presentation module ( fig8 ) is operable to present the analysis results in response to the questions raised together with the viewers &# 39 ; reactions to the user graphically on the interactive browser . for non - limiting examples , line highlights 1005 and arrows 1006 representing trends in the physiological responses from the viewers can be utilized as shown in fig1 , where highlights mark one or more specific physiological responses ( e . g ., thought in fig1 ) to be analyzed and the up / down arrows indicate rise / fall in the corresponding responses . in addition , other graphic markings can also be used , which can be but are not limited to , text boxes , viewing data from multiple groups at once ( comparing men to women ) and any graphic tools that are commonly used to mark anything important . for another non - limiting example , a star , dot and / or other graphic element may be used to mark the point where there is the first coherent change and a circle may be used to mark the one with the strongest response . in some examples , verbal explanation 1007 of the analysis results in response to the questions raised can be provided to the user together with graphical markings shown in fig1 . such verbal explanation describes the graphical markings ( e . g ., why an arrow rises , details about the arrow , etc .). for the non - limiting example of an advertisement video clip shown in fig1 , verbal explanation 1007 states that “ thought follows a very regular sinusoidal pattern throughout this advertisement . this is often a result of tension - resolution cycles that are used to engage viewers by putting them in situations where they are forced to think intensely about what they are seeing and then rewarding them with the resolution of the situation .” for another non - limiting example of a joke about a man hit by a thrown rock , the verbal explanation may resemble something like : “ the falling of the man after being hit by a rock creates the initial coherent , positive response in liking . this shows that the actual rock throw is not funny , but the arc that the person &# 39 ; s body takes is . after the body hits the ground , the response reverts to neutral and there are no further changes in emotions during this section .” in some examples , with reference to fig8 , an optional authentication module 813 is operable to authenticate identity of the user requesting access to the media instance and the verbatim reactions remotely over a network 812 . here , the network can be but is not limited to , internet , intranet , wide area network ( wan ), local area network ( lan ), wireless network , bluetooth , and mobile communication network . in some examples , optional user database 814 stores information of users who are allowed to access the media instances and the verbatim reactions from the viewers , and the specific media instances and the reactions each user is allowed to access . the access module 810 may add or remove a user for access , and limit or expand the list of media instances and / or reactions the user can access and / or the analysis features the user can use by checking the user &# 39 ; s login name and password . such authorization / limitation on a user &# 39 ; s access can be determined to based upon who the user is , e . g ., different amounts of information for different types of users . for a non - limiting example , company abc can have access to certain ads and feedbacks from viewers &# 39 ; reactions to the ads , to which company xyz cannot have access or can have only limited access . in some examples , a specific media instance is synchronized with physiological responses to the media instance from a plurality of viewers continuously over the entire time duration of the media instance . once the media instance and the physiological responses are synchronized , an interactive browser enables a user to navigate through the media instance ( or the physiological responses ) in one panel while presenting the corresponding physiological responses ( or the section of the media instance ) at the same point in time in another panel . the interactive browser allows the user to select a section / scene from the media instance , correlate , present , and compare the viewers &# 39 ; physiological responses to the particular section . alternatively , the user may monitor the viewers &# 39 ; physiological responses continuously as the media instance is being displayed . being able to see the continuous ( instead of static snapshot of ) changes in physiological responses and the media instance side by side and compare aggregated physiological responses from the viewers to a specific event of the media instance in an interactive way enables the user to obtain better understanding of the true reaction from the viewers to whatever stimuli being presented to them . fig1 is an illustration of an exemplary system to support synchronization of media with physiological responses from viewers of the media . although this diagram depicts components as functionally separate , such depiction is merely for illustrative purposes . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the components portrayed in this figure can be arbitrarily combined or divided into separate software , firmware and / or hardware components . furthermore , it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that such components , regardless of how they are combined or divided , can execute on the same computing device or multiple computing devices , and wherein the multiple computing devices can be connected by one or more networks . referring to fig1 , a synchronization module 1103 is operable to synchronize and correlate a media instance 1101 with one or more physiological responses 1102 aggregated from one or more viewers of the media instance continuously at each and every moment over the entire duration of the media instance . here , the media instance and its pertinent data can be stored in a media database 1104 , and the one or more physiological responses aggregated from the viewers can be stored in a reaction database 1105 , respectively . an interactive browser 1106 comprises at least two panels including a media panel 1107 , which is operable to present , play , and pause the media instance , and a reaction panel 1108 , which is operable to display and compare the one or more physiological responses ( e . g ., adrenaline , liking , and thought ) corresponding to the media instance as lines ( traces ) in a two - dimensional line graph . a horizontal axis of the graph represents time , and a vertical axis represents the amplitude ( intensity ) of the one or more physiological responses . a cutting line 1109 marks the physiological responses from the viewers to the current scene ( event , section , or moment in time ) of the media instance , wherein the cutting line can be chosen by the user and move in coordination with the media instance being played . the interactive browser enables the user to select an event / section / scene / moment from the media instance presented in the media panel 1107 and correlate , present , and compare the viewers &# 39 ; physiological responses to the particular section in the reaction panel 1108 . conversely , interactive browser also enables the user to select the cutting line 1109 of physiological responses from the viewers in the reaction panel 1108 at any specific moment , and the corresponding media section or scene can be identified and presented in the media panel 1107 . in some examples , the synchronization module 1103 synchronizes and correlates a media instance 1101 with one or more physiological responses 1102 aggregated from a plurality of viewers of the media instance by synchronizing each event of the media . the physiological response data of a person includes but is not limited to heart rate , brain waves , electroencephalogram ( eeg ) signals , blink rate , breathing , motion , muscle movement , galvanic skin response , skin temperature , and any other physiological response of the person . the physiological response data corresponding to each event or point in time is then retrieved from the media database 1104 . the data is offset to account for cognitive delays in the human brain corresponding to the signal collected ( e . g ., the cognitive delay of the brain associated with human vision is different than the cognitive delay associated with auditory information ) and processing delays of the system , and then synchronized with the media instance 1101 . optionally , an additional offset may be applied to the physiological response data 1102 of each individual to account for time zone differences between the viewer and reaction database 1105 . fig1 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process to support synchronization of media with physiological responses from viewers of the media . although this figure depicts functional steps in a particular order for purposes of illustration , the process is not limited to any particular order or arrangement of steps . one skilled in the art will appreciate that the various steps portrayed in this figure could be omitted , rearranged , combined and / or adapted in various ways . referring to fig1 , a media instance is synchronized with one or more physiological responses aggregated from a plurality of viewers of the media instance continuously at each and every moment over the entire duration of the media instance at step 1201 . at step 1202 , the synchronized media instance and the one or more physiological responses from the viewers are presented side - by - side . an event / section / scene / moment from the media instance can be selected at step 1203 , and the viewers &# 39 ; physiological responses to the particular section can be correlated , presented , and compared at step 1204 . alternatively , the viewers &# 39 ; physiological responses can be monitored continuously as the media instance is being displayed at step 1205 . in some examples , with reference to fig1 , an aggregation module 1110 is operable to retrieve from the reaction database 1105 and aggregate the physiological responses to the media instance across the plurality of viewers and present each of the aggregated responses as a function over the duration of the media instance . the aggregated responses to the media instance can be calculated via one or more of : max , min , average , deviation , or a higher ordered approximation of the intensity of the physiological responses from the viewers . in some examples , change ( trend ) in amplitude of the aggregated responses is a good measure of the quality of the media instance . if the media instance is able to change viewers emotions up and down in a strong manner ( for a non - limiting example , mathematical deviation of the response is large ), such strong change in amplitude corresponds to a good media instance that puts the viewers into different emotional states . in contrast , a poor performing media instance does not put the viewers into different emotional states . such information can be used by media designers to identify if the media instance is eliciting the desired response and which key events / scenes / sections of the media instance need to be changed in order to match the desired response . a good media instance should contain multiple moments / scenes / events that are intense and produce positive amplitude of response across viewers . a media instance failed to create such responses may not achieve what the creators of the media instance have intended . in some examples , the media instance can be divided up into instances of key moments / events / scenes / segments / sections in the profile , wherein such key events can be identified and / tagged according to the type of the media instance . in the case of video games , such key events include but are not limited to , elements of a video game such as levels , cut scenes , major fights , battles , conversations , etc . in the case of web sites , such key events include but are not limited to , progression of web pages , key parts of a web page , advertisements shown , content , textual content , video , animations , etc . in the case of an interactive media / movie / ads , such key events can be but are not limited to , chapters , scenes , scene types , character actions , events ( for non - limiting examples , car chases , explosions , kisses , deaths , jokes ) and key characters in the movie . in some examples , an event module 1111 can be used to quickly identify a numbers of moments / events / scenes / segments / sections in the media instance retrieved from the media database 1104 and then automatically calculate the length of each event . the event module may enable each user , or a trained administrator , to identify and tag the important events in the media instance so that , once the “ location ” ( current event ) in the media instance ( relative to other pertinent events in the media instance ) is selected by the user , the selected event may be better correlated with the aggregated responses from the viewers . in some examples , the events in the media instance can be identified , automatically if possible , through one or more applications that parse user actions in an environment ( e . g ., virtual environment , real environment , online environment , etc .) either before the viewer &# 39 ; s interaction with the media instance in the case of non - interactive media such as a movie , or afterwards by reviewing the viewer &# 39 ; s interaction with the media instance through recorded video , a log of actions or other means . in video games , web sites and other electronic interactive media instance , the program that administers the media can create this log and thus automate the process . an example enables graphical presentation and analysis of verbatim comments and feedbacks from a plurality of viewers to a specific media instance . these verbatim comments are first collected from the viewers and stored in a database before being analyzed and categorized into various categories . once categorized , the comments can then be presented to a user in various graphical formats , allowing the user to obtain an intuitive visual impression of the positive / negative reactions to and / or the most impressive characteristics of the specific media instance as perceived by the viewers . an example enables graphical presentation and analysis of verbatim comments and feedbacks from a plurality of viewers to a specific media instance . these verbatim comments are first collected from the viewers and stored in a database before being analyzed and categorized into various categories . once categorized , the comments can then be presented to a user in various graphical formats , allowing the user to obtain an intuitive visual impression of the positive / negative reactions to and / or the most impressive characteristics of the specific media instance , as perceived by the viewers . instead of parsing through and dissecting the comments and feedbacks word by word , the user is now able to visually evaluate how well the media instance is being received by the viewers at a glance . fig1 is an illustration of an exemplary system to support graphical presentation of verbatim comments from viewers . although this diagram depicts components as functionally separate , such depiction is merely for illustrative purposes . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the components portrayed in this figure can be arbitrarily combined or divided into separate software , firmware and / or hardware components . furthermore , it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that such components , regardless of how they are combined or divided , can execute on the same computing device or multiple computing devices , and wherein the multiple computing devices can be connected by one or more networks . referring to fig1 , a collection module 1303 is operable to collect , record , store and manage verbatim reactions 1302 ( comments and feedbacks ) from a plurality of viewers of a media instance 1301 . here , the media instance and its pertinent data can be stored in a media database 1304 , and the verbatim reactions from the viewers can be stored in a reaction database 1305 , respectively . an analysis module 1306 is operable to analyze the verbatim comments from the viewers and categorize them into the plurality of categories . a presentation module 1307 is operable to retrieve and categorize the verbatim reactions to the media instance into various categories , and then present these verbatim reactions to a user 1308 based on their categories in graphical forms via an interactive browser 1309 . the interactive browser includes at least two panels — a media panel 1310 , which is operable to present , play , and pause the media instance , and a comments panel 1311 , which is operable to display not only the one or more reactions corresponding to the media instance , but also one or more graphical categorization and presentation of the verbatim reactions to provide the user with both a verbal and / or a visual perception and interpretation of the feedbacks from the viewers . fig1 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process to support graphical presentation of verbatim comments from viewers . although this figure depicts functional steps in a particular order for purposes of illustration , the process is not limited to any particular order or arrangement of steps . one skilled in the art will appreciate that the various steps portrayed in this figure could be omitted , rearranged , combined and / or adapted in various ways . referring to fig1 , verbatim reactions to a media instance from a plurality of viewers are collected , stored and managed at step 1401 . at step 1402 , the collected verbatim reactions are analyzed and categorized into various categories . the categorized comments are then retrieved and presented to a user in graphical forms based on the categories at step 1403 , enabling the user to visually interpret the reactions from the viewers at step 1404 . in some examples , the viewers of the media instance are free to write what they like and don &# 39 ; t like about the media instance , and the verbatim ( free flowing text ) comments or feedbacks 501 from the viewers can be recorded and presented in the comments panel 111 verbatim as shown in fig4 described above . in some examples , the analysis module is operable to further characterize the comments in each of the plurality of categories as positive or negative based on the words used in each of the comments . once characterized , the number of positive or negative comments in each of the categories can be summed up . for a non - limiting example , comments from viewers on a certain type of events , like combat , can be characterized and summed up as being 40 % positive , while 60 % negative . such an approach avoids single verbatim response from bias the responses from a group of viewers , making it easy for the user to understand how viewers would react to every aspect of the media instance . in some examples , the analysis module is operable to characterize the viewers &# 39 ; comments about the media instance as positive or negative in a plurality of categories / topics / aspects related to the product , wherein such categories include but are not limited to , product , event , logo , song , spokesperson , jokes , narrative , key events , storyline . these categories may not be predetermined , but instead be extracted from the analysis of their comments . in some examples , the presentation module is operable to present summation of the viewers &# 39 ; positive and negative comments to various aspects / topics / events of the media instance to the user ( creator of the media instance ) in a bubble graph , as shown in fig1 . the vertical axis 1501 and horizontal axis 1502 of the bubble graph represent the percentage of positive or negative comments from the viewers about the media instance , respectively . each bubble 1503 in the graph represents one of the topics the viewers have commented upon , marked by the name of the event and the percentages of the viewers &# 39 ; negative and positive feedbacks on the event . the size of the bubble represents the number of viewers commenting on this specific aspect of the media instance , and the location of the bubble on the graph indicates whether the comments from the viewers are predominantly positive or negative . in some examples , the verbatim comments from the viewers can be analyzed , and key words and concepts ( adjectives ) can be extracted and presented in a word cloud , as shown in fig1 , rendering meaningful information from the verbatim comments more accessible . every word in the word cloud is represented by a circle , square , any other commonly used geometric shape or simply by the word itself as shown in fig1 . each representation is associated with a corresponding weight represented using font sizes or other visual clues . for the non - limiting example in fig1 , the size of each word in the word cloud represents the number of times or percentages of the viewers use the word in their responses . this is useful as a means of displaying “ popularity ” of an adjective that has been democratically ‘ voted ’ on to describe the media instance and where precise results are not desired . here , the three most popular adjectives used to describe the media instance are “ fun ”, “ cool ”, and “ boring ”. in some examples , the viewers may simply be asked to answer a specific question , for example , “ what are three adjectives that best describe your response to this media .” the adjectives in the viewers &# 39 ; responses to the question can then be collected , categorized , and summed up , and presented in a word cloud . alternatively , the adjectives the viewers used to describe their responses to the media instance may be extracted from collected survey data . in some examples , with reference to fig1 , an optional authentication module 1313 is operable to authenticate identity of the user requesting access to the media instance and the verbatim reactions remotely over a network 1313 . here , the network can be but is not limited to , internet , intranet , wide area network ( wan ), local area network ( lan ), wireless network , bluetooth , and mobile communication network . in some examples , optional user database 1314 stores information of users who are allowed to access the media instances and the verbatim reactions from the viewers , and the specific media instances and the reactions each user is allowed to access . the access module 1310 may add or remove a user for access , and limit or expand the list of media instances and / or reactions the user can access and / or the analysis features the user can use by checking the user &# 39 ; s login name and password . such authorization / limitation on a user &# 39 ; s access can be determined to based upon who the user is , e . g ., different amounts of information for different types of users . for a non - limiting example , company abc can have access to certain ads and feedback from viewers &# 39 ; reactions to the ads , while company xyz cannot have access or can only have limited access to the same ads and / or feedback . some of the examples described herein include a method comprising : receiving a media instance , the media instance including a plurality of media events ; receiving reaction data from a plurality of viewers while the plurality of viewers are viewing the media instance ; generating aggregated reaction data by aggregating the reaction data from the plurality of viewers ; generating synchronized data by synchronizing the plurality of media events of the media instance with corresponding aggregated reaction data ; and providing controlled access to the synchronized data from a remote device . the method of a disclosed example comprises providing , via the controlled access , remote interactive manipulation of the reaction data synchronized to corresponding events of the media instance . the manipulation of a disclosed example includes at least one of dividing , dissecting , aggregating , parsing , organizing , and analyzing the reaction data . the method of a disclosed example comprises providing controlled access to at least one of the reaction data and aggregated reaction data . the method of a disclosed example comprises enabling via the controlled access interactive analysis of at least one of the media instance and the synchronized data . the method of a disclosed example comprises enabling via the controlled access interactive analysis of at least one of the reaction data , the aggregated reaction data , and parsed reaction data . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes at least one of physiological responses , survey results , feedback generated by the viewers , metadata , and derived statistics . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes feedback generated by the viewers . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes metadata , wherein the metadata is event - based metadata . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes derived statistics , wherein the derived statistics are derived statistics for indicators of success and failure of the media instance receiving the reaction data of a disclosed example comprises receiving the reaction data from a plurality of sensor devices via wireless couplings , wherein each viewer wears a sensor device of the plurality of sensor devices . the method of a disclosed example comprises presenting a user interface ( ui ), wherein the controlled access is made via the ui . the method of a disclosed example comprises presenting the synchronized data using a rendering of a plurality or renderings . the plurality of renderings of a disclosed example includes text , charts , graphs , histograms , images , and video . the aggregating of a disclosed example comprises aggregating the reaction data according to at least one of maximums , minimums , averages , deviations , derivatives , amplitudes , and trends of at least one parameter of the reaction data . the method of a disclosed example comprises selecting , via the controlled access , a portion of the media instance for which at least one of the synchronized data , the reaction data , the aggregated reaction data , and parsed reaction data is viewed . the portion of a disclosed example includes a point in time . the portion of a disclosed example includes a period of time . the method of a disclosed example comprises automatically analyzing the reaction data . the method of a disclosed example comprises providing remote access to results of the analyzing , and presenting the results , the presenting including presenting actionable insights corresponding to a portion of the media instance via at least one of a plurality of renderings , wherein the actionable insights correspond to emotional reactions of the plurality of viewers . the analyzing of a disclosed example includes applying expert knowledge of physiological behavior to the reaction data . the method of a disclosed example comprises generating a first set of questions that represent the results . the analyzing of a disclosed example includes analyzing the reaction data in the context of the first set of questions . the method of a disclosed example comprises selecting at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . the method of a disclosed example comprises tagging the selected rendering with at least one question of the first set of questions . a user of a disclosed example can modify the presenting of the results via the selecting of at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . the presenting of a disclosed example includes presenting the results via presentation of the first set of questions . the method of a disclosed example comprises , in response to the user selecting a question of the first set of questions , presenting an answer to the selected question that includes the actionable insight . the method of a disclosed example comprises receiving comments from the plurality of viewers in response to the viewing . the comments of a disclosed example are textual comments . the synchronized data of a disclosed example includes the comments . the method of a disclosed example comprises presenting survey questions to the plurality of viewers , the survey questions relating to the media instance . the method of a disclosed example comprises receiving answers to the survey questions from the plurality of viewers . the answers to the survey questions of a disclosed example are textual comments . the synchronized data of a disclosed example includes the answers to the survey questions . a first set of the plurality of viewers of a disclosed example is at a first location and a second set of the plurality of viewers is at a second location different from the first location . a first set of the plurality of viewers of a disclosed example is viewing the media instance at a first time and a second set of the plurality of viewers is viewing the media instance at a second time different from the first time . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in brain tissue of the user . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in muscle tissue of the user . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in heart tissue of the user . examples described herein include a method comprising : receiving a media instance ; receiving reaction data from a plurality of viewers , the reaction data generated in response to viewing of the media instance and including physiological response data ; aggregating the reaction data from the plurality of viewers ; and providing remote access to at least one of the reaction data and aggregated reaction data , wherein the remote access enables interactive analysis of at least one of the media instance , the reaction data , aggregated reaction data , and parsed reaction data . examples described herein include a method comprising : receiving a media instance ; receiving reaction data from a plurality of viewers , the reaction data generated in response to viewing of the media instance and including physiological response data ; aggregating the reaction data from the plurality of viewers ; and enabling remote interactive analysis of the media instance and at least one of the reaction data , aggregated reaction data , and parsed reaction data . examples described herein include a method comprising : receiving a media instance ; receiving reaction data from a plurality of viewers , the reaction data generated in response to viewing of the media instance and including physiological response data ; and enabling remote interactive manipulation of the reaction data synchronized to corresponding events of the media instance , the manipulation including at least one of dividing , dissecting , aggregating , parsing , and analyzing the reaction data . examples described herein include a system comprising : a processor coupled to a database , the database including a media instance and reaction data , the media instance comprising a plurality of media events , the reaction data received from a plurality of viewers viewing the media instance ; a first module coupled to the processor , the first module generating aggregated reaction data by aggregating the reaction data from the plurality of viewers , the first module generating synchronized data by synchronizing the plurality of media events of the media instance with corresponding aggregated reaction data ; and a second module coupled to the processor , the second module comprising a plurality of renderings and a user interface ( ui ) that provide controlled access to the synchronized data from a remote device . the controlled access of a disclosed example is through the ui and includes remote interactive manipulation of the reaction data synchronized to corresponding events of the media instance . the manipulation of a disclosed example includes at least one of dividing , dissecting , aggregating , parsing , organizing , and analyzing the reaction data . the controlled access of a disclosed example includes access to at least one of the reaction data and aggregated reaction data . the controlled access of a disclosed example includes interactive analysis of at least one of the media instance and the synchronized data . the controlled access of a disclosed example includes interactive analysis of at least one of the reaction data , the aggregated reaction data , and parsed reaction data . the plurality of renderings of a disclosed example includes text , charts , graphs , histograms , images , and video . the ui of a disclosed example presents the synchronized data using at least one rendering of the plurality or renderings . the ui of a disclosed example allows selection of a portion of the media instance for which at least one of the synchronized data , the reaction data , the aggregated reaction data , and parsed reaction data is viewed . the portion of a disclosed example includes a point in time . the portion of a disclosed example includes a period of time . the first module of a disclosed example analyzes the reaction data . the ui of a disclosed example provides remote access to results of the analysis . the ui of a disclosed example presents the results using at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings , the results including actionable insights corresponding to a portion of the media instance . the actionable insights of a disclosed example correspond to emotional reactions of the plurality of viewers . the analyzing of a disclosed example comprises applying expert knowledge of physiological behavior to the reaction data . the system of a disclosed example comprises generating a first set of questions that represent the results . the analyzing of a disclosed example includes analyzing the reaction data in the context of the first set of questions . the system of a disclosed example comprises selecting at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . the system of a disclosed example comprises tagging the selected rendering with at least one question of the first set of questions . a user of a disclosed example can modify presentation of the results via the ui by selecting at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . the presenting of a disclosed example includes presenting the results via presentation of the first set of questions on the ui . the system of a disclosed example comprises , in response to the user selecting a question of the first set of questions , presenting via the ui an answer to the selected question that includes the actionable insight . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes at least one of physiological responses , survey results , feedback generated by the viewers , metadata , and derived statistics . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes feedback generated by the viewers . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes metadata . the metadata of a disclosed example is event - based metadata . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes derived statistics . the derived statistics of a disclosed example are derived statistics for indicators of success and failure of the media instance . the system of a disclosed example comprises a plurality of sensor devices , wherein each viewer wears a sensor device of the plurality of sensor devices , wherein each sensor device receives the reaction data from a corresponding view and transmits the reaction data to at least one of the first module and the database . the aggregating of a disclosed example comprises aggregating the reaction data according to at least one of maximums , minimums , averages , deviations , derivatives , amplitudes , and trends of at least one parameter of the reaction data . the system of a disclosed example comprises a third module coupled to the second module , the third module receiving comments from the plurality of viewers in response to the viewing . the comments of a disclosed example are textual comments . the synchronized data of a disclosed example includes the comments . the system of a disclosed example comprises a third module coupled to the second module , the third module presenting survey questions to the plurality of viewers via the ui , the survey questions relating to the media instance . the third module of a disclosed example receives answers to the survey questions from the plurality of viewers via the ui . the answers to the survey questions of a disclosed example are textual comments . the synchronized data of a disclosed example includes the answers to the survey questions . a first set of the plurality of viewers of a disclosed example is at a first location and a second set of the plurality of viewers are at a second location different from the first location . a first set of the plurality of viewers of a disclosed example is viewing the media instance at a first time and a second set of the plurality of viewers are viewing the media instance at a second time different from the first time . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in brain tissue of the user . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in muscle tissue of the user . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in heart tissue of the user . examples described herein include a system comprising : a processor coupled to a database , the database including a media instance and reaction data of a plurality of viewers , the reaction data generated in response to viewing of the media instance and including physiological response data ; a first module that aggregates the reaction data from the plurality of viewers ; and a second module that provides remote access to at least one of the reaction data and aggregated reaction data , wherein the remote access enables interactive analysis of at least one of the media instance , the reaction data , aggregated reaction data , and parsed reaction data . examples described herein include a system comprising : a processor coupled to a database , the database receiving a media instance and reaction data from a plurality of viewers , the reaction data generated in response to viewing of the media instance and including physiological response data ; a first module aggregating the reaction data from the plurality of viewers ; and a second module enabling remote interactive analysis and presentation of the media instance and at least one of the reaction data , aggregated reaction data , and parsed reaction data . examples described herein include a system comprising : a processor coupled to a database , the database receiving a media instance and reaction data from a plurality of viewers , the reaction data generated in response to viewing of the media instance and including physiological response data ; and an interface coupled to the processor , the interface enabling remote interactive manipulation of the reaction data synchronized to corresponding events of the media instance , the manipulation including at least one of dividing , dissecting , aggregating , parsing , and analyzing the reaction data . examples described herein include a method comprising : receiving a media instance , the media instance including a plurality of media events ; receiving reaction data from a plurality of viewers while the plurality of viewers are viewing the media instance ; automatically analyzing the reaction data ; and providing remote access to results of the analyzing , and presenting the results , the presenting including presenting actionable insights corresponding to a portion of the media instance via at least one of a plurality of renderings , wherein the actionable insights correspond to emotional reactions of the plurality of viewers . the analyzing of a disclosed example includes applying expert knowledge of physiological behavior to the reaction data . the method of a disclosed example comprises generating a first set of questions that represent the results . the analyzing of a disclosed example includes analyzing the reaction data in the context of the first set of questions . the method of a disclosed example comprises selecting at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . the method of a disclosed example comprises tagging the selected rendering with at least one question of the first set of questions . a user of a disclosed example can modify the presenting of the results via the selecting of at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . the presenting of a disclosed example includes presenting the results via presentation of the first set of questions . the method of a disclosed example comprises , in response to the user selecting a question of the first set of questions , presenting an answer to the selected question that includes the actionable insight . the method of a disclosed example comprises selecting a second set of questions that represent the results , wherein the second set of questions were generated prior to the first set of questions to represent previous results from analysis of preceding reaction data of a preceding media instance , wherein the preceding reaction data is similar to the reaction data . the analyzing of a disclosed example includes analyzing the reaction data in the context of the second set of questions . the method of a disclosed example comprises selecting at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . the method of a disclosed example comprises tagging the selected rendering with at least one question of the second set of questions . a user of a disclosed example can modify the presenting of the results via the selecting of at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . the presenting of a disclosed example includes presenting the results via presentation of the second set of questions . the method of a disclosed example comprises , in response to the user selecting a question of the second set of questions , presenting an answer to the selected question that includes the actionable insight . the method of a disclosed example comprises selecting a set of the reaction data to which the analyzing is applied , the selecting including selecting a portion of the media instance to which the set of the reaction data corresponds . the portion of a disclosed example includes a point in time . the portion of a disclosed example includes a period of time . the method of a disclosed example comprises generating aggregated reaction data by aggregating the reaction data from the plurality of viewers . the aggregating of a disclosed example comprises aggregating the reaction data according to at least one of maximums , minimums , averages , deviations , derivatives , amplitudes , and trends of at least one parameter of the reaction data . the method of a disclosed example comprises generating synchronized data by synchronizing the plurality of media events of the media instance with the reaction data . the method of a disclosed example comprises enabling remote interactive manipulation of the media instance . the method of a disclosed example comprises enabling remote interactive manipulation of the reaction data . the method of a disclosed example comprises enabling remote interactive manipulation of the plurality of renderings . the method of a disclosed example comprises enabling remote interactive manipulation of the actionable insights . the plurality of renderings of a disclosed example includes text , charts , graphs , histograms , images , and video . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes at least one of physiological responses , survey results , feedback generated by the viewers , metadata , and derived statistics the reaction data of a disclosed example includes feedback generated by the viewers . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes metadata , wherein the metadata is event - based metadata . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes derived statistics , wherein the derived statistics are derived statistics for indicators of success and failure of the media instance . receiving the reaction data of a disclosed example comprises receiving the reaction data from a plurality of sensor devices via wireless couplings , wherein each viewer wears a sensor device of the plurality of sensor devices . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in brain tissue of the user . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in muscle tissue of the user . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in heart tissue of the user . a first set of the plurality of viewers of a disclosed example is at a first location and a second set of the plurality of viewers is at a second location different from the first location a first set of the plurality of viewers of a disclosed example is viewing the media instance at a first time and a second set of the plurality of viewers is viewing the media instance at a second time different from the first time . examples described herein include a method comprising : receiving a media instance ; receiving reaction data from a plurality of viewers while the plurality of viewers are viewing the media instance ; automatically analyzing the reaction data ; and presenting the results by presenting actionable insights corresponding to a portion of the media instance via at least one of a plurality of renderings , wherein the actionable insights correspond to emotional reactions of the plurality of viewers . examples described herein include a method comprising : receiving a media instance ; receiving reaction data from a plurality of viewers viewing the media instance ; analyzing the reaction data ; and presenting results of the analyzing by presenting a set of questions corresponding to a portion of the media instance , the set of questions corresponding to at least one of a plurality of renderings , wherein answers to questions of the set of questions present actionable insights of the reaction data , the actionable insights corresponding to emotional reactions of the plurality of viewers . examples described herein include a system comprising : a processor coupled to a database , the database including a media instance and reaction data , the media instance including a plurality of media events , the reaction data received from a plurality of viewers while the plurality of viewers are viewing the media instance ; a first module coupled to the processor , the first module analyzing the reaction data ; and a second module coupled to the processor , the second module comprising a plurality of renderings and a user interface ( ui ) that provide remote access to results of the analyzing and the results , the results including actionable insights corresponding to a portion of the media instance , wherein the actionable insights correspond to emotional reactions of the plurality of viewers . the analyzing of a disclosed example includes applying expert knowledge of physiological behavior to the reaction data . the first module of a disclosed example generates a first set of questions that represent the results . the analyzing of a disclosed example includes analyzing the reaction data in the context of the first set of questions . at least one of the second module and the ui of a disclosed example enables selection of at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . at least one of the second module and the ui of a disclosed example enables tagging of a selected rendering with at least one question of the first set of questions . a user of a disclosed example can modify presentation of the results via the ui by selecting at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . at least one of the second module and the ui of a disclosed example presents the results via presentation of the first set of questions . in response to receipt of a selected question of the first set of questions , the second module of a disclosed example presents an answer to the selected question that includes the actionable insight . the first module of a disclosed example selects a second set of questions that represent the results , wherein the second set of questions were generated prior to the first set of questions to represent previous results from analysis of preceding reaction data of a preceding media instance , wherein the preceding reaction data is similar to the reaction data . the analyzing of a disclosed example includes analyzing the reaction data in the context of the second set of questions . the ui of a disclosed example enables selection of at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . the method of a disclosed example comprises tagging the selected rendering with at least one question of the second set of questions . a user of a disclosed example can modify presentation of the results via the ui by the selecting of at least one rendering of the plurality of renderings . at least one of the second module and the ui of a disclosed example presents the results via presentation of the second set of questions . in response to the user selecting a question of the second set of questions , at least one of the second module and the ui of a disclosed example presents an answer to the selected question that includes the actionable insight . the ui of a disclosed example enables selection of a set of the reaction data to which the analyzing is applied , the selecting including selecting a portion of the media instance to which the set of the reaction data corresponds . the portion of a disclosed example includes a point in time . the portion of a disclosed example includes a period of time . the first module of a disclosed example generates aggregated reaction data by aggregating the reaction data from the plurality of viewers . the aggregating of a disclosed example comprises aggregating the reaction data according to at least one of maximums , minimums , averages , deviations , derivatives , amplitudes , and trends of at least one parameter of the reaction data . the method of a disclosed example comprises generating synchronized data by synchronizing the plurality of media events of the media instance with the reaction data . the method of a disclosed example comprises enabling remote interactive manipulation of the media instance via the ui . the method of a disclosed example comprises enabling remote interactive manipulation of the reaction data via the ui . the method of a disclosed example comprises enabling remote interactive manipulation of the plurality of renderings via the ui . the method of a disclosed example comprises enabling remote interactive manipulation of the actionable insights via the ui . the plurality of renderings of a disclosed example includes text , charts , graphs , histograms , images , and video . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes at least one of physiological responses , survey results , feedback generated by the viewers , metadata , and derived statistics . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes feedback generated by the viewers . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes metadata , wherein the metadata is event - based metadata . the reaction data of a disclosed example includes derived statistics , wherein the derived statistics are derived statistics for indicators of success and failure of the media instance . the method of a disclosed example comprises a plurality of sensor devices , wherein each viewer wears a sensor device of the plurality of sensor devices , wherein each sensor device receives the reaction data from a corresponding view and transmits the reaction data to at least one of the first module and the database . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in brain tissue of the user . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in muscle tissue of the user . the reaction data of a disclosed example corresponds to electrical activity in heart tissue of the user . a first set of the plurality of viewers of a disclosed example is at a first location and a second set of the plurality of viewers of a disclosed example is at a second location different from the first location . a first set of the plurality of viewers of a disclosed example is viewing the media instance at a first time and a second set of the plurality of viewers is viewing the media instance at a second time different from the first time . examples described herein include a system comprising : a processor coupled to a database , the database receiving a media instance and reaction data from a plurality of viewers while the plurality of viewers are viewing the media instance ; a first module coupled to the processor , the first module automatically analyzing the reaction data ; and a second module coupled to the processor , the second module presenting the results by presenting actionable insights corresponding to a portion of the media instance via at least one of a plurality of renderings , wherein the actionable insights correspond to emotional reactions of the plurality of viewers . examples described herein include a system comprising : a processor coupled to a database , the database receiving a media instance and reaction data from a plurality of viewers viewing the media instance ; a first module coupled to the processor , the first module analyzing the reaction data ; and a second module coupled to the processor , the second module presenting results of the analyzing by presenting a set of questions corresponding to a portion of the media instance , the set of questions corresponding to at least one of a plurality of renderings , wherein answers to questions of the set of questions present actionable insights of the reaction data , the actionable insights corresponding to emotional reactions of the plurality of viewers . examples described herein may be implemented using a conventional general purpose or a specialized digital computer or microprocessor ( s ) programmed according to the teachings of the present disclosure , as will be apparent to those skilled in the computer art appropriate software coding can readily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure , as will be apparent to those skilled in the software art . the teachings of this disclosure may also be implemented by the preparation of integrated circuits or by interconnecting an appropriate network of conventional component circuits , as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art . a disclosed example includes a computer program product which is a machine readable medium ( media ) having instructions stored thereon / in which can be used to program one or more computing devices to perform any of the features presented herein . the machine readable medium can include , but is not limited to , one or more types of disks including floppy disks , optical discs , dvd , cd - roms , micro drive , and magneto - optical disks , roms , rams , eproms , eeproms , drams , vrams , flash memory devices , magnetic or optical cards , nanosystems ( including molecular memory ics ), or any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions and / or data . stored on any one of the computer readable medium ( media ), the teachings of the present disclosure include software for controlling both the hardware of the general purpose / specialized computer or microprocessor , and for enabling the computer or microprocessor to interact with a human viewer or other mechanism utilizing the results of the teachings of this disclosure . such software may include , but is not limited to , device drivers , operating systems , execution environments / containers , and applications . the examples described herein include and / or run under and / or in association with a processing system . the processing system includes any collection of processor - based devices or computing devices operating together , or components of processing systems or devices , as is known in the art . for example , the processing system can include one or more of a portable computer , portable communication device operating in a communication network , and / or a network server . the portable computer can be any of a number and / or combination of devices selected from among personal computers , cellular telephones , personal digital assistants , portable computing devices , and portable communication devices , but is not so limited . the processing system can include components within a larger computer system . the processing system of a disclosed example includes at least one processor and at least one memory device or subsystem . the processing system can also include or be coupled to at least one database . the term “ processor ” as generally used herein refers to any logic processing unit , such as one or more central processing units ( cpus ), digital signal processors ( dsps ), application - specific integrated circuits ( asic ), etc . the processor and memory can be monolithically integrated onto a single chip , distributed among a number of chips or components of the systems described herein , and / or provided by some combination of algorithms . the methods described herein can be implemented in one or more of software algorithm ( s ), programs , firmware , hardware , components , circuitry , in any combination . the components described herein can be located together or in separate locations . communication paths couple the components and include any medium for communicating or transferring files among the components . the communication paths include wireless connections , wired connections , and hybrid wireless / wired connections . the communication paths also include couplings or connections to networks including local area networks ( lans ), metropolitan area networks ( mans ), wide area networks ( wans ), proprietary networks , interoffice or backend networks , and the internet . furthermore , the communication paths include removable fixed mediums like floppy disks , hard disk drives , and cd - rom disks , as well as flash ram , universal serial bus ( usb ) connections , rs - 232 connections , telephone lines , buses , and electronic mail messages . aspects of the systems and methods described herein may be implemented as functionality programmed into any of a variety of circuitry , including programmable logic devices ( plds ), such as field programmable gate arrays ( fpgas ), programmable array logic ( pal ) devices , electrically programmable logic and memory devices and standard cell - based devices , as well as application specific integrated circuits ( asics ). some other possibilities for implementing aspects of the systems and methods include : microcontrollers with memory ( such as electronically erasable programmable read only memory ( eeprom )), embedded microprocessors , firmware , software , etc . furthermore , aspects of the systems and methods may be embodied in microprocessors having software - based circuit emulation , discrete logic ( sequential and combinatorial ), custom devices , fuzzy ( neural ) logic , quantum devices , and hybrids of any of the above device types . of course the underlying device technologies may be provided in a variety of component types , e . g ., metal - oxide semiconductor field - effect transistor ( mosfet ) technologies like complementary metal - oxide semiconductor ( cmos ), bipolar technologies like emitter - coupled logic ( ecl ), polymer technologies ( e . g ., silicon - conjugated polymer and metal - conjugated polymer - metal structures ), mixed analog and digital , etc . it should be noted that any system , method , and / or other components disclosed herein may be described using computer aided design tools and expressed ( or represented ), as data and / or instructions embodied in various computer - readable media , in terms of their behavioral , register transfer , logic component , transistor , layout geometries , and / or other characteristics . computer - readable media in which such formatted data and / or instructions may be embodied include , but are not limited to , non - volatile storage media in various forms ( e . g ., optical , magnetic or semiconductor storage media ) and carrier waves that may be used to transfer such formatted data and / or instructions through wireless , optical , or wired signaling media or any combination thereof . examples of transfers of such formatted data and / or instructions by carrier waves include , but are not limited to , transfers ( uploads , downloads , e - mail , etc .) over the internet and / or other computer networks via one or more data transfer protocols ( e . g ., http , https , ftp , smtp , wap , etc .). when received within a computer system via one or more computer - readable media , such data and / or instruction - based expressions of the above described components may be processed by a processing entity ( e . g ., one or more processors ) within the computer system in conjunction with execution of one or more other computer programs . unless the context clearly requires otherwise , throughout the description and the claims , the words “ comprise ,” “ comprising ,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense ; that is to say , in a sense of “ including , but not limited to .” words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively . additionally , the words “ herein ,” “ hereunder ,” “ above ,” “ below ,” and words of similar import , when used in this application , refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application . when the word “ or ” is used in reference to a list of two or more items , that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word : any of the items in the list , all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list . the above description of example systems and methods is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the systems and methods to the precise forms disclosed . while specific examples of , and examples for , the systems and methods are described herein for illustrative purposes , various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the systems and methods , as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize . the teachings of the systems and methods provided herein can be applied to other systems and methods , not only for the systems and methods described above . the elements and acts of the various examples described above can be combined to provide other examples . these and other changes can be made to the systems and methods 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 examples disclosed in the specification and the claims , but should be construed to include all systems and methods under the claims . accordingly , the examples are not limited by the disclosure , but instead the scope of the examples is to be determined entirely by the claims . while certain aspects of the examples are presented below in certain claim forms , the inventors contemplate the various aspects of the examples in any number of claim forms . accordingly , the inventors reserve the right to add additional claims after filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects disclosed in the various examples . | 7 |
hereinafter , preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . referring to fig7 , an optical lens ( 100 ) according to the present invention is disposed therein with a hollow part ( 101 ) into which an light emitting device ( 110 ) for emitting light can be positioned , a surface for refracting the light emitted from the light emitting device ( 110 ) and discharging to an outside , and a recess ( 102 ) disposed thereon . preferably , but not necessary , the optical lens ( 100 ) has a shape of a bulging cap , and the recess ( 102 ) is formed at an upper region positioned on a central axis ( p ) of the cap . referring again to fig7 , if the light emitting device ( 110 ) is disposed inside the optical lens ( 100 ), the light irradiated from the light emitting device ( 110 ) is refracted from the optical lens ( 100 ) to be discharged to an outside . the recess ( 102 ) formed on an upper surface of the optical lens ( 100 ) serves to change the shape of the optical lens ( 100 ) to refract the light advancing the upper side of the light emitting device ( 110 ). typically , a side - emission type light emitting device is in use for an lcd backlight having a light path sideways because intensity of the light advancing upward is too strong , but the present invention can equalize the intensity of the light irradiated from the diffusion plate ( 120 ) by refracting the light progressing upward from the light emitting device packages . fig7 illustrates a track where the light irradiated from the light emitting device ( 110 ) inside the optical lens ( 100 ) is refracted by the optical lens ( 100 ) to be evenly incident on the diffusion plate ( 120 ). now , referring to fig8 , assuming that a position inside the optical lens ( 100 ) from which light is irradiated on a central axis ( p ) is given as ‘ 0 ’, the light irradiated to a path up to 80 degrees is refracted from the optical lens ( 100 ) to advance upward . however , the light emitted from 80 degrees to 90 degrees based on the central axis ( p ) of the optical lens ( 100 ) does not advance upward , even if it is refracted from the optical lens ( 100 ), only to advance to a lateral surface of the optical lens ( 100 ). fig9 is a cross - sectional view illustrating a light path where a reflection structure is attached to a guide extension of an optical lens according to the present invention , where a portion of the optical lens ( 100 ) is opened to allow the hollow part ( 101 ) therein to communicate with an outside , and a tip end of the opened portion is connected to a guide extender ( 107 ). the guide extender ( 107 ) includes a first extender ( 105 ) horizontally extended to a tip end of the optical lens ( 100 ) and a second extender ( 106 ) vertically extended to the first extender ( 105 ). the guide extender ( 107 ) is so formed as to facilitate an easy installation of the optical lens ( 100 ) to the light emitting device package . the guide extender ( 107 ) is disposed therein with an inclined ring - shaped reflection structure ( 121 ) to allow the light irradiated from the lateral surface of the light emitting device ( 110 ) to be transmitted upward as shown in fig9 . referring to fig1 , the optical lens ( 100 ) is formed thereon with a curved recess ( 102 ) for refracting the light inside the optical lens ( 100 ). the optical lens ( 100 ) may be curvedly or slantingly formed in order to transmit the light upward with a uniform intensity . fig1 is a cross - sectional view illustrating a light path via an optical lens formed thereon with a plurality of recesses , where the optical lens ( 100 ) is formed thereon with an array of recesses ( 131 , 132 ), each recess spaced a predetermined distance apart , and the optical lens ( 100 ) is made to receive a uniform intensity of light thereon . fig1 is a schematic cross - sectional view illustrating an light emitting device package mounted with an optical lens , where a package body ( 200 ) fabricated with a light emitting device is attached thereon with the optical lens ( 100 ). the package body ( 200 ) comprises a heat slug ( 210 . i . e ., a heat conducting part ); an light emitting device ( 220 ) bonded to an upper surface of the heat slug ( 210 ); leads ( 230 ) electrically connected to the light emitting device ( 220 ); and molding apparatus ( 250 ) encompassing the light emitting device ( 220 ) and a part of the leads ( 230 ) and exposing a bottom surface of the heat slug ( 210 ). at this time , a wire ( 240 ) electrically connects the light emitting device ( 220 ) and the leads ( 230 ), as shown in fig1 . fig1 is a schematic cross - sectional view illustrating a state where a lug of an light emitting device package is inserted into a guide extender of an optical lens , where the optical lens ( 100 ) disposed with the guide extender ( 107 ) and a package disposed with a projection ( 260 ) are prepared for the fabricating process . successively , the lug ( 260 ) on the package is inserted into an inside of the guide extender ( 107 ). the lug ( 260 ) of the package and the guide extender ( 107 ) of the optical lens ( 100 ) may be bonded by adhesive means . fig1 is a schematic cross - sectional view illustrating a package where an optical lens is mounted on a substrate , where ring - shaped reflection structures ( 221 ) are attached on an upper surface of a substrate ( 300 ), and an light emitting device ( 210 ) is bonded to the upper surface of the substrate ( 300 ) exposed between the reflection structures ( 221 ), and the optical lens ( 100 ) is bonded to an upper surface of the substrate ( 300 ) outside of the reflection structures ( 221 ). light laterally emitted from the light emitting device ( 210 ) in the package thus formed is reflected from the reflection structures ( 221 ), transmitted upward and prevented from being lost . referring back to fig8 , the light irradiated from the light emitting device on a path of 80 - 90 degrees cannot advance upward even if refracted by the lens for the light emitting device , but advance to a radial lateral direction from the optical lens , such that the reflection structures ( 221 ) can radiate upward the light advancing sideways to thereby enable to reduce the loss of the light . in other words , each of the reflection structures ( 221 ) has an inclination capable of reflecting the light emitted on a path of 80 - 90 degrees from the central axis ( p ) of the optical lens ( 100 ) and advancing the light upward of the optical lens ( 100 ). fig1 is a schematic cross - sectional view illustrating a package where a molding apparatus is formed with an optical lens formation , the package includes a heat slug ( 210 ), a light emitting device ( 220 ) bonded to an upper surface of the heat slug ( 210 ), leads ( 230 ) bonded to the light emitting device ( 220 ) and a wire ( 240 ), and a molding unit ( 270 ) encompassing the light emitting device ( 220 ), the wire ( 240 ) and a part of the leads ( 230 ), and exposing a bottom surface of the heat slug ( 210 ) and formed thereon with a lug of an optical lens formation . as mentioned above , the optical lens is disposed with a surface for refracting light radiated from the light emitting device ( 100 ) and discharging the light to an outside , and is also formed thereon with a recess ( 271 ). fig1 a and 16 b are schematic cross - sectional views illustrating a backlight unit using a light emitting device mounted with an optical lens . as depicted in fig1 a , the backlight unit comprises : a substrate ( 310 ); a plurality of light emitting devices ( 311 , 312 ) attached on an upper surface of the substrate ( 310 ); a plurality of optical lenses ( 321 ), each lens formed with a surface disposed therein with a hollow part for refracting light radiated from the light emitting devices and discharging the light to an outside , and also formed thereon with a recess with each hollow part disposed therein with light emitting device and bonded to the substrate ( 310 ); and a diffusion plate ( 350 ) disposed above the plurality of optical lenses ( 321 ). now , referring to fig1 b , the backlight unit comprises : a substrate ( 310 ); a plurality of light emitting device packages ( 331 , 332 ) attached on an upper surface of the substrate ( 310 ); a plurality of optical lenses ( 341 , 342 ) disposed with a surface formed with a hollow part therein for refracting light radiated from the light emitting device packages ( 331 , 332 ) and discharging the light to an outside , and also formed thereon with a recess , and bonded to the light emitting device packages ( 331 , 332 ); and a diffusion plate ( 350 ) disposed above a plurality of optical lenses ( 341 , 342 ). the substrate ( 310 ) is preferred to be formed in mcpcb ( metal core pcb ) or mpcb ( metal pcb ). the backlight unit is advantageously operated in such a manner that the light advancing upwards of the light emitting devices or the light emitting device packages is refracted and discharged upwards of the light emitting devices or the light emitting device packages with a uniform intensity , whereby a large area can be uniformly illuminated , even with only a small number of light emitting devices or light emitting device packages , thereby enabling to improve the backlight light efficiency and power consumption efficiency . fig1 a and 17 e are schematic plans for manufacturing a light emitting device package mounted with an optical lens according to an embodiment of the present invention . first , a mounting plate ( 400 ) and a lead frame are prepared , the lead frame including a plurality of leads ( 410 ) distanced from the mounting plate ( 400 ), as shown in fig1 a . the lead frame includes a conventional structure and may be variably designed and modified , but the plurality of leads ( 410 ) must satisfy a requirement that they be distanced from the mounting plate ( 400 ). at the same time , the plurality of leads ( 410 ) must be positioned about the mounting plate ( 400 ), as illustrated in fig1 a . successively , a plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) are bonded to an upper surface of the mounting plate ( 400 ) ( fig1 b ). preferably , the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) are horizontally structured to allow electrodes to be formed thereon . the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) and a plurality of leads ( 410 ) are electrically connected ( fig1 c ). at this time , the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) and a plurality of leads ( 410 ) are electrically connected via a wire , as depicted in fig1 c . thereafter , a molding apparatus ( 450 ) is formed for encompassing the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) and parts of the plurality of leads ( 410 ) ( fig1 d ). lastly , a lens is bonded to an upper surface of the molding apparatus ( 450 ), the lens formed with a surface for refracting light radiated from the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) and discharging the light to an outside , and formed thereon with a recess ( fig1 e ). fig1 is a schematic cross - sectional view illustrating an light emitting device package mounted with an optical lens according to an embodiment of the present invention . the light emitting device package comprises : a mounting plate ( 400 ); a plurality of leads ( 410 ) each spaced a predetermined distance apart from the mounting plate ( 400 ); a plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) bonded to an upper surface of the mounting plate ( 400 ); a conductive body for electrically connecting the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) to the plurality of leads ( 410 ); a molding apparatus ( 450 ) encompassing the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) and parts of the plurality of leads ( 410 );); and an optical lenses ( 460 ) formed with a surface for refracting light radiated from the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) and discharging the light to an outside , and also formed thereon with a recess ( 461 ) and bonded to the upper surface of the molding apparatus ( 450 ). the conductive body is a wire . thus , the light radiated from the clustered plurality of light emitting devices as on package is mixed to be uniformly irradiated upward by the lens disposed on the upper surface of the package . fig1 is a schematic plan illustrating a state where three light emitting devices are mounted in a light emitting device package according to an embodiment of the present invention , where it can be noted that three light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 ) fabricated in the mounting plate ( 400 ) is molded to form a package . fig2 a schematic plan illustrating a rectangular light emitting device package according to the present invention , where the mounting plate ( 400 ) is fabricated thereon in series with seven light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 , 425 , 426 , 427 ), each light emitting device spaced a predetermined distance apart , a plurality of leads ( 410 ) discretely arranged at both sides of the mounting plate ( 400 ) are bonded by the light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 , 425 , 426 , 427 ) via a wire ( 430 ), and the plurality of leads ( 410 ), the mounting plate ( 400 ) and the light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 , 425 , 426 , 427 ) are encompassed by the molding apparatus ( 450 ). the light emitting device package is fabricated with light emitting devices in series to allow forming in a rectangular shape . fig2 a schematic plan illustrating a state where a lens is mounted to the light emitting device package of fig2 , where recesses ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 , 425 , 426 , 427 ) are formed on an upper surface of an optical lens ( 460 ) on central axes ( p1 , p2 , p3 , p4 , p5 , p6 , p7 ) of the light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 , 425 , 426 , 427 ), each light emitting device discretely fabricated in series . therefore , the rectangular package is attached with lenses formed with recesses on central axes of each light emitting device , such that light emitted from each light emitting device can be uniformly radiated upward . fig2 a and 22 e are schematic plans for manufacturing a light emitting device package mounted with an optical lens according to another embodiment of the present invention . a mounting plate ( 400 ) and a lead frame are first prepared , where the lead frame includes a plurality of leads ( 410 ) each spaced a predetermined distance apart from the mounting plate ( 400 ) and a plurality of leads ( 401 ) extended to the mounting plate ( 400 ) ( fig2 a ). next , a plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) is bonded on an upper surface of the mounting plate ( 400 ) ( fig2 b ). in other words , the light emitting devices employed in the package according to the present exemplary embodiment are preferably vertical light emitting devices formed with electrodes thereon and thereunder . successively , the plurality of leads ( 410 ) discretely arranged from the mounting plate ( 400 ) are electrically connected to the light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) ( fig2 c ). thereafter , a molding apparatus ( 450 ) is formed to encompass the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) and parts of the plurality of leads ( 410 ) ( fig2 d ). lastly , the optical lens ( 460 ) formed with a surface for refracting light radiated from the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) and discharging the light to an outside , and also formed thereon with a recess ( 461 ) is bonded to the upper surface of the molding apparatus ( 450 ) ( fig2 e ). as a result , the light emitting device package according to another embodiment of the present invention comprises : a mounting plate ( 400 ) mounted with a plurality of leads ( 401 ); a plurality of leads ( 410 ) each spaced a predetermined distance apart from the mounting plate ( 400 ); a plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) bonded to an upper surface of the mounting plate ( 400 ); a conductive body for electrically connecting the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) to the plurality of leads ( 410 ); a molding apparatus ( 450 ) encompassing the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) and parts of the plurality of leads ( 410 ); and an optical lenses ( 460 ) formed with a surface for refracting light radiated from the plurality of light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ) and discharging the light to an outside , and also formed thereon with a recess ( 461 ) and bonded to the upper surface of the molding apparatus ( 450 ). at this time , a structure including the mounting plate ( 400 ), the leads ( 410 ), the light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 ), and the molding apparatus ( 450 ) comprises a package body , where the optical lens ( 460 ) is excluded . consequently , the light emitting device package according to another embodiment of the present invention is such that , as the light emitting devices are mounted and electrically connected to the mounting plate , only one time of wire bonding is performed for each light emitting device . fig2 is a schematic cross - sectional view illustrating an light emitting device package formed with a molding apparatus disposed with another optical lens formation in the processes of fig1 d and 22 d . there is an advantage in the light emitting device package according to fig2 in that the foregoing processes of separately manufacturing an optical lens and bonding the optical lens in fig1 d and 22 d , can be dispensed with when the molding apparatus is formed and the optical lens formation is formed on the molding apparatus . as a result , the optical lens is integrally formed with the molding apparatus and molded with the same material as that of the molding apparatus . in other words , the formation of the molding apparatus ( 451 ) encompassing the mounting plate ( 400 ), the light emitting devices ( 421 , 422 ), the wire ( 430 ) and parts of the leads ( 415 ) and the formation of the optical lens ( 452 ) can be integrally performed by one - time molding process . fig2 a and 24 b are schematic plans illustrating a state where an light emitting device package is mounted with light emitting devices according to the present invention . first of all , as shown in fig2 a , a mounting plate ( 500 ) is mounted thereon with four light emitting devices . in other words , a first row is arrayed with a red ( r ) light emitting device ( 511 ), and a green ( g ) light emitting device ( 512 ), while a second row is arrayed with a green ( g ) light emitting device ( 513 ) and a blue ( b ) light emitting device ( 514 ). referring now to fig2 b , the mounting plate ( 500 ) is fabricated thereon with three light emitting device . in other words , a first row is arrayed with a red ( r ) light emitting device ( 511 ), and a second row is arrayed with a green ( g ) light emitting device ( 513 ) and a blue ( b ) light emitting device ( 514 ). the purpose of packaging four light emitting devices in the rggb array , and three light emitting devices in the rgb array is to cluster the light emitting devices for fabrication in an effort to embody white light in one package . meanwhile , it is preferred that the package in the present invention be constructed with one of the red , green and blue light emitting devices or with all the light emitting devices . as a result , light irradiated from the plurality of light emitting devices via an optical lens disposed on an upper surface of the package can be mixed and uniformly emitted upwards . fig2 is a schematic plan illustrating a shape of a mounting plate of a light emitting device package according to the present invention . as illustrated in fig2 , a mounting plate ( 600 ) is thickly formed to allow a bottom surface of a mounting plate ( 600 ) to be exposed to a molding apparatus ( 620 ), thereby enabling to discharge heat generated from the light emitting devices ( 610 ) packaged on the mounting plate ( 600 ) to the mounting plate ( 600 ). in other words , the mounting plate ( 600 ) functions as a heat sink for conducting the heat away from the light emitting devices . fig2 a and 26 b are schematic plans illustrating shapes of leads of an light emitting device package according to the present invention . referring to fig2 a , a part of a lead in a light emitting device package is exposed to a lower surface of the molding apparatus ( 620 ), thereby enabling to discharge heat generated from the light emitting devices ( 610 ) via the leads ( 631 , 632 ). as noted above , if the leads ( 631 , 632 ) are disposed at a lower surface of the molding apparatus ( 620 ), there is an advantage of mounting the light emitting device package on a printed circuit board with solder by flip - chip bonding . a lead ( 660 ) is then protruded laterally from the molding apparatus ( 620 ) as shown in fig2 b . fig2 is a schematic cross - sectional view of a backlight unit using a light emitting device package according to the present invention . the backlight unit comprises : a substrate ( 700 ); a plurality of light emitting device packages ( 801 , 802 ) mounted on an upper surface of the substrate ( 700 ); a plurality of optical lenses formed with a surface for refracting light radiated from the plurality of packages ( 801 , 802 ) and discharging the light to an outside , and also formed thereon with recesses and bonded to upper surfaces of the packages ( 801 , 802 ); and a diffusion plate ( 900 ) disposed above the plurality of optical lenses . the backlight unit is advantageously operated in such a manner that the light advancing upwards of the light emitting device packages is refracted and discharged upwards of the light emitting device packages with a uniform intensity , whereby a large area can be uniformly illuminated , even with only a small number of light emitting device packages , thereby enabling to improve the backlight light efficiency and power consumption efficiency . fig2 is a schematic cross - sectional view of another backlight unit using a light emitting device package according to the present invention . the backlight unit comprises : a substrate ( 700 ); a plurality of light emitting device packages ( 811 ) mounted on an upper surface of the substrate ( 700 ); a film ( 820 ) formed with a surface for refracting light radiated from the plurality of light emitting device packages ( 811 ) and discharging the light to an outside , and also formed thereon with a plurality of optical lens formations ( 821 , 822 , 823 , 824 , 825 ) each disposed with a recess and positioned on each upper surface of the packages ( 811 ); and a diffusion plate ( 900 ) disposed above the film ( 820 ). each of the light emitting device packages ( 811 ) is preferred to be packaged with a plurality of light emitting devices , and each optical lens formation on each central axis of the light emitting device packages ( 811 ) is formed with a recess . therefore , the backlight unit is advantageously operated in such a manner that a plurality of packages fabricated with a plurality of light emitting devices are disposed thereon with an optical lens film integrally formed with optical lens formations for uniformly refracting light to enable to dispense with a process of attaching an optical lens for each package unit . fig2 a and 29 b are schematic plans of a backlight unit using light emitting device packages according to the present invention , where a substrate ( 700 ) is formed with packages each fabricated with a plurality of light emitting devices . in other words , the plurality of light emitting devices are red ( r ), green ( g ) and blue ( b ) light emitting devices . furthermore , a driving unit ( 851 ) is attached in between the packages for driving the packages ( 811 ). at this time , because each package ( 811 ) is formed with a plurality of light emitting devices , the substrate ( 700 ) formed with the packages ( 811 ) excels a substrate formed with one light emitting device in view of space utility . in other words , as illustrated in fig2 a , the present invention is comprised of a backlight unit using the packages ( 811 ) packaged with a plurality of light emitting devices , such that a driving unit ( 851 ) can be positioned in between the packages ( 811 ). as a result , radiation means ( 750 ) may be attached on an entire opposite surface of the substrate ( 700 ) formed with the packages ( 811 ) to enable to enhance the heat radiation efficiency . to be more specific , if a backlight unit packaged with one light emitting device is constructed , a space utility can be deteriorated over that of the present invention , and a driving unit is positioned on an opposite surface of the substrate packaged with the light emitting device to thereby decrease an area of the radiation means ( 750 ). as apparent from the foregoing , there is an advantage in the light emitting device package and a backlight unit using the same thus described in that light advancing upward from the light emitting device package can be refracted by a lens , thereby enabling the light having a uniform intensity to be emitted upwards to the advantage of efficiency and power consumption , even with a small number of light emitting devices . there is another advantage in that a plurality of light emitting devices can be clustered into one package , thereby enabling light emitted from each light emitting device to smoothly get mixed , and the light mixed by a lens disposed on the light emitting device package to be uniformly emitted upward . there is still another advantage in that a film integrally formed with lens formations capable of uniformly refracting light upward from packages mounted with a plurality of light emitting devices is applied to thereby enable to remove a process of attaching lenses to each package unit . although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments , it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details described thereof . various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description , and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art . therefore , all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims . | 7 |
as required , detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein ; however , it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms . the figures are not necessarily to scale ; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components . therefore , specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting , but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention . fig1 schematically illustrates a layered construction of a battery charger 10 having a housing 12 as contemplated by one non - limiting aspect of the present invention . the housing 12 includes a first coldplate 14 secured to a second coldplate 16 in a manner that defines a fluid cooling chamber 18 or passage operable to facilitate cooling of first and second circuit assemblies 20 , 22 , which may be circuit assemblies 20 , 22 of any type and having any number of electronic components and processors , including but not limited to assembles having electronics operable to facilitate converting ac energy source from a utility grid ( not shown ) to dc energy sufficient to facilitate charging a high voltage vehicle battery ( not shown ) used to provide energy for propelling an electric or hybrid electric vehicle ( not shown ). the housing 12 may further include top and bottom covers 24 , 26 to respectively enclose top and bottom sides of the first and second coldplates 14 , 16 , such as to prevent dust , fluid , and other debris from being exposed to the first and second circuit assemblies 20 , 22 . fig2 a - 2 b respectively illustrate top and bottom views of the housing 12 with the top and bottom covers 24 , 26 being removed and the first and second circuit assemblies 20 , 22 partially filling the top and bottom sides of the first and second coldplates 14 , 16 . the circuits 20 , 22 are generically shown as being comprised of electronics mounted on a single printed circuit board ( pcb ) for exemplary purposes . the present invention contemplates the use of any number of pcbs and / or electronics and the pcb occupying more of the top and bottom sides . the circuit assemblies 20 , 22 may include a processor , controller , or other element that requires communication with one or more of the components on the other assembly , such as to facilitate the controlling the contemplated battery charging operations . each of the top and bottom sides may include through - hole apertures 30 , 32 that align with recesses 42 , 44 ( recesses 42 , 44 , do not extend through bottom of second coldplate 16 ) to facilitate fastening the first and second coldplates 14 , 16 together and additional through - holes , 34 , 36 , 38 , 40 , 46 , 48 , 50 , 52 through which a connector , wire , or other electrically conducting element ( not shown ) may pass from the top side of the first coldplate 14 through to the bottom side of the second coldplate 16 to establish an electrical interconnection between each circuit assembly 20 , 22 . the second coldplate 16 is also shown in include a plurality of side - wall apertures 58 , 60 , 62 , 64 ( see fig3 ) through which cables , wires , and / or other connectors may project . one or more of these connectors may be used to connect the battery charger 10 to an ac source and to provide the dc output to the high voltage vehicle battery or other element or subsystem within the vehicle . fig3 illustrates a partial assembly view of the housing 12 with exposure of a bottom side of the first coldplate 14 and a top side of the second coldplate 16 . a cavity 68 formed with the second coldplate forms the flood cooling chamber 18 through which a fluid , such as a liquid or gas , flows between an inlet 70 and an outlet 72 to facilitate cooling of the first and second coldplates 14 , 16 , and thereby the first and second circuit assemblies 20 , 22 . a number of fins 74 , 76 , 78 , 80 , 82 , 84 , 86 , 88 , 90 , 92 , 94 , 96 , 98 , 100 , 102 , 104 may extend from the bottom side of the first coldplate 14 below the top side of the second coldplate 16 and into the cavity 68 to further facilitate the contemplated cooling . a plurality of partitions or dividers 110 , 112 , 114 , 116 , 118 , 120 , 122 , 124 , 126 , 128 , 130 , 132 , 134 , 136 , 138 , 140 , 142 , 144 may similarly extend upwardly from a bottom of the cavity 68 to facilitate directing the fluid flow between the inlet 70 and outlet 72 . the second coldplate 16 may also include a plurality of reliefs 150 , 152 , 154 , 156 , 158 , 160 , 162 , 164 , 166 that align with a corresponding plurality of extensions 170 , 172 , 174 , 176 , 178 , 180 , 182 , 184 , 186 of the first coldplate 14 . screws may be threaded into the extensions 170 , 172 , 174 , 176 , 178 , 180 , 182 , 184 , 186 without passing through a bottom side thereof to facilitate securing the pcb 20 to the first coldplate 14 . a seal 200 may be positioned within a groove 202 around an entire outer perimeter of the fluid cooling chamber 68 to prevent fluid leakage . fig4 a and 4 b illustrate operation of the seal and groove in accordance with one non - limiting aspect of the present invention where the seal 200 is spherically shaped and compacts into the groove 202 when the first coldplate 14 adjoins with the second coldplate 16 . a compressive force between the first and second coldplates 14 , 16 may be sufficient to compact the seal 200 flush against planar portion 204 of the first coldplate 14 that extends across the groove 202 from one side to the other . as shown in fig3 , the first and second coldplates may be secured together with one or more fasteners ( not shown ) or other securing agents being inserted through one or more receptacles 210 , 212 , 214 , 216 , 218 , 220 , 222 , 224 , 226 , 228 , 230 to provide the compressive action shown in fig4 a - 4 b . the compressive force may be sufficient to generate a metal to metal contact between the first and second coldplates 14 , 16 , or a similar material to material interface in the event to coldplates 14 , 16 are comprised of a ceramic , plastic , or other material . the illustrated groove 202 is shown be rectangular with a depth of 2 . 2 mm and a width of 2 . 5 mm throughout relative to an approximate 2 . 8 mm diameter of the seal 200 . the difference between the seal diameter and the seal groove depth may be select as a function of the seal material ( rubber , plastic , etc .) and the shape of the corresponding groove 202 as required to allow the seal 200 to be sufficiently compacted to provide the desired fluid leakage resistance . additional seal and groove conditions may be included around the through - hole apertures 42 , 44 , 46 , 48 , 50 , 52 and constructed in a similar manner . the grooves and seals 200 , 202 , 240 , 246 , 248 , 250 , 252 may be uniform throughout at least in so far as having the same , uninterrupted profile where a bottom of each groove is free of a drainage hole or other feature to control fluid flow . of course , the present invention fully contemplates the grooves 202 , 240 , 242 , 246 , 248 , 250 , 252 including drainage holes and / or the use of drainage holes proximate the grooves 202 , 240 , 242 , 246 , 248 , 250 , 252 , such as holes shaped to borough though the second coldplate 16 to a collecting area away from the first and second circuit assemblies 20 , 22 . one non - limiting aspect of the present contemplates a design free of drainage holes and other auxiliary fluid control features in order to provide a compact configuration free of the extra space needed to shape such auxiliary fluid control features and to limit the amount of work required to form and / or cut the coldplates 14 , 16 to include such auxiliary fluid control features . the present invention fully contemplates the seals and / or grooves 202 , 240 , 242 , 246 , 248 , 250 , 252 having non - spherical shapes , such as but not limited to being square , double - humped , etc . as supported above , one non - limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates sealing for a coolant passage within an electronic module that contains a coolant passage in the center of the package with electronics mounted on both sides of the coolant passage . the illustrated configurations are believed , at least on some respects , to be beneficial in that if the seal around the outer perimeter of the coolant passage were to fail the coolant would not likely come in contact with the electronics due to the additional seals being separately included around the through - hole apertures , which may be particularly helpful since a coolant leak to the electronics may go undetected until protection circuit shutdown or module failure . the present invention contemplates selecting the location of the coolant seal such that if the seal were to fail the coolant leaks to the outside of the electronics housing , thus keeping the coolant away from the electronics within the assembly . also , since the coolant leaks to the outside of the module the opportunity for detection is increased . while exemplary embodiments are described above , it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention . rather , the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation , and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . additionally , the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention . | 7 |
fig1 shows a perspective view of an article of furniture 1 , wherein a door 3 is mounted pivotably by way of furniture hinges 4 relative to a furniture carcass 2 . in a known manner , the furniture hinges 4 have a hinge cup 5 hingedly connected to a carcass - side fitment portion in the form of a hinge arm 6 . the furniture hinges 4 each have a damping device 7 ( not visible here ) for damping a hinge movement , and it is preferably provided that the damping device 7 is mounted in or on the hinge cup 5 . in particular it can be provided that at least one damping device 7 is mounted to the outside of the hinge cup 5 , wherein the hinge cup 5 together with at least one damping device 7 arranged thereon can jointly be fitted within a provided furniture standard bore in the door 3 and are arranged within a notional diameter of the bore . fig2 shows a perspective view of a furniture hinge 4 , wherein the hinge cup 5 is pivotably connected to the hinge arm 6 by way of at least one hinge lever 8 . the hinge cup 5 is provided with a fixing flange 9 , wherein at least one damping device 7 is mounted with a damper housing 10 beneath the fixing flange 9 and at the outside of the hinge cup 5 . the damping device 7 has a switch 11 which is to be adjusted by a person and by which the damping action of the damping device 7 can be completely deactivated , if desired . provided within the hinge cup 5 is a pivotably mounted actuating element 12 which towards the end of the closing movement of the hinge 4 can be acted upon by the hinge lever 8 and can be pressed in thereby in the direction of the bottom of the hinge cup . that last closing movement can be damped by the provided damping device 7 . the actuating element 12 is preferably mounted pivotably about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation 13 . fig3 a and 3 b show two different perspective sectional views of the damping device 7 . it is possible to see the actuating element 12 which is mounted rotatably about a pivot axis 14 relative to the hinge cup 5 and which towards the end of the closing movement can be acted upon by the hinge lever 8 which engages into the hinge cup 5 ( fig2 ). a lever 16 mounted pivotably about the axis of rotation 15 is motionally coupled to the actuating element 12 so that therefore the lever 16 always moves with a movement of the actuating element 12 . the lever 16 has a lever arm 17 which bears against a ram 18 ( or a piston rod , respectively ). the ram 18 is connected to a piston 19 mounted displaceably in a fluid chamber 20 of the damper housing 10 . after a damping stroke movement has occurred , the ram 18 ( and therewith the piston 19 ) can be returned again into a ready position for the next damping stroke movement , by way of a return spring 21 arranged in the fluid chamber 20 . in fig3 a and 3 b the piston 19 is in such a ready position . the fluid chamber 20 is filled with a hydraulic damping fluid which , upon a displacement of the piston 19 in the direction of the end 22 of the fluid chamber 20 , can flow laterally past the piston 19 between the piston 19 and the inside wall 23 ( fig3 b ) of the fluid chamber 20 and can flow through a passage 24 ( fig3 b ) into a compensating chamber 25 in which a deformable compensating body 26 is arranged . that compensating body 26 serves to compensate for the volume of the ram 18 as it moves into the fluid chamber 20 . as can be clearly seen from fig3 a , the compensating body 26 in the rest position is of a substantially bag - form configuration and substantially completely fills the compensating chamber 25 . the compensating body 26 is filled with air and in the damping stroke movement — that is to say when the ram 18 is moved in the direction towards the end 22 of the fluid chamber 20 — can be elastically deformed by the volume of fluid streaming into the compensating chamber 26 , wherein air can escape through an opening 27 of the damper housing 10 . when the ram 18 is moved back into the ready position again by the force of the return spring 21 , then the damping fluid in the compensating chamber 25 can flow back into the fluid chamber 20 again due to the reduced pressure caused thereby and the compensating body 26 can again assume the bag - form shape shown in fig3 a , due to the incoming air flowing through the opening 27 . there is also provided an overload prevention means 28 by which at least one overload opening 29 between the fluid chamber 20 and the compensating chamber 25 can be opened above a threshold value of a pressure acting on the ram 18 . the overload prevention means 28 includes a ball 31 which is pre - stressed by a spring 30 and which when a predetermined fluid pressure is exceeded opens the overload opening 29 so that in an overload situation the damping fluid can flow across from the fluid chamber 20 into the compensating chamber 25 . when the fluid pressure falls below the predetermined pressure , the overload opening 29 is closed again by the spring - loaded ball 31 . a seal 33 which seals off the ram 18 relative to the damper housing 10 and which is provided jointly in one piece with the compensating body 26 is essential . in the illustrated embodiment , it is also provided that the sealing body 34 which seals off the compensating chamber 25 relative to the damper housing 10 is formed jointly in one piece with the seal 33 and the compensating body 26 . fig3 b shows another sectional view of the damping device 7 of fig3 a , wherein it is possible to see the gap which remains between the piston 19 and the inside wall 23 of the fluid chamber 20 and through which the damping fluid can flow from one side of the piston to the other . to influence the damping action , the inside wall 23 of the fluid chamber 20 can have grooves which are of a narrowing flow cross - section in the direction of the end 22 , whereby adaptive damping can be implemented . it is possible to see the switch 11 for deactivating the damping function and at least one resilient latching element 32 for — preferably releasably — fixing the damping device 7 to the hinge cup 5 . to provide a particularly compact damping device 7 , it can be provided that the fluid chamber 20 has a first longitudinal axis and the compensating chamber 25 has a second longitudinal axis , the first longitudinal axis of the fluid chamber 20 and the second longitudinal axis of the compensating chamber 25 extending in substantially parallel mutually spaced relationship . fig4 a and 4 b show two different sectional views of the damping device 7 , the piston 19 being disposed near the rearward end position . a pivotal movement of the actuating element 12 also causes rotation of the lever 16 , the lever end 17 of which presses the ram 18 ( and therewith the piston 19 ) into the fluid chamber 20 . then — corresponding to the arrow shown in fig4 b — the displaced damping fluid can flow starting from the high - pressure side ( h ) laterally past the piston 19 to the low - pressure side ( l ) and through the passage 24 into the compensating chamber 25 , whereby the compensating body 26 is deformed and thus the volume of the inwardly moving ram 18 is compensated . the air displaced in the compensating body 26 can flow out of the opening 27 ( fig4 a ). after the damping stroke movement has occurred , the return spring 21 can return the piston 19 again , in which case due to the reduced pressure caused thereby , the damping fluid can flow from the compensating chamber 25 back again into the fluid chamber 20 and the compensating body 26 can again assume the original form ( fig3 a ) due to air flowing in through the opening 27 . the passage 24 can lead from that end region of the fluid chamber 20 , that is away from the end 22 of the fluid chamber 20 , to the compensating chamber 25 . the passage 24 then opens into that end region of the compensating chamber 25 , that is away from the end 36 of the compensating chamber 25 . the advantage of the passage 24 extending from the low - pressure side ( l ) is its short length leading to the compensating chamber 25 , whereby the risk of leakage is substantially eliminated . in addition , the compensating body 26 is deformable in a defined fashion by virtue of being acted upon from the low - pressure side ( l ) and can thus be adapted to the respectively prevailing fluid pressure in an improved fashion . fig5 a - 5 c show various views of the compensating body 26 . fig5 a shows the compensating body 26 in the rest position , which in this operative condition is of a bag - shape configuration . the compensating body 26 together with the seal 33 ( which seals off the ram 18 relative to the damper housing 10 ) and the sealing body 34 ( which seals off the compensating chamber 25 relative to the damper housing 10 ) is of a common structural unit in the form of a one - piece configuration . fig5 b shows the compensating body 26 in the compressed condition , while fig5 c shows the compensating body 26 which is of a hollow configuration , the sealing body 34 and the seal 33 in a sectional view . fig6 shows an exploded view of the damping device 7 , wherein the fluid chamber 20 and the compensating chamber 25 which extends in laterally parallel relationship therewith are provided within the damper housing 10 . it is possible to see the actuating element 12 which in the mounted position is non - rotatably connected to the lever 16 . the ram 18 is connected to the piston 19 , the ram 18 being sealed off relative to the damper housing 10 by means of the seal 33 which is formed in one piece together with the sealing body 34 of the compensating chamber 25 and the elastically compressible compensating body 26 . the end of the piston rod or ram 18 , that is remote from the piston , is led out of the fluid chamber 20 in the assembled condition and projects into a closure portion 35 . fig7 a and 7 b show cross - sectional views of a further embodiment of the damping device 7 . fig7 a shows the damping device 7 with a ram 18 in the ready position , whereas fig7 b shows the ram 18 or piston 19 in the position of being pressed into the fluid chamber 20 . a fluid chamber 20 and a compensating chamber 25 extending in laterally parallel relationship therewith are provided within the damper housing 10 . the seal 33 which is provided for sealing off the fluid chamber 20 and through which the ram 18 passes , is formed in one piece together with the deformable compensating body 26 . in the illustrated embodiment , the bag - form compensating body 26 is so arranged that — relative to the end 22 of the fluid chamber 20 — it faces in a direction in opposite relationship thereto and projects out of the damper housing 10 . when now the ram 18 is pressed into the fluid chamber 20 , the displaced damping fluid passes into the interior of the compensating body 26 and — as shown in fig7 b — causes it to bulge out in a direction transversely relative to the damping stroke movement of the piston 19 . after the damping stroke movement has occurred , the piston 19 can be moved back again into the ready position of fig7 a by the force of a return spring 21 . fig8 a and 8 b show a cross - section of the damping device 7 in a further embodiment . provided in the damper housing 10 is a fluid chamber 20 with a piston 19 mounted displaceably therein , the piston 19 being connected to the ram 18 . arranged concentrically relative to the fluid chamber 20 is a compensating chamber 25 surrounding the fluid chamber 20 — preferably in an annular configuration . the seal 33 for sealing off the fluid chamber 20 , through which the ram 18 passes , is provided in one piece with the deformable compensating body 26 . fig8 a shows the damping device 7 with the ram 18 in a ready position . when now the ram 18 is pressed into the fluid chamber 20 , the displaced damping fluid passes into the compensating chamber 25 and causes the compensating body 26 which is of a sleeve - like configuration to bulge out in the radial direction . the direction of the maximum expansion of the compensating body 26 extends in that case substantially in a direction at a right angle to the damping stroke movement of the piston 19 . the present invention is not just limited to the illustrated embodiments but includes or extends to all variants and technical equivalents which can fall within the scope of the appended claims . the positional references adopted in the description such as for example up , down , lateral and so forth are also related to the directly described and illustrated figure and are to be appropriately transferred to the new position upon a change in position . the compensating chamber 25 is preferably separated from the fluid chamber 20 but it can also be integrated into same . the piston 19 can also be provided with at least one opening , through which the damping fluid can flow through the piston 19 between the high - pressure side ( h ) and the low - pressure side ( l ). | 4 |
in the following description various aspects of the present invention , a method and apparatus facilitates data interchange between disparate application systems via a communications network will be described . specific details will be set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . however , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced with only some or all of the described aspects of the present invention , and with or without some or all of the specific details . in some instances , well - known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the present invention . parts of the description will be presented using terminology commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art , including terms of operations performed by a computer system or electronic commerce application , and their operands , such as transmitting , receiving , retrieving , determining , generating , protocol , data structure , and the like . as well understood by those skilled in the art , these operands take the form of electrical , magnetic , or optical signals , and the operations involve storing , transferring , combining , and otherwise manipulating the signals through electrical , magnetic or optical components of a system . the term system includes general purpose as well as special purpose arrangements of these components that are standalone , adjunct or embedded . various operations will be described as multiple discrete steps performed in turn in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the present invention . however , the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily performed in the order they are presented , or even order dependent . lastly , repeated usage of the phrase “ in one embodiment ” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment , although it may . with reference to fig1 , an overview of the present invention is illustrated in the context of an operating environment in accordance with one embodiment . as shown , a method and apparatus is provided in which a initiator system 140 exchanges data with a recipient system 160 over the internet 120 or other communications network through the use of an e - commerce appliance 110 and a data mapping database 130 . in one embodiment , each of the initiator 140 and recipient 160 systems are typically comprised of an application software 152 / 172 such as an erp system , and associated application database 154 / 174 . an internet transaction server 150 / 170 provides the access to applications that are external to the corporate enterprise ( i . e . outside the corporate firewall ) via the internet . specifically , the internet transaction server 150 / 170 provides internet services that allow the initiator application software 152 to interface with the recipient application software 172 ( and vice versa ) as well as to other external systems over the internet 120 . the internet transaction server 150 / 170 operates in conjunction with : a web server 148 / 168 and web client 146 / 166 which together provide a user interface to the external applications , the switches and / or routers 144 / 164 which control access to the external applications , and a telephone or other type of communication system 142 / 162 which provides for remotely transmitting and receiving data to and from the external applications . in one embodiment , the e - commerce appliance 110 is either directly or indirectly coupled to the switches and routers 144 / 164 . among other things , the e - commerce appliance 110 operates to intercept outgoing data prior to being transmitted to the recipient application software 172 from the initiator application software 152 , or to intercept incoming data prior to being received by the recipient application software 172 , or some combination thereof . in one embodiment , the e - commerce appliance 110 is implemented in both the initiator 140 and recipient 160 systems , although it may be implemented on one and not the other , or be enabled on one and disabled on the other . when disabled , the data will simply bypass the e - commerce appliance 110 and continue to its destination recipient application software 172 via the switches and routers 164 , etc . of the recipient system 160 . the e - commerce appliance 110 operates in conjunction with the data mapping database 130 , which is accessible to both the initiator 140 and recipient 160 systems via the internet 120 or some other communications network . in operation , the e - commerce appliance 110 interfaces directly to the communications systems ( i . e . the switches and routers 144 / 164 , etc .) that control access to the internet services for the initiator 140 or recipient 160 systems respectively . it is readily apparent from these examples that the connections to the internet or communication network 120 may be a wired or a wireless communication connection . in the case of a wired connection , the communication connection may be a serial or a parallel link , a serial bus , as well as a “ harsh environment ” local area network segment provided using any one of a number of communication medium known in the art , including but not limited to the public switching telephone network ( pstn ), the integrated service digital network ( isdn ), a frame relay network , an asynchronous transfer mode ( atm ) network , or the internet , depending on the requirements of the initiator 140 , the recipient 160 , and the data mapping database 130 being accessed . in the case of a wireless connection , the communication link may be any wireless network controller designed in accordance with ieee 802 . 11 wireless lan standard or a wireless transceiver designed in accordance with the draft specification of bluetooth : a global specification for wireless connectivity , promulgated by the bluetooth special interest group . accordingly , connections to the communication network 120 will not be further described . with reference to fig2 , one embodiment of the e - commerce appliance 110 is illustrated in further detail . in the illustrated embodiment , the e - commerce appliance 110 is comprised of a transaction tracker 112 logic capable of tracking data between the initiator 140 and recipient 160 systems in order to classify the data as data for which data mapping is fully functional , or as data for which data mapping is still in a debug phase . in one embodiment the tracked data is a communications message that represents a transaction to the application software 152 / 172 . if the data mapping is fully functional , then the transaction is further processed by a data mapper 116 logic that maps the data from the transaction format and content issued by the initiator system 140 into the transaction format and content that is capable of being received by the recipient system 160 . however , if the data mapping is still in the debug phase then the transaction is further processed by a data debugger 114 logic capable of identifying which data have unresolved data mapping issues . both the data mapper 116 and the data debugger 114 logic use data mapping requirements posted on the data mapping database 130 as necessary to perform the proper data mapping or to identify whether and which data mapping issues are present . when data mapping issues are present , the data debugger 114 logic reviews the transaction data format requirements of both the initiator system 140 and the recipient system 160 . in this way , discrepancies in the transactions can be identified and potentially repaired before being routed to the application software 172 in the recipient system 160 . referring now to fig3 , a flow diagram of the operation of the e - commerce appliance 110 is illustrated in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . as shown in process block 310 the operation of the e - commerce appliance 110 begins with intercepting the transaction transmitted from the initiator switch / router 144 . in one embodiment , the interception can be performed on the initiator system 140 before the transaction is transmitted to the recipient system 160 . in an alternate embodiment , the interception may be performed upon receipt in the recipient system 160 but before the transaction can be routed to the recipient application software 172 . it should be understood that the transaction may be intercepted at other points in the process without departing from the principles of the invention as long as the interception occurs before the transaction is processed by the recipient application system 172 . at process block 320 , the intercepted transaction is identified with reference to the corresponding data mapping requirements posted on the data mapping database 130 . specifically , if the data mapping for the intercepted transaction is determined to be fully functional , then the operation of the e - commerce appliance 110 continues at process block 360 , in which the e - commerce appliance proceeds to map the intercepted transaction data to the recipient data format as identified in the corresponding data mapping requirements . if the data mapping for the intercepted transaction is determined not to be fully functional , then the operation of the e - commerce appliance 110 continues at process block 330 . specifically , the discrepancies causing the data mapping not to be fully functional are identified with reference to the corresponding data mapping requirements posted on the data mapping database 130 . at process block 340 , if it is determined that the discrepancies can be repaired , then the operation of the e - commerce appliance 110 continues at process block 350 . there , the data mapping discrepancies are repaired with reference to the corresponding data mapping requirements . if , on the other hand , the data discrepancies cannot be repaired , then the intercepted data is routed back to the initiator along with information that identifies the particular reason for the discrepancy ( i . e . why the transaction is being returned or rejected ). in one embodiment , the data mapping requirements posted to the data mapping database 130 are actually derived from the requirements of the initiator and recipient application software 152 / 172 and the different formats of transactions processed by those applications . with reference to fig4 , an example transaction is illustrated in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment in fig4 , thee - commerce appliance 110 derives the data mapping requirements for a purchase order 400 from the initiator formats 420 and recipient formats 440 for data fields 410 . further illustrated are examples of initiator data field values 430 and recipient data field values 450 according to their respective formats 420 / 440 . as can be seen , for many of the data fields 410 the data remains in the same format ; therefore , no mapping is required . other data fields 410 do require mapping , either to reformat the data to conform to the recipient format 440 , or in some cases to change the data field value 430 / 450 altogether ( i . e . to translate or transform the data ) to conform the initiator data values to certain customary recipient data values . an example of a mapping requirement to reformat the data to conform to the recipient format 440 is shown in several of the data fields in the illustrated purchase order 400 . for example , if the initiator of the purchase order 400 is an american buyer , and the recipient is a european seller , the data field date 411 is formatted as month / date / year ( e . g . 09 / 30 / 2000 ) using the initiator format 420 , but as day / month / year ( e . g . 30 / 09 / 2000 ) using the recipient format 440 . similarly , the data field street address 415 is formatted with the street number before the street name using the initiator format 420 , but with the street number after the street name using the recipient format 440 . the data field phone number 416 is formatted as 10 digits using the initiator format 420 but as 15 digits using the recipient format 440 . an example of a mapping requirement to change the data field values altogether to conform the initiator data values 430 to certain customary recipient data values 450 is also shown in several of the data fields in the illustrated purchase order 400 . for example , the data field quantity 419 and units 421 are expressed using the initiator format 420 for the united states customary unit ( avoirdupois weight ) for weight in pounds , or as shown in the example 430 , 10 pounds . but in the metric equivalent of weight for the european recipient format 440 , the data field quantity 419 and units 421 must be expressed in terms of kilograms , or as shown in the example 450 as 4 . 536 kilograms , thus requiring the data field values to be transformed or translated from the american value to the european value . another example is if the initiator purchase order 400 is missing a value for the data field country telephone code 417 . a data mapping requirement might be to read the data field country name ( not shown ) and use a look - up table to determine the corresponding value for the data field country telephone code 417 . numerous other mapping requirements may be derived depending on the type of transaction and the various initiator formats 420 and recipient formats 440 involved in the particular exchange of data . once derived , the e - commerce appliance has three possible courses of action . the first two courses of action have been previously described as 1 ) to map the intercepted transaction data to the recipient data format 430 as identified in the corresponding data mapping requirements , and 2 ) to determine that the mapping requirements are not fully functional and return the intercepted transaction data to the initiator for further processing . as illustrated in the example in fig4 , in one embodiment the mapping may require reformatting the data or converting the data to an altogether different value . in one embodiment the return of an intercepted transaction to the initiator may entail also returning information identifying the nature of the discrepancy in the initiator and recipient data formats . this may include not only returning the information about the intercepted transaction the initiator , but also to the recipient . the third possible course of action is to further determine that the discrepancies identified for the intercepted transaction are such that they may be ignored or bypassed without harm to the exchange of data between the initiator application software 152 and the recipient application software 172 . for example , the data field for title 412 , such as shown in the example 450 , mr ./ mrs ./ ms / herr / frau , may be deemed as not required and the recipient may accept the initiator purchase order 400 without data specified for the data field title 412 . referring now to fig5 , wherein a block diagram of a general - purpose computer system upon which an embodiment of the method and apparatus for interfacing application systems via a communications network may be implemented is shown . as illustrated , general - purpose computer system 500 comprises a bus 501 , or other communications hardware and software , for communicating information , and a processor 502 coupled with bus 501 for processing information . computer system 500 further comprises a random access memory ( ram ) or other dynamic storage device 502 ( referred to as main memory ), coupled to bus 501 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 502 . computer system 500 also comprises a read only memory ( rom ) 503 , and / or other static storage device , coupled to bus 501 for storing static information and instructions for processor 502 . mass storage device 504 is coupled to bus 501 for storing information and instructions . in one embodiment , mass storage device 504 includes a repository for storing the data mapping requirements in data mapping database 130 . furthermore , mass storage device 504 , such as a magnetic disk or optical disk , and its corresponding disk drive , can be coupled to computer system 500 . computer system 500 can also be coupled via bus 501 to a display device 521 for displaying information to a computer user . display device 521 is used to display a graphical user interface to the data mapping database 130 or to other aspects of the present invention . display device 521 can include a frame buffer , specialized graphics rendering devices , a cathode ray tube ( crt ), and / or flat panel display . an alphanumeric input device 522 , including alphanumeric and other keys , is typically coupled to a bus 501 for communicating information and command selections to processor 505 . another type of user input device is a cursor control device 523 , such as a mouse , a trackball , a pen , a touch screen , or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 505 , and for controlling cursor movement on display device 521 . this input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes , a first axis ( e . g ., the x - axis ) and a second axis ( e . g ., the y - axis ), which allows the device to specify positions in a plane . however , this invention should not be limited to input devices with only two degrees of freedom . another device that may be coupled to bus 501 is a hard copy device 524 which may be used for printing instructions , data , or other information on a medium such as paper , film , or similar types of media . additionally , computer system 500 can be coupled to a device for sound recording , and / or playback 525 , such as an audio digitizer coupled to a microphone for recording information . further , the device may include a speaker that is coupled to a digital to analog ( d / a ) converter for playing back the digitized sounds . network interface card 526 is coupled to bus 501 . network interface card 526 is further coupled to an external computer network ( not shown ). network interface card 526 , in conjunction with appropriate data communications protocols ( e . g ., the tcp / ip suite of internetworking protocols ), provide the means by which an embodiment of the present invention operating on a general - purpose computer system 500 exchanges information with other devices coupled to the same computer network . modem 527 is coupled to bus 501 , and provides an alternate means of exchanging information with other devices for which a modem connection to an external computer network or device ( not shown ) can be established . computer system 500 and application instructions , logic , firmware , or software , stored and executed therein as part of the method and apparatus of the present invention , operate in conjunction with an operating system with graphics capability , such as microsoft &# 39 ; s windows or windows ce operating systems . commercially available computer systems implementing the features of general - purpose computer system 500 include a broad range of operating system - based computers , including server computers , desktop computers , workstations , personal digital assistants , devices , or other computer appliances . furthermore , the present invention may be used in conjunction with various browsers ( e . g . microsoft internet explorer or netscape navigator ) designed for both conventional and wireless web servers and various electronic mail applications ( e . g . microsoft outlook , and lotus notes ) or other messaging applications to yield an operational platform upon which an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented . accordingly , a novel method and apparatus is described in which an e - commerce appliance facilitates the interface between disparate application systems via a communications network such as the internet using a commonly accessible data mapping database . from the foregoing description , those skilled in the art will recognize that many other variations of the present invention are possible . in particular , while the present invention has been described as being implemented in components of the initiator system 140 , the recipient system 160 , an e - commerce appliance 110 , and a data mapping database 130 , some of the functions performed by those components may be distributed in other components of a general - purpose computer system 500 . thus , the present invention is not limited by the details described . instead , the present invention can be practiced with modifications and alterations within the spirit and scope of the appended claims . | 6 |
attention is now drawn to fig1 a which depicts a section of a tire 10 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . wheel or tire 10 is comprised of three portions , namely a hub portion 12 , a rim portion 14 , and a plurality of flexure members 16 which extend from the hub portion 12 to rim portion 14 . flexure members 16 define a plurality of voids 18 which extend through tire 10 from one side to the other . hub portion 12 is adapted to be secured to a hub for rotation about an axis . since the hub may be part of any conventional bearing member and does not form part of the present invention , it is not depicted in the drawings . as should be noted , the tire 10 is an integral piece which from a fabrication standpoint is preferred . this is particularly desireable when the tire composition is such that it can be formed through an injection molding process or the like . many materials can be employed , such as various rubber compositions and polymers . obviously , the total resiliency must lie between practical limits established by the needs of a particular application . what is important is that the resiliency be chosen such that the rotatable structure under load will free - wheel , for example , under the influence of gravity down an inclined plane at about a constant rate , irrespective of the distance traveled . because the voids extend through the tire , the surface area of the material is greatly increased . heat generated due to the deformation of the material can be readily dissapated into the surrounding air . the resiliency of the tire constructed as in fig1 is largely unaffected by the generation of heat because it is rapidly dissapated . in contrast , the prior art most pertinent to this disclosure does not appear to recognize the problem associated with heat generation . it is well known that the elastic modulus of most materials , particularly elastomers , is affected by temperature changes . resiliency , of course , depends to a great extent upon elasticity of material since it is roughly a measurement of work needed to return an object to its original shape . consequently , if resiliency of a rotating object under load changes with temperature , then the speed at which the object rotates will vary also . continued operation without good heat dissapation will ultimately shorten the useful life of an elastomer tire . in this embodiment , resiliency of the tire is contributed by all three portions . rim portion 14 undergoes a complex state of stress when loaded and provides a hysterisis behavoir predominantly attributable to the composition of the material . flexure members 16 are bent under load and provide still another hysterisis effect due to bending . finally , the region of the hub portion 12 opposite to the loaded region of rim portion 14 undergoes tension and contributes still more to the hysterisis of wheel 10 . the behavior of wheel 10 is therefore made up of the total contribution of the three portions . thus , the resiliency of the structure is established not only by the appropriate choice of materials but by the geometry or arrangement of flexure members 16 . it has been found that the shape , size , and orientation of flexure members 16 can greatly affect the total resiliency of tire 10 . the &# 34 ; angle of inclination &# 34 ; of flexure members 16 , for example , can be varied to provide substantially different resiliencies to wheel 10 . the angle of inclination is defined as the angle α ( denoted by character 17 ) between the center line 22 of a flexure member 16 and the radial line 24 which passes through the intersection of center line 22 and the tire median line 26 . rotation of tire 10 in one direction provides a resiliency different from the other direction . looking at fig1 ( b ) and 1 ( c ) which show sequentially the right to left movement of load object ( causing a counterclockwise rotation ), it can be seen that this movement would initially provide a force which would cause a flexure member 16a to bend to the left . in the next instant , the load force acting on the member 16a has a resultant along member 16 a which is compressive . finally , member 16a buckles to the right as seen in fig1 ( c ). this effect causes the tire to exhibit a greater resilience when rotated under load in one direction than the other . the asymmetrical behavior provides a unique characteristic which is often desireable when handling loads of different magnitudes . where small loads are being handled along a gravity conveyor , it may be necessary to use wheels having very low resiliency values , i . e ., high hysterisis , to control the speed of descent . larger loads could later be handled by merely reversing the conveyor orientation so that the wheels also are positioned reversed . as mentioned before , durometer hardness is not a good predictor of behavior of elastomeric material under dynamic and time extensive operation conditions . it also fails completely to indicate the behavior of a tire which is not a continuous medium . because the tire illustrated in fig1 utilizes flexure members in the manner described , the resiliency and hysteresis characteristics can be varied substantially independently from the durometer of the material composition . this is further illustrated by the embodiments in fig2 through 8 . referring first to the embodiment illustrated in fig2 ( a )-( c ), it should be noted that flexure members 16 are aligned substantially along the radial lines . compression is involved to a great extent no matter which way the tire rotates under load . buckling then occurs an instant later . the tire 10 , however , as in the embodiment of fig1 ( a )-( c ), is molded of one piece and obviously could be made of the same material as the fig1 embodiment . yet the resilience would be different because of the structure of the tire beneath the rim portion . on the other hand , the embodiment of fig3 discloses a curved flexure member 16 having symmetry about the radial lines . compression is present but minimized ; the direction of rotation is inconsequential since the flexible members bend readily irrespective of rotation . the embodiment of fig4 depicts a tire in which the volume occupied by the voids 18 are considerably larger than the corresponding volume of members 16 . the resiliency is directly affected by the changed void size and becomes smaller as the void size is increased , assuming identical materials are employed . similarly , the reverse could be utilized where the voids are made small as in fig5 . obviously , the smaller the voids , the closer the tire becomes functionally to that of a continuous medium tire . the advantage of cooling , however , does remain until the voids become extremely small . fig6 , and 8 illustrate various types of composite tire structures all within the scope of the present invention , but are different from those depicted above in that two or more compositions are employed . fig6 for example , shows a tire 30 having a rim portion 32 and a hub portion 34 of different composition . rim 32 may be an elastomeric polymer having a ridged internal structure while hub portion 34 may be a metallic or elastomeric composition similarly ridged about its external diameter . the peaks 32a of rim portion 32 are adhered to the peaks 34a of hub portion 34 through appropriate adhesives or integrated mechanical lock configuration . the adhered peaks 32a , 34a thus constitute or represent integrated flexure members 35 . voids 36 are defined between the ridges and are continuous from one side to the other . as before , the voids 36 provide an avenue of escape for the generated heat . the advantages of such a structure are many . for example , it may be desireable for certain applications to select materials having resilience values which react differently as the temperature of each increases . by choosing one material having a resilience directly proportional to temperature increase and another whose resilience is inversely proportional to temperature increase , a wheel may be fabricated having a resiliency even more resistant to change resulting from generated heat . for example , a wheel having a rim and hub portions made from steel or aluminum with a flexure member and hub portion made from a material commercially available under the trademark viton or from neoprene will provide this unusual characteristic . fig7 depicts still another embodiment of a composite wheel which may be comprised of three separate materials . as in the fig6 embodiment , rim portion 32 and hub portion 34 are ribbed but in this instance , are separated by a curved member 37 . curved member 37 as illustrated follows the contour of alternate ribs and is adhered or secured at locations to the hub portion 34 or rim portion 32 . the arms 37a form flexure elements . as rim portion 32 bears a load , curved flexure member 37 deflects into the adjacent voids 38 . the precise composition of a composite tire as desired depends greatly upon the application . for example , the outer rim may be vulcanized rubber while the hub portion is a urethane polymer . the curved member 37 may be a stiffer polymer , stainless steel , fiber glass , or spring steel , treated to adhere both to rubber and the polymer if so required . alternatively , curved member 37 could be mechanically locked into the rim and hub portion . in the event that it is desired to prevent deflection beyond a predetermined load level , an embodiment such as disclosed in fig8 might be employed . as shown , non - resilient members such as spherical metallic elements 39 can be adhered to a metallic flexure . as arms 37a are flexed under load , elements 39 become progressively packed closer together and between the hub and rim portions . once contact between elements 39 is made , further flexing of arms 37a discontinues thus providing rigidity to the tire . while elements 39 are shown only in the embodiment of fig8 it is evident from a reading of the description that this feature can be provided in other embodiments as well . to determine the effectiveness of wheels constructed in accordance with the description above , a series of test were conducted to compare the performance of nonresilient tires such as skate wheels with tires of the present invention . to further illustrate the advantages of the present invention , a tire 40 such as that shown in fig9 and 10 was constructed and employed in a series of tests . fig9 depicts the tire 40 in perspective while companion fig1 shows the side of the same tire 40 . this design was selected primarily because of ease of tooling for the fabrication . as can be seen , deflecting members 42 are oriented at a predetermined angle of inclination to the radial lines much the same as shown in fig1 . the tire was formed from the urethane ( commercially available , for example , from du pont ) via a conventional die molding process . a four tire cart was constructed with two pairs of guide wheels mounted to the underside of the cart carriage to guide the cart along an inverted &# 34 ; t &# 34 ; guide path . the standard tires were commercially available skate wheels , as , for example , from rexnord inc . catalogue mathews hb3 , steel wheels # 115 . the guide path was approximately 40 feet long and inclined to an angle of about 2 °. various loads were placed upon the chart which was permitted to move freely from rest down the inverted &# 34 ; t &# 34 ; path for a controlled distance . timing was recorded using an electric stop watch actuated with limit switches set to trigger on the arrival of the front of the cart . the results can be seen in the graph depicted in fig1 . curve 44 depicts a plot of the average final speed of the carriage on steel wheels as a function of load . it should be noted that the slope of curve 44 is almost horizontal indicating little variation in final speed . curve 46 represents the final velocity of the carriage on tires constructed in accordance with the invention as a function of load . the final velocity of the carriage supported on such tires steadily decreased from five pounds to about twenty - two pounds load and remains relatively constant thereafter . it should be noted , however , that the final velocity at all times was considerably below that of the carriage with steel wheels . fig1 illustrates a graph of speed as a function of the distance traveled with load being held constant . it is important to note that curve 48 clearly showed an increase of speed for steel wheels . in contrast , curve 50 illustrates that the cart having wheels of the present invention had little increase in speed over a thirty foot track . fig1 illustrates a particular application of the present invention and the variety of possibilities attending appropriate employment of the wheels in different combinations . as shown , wheels of the type described previously are set forth in an array like that found in a gravity conveyor . a first group of wheels 52 having an angle of inclination of α &# 39 ; are supported for free rotation by a parallel support frame 54 . a second group of wheels 56 having an angle α &# 34 ; are similarly supported by frames 54 below wheels 54 . by providing different resilience and hysteresis values for each group , the speed of an object moving down the surface defined by the rims of the wheels is increased or decreased by appropriate selection of the values . changing the angle of inclination by physical reversing the wheels provides still a different speed control . for an array having two groups of wheels with different inclination angles , three distinct combinations can be used . still another group of wheels 58 are shown in fig1 as having alternate inclination angles , illustrating a means by which the speed of an object can be precisely controlled . additionally , the alternate rows could be appropriately connected to a means for selectively lowering rows of like angle of inclination out of contact with the object , again providing a means of controlling the speed . still another application is shown in the side view schematic of fig1 which illustrates a three tiered gravity conveyor 60 with sections 62 , 64 , 66 each having wheels defining surfaces inclined at different angles to the horizontal . by utilizing wheels for each tier having appropriately predetermined angles of inclination , a load may be moved over all sections of the conveyor at the same speed irrespective of the angle at which the sections are inclined to the horizontal . alternatively , it may be desired to move articles at a slower rate on one portion of a gravity conveyor than another even though the first portion may have a steeper incline . selection of wheels with appropriate angles of inclination provide a very convenient means of accomplishing this result . may other modifications , combinations and uses of the present invention will be evident after a reading of the disclosure . such modifications are intended to be within the spirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims . | 1 |
as stated previously , the servocontrol device is essentially embodied with the aid of a microprocessor . thus , in the block diagrams of fig1 a , 1b , 2 , 4 , 9 and 11 each of the devices situated in area 100 represents , symbolically , an elementary mathematical operation of the servocontrol algorithm . fig1 a describes the schematics of the speed servocontrol of a conventional device according to the prior art . a coder 1 captures the position of the motor shaft a of the motor m . generally , this coder is a nonabsolute coder which delivers two signals s1 and s2 in quadrature . absolute coders , which provide an absolute address , are not generally used since they are much too expensive . from the indication provided by the signals s1 and s2 , the forward / backward counter 2 generates , in binary code , the absolute address ad giving the position p of the controlled motor shaft . this indication is then sent to a device 3 intended for providing the speed law v = p ×(| p |) - 1 ×√| p | where p is the position of the motor shaft , represented by the absolute address ad . the quantity v is then compared by way of the subtractor 4 with the actual speed vr of the motor which is output by the differentiator 7 . the signal leaving the comparator 4 is sent to the device 5 consisting of a digital / analogue converter , followed by an amplifier whose output signal controls the speed of the motor shaft . fig1 b describes the schematics of the position servocontrol of a conventional device according to the prior art . as mentioned above , this servocontrol comes in when the distance between the actual position of the motor shaft and the final position which the latter is to attain passes through a predetermined value . as in the device described above , the position of the motor shaft a is captured by a coder 1 . this coder provides the signals s1 and s2 as before . similarly , the forward / backward counter 2 provides the absolute position of the motor shaft in binary code ad , the said position being compared with the position set - point c with the aid of the subtractor 4 . the position discrepancy e output by the subtractor 4 is sent to the stability filter 8 . it is known by those skilled in the art that a phase advance is required in order to stabilize the servocontrol loop . this filter provides therefor . the device 5 powers the motor . the assembly of real or symbolic components 1 , 2 , 4 , 8 , 5 and m forms a loop such that the action of the motor tends to reduce the discrepancy e . fig2 describes the block diagram of the device allowing the servocontrol of the position of the motor shaft with a single law , but accordingly to the prior art , that is to say by sampling the signal at one frequency . a non - absolute coder 1 captures the position of the motor shaft a and delivers two signals in quadrature s1 and s2 which are sent to a forward / backward counter 2 . the absolute address ad leaving the forward / backward counter 2 and giving the position of the motor shaft is sent to a subtractor 4 which outputs the position discrepancy e between a position set - point c and the absolute address ad . this position discrepancy e is sent to a sample and hold device 20 . the said sample and hold device comprises a switch 30 placed in series with an order zero holding circuit b 0 whose function is to maintain the value of a sampled signal until the arrival of the next sampled signal , which then replaces it . according to the prior art , the sampling is performed at one frequency denoted f . the signal u leaving the sample and hold device is next sent both to a device 9 which provides the single law f ( u ) and to a differentiator 7 which provides a signal equal to the derivative of u with respect to time , denoted ud . the summing unit 10 generates the term f ( u )+ k × ud , the multiplicative factor k being provided by the multiplier 11 . when the absolute value of u , denoted | u |, is less than a certain amount umx , we have : the value of k is determined such that the position servocontrol has the best response as known by those skilled in the art . the differential equation to be solved then reduced to u + k × ud = 0 . when the absolute value of u is greater than umx , it follows that : ## equ1 ## where umx is a positive real number chosen as a function of the characteristics of the motor which produces the action and of the inertia of the driven object , including that of the motor , so as to terminate the intervention with constant deceleration in complete safety , without multiple oscillations . umx may be chosen for example so as to terminate the intervention with a deceleration equal to two thirds of the maximum deceleration which the motor m can impart to the motor shaft a . thus is recovered , on the one hand , a non - linear law similar to that used for the speed in a conventional case , but here applied to the position discrepancy , when the position discrepancy is large (| u |& gt ; umx ) and , on the other hand , a law proportional to u when the position discrepancy is small (| u |& lt ; umx ). the device 5 is the same as that described earlier with reference to fig1 a and 1b . fig4 represents the block diagram of a servocontrol of the position discrepancy with a single law according to the preferred embodiment of the invention . as mentioned above , in area 100 , a mathematical operation is represented symbolically by a device . according to the invention , the symbolic device representing the stability filter 8 consists of 3 branches and a summing unit 10 . one branch 22 termed the &# 34 ; derivative action branch &# 34 ; comprises the differentiator 15 which symbolizes the differentiation operation . one branch 21 termed the &# 34 ; integral action branch &# 34 ; comprises the integrator 14 which symbolizes the integration operation . according to the invention , the filter 8 is sampled at several frequencies . with f being the frequency of sampling the derivative action branch 22 , then , according to the preferred embodiment , f1 = f / 8 is the frequency of sampling the branch 23 which contains the device symbolizing the single law and f2 = f / 64 is the frequency of sampling the integral action branch 21 . generally , for a frequency f of sampling the derivative action branch , the frequency of sampling the branch 23 is f1 = f / r , r being an integer greater than 1 . preferably , r is chosen so that the phase advance of the stability filter is substantially between 50 ° and 65 °. preferably , the frequency of sampling the branch 21 is f2 = f / r 2 but other values are possible the samplings of the branches 21 , 22 and 23 are represented by the switches 31 , 32 and 33 respectively . apart from the differentiator 15 , the derivative action branch 22 comprises an order zero holding circuit bo whose transfer function is : ## equ2 ## with t = 1 / f , ω being the pulsatance , in the fourier analysis sense , of the signal associated with the sampled address , i being the imaginary mathematical number such that i 2 =- 1 . this branch also contains a multiplier 16 whose multiplicative factor is , according to the preferred embodiment , equal to 8 . similarly , apart from the symbolic device 9 for the single law , the branch 23 contains an order zero holding circuit bo whose transfer function is , according to the preferred embodiment of the invention : ## equ3 ## in the branch 23 , the device 9 for the single law describes a law f ( u ) identical to the single law mentioned above . apart from the device 9 , the branch 23 also contains a filter 13 with transfer function t13 . the operation of the servocontrol loop according to the invention can be described as follows . the position discrepancy e is obtained by comparing the set - point c with the absolute address ad output by the forward / backward counter 2 . the switch 31 of the integral action branch 21 is controlled in tempo with the sampling frequency f2 only when the speed of the motor shaft is below a given value v1 . at speeds above the value v1 the old integral action is retained in memory and is updated on crossing back to speeds below the said given value . the signal for controlling the switch 31 arises from a logic function which is not represented in the figure and which compares the speed of the motor shaft with the value v1 . if the speed of the motor shaft is greater than v1 , the switch remains open , otherwise it is activated in tempo with the frequency f2 . the indication giving the speed of the motor shaft is read off at the output of the differentiator 15 by any means known to those skilled in the art . for large signals , such that | u |& gt ; umx , the device operates in the same way as was seen for the speed servocontrol according to the prior art with reference to fig2 . an advantage of the invention also lies in the fact that computation of the square root is performed at the frequency f1 = f / 8 : the microprocessor is called upon eight times less frequently for this computation and is therefore available for other tasks . since computation of the square root is a lengthy operation , another characteristic of the invention is the determination of the square root with the aid of a table of values of small size , this likewise leading to a reduction in computation time . indeed , any positive , real number x may be written x = r × 2 2q , where r is a real number greater than or equal to 1 and less than 4 . a table containing for example , 32 values of r is sufficient to allow interventions of high quality . multiplication by 2 q is , in binary , merely a shifting of the decimal point by q positions ; it is therefore a fast operation . for small signals , such that | u |& lt ; umx , the filter 8 is linear . the three branches 21 , 22 and 23 are taken into account . however , as a first approximation , it may be considered adequate to take branches 22 and 23 into account , branch 21 affording a small correction only , except at very low frequencies . the signal s recovered at the output of the adder 10 can then be written : ## equ5 ## according to the preferred embodiment of the invention , the frequency of sampling the branch 23 is the frequency f divided by 8 . similarly , the multiplier 16 situated in the branch 22 has a multiplicative factor equal to 8 . it is known by those skilled in the art that , in continuous mode , that is to say without sampling , this multiplicative factor is of the order of 10 . here also , the factor 10 would allow an embodiment of the invention . generally , the value of the multiplicative factor is therefore chosen equal to r , the value of the ratio of the sampling frequencies f and f1 . fig5 represents , for small signals , | u |& lt ; umx , the curves giving the phase advance ph and the transfer function tr of the stability filter according to the invention and according to the prior art , as a function of the frequency f of the signal entering the said filter . the solid curves ( ph1 , tr1 ) relate to the device according to the invention and the dashed curves ( ph2 , tr2 ) relate to the device according to the prior art described in fig2 . the sampling frequency f is identical in both cases . the value chosen is , for example , f = 10 khz in the case of a motor shaft with a cutoff frequency of the order of 500 to 1000 hz . any other compatible value of the signals studied leads to qualitatively identical results . it is observed that the curves of gain tr1 and tr2 are substantially identical . thus , the phase advance attains the value 61 degrees according to the invention , whilst it attains 57 degrees according to the prior art . a single microprocessor mp controls , in parallel , i motors mi ( i = 1 , 2 , . . . , i ), with respective motor shafts ai ( i = 1 , 2 . . . , i ). by virtue of the time saving obtained through sampling and through computation of the single law according to the invention , the same microprocessor allows the servocontrol of the position of several motor shafts . the indication regarding the position of the motor shaft ai is provided by the non - absolute coder ci ( i = 1 , 2 , . . . , i ) which provides the two signal in quadrature si1 and si2 ( i = 1 , 2 , . . . , i ). the said two signals are then sent to a forward / backward counter cdi ( i = 1 , 2 , . . . , i ) whose function is to provide , in binary code , the absolute address giving the position of the motor shaft . in the devices described in fig4 and 6 the forward / backward counters may be chosen from those known to those skilled in the art . each forward / backward counter then consists of a first subassembly of circuits enabling the position of the motor shaft to be obtained in binary code and of a second sub - assembly of circuit , for output register , controlled in synchronism with the signals s1 and s2 . the absolute address bits leaving the forward / backward counter are then sent to the microprocessor mp . the forward / backward counter device may also be a device according to the invention of the patent application entitled &# 34 ; forward / backward counting device &# 34 ;, filed in france in the name of the art tech gigadisc company on 10 mar . 1992 . fig7 represents the block diagram of a forward / backward counter according to the invention mentioned above . it was stated earlier that the forward / backward counters according to the prior art must comprise an output register controlled in synchronism with the signals leaving the position coder . the invention does not have this disadvantage since the binary code used changes by one bit only from one combination to the next . indeed , according to the invention , the absolute position of the motor shaft is coded according to the reflected binary code or according to any other equivalent code . this therefore makes it possible not only to do away with the output register , but also to take into account at each moment the output signal from the forward / backward counter without having to wait for a time window . as a reminder , the table below recalls the progression of the reflected binary code or gray code when the latter is defined , for example , on three bits b2 , b1 , b0 : ______________________________________b2 b1 b0______________________________________0 0 00 0 10 1 10 1 01 1 01 1 11 0 11 0 0______________________________________ it is seen that this code follows a progression such that there is a change of one bit only from one combination to the next . the forward / backward counter of fig7 provides , according to a preferred embodiment of the invention mentioned above , a partial address with 3 bits : g2 , g1 , g0 , since , as will be seen later , it is not necessary to transmit the whole absolute address but only its lowest order bits . the two signals s1 and s2 leaving the position coder are here denoted k0 for s1 and g0 for s2 . a device d receives the two signals k0 and g0 and delivers the signals k1 and g1 . similarly , a second device d receives the two signals k1 and g1 and delivers the signals k2 and g2 ( k2 is not used ). the circuits contained in the devices d are logic circuits combined in such a way that the various signals gi and ki ( i = 0 , 1 , 2 ) are related as follows : in the above expressions g i represents the logical complement of g i . the various operations represented symbolically by the signs &# 34 ;·&# 34 ;, &# 34 ;+&# 34 ;, and &# 34 ;⊕&# 34 ; are the functions known to those skilled in the art by the respective names &# 34 ; and &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; exclusive or &# 34 ;. according to the embodiment described , the two devices d enable a partial address with 3 bits to be generated . generally b - 1 devices d enable a partial address with b bits to be generated . according to the invention mentioned above , it is not necessary for the forward / backward counter to generate an absolute address in order to create the indication giving the position of the motor shaft . a partial address is sufficient on condition that the absolute address is reconstructed . fig8 a represents the computational principle of an algorithm enabling the absolute address to be reconstructed by linear extrapolation . this algorithm is the simplest one demonstrating the feasibility of restoring the absolute address from its lowest order bits . the principle thereof is based on the fact that if the remainder from the division modulo q of a quantity x is known at every moment , and if the first two absolute addresses x1 and x2 are known , the succeeding absolute addresses can be deduced therefrom . q represents the quantization of the partial address : for 3 bits q = 2 3 = 8 . in the curve of fig8 a , the address xj ( j = 1 , 2 , 3 ) is the absolute address which must be provided at time tj . the error e corresponding to the discrepancy between the address x3 to be provided and the address x &# 39 ; 3 obtained by linear extrapolation is : with x3 = x3 mod q , x3 representing the measure of the lowest order bits . γmax being the maximum acceleration of the quantity x , the maximum error e max which may be obtained is : in this case , the address x3 provided can therefore be written : the computations described above are carried out with the aid of a microprocessor . according to the chosen preferred embodiment , these computations are performed by the microprocessor computing the position error of the motor shaft to be controlled . in addition to the function for extrapolating and reconstructing the absolute address , the algorithm according to the invention enables the likelihood of the data to be monitored . the error e is then compared with a likelihood value ev . the value ev is chosen so as to be small compared with e max . if the error e is less than or equal to ev , the algorithm continues without diversion . otherwise , the value of the error e is set to zero , thus allowing elimination of the outlying samples . fig8 b represents , symbolically , another algorithm allowing reconstruction of the absolute address . this algorithm is represented symbolically by the device 200 . inside this symbolic device , each mathematical operation is represented by an elementary symbolic device . each of these elementary operations is known to those skilled in the art . they are merely recalled in order to undertake a complete description of the algorithm . the partial address ap , consisting of the lowest order bits of the absolute address , is sent to the symbolic device 200 and the absolute address ad is recovered at the output of the said device . the various elementary symbolic devices ( 201 , 202 , 203 , 204 , 205 , 206 , 207 ) are combined in such a way that the addresses ap and ad are related as follows : ## equ6 ## and , as is known by those skilled in the art , z = e i ωt ω being the pulsatance in the fourier analysis sense , of the signal associated with the partial address ap and t = 1 / f , f being the frequency for sampling the signal associated with the partial address ap , the said sampling being symbolized by the switch 201 and retention of the value of the sample being ensured until the arrival of the succeeding sample by the device 202 . this algorithm allows modelling and identification of the speed by exponential averaging . it should be noted that it lessens the effect of the error - affected samples with the aid of the filtering which it performs on the said samples . the multiplier 204 , with multiplicative factor a , determines the low - pass filter for the absolute address ad , whilst the multiplier 205 , with multiplicative factor b , gives the time constant of the low - pass filter for the speed . the devices 206 symbolize the operation ## equ7 ## that is to say the adding of the value of each new sample , present at the input of the device , to the value which its output had at the instant of arrival of this sample . finally , the device 203 symbolizes the differencing carried out between the signals originating from the second device 206 and from the device 202 respectively , whilst the device 207 symbolizes the summation carried out on the two signals originating from the device 202 and from the first device 206 respectively . according to the preferred embodiment of the invention mentioned above , a complete absolute address with n bits is reconstructed from a partial address with 3 bits leaving the forward / backward counter . the indication given by a partial address with 2 bits is insufficient since the ambiguity in the position of the motor shaft might not be resolved for certain particular values of the speed . for greater safety , in particular when substantial noise is present in the motor shaft position signal , there may be a need to increase the redundancy of the partial address by increasing its number of bits , for example by raising to 4 bits or more . however , 3 bits are generally sufficient , in the absence of substantial noise , to reconstruct any complete absolute address with a minimum of redundancy . whatever the algorithm for reconstructing the absolute address , initialization of the absolute addresses is done with the aid of an external sensor . it is done , as is known to those skilled in the art , with the aid of a known position stop , the said position being read off at zero speed . fig9 represents the block diagram of a position servocontrol using a forward / backward counter device according to the preferred embodiment of the invention mentioned above . the coder 1 captures the position of the motor shaft a and delivers the two signals s1 and s2 in quadrature . the indication leaving the forward / backward counter 23 is coded with the gray code with the aid , for example , of 3 bits . under these conditions , the wiring element k consists of 3 wires linked to the microprocessor 100 . it was stated earlier that 3 bits enable an absolute address with n bits to be reconstructed . according to the preferred embodiment of the invention n = 24 . it is therefore an advantage of the invention mentioned above that it is possible to transmit in one single operation and at any time the indication allowing reconstruction of the absolute address with the aid , for example , of 3 wires instead of 24 . the wiring element k sends the partial address coded with the gray code apg , consisting preferably of the three bits g0 , g1 , g2 , to the device 24 , which converts the said partial address into a partial address expressed in binary ap . the device 24 is known to those skilled in the art and is therefore not described . the reconstruction algorithm 200 then makes it possible to generate the absolute position address which , when compared with the set - point c , gives the position discrepancy e . the devices , 8 according to the invention , and 5 are the same as those described in connection with the preceding figs . in the algorithms described earlier for absolute address extrapolation and reconstruction , the speed is computed either over the two known samples immediately preceding the new sample whose address it is wished to extrapolate as described with reference to fig8 a , or from all the preceding samples with an exponential type averaging as used in extrapolating the address described with reference to fig8 b . the speed can also be computed from the sample immediately preceding the new sample , whose address it is wished to extrapolate , and from a much older sample so as to make the inaccuracy in the speed less sensitive to the inaccuracy in the address of the two samples serving to determine it . any other method combining the addresses of older samples with the address of the latest known sample in order to obtain a value of the speed can be used in the device according to the invention . it should also be noted that the accuracy with which the said speed is known is more important than the equality of the said speed and the actual speed of the object at the time when it is computed , it always being possible for the systematic error introduced into the said speed to be evaluated , bounded above and taken into account within the limits of operation of the algorithm . taking up again the equations written in the case of the simplest linear extrapolation described with reference to fig8 a , it follows , on introducing the speed v , that : the absolute uncertainty in the error e , which is denoted δe , is : the values of x being quantized , the errors in x3 and x2 are therefore equal to a quantization increment which is taken as unity , i . e . : in order to restore the address x3 without ambiguity , we must have : since the sampling period is very accurate : it is provided by the clock for time referencing the whole device , which can be a quartz clock . with the maximum values of δx 2 and δx 3 , it follows that : with a speed computed in such a way as to limit its inaccuracy arising from the inaccuracy in the preceding absolute addresses , and with an acceleration which remains small or with a sampling at high frequency , hence with t small , the term 2 ( γmax × t 2 + t × δv ) can be kept much less than 1 , so that in order to be able to extrapolate the address x3 without ambiguity it is sufficient to take q ≧ 5 . instead of using a binary counter it is then possible to use a cyclic so - called ring counter . the smallest usable value being q = 5 , a five - state cyclic counter can be used . fig1 a represents the chart of the internal states as well as the operating table of a five - state forward / backward counter . the occurrence of an edge of one of the two signals s1 or s2 coming from the coder causes , depending on the state of the other signal , movement of the internal state of the said coder / decoder in the positive direction or in the negative direction as is apparent in the said operating table . fig1 b represents , for two signals s1 and s2 coming from the coder ( 1 ) entering the forward / backward counter 25 , the corresponding internal state ei of the said forward / backward counter and the output signals in the case where a wiring element k with five conductors c0 , c1 , c2 , c3 and c4 is used to transmit the five elementary positions of the partial address to the microprocessor . this choice is appropriate when both speed and accuracy are desired in the positioning of an object : for example a fast - moving motor shaft fitted with a coder whose graduation shows a large number of marks per revolution . the duration of transmission of the partial address to the microprocessor managing the position of the motor shaft is then minimized . the five signals s0 , s1 , s2 , s3 and s4 carried by the conductors c0 , c1 , c2 , c3 and c4 respectively each represent the state of the counter 25 bearing the same reference ( 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). in order to have the option , as in the case of the gray code , of being able to sample the address coming from the forward / backward counter at any time , the signals si ( i = 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ) are prolonged slightly beyond the time of change of state of the forward / backward counter so as to never have a 0 level on the five conductors simultaneously ; it may be judicious , when two signals si are present simultaneously at the 1 level , to choose the one which corresponds to the first state encountered in the positive direction of the changes of state of the forward / backward counter . thus 0 takes precedence over 1 , 1 over 2 , 2 over 3 , 3 over 4 and 4 over 0 . under these conditions , as in the case of the gray code , the error is at most one quantization increment of the coder . fig1 represents the block diagram of a position servocontrol using a forward / backward counter device according to a second embodiment of the invention mentioned above . this device differs from the previous one only by the forward / backward counter . a cyclic forward / backward counter 25 of the same type as that described earlier ( cf . fig1 a and 10b ) is used . a device 26 enables the partial address apc generated by the forward / backward counter to be converted into a partial address ap expressed in binary code . this device is known to those skilled in the art and it is unproductive to describe it in the present patent application . the remainder of the description is identical to what was described in fig9 . instead of performing a conversion of the partial address apc into a binary partial address ap , it is possible for those skilled in the art to devise a computation by the microprocessor for converting the address apc into a binary absolute address ad directly . this then makes it possible to take maximum advantage of the simultaneity of the accuracy and of the speed of servocontrol of the motor shaft . | 6 |
fig1 shows a unit according to one preferred embodiment of the invention for driving the transducers , typically piezoelectric elements , of a plurality of ink jet channels each having a nozzle ending in a respective outlet orifice . to implement the invention , the channels are divided into a first set composed of odd numbered channels and a second set composed of even numbered channels arranged so that the outlet orifices of the odd numbered channels alternate with those of the even numbered channels . all of the transducers are driven by drive circuits 10 - 13 , each of which is composed of a shift register stage and switches for supplying an excitation voltage to selected transducers . drive circuits 10 - 13 themselves can be constructed according to principles well known in the art . however , according to the invention , each circuit 10 - 13 is assigned to a respective group of odd numbered or even numbered channels . in the illustrated embodiment , drive circuits 10 and 13 are each assigned to a respective group of odd numbered channels and drive circuits 11 and 12 are each assigned to a respective group of even - numbered channels . circuits 10 - 13 are controlled in a time pattern such that , for printing at each printing location , the odd - numbered channels are excited , or driven , via circuits 10 and 13 at a different moment from excitation of even - numbered channels via circuits 11 and 12 . the distribution of data between the odd - numbered and even - numbered channels is controlled by odd clock and even clock read control signals supplied , respectively , to circuits 10 and 13 and circuits 11 and 12 . as shown , the shift registers of each pairs of circuits are connected in series . after a complete set of data bits , for controlling all ink channels , have been transferred to circuits 10 - 13 , a load signal , ld , is issued to transfer these bits to switches for controlling the application of drive voltage to those transducers which are to fired . subsequently , the odd - numbered channels and the even - numbered channels are fired in sequence in an order which depends upon the direction of movement of the print head , i . e . left - to - right or right - to - left . the odd clock and even clock read control signals are generated by supplying a basic serial clock signal , which also controls the rate of delivery of data signals on line 14 , to the clock input of a d flip - flop 15 whose inverted output is connected to its d input so that each serial clock signal supplied to flip - flop 15 reverses the signal state at each output q and q . thus , each of these clock signals has a rate equal to one - half that of the conventional serial clock signal and the odd clock signal pulses occur in phase opposition to the even clock signal pulses . the signals to fire the odd numbered and even numbered channels are produced on the basis of conventional encoder signals a and b produced in response to movement of the print head . encoder signals a and b are square wave signals which are shifted in phase from one another by 90 °, with the direction of the phase difference being dependent on the direction of movement of the print head . these encoder signals can be a source of a clock signal composed of a series of pulses , with each pulse corresponding to a respective printing position of the print head . signals a and b are applied to a microprocessor 17 programmed to produce a direction signal , a one - bit signal representing the current direction of movement of the print head , an enable signal , also a one - bit signal indicating that the odd numbered and even numbered channels should be fired in alternation , and a firing clock signal which for the practice of the present invention has a pulse rate twice that of the above - mentioned clock signal derived from encoder signals a and b . the signals produced by microprocessor 17 are supplied to a decoder 19 which produces the odd and even channel firing signals . decoder 19 can be constructed on the basis of principles well known in the art . the time difference between firing of the odd numbered channels and the even numbered channels is selected to allow the disturbances associated with one set of channels to die down prior to excitation of the other set of channels . preferably the time difference is equal to one - half the period of travel of the print head between successive printing locations . in other words , excitation will alternate at uniform intervals between the odd - numbered channels and the even - numbered channels and the sum of the firing rates for both sets of channels is twice that in a conventional printer . the relation among the signals employed to control the above described operation is depicted fig2 a - 2h . fig2 a illustrates the conventional serial clock , and fig2 b and 2c show the odd and even read clocks derived from the clock of fig2 a . the load pulse ld applied to flip - flop 15 and to circuits 10 - 13 is shown in fig2 d . fig2 e and 2f show one sequence of odd and even firing pulses when the print head is moving in one direction , while fig2 g and 2h show the sequence when the print head is moving in the opposite direction . if , despite the time difference introduced between the two channel groups , it is desired that the ink dots supplied by all channels be located on vertical rows perpendicular to the row printing direction , the channels are arranged so that the orifices of one set are displaced by an appropriate amount in the row printing direction . thus , as shown in fig3 a nozzle , or orifice , plate 30 for use in a print head according to the present invention is provided with orifices 32 associated with the odd numbered channels and orifices 34 associated with the even numbered channels . orifices 32 lie on a first straight line and orifices 34 lie on a second straight line which is laterally offset from the first straight line by a distance such that each orifice 34 is shifted from its normal position by a distance , d , in the row printing direction 36 . in the direction perpendicular to row printing direction 36 , all orifices 32 , 34 are equispaced . if the time difference between excitation of the two groups is , as described above , equal to one - half the period of travel of the print head between successive printing locations , then d equals one - half the distance travelled by head 2 between printing locations . thus , if the latter distance is equal to the diameter of each ink dot , d equals one - half of the dot diameter . according to a further feature of the invention , which can be used in conjunction with the time shifted excitation technique described above , the magnitude of the excitation voltage for the channel transducers is varied as a function of the number of transducers to be actuated , or fired , in order to prevent or minimize variations in channel performance , and specifically variations in ink jet velocity and ink dot size . the ink jet channels presently utilized in print heads employ piezoelectric transducers which are contracted by an excitation voltage and then , upon removal of the excitation voltage , produce an impulse which ejects an ink droplet . the extent of contraction , which is dependent on the magnitude of the excitation voltage , determines both the ejection velocity and resulting ink dot size . such excitation voltage is obtained by connecting each transducer to a drive voltage source . the magnitude of the excitation voltage at each transducer is dependent , in the first instance , on the magnitude of the drive voltage . however , for a given drive voltage value , the excitation voltage across any one transducer decreases as the number of transducers being excited increases . applicants have determined that this excitation voltage variation can be compensated by a corresponding increase in the drive voltage . fig4 illustrates one suitable embodiment for achieving such compensation according to the present invention . the transducer drive voltage is provided by an adjustable voltage source 40 connected to the high voltage inputs 42 of four drive circuits 10 - 13 . the drive voltage path in each drive circuit is completed by a return path connected to ground via a common sense resistor 44 . for a given drive voltage , the total current through the drive voltage paths and through resistor 44 increases in proportion to the number of transducers being excited . the voltage appearing across resistor 44 is supplied to the signal input of an integrator 46 connected , in turn , to one input of a summing circuit 50 . summing circuit 50 has a second input connected to receive a settable control voltage component from a nominal control voltage source 52 . the sum of the output voltages from integrator 46 and from source 52 are supplied to the control input of source 40 to control the magnitude of the drive voltage produced by source 40 . during each printing cycle , integrator 46 is turned on during application of the drive voltage to those transducers which are to produce an ink jet . preferably , integrator 46 is turned on simultaneously with the start of drive voltage application to the transducers and is turned off when the drive voltage is terminated . thus , the output voltage from integrator 46 will be proportional to the number of transducers being excited during the printing cycle . this output voltage then acts to increase the drive voltage from source 40 by the desired amount . before the next printing cycle , integrator 46 is reset to a zero output level to prevent any residual influence on the compensation produced during the next print cycle . preferably , resetting is effected by the signal which turns off source 40 . to cite one specific example of the implementation of the invention , in a print head containing 96 channels with 24 channels being controlled by each of circuits 10 -- and 48 channels being capable of being fired simultaneously , the change in the drive voltage needed to achieve the desired compensation varies essentially linearly with the number of channels to actually be fired up to a maximum of about 20 % of the nominal value . the nominal value corresponds to the desired value when one channel is to be fired and the maximum value is the desired value when all 48 channels are to be fired simultaneously . the gain of integrator 46 is selected to establish the desired relation between the current through resistor 44 and the desired drive voltage value . when the unit shown in fig4 is combined with the unit shown in fig1 the channels controlled by circuits 10 and 13 are excited in time alternation with the channels controlled by circuits 11 and 12 , source 40 is turned on by the leading edge of each firing pulse ( fig2 e - 2h ), and source 40 is turned off and integrator 46 reset by the trailing edge of each firing pulse . in this case , integrator 46 is reset after excitation is terminated for each pair of circuits . otherwise , the unit of fig4 will operate in the manner described above . control of the drive voltage can be achieved in other ways within the spirit of the invention . for example , in place of current sensing , the voltage across each transducer can be monitored and the number of transducers being excited can be used as a basis for adjusting the drive voltage . according to another alternative , the serial data supplied to the drive circuits , or each pair of drive circuits when the unit of fig1 is employed , is monitored and the number of bits associated with the simultaneous firing of the odd numbered and even numbered channels is counted . the resulting count value is then used to adjust the drive voltage . while the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention , it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof . the accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present invention . the presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive , the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims , rather than 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 . | 1 |
as per above , the present inventions includes constructional techniques as well as finished goods produced thereby . the techniques can be regarded as new “ tools ” that can be applied broadly across the composites fields , especially within the self - reinforced composite field . as such , various exemplary embodiments are described below . reference is made to these examples in a non - limiting sense . they are provided to illustrate more broadly applicable aspects of the present inventions . various changes may be made to the inventions described and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the true spirit and scope of the inventions . in addition , many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation , material , composition of matter , process , process act ( s ) or step ( s ) to the objective ( s ), spirit or scope of the present inventions . all such modifications are intended to be within the scope of the claims made herein . fig1 a - 1d are a series of perspective views illustrating stages of composite tow production and process states . fig1 a shows a bundle of reinforcement fibers 2 ( e . g ., htpet , carbon , kevlar , gals , natural fiber , etc .) alone . these high tensile strength fibers are primarily responsible for the stiffness load bearing , and limit elongation of the composite material . in fig1 b these are shown unprocessed , but comingled with matrix material fibers 4 comprising thermoplastic material selected to melt when heated in combined fiber or tow 6 . these are blended together with the high tensile fibers to ensure multiple matrix fibers are adjacent every high tensile fiber . upon partial heating as shown in fig1 c , the matrix material begins to met , flow and adhere to the high - tenacity fibers . precise control of heat and pressure enables the matrix polymer fibers 4 to melt and begin to form bonds on bridges 8 to adjacent fibers in all directions . the percentage or remaining void space is responsible for unique attribute that are captured when they appear consistent over a cross section of the resulting composite fabric woven , braided , knit , etc . from the tows . the affected area can be from the outside inward , from one side toward the other or evenly through the composite material . this state is enabled by virtue of the blending of matrix fibers through the tow . as controlled pressure is applied through the heating process , the previously cylindrical shape of the matrix fiber / tow can be distorted into a flatter elliptical column which in itself provides unique material performance . in fig1 d , the matrix fibers have completely melted into a matrix mass 4 ′ and encapsulate the high tensile reinforcement fibers 2 with little or no void space . such material is said to be fully consolidated . whereas the state in fig1 c represents semi - or partially - consolidated material . control of the degree , location , direction / orientation of the melt or consolidation of the matrix fibers allows for tailoring properties including , but not limited to flex , permeability , hardness , stiffness , toughness and impact resistance . such control is possible over small areas and / or large areas of the same part while using the same fibers . fig2 is a partial section view of a multi - phase or “ hybrid ” composite tow as may be incorporated in fabric , braid , etc . five phase sections are described . phase i comprises dry fiber comingled together . these can be woven / braided , etc . into fabric using conventional methods . no heat / temperature above the melting point ( or pressure ) is applied to this phase . thus , the material remains soft and pliable . phase ii comprises matrix fibers brought to a low melt stage through the cross section . the phase is characterized by controlled melt with about 80 % to about 98 % void space left throughout the cross section . thus , the material becomes semi - permeable , begins to achieve some shape memory and is highly bendable , but still may be sewn , tied and otherwise processed like unaltered fabric . phase iii comprises matrix fibers that have been distorted to begin partial encapsulation of high tenacity fibers throughout cross section . when the process has reached this state a wide variety of desirable attributes have been captured as suitable for a living hinge that will simply rotate / pivot vs . displace vertically “ droop ”. thus , the material achieves a semi rigid definitive shape memory , and adhesive properties now available for bonding to adjacent parts . the matrix has stabilized enough to effectively maintain desirable fiber alignment thereby offering good potential for die cutting or shaping . this phase is characterized by controlled melt with about 50 % to about 80 % void space left throughout cross section . phase iv comprises matrix fibers that have now become an intentional web of bridges with a controlled void space content which is bordering a semi solid composite . thus the material in this phase allows molding in features with excess matrix providing bond , or shaping by tooling . cosmetically , the fiber appearance is transforming to a plastic or resin look . this phase is characterized by controlled melt with about 15 % to about 40 % void space left throughout cross section . phase v comprises matrix fibers that have liquefied and behave similar to most conventional thermoplastic composites used in the industry . thus , the material properties of the composite are similar for what would be expected from the blend of thermoplastic matrix with specific reinforcement fiber properties once consolidated by conventional techniques . this phase is characterized by controlled melt with about 0 % to about 15 % void space . the manner of producing the phases of material for the finished hybrid goods implemented in the examples derive from a number of methods and can be characterized variously . in one approach illustrated in fig3 a , hot - press rollers 30 ( applying heat and pressure there between ) are provided in which certain sections ( in at least one of the rollers nips ) are relieved with grooves or channels 32 to avoid contact with the underlying coming led thermoplastic composite material 10 and enable partial processing of the material in sections 12 . without heat and pressure applied thereto , the sections may remain as unaltered thermoplastic composite fabric or partially consolidated fabric ( i . e ., typically as between phase i and phase iii as discussed above ), whereas remainder portions 14 may be nearly of fully consolidated ( i . e ., typically as between phase phase iv and phase v as discussed above ). channels or shapes defined in the roller nip or alternatively press plates / platens if used instead may receive active or passive cooling ( e . g ., water lines may pass therethough ). another approach may utilize spring loaded sections that exert less force than adjacent sections in a heated roller or press configuration . as illustrated in fig3 b , yet another approach employs a masking element 34 ( e . g . ptfe sheet , peel ply , etc .) to shield heat transfer to selected sections of material 10 and deliver full transfer to a shaped section where higher consolidation ( e . g ., phase iii to phase iv ) is desired . still further , selected use of vacuum may be employed to remove air in sections adjacent controlled melt phase material . control of the material selection within a layup offer another option . namely , one may employ the use of higher melt films or fibers of same polymers to create areas that do not consolidate and leave unbonded material . such an approach can be employed to create pockets that may later be expanded ( e . g ., by introducing air pressure ) in reforming a perform , that may be used to yield an unbonded core such as in the solar panel configuration above , or be employed otherwise . turning now to fig4 , alternative fabrication processes are described . at 40 , thermoplastic composite material is obtained and prepared . in the “ a ” flow path the material is processed at 42 per fig3 a or 3 b above ( or otherwise ) to provide some sections that are at least partially consolidated . some may be fully consolidated . with the material so - prepared , then the final article of manufacture can be formed at 44 . the forming contemplate stitching together pieces of material , possibly further heating and selective material consolidation . in the latter event , a final process block 46 before yielding a final product at 48 may include a cooling step . in any case , the desired finishing may include trimming or adding ancillary components such as soles to a shoe , laces , etc . in an alternative process path “ β ”, the article is first put together in fabric form at 44 ′ and elements or portions at least partially consolidated at 42 ′. one aspect of the inventions contemplates a 3 - phase finished good . as illustrated in fig5 , one example is a shoe 50 . in the shoe , the footbed 52 is provided by a fully bonded / consolidated section . support structure sections 54 are semi - bonded , and fully flexible sections 56 are un - bonded where a high amount of movement , flex , and breath ability are desired . fully bonded / welded / laminated lace grommets / eyelets 58 may also be included . regarding performance design , stored energy components may be incorporated into the actual material by controlling the void - space over a specific length of a feature and developing that same feature to utilize a geometric advantage . the material can transform from 0 % void space to a high percentage of void - space ( becoming flexible ) and providing an elongation component similar to a spring . in the support sections , the same material is used but having been brought to a controlled melt phase whereas 15 % to 75 % void space resulting in stiff or progressive reinforcing sections for support structure , and strategic stiffening . breathable sections ( e . g ., midfoot at 58 and in the toe ) are offered by the controlled melt phase between 80 % to 98 % void space or fully fabric thermoplastic commingled material . another aspect contemplates a 2 - phase finished good including fully bonded and semi - bonded material . as illustrated in fig6 , a successful living hinge 60 ( one that maintains vertical stability without “ drooping ”) comprises the semi - bonded / controlled melt phase material portion 62 as noted above , while door and / or adjacent connector 64 are fully - bonded ( and optimally bonded or mechanically attached to a door 66 and door frame 68 ). optionally , the connector tab section on the door or support panel / frame may have thickness milled away . this provides an advantage as the nature of long fiber reinforcement composites is to dissipate local stresses over great areas as transversed by high numbers of fibers . previous hinges and hinge attachment techniques are notorious for point loading of high stress forces . the fiber may be oriented , for example , at 0 / 90 ° or +/− 22 ° with tenacity fibers added to provide a long acting living hinge where the fibers enable enhanced fatigue resistance while simultaneously preventing droop effect which would likely occur if fibers were not included . a living hinge structure can also be successfully implemented in containers ( such as suitcases and / or cargo containers ). an exemplary container 60 that may be formed from a single piece of thermoplastic composite material with a living hinge section 62 ( full fabric or semi / partially consolidated ) is illustrated in fig1 . further , a durable outer frame 64 is developed with low ( e . g ., 0 to 40 %) void - space acting as a support frame . in addition faces 66 may be thermo - formed to aesthetic patterns ( a diamond pattern is illustrated ) or for mechanical purposes like traction or scratch resistance . a container may be sized for small object and further include a living - hinge latching mechanism ( obscured from view ) or larger as a chest or other item of furniture . yet another application is in durable temporary structures including shelters 80 as illustrated in fig8 and hard - bottomed boats / tenders / canoes or a kayak 90 as illustrated in fig9 . for shelter 80 , supporting structures for ( optionally ) monopolymer textile based shelters can be obtained by achieving higher density melt phases to provide a wide variety of stiffness and shape control . such support segments 82 may be developed by heating / compressing certain parts of the same fabric used for the rest of the shelter . more flexible , foldable , or pre - pleated sections 84 are obtained with controlled melt phase with 15 - 75 % void - space maintained . integrated stiff sections , tabs 86 for attachment to surfaces , may also contain soft sections or holes for spikes or hardware . for water craft 90 , stiff and durable surfaces are developed with low % void space for the rigid structural supporting sections 92 of boats , kayaks , canoes , tenders , etc . softer portions 94 are left flexible to provide for seating , storage compartments , tie downs and foot support . ribbed sections 96 are formed for flexing and spring loaded active portions of the craft . another aspect contemplates a 2 - phase finished good including unbonded ( i . e ., fabric ) and fully or semi - bonded material . as illustrated in fig1 , an exemplary ( optionally , mono - polymer ) filter or evaporative cooling structure 100 employs a fabric center section 102 with heat / pressure molding to maintain high void % or combined with mechanical perforating . the same material is also further compressed to provide an integral support system with ribs 104 to maintain filter shape with a stabilized edge frame 106 preferably from fully bonded / consolidated material for support and / or for attachment points 108 for auxiliary equipment interface . blast or ballistic “ curtain ” or panels offer another example . as shown in fig1 , curtain 110 includes unbonded or semi - bonded attachment strip 102 for hammering nails therethrough or a more fully consolidated bar with pre - defined through holes 104 for hanging . in addition , fully bonded and hardened panel sections 106 are included . these are made in one piece ( laminated from multiple layers ) with hinges 108 for folding / rolling the structure for efficient storage and rapid deployment . another class of such goods includes cables and laces . uniquely strong and easily managed thermoplastic reinforced structures can be produced ( utilizing the high - tenacity fibers for strength along the length of the elongate member ) in which integrated terminal features are formed . for a shoe lace 120 , as shown in fig1 , the terminal ends may be simple cylindrical features 122 . an elongate body 124 is formed by material is left as a high strength woven fabric . for a cable 130 ( be it configured round , braided , twisted , flat , or otherwise irrespective of how illustrated in fig1 ) high - strength eyelets or bosses 132 can be produced with more / fully bonded end sections . transitional stiffness zones 134 can be developed through controlled heat / pressure molding to develop and increase of void spaces over a specific distance to eliminate stress spots or gradually gain flexibility along the elongate body 136 maintained as component fiber weave . the main body of the cable maintains the same long fibers that as are encapsulated in the hardened ends for through - hole 138 or other attachment feature ( s ). as illustrated in fig1 , protective gear or padding 140 ( e . g ., soccer shin guards , football pads , hockey or lacrosse pads — for shoulder , elbow , etc .) can incorporate either two , three or all of the characterized phases of material . the most flexible sections will be unbonded . soft sections 142 are integrated for comfort and to provide secure fit . soft sections 142 ′ may also be integrated to accept straps 146 or supports or provide tabs of material more suitable for sewing or stitching . the most impact - resistant sections 148 are fully bonded and hardened . the high tenacity fibers therein may be layered in specific directions to provide vertical stiffness while allowing for horizontal flexibility to provide maximum comfort and protection . mid - range property material 146 ( i . e ., semi - bonded or controlled melt phase material ) can provide transition between the two the high tenacity fibers therein may be layered in specific directions to provide vertical stiffness while allowing for horizontal flexibility to provide maximum comfort and protection . certainly , the mid - range material may be omitted . also , when no flex points are desired ( but impact transition zones are ) the padding / guard may only include fully - bonded and semi or partially bonded material . moreover , such structures may ( and will typically ) include additional padding or batting material ( e . g ., foam rubber ) material . in which case , the thermoplastic composite material may serve as a mounting substrate as well as flexible or tuned - flexibility webbing for connecting various features . it should also be understood that the structures may be produced in one piece . however they may be constructed as assemblies . the presence of unbonded fabric for stitching or otherwise connecting the pieces ( e . g ., by stitching ) may be advantageously used in this regard . industrial implementations are also contemplated . one example is a solar panel 150 as illustrated in fig1 . it includes fully bonded / hardened “ skin ” or facing portions 152 ( possibly also internal ribs 154 ) and an unbonded / fabric internal matrix 156 . an internal structure is produced by the intentional inclusion of void - space created as the self - reinforced fabric is processed . this specialized core allows for the liquid to flow through the panel while efficiently extracting heat transferred through the fibers . simply put , water can pass or percolate through the unbonded material . such a structure offers potential for high - pressure ( and thus higher temperature ) operation for dramatic efficiency gains . production processing is also simplified . outside layers of the panel are formed from stiff plies of completely consolidated material forming an airtight durable skin which can handle the effects of exposure to the elements . frame and mounting sections are produced from the same material with higher stiffness . the material can be dyed black , eliminating the need for coatings or paint to increase the thermal efficiency . a barrier layer 156 may be incorporated to allow liquid to loop from the top flow layer down around one end and return along the bottom layer to maximize thermal transfer and allow for single sided attachment . for active sections in any reference structure ( e . g ., a hinge point or region ) or as otherwise constructed with the teachings herein , the design can factor - in different long - fiber reinforcement shapes ( e . g ., flattened fibers as noted above ). other options include such features as described elsewhere in applicant &# 39 ; s commonly - owned patents . likewise , the concepts discussed here may be applied to those detailed therein as well . it is contemplated that any optional feature of the inventive variations described may be set forth and claimed independently , or in combination with any one or more of the features described herein . reference to a singular item , includes the possibility that there is a plurality of the same items present . more specifically , as used herein and in the appended claims , the singular forms “ a ,” “ an ,” “ said ,” and “ the ” include plural referents unless specifically stated otherwise . in other words , use of the articles allow for “ at least one ” of the subject item in the description above as well as the claims below . it is further noted that the claims may be drafted to exclude any optional element . as such , this statement is intended to serve as antecedent basis for use of such exclusive terminology as “ solely ,” “ only ” and the like in connection with the recitation of claim elements , or use of a “ negative ” limitation . without the use of such exclusive terminology , the term “ comprising ” in the claims shall allow for the inclusion of any additional element irrespective of whether a given number of elements are enumerated in the claim , or the addition of a feature could be regarded as transforming the nature of an element set forth in the claims . except as specifically defined herein , all technical and scientific terms used herein are to be given as broad a commonly understood meaning as possible while maintaining claim validity . the breadth of the present inventions is not to be limited to the examples provided and / or the subject specification , but rather only by the scope of the claim language . use of the term “ invention ” herein is not intended to limit the scope of the claims in any manner . rather it should be recognized that the “ invention ” includes the many variations explicitly or implicitly described herein , including those variations that would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the present specification . further , it is not intended that any section or subsection of this specification ( e . g ., the summary , detailed description , abstract , field of the invention , etc .) be accorded special significance in describing the inventions relative to another or the claims . any of the teachings presented in one section , may be applied to and / or incorporated in another . the same holds true for the teaching of any of the related applications with respect to any section of the present disclosure . the related applications are : low weight reinforced thermoplastic composite goods ( us provisional application ); reconfigured thermoplastic composite constructs ( us provisional application ); topo - slice thermoplastic composite components and products ( pct application ); panel - derived thermoplastic composite components and products ( pct application ); and thermoplastic structures designed for welded assembly ( pct application ), each to the assignee hereof and filed on even date herewith . moreover , each and every one of these applications is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for any and all purposes , as are all of the other references cited herein . should any us published patent application or us patent claim priority to and include the teachings of one or more of the aforementioned us provisional applications , then that us published patent application and that us patent is likewise incorporated by reference herein to the extent it conveys those same teachings . the assignee reserves the right to amend this disclosure to recite those publications or patents by name . although the foregoing inventions have been described in detail for purposes of clarity of understanding , it is contemplated that certain modifications may be practiced within the scope of the claims to be made . | 1 |
the invention is disclosed as being embodied preferably in a 35 mm film cassette . because the features of this type of film cassette are generally well known , the description which follows is directed in particular to elements forming part of or cooperating directly with the disclosed embodiment . it is to be understood , however , that other elements not specifically shown or described may take various forms known to persons of ordinary skill in the art . referring now to the drawings , fig1 and 3 illustrate an improved 35 mm film cassette 1 comprising a light - tight cassette shell 3 and a film spool 5 which is rotatable about an axis x within the cassette shell . the cassette shell 3 consists of two shell halves 7 and 9 which are tightly mated along respective grooved and stepped edge portions 11 and 13 . the mated halves 7 and 9 define upper and lower aligned openings 15 and 17 for relatively longer and shorter opposite end extensions 19 and 21 of a spool core or hub 23 . also , they include respective throat portions 24 and 25 between which is formed a light - trapped film passage slit 26 to the outside of the cassette shell 3 . the light - trapping means for normally preventing ambient light from entering the film passage slit 26 may be a known velvet or plush material 27 which lines the interior of the slit . alternatively , a light - trapping labyrinth may be provided within the slit . the spool core 23 as shown in fig1 and 3 includes relatively longer and shorter coaxial holes 28 and 29 opening at the respective longer and shorter opposite end extensions 19 and 21 of the spool core . a pair of spaced keying ribs 31 and 33 integrally formed with the spool core 23 are located within the longer coaxial hole 28 , and a single keying rib 35 similarly formed with the spool core is located within the shorter coaxial hole 29 . the several keying ribs 31 , 33 , and 35 according to custom may be engaged to rotate the film spool in an unwinding direction indicated by the arrow u in fig1 or to rotate the spool in a winding direction opposite to the unwinding direction . a roll 37 of convoluted 35 mm film having a uniform width is wound about the spool core 23 . as indicated in fig5 and 6 , the film roll 37 has an inner or trailing end 39 , attached to the spool core 23 by a suitable piece of adhesive tape 41 , and a film leader 43 . the film leader 43 has a leading or forward end 45 and comprises 2 - 3 convolutions of the film roll 37 . one of these leader convolutions is the outermost convolution 47 and another of them is the next inward succeeding convolution 49 . a pair of identical flanges 51 and 53 are coaxially spaced along the spool core 23 as shown in fig1 and 3 . the two flanges 51 and 53 comprise respective integral disks 55 and 57 and respective integral annular lips or skirts 59 and 61 which circumferentially extend from the disks . the two disks 55 and 57 cover opposite sides , i . e . ends , 63 and 65 of the film roll 37 and they have respective central holes 67 and 69 through which the spool core 23 longitudinally extends to permit rotation of the spool core relative to the flanges 51 and 53 . each of the annular lips 59 and 61 as depicted in fig9 includes the following : ( 1 ) an annular constraining section 71 positioned relatively remote from one of the disks 55 and 57 a predetermined radial distance r 1 from the spool 23 to enable each of the lips 59 and 61 to contact the outermost convolution 47 of the film roll 37 , to radially confine the outermost convolution and thereby prevent the film roll from radially expanding or clock - springing against an inner wall 73 of the cassette shell 3 ; ( 2 ) an annular relief section 75 extending from one of the disks 55 and 57 to the annular constraining section 71 of one of the lips 59 and 61 and positioned a predetermined radial distance r 2 from the spool 23 , greater than the radial distance r 1 , to enable each of the lips to avoid contacting the outermost convolution 47 at a location substantially between one of the disks and the annular constraining section ; and ( 3 ) an annular free end section 77 inclined radially outwardly from the annular constraining section 71 of one of the lips 59 and 61 and away from the outermost convolution 47 . the annular relief section 75 of each of the lips 59 and 61 is inclined radially inwardly from one of the disks 55 and 57 , toward the outermost convolution 47 , to form an acute relief angle a 1 with the outer most convolution . see fig9 . the relief angle a 1 may be 11 ° 45 &# 39 ;, for example . the annular constraining section 71 of each of the lips 59 and 61 is curved radially inwardly with respect to the film roll 37 to enable both of the lips to contact the outermost convolution 47 in a substantially tangential manner ( in the vertical sense in fig9 ) and thereby limit the area of contact between the lips and the outermost convolution . the annular free end section 77 of each of the lips 59 and 61 is tilted slightly upwardly as shown in fig9 to form an acute relief angle a 2 . the relief angle a 2 may be 10 ° , for example . thus , as shown in fig3 the lips 59 and 61 are either shaped in the form of a &# 34 ; z &# 34 ; or an &# 34 ; s &# 34 ;. as shown in fig1 the cassette half 9 includes at its throat portion 25 a pair of opposite aligned bearing openings 79 which , together with a pair of upstanding supports 81 , fixed to the throat portion , rotatably support a control shaft 83 . the control shaft 83 is arranged crossways of the film passage slit 26 to the outside of the cassette shell 3 and includes respective annular grooves 85 into which the supports 81 extend . a pair of identical throat camming members 87 and 89 , integrally formed with the control shaft 83 , are located within respective slots 91 and 93 cut in a pair of identical cam follower extensions 95 and 97 of the throat portion 24 of the cassette half 7 . see fig1 - 3 . the throat camming members 87 and 89 are disposed eccentrically with respect to the control shaft 83 and include respective grooves 99 or other engageable means accessible at the outside of the cassette shell 3 for rotating the control shaft 180 ° in opposite directions . when the control shaft 83 is rotated 180 ° in a counterclockwise direction from its orientation in fig7 the throat members 87 and 89 rotate from a non - camming position depicted in fig7 to a camming position depicted in fig8 . in the camming position , the throat camming members 87 and 89 cooperate with the cam follower extensions 95 and 97 to open the light lock 27 by slightly separating the throat portions 24 and 25 of the cassette halves 7 and 9 . the throat portions 24 and 25 are constructed of a thin flexible material , such as plastic , which allows them to be slightly separated . alternatively , of course , the cassette halves 7 and 9 might employ a suitable hinge or other conventional means that allows the throat portions 24 and 25 to be opened and closed . when the control shaft 83 is rotated 180 ° in a clockwise direction from its orientation in fig8 the throat camming members 87 and 89 rotate from their camming position back to their non - camming position to allow the throat portions 24 and 25 to return to their original state . a pair of identical flange camming members 101 and 103 , integrally formed with the control shaft 83 and preferably helically shaped , are disposed concentrically with respect to the control shaft at respective locations inwardly of the throat camming members 87 and 89 . see fig2 and 3 . when the control shaft 83 is rotated 180 ° in a counterclockwise direction from its orientation in fig7 the flange camming members 101 and 103 rotate from a non - camming position depicted in fig3 to a camming position depicted in fig4 . in the camming position , the flange camming members 101 and 103 deflect opposite limited sections 59 &# 39 ; and 61 &# 39 ; of the annular lips 59 and 61 of the respective flanges 51 and 53 axially away from each other to an axial dimension slightly exceeding the film width . see fig4 . in essence , the deflected portions 59 &# 39 ; and 61 &# 39 ; of the annular lips 59 and 61 are axially spaced sufficiently to prevent those sections of the lips from radially confining corresponding sections of the outermost convolution 47 of the film roll 37 . as indicated in fig4 the remaining sections of the two lips 59 and 61 are maintained in place by inner semi - circular flat surfaces 105 and 107 of the cassette shell 3 . the flat surfaces 105 and 107 abut the respective disks 55 and 57 of the two flanges 51 and 53 , except in the vicinity of the flange camming members 101 and 103 . thus , the remaining sections of the two lips 59 and 61 continue to radially confine the outermost convolution 47 . when the control shaft 83 is rotated 180 ° in a clockwise direction from its orientation in fig8 the flange camming members 101 and 103 rotate from their camming position back to their non - camming position , allowing each flexed section 59 &# 39 ; and 61 &# 39 ; of the respective lips 59 and 61 to return to an original state . see fig3 . as shown in fig4 the annular free end section 77 of each of the annular lips 59 and 61 , at the deflected portions 59 &# 39 ; and 61 &# 39 ; of the two lips , bears against the respective flange camming members 101 and 103 . since the annular free end section 77 of each of the lips has a gentle curve to it as best seen in fig9 very little wear occurs between the free end section and either of the flange camming members 101 and 103 . the relief angle a 2 of the annular free end section 77 of each of the lips is useful during assembly of the film cassette 1 to position either of the flange camming members 101 and 103 relative to an annular free end section . a pair of identical film stripper - guide members 109 and 111 , integrally formed with the control shaft 83 , are located adjacent the respective flange camming members 101 and 103 . see fig1 - 3 . the film stripper - guide members 109 and 111 are disposed concentrically with respect to the control shaft 83 and extend partially into respective wells 113 and 115 cut in the throat portion 25 of the cassette half 9 . when the control shaft 83 is rotated 180 ° in counterclockwise direction from its orientation in fig7 the stripper - guide members 109 and 111 rotate from a non - guiding position depicted in fig3 and 5 to a guiding position depicted in fig4 and 6 . in the guiding position , the stripper - guide members 109 and 111 are available to direct the leading end 45 of the film leader 43 into the film passage slit 26 when the leading end is released from the radial confinement of the annular lips 59 and 61 of the respective flanges 51 and 53 . when the control shaft 83 is rotated 180 ° in a clockwise direction from its orientation in fig8 the stripper - guide members 109 and 11 rotate from their guiding position to their non - guiding position . at the outset , the control shaft 83 is rotated 180 ° by suitable means in a camera , for example , to rotate the throat camming members 87 and 89 and the flange camming members 101 and 103 from their non - camming positions to their camming positions , and to rotate the film stripper guides 105 and 107 from their non - guiding position to their guiding position . see fig4 , and 8 . when the spool core 23 is initially rotated in the unwinding direction u , the two flanges 51 and 53 may remain substantially stationary and the film roll 37 , since its inner end 39 is attached to the spool core , tends to expand radially or clock - spring to ensure a non - slipping relation between the outermost convolution 47 of the film roll and the annular lips 59 and 61 of the respective flanges . then , rotation of the spool core 23 in the same direction will similarly rotate the two flanges 51 and 53 . as a result , the flange camming members 101 and 103 will deflect successive sections 59 &# 39 ; and 61 &# 39 ; of the annular lips 59 and 61 axially away from each other as the respective sections are rotated past the camming members . the deflected sections 59 &# 39 ; and 61 &# 39 ; of the two lips 59 and 61 are returned to their original non - flexed condition by the semi - circular flat surfaces 105 and 107 of the cassette shell 3 . as can be appreciated from fig6 the leading end 45 of the film leader 43 will be freed from the radial confinement of the respective lips 59 and 61 in the vicinity of the flange camming members 101 and 103 , and it will be advanced onto the stripper - guide members 109 and 111 . the stripper - guide members 101 and 103 , in turn , direct the leading end 45 into the film passage slit 26 , thereby allowing succeeding sections of the outermost convolution 47 to be freed from corresponding sections of the two lips 59 and 61 as those sections of the respective lips are deflected by the flange camming members 101 and 103 . consequently , continued rotation of the spool core 23 will thrust the film leader 43 from the inside to the outside of the cassette shell 3 . the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment . however , it will be appreciated that variations and modifications can be effected within the ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention . for example , the leading end 45 of the film roll 37 could initially be located within the film passage slit 26 rather than be radially confined by the annular lips 59 and 61 of the two flanges 51 and 53 as shown in fig1 . also , the leading end 45 could be tapered to allow it to freely protrude from between the annular lips 59 and 61 . according to another example , the annular lips 59 and 61 need not be &# 34 ; z &# 34 ;- shaped or &# 34 ; s &# 34 ;- shaped as shown in fig2 and 4 . instead , they may have a somewhat different shape . all that is necessary is that the annular lips provide essentially radial contact between themselves and the film roll , without allowing the clock - springing force of the film roll to generate an axial force against either of the flanges 51 and 53 . | 6 |
it is important to note that the process of the invention is a continuous process , allowing circuit boards to be produced on an automated production line in a roll - to - roll manner . the speed of the continuous process is relatively high , and thus cost efficient compared to prior art processes , and the process allows production of 50 - 150 meters of multi - layered product for each minute of operation of the production process . fig1 illustrates the first segment of the production line used to produce the multi - layered product . referring to fig1 , conductive metal foil , for instance electrodeposited copper foil , is unwound in an unwinding station ( 10 ). preferably , as a first step in the process of the invention , the conductive metal foil is primed at a priming station ( 100 ), to increase its adhesive properties . the conductive foil is primed with a material such as r - 1559 ( produced by mica corp ., shelton , conn .) which is an aqueous primer comprising polypropylene ( pp ) molecules and acid . a gravure roller is partially immersed in a primer bath ( 20 ) that comprises priming station ( 100 ), and liquid primer is passed upon the roller surface onto the foil . the foil is then placed in an oven ( 30 ) at a temperature within the range of 150 to 220 ° c ., most preferably 180 to 210 ° c ., for 2 to 15 sec . to induce drying and fusing of the primer with the metal foil . a coating of primer , at a thickness of approximately 0 . 05 to 0 . 5 microns , when dry , will thus be formed upon the porous side of the metal foil . this primer coating , in its dried and fused form , is non - polar . next , in an optional step , a foundation layer of molten polypropylene is preferably extruded upon the primed foil , in a continuous process comprising extrusion coating and lamination using an extruder ( 50 ) with a slot die ( 40 ) at a temperature within the range of 200 - 340 ° c ., to deposit a thin layer of approximately 5 to 70 microns , most preferably 12 - 50 microns . the foil product passes between pressure roller ( 60 ) and a chill roller ( 70 ) having a chilled core , which causes the layer to cool almost instantaneously . pressure roller ( 60 ) assures uniformity of product . the foil is rewound on rewinding station ( 80 ). in order to ensure fusing of the layers of the final multi - layered product , and prevent peeling of the polypropylene off of the metal foil , it has presently been found in accordance with the invention that heat must be applied to the product . the necessary heat can be delivered as part of the inventive continuous process in one of several ways : 1 . by admixing filler having a high density ceramic powder content into the polypropylene resin used to form the molten polypropylene foundation layer . the ceramic powder , preferably titanium dioxide or silica , when present at a high enough concentration , retains heat due to its density , and ensures fusing of the molten polypropylene to the metal foil . the ceramic powder additionally increases the melting point of the polypropylene resin . preferably , the ceramic powder is present at a concentration of 1 % to 60 % by weight . 2 . by curing the polypropylene - coated metal foil : referring to fig2 , the coated metal foil is unwound at unwinding station ( 10 ), and cured in an oven ( 30 ) at a temperature of approximately 150 - 220 ° c ., most preferably 180 - 210 ° c ., for a period of 2 to 15 seconds , most preferably 3 - 7 seconds , allowing fusing of the foundation layer with the primer ( or with the unprimed metal foil ). the brief oven - curing has been found to considerably increase the adhesion of the polypropylene to the metal foil , and to significantly raise the “ peel strength ” ( strength required to peel off a layer ) of the polypropylene . prolonging the extent of the curing has been found to adversely influence the results , and prevent adhesion of additional layers . 3 . by heating the surrounding work area ( termed the “ nip area ”) during the step of casting a molten “ tie - layer ”, described hereinbelow . the temperature of the work area is raised above ambient temperature ( above 25 ° c ., preferably to a temperature of 45 - 90 ° c .). one or more of these options for delivery of heat may be utilized to ensure fusing of the polypropylene layers in the multi - layered product . referring again to fig2 , in a further step of the process , a molten cast “ tie - layer ” of polypropylene is applied ; this is preferably performed using extrusion lamination machinery such as a slot die ( 40 ) extruder ( 50 ). optionally , this is performed in a heated area ( 12 ) ( termed the “ nip area ”), to ensure fusing of the layers in the multi - layered product . then a polypropylene sheet , having a thickness in the range of 25 - 2000 microns or more , most preferably in the range of 50 micron to 750 micron , is unwound from an unwinding station ( 18 ) and laminated upon the tie - layer using compression between rollers ( 16 ), ( 14 ) as the next step of the continuous process . the multi - layered product is rewound on a rewinding station ( 80 ). the resulting multi - layered product may be designated for use as a single - clad product for processing into a pcb or an antenna board . when a single - clad product is required , a thicker polypropylene sheet is used , having for instance , a thickness of 200 to 2000 microns . alternatively , the resulting single side copper clad material may be used to create double sided copper clad laminate of double - thickness metal foil / polypropylene boards ( also termed a “ double clad product ”). in such case , an additional polypropylene tie - layer is used between the two products , to laminate them to a single board . this tie - layer should have a thickness of approximately 5 to 100 microns , more preferably 5 - 70 microns , most preferably 15 - 60 microns . the double - clad product is formed using the production line described in fig2 , however the oven ( 30 ) is bypassed . in one embodiment , the second product used to create the double - clad product , contains only a metal foil layer and a foundation layer . the product thus formed is now a multi - layered polypropylene - metal foil product , which can then be etched , to create a circuit pattern , creating a printed circuit board or , in particular , an antenna board . the metal foil is preferably selected from ( but not limited to ) one of the following materials : electrodeposited copper , rolled copper , rolled aluminum , gold and gold plated copper or aluminum and tin plated aluminum . combinations and sub - combinations of multi - layered foils are possible . optionally , any of the polypropylene layers may be loaded with additives and fillers , which modify the dielectric or mechanical properties , or provide fire retardation , or promote cross - linking of the polymers . examples of cross - linking additives are : triallyl isocyanurate ( taic )— 0 . 1 to 6 % by weight ; triallyl cyanurate ( tac )— 0 . 1 to 6 % by weight ; trimethyrolpropanemethacrylate ( tmptma )— 1 to 10 % by weight . these , or other cross - linking additives , may additionally act as fire retardants . examples of fire retardants are compounds containing borides , and specialty polypropylene fire - retardant additives . examples of compounds that alter the dielectric properties are ceramic powders such as titanium dioxide rutile grade — 5 to 60 % by weight . examples of compounds that prevent shrinkage or thermal expansion are ceramic powders like silica , at a concentration of 5 to 50 % by weight and titanium dioxide anatase grade , at a concentration of 5 to 50 % by weight . optionally , the final laminate may be irradiated using either beta or gamma energy to promote cross - linking , as described in ep 1160077 , after application of additives that promote the cross - linking . the irradiation step may be performed in a continuous or a batch process . fig3 illustrates corss - sectional view of a double clad multi - layered polypropylene - metal foil product in accordance with the invention . the product can be etched to create a printed circuit board or , for instance , an antenna board . the outermost layers ( 150 a , 150 b ) are metal foil , such as copper . layers ( 200 a , 200 b ) are formed of molten polypropylene , and each such layer represents a foundation layer . layers ( 300 a , 300 b ) are formed of molten polypropylene , and each such layer represents a tie - layer . layers ( 400 a , 400 b ) are formed of polypropylene sheets , each having a thickness in the range of 25 - 1000 microns or more , laminated upon the tie - layer . layer ( 500 ) is a second tie - layer , formed of molten polypropylene , which binds the product into a double - clad product . the double - clad product can then be etched , to create a circuit pattern for a printed circuit board or an antenna board . having described the invention with regard to certain specific embodiments thereof , it is to be understood that the description is not meant as a limitation , as further modifications will now become apparent to those skilled in the art , and it is intended to cover such modifications as are within the scope of the appended claims . | 8 |
fig1 is a block diagram showing a data transmission apparatus according to the present invention . the data transmission apparatus is composed of a sequence controller for multimedia data transmission 100 , a buffer memory 101 , a media analyzer 102 , a hold status register 103 and a bus snoop controller 104 . the bus snoop controller 104 discriminates the copy or latch of the data on the system bus 105 and transmits the data to a bus data driver , and the media analyzer 102 discriminates whether the data pertains the media associated with the corresponding processor . the hold status register 103 indicates whether the data discriminated to be pertained to the associated media is buffered in an effective condition , and the buffer memory 101 is a temporary storage for buffering the data ready for the copy or transmission . the sequence controller for multimedia data transmission 100 controls the status transition and the operation of the bus snoop controller 104 , the media analyzer 102 , the hold status register 103 according to the size of the operation cycle of the peripheral functional blocks and the system bus 105 . fig2 is a block diagram showing the interrelation between the transmission apparatus of the present invention and peripheral functional blocks , which is composed of a multimedia processor or a communication network interface portion 206 composed of a bus arbiter 200 , a bus sequence controller 201 , a direct transmission controller 202 , a data and address control 203 , and a local memory 204 ; a multimedia processor 205 or a communication network processor ; a main instruction processor portion 207 composed of a cpu + local memory + control block 204 &# 39 ;, a data and address control 203 &# 39 ;, a direct transmission handler 202 &# 39 ;, a bus arbiter 200 &# 39 ;, and a bus sequence controller 201 &# 39 ;; and a bus system 208 . the multimedia data processor 205 or a communication network data processor portion drives the data processed at the multimedia data processor or communication network processor to the system bus 208 through the data and address control 203 when the bus sequence controller 201 reflects the information of the bus arbiter 200 and direct transmission controller 202 according to the specification of the operation of the system bus , or latches the data on the system bus 208 to the multimedia data processor or communication network data processor in the same way and processes the data . the operation related to the direct data transmission of the main instruction processor portion 207 discriminated the use and method of use of the data stored in the memory device under the support of the media selection software at cpu + local memory + control block 204 &# 39 ; and transmits the information to the multimedia processor block through the direct transmission controller 202 &# 39 ;. the instructions which is performed by the multimedia processor in connection with the direct data transmission are synthesis , connection and separation , etc . the synthesis instruction performs the function of mixing several data stored in the local memory 204 into one data , and the connection instruction performs the operation of combining various types of data stored in the local memory 204 into one structural data in accordance with the synchronization . in addition , the separation function performs the operations of separating the connected data transmitted and predating the transmission to the corresponding device . fig3 is a block diagram of a computer system composed of a plurality of multimedia processors and communication network interface controller . the computer system is composed of the number of a multimedia processors 300 1 to 300 n , more than 2 communication network interface controller 301 and 302 , main instruction processor 303 , main memory device 304 and system bus 305 . the system of a plurality of multimedia processors and communication network interface controller constructed as described above has advantages in 3 aspects in the decrease of delay time in bus use , the reduction by half of the number of bus use due to the reduction of load of bus , and the gain in time due to no use of the main memory device 304 . that is , comparing the cases , where the multimedia data if the size of 1 multiple of system bus data bit is transmitted from the communication network interface controller a 301 to multimedia processor 1 300 1 , from the communication network interface controller b 302 to multimedia processor 2 300 2 , and from the main memory device 304 to multimedia processor 1 300 n , with the general processing method , the communication network interface controllers a 301 , b 302 each used the bus 305 once to access the main memory device 304 and the main memory device 304 uses the bus 305 three times in case of general processing method , and since the internal operation period requires more than 2 bus cycles for storage of data in the main memory device in the former case , the total time required is 9 bus cycles . however , in case of the present invention , the communication network interface controllers a 301 , b 302 each uses the bus once and the main memory device 304 uses the bus 305 once so that total 3 bus cycles are required and although the number of bus uses is reduced to the ratio of 5 : 3 , total service completion time is reduced to the ratio of 9 : 3 so that not only the load of bus is reduced but also the total processing time is reduced . fig4 is control flow diagram of a case where the multimedia data sent from the communication network interface controller is directly latched to the multimedia data processor and of a case where the multimedia data is directly sent from the multimedia data processor to the communication network interface controller and shows the internal operation condition of the direct transmission controller and the direct transmission process of the multimedia data . while the direct transmission controller ( dtc ) repeatedly checks the status of transmission or reception of the data ( s401 ), it starts the receiving operation if the state is the data receiving state and starts the transmission operation if the state is transmission state , and continues the transmission / receiving state check if the stat is neither the receiving state nor the transmission state ( s402 ). in case of data receiving state in the step s402 , the bus snoop controller is checked ( s403 ) and it is checked whether it is copy enable state or not ( s404 ), and if it is not the copy enable state , the transmission / receiving state check is continued , and if it is the copy enable state , the data on the bus is read in ( s405 ). in continuation , the valid or invalid state of bus operation is checked ( s406 ) and if it is invalid state , it returns back to transmission / receiving check and if it is valid state , and if it is valid state , the data is received ( s407 ). the bus snoop controller checks the acknowledgement state for the generated address from the main acknowledging watching of the data received from the step s407 ( s408 ), and the acknowledgement state is checked ( s409 ), and if it is abnormal , the dtc returns to the beginning state , and if it is normal , the internal buffering condition is checked ( s410 ). the dtc decides whether the internal status of the multimedia data processor board including the dtc is valid for buffering data on the basis of the state known by investigating at the step s410 ( s411 ). if it is invalid , the dtc makes the possession status flag non - possessive ( s412 ), then it returns to the beginning , and if it is valid , the dtc checks the media analyzer ( s414 ) and decides whether the media data is same kind or not ( s415 ). if the dtc decides that the media is not the same kind as the dtc expected in the step s415 , then the media analyzer is initialized ( s416 ), and the dtc state machine returns to the beginning state ( s417 ), and if the dtc decides that the media is the same kind as the dtc expected , the dtc stores the data received from the system bus into the buffer memory ( s418 ), and makes the hold status register possessive ( s419 ), and then returns to the transmission / receiving check state ( s420 ). thereafter , although not shown , if the multimedia processor receives the information about the availability of the data currently stored in the local memory from the direct transmission controller , the multimedia processor waits for the instruction of operation to be directly applied only to the available data . the cpu + local memory + control block again transmits to the multimedia processor the instruction to be applied to the data currently stored according to the request by the application program , and the multimedia processor having received the instruction performs the functions related to the direct data transmission such as the synthesis , connection and separation of data and main functions such as restoration and compression , etc . in continuation , if the bus state is a data transmitting state in the step s402 , the dtc prepares the data to be transferred in the reverse order of the operation for receiving data and generates an address for transmission ( s421 ), then requests the bus use through the bus arbiter ( s422 ), and enters into the bus competition state . the dtc discriminates the win or lose in the bus use competition ( s424 ), and if the dtc loses , it enters into the bus competition state again , and if the dtc wins , it drives data on the system bus ( s425 ), thereafter the dtc checks the response transmission state ( s426 ) and discriminates the abnormality ( s427 ). if the result of response transmission check is abnormal in the step s427 , the dtc returns to a bus requesting state again , and if the result is normal , the dtc initialized the hold status register and the media analyzer ( s428 ) and returns to the initial state . if the above described procedure is completed , the multimedia data is directly transmitted from the communication network interface controller to the multimedia data processor , and vice versa , without passing through the main memory device . as described above , the present invention has an effect of reducing the load of the system bus since the data is directly transmitted between the multimedia data processor and the communication network interface controller through the system bus without separate data transmission path . | 6 |
as shown in fig1 the engine hoist attachment of the present invention , indicated generally at 10 , is attached to a conventional automobile hoist , indicated generally at 12 . the present invention achieves large vertical displacements via column 14 of the automobile hoist 12 . precise displacements are obtained through a hydraulic jack 16 of the engine hoist attachment 10 . such displacements are transmitted through a lifting boom 18 and chain 20 to lift an automobile engine 22 . the displaced position of the boom 18 is shown at 18 &# 39 ;. the automobile hoist is of the type conventionally used in service stations and includes a vertical column 13 which is mounted in the floor 15 and selectively raised and lowered axially by hudraulic or pneumatic power the controls for which are shown schematically as conduits 17 and 19 and manually operable valve 21 . the power and controls for the hoist 12 use conventional techniques . the column 13 is shown in the raised position and can be held in position at any elevation between its bottom and top positions . at the top of the column 12 , four arms 24 are mounted on a head 26 . the connection between each arm 24 and the head 26 is a vertical pivot pin 23 which permits the arm to pivot about a vertical axis under manual urging . at the end of each arm is a plate 25 which can be manually slid along its respective arm 24 to effectively lengthen or shorten the arm . the hoist as described so far is well known and is found in most service stations . in its conventional operation , the valve 21 is operated to lower the column 13 so that the head 26 essentially rests on the floor 15 . an automobile is then positioned over the hoist . the arms 24 are pivoted and the plates 25 slid along the arms to position each plate under a frame member of the automobile and so that the automobile will be stable when lifted . the valve 21 is then operated to raise the column 13 so that the plates 25 engage the automobile frame , and raise it until the automobile is at the desired height for working on the underside , at which position it is retained . after work is completed the valve 21 is operated to lower the column so that the automobile can be driven off . while the hoist column 14 can be raised and lowered a substantial distance , e . g . six or seven feet , for access to the underside of the automobile , and can be stopped at intermediate positions as well as at top and bottom , it is not well suited to precisely controlled movement for a few inches or less . instead , it provides high power lifting with a relatively long stroke , but little sensitivity . the engine hoist attachment 10 is attached to one of the four pivotal arms 24 . referring to fig2 - 4 , a conventional hydraulic jack 16 is mounted on the plate 25 . the base 27 of the jack may just rest on the plate 25 . the jack includes a lifting rod and head 29 , a crank connector 34 for receiving a crank handle 52 and a release valve 36 . as noted above this is merely intended to be representative of a conventional , well known hydraulic or pneumatic jack of the type commonly used to raise one or two wheels of an automobile , e . g . to change a tire . as is well known the crank handle 52 is pumped up and down to raise the head 29 under hydraulic power from conventional mechanism within the body 31 . the lifting boom 18 consists of two telescoping square tubes 40 and 42 . the outer tube 40 has a bracket 30 on its underside which is connected to the jack head 29 by a removable pin 32 . the inner tube 42 is locked in a selected one of a plurality of extended positions by a removable locking pin 44 . thus , the overall length of the boom can be adjusted by removing the pin 44 , sliding the inner tube 42 outward or inward and re - inserting the pin 44 so that it extends through the pin hole in the outer tube and a selected one of a plurality of compatible holes 46 in the inner tube 42 . the yoke 28 which connects the boom 18 to the arm 24 includes a pair of side plates 33 , 35 disposed on opposite sides of the arm 24 . a bolt 50 extends through the sides of the yoke 28 and under the arm 24 to prevent the yoke 28 from lifting from the arm . although the side plates 33 , 35 are shown butting against the sides of the arm 24 , actually they can be considerably further apart than the width of the arm permitting use with arms of various widths . the side plates 33 , 35 converge inwardly a few inches above the arm 24 at 37 , 39 to limit downward movement of the yoke 28 on the arm . it will be noted that the distance between the bolt 50 and the converging sides 37 , 39 may be greater than the height of the arm 24 to permit use of the attachment with arms of various heights . the weight of the boom holds the arm 24 firmly against the bolt 50 even if the arm 24 is considerably narrower and shorter than the space in the yoke in which it fits . above the converging portions 37 , 39 , the side plates have spaced vertical portions 41 , 43 which extend on opposite sides of the outer tube 40 of the boom . a pivot pin 48 pivotally connects the boom to the bracket 28 . the outer end of the boom inner tube 42 has a slot 45 which receives the two end links 47 , 49 of the chain 20 used to lift the engine 22 . a pin 38 extends through the end lengths 47 , 49 and retains the chain in the slot . the atttachment can be easily put on and removed from the main hoist and is easy to store when off . in order to put the attachment on , the bolt 50 is removed from the yoke , and the jack 16 with the boom 18 and yoke 28 attached is placed on the arm 24 . the bolt 50 is then inserted and the device is ready to use . similarly , the entire attachment can be removed merely by removing the bolt 50 and lifting the attachment off . thus , the existing main hoist can be used normally for its conventional prupose of lifting automobiles , but quickly converted for use in pulling engines . in operation , if an engine is to be installed in an automobile , the engine is placed on the floor adjacent the end of the boom 18 . the jack 16 may be raised to near its top position . the chain is wrapped around the engine and hooked . the main hoist 12 is then raised by operation of valve 21 until the engine is above the automobile fender . the arm 24 to which the attachment is connected is then manually pivoted about its pin 23 to approximately position the engine over the engine mounts in the automobile . the main hoist 12 is then lowered , while the arm 24 is pivoted until the engine is a few inches from the mounts . the main hoist is then held in that position and the jack 16 is lowered slowly , while manually swinging the engine on the chain to precisely position it and set it gently on the engine mounts . with the engine in place the chain can be unhooked . to remove an engine from an automobile the jack 16 is put in its lowered position , the arm 24 is swung so the boom is over the engine , and the main hoist 12 is lowered until the chain can be connected around the engine and hooked . if necessary , the boom is extended or retracted by changing the hole for pin 44 , and the arm is swung until the boom end is centered over the engine . in this manipulation , the play in the base 28 because of the side plates 33 , 35 being higher than the arm thickness permits some vertical movement of the boom 18 . with the chain hooked , the jack 16 is raised to free the engine from the mounts and adjacent automobile parts . the main hoist 12 is then raised to pull the engine from the automobile . a second bracket 30 &# 39 ; like the bracket 30 is provided . by sliding the yoke 28 along the arm the head 29 can instead be connected to bracket 30 &# 39 ;; which increases the mechanical advantage at a comensurate sacrifice in available boom movement . | 1 |
halomethyl - substituted 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine compounds of this invention can be represented by the general formula i : ## str1 ## wherein a represents a member selected from the group consisting of mono -, di - and trihalomethyl groups , y represents a member selected from the group consisting of a , l - z , nh 2 , nhr , nr 2 , or , and r &# 39 ;, where r independently represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group , preferably having 1 to 6 carbon atoms , or a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group , and r &# 39 ; represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group , preferably having 1 to 6 carbon atoms , a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group , a substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl group , preferably having 2 to 6 carbon atoms , or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic aromatic group , z represents an amine - containing moiety containing at least one tertiary amine group having at least one alkyl substituent on the amine nitrogen atom , said at least one alkyl substituent having a hydrogen atom on the carbon atom adjacent to the amine nitrogen atom , provided that the amine nitrogen atom is not directly attached to the 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine nucleus by a covalent bond or by a conjugated linkage , e . g ., via an aryl group or a vinyl group , and l represents a group linking the amine - containing moiety to the triazine nucleus . halomethyl groups that are suitable for the present invention include chloro -, bromo -, and iodomethyl groups , with chloro - and bromomethyl groups being preferred . trihalomethyl groups are preferred ; most preferred are trichloromethyl and tribromomethyl groups . y represents any of a variety of substituents that are useful in modifying the physical , e . g ., solubility , or chemical properties of the molecule , and preferably represents a , l - z , or r &# 39 ;. when y represents a , the maximum number of halomethyl groups per triazine nucleus can be made available for free radical generation . when y represents l - z , the chemical composition for both l - z groups can be the same , or it can be different , depending on the composition of linking group l , amine - containing group z , or both . when y represents r &# 39 ;, and in particular when r &# 39 ; represents an aryl , aralkenyl , or heteroaromatic group , the spectral sensitivity of the molecule can be varied , based on the photochemical response of r &# 39 ; to actinic radiation . when r or r &# 39 ; represents an aryl group , it is preferred that the group have a maximum of five rings , more preferably three rings , and most preferably one ring . when r or r &# 39 ; represents a substituted group , the particular identity of the substituents is not critical . however , the substituents should not adversely affect the photoinitiation characteristics of the compounds of this invention . z can be selected from tertiary amine groups substituted with at least one alkyl group having a hydrogen atom on the α - carbon atom , and is most preferably selected from tertiary amine groups substituted with three alkyl groups , such that there are a total of eight hydrogen atoms on the three α - carbon atoms . there is no upper limit on the number of amine - containing moieties per triazine nucleus ; there is no upper limit on the number of triazine nuclei per amine - containing moiety ; however , there must be at least one amine - containing moiety and at least one triazine nucleus . preferably , the number of amine - containing moieties per triazine nucleus ranges from 1 to 2 to 2 to 1 . if more than one amine - containing moiety is present per triazine nucleus , they can be from different species from the same generic class . amine - containing moieties designated by z can be selected from tertiary amine groups represented by the following general formula ii : ## str2 ## wherein r 1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group , preferably having 1 to 10 carbon atoms , or a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group , preferably having 1 to 2 rings , r 2 represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group , preferably having 1 to 10 carbon atoms , or a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group , preferably having 1 to 2 rings , or r 1 , r 2 , and n can form a heterocyclic aliphatic or aromatic ring , preferably having no more than six ring members , provided that r has at least one hydrogen atom on the α - carbon atom . l represents a group that links the amine - containing moiety or moieties to the triazine nucleus . the precise identity of l is not critical , but it should be selected so that it does not interfere with or adversely affect the light sensitivity of the compound . furthermore , l should be chosen so that it does not connect the chromophore of the halomethyl - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine nucleus and the amine nitrogen atom either directly by a covalent bond or by a conjugated linkage . l can be a single group or can be formed from a combination of groups . groups that are suitable for linking groups include carbamato (-- nhco 2 --), urea (-- nhconh --), amino (-- nh --), amido (-- conh --), aliphatic , e . g ., having up to 10 carbon atoms , alkyl , e . g ., having up to 10 carbon atoms , alkenyl , e . g ., having up to 10 carbon atoms , aryl , e . g ., having one ring , ester (-- co 2 --), ether (-- o --), and combinations thereof . based on ease of synthesis , the most preferred groups attached directly to the triazine nucleus are carbamato , urea , amino , alkenyl , aryl , and ether . whenever the group directly attached to the triazine nucleus is either alkenyl group or aryl group , another group must be interposed between the alkenyl group or aryl group and the amine nitrogen atom to prevent the amine - containing group from forming a conjugated bond with the triazine nucleus . one method of preparing the compounds of this invention is by the addition reaction of isocyanato - substituted halomethyl - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazines with amines having groups reactive with the isocyanate group . the isocyanato substituted triazines may be prepared from the corresponding amino derivative according to the procedure of u . von gizycki , angew . chem . int . ed . eng ., 1971 , 10 , 403 . isocyanato - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazines suitable for this reaction include : typical amines capable of combining with the isocyanato group include n , n - dimethylethanolamine , 4 -( dimethylamino ) phenethyl alcohol , 2 -{[ 2 -( dimethylamino ) ethyl ] methylamino } ethanol , 3 - dimethylaminopropylamine , and piperidine . the isocyanate addition reaction can be carried out in the presence of solvents including toluene , pyridine , benzene , xylene , dioxane , tetrahydrofuran , etc ., and mixtures of solvents . the duration and temperature of the reaction is dependent on the particular compounds and the catalyst employed . generally , temperatures ranging from about 25 ° c . to 150 ° c . for from about one to seventy - two hours are sufficient for the reaction . preferably , the reaction is carried out at room temperature from three to seventy - two hours . the preferred catalyst is di - n - butyltin dilaurate . other methods for preparing the compounds of this invention include the cotrimerization of organic nitriles having an amine - containing substituent with haloacetonitriles in accordance with the teachings of wakabayashi et al , bulletin of the chemical society of japan , 1969 , 42 , 2924 - 30 ; the condensation reaction of an aldehyde compound having an amine - containing substituent in accordance with the teachings of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 987 , 037 ; the nucleophilic displacement reactions on halomethyl - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazines using amine - containing compounds having free hydroxy or amino groups . the sensitivity of polymerizable compositions containing the compounds of this invention to actinic radiation of a particular wavelength range can be increased by the incorporation of known ultraviolet and visible light sensitizers including cyanine , carbocyanine , merocyanine , styryl , acridine , polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons , polyarylamines , and amine - substituted chalcones . suitable cyanine dyes are described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 495 , 987 . suitable styryl dyes and polyarylamines are described in kosar , light sensitive systems , j . wiley and sons ( new york , 1965 ), pp . 361 - 369 . polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are useful as sensitizers , e . g ., 2 - ethyl - 9 , 10 - dimethoxyanthracene , are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 640 , 718 . amino substituted chalcones that are useful as sensitizers are described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 617 , 288 . the compounds of this invention can be used in photosensitive compositions in combination with other photoinitiators including benzophenones , benzoin ethers , thioxanthone , benzil and michler &# 39 ; s ketone . the compounds of this invention can be substituted for the triazines used in conjunction with dialkylamimo aromatic carbonyl compounds disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 259 , 432 ; with 2 -( benzoylmethylene )- 5 - benzothiazolidene thiazole - 4 - 1 compounds disclosed in e application 0109291 , may 23 , 1984 ; with 3 - keto - substituted coumarin compounds disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 505 , 793 ; and with those compounds described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 239 , 850 ; jpn . kokai tokkyo koho jp 60 60 , 104 ( 85 60104 ); and ger . offen 2 , 851 , 641 . photopolymerizable compositions in which the compounds of this invention can be used advantageously typically comprise an unsaturated , free radical initiated , chain propagating addition polymerizable compound , a compound of this invention , and , optionally , one or more fillers , binders , dyes , polymerization inhibitors , color precursors , oxygen scavengers , etc . the compounds of this invention should be present in an amount sufficient to initiate polymerization of said polymerizable compound . for every 100 parts of polymerizable compound there can be present from 0 . 005 to 10 parts of the compound of this invention , from 0 to 200 parts of filler , from 0 to 200 parts of binder , and from 0 to 10 or more parts of dyes , polymerization inhibitors , color precursors , oxygen scavengers , etc , as may be needed for a particular use of the photopolymerizable compositions . preferably , for each 100 parts of polymerizable compounds , 1 to 7 . 5 parts of the compound of this invention and from 25 to 150 parts of binder are used . unsaturated , free - radical initiated , chain - propagating addition polymerizable compounds suitable for the compositions of this invention include alkylene or polyalkylene glycol diacrylates , e . g ., ethylene glycol diacrylate , diethylene glycol diacrylate , glycerol diacrylate , glycerol triacrylate , ethylene glycol dimethacrylate , 1 , 3 - propanediol dimethacrylate , 1 , 2 , 4 - butanetriol timmethacrylate , 1 , 4 - cyclohexanediol diacrylate , pentaerythritol tetramethacrylate , pentaerythritol triacrylate , sorbitol hexacrylate ; bis [ 1 -( 3 - acryloxy - 2 - hydroxy )]- p - propoxyphenyl dimethylmethane , bis [ 1 -( 2 - acryloxy )]- p - ethoxyphenyldimethylmethane , tris hydroxyethyl - isocyanurate trimethycrylate , the bis - acrylate and the bis - methacrylates of polyethylene glycols of molecular weight 200 - 500 and the like ; unsaturated amides , e . g ., methylene bis - acrylamide , methylene bis - methacrylamide , 1 , 6 - hexamethylene bis - acrylamide , diethylene triamine trisacrylamide , beta - methacrylaminoethyl methacrylate ; vinyl esters such as divinyl succinate , divinyl adipate , divinyl phthalate . the preferred unsaturated compounds include pentaerythritol tetracrylate , bis [ p -( 3 - acryloxy - 2 - hydroxypropoxy ) phenyl ] dimethylmethane , and bis [ p -( 2 - acryloxyethoxy ) phenyl ] dimethylmethane . mixtures of these esters can also be used as can mixtures of these esters with alkyl esters of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid , including such esters as methyl acrylate , methyl methacrylate , ethyl acrylate , isopropyl methacrylate , n - hexyl acrylate , stearyl acrylate , allyl acrylate , diallyl phthalate , and the like . to prepare photosensitive compositions of this invention , the components can be admixed in any order and stirred or milled to form a solution or uniform dispersion . photosensitive elements can be made by coating a photosensitive composition on a suitable base or support and drying the coating . the dry thickness typically ranges from about 0 . 00005 to about 0 . 075 inch . suitable bases or supports for the photosensitive compositions include metals , e . g ., steel and aluminum plates , sheets and foils , and films or plates composed of various film - forming synthetic or high polymers , including addition polymers , e . g . vinylidene chloride , vinyl chloride , vinyl acetate , styrene , isobutylene polymers and copolymers ; linear condensation polymers e . g ., polyethylene terephthalate , polyhexamethylene adipate , polyhexamethylene adipamide / adipate . the invention will be more specifically illustrated by the following examples . the value of λmax was measured in tetrahydrofuran , unless otherwise indicated . to a solution containing 0 . 01 mol 4 -( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) morpholine and 12 drops di - n - butyltin dilaurate in 40 ml dry toluene was added a solution of 0 . 01 mol 2 , 4 - bis ( trichloromethyl )- 6 - isocyanato - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazine in toluene . the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature under n , for 24 - 72 hrs . the solvent was removed under reduced pressure by means of a rotary evaporator and the residue was loaded upon a silica gel column ( 100 g packed with dichloromethane ) and eluted with dichloromethane . the major compound was collected and the solvent was removed by means of a rotary evaporator to yield product . the product had a melting point of 210 °- 213 ° c . and a λmax of 234 nm . the structure of the product is shown below . ## str4 ## the procedure of example 1 was repeated , with the only exception being that piperidine was used in place of 4 -( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) morpholine . the product had a melting point of 164 - 167 ° c . and a λmax of 246 nm . the structure of the product is shown below . the procedure of example 1 was repeated , with the only exception being that diisopropylamine was used in place of 4 -( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) morpholine . the product had a melting point of 190 °- 93 c . and a max of 250 nm . the structure of the product is shown below . ## str5 ## the procedure of example 1 was repeated , with the only exception being that 1 -( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) piperazine was used in place of 4 -( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) morpholine . the product had a melting point of 120 °- 12320 c . and a max of 243 nm . the structure of the product is shown below . ## str7 ## to a solution of 2 . 3 mmol 2 , 4 , 6 - tris ( trichloromethyl )- 1 , 2 , 5 - triazine in 25 ml toluene was added 1 equivalent of 1 -( 2 - hydroxyethyl )- piperazine . the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 24 hours under a nitrogen atmosphere . the solvent was removed by means of a rotary evaporator under reduced pressure , and the residue was dissolved in a small amount of dichloromethane , loaded upon a column of silica gel ( 100 g packed in hexane ), and eluted with hexane . the appropriate fractions were pooled , and the solvent was removed by means of a rotary evaporator to yield product . the product was a gum . the structure of the product is shown below . ## str8 ## this example illustrates the preparation of photosensitive elements containing the halomethyl - 1 , 3 , 5 - triazines of this invention . the spectral response of the compounds in such elements is also shown . a solution was prepared from 74 . 24 g azeotrope of 1 - propanol and water ( 71 . 8 % 1 - propanol / 28 . 2 % water ), 4 . 32 g pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (&# 34 ; sartomer &# 34 ; monomer sr - 295 , arco chemical company ), 5 . 64 g oligomer ( prepared according to u . s . pat . no . 4 , 228 , 232 and 60 . 9 % in methyl ethyl ketone ), 0 . 30 triethylamine , and 14 . 88 g a 1 : 1 mixture of polyvinyl acetate - methylal resin (&# 34 ; formvar &# 34 ; 12 / 85t , union carbide corp .) and red pigment ( pigment red 48 , c . i . 15865 ) ( 9 . 4 % by weight solution of the azeotrope ). to 2 . 5 g of this solution was added 2 . 5 mg dimethylaminobenzylacetone ( dmba ), 10 mg initiator , and the resulting solution was shaken in the dark for 15 minutes . the solution was filtered through glass wool and coated onto a grained , anodized aluminum plate with a # 12 mayer bar . the plate was dried at 66 ° c . for two minutes and cooled to room temperature . over this coating was applied a topcoat formulation ( prepared from 5 . 00 g carboxymethyl cellulose ether ( cmc - 7l ), 0 . 26 g surfactant (&# 34 ; triton &# 34 ; x - 100 ) ( 10 % in water ), and 95 . 00 g water ) with a # 14 mayer bar . the coating was carefully dried with a heat gun . the plates were exposed for five seconds in air on top of a draw - down glass in a 3m seventy exposure unit equipped with a 2 kw photopolymer bulb through a √ 2 , 21 step stouffer step tablet . the plates were soaked in developer solution prepared from 784 . 40 g deionized water , 16 . 70 g sodium metasilicate pentahydrate , 33 . 40 g 1 - propanol , and 0 . 50 g surfactant (&# 34 ; dowfax - 2al &# 34 ;, dow chemical company ) ( 45 % solution in water ) for 15 sec and rubbed 10 times with a 4 × 4 &# 34 ; cotton pad . the relative sensitivities for the triazines of examples 1 - 5 are shown in table 2 . table 2______________________________________ initiator solid step______________________________________ example 1 12 example 2 13 example 3 13 example 4 11 example 5 8______________________________________ various modifications and alterations of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention , and it should be understood that this invention is not to be unduly limited to the illustrated embodiments set forth herein . | 6 |
referring now to the attached drawings , a magnetic sensor according to the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail . fig1 is an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the magnetic sensor according to the present invention and fig2 is a cross sectional view thereof taken along a plane perpendicular to a central axis o -- o in the assembled state of the magnetic sensor . in fig1 and 2 , reference numeral 1 generally designates an annular primary winding assembly . reference numerals 21 and 21 &# 39 ; designate secondary winding bobbins of cylindrical shell shape which are used to secure the primary winding assembly 1 therebetween . both of the secondary winding bobbins 21 and 21 &# 39 ; are symmetrical relative to the primary winding assembly member 1 . the primary winding assembly 1 comprises an annular iron core 110 secured within an annular primary winding bobbin 121 having a c - shaped cross section . this primary winding bobbin 121 is provided with a plurality of protrusions , for example , six members 141 to 146 each having the same dimension and the same shape . these protrusions 141 to 146 are respectively located on the circumference of the primary winding bobbin 121 with an equal spacing such that they are arranged in parallel to the central axis o -- o and that they extend to the right - hand side direction in fig1 . a bobbin lid 122 , for the primary winding bobbin 121 , is formed as an annular shape similar to that of the bobbin 121 being also provided with six protruding portions 141 &# 39 ; to 146 &# 39 ; each having the same dimension and the same shape as protrusions 141 - 146 . these protruding portions 141 &# 39 ; to 146 &# 39 ; are located , spaced uniformly about the circumference of the bobbin lid 122 , in such a manner that they are arranged in parallel to the central axis o -- o and that they extend in the left - hand side direction of fig1 the bobbin lid 122 is attached to the primary winding bobbin 121 in such a fashion that its extending portions 141 &# 39 ; to 146 &# 39 ; and the extending portions 141 to 146 of the primary winding bobbin 121 coincide with one another as shown in fig1 . primary windings 131 to 136 are wound around the bobbin 121 and the bobbin lid 122 as a unitary body between the pairs of protruding portions with the equal number of turns and in the same direction . thus , the primary winding assembly member 1 is formed . both of the secondary winding bobbins 21 and 21 &# 39 ; are respectively provided with concentrically annular grooves 210 at their bottoms . the diameters of the annular groove 210 and its annular side walls 211 and 212 are selected such that when the primary winding assembly 1 is secured between both of the secondary winding bobbins 21 and 21 &# 39 ;, the arc section of the protruding portions 141 to 146 and 141 &# 39 ; to 146 &# 39 ; of the primary winding assembly 1 are each placed in contact with at least one of the annular side walls 211 and 212 of the annular grooves 210 of both the bobbins 21 and 21 &# 39 ;. it is not particularly necessary to provide a side wall which does not contact with the above mentioned arc section . further , a depth h 1 of each annular groove has a depth h 1 ; each of the protruding portions 141 to 146 of the primary winding bobbin 121 has a length l ; parallel to the central axis o -- o , and , each of the protruding portions 141 &# 39 ; to 146 &# 39 ; of the bobbin lid 122 has a protruding length l 2 parallel to the central axis o -- o 0 l 1 = l 2 , are selected to be larger than the thickness of the primary winding , taking the diameter of the conductive lines of the primary winding 1 and the number of layers of the winding into consideration . further , the depth h 2 from an opening end face 220 of each of the secondary winding bobbins 21 to 21 &# 39 ; to the bottom of each annular groove 210 is selected to be slightly smaller than one half of a length between both end faces of each pair of protruding portions 141 to 146 and 141 &# 39 ; to 146 &# 39 ; respectively in the direction of the central axis o -- o . the primary winding assembly 1 is assembled to the secondary winding bobbins 21 and 21 &# 39 ; in such a manner that the centers of the protruding portions 141 to 146 to 141 &# 39 ; to 146 &# 39 ; provided in the primary winding bobbin 121 and the bobbin lid 122 coincide with centers of the same number of secondary winding partitioning protrusions 241 to 246 and 241 &# 39 ; to 246 &# 39 ; provided in the secondary winding bobbins 21 to 21 &# 39 ;. the secondary windings 261 to 266 are wound around compartment 231 to 236 and 231 &# 39 ; to 236 &# 39 ;, each being defined between the adjacent protrusions of the secondary winding bobbins 21 to 21 &# 39 ;, with an equal number of turns ( see fig3 ). the pairs of opposing secondary windings 261 , 264 ; 262 , 265 ; and 263 , 266 are respectively connected with opposite polarity to the excited magnetic flux and each of the three pairs of the secondary winding 261 , 264 ; 262 , 265 ; and 263 , 266 in a star ( wye ) or delta circuit fashion . the lengths of the secondary winding compartments 231 to 236 and 231 &# 39 ; to 236 &# 39 ; on the circumferences of the bobbins 21 and 21 &# 39 ;, that is , the lengths of the arcs thereof are selected to be equal to one another and also arranged with an equal spacing therebetween . fig3 a is a side view of the magnetic sensor constructed as described above and fig3 b is a cross - sectional view taken along a line b -- b in fig3 a . while in the above mentioned embodiment the magnetic sensor of the present invention is a 3 - phase winding structure in which the secondary windings opposed to each other across the central axis o -- o are connected with opposite polarity to the excited magnetic flux as one pair and the secondary winding is wound around the primary winding , the present invention is not limited to the above mentioned embodiment . it is needless to say that this invention can be applied to a magnetic sensor having a plurality of phases , such as a 2 - phase or more than 4 - phases and the invention is not limited to a magnetic sensor in which the above mentioned opposing two windings are paired as the secondary windings , but also can be applied to a magnetic sensor in which a single winding is wound around the diameter of the annular iron core as the secondary winding . alternately , the present invention can be applied to a magnetic sensor of a type in which the primary winding is provided outside the secondary winding with the same effect . according to the first embodiment of the present invention , each annular primary winding bobbin and bobbin lid , incorporating therebetween the annular iron core and around which the primary winding is wound is divided by the plurality of equally spaced protrusions and the primary winding is uniformly wound around each of the divided portions . it is easy to uniformly wind the winding around such small portions except the whole periphery of the annular iron core . accordingly , as a series of connections thereof , the primary winding can be uniformly wound around the whole periphery of the annular iron core , that is , the primary winding bobbin . as a result , the azimuth error of the magnetic sensor can be reduced . further , since the primary winding assembly and the secondary winding bobbin can be assembled with the predetermined positional relation therebetween , the plurality of secondary windings can be wound around not only the primary winding , but also each of the secondary winding bobbins with the accurate positional relation . thus , in respect of such aspect , it is possible to reduce the error of the magnetic sensor . furthermore , since the distance from the bottom of the annular grooves 210 of both the secondary winding bobbins 21 and 21 &# 39 ; to its opening end face 220 , ( ie : the depth 2 . h2 ), is selected to be slightly smaller than the length between both the free ends of the respective protrusions of the primary winding bobbin 121 and the corresponding protrusions of the bobbin lid 122 , then if the secondary winding is wound around both the secondary winding bobbins , the primary winding assembly member can be more positively supported by both of the secondary winding bobbins . fig4 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment of the magnetic sensor according to the present invention and fig5 is a cross - sectional view taken along a plane vertical to the central axis o -- o of the magnetic sensor shown in fig4 when it is assembled . fig6 a is a side view of the magnetic sensor when it is assembled and further fig6 b is a cross - sectional view taken along a line b - b in fig6 a . throughout fig4 to 6 , like parts corresponding to those of fig1 to 3 are marked with the same references and the overlapping explanations thereof will be omitted . in this second embodiment as shown in fig4 to 6 , reference numerals 251 to 256 and 251 &# 39 ; to 256 &# 39 ; respectively designate slots which are formed on the side surfaces of the respective protrusions 241 to 246 and 241 &# 39 ; to 246 &# 39 ; of the annular secondary winding bobbins 21 to 21 &# 39 ; at their substantially central portions . after the primary winding assembly 1 is incorporated between both the secondary winding bobbins 21 and 21 &# 39 ; and the secondary windings 261 to 266 are wound therearound as described above , correcting windings 271 , 272 , . . . 276 are wound around the corresponding slots 251 , 251 &# 39 ;; 252 , 252 &# 39 ;; . . . 256 , 256 &# 39 ; of both the secondary winding bobbins 21 and 21 &# 39 ;. the three parts of the secondary windings 261 , 264 ; 262 , 265 ; and 263 , 266 connected with the opposite polarity as set forth above to the excited magnetic flux , are respectively taken as the secondary windings a , b , and c . assuming that the input axis of the secondary winder a is displaced in the clockwise direction , relative to the desired direction in , for example , fig6 a , then the azimuth accuracy of the magnetic sensor cannot satisfy its required value . then , according to the prior art method , the second winding a must be wound again . however , according to the present invention , the secondary winding a or the secondary windings 261 and 264 , may be respectively connected to a pair of opposing correction windings 276 and 273 located at one side thereof in the counter - clockwise direction , resulting , for example , in the displacement of the input axis direction of the secondary winder a in the counter - clockwise direction from the initial direction . in this simple manner the input axis of the secondary winding a may be corrected . when , on the contrary , the input axis of the secondary winding a is displaced in the counter - clockwise direction relative to the desired direction , the correction windings 271 and 274 are respectively connected to the secondary windings 261 and 264 . the input axis direction of the secondary winding a is displaced to the clockwise direction from the direction before the correction winding is connected thereto . thus , the input axis direction of the secondary winding a can be corrected similarly as described above . with respect to other secondary windings b and c , by properly selecting the adjacent correction windings and connecting them thereto , it is possible to correct the input axis directions thereof . although not shown , the secondary windings 261 to 266 in this case are respectively provided with intermediate taps , and the positions thereof are selected so that the effective number of turns of the secondary windings are not changed before and after the connection of the correction windings 271 to 276 thereto . by selecting the number of turns of the correction windings 271 to 276 in relation to the number of turns of the secondary windings 261 to 266 so as to base the displacement of the magnetic azimuth on the resulting displacement of the input axis of the secondary winding twice the tolerable magnetic azimuth error , the tolerable magnetic azimuth error becomes three times its equivalent . consequently , according to the magnetic sensor of the invention , the yield thereof can be increased considerably as compared with the prior art magnetic sensor of this kind . further , the above - mentioned intermediate taps provided at the secondary windings can be used to adjust the sensitivity of each of the secondary windings ( to correct the unbalance of the sensitivity among the secondary windings a , b , and c , etc .). furthermore , if the correction windings are connected properly , it is possible to adjust the sensitivity of the secondary winding without displacing the input axis thereof substantially . in addition , the intermediate taps provided at the secondary windings and the correction windings can also be used as the balance adjustment ( zero adjustment ) of the respective secondary windings a , b , and c . referring to fig7 and 8 , further embodiment of the magnetic sensor according to the present invention will be described hereinafter . fig7 is a circuit diagram of a main portion of the third embodiment of the magnetic sensor according to the present invention . in fig7 reference numerals 281 , 282 , and 283 respectively designate secondary windings connected in a star - fashion and corresponding to the secondary winding pairs 261 , 264 ; 262 , 265 ; and 263 , 266 of the magnetic sensor shown , for example , in fig3 . the secondary windings 281 to 283 are each connected to a common point 0 1 . in the third embodiment of the invention , instead of the correction windings 271 to 276 of the magnetic sensor shown in fig4 to 6 , gain adjusting means 291 , 292 , and 293 such as variable resistors and the like are connected in parallel to the secondary windings 281 to 283 , respectively . sliding contacts 291a , 292a , and 293a of the respective connected to free ends of resistors 301 , 302 and 303 which are connected in a star fashion in order to provide a neutral point o &# 39 ; and the sliding contacts 291a , 292a , and 293a are also connected to output terminals a , b , and c . a common connection point o 2 of the resistors 301 and 303 becomes the above mentioned neutral point o &# 39 ;. the total resistance value of each of the gain adjusting means 291 to 293 are made equal to one another , and the resistance values of the resistors 301 to 303 are made equal to one another . though not shown in fig7 the winding method of the primary winding assembly , the secondary winding and so on in the illustrated example of fig7 are similar to those of the examples shown in fig1 to 6 . in this embodiment of the present invention the correction windings and the slots used therefor shown in fig4 to 6 are not provided , respectively . fig8 is a schematic representation used to explain that the output signals of the above - mentioned secondary windings 281 to 283 can be equivalently made as a 3 - phase output signal spatially balanced by the adjustment of the gain adjusting means 291 to 293 . in the circuit arrangement shown in fig7 the gains and the input axis directions of the secondary windings 281 , 282 , and 283 are expressed by the lengths and the directions of o &# 39 ; 1 a , o &# 39 ; 1 b and o &# 39 ; 1 c in fig8 respectively . in this case , the gains thereof and so on are displaced from the desired values . if , therefore , the gains of the secondary windings 281 to 283 are made to o &# 39 ; 1 a , o &# 39 ; 1 b and o &# 39 ; hd 1c by the adjusting means 291 to 293 , it is possible to obtain o &# 39 ; 2 a , o &# 39 ; 2 b and o &# 39 ; 2 c which are the same in magnitude and different in direction by 102 ° each . this is the equivalent to the case in which three secondary windings having an equal gain are located such that their input axes are located with an angular spacing of 102 ° ( equal angular spacing ) between adjacent ones . in fig8 the point o &# 39 ; 1 is equal to the common connection point 0 1 of the secondary windings 281 to 283 in potential , while a point o &# 39 ; 2 is a virtual and neutral point which is equal to the point o 2 shown in fig7 in potential . further , in the prior art system , since the scattering of the magnetization characteristic of the iron core becomes the scattering of the scale factor of the magnetic sensor , the iron core must be selected strictly in accordance with the way that the magnetic sensor is used . however , according to the third embodiment of the invention , even if the magnetization characteristic of the iron core is a little scattered , it is possible to afford a uniform scale factor of the magnetic sensor without the scattering . while in the above - mentioned embodiments the magnetic sensor has a 3 - phase winding structure , it is needless to say that this invention is not limited to a 3 - phase structure but can be applied to a magnetic sensor in which a secondary winding has a 2 - phase winding structure or even more than a 4 - phase structure . further , the circuit arrangement of the secondary winding is not limited to a connection in star ( wye ) fashion , but an annular connection may be used . also , the connection of the gain adjusting means is not limited to the star fashion connection , but the annular connection method may be used , similarly . the secondary winding is connected in an annular fashion , and the gain adjusting means is connected in a star fashion with the similar effect being achieved . further , the neutral point can be removed but may be provided by the use if necessary . furthermore , as the gain adjusting means , in addition to the variable resistor , there can be used a potentiometer or a combination of a fixed resistor , a variable resistor and the like . in addition , an amplifier with a gain adjusting function and the like can be used as the gain adjusting means . according to the third embodiment of the invention as set forth above , by the adjustment of the gain adjusting means provided at each secondary winding , the output signal of the secondary winding can be equivalently made as a multi - phase output signal which is balanced in space , the magnetic azimuth error can be corrected , and the high magnetic azimuth precision can be obtained . according to the former embodiments of the present invention , there are required very cumbersome and complex means for separating the causes of the magnetic azimuth error into a cause made by the input axis ( angle between the input axes ) and a cause made by the difference of gains of the respective windings and further . there is a significant defect in that the amount of the magnetic azimuth error which can be corrected by the prior art is discontinuous ( discrete ) and so on . however , according to the third embodiment of the present invention , it is not necessary to separate the causes of error , and also the amount of error to be corrected is successive so that the adjustment having a high accuracy can be carried out with ease . the above - mentioned effects achieved by the invention brought about the reduction of the manufacturing process . furthermore , the correction winding becomes unnecessary , and , hence , this can reduce the manufacturing cost considerably . in addition , it is possible to afford a uniform scale factor of the magnetic sensor without scattering . the above description is given on the preferred embodiments of the invention , but it will be apparent that many modifications and variations could be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirits or scope of the novel concepts of the invention so that the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims only . | 6 |
fig1 is a block diagram illustrating a bus switch system 100 having switched outputs to devices in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the bus switch system 100 includes bus sources 102 a and 102 b , buses 104 a and 104 b , bus select logic 106 a , 106 b and 106 c , switches 108 a , 108 b and 108 c and devices 110 a , 110 b and 110 c . in one embodiment of the present invention , the bus switch system 100 is part of one or more bridges ( e . g ., pci bridge ) in an input / output ( i / o ) controller in a computer system ( e . g ., personal computer ). the present invention is not limited to assignment of buses to i / o devices . rather , the present invention is also applicable to assignment of memory elements in a chip to one or more buses based on the memory requirements of an application or task . also , multiple processors on a die can be switched into different groupings to one or more buses depending on the resource requirements of software threads , algorithms and / or the like . traffic in a switched fabric of buses can also be adjusted periodically to optimize throughput or power consumption . the specific configurations described here and shown in the figures are example embodiments of the present invention . other configurations are possible , including configurations having more or fewer bus sources , buses , bus select logic , switches and devices . referring still to fig1 , bus sources 102 a and 102 b are coupled to the devices 110 a , 110 b and 110 c via the switches 108 a , 108 b and 108 c . the bus sources 102 a and 102 b ( e . g ., processor , memory ) provide various data and / or other information to at least one of the devices 110 a , 110 b and 110 c depending on the respective states of the switches 108 a , 108 b and 108 c . buses 104 a and 104 b can be any type of internal bus , including but not limited to peripheral component interconnect ( pci ) buses , well known in the art . the devices 110 a , 110 b and 110 c can be any kind of device , including but not limited to a device controller , firewire ™, uata , sata , usb and ethernet devices . the devices 110 a , 110 b and 110 c may be adapted to connect to external devices . a variety of switches 108 a , 108 b and 108 c can be used with the present invention including conventional 2 : 1 and 1 : 2 cmos switches shown in fig1 and 2 . bus select logic 106 a , 106 b and 106 c are used to control the states of the switches 108 a , 108 b and 108 c , respectively . depending upon the desired bus assignment , each of the switches 108 a , 108 b and 108 c passes data from bus 104 a or bus 104 b to devices 110 a , 110 b and 110 c . in one embodiment , the bus select logic 106 a , 106 b and 106 c are implemented as one or more registers containing one or more bits indicative of the states of the switches 108 a , 108 b and 108 c . for example in the embodiment illustrated in fig1 , a register contains three bits . each bit is assigned to one of the switches 108 a , 108 b and 108 c and has one of two possible logic values : “ 0 ” and “ 1 .” if the most significant bit is “ 0 ”, then traffic from bus 104 a is passed through switch 108 a to device 110 a . if the most significant bit is “ 1 ”, the traffic from bus 104 b will be passed through switch 108 a to device 110 a . the same logic can be applied to switches 108 b and 108 c . table 1 below illustrates one example of bus assignments for the configuration shown in fig1 . thus , for example , if the value of the bits in the register is “ 101 ” then device 2 110 b receives data from bus source 1 102 a , while devices 1 and 3 110 a , 110 c receive data from bus source 2 102 b . during development , the register bits can be determined based on experiments and observations of how the devices 110 a , 110 b and 110 c and buses 104 a and 104 b behave with different configurations . thus , the register bits can advantageously determine selection of a particular bus for connection with each device before the bus and its associated devices are enumerated . the register bit values can be loaded in a single register coupled to the switches 108 a , 108 b and 108 c or , alternatively , each switch 108 a , 108 b and 108 c can be coupled to its own register . the registers can be loaded automatically during , for example , system boot - up or from disk or downloaded from a network . in one embodiment , the register bits are selected via a system configuration file or user interface designed for such purpose . fig2 is a block diagram illustrating switched inputs to devices , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . buses 204 a and 204 b are coupled to bus sources 202 a and 202 b , respectively . input data and other information generated by external devices are received by devices 210 a , 210 b and 210 c . bus selection logic 206 a , 206 b and 206 c are coupled to three - state buffers 208 a , 208 b and 208 c , respectively , to select which of buses 204 a and 204 b will receive the traffic . note that the depiction of buffers 208 a , 208 b and 208 c and muxes 108 a , 108 b and 108 c in fig1 is meant to illustrate that any suitable logic device can be used to route information to the selected bus . here again , in a preferred embodiment each bit in a register is assigned to one of the switches 208 a , 208 b and 208 c . if the most significant bit is “ 0 ”, then traffic from device 210 a is passed through switch 208 a onto bus 204 a and to bus source 1 202 a . if the most significant bit is “ 1 ”, the traffic from device 210 a will be passed through switch 208 a onto bus 204 b and to bus source 2 202 b . table 2 below illustrates one example of bus assignments for the configuration shown in fig2 . thus , for example , if the value of the bits in the register is “ 101 ” then bus source 1 202 a receives data from device 2 210 b , while bus source 2 202 b receives data from devices 1 and 3 210 a , 210 c . referring now to fig3 , dynamic bus assignment in a preferred embodiment proceeds as follows . first , the operating system monitors 302 activity on buses 104 a , 104 b . logic and a method for measuring bus activity are described below with respect to fig4 and fig5 . if the bus activity is 304 balanced , the operating system returns to step 302 and checks the activity for balance again after a predetermined amount of time . in one embodiment , the os is continually monitoring activity on the buses , while in alternative embodiments activity may be checked once a minute , once every five minutes , or at any other frequency determined to be appropriate . if the activity is not balanced , then the operating system chooses 306 a device 110 on a busier bus that should be moved to a more idle bus . if the busier bus has only one device , moving the device to another bus will not increase performance . if the busier bus has more than one device , in a preferred embodiment , the operating system determines a ranking of which devices are generating the most bus traffic , for example by examining the frequency of updating dma instructions . if the difference between traffic on two buses is small , then the device generating the least traffic on the busy bus is moved to the less busy bus . alternatively , if the difference between traffic on the two buses is large , then the device generating the second most traffice is moved instead . those of skill in the art will appreciate that where a bus has more devices , an optimal selection of a device to move can be made by selecting device that is the third - most - busy , fourth - most - busy , etc . for this example , assume that the chosen devices 110 a and 110 c are currently on bus 104 b , which is determined to be busier than bus 104 a . device 110 a is determined to be generating less traffic than device 110 c . therefore , the operating system will choose to move device 110 a from bus 104 b to 104 a . the operating system next tells 308 a driver for the chosen device , here device 110 a , to complete any current operations underway and to stop all future operations . the operating system then waits to receive 310 a message from the driver indicating that the device is idle , and then transmits 312 to the driver the new address for the device . the operating system then configures 314 the device for its new address , at which point the device 110 a will no longer respond on its original bus 104 b . the operating system then instructs 316 the bus select logic 106 a to switch the device 110 a to the new bus , bus 104 a . bus selection logic 106 a waits until both buses 104 a , 104 b are idle , and then reconfigures 318 switch 108 a to indicate that device 110 a is on bus 104 a . bus select logic 106 a then sends 320 a message to the operating system indicating that the switch from bus 104 b to 104 a is complete . the operating system then configures 322 bus sources 102 a , 102 b for device 110 a &# 39 ; s new location , and instructs 324 the driver for device 110 a to resume operation using the new address . referring now to fig4 , there is shown an illustration of a logic for detecting bus activity in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the example illustrated in fig4 depicts a pci bus , but other buses with other signaling schemes can also be used , as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art . fig4 includes an idle counter 402 and idle latch 404 ; and a time counter 406 and time latch 408 . bus clock 410 runs constantly , and can be used as a way of counting time . frame_l or irdy_l are asserted ( driven low ) for the duration of any transaction on the bus . the time counter 406 counts the bus clock 410 at all times , while the idle counter 402 counts the bus clock 410 only when no bus transaction is taking place . fig5 illustrates a method for detecting bus activity using the logic illustrated in fig4 . first , the idle count is read 502 , which latches both counts in latches 404 , 408 , returns the value in the idle latch 404 , and then resets both counters 402 , 406 with a pulse . next , the time count is read 504 , which returns the value in the time latch 408 , and then opens both latches . the counters are now initialized . after waiting 505 some time interval , t , the operating system again reads 506 the idle count and 508 the time count as described above . a ratio of the idle count to the time count is determined 510 , which gives the fraction of time the bus has been idle during the time interval t . t is preferably chosen such that counts are large enough to provide a meaningful indicator of average activity , but small enough that the time counter will not overflow . in one embodiment , steps 505 - 510 are repeated in a loop in order to provide constant monitoring of the system . in an alternative embodiment , once the buses are balanced , the loop terminates , and steps 502 - 510 are repeated at some periodic interval , such as one minute . the ability to move devices dynamically between buses allows for a tradeoff to be made between system performance and power consumption . allocating devices to different buses in order to balance the activity on each bus , as described above with reference to fig3 , improves system performance because the total available bus bandwidth across all the buses can be better exploited . on the other hand , since keeping a bus active requires additional power , turning off the clocks to the various bridges on an idle bus ( or a bus that has been made idle by shifting all of its devices to other buses ) reduces power consumption , which is useful for mobile and other power - sensitive users . the present invention allows dynamic shifting of devices between buses in order to suit the current environment of a user . for example , a user of a laptop computer that is plugged in to electrical power may favor system performance over decreased power consumption , but when she is no longer connected to an external power source , she may instead prefer the reverse . in a preferred embodiment , a user - changeable setting in the operating system allows the user to specify her preference for power consumption versus system performance . in one embodiment , this preference is expressed as a sliding scale , while in another embodiment , predefined profiles such as “ mobile user ” or “ desktop user ” can be selected from . also in an alternative embodiment , the preferences can be adjusted at the bios level , instead of at the operating system level . the present invention has been described in particular detail with respect to a limited number of embodiments . those of skill in the art will appreciate that the invention may additionally be practiced in other embodiments . first , the particular naming of the components , capitalization of terms , the attributes , data structures , or any other programming or structural aspect is not mandatory or significant , and the mechanisms that implement the invention or its features may have different names , formats , or protocols . further , the system may be implemented via a combination of hardware and software , as described , or entirely in hardware elements . also , the particular division of functionality between the various system components described herein is merely exemplary , and not mandatory ; functions performed by a single system component may instead be performed by multiple components , and functions performed by multiple components may instead performed by a single component . for example , the particular functions of bus selection logic 106 and so forth may be provided in many or one module . some portions of the above description present the features of the present invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information . these algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the computer bus design arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art . these operations , while described functionally or logically , are understood to be implemented by computer programs . furthermore , it has also proven convenient at times , to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules or code devices , without loss of generality . it should be borne in mind , however , that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities . unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the present discussion , it is appreciated that throughout the description , discussions utilizing terms such as “ processing ” or “ computing ” or “ calculating ” or “ determining ” or “ displaying ” or the like , refer to the action and processes of a computer system , or similar electronic computing device , that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical ( electronic ) quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage , transmission or display devices . certain aspects of the present invention include process steps and instructions described herein in the form of an algorithm . it should be noted that the process steps and instructions of the present invention could be embodied in software , firmware or hardware , and when embodied in software , could be downloaded to reside on and be operated from different platforms used by real time network operating systems . the present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations herein . this apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes , or it may comprise a general - purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer . such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium , such as , but is not limited to , any type of disk including floppy disks , optical disks , cd - roms , magnetic - optical disks , read - only memories ( roms ), random access memories ( rams ), eproms , eeproms , magnetic or optical cards , application specific integrated circuits ( asics ), or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions , and each coupled to a computer system bus . furthermore , the computers referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability . the algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus . various general - purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein , or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps . the required structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description above . in addition , the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language . it is appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the present invention as described herein , and any references to specific languages are provided for disclosure of enablement and best mode of the present invention . finally , it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes , and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter . accordingly , the disclosure of the present invention is intended to be illustrative , but not limiting , of the scope of the invention . | 8 |
referring to fig1 an arrester 10 is shown that includes a fracturable housing 12 such as of porcelain which contains an assemblage of arrester components 14 including , for example , valve blocks and spark gaps or metal oxide discs in accordance with known practice located between a line terminal 16 and a ground terminal 18 . a disconnector device 20 is disposed in association with the arrester 10 between the arrester components 14 and the ground terminal 18 . the disconnector 20 includes a disconnector cup 22 which is of a fracturable insulating material for which plastic materials such as melamine are suitable as well as other materials . a portion 22a of the cup 22 is a relatively thin wall that locates where the cup will fracture . the disconnector cup 22 has a rim 22b sealed to the lower extremity of the porcelain housing 12 of the arrester 10 . in this embodiment there is a metal flange 24 that extends around and secures the arrester housing 12 and the disconnector cup rim 22b . there is also a bottom seal gasket 26 in the form of a ring disposed between the housing members 12 and 22 and a metal seal plate 28 that extends across the end of arrester enclosure 12 and has an electrical connection 30 with the arrester components 14 . an o - ring seal 32 or the like is disposed between the seal plate 28 and the disconnector cup rim 22b . within the disconnector cup there is an insulating support and gap spacer 34 of insulating material such as the same material used for the disconnector cup . the insulating support 34 has a central recess 34a and aperture 34b . the recess 34a supports a metal walled gas cylinder 36 , containing a dielectric gas such as co 2 . the upper end of gas cylinder 36 is located within a recess of the metal seal plate 28 and has a conductive pressure engagement therewith . the ground terminal 18 , in the form of a threaded stud , is located through an aperture 22c of the disconnector cup 22 and has a head 18a in sealed relationship thereto as by the o - ring seal 38 shown . between the head 18a of the ground stud 18 and the end 36a of the gas cylinder 36 there is a spark gap 40 with those two elements serving as electrodes thereof . the end portion 36a of the gas cylinder adjacent the spark gap 40 is the seal point of the gas cylinder 36 providing a tip serving as a good spark gap electrode and also reliably releasing the gas directly into the spark gap upon a predetermined pressure buildup of that gas . a resistor r is connected between seal plate 28 and ground terminal head 18a , electrically in parallel with spark gap 40 . resistor r conducts leakage current during steady state operation . for higher impulse or short circuit currents the voltage ( i × r ) across the parallel combination of resistor r and spark gap 40 builds to a level sufficient to cause spark gap 40 to sparkover . resistor r may take various forms , such as the one shown for the flexible grading resistor of above - mentioned u . s . pat . no . 3 , 679 , 938 . in operation , when the arrester 10 operates normally , fault current is conducted through the arrester components 14 , the metal seal plate 28 , the wall of the gas cylinder 36 , the spark gap 40 , to the ground stud 18 . such operation inherently causes a gas pressure buildup in the housing 12 which can be safely sustained up to a limit . before the gas pressure reaches a level which endangers the structural integrity of the housing 12 , the dielectric gas pressure in the gas cylinder 36 exceeds its limit causing release of the dielectric gas therein . preferably this occurs at the cylinder seal 36a immediately adjacent the spark gap so that conduction of the spark gap is almost immediately extinguished , either before , with or immediately after the co 2 gas pressure fractures the disconnector cup 22 to separate the ground terminal 18 from the unit . a modified version of the device is shown in fig1 b that has advantages over that of fig1 a . in fig1 b , the gas cylinder 36 is sized in relation to the seal plate 28 and the spacer 34 so there is a space 29 between the gas cylinder and the seal plate . the space 29 accommodates a spring 31 that is in compression between plate 28 and cylinder 36 . the cylinder 36 rests on cup 22 as in fig1 a . spring 31 is electrically conductive and connects the parts 28 and 36 . the coiled spring 31 shown is illustrative of the use of a spring although other forms of spring , and other forms of maintaining a conductive path between parts 28 and 36 , may be used . one advantage of the embodiment of fig1 b is that the spring 31 much reduces the need for close tolerances in the dimensions of plate 28 , cylinder 36 and spacer 34 , when while assuring good electrical contact . another advantage is that under fault current conditions , the rupture of cylinder 36 at the seal 36a causes gas to be expelled , the cylinder 36 lifts and compresses the spring 31 . this results in a lengthening of the arc in spark gap 40 . the lengthening of the spark gap 40 makes the extinguishing of an arc in the gap 40 easier . the operation of the device is illustrated by the curves of fig2 and 3 . in fig2 results are shown with a prior art disconnector in accordance with the aforementioned patent that includes an explosive cartridge of a 0 . 290 brass sleeve ( 22 caliber cartridge ). curve a shows the waveform of the a . c . source voltage which in the test conducted was equal to 2400 volts rms . curve b shows the waveform of the a . c . short circuit which in the test conducted was a fault current that reached the magnitude of 1114 amperes rms . curve c shows the arc voltage in the spark gap of the disconnector . curve d shows a dc voltage trace established to indicate the breaking of the disconnector cup in this laboratory test . the curves show that over a duration x of about 21 / 2 cycles short circuit conduction occurred before the disconnector cup broke ( at the step in curve d ). after the disconnector cup broke the current conduction ( b ) and arc voltage ( c ) continued for a duration y of about 8 cycles before the circuit was manually opened by a technician . this illustrates that during that appreciable period and longer there can be continuing buildup of pressure within the porcelain housing of the arrester that could result in its rupture . in fig3 similar curves are shown in parts a , b , c and d for an embodiment of the present invention in accordance with fig1 b . the source voltage of curve a is the same as in fig3 . in curve b the short circuit current is shown which had a similar value of 1114 amperes rms with a total current flow of only about two cycles , and , as shown in curve d , there was a duration x &# 39 ; of only 3 / 4 of one cycle before the disconnector cup 22 broke . the arc voltage is shown to be continued for a duration y &# 39 ; of only another 11 / 4 cycles . after the current was interrupted , the arc extinguished , the dropout fell away and full voltage appeared at which time the technician manually opened the circuit . it is thus shown that with the invention the current is interrupted and the arc is extinguished almost immediately without having to wait for some source side protective device to operate . thus , less energy is put into the arrester housing 12 and the probability of shattering is greatly reduced . also , when the disconnector 20 clears the fault itself , wear and tear on the system and its protective equipment is reduced . in some instances during lab tests , the fault current was extinguished even before the disconnector cup 22 ruptured . the cup 22 subsequently ruptured as pressure continued to increase due to release of gas from cylinder 36 , thus serving to give a visible indication the arrester has failed . it is thus shown that a marked improvement in disconnector operation can be provided for greater assurance against arrester housing shattering by the utilization of a gas cylinder that releases the gas that extinguishes the arc that is otherwise supported and maintained by the ionized gas of the prior art explosive cartridge disconnectors . it will be apparent that the physical arrangement of the elements of the invention may vary from that shown and described herein in accordance with the general teachings of this invention . | 7 |
fig1 shows a foil thrust bearing 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention . the bearing 10 generally comprises the components of a thrust runner 11 , a thrust bearing disk 14 , an underspring element or thrust bearing stiffener 22 , and a thrust plate 28 . the above components are typically constructed of nickel - based alloys . while various applications for the bearing 10 are within the scope of the present invention , the bearing 10 is considered to have particular benefit in high speed rotating machinery , such as turbo - generators and turbocompressors . in more particularly describing a first embodiment of the present invention , it can be seen in fig1 that the thrust runner 11 is engaged to a rotating shaft 12 , thereby causing the runner 11 to rotate in the direction of the arrow shown in fig1 . the runner 11 includes a runner surface 13 that faces opposite a bearing surface 15 of the thrust plate 28 . intermediate the runner 11 and thrust plate 28 is the thrust bearing disk 14 and an underspring 22 . in this embodiment of the present invention ( fig2 ), the bearing disk 14 has an overall stepped configuration and is of the type shown in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 624 , 583 . however , in contrast to u . s . pat . no . 4 , 624 , 583 , a plurality of bearing pads or foils 16 in the present invention are not integrally formed with the bearing disk 14 . instead , the pads 16 are separately formed and affixed along one side ( e . g ., a leading edge 17 as discussed below ) to the bearing disk 14 , such as by welding . a similar pad construction is shown in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 668 , 106 . but the use of separately formed pads 16 for the bearing disk shown in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 624 , 583 is , in fact , opposite to the teaching therein . specifically , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 624 , 583 teaches that it is disadvantageous to use individual foils or pads ( col . 1 , lines 43 to col . 2 , line 17 ), at least from a cost perspective . as depicted in fig2 each of the separately formed pads 16 are substantially annular sector in shape , although other shapes may be employed such as trapezoidal . the surface of the foils 16 can have a slight crown ( fig5 ) or can be relatively flat ( fig6 ) depending upon the desired operating characteristics . the pads 16 are circumferentially positioned about the entire surface of the bearing disk 14 that faces the runner surface 13 . thereby , each pad 16 is described by a leading edge 17 and a trailing edge 19 , as the runner 11 rotates in the direction shown in fig1 . while the present embodiment shows the pads 16 as being substantially equidistant from one another in a circumferential direction , the present invention envisions that unequal spacing may be used . further , even though fig2 depicts ten ( 10 ) pads 16 being employed , the present invention envisions that more or less than ten pads 16 may be useful . in contrast to the embodiment of fig2 the pads or foils 16 can be alternately positioned with a plurality of slots 18 in the bearing disk 14 , as seen in the alternative embodiment shown in fig4 . accordingly , and for such alternative embodiment , one pad 16 is alternately positioned with one slot 18 . the function of the slots 18 is to allow a substantially unrestricted flow of fluid ( i . e ., air ) to pass through the bearing disk 14 and form a fluid film between the runner surface 13 and the bearing surface 15 . in this alternative embodiment , all of the slots 18 are of an l - shaped configuration . yet , it can be appreciated that all of the slots 18 can be of other configurations , such as u - shaped . further , the slots 18 need not be of the same configuration , and can be varied from one another . additionally , a plurality of radially aligned holes or slots may be used to form the slots 18 . in referring again to the embodiment of the thrust bearing disk 14 shown in fig1 and 2 , surface ramps or transition areas 30 extend between adjacent foils 16 . overall , the ramps 30 provide the bearing disk with a stepped configuration . the individual ramps 30 have a diverging configuration when viewed from an outer diameter of the bearing disk 14 and to an inner diameter . the diverging configuration is due to the converging configuration of the foils 16 when viewed from the outer diameter to the inner diameter of the bearing disk 14 . thus , the bearing disk 14 provides alternately converging foils 16 and diverging surface ramps 30 . it can be appreciated that the configuration of the ramps 30 can change depending upon the shape of the foils 16 . further , the ramps 30 need not all be of the same configuration . similarly , in the embodiment of the bearing disk 14 having slots 18 , ramps 30 extend between the inner diameter of the disk 14 and one of the distal ends of the slots 18 . ramps 30 also extend between the outer diameter of the disk 14 and the other distal end of the slot 18 . generally , the ramps 30 are radially aligned with the slots 18 . again , the ramps 30 have a diverging configuration when the foils 16 have a converging configuration . with respect to various embodiments of the bearing disk 14 above , it should be recognized that the ramps 30 can be provided at the outer diameter , inner diameter or both . further , there may be applications where the extent or degree of divergence and / or the length of the inner ramps 30 adjacent the inner diameter ( and thus the ramp height ) may vary from the degree of divergence and / or the length of the outer ramps 30 adjacent the outer diameter . likewise , the degree of divergence and / or the length of the ramps 30 can be varied along the radial direction . the actual angle or degree of divergence and height of the ramps 30 can be varied to provide for particular operating conditions . the height of the individual ramps 30 would typically be between 0 . 0005 to 0 . 010 inches with a preferred range of 0 . 001 to 0 . 002 inches . the bearing disk 14 further includes a plurality of notches 21 positioned about the outer or circumferential edge of the bearing disk 14 ( fig2 ). the notches 21 can be aligned with a plurality of notches 23 of the underspring element 22 to fix the rotational position of the disk 14 to the underspring 22 , as further described below . in the embodiment shown in fig1 the underspring element 22 comprises a plurality of upper ridges 24 and lower ridges 26 . all of the upper ridges 24 of the underspring 22 have substantially the same configuration and dimensions , as do the lower ridges 26 . nevertheless , it is contemplated by the present invention that all of the upper ridges 24 and lower ridges 26 need not respectively be of the same configuration and dimensions . further , although different spacing can be employed , the present embodiment has the upper ridges 24 and lower ridges 26 substantially equidistant from one another in their circumferential positions . in making the underspring or stiffener 22 of the present invention , conventional methods can be utilized . for example , most of the underspring 22 , including the ridges 24 , 26 , can be stamped . the underspring 22 is shaped to substantially match the configuration and dimensions of the bearing disk 14 . fig4 depicts the relative position of the upper ridges 24 of the underspring 22 with respect to the foils 16 of the thrust bearing disk 14 . the angle θ 1 is defined between the radial line extending from the base of the ramps 30 ( i . e ., the leading edge 17 of the foil 16 ) and the radial centerline of the upper ridge 24 . the angle θ 2 is defined between the leading edge 17 of the foil 16 and the trailing edge 19 of the foil 16 . in order to provide the proper pre - load and support for the individual foils 16 , the relationship between θ 1 and θ 2 should be approximately 2 : 3 to provide optimum results in most operating conditions . it should be understood , however , that the relationship between θ 1 and θ 2 range can be from approximately 1 : 2 to almost 1 : 1 . notwithstanding the foregoing , the present invention contemplates that other designs of an underspring element 22 can be employed . as in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 110 , 220 , which is incorporated herein by reference , the underspring element 22 can have a plurality of spring sections . each spring section includes a plurality of corrugated spring elements arranged radially adjacent to one another and traversing radially increasing arc lengths . the pitch of the corrugations in the spring elements increases from the outermost to the innermost spring element . like in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 248 , 205 , which is incorporated herein by reference , the underspring element 22 can include a plurality of trapezoidal areas . from the leading edge of each area and towards but not to the trailing edge extend a plurality of corrugated arcuate springs . each spring may contain a plurality of slots extending circumferentially and radially over the spring . alternatively , the underspring element 22 can be formed , as shown in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 318 , 366 and incorporated herein by reference , whereby trapezoidal areas are provided . from the trailing edge of each area and towards but not to the leading edge extend a plurality of corrugated arcuate springs . the springs are defined by widths that increase from the innermost spring to the outermost spring . also , the width of each individual spring decreases from the trailing edge and towards the leading edge . when the foil thrust bearing 10 is operative , the shaft 12 rotates and the runner 11 likewise rotates . as the runner 11 rotates , a fluid film is built up between the runner surface 13 and the bearing surface 15 . for each of the pads or foils 16 , the fluid film pressure increases from the leading edge 17 and to the trailing edge 19 . at the same time , each of the upper ridges 24 provides load support to their respective pads 16 . fig7 depicts fluid film shape versus circumferential distance about the bearing disk 14 , as curve 38 , for a preferred embodiment of the present invention . in conjunction with curve 38 , curve 40 depicts fluid film pressure versus circumferential distance . in contrast , curve 42 depicts a fluid film shape and curve 44 depicts a fluid film pressure , both for a prior art design that does not have a stepped configuration to the thrust bearing disk of a foil thrust bearing . as can be seen , a comparison between film shape curves 38 and 42 indicate excessive gap near the trailing edge and insufficient gap near the leading edge in the prior art design . a comparison of pressure curves 40 and 44 indicates that the present invention provides greater film pressure . to those skilled in the art , it can be appreciated that the present invention provides an improved foil thrust bearing and , specifically , increased performance , including increased load capacity . the present invention provides increased fluid film pressure to increase the load capacity . another advantage provided by the present invention is increased damping for improved vibration load capability . the increased damping is realized through coulomb friction and squeeze film forces from the relative motion between the pad and disk interface . it should be understood , of course , that the foregoing relates to preferred embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims . | 5 |
hereinafter , exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . [ 0053 ] fig1 is a schematic illustrating an image processing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . fig2 is a schematic illustrating an exemplary hardware configuration . in fig1 an image input device 10 outputs image data to an image processor 20 by picking up an image , the image processor 20 performs image processing , such as emphasis on contrast , and outputs the processed image data to an image output device 30 . the image output device 30 displays the contrast - emphasized image . a scanner 11 , a digital still camera 12 , or a video camera 14 , as shown in fig2 may be a typical example of the image input device 10 . also , since the present invention is useful in correcting motion pictures , cameras of portable phones and image apparatus , such as dvd players , may be used as the image input device 10 . furthermore , images transmitted from network apparatus or images transmitted via waves can be used as input images from the image input device 10 . a computer system including a computer 21 and a hard disk 22 corresponds to a specific example of the image processor 20 . a printer 31 or a display 32 corresponds to a specific example of the image output device 30 , but color copiers , color facsimiles , or liquid crystal panels , organic el panels , and projectors as display devices can be used as the image output device 30 . in the image processing system according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention , as an example of image correction , the optimum contrast is provided to an image having low contrast . accordingly , image data scanned from pictures by the scanner 11 , functioning as the image input device 10 , image data having low contrast photographed by the digital still camera 12 , or motion pictures photographed by the video camera 14 are processed and input to the computer system as the image processor 20 . the image processor 20 includes at least a luminance distribution detecting device 219 to detect luminance distribution , a luminance distribution spread amount detecting device 229 to detect the spread amount of luminance distribution based on the previously detected luminance distribution , a number - of - grayscales assigning device 239 to assign a large number of grayscales to a scope where distribution density is high and to assign a small number of grayscales to a scope where distribution density is low , based on the detected spread amount of luminance distribution , and an image data converting device 249 to convert image data based on the assigned grayscales of luminance . also , the image processor 20 may include a color converting device to correct color difference between different models and a resolution converting device to convert resolution according to different models . in the present exemplary embodiment , the computer 21 executes image - processing programs stored in an internal rom or on the hard disk 22 while using a ram . results of executing the image processing programs can be obtained as contrast - emphasized image data , as will be described below , and is then printed by the printer 31 , as the image output device 30 , or is displayed on the display 32 as the image output device 30 based on the obtained image data . also , specifically , the obtained image data is grayscale data r , g , and b ( green , blue , and red ), and images are composed of dot matrix data that is formed of a lattice shape where data is arranged in height and width directions . next , a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described . fig3 illustrates an exemplary configuration of an image processor 20 a according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention . the image processor 20 a is an example of the image processor 20 shown in fig1 receives an image input rgb_in from the image input device 10 , and outputs an image output rgb_out to the image output device 30 . as shown in fig3 the image processor 20 a according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an rgb / yuv converting unit 201 , a histogram creating unit 210 , an image - statistic calculating unit 220 , a correction amount calculating unit 230 , a y correction processing unit 240 , and a yuv / rgb converting unit 202 . here , the configuration of fig3 has such a relationship with the basic configuration of fig1 that the histogram creating unit 210 corresponds to the luminance distribution detecting device 219 , the image statistic calculating unit 220 corresponds to the luminance distribution spread amount detecting device 229 , the correction amount calculating unit 230 corresponds to the number - of - grayscales assigning device 239 and the y correction processing unit 240 corresponds to the image data converting device 249 . the rgb / yuv converting unit 201 converts the image input rgb_in , which is rgb data , into luminance ( y ) and color difference ( u , v ) data ( hereinafter , referred to as “ yuv data ”). the rgb data is converted into the yuv data as follows . the histogram creating unit 210 creates a histogram of the obtained y ( luminance ) data , and the image - statistic calculating unit 220 calculates image statistic based on the histogram . the correction amount calculating unit 230 calculates the correction amount of y ( luminance ) data based on the image statistic and provides the calculated correction amount to the y correction processing unit 240 . the yuv data is provided from the rgb / yuv converting unit 201 to the y correction processing unit 240 , and the y correction processing unit 240 performs correction on y data based on the calculated correction amount . the yuv data including the corrected y ( luminance ) data is transmitted to the yuv / rgb converting unit 202 . the yuv / rgb converting unit 202 converts the yuv data , which has been corrected by the y correction processing unit 240 , into the image output rgb_out , which is rgb data , and outputs the image output rgb_out . the yuv data is converted into the rgb data as follows . since the present invention performs image correction processing for motion pictures , it may be assumed that frame data having a predetermined reproduction period of time is continuously input as the image input rgb_in . for this reason , if the correction amount calculating unit 230 does not rapidly calculate the correction amount and the y correction processing unit 240 does not rapidly performs the correction processing after the histogram creating unit 210 creates a histogram for frame data of one frame , it is impossible to maintain real - time and continuity characteristics of motion pictures . for example , if interpolation computation is performed when the lut of the correction curve used for image correction is made , computation time affects a total processing speed , and a large processing delay may occur . thus , in the present exemplary embodiment , after the histogram of the input image rgb_in is created , the image statistic is calculated , and the correction amount is calculated , real - time correction is achieved by directly performing correction processing on the continuously input frame data without performing the interpolation computation and lut creation . also , since the histogram and the correction amount are obtained from frame data of a previous frame , the next frame will be corrected based on the frame data of the previous frame . in other words , a frame based on which the correction amount is calculated and a frame that is to be corrected based on the calculated correction amount are delayed by one frame . however , such a delay does not visually affect motion pictures having a predetermined frame rate , for example , of more than thirty frames / second . furthermore , a detailed conversion method between the rgb data and the yuv data is not specially limited . but in order to perform at a high speed and to have a simple configuration ( saving resources ), a conversion method , in which small coefficients are used and the conversion is performed by the product sum operation and shift operation ( removal of lower bits in terms of the circuit ), may be used . also , if the image input rgb_in is not rgb data but yuv data , this conversion is unnecessary . in addition , the application of the present invention is not limited to the rgb data and the yuv data . next , the correction processing in the y correction processing unit 240 will be described in detail . in the present exemplary embodiment , the correction performed by the y correction processing unit 240 will be described as general curve correction that corrects multi - grayscale data using a correction curve regardless of the kind of correction , such as contrast correction , brightness correction , chroma correction , and the like . specifically , correction points that specify the correction curve are determined as follows . the correction points indicate points on the correction curve and are referred to determine the correction curve : ( 2 ) input coordinates ( the x - axis of a correction feature ) of the correction points are previously fixed ( i . e ., there is no concern with the contents of images ). ( 3 ) output coordinates ( the y - axis of the correction feature ) of the correction points change in turn according to the contents of the images . for example , if the input coordinates are x 1 , x 2 , . . . , xn and the correction amount obtained from the contents of images are δy 1 , δy 2 , . . . , δyn , the coordinates of the correction points are ( x 1 , x 1 + δy 1 ), ( x 2 , x 2 + δy 2 ), . . . , ( xn , xn + δyn ). if these correction points and fixed points ( i . e ., the minimum grayscale values and the maximum grayscale values ) are grouped by a general spool line interpolation algorithm , the following correction curve equation is obtained : y = f 1 [ x ]× δy 1 + f 2 [ x ]× δy 2 + . . . + fn [ x ]× δyn + x ( equation 1 ) herein , since f 1 [ x ], f 2 [ x ], . . . , fn [ x ], which are functions regarding x , are determined if x 1 , x 2 , . . . , xn are determined , f 1 [ x ], f 2 [ x ], . . . , fn [ x ] are previously calculated with respect to x ranging from the minimum grayscale to the maximum grayscale and are then arranged as a table . for example , if an input grayscale is 8 bits and a table value is 8 bits , the size of one table is 256 × 8 bits , and the grayscale correction characteristic , as shown in fig4 is obtained . next , the basic configuration of the y correction processing unit 240 according to the present exemplary embodiment will be described . fig5 illustrates an exemplary configuration of the y correction processing unit 240 according to the present exemplary embodiment . as shown in fig5 an image input x and correction amounts δy 1 to δyn are input to the y correction processing unit 240 . the y correction processing unit 240 has a table ( in the present exemplary embodiment , 256 × 8 bits ) corresponding to f 1 [ x ] to fn [ x ] and adds the products of image input and coefficients f 1 [ x ] to fn [ x ] to the correction amounts δy 1 , δy 2 , . . . , δyn according to equation 1 . then , the y correction processing unit 240 outputs the addition results as an image output y . ( 1 ) first , the coefficients f 1 [ x ], f 2 [ x ], . . . , fn [ x ] are previously calculated . these coefficients may be held as tables in rom as shown in fig5 . also , if a reduction in memory size is requested , the coefficients may be implemented as fixed values . ( 2 ) next , image inputting starts , the contents of a frame data are analyzed by the histogram creating unit 210 and the image statistic calculating unit 220 , and the correction amounts δy 1 to δyn are determined by the correction amount calculating unit 230 . ( 3 ) thereafter , the products of the correction amounts δy 1 , δy 2 , . . . , δyn and the coefficients f 1 [ x ], f 2 [ x ], . . . , fn [ x ], which are determined depending on the image input x , are added to the image input x , and thus grayscale correction is performed . as such , instead of forming a spool line curve after the correction amounts δy 1 , δy 2 , . . . , δyn are determined , correction is performed only by the product sum operation using previously calculated values . therefore , it is possible to perform high - speed correction processing . as described above , according to the present exemplary embodiment , even if it is not free to use cpu for image display devices ( e . g ., if cpu cannot be used for image display because the cpu performs other processing , or if a processing speed is low or the cpu cannot be used at a timing required by a contrast correction circuit even though the cpu can be used ), spool line interpolation is simply performed by a correction circuit itself described above . thus , it is possible to correct and display motion pictures in real time . also , since interpolation and correction can be performed on each pixel value of the input image in real time , it is not necessary to include an lut memory for preserving interpolation results , thereby reducing the cost of an image display device itself . hereinafter , a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described . the second exemplary embodiment relates to an image processing system when image correction , more specifically contrast correction , is performed using a correction curve . here , contrast correction is directed to enhancing contrast by decreasing a grayscale value of a pixel having low luminance and by increasing a grayscale value of a pixel having high luminance with respect to the y ( luminance ) data of the input image . [ 0085 ] fig6 illustrates an exemplary configuration of an image processor 20 b according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention . the basic configuration of the image processor 20 b according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention is similar to that of the image processor 20 a according to the first exemplary embodiment shown in fig3 . however , the image processor 20 b is different from the image processor 20 a in that a standard deviation calculating unit 221 instead of the image statistic calculating unit 220 is provided , a contrast correction amount calculating unit 231 instead of the correction amount calculating unit 230 is provided , and the y correction processing unit 241 performs contrast correction . in fig6 an image input rgb_in from the image input device 10 is converted into yuv data by the rgb / yuv converting unit 201 . the y data is transmitted to the histogram creating unit 210 , a histogram of luminance is created in a frame unit , and the created histogram is supplied to the standard deviation calculating unit 221 . the standard deviation calculating unit 221 calculates a standard deviation of luminance in frame unit and supplies the calculated standard deviation to the contrast correction amount calculating unit 231 . the contrast correction amount calculating unit 231 calculates a contrast correction amount based on the calculated standard deviation and supplies the contrast correction amount to the y correction processing unit 241 . the y correction processing unit 241 performs contrast correction of the y data according to the received correction amount . the y data , u data , and v data subjected to the contrast correction are converted into the image output rgb_out , which is rgb data , by the yuv / rgb converting unit 202 , and the image output rgb_out is output to the image output device 30 . next , correction processing in the y correction processing unit 241 will be described in detail . in this exemplary embodiment , as image correction , contrast correction is performed . thus , correction points that specify a correction curve are determined as follows ( see fig7 a ): ( 2 ) input coordinates ( the x - axis of a correction characteristic ) of the correction points are set to 64 (= 256 × ¼ ) and 192 (= 256 × ¾ ). ( 3 ) output coordinates ( the y - axis of the correction characteristic ) of the correction points have a grayscale decreased by an absolute value of the correction amount when the input coordinate is 64 and have a grayscale increased by the absolute value of the correction amount when the input coordinate is 192 . if the absolute value of the correction amount is δy , correction point coordinates are ( 64 , 64 − δy ) and ( 192 , 192 + δy ). the contrast correction amount δy is , for example , determined as follows . let a luminance standard deviation of a frame pixel be σ and the maximum luminance standard deviation for contrast correction be σlimit . then , the following correction amount δy is obtained : however , the above description is only an example of the correction amount determination and is intended to explain that the correction amount is adaptively determined from parameters that change according to the contents of an image . therefore , correction amount determination in the present invention is not limited to the above example . if a fixed point ( 0 , 0 ), correction points ( 64 , 64 − δy ) and ( 192 , 192 + δy ), and a fixed point ( 255 , 255 ) are grouped as a spool line interpolation algorithm , input luminance y and output luminance y have the following relationship : y = y ′( y ′ 2 − 12288 )/ 2 19 × δy + y , wherein y ′= 128 − y y = y ″( y ″ 2 − 12288 )/ 2 19 × δy + y , wherein y ″= y − 256 let this relationship be y = f [ y ]× δy + y ; then , the coefficient f [ y ] of the correction amount δy is as shown in fig7 b . as shown in fig7 b , f [ y ] is a waveform having periodicity similar to a sine wave . thus , assuming that a portion of 128 ≦ y ≦ 192 is a basic curve pattern , only coefficients corresponding to the portion are tabulated and stored . contrast correction is performed by the y correction processing unit 241 as follows : ( 1 ) the coefficient f [ y ] is previously calculated . however , a portion of the curve pattern corresponding to the section 128 ≦ y ≦ 192 is defined as f ′[ z ] ( 0 ≦ z ≦ 64 ) again . f ′[ z ] may be tabulated based on a fixed decimal point number of a bit length ( e . g ., 8 bits ) and held in a rom , or the same value as a fixed value stored in the rom may be implemented to a circuit for memory reduction . ( 2 ) once image input starts , the histogram creating unit 210 creates a histogram , the standard deviation calculating unit 221 calculates a standard deviation , and the contrast correction amount calculating unit 231 determines the correction amount δy . ( 3 ) contrast correction is performed by adding the product of δy and f [ y ], which is determined by input data y , to the original data y . fig8 illustrates an exemplary configuration of the y correction processing unit 241 which performs contrast correction . the contrast correction is performed by the illustrated circuit . however , the y correction processing unit 241 performs computation as follows : as described above , instead of creating a spool line curve after the correction amount ay is determined , correction is performed by only the product sum operation using a predetermined value , which makes it possible to perform high - speed correction processing . also , since only a portion of the correction curve can be stored using the periodicity of the correction curve and be used ( i . e ., the correction curve is regarded as a combination of specific curve patterns , and only coefficients that correspond to the curve pattern are stored ), the size of a coefficient table or the size of a coefficient memory circuit can be reduced . hereinafter , a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described . the third exemplary embodiment relates to an image processing system in which image correction , particularly , brightness correction using a correction curve is performed . brightness correction is performed when the entire luminance distribution of y ( luminance ) data of an input image inclines toward low luminance or high luminance . [ 0103 ] fig9 illustrates the configuration of an image processor 20 c according to the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention . the basic configuration of the image processor 20 c according to the third exemplary embodiment is similar to that of the image processor 20 a according to the first exemplary embodiment shown in fig3 . specifically , the image processor 20 c includes an rgb / yuv converting unit 201 , a luminance total sum calculating unit 212 , a luminance average calculating unit 222 , a brightness correction amount calculating unit 232 , a y correction processing unit 242 , and a yuv / rgb converting unit 202 . in fig9 an image input rgb_in from the image input device 10 is converted into yuv data by the rgb / yuv converting unit 201 . y data is transmitted to the luminance total sum calculating unit 212 , the total sum of luminance is calculated in a frame unit . then the calculated value is supplied to the luminance average calculating unit 222 . the luminance average calculating unit 222 calculates the average of luminance in a frame unit and supplies the calculated average to the brightness correction amount calculating unit 232 . the brightness correction amount calculating unit 232 calculates the brightness correction amount based on the calculated average and supplies the calculated brightness correction amount to the y correction processing unit 242 . the y correction processing unit 242 performs brightness correction of the y data according to the received correction amount . also , y data , u data , and v data after brightness correction is performed are converted into the image output rgb_out , which is rgb data , by the yuv / rgb converting unit 202 , and the image output rgb_out is output to the image output device 30 . next , correction processing in the y correction processing unit 242 will be described in detail . in the present exemplary embodiment , image correction is performed as brightness correction , and correction points that specify a correction curve are defined as follows ( see fig1 a ): ( 2 ) input coordinates ( the x - axis of a correction characteristic ) of the correction point is set to 64 when correction amount is below 0 and is set to 192 when correction amount is above 0 ( an example of a symmetry value with respect to an input coordinate value 128 ). ( 3 ) output coordinates ( the y - axis of the correction characteristic ) of the correction point have a decreased grayscale when the input coordinate value is 64 and have an increased grayscale when the input coordinate value is 192 . if an absolute value of the correction amount is δy , the coordinate value of the correction point is either ( 64 , 64 − δy ) or ( 192 , 192 + δy ). for example , the brightness correction amount δy can be determined as follows . let the luminance average of an input frame image be a and a threshold , by which either an increase in luminance of the input frame image or an decrease in luminance thereof is determined , be ath . then , the following correction amount δy is obtained : also , the above is an example of a method of determining the brightness correction amount , and other methods of determining correction amount may be employed . when δy & gt ; 0 if a fixed point ( 0 , 0 ), a correction point ( 192 , 192 + δy ), and a fixed point ( 255 , 255 ) are grouped by a spool line interpolation algorithm , the relationship between input luminance y and output luminance y is as follows : y =− y ′( y ′ 2 − 28672 )/( 3 × 2 19 )× δ y + y , wherein y ′= 256 − y when δy & lt ; 0 , if a fixed point ( 0 , 0 ), a correction point ( 64 , 64 + δy ), and a fixed point ( 255 , 255 ) are grouped by the spool line interpolation algorithm , the relationship between input luminance y and output luminance y is as follows : y =− y ′( y ′ 2 − 61440 )/( 9 × 2 19 )× δ y + y , wherein y ′= 256 − y if the above relationship is rearranged as y = g [ y ]× δy + y , a coefficient g [ y ] of the correction amount δy is as shown in fig1 b . as shown in fig1 b , g [ y ] has a waveform that is symmetric with respect to 128 when δy & gt ; 0 and δy & lt ; 0 . thus , it is preferable to tabulate and store data only if δy & gt ; 0 . brightness correction processing is performed by the y correction processing unit 242 as follows : ( 1 ) the coefficient g [ y ] when δy & gt ; 0 is previously calculated . g [ y ] is a fixed decimal point number of a bit length ( e . g ., 8 bits ) and may be tabulated and held in a rom , or a circuit may be implemented such that the coefficient g [ y ] is output as a fixed value for memory reduction . ( 2 ) once image inputting starts , the luminance total sum calculating unit 212 calculates the total sum of luminance in a frame unit , the luminance average calculating unit 222 calculates the average of luminance , and the brightness correction amount calculating unit 232 determines the correction amount δy . ( 3 ) brightness correction is performed by adding the product of δy and g [ y ] when δy & gt ; 0 or the product of δy and g [ 255 − y ] when δy & lt ; 0 to the original data y . in addition , when δy & lt ; 0 , the product of δy and g [ 255 − y ] may be subtracted from the original data y . also , if the input y of the correction point is 128 , a brightness correction curve has a symmetric waveform similar to that of a sine wave as in the second exemplary embodiment . thus , only the section ranging 0 through 128 ( only a half portion of the brightness correction coefficient shown in fig1 b ) is tabulated , resulting in memory reduction . next , a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described . the fourth exemplary embodiment relates to an image processing system in which image correction , more particularly , chroma correction ( chroma emphasis ) using a correction curve is performed . [ 0121 ] fig1 illustrates the configuration of an image processor 20 d according to the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention . the basic configuration of the image processor 20 d according to the fourth exemplary embodiment is similar to that of the image processor 20 a according to the first exemplary embodiment shown in fig3 . specifically , the image processor 20 d includes an rgb / yuv converting unit 201 , a chroma total sum calculating unit 231 , a chroma average calculating unit 223 , a chroma correction amount calculating unit 223 , a uv correction processing unit 243 , and a yuv / rgb converting unit 202 . in fig1 , the image input rgb_in from the image input device 10 is converted into yuv data by the rgb / yuv converting unit 201 . u data and v data are supplied to the chroma total sum calculating unit 213 . the total sum of chroma is calculated in a frame unit . the calculated total sum is supplied to the chroma average calculating unit 223 . the chroma average calculating unit 223 calculates the average of chroma in a frame unit and supplies the calculated average to the chroma correction amount calculating unit 233 . the chroma correction amount calculating unit 233 calculates the chroma correction amount based on the calculated average of chroma and supplies the calculated chroma correction amount to the uv correction processing unit 243 . the uv correction processing unit 243 performs chroma correction of uv data according to the received correction amount . then , u data and v data , which are subjected to chroma correction , and y data are converted into the image output rgb_out , which is rgb data , by the yuv / rgb converting unit 202 , and the image output rgb_out is output to the image output device 30 . as can be seen from rgb / yuv conversion equation described above , u and v can take negative values and range from − 128 to + 128 . u and v values can be treated as two &# 39 ; s complements . however , for the purpose of simplification , u and v values are converted into values ranging 0 to 255 obtained by adding 128 to the u and v values , and then correction processing is performed thereon . then , 128 is subtracted from the u and v values when yuv data is converted into rgb data . such processing can be implemented by inverting the most significant bit that indicates polarities of the u and v values . thereafter , chroma correction is performed on the values u + 128 and v + 128 that range from 0 to 255 . since processing on u + 128 and processing on v + 128 are the same , only processing on u + 128 will be described here . hereinafter , correction processing in the uv correction processing unit 243 will be described in detail . in the present exemplary embodiment , chroma correction is performed as image correction , and correction points that specify a correction curve are defined as follows ( see fig1 a and 12 b ): ( 2 ) input coordinates ( the x - axis of a correction characteristic ) of the correction points are set to 64 (= 256 × ¼ ) and 192 (= 256 × ¾ ). ( 3 ) output coordinates ( the y - axis of the correction characteristic ) of the correction points have a grayscale decreased by an absolute value of the correction amount when the input coordinate value is 64 and have a grayscale increased by the absolute value of the correction amount when the input coordinate value is 192 . if an absolute value of the correction amount is δs , the coordinates of the correction points are ( 64 , 64 − δs ) and ( 192 , 192 + δs ). the chroma correction amount δs can be determined as follows . let chroma s be s =(| u |+| v |)/ 2 . let the average of luminance of a frame image be sa . let the upper limit of the average of luminance sa for chroma correction be slimit . then , the following chroma correction amount δs is obtained : also , such a method of determining the chroma correction amount is exemplary , and other methods of determining the correction amount may be employed . chroma correction with respect to u and v is performed by the uv correction processing unit 243 in the same way as the contrast correction with respect to y . ( 2 ) once image inputting starts , the chroma total sum calculating unit 213 calculates the total sum of chroma . the chroma average calculating unit 223 calculates the average of luminance . the luminance correction amount calculating unit 233 determines the correction amount δs . ( 3 ) chroma correction is performed by adding the product of δs and f [ u + 128 ], which is determined by the input u + 128 , to the original data y . the exemplary configuration of the uv correction processing unit 243 that performs chroma correction is shown in fig1 . chroma correction is performed by the illustrated circuit . in addition , since the input v + 128 is processed in the same way as the input u + 128 , the uv correction processing unit 243 includes two circuits for the product sum operation , as shown in fig1 . next , a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described . the fifth exemplary embodiment relates to an image processing system in which both contrast correction and chroma correction are performed as image correction . fig1 illustrates the configuration of an image processor 20 e according to the fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig1 , the image processor 20 e includes an rgb / yuv converting unit 201 , a yuv / rgb converting unit 202 , a histogram creating unit 210 , a standard deviation calculating unit 221 , a contrast correction amount calculating unit 231 , a chroma total sum calculating unit 213 , a chroma average calculating unit 223 , a chroma correction amount calculating unit 233 , a multiplexer 204 , and a contrast / chroma correction processing unit 244 . in fig1 , the image input rgb_in from the image input device 10 is converted into yuv data by the rgb / yuv converter 201 . each of y , u , and v data is supplied to the contrast / chroma correction processing unit 244 . at the same time , the y data is supplied to the histogram creating unit 210 , and the u data and y data are supplied to the chroma total sum calculating unit 213 . contrast correction and chroma correction are basically performed in the same way as the second and fourth exemplary embodiments , respectively . for the contrast correction , the histogram creating unit 210 creates a histogram of luminance for each frame , the standard deviation calculating unit 221 calculates the standard deviation thereof , and the contrast correction amount calculating unit 231 calculates a contrast correction amount based on the calculated standard deviation and provides the calculated contrast correction amount to the multiplexer 204 . for the chroma correction , the chroma total sum calculating unit 213 calculates the total sum of luminance for every frame of each of the u data and v data . the chroma average calculating unit 223 calculates the average of chroma . the chroma correction amount calculating unit 233 calculates a chroma correction amount based on the calculated average and supplies the calculated chroma correction amount to the multiplexer 204 . the multiplexer 204 is provided to time - divisionally supply the contrast correction amount and the chroma correction amount to the contrast / chroma correction processing unit 244 . the contrast / chroma correction processing unit 244 performs contrast correction on the y data according to the contrast correction amount in the same way as the second exemplary embodiment . at the same time , the contrast / chroma correction processing unit 244 performs chroma correction on the u data and v data according to the chroma correction amount in the same way as the fourth exemplary embodiment and then supplies the y , u , and v data subjected to the chroma correction to the yuv / rgb converting unit 202 . the yuv / rgb converting unit 202 converts the received yuv data into rgb data and outputs the rgb data to the image output device 30 as the image output rgb_out . [ 0142 ] fig1 illustrates the detailed configuration of the contrast / chroma correction processing unit 244 . a multiplexer 244 a receives y , u + 128 , and v + 128 as image input signals , time - divisionally selects one of them , and supplies the selected one to a correction block 245 . the operations of the multiplexer 244 a and the multiplexer 204 are synchronized with each other . thus , when the multiplexer 244 a selects the image input y , the multiplexer 204 selects the contrast correction amount δy . in addition , when the multiplexer 244 a selects the image input u + 128 or v + 128 , the multiplexer 204 selects the chroma correction amount δs . the correction block 245 determines a coefficient f [ ] with reference to a table according to one of the given input data y , u + 128 , and v + 128 , adds the determined coefficient to the original data , and then supplies image data after correction to a demultiplexer 244 b . the demultiplexer 244 b time - divisionally provides an image output y after contrast correction and image outputs u + 128 and v + 128 after chroma correction to the yuv / rgb converting unit 202 . [ 0144 ] fig1 is a timing chart for an exemplary time - divisional process of the contrast correction and chroma correction performed by the image processor 20 e according to the present exemplary embodiment . time - divisional processing is performed in a clock cycle that is four times the input image . with respect to three inputs y , u + 128 , and v + 128 , the multiplexers 244 a and 204 are controlled . the contrast correction and chroma correction are performed in this order , and y data and u + 128 data after correction , are temporarily held in a buffer ( not shown ) for the purpose of adjusting a timing between y data and u + 128 data . the v + 128 data after correction that will be subsequently obtained . when the v + 128 data is obtained , the y data , the u + 128 data , and the v + 128 data after correction are output . as described in the fourth exemplary embodiment , the contrast correction and chroma correction may basically be implemented using the same correction curve . thus , according to the present exemplary embodiment , it is possible to simplify the configuration of , a table rom memory to store the coefficient f [ ], a circuit to store the coefficient f [ ], and a product sum operating unit corresponding to the respective data by sharing a table that stores the coefficient f [ ], that specifies the correction curve and by time - divisionally processing data ( y , u , and v data ) to be corrected . in the first to fifth exemplary embodiments described so far , instead of storing data corresponding to the correction curve in the lut during image correction , only the desired minimum coefficient data is stored in a table . real - time correction is performed on input image data using a table of coefficient data and the product sum operation . this method has an advantage that a relative mass lut memory to store data corresponding to the correction curve is not required . since this method requires the product sum operation for every pixel data , power consumption may increase due to computation . thus , in the sixth to eighth exemplary embodiments described below , provided is an approach in which the lut that stores the correction curve is used and the lut is efficiently created according to the present invention . [ 0147 ] fig1 illustrates the configuration of a grayscale correction lut creating unit according to the present exemplary embodiment . correction amounts δy 1 to δyn are input to the grayscale correction lut creating unit 280 . at the same time , grayscale values ( 0 to 255 ) that can be extracted from image data to be corrected are input in turn to the grayscale correction lut creating unit 280 as lut indexes . by adding the product of a correction amount and the coefficient f [ ] determined by an input grayscale value to the input grayscale value based on the correction amount , an lut value , which should be stored in the lut memory , can be obtained . thus , it is possible to produce an lut for image correction by performing the product sum operation as many as the number of grayscales extracted from the input image data . the seventh exemplary embodiment relates to creating an lut of a correction curve in the sixth exemplary embodiment , and particularly , to applying the lut to contrast correction . fig1 illustrates the configuration of an image processor 20 f according to the present exemplary embodiment . as shown in fig1 , the image processor 20 f includes an rgb / yuv converting unit 201 , a yuv / rgb converting unit 202 , a histogram creating unit 210 , a standard deviation calculating unit 221 , a contrast correction amount calculating unit 231 , an lut creating unit 264 , and a y correction processing unit 265 . here , the rgb / yuv converting unit 201 , the yuv / rgb converting unit 202 , the histogram creating unit 210 , the standard deviation calculating unit 221 , and the contrast correction calculating unit 231 are similar to those of the second exemplary embodiment , shown in fig6 and will not described here . [ 0149 ] fig1 illustrates an exemplary configuration of the lut creating unit 264 . the product of the contrast correction amount δy and the coefficient f [ ] determined by input grayscales ranging from 0 to 255 is added to an input grayscale . the resulting value is stored in an lut memory as an lut value . the lut memory can be provided in the y correction processing unit 265 . as shown in fig1 , the y correction processing unit 265 determines an output grayscale using the original data y supplied from the rgb / yuv converting unit 201 as an input grayscale with reference to the lut memory and outputs the determined output grayscale to the yuv / rgb converting unit 202 . in the present exemplary embodiment , until the lut is created in the lut memory , the lut creating unit 264 shown in fig1 performs the product sum operation , thereby rapidly creating the lut . also , after the lut is created , data after correction with respect to input image data can be obtained with reference to the lut . thus , it is possible to reduce or prevent power consumption from increasing . the above is the explanation of contrast correction , but chroma correction can be performed in the same way . next , an eighth exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described . the eighth exemplary embodiment relates to creating an lut of the correction curve according to the sixth exemplary embodiment , and particularly , to applying the lut to chroma correction . if the lut is simply applied to chroma correction , one lut memory for each of the u data and v data is required . however , since the contents to be stored in the lut memory are the same , inclusion of two memories is a waste of memory . accordingly , one common lut memory for u data and v data is provided , and correction is performed by time - divisionally reading out the common lut memory during chroma contrast processing . [ 0153 ] fig2 illustrates the configuration of an image processing system according to the present exemplary embodiment . an image processing system 20 g according to the present invention is basically similar to the image processor 20 f according to the seventh exemplary embodiment shown in fig1 , except that chroma correction is performed instead of contrast correction . specifically , in fig2 , instead of the histogram creating unit 210 , the standard deviation calculating unit 221 , and the contrast correction amount calculating unit 231 , the chroma total sum calculating unit 213 , the chroma average calculating unit 223 , and the chroma correction amount calculating unit 233 are provided . in addition , the configurations of the chroma total sum calculating unit 213 , the chroma average calculating 223 , and the chroma correction amount calculating unit 233 are identical to those of the fourth exemplary embodiment , shown in fig1 . [ 0154 ] fig2 illustrates the configuration of a correction lut creating unit 264 a . data u + 128 and v + 128 are input , an lut value is calculated by adding the product of coefficients corresponding to the inputs and the correction amount δs , which is supplied from the chroma correction amount calculating unit 233 , to input data . the calculated lut value is stored in the lut memory . in creating a correction lut , a grayscale ( 0 to 255 ) is used as an input with respect to either u + 128 or v + 128 , and the lut memory is created . [ 0155 ] fig2 is a timing chart for chroma contrast processing using the created lut memory . since two input data , i . e ., u + 128 and v + 128 , are time - divisionally processed , processing is performed in a clock cycle of two times the input data . in fig2 , for the inputs u + 128 and v + 128 , an lut address ( an address in the lut memory ) corresponding to a grayscale value of input data is time - divisionally designated , and data read from the designated address is temporarily stored in a buffer . the buffer is provided to store u data after chroma correction using the lut memory and to adjust a timing between v data and the u data . if v data ( v + 128 ) after chroma correction is obtained at the next timing , the v data ( v + 128 ) is output to the yuv / rgb converting unit 202 , together with u data ( u + 128 ) after correction that is temporarily stored in the buffer . in addition , in the present exemplary embodiment , a clock frequency of a memory must be two times that of input image data . however , since an operating frequency of the memory is sufficiently high as compared to a pixel frequency at a general image rate , such a clock frequency is a small matter . therefore , by time - divisionally using a common lut of the u data and v data ; it is possible to reduce the cost as much as the cost for lut memory . | 6 |
a tube - like covering 25 has a thin , flexible tube 1 which is disposed in a telescoped configuration as shown in fig1 a and 1b . the thin , flexible tube 1 has a small opening 3 , two lining members 6a and 6b at an insertion opening region 4 , fold edges 7a , 7b and 7c , and an exit opening 17 . the two lining members 6a and 6b have common opposite edge regions 9a and 9b . a weld seam 10 exists where the lining members 6a and 6b are connected to the thin , flexible tube 1 . the thin , flexible tube i is telescoped longitudinally in sections along a longitudinal axis 40 so that the overall length of the tube - like covering 25 is significantly shortened . the folding is indicated schematically in fig1 a and 1b and is greatly enlarged for the sake of clarity at the upper and lower edges of the tube - like covering 25 in these figs . an orthoscope 5 having a hollow needle 8 and an elongated portion 30 is shown in fig4 which can easily be pushed through the tube - like covering 25 in its telescoped configuration which is shown in fig1 a and 1b . to fix the orthoscope 5 at a desired insertion depth in the thin , flexible tube 1 , stops 2 in the form of sealed , tapering edges are provided adjacent the small opening 3 . the orthoscope 5 can be inserted through the small opening 3 at the end of the tube - like covering 25 opposite the insertion opening region 4 until the elongated portion 30 , supplying the external connections of the orthoscope 5 for suction and rinsing channels , has also been inserted in thin , flexible tube 1 . to facilitate the above - mentioned insertion process , the insertion opening region 4 is equipped in its interior with two like resiliently deformable lining members 6a and 6b which are connected together at their ends to form a jaw 6 which is openable . the lining members 6a and 6b initially lie flat against each other , as shown in fig1 a , 1b and 3b . the lining members 6a and 6b project into the insertion opening region 4 to such an extent that they project beyond the fold edges 7a , 7b and 7c of the initial folds of the thin , flexible tube 1 . in this way , the hollow needle 8 of the orthoscope 5 is prevented from being caught in a lateral fold when it is inserted into the thin , flexible tube 1 . the orthoscope 5 is introduced in the insertion opening region 4 which is spread open in the manner of a jaw 6 by slight pressure exerted in the directions indicated in fig2 by arrows f , f &# 39 ;, respectively , on the opposite edge regions 9a and 9b of the insertion opening region 4 which is equipped with lining members 6a and 6b . the insertion opening region 4 formed by the above - mentioned spreading process is shown in fig2 a , and 4 , in which the directions of the applied forces on the opposite edge regions 9a and 9b are respectively indicated by the arrows f and f &# 39 ;. the lining members 6a and 6b are preferably made of cardboard . as can be in fig3 a and 3b , single rectangular piece of cardboard 23 , folded at the edge region 9a , is sufficient for this purpose . as shown in fig3 b , the piece of cardboard 23 is folded in the middle so that two connected , identically sized superposed lining members 6a and 6b are produced . the folded piece of cardboard 23 can be fastened quickly and easily at the insertion opening region 4 of the thin , flexible tube 1 by means of the weld seam 10 . fig5 is a plan view of an embodiment of a tube - like covering 25 &# 39 ; having a thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; similar to that of fig1 a and 1b , an insertion opening region 14 similar to the insertion opening region 4 of fig1 a and 1b , and including a thin covering edge 11 formed by material from the which fastens the thin , flexible tube 1 to a pair of lining members 26a and 26b which are similar to the lining members 6a and 6b of fig1 a and 1b . the lining members 26a and 26bproject beyond the thin covering edge 11 and each includes a gripping hole 12 , the lining members 26a and 26b forming a tab 29 . the gripping tab 29 having the holes 12 can be used to facilitate the unfolding of the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ;. moreover , in this embodiment a non - sterile region of the tube - like covering 25 can be limited to the tab 29 and its gripping hole 12 projecting beyond the covering edge 11 of the thin , flexible tube 1 . fig6 shows a mount 27 for a cable or supply hose ( not shown ) disposed within the insertion opening region 4 ( shown in dashed lines ). the mount 27 is composed of an elastically spreadable cable or hose clamp 13 and two fastening rivets 14a and 14b which fasten the clamp 13 to the thin , flexible tube 1 at the insertion opening region 4 , for example by hot - riveting the thermoplastic material forming the rivets 14a and 14b to the thin , flexible tube 1 and to the clamp 13 . the invention for the production of folds in the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; resulting in the folded configuration shown for the flexible tube 1 of figs 1a and 1b . an insertion opening region 24 of the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; is pulled over a tubular or cylindrical mandrel 16 that is fixedly connected by screws 32 and 33 to a stationary support 15 . the insertion opening region 24 is similar to the insertion opening region 14 of fig5 . the diameter of the mandrel 16 corresponds to the inner diameter of the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ;. while a cylindrical mandrel 16 is shown in the drawings , a mandrel having a prismatic body could also be used having , e . g ., a rectangular cross sectional outline ( such as a flat plate ), or a polygonal cross sectional outline which can be regular or non - regular . in fig7 a , the exit opening 17 disposed opposite the insertion opening region 24 has already been turned over -- in a &# 34 ; flanging process &# 34 ;-- so as to be coaxially outside of and covering the insertion opening region 24 . the exit opening 17 extends below the height of the insertion opening region 24 in fig7 a . the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; is folded as shown in fig7 a to form a first free opening 18 which is bounded by the folded portion of the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ;. in fig7 b , the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; is folded such that the first free opening 18 has been coaxially turned outwardly down to form a second free opening 19 at the uppermost portion of the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; which is bounded by the folded portion of the thin flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; at that location . the first free opening 19 is pulled to a location which is in the vicinity of the insertion opening region 24 . as shown in fig7 c , the folding process is repeated once more to coaxially turn down the second free opening 19 to form a third free opening 20 created by the &# 34 ; flanging process &# 34 ;. then the projecting exit opening 17 is turned coaxially outwardly once more in an upward direction as shown in fig7 d so that it covers the second free opening 19 and the third free opening 20 , thereby projecting above all of the folded regions of the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ;. the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; folded as shown in fig7 d is then pulled upwardly off the mandrel 16 . the exit opening 17 may then be partially welded shut or provided with adhesive strips ( not shown ). by the method of fig7 a to 7d , the folded thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; is made to form a tube - like covering 25 &# 39 ; by folding of the thin , flexible tube 1 into a folded configuration similar to that shown for the thin , flexible tube 1 in fig1 a and 1b . in the folded configuration , the tube - like covering 25 is ready for use in which the insertion opening region 24 can be gripped so as to spread it open to permit introduction of an orthoscope 5 as shown in fig4 . the exit opening 17 can also be used in order for connection to the end of the orthoscope 5 or other instrument to facilitate unfolding of the tube - like covering 25 when the orthoscope 5 is advanced further . the method steps described above with reference to fig7 a to 7d employ the fact that the interior of the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; adheres to the cylindrical mandrel 16 and can easily be pulled off at any turned - up end once the step of turning up has been accomplished by the &# 34 ; flanging process &# 34 ; described above , and in which the overlapping regions of the tube - like covering 25 &# 39 ; can relatively easily slide against one another . fig8 a to 8c are schematic representations of steps according to a further method according to the invention for the production of the telescoping folds , with like elements in the previous figs . having like numerals . in fig8 a to 8c , instead of the mandrel 16 of the previous embodiment shown in fig7 a to 7d , first , second and third thin - walled tubes 28a , 28b , and 28c are employed . the end of a thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; having an insertion opening region 24 is initially pushed as shown in fig8 a into the first thin - walled tube 28a . the length of the tube 28a approximately corresponds to one - half the length of the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; so that one end of the latter including the exit opening 17 projects about the outside of the thin - walled tube 28a to a location just above the lowermost edge of the tube 28a . then the second thin - walled tube 28b , which is shorter than the first thin - walled tube 28a , is pushed over the turned - over portion of the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; overlying the first thin - walled tube 28a such that the bottom of the second thin - walled tube 28b is approximately level with the bottom of the first thin - walled tube 28a while the top of the first thin - walled tube 28a extends higher than the second thin - walled tube 28b . in order to be able to turn the bend forming the first free opening 18 coaxially outwardly over the second thin - walled tube 28b , the relatively long first thin - walled tube 28a is removed by pulling it out . this turning process is repeated several times with sequentially shorter tubes 28b and 28c . the last thin - walled tube 28c is pushed on only until its lower edge is disposed above the exit opening 17 . the second thin - walled tube 28b tube associated with the preceding method step is removed and the exit opening 17 can then be coaxially turned upward toward the outside so that it is oriented in the direction opposite to that of the insertion to the insertion opening region 24 . the tube - like covering 25 &# 39 ; in its folded configuration is obtained by removal of the third thin - walled tube 28c from the thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ;, and the tube - like covering 25 &# 39 ; is then available for further processing . the above - described method produces a series of folds which -- due to the sequential turning over of the end of the ( multi - layer ) thin , flexible tube 1 &# 39 ; toward the outside -- does not have any folded edges on the interior of the still folded tube - like covering 25 &# 39 ; which would interfere with the insertion of the surgical instrument . the inner walls of the folded tube - like covering 25 &# 39 ; have no obstacles whatsoever to impede insertion of the surgical instrument in an insertion direction d &# 39 ; as shown in fig4 . in the foregoing description , three tubular elements 28a , 28b , and 28c are shown . additional tubular elements can be provided , each sequential one having a larger inner diameter than the preceding one , so that additional folds can be made as shown in the step shown in fig8 b , wherein the newest free opening disposed at the top of fig8 b is folded over coaxially about the newest applied one of the tubular elements 28a , 28b , 28c , . . . , until the desired number of folds is reached . furthermore , while tubular elements 28a , instead , each having an open cross sectional outline , e . g . c - shaped elements can be used . 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 the equivalents of the appended claims . | 0 |
fig1 shows a system 10 incorporating a digital circuit 12 and associated digital logic 14 , in accord with the invention . in operation , digital circuit 12 may acquire signals from a variety of sources , such as from a signal line 16 a . signal line 16 a may derive from points external to system 10 or within system 10 . digital logic 14 ensures that data acquired from signal line 16 a is substantially noise - free . specifically , logic 14 filters signals on line 16 a to provide clean signals to digital circuit 12 on signal line 16 b . logic 14 thus filters out undesirable noise pulses on signal line 16 a so that these noise pulses are not input to digital circuitry 12 , on signal line 16 b . logic 14 may for example filter out noise generated by asynchronous signals 18 coupled into line 16 a from an unrelated device 20 . this ensures that such noise pulses are not latched to affect processing within digital circuit 12 digital filter logic 14 is further illustrated in fig2 . signal line 16 a couples to the input 22 of edge detector 24 . one embodiment of edge detector 22 is shown in fig3 . edge detector 22 has an output 26 coupled to the asynchronous reset 28 of a timer 30 via signal line 32 . the output 34 of timer 30 couples to the clock input 36 of a d flip - flop 38 along signal line 40 . signal line 16 a also couples to the d input 42 of flip - flop 38 , as shown . the output 44 of flip - flop 38 couples to digital circuit 12 , fig1 , as signal line 16 b . edge detector 24 is clocked at clock input 24 a with a fast clock signal “ fclk ”. fclk may have a frequency of 8 mhz . timer 30 is clocked at clock input 30 a with a slow clock signal “ sclk ”. sclk may have a clock period of 4 . 2 milliseconds . the frequency of fclk is therefore much greater than the frequency of sclk . with these clocking arrangements , timer 30 outputs a pulse on signal line 40 at the end of each sample period defined by sclk . this pulse is then used to “ latch ” the input signal on line 32 ( this input signal is also shown as signal e , fig3 ). if noise occurs on input signal line 32 before timer 30 creates the pulse , then timer 30 resets and restarts the sample period defined by sclk . logic 14 thus ensures signals on line 16 b are stable for sample time sclk before it latches through to digital circuit 12 , fig1 . fig3 shows schematic logic 50 suitable for implementing edge detector 24 , fig2 . logic 50 includes a d flip - flop 52 and an xor gate 54 . “ a ” corresponds to the signal value on signal line 16 a , fig2 ; a thus couples to the data input d 22 ′ of flip - flop 52 ( data input 22 ′ may for example represent input 22 , fig2 ). xor gate 54 compares d input 22 ′ to the q output 58 of flip - flop 52 . “ b ” corresponds to the signal value from q output 58 . “ e ” corresponds to the digital difference comparison of a and b through xor gate 54 . signal e is input to timer 30 , fig2 , on signal line 32 . fig4 illustrates typical timing signals through logic 50 , fig3 . signal value a may have one or more noise spikes 60 , 62 that are sampled at points 64 to set signal b ; points 64 are determined at the rising edges of the fclk signal . signal e produced through xor gate 54 thus has four pulses 66 corresponding to each change in signal a . fig5 illustrates representative timing signals and signal values obtained through digital logic 14 , fig1 . signal line a again corresponds to input on signal line 16 a , for filtering through digital logic 14 . values “ s ” correspond to the latched values of a ( or a ′) sent to digital circuitry 12 on signal line 16 b . a ′ corresponds to a non - noise change in signal a that is desired for input to circuitry 12 . a also shows typical noise pulses 70 ( e . g ., similar to pulses 60 , 62 , fig4 ) filtered out by logic 14 . timing through timer 30 is shown at 74 . at each noise pulse 70 , timer 30 is reset at time locations 80 ; each value s is therefore latched through to digital circuitry 12 only after a full timeout period 84 of timer 30 . desired signal change a ′ also resets timer 30 at time locations 82 . only after full timeout periods 84 of timer 30 is a ( or a ′) latched through as value s , at points 90 , to circuitry 12 , as shown . the following verilog source code provides a non - limiting simulation of processor reset detect circuitry constructed according to the invention . those skilled in the art should appreciate that other simulations , source code , hardware design and / or electronic detail , as a matter of design choice , can similarly provide processor reset detect circuitry without departing from the scope of the invention . those skilled in the art should thus appreciate that the digital logic of fig2 and fig3 may be implemented as a single integrated circuit , stand - alone or embedded within other chips , to perform the functions herein and without departing from the scope of the invention . *** // // filename : timer . v // : // title : timer // : // purpose : a general purpose timer // : when timer is enabled , it counts continuously , // : outputting a pulse every & lt ; divideby & gt ; clk periods . // : pulse duration is one clock period // : // includefiles : none // : // conventions : active low signals are identified with ‘ _l ’ or ‘ _l ’ module timer ( clk , reset , qout ); parameter width = 3 ; // number of flipflops required parameter divideby = 6 ; // length of pulse = divideby clock periods input clk ; input reset ; output qout ; reg qout ; reg [ width - 1 : 0 ] cnt ; always @( posedge clk or posedge reset ) begin // reset if ( reset ) begin cnt & lt ;= 0 ; qout & lt ;= 0 ; end // hit & lt ; divideby & gt ; time else if ( cnt == divideby ) begin cnt & lt ;= 0 ; qout & lt ;= 1 ; end // enabled and counting else begin cnt & lt ;= cnt + 1 ; qout & lt ;= 0 ; end end endmodule // timer // // filename : retrig_timer . v // : // title : digital retriggerable timer // : // purpose : a general purpose retriggerable timer // : when module is enabled ( not reset ), any change in // : the trig input will cause qout to stay low for // : a user - specified period of time . // : a slower clock ( sclk ) is used for the timer // : a faster clock ( fclk ) is used for detecting an edge // : timeout is determined by sclk frequency and // : divideby parameter . // : // includefiles : timer . v // : edge_detect . v // : // conventions : active low signals are identified with ‘ _l ’ or ‘ _l ’ // : module retrig_timer ( sclk , fclk , trig , reset , qout ); parameter width = 7 ; // number of flipflops required parameter divideby = 100 ; // length of pulse = divideby clock periods input sclk ; input fclk ; input trig ; input reset ; output qout ; wire reset_timer ; // detect change in trig edge_detect edge_detect ( . clk ( fclk ), . din ( trig ), . reset ( reset ), . qout ( reset_timer )); // pulse timer timer #( width , divideby ) timer ( . clk ( sclk ), . reset ( reset | reset_timer ), . qout ( qout )); endmodule // retrig_timer // // filename : glitch_filter . v // : // title : digital glitch filter // : // library : work // : // purpose : a general purpose glitch filter // : when module is enabled ( not reset ), any change in // : the in input will restart a timer . if the timer // : expires w / no further changes in the in input , then // : in gets latched through to the output . // : this prevents glitches from passing // : the timeout is determined by the parameter divideby // : the number of flipflops used in the counter is // : determined by the parameter width . // : sclk is used for timer length // : fclk is used to detect changes in in // : // includefiles : retrig_timer . v // : // conventions : active low signals are identified with ‘ _l ’ or ‘ _l ’ // : module glitch_filter ( sclk , fclk , in , reset , qout ); parameter width = 7 ; // number of flipflops required parameter divideby = 100 ; // length of pulse = divideby clock periods input sclk ; input fclk ; input in ; input reset ; output qout ; reg qout ; wire sel ; // implement retriggerable timer retrig_timer #( width , divideby ) timer ( . sclk ( sclk ), . fclk ( fclk ), . trig ( in ), . reset ( reset ), . qout ( sel )); // implement selector always @( posedge sel or posedge reset ) begin // reset , qout & lt ;= 0 if ( reset ) qout & lt ;= 0 ; else qout & lt ;= in ; end endmodule // glitch_filter // // filename : edge_detect . v // : // title : edge detector // : // library : work // : // purpose : this module detects any edge of an input and // : generates a pulse on the output one clk wide . // : the pulse appears 2 clocks after the change in din // // includefiles : none // : // conventions : active low signals are identified with ‘ _l ’ or ‘ _l ’ // : module edge_detect ( reset , // in , asynchronous reset clk , // in , general purpose clock din , // in , data input with edge we &# 39 ; re looking for qout ) ; // out , rising edge pulse output input reset ; input din ; input clk ; output qout ; reg qout ; reg re_q0 ; reg re_q1 ; reg reset0 ; req reset1 ; always @( posedge clk or posedge reset ) begin if ( reset ) begin re_q0 & lt ;= 0 ; re_q1 & lt ;= 0 ; reset0 & lt ;= 1 ; reset1 & lt ;= 1 ; qout & lt ;= 0 ; end else begin re_q0 & lt ;= din ; re_q1 & lt ;= req0 ; reset0 & lt ;= reset ; reset1 & lt ;= reset0 ; qout & lt ;= ((˜ re_q1 == re_q0 ) & amp ; ! reset1 ? 1 : 0 ); end end endmodule *** the invention thus attains the objects set forth above , among those apparent from the preceding description . since certain changes may be made in the above methods and systems without departing from the scope of the invention , it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense . it is also to be understood that the following claims are to cover all generic and specific features of the invention described herein , and all statements of the scope of the invention which , as a matter of language , might be said to fall there between . | 7 |
referring to fig6 , an embodiment 30 of a computer system in accordance with the invention includes a north bridge 34 that is adapted to minimize read latency that is introduced by the north bridge 34 . in particular , a local bus interface 60 of the bridge 34 includes a buffer 42 that is adapted to capture read data directly from a memory bus 41 . thus , the read data is captured near a local bus 33 ( and not near the memory bus 41 ), an arrangement that may reduce the number of internal clock cycles ( of the bridge 34 ) that elapse in the transfer of data from the memory bus 41 to the buffer 42 . for example , a processor 32 ( a central processing unit ( cpu ), as an example ) may furnish signals to the local bus 33 to indicate a memory read operation . in response to the signals on the local bus 33 , the bridge 34 may generate signals on the memory bus 41 to initiate a read operation with a system memory 44 . in this manner , in the course of the memory read operation , the system memory 44 furnishes signals ( to the memory bus 41 ) that indicate the requested read data . unlike conventional bridges , the bridge 34 bypasses a memory bus interface 64 ( of the bridge 34 ) and captures the read data directly into the buffer 42 of the local bus interface 60 . referring to fig7 , more particularly , unlike conventional arrangements , the bridge 34 effectively extends the memory channel provided by the memory bus 41 inside the bridge 34 . in this manner , the data and strobe lines of the memory bus 41 ( via internal data and data strobe conductive traces , or lines 80 ) are effectively extended by placing the buffer 42 closer to the local bus 33 than to the memory bus 41 . as a result of this arrangement , a much smaller asynchronous propagation delay is incurred in the transfer of data from the buffer 42 to the local bus 33 , as compared to the asynchronous delay encountered in a conventional bridge in which the data is transferred from a memory bus interface ( where the data is captured ) to a local bus interface . thus , the transfer of read data through a conventional bridge circuit includes two latching events to compensate for asynchronous propagation delays : one latching event to capture the read data into a memory bus interface ( that is located near the memory bus ) and another latching event to capture the data in a local bus interface ( that is located near the local bus ) after the data propagates between the memory and local bus interfaces . each of these latching events , in turn , consumes internal clock cycles of the conventional bridge , as each latching event must accommodate the worst case delay scenario . however , unlike this conventional arrangement , the bridge 34 compensates for the asynchronous delays that are introduced by the memory bus 41 and the data and data strobe lines 80 in one latching event . thus , the bridge 34 provides a more efficient arrangement that may permit the data to be communicated across the bridge 34 in a fewer number of internal clock cycles , as compared to conventional bridges . in some embodiments , the memory 44 may be formed from double data rate ( ddr ) synchronous dynamic random access memory ( sdram ) devices ( double inline memory modules ( dimms ), for example ), and the memory bus 41 may be a ddr memory bus . for these embodiments , the dqs data strobe signals from the memory bus 41 may be used to synchronize the capture of the data from the bus 41 , as described below . for these embodiments , the local bus interface 60 may include a delay circuit 61 to align the edges of the dqs signals with the “ data eyes ” of the signals that indicate the data for purposes of capturing valid data from the memory bus 41 . the delay circuit 61 may be initially programmed by execution of a basic input / output system ( bios ) during bootup of the computer system 30 , and thereafter , the delay circuit 61 may regulate the introduced delay ( s ) to compensate for changing voltages and temperatures , factors that may affect the delay ( s ). among the other features of the bridge 34 , the memory bus interface 64 may include a write buffer 72 for furnishing memory write data to the memory bus 41 . the memory bus interface 64 may also include a memory controller 70 that furnishes signals ( clock signals and control signals , as examples ) to the memory bus 41 to perform selected memory bus operations ( read , write and refresh operations , as examples ) with the system memory 44 . the local bus interface 60 may include a local bus controller 65 that , among other things , furnishes signals to encode and decode bus cycles on the local bus 33 . a driver 83 of the bridge 34 may be coupled to the data and data strobe lines of the memory bus 41 and furnish signals that indicate the voltages of these lines to the end of the lines 80 closest to the memory bus 41 . other bus interfaces of the bridge 34 may include an accelerated graphics port ( agp ) bus interface 68 and a peripheral component interconnect ( pci ) bus interface 66 . the agp is described in detail in the accelerated graphics port interface specification , revision 1 . 0 , published on jul . 31 , 1996 , by intel corporation of santa clara , calif . the pci specification is available from the pci special interest group , portland , oreg ., 97214 . referring to fig8 , in some embodiments , the memory bus 41 may include sixty - four data lines that may be used to communicate sixty - four bits of data ( i . e ., one double dword , or qword ) that are represented by the notation d [ 63 : 0 ], and the buffer 42 may include a bit buffer 100 for each data line of the memory bus 41 . in some embodiments , each bit buffer 100 may store up to eight bits of data from eight respective qwords that appear on the memory bus 41 . thus , collectively , in some embodiments , the sixty - four bit buffers 100 may store up to two cache lines ( i . e ., 64 bytes ) of data . two qwords may be simultaneously retrieved from the bit buffers 100 : an upper address qword that is furnished by upper bit lines 110 ( one upper bit line 110 per bit buffer 100 ) and a lower address qword that is furnished by lower bits lines 112 ( one lower bit line 112 per bit buffer 100 ). each bit buffer 100 latches its respective data bits on the positive and negative edges of a dqs data strobe signal . different bit buffers 100 may receive different dqs signals from the lines 80 . in this manner , the lines 80 are arranged so that each dqs signal experiences approximately the same delay as an associated group of the data signals . thus , a particular dqs signal may be used to latch the bit buffers 100 that receive the data signals that are associated with the dqs signal . the bit buffers 100 begin furnishing the latched bits to the bit lines 110 and 112 in synchronization with an internal clock signal ( called clk ) when a read enable signal ( called rd_en ) is asserted . because the bit buffers 100 may store several entries ( eight , for example ) and the clk signal may have a higher frequency ( double the frequency , for example ) than the frequency of the dqs strobe ( when active ), a sufficient number of cycles of the clk signal may be permitted to elapse before the latched data is retrieved from the buffers 100 in order to ensure that the latched data is valid . the upper 110 and lower 112 bit lines may be coupled to input terminals of a multi - bit multiplexer 102 . other input terminals 101 of the multiplexer 102 may be coupled to the multiplexing circuitry 62 for purposes of receiving data captured by the agp 68 or pci 66 bus interfaces . the selection of the data from either the bit buffers 100 , the agp interface 68 , or the pci bus interface 66 may be controlled by , for example , selection lines 103 that are coupled to the multiplexing circuitry 62 . in some embodiments , the output terminals of the multiplexer 102 are coupled to a buffer 104 that stores data to be furnished to the local bus 33 . the local bus interface 60 may also include the local bus controller 65 , an input / output ( i / o ) interface 105 for driving and buffering signals to / from the local bus 33 and write path circuitry 108 . referring to fig9 , as an example , in some embodiments , the bit buffer 100 a that receives the d [ 0 ] bit may have the following design that is similar to the design of the other bit a buffers 100 . in particular , in some embodiments , the bit buffer 100 a may include lower qword bit latches 120 that store the lowest order bits d [ 0 ] for the lower qwords and upper qword bit latches 124 that store the lowest order bits d [ 0 ] for the upper qwords . the lower qword bit latches 120 capture the d [ 0 ] bit on positive edges of the dqs signal when their respective latch enable signal ( l [ 0 ], l [ 2 ], l [ 4 ] or l [ 6 ]) is asserted , and the upper qword bit latches 124 capture the d [ 0 ] bit on negative edges of the dqs signal when their respective latch enable signal ( l [ 1 ], [ 3 ], l [ 5 ] or l [ 7 ]) is asserted . each latch enable signal is asserted for a different edge of the dqs signal , and thus the different latches 120 , 124 store bits for qwords from eight different memory locations . the bit latch 100 a may include a multi - bit multiplexer 126 that is coupled to the output terminals of the upper qword bit latches 120 and a multi - bit multiplexer 128 that is coupled to the output terminals of the lower qword bit latches 124 . the multiplexer 126 provides the upper bit line 110 of the bit latch 100 a , and the multiplexer 128 provides the lower bit line 112 of the bit latch 100 a . the select terminals of both multiplexers 126 and 128 receive the same signals from a counter 130 that is clocked by the clk signal . when the counter 130 is enabled ( by the assertion of the rd_en read enable signal ), the counter 130 controls the multiplexers 126 and 128 so that the d [ 0 ] bits for the upper and lower qword pair are provided at the same time . the bit latch 100 a may include latch enable logic 132 that furnishes the latch enable signals . the latch enable logic 132 is clocked by the dqs signal . referring back to fig6 , beside the components described above , the computer system 30 may also include a display controller 45 that is coupled to the agp bus 43 and controls a display 47 . a modem 46 , for example , may be coupled to the pci bus 38 along with a south bridge 36 . the south bridge 36 may provide an interface to an i / o expansion bus 40 , a hard disk drive 48 and a cd - rom 50 . an i / o controller 54 may be coupled to the i / o expansion bus 40 and receive input from a mouse 56 and a keyboard 58 . the i / o controller 54 may further control the operation of a floppy disk drive 52 . in this context of this application , the term “ processor ” may generally refer to at least one central processing unit ( cpu ), microcontroller or microprocessor , as just a few examples . the phrase “ computer system ” may refer to any type of processor - based system , such as a desktop computer or a laptop computer , as just a few examples . thus , the invention is not intended to be limited to the illustrated computer system 30 , but rather , the computer system is an example of one of many possible embodiments . while the invention has been disclosed with respect to a limited number of embodiments , those skilled in the art , having the benefit of this disclosure , will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom . it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention . | 6 |
the description of an injection moulding tool according to the state of the art , as is represented in a simplified manner in fig3 , is not repeated . a section of an injection moulding tool according to this invention is represented in fig1 and 2 . the injection moulding tool in its entirety is indicated at numeral 1 . at the very top , one recognizes a central feed conduit 2 which is shaped into a sprue bushing 20 . the sprue bushing 20 is held in a fixation plate 21 . the sprue bushing 20 with the central feed conduit 2 which is connected to an extruder or injection moulding assembly of the injection moulding machine , which are not shown here , rests on an upper plate 3 . the plate 3 in turn lies on a lower plate 4 . the individual plates here are releasably connected to one another by means which are not explained further . heating means are arranged in the individual plates . the heating means can be electrically insulated heating rods or also hot runners , through which a heating fluid is pumped . a further explanation of the heating means is omitted since these are conventional and are independent of this invention with regard to their design . each plate 3 , 4 of an injection moulding tool 1 has an upper surface 7 and a lower surface 8 . the number of the required plates 3 , 4 increases depending on the complexity of the injection moulding tool 1 . the terms upper plate 3 and lower plate 4 are to be seen as relation details of two adjacent plates . as the case may be , with an injection moulding tool 1 with three respective plates , for example , the middle plate with regard to the plate lying therebelow forms the upper plate or with regard to the plate lying thereabove forms the lower plate . each plate however has an upper surface 7 and a lower surface 8 . the central feed conduit 2 in the sprue bushing 20 runs out into an exchangeable insert 10 of the upper plate 3 . for this , a recess 30 is formed in the upper surface 7 of the upper plate 3 . in the example represented here , the sprue bush 20 partly engages into the recess 30 . the sprue bush 30 practically forms the upper side of the hot runner feed conduits 5 which connect below the central feed conduit 2 and which branch from here . whereas here , the lower halves of the branching hot runner feed conduits 5 are formed by the respective exchangeable insert 10 , here the upper halves of the branching hot runner feed conduits 5 are formed by the parts of the sprue bushing 20 which engage into the recess 30 . this design however is not compelling and the hot runner feed conduits 5 can also be completely formed in the exchangeable insert 10 . basically , one differentiates between different types of inserts , specifically on the one hand manifold ( distribution ) inserts which are indicated at 11 , and on the other hand deflection inserts which merely serve to realize a direction change of the hot runner feed conduit 5 . as already mentioned , the manifold ( distribution ) inserts are indicated at 11 , the deflection inserts are indicated at 12 . however , it is always the case of exchangeable inserts 10 in both cases . the exchangeable inserts 10 , 11 , 12 are preferably designed so that these taper in a closure direction , in order to simplify their exchangeability . these exchangeable inserts in the normal case are designed in a polygonal manner in a plan view , and that surface of the exchangeable inserts 10 , into which the hot runner feed conduit 5 runs out , is indicated at 13 . these run - out or exits surfaces 13 are preferably inclined so that these run perpendicularly to the running direction of the hot runner feed conduit which runs out , which is to say exits there . basically , the exchangeable inserts can be cubic , cylindrical with perpendicular walls or truncated - cone - like or truncated - pyramid - like with inclined walls . if with regard to the exchangeable insert 10 , it is the case of a manifold insert 11 , then this has at least two exit surfaces 13 . basically , the manifold inserts can be polygonal and not only two hot runner feed conduits can branch therefrom without any problem , but these hot runner feed conduits can be arranged in a star - like manner , so that a multitude of hot runner feed conduits can branch off . two to maximally eight such branching hot runner feed conduits are usually present . with injection moulding tools of the type considered here , and which in technical terms are called hot - runners , one designates the injection moulding tool according to the number of cavities 9 provided therein . the cavities are the hollow spaces which are to be filled with the hot injection moulding mass . if , for example , one has a tool with sixteen cavities , then one speaks of a 16 - cavity tool or mould . in such a case , one would mostly incorporate four hot runners 5 in the upper plate 3 from the manifold insert 11 , which are then recessed into deflection inserts 12 in the upper plate 3 at its lower side . the deflection inserts 12 then in turn run out in manifold inserts 11 in the upper surface of the lower plate 4 , wherein again four hot runners feed conduits 5 branch away from each manifold insert 11 and these then , for example , run out into sixteen cavities via sixteen deflection inserts 12 . then only deflection inserts 12 continue to be present in the lower surface of the lowermost plate which is in connection with the cavities 9 . although the exchangeable inserts 10 with the preferred embodiment are represented here tapering from the upper side of the plate to the base of the recess 30 and thus running inclined to the upper or lower surface 7 , 8 of the respective upper or lower plate 3 , 4 , it is also possible to design the side surfaces of the exchangeable inserts running perpendicularly to the upper or lower surfaces of the respective plate . this is possible not least since one preferably incorporates a bore 14 in each case from the surface lying opposite the recess 30 , perpendicularly to the plate surface , the bore has a suitable inner thread in which screws can be inserted , and by which a pressure can be exerted onto the respective exchangeable inserts 10 , 11 , 12 . with this , the inserts can be fastened to the respective surface in an aligned and highly precise manner , and in particular the inserts can be easily ejected for cleaning . accordingly , the bores are indicated as ejection bores 14 . the respective ejection screws 15 which are mounted therein have a corresponding outer thread which matches the threaded bore 14 . these screws serve for the fastening as well as disassembly of the exchangeable inserts 10 , 11 , 12 . if deposits occur on the hot runner feed conduits , then this leads to these deposits forming an insulation layer , and as a result the heat of the injection moulding tool can no longer be led correctly to the injection moulding mass . the temperature of the injection moulding mass as a result is too low on entry into the cavity , and this can be recognized on the finished parts by the plastics technician . this can be briefly compensated by one increasing the temperature of the injection moulding tool , but deposits or combusted which is to say carbonized particles are thus increasingly formed . these particles are visible in the injection moulded part and lead to aesthetic and mechanical shortcomings , which cannot be tolerated . a person skilled in the art and in injection moulding technology knows that the injection moulding tool must now be cleaned . the person can now carry out this itself without having to send the injection moulding tool back to the mould manufacturer . for this , he separates the different plates of the injection moulding tool according to this invention , in order remove the various exchangeable inserts by way of ejection screws and to then clean the respective hot runner feed conduits 5 . for this , the person does not need to drill out a plug and insert a new one again . of course , the person can also clean the exchangeable inserts itself . however , the tool manufacturer can indeed also co - deliver a complete set of exchangeable inserts for the respective injection moulding tool , in order however to reduce the stoppage time of the tool , so that the injection moulding business merely needs to clean through the conduits and then exchange the set of co - delivered , exchangeable inserts . it then assembles the injection moulding tool again thereafter . a mould manufacturer , who manufactures the injection moulding tool of the type according to this invention , would standardize the exchangeable inserts . basically , hot runner conduits , which is to say hot runners , with only three to four different diameters are required for example , depending on the tool size . thus with this , it is conceivable for business to manufacture the exchangeable inserts for example of sintered material in a large scale manufacture or also , with regard to moulding technology , to have such metallic exchangeable inserts manufactured , for the common sizes of injection moulding tools . however , one would always manufacture such inserts in a self - produced and machining manner , for more sophisticated injection moulding tools . the bores must be led through from the one surface to the other surface in a complete manner , so that one can clean the hot runner feed conduits which run is a straight , but inclined manner in the respective plate , without any problem . the recesses , into which these bores run out however , do not need to be so large that the exit surface of this continuous bore runs out completely in the region of the recess . this indeed can be recognized in fig2 , for example . thus in fig2 , one can recognize that the hot runner feed conduit 5 although running out completely within the recess 30 , however basically crosses this recess and exits again at 16 . the exchangeable insert 10 however does not close off this bore exit region 16 , and as a result it is of no significance as to whether the exit surface of the bore lies completely within the base surface of the recess 30 or extends out of this . the exchangeable inserts are not a hindrance on cleaning the hot runner feed conduits since the exchangeable these inserts 10 are removed for the cleaning . | 1 |
referring to the drawings , a structure and an operation of an embodiment of the microwave heating apparatus according to the present invention will be described . fig7 shows a schematic cross section of a microwave heating apparatus 31 of an embodiment of the present invention . the microwave heating apparatus 31 has an outer casing 3 in which a heating chamber 1 for receiving an object to be heated is formed . the heating chamber 1 is surrounded by a wall 1a . microwave energy is generated in a microwave generator ( magnetron ) 28 . a heating chamber 1 is supplied with the microwave energy generated in the generator 28 through a wave guide 29 . a turntable 30 is rotatably mounted in the heating chamber 1 . the object to be heated is mounted on the turntable 30 so that the object will be uniformly heated . an openable / closable door 5 is provided via a hinge 32 to face an opening portion of the heating chamber 1 . the peripheral portions of the door 5 face the flange 2 extended from the front end portion of the wall 1a . the structure of the peripheral portions of the door 5 contacting the flange 2 is shown in greater detail in fig3 . as shown in fig2 and 3 , the flange 2 extended from the front end portion of the wall 1a of the heating chamber 1 surrounds the opening portion of the heating chamber 1 and is surrounded by the outer casing 3 . small apertures 4 are provided in a door 5 at its central portion in a region as wide as possible so as to provide viewing of the inside of the heating chamber 1 . a stepped portion 6 surrounds a circumference of the location of the small apertures 4 . the stepped portion 6 positions an end portion of a light transmitting inner cover 15 of the door 5 fixed to the inner surface of the small apertures 4 and prevents it from being peeled in cleaning or the like . it also improves the flatness of a seal surface 7 which is arranged to come into plane - contact with the flange 2 when the door 5 is closed . a first wall surface 8 is bent substantially perpendicularly to the flange 2 at an end portion of the seal surface 7 . a second wall surface 9 extends substantially in parallel with the flange 2 from an end portion of the first wall surface 8 . a number of u - shaped electrically conductive pieces 10 are welded to the second wall surface 9 . each of the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces 10 is constituted by three surfaces , that is , an attaching surface 19 welded to the second wall surface 9 , an upright surface 23 substantially in parallel opposite to the first wall surface 8 , and an extending surface 11 opposed at its cut end to the first wall surface 8 . a width d of each of the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces 10 in the longitudinal direction in the circumference of the door 5 ( in the x - direction in fig1 and 3 ) is made smaller than 1 / 2 of the wavelength to be used . a rectangular section surrounded by the first wall surface 8 and the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces 10 form a cavity resonator 12 having a narrow inlet 25 . an opaque dielectric cover 13 closes the inlet 25 of the cavity resonator 12 . a protrusion 14 projecting from the dielectric cover 13 is arranged to be caught by an attaching hole 18 provided in one or more of the upright surfaces 23 of the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces 10 . an outer door frame 24 made of dielectric material holds a light - permeable outer cover 16 of the door 5 covering a front surface of the door 5 . a protrusion 17 projecting from the outer door frame 24 is arranged to hook on an outer peripheral end portion 20 of the second wall surface 9 . as shown in more detail in fig4 one or more ( two in the illustrated embodiment ) capacitance adjusting element portions 26 and 27 project from the dielectric cover 13 into the cavity resonator 12 such that at least one of them is placed in the vicinity of the cut end of the extended surface 11 . as a result , the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces 10 are prevented from being bent ( in the direction in which the inlet 25 is reduced ) when an impact is applied externally . the dielectric cover 13 in fig4 shows a cut end of a portion having no protrusion 14 . further , of the capacitance adjusting elements 26 and 27 projecting from the dielectric cover 13 in the vicinity of the extending surface 11 and in the vicinity of the first wall surface 8 respectively , the right capacitance adjusting element 27 in the vicinity of the first wall surface 8 is made larger in projecting length than the other capacitance adjusting element 26 . the operation and effects in the embodiment arranged as described above will be described hereunder . first , a wave seal effect against an incident wave coming into a plane contact portion of the flange 2 surrounding the opening portion of the heat chamber 1 and the seal surface 7 will be described in reference to the simple equivalent circuit shown in fig5 . a capacitance 21 corresponding to the plane contact portion between the flange 2 and the seal surface 7 acts as a kind of bypass capacitor . the planar connecting portion is considered as a parallel plate line . the capacitance of the line is in inverse proportion to the gap between the parallel plates so that the capacitance 21 becomes larger to increase the wave seal effect as the gap of the plane - contact portion becomes smaller . the width d ( in the x - direction in fig3 ) of each of the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces 10 is made smaller than 1 / 2 of the wavelength to be used so that the propagation direction of the wave coming into the inside of the cavity resonator 12 having the rectangular section defined by the first wall surface 8 and the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces 10 is limited to within the y - z plane in fig3 . if the extending surface 11 is not provided , the electric field is distributed as shown in fig6 in which a parallel resonance is generated in the case where the length l of the parallel plate line is made to be about 1 / 4 of the free space wave length λ so as to maximize the impedance to thereby make it possible to prevent the wave from leaking . however , the length l is 30 . 6 mm in the microwave heating apparatus operating at 2450 mhz . accordingly , if it is intended to actually provide such a parallel plate line having a length l in the door , the door becomes so thick as to be disadvantageous in design as well as in cost . the electric field is distributed as shown in fig4 in the case in which the cavity resonator 12 having a rectangular section is provided and the narrow inlet 25 is formed by providing the extending surface 11 similarly to the present invention . in that case , the greater part of the electric flux lines are concentrated between the vicinity of the cut end of the extending surface 11 and the first wall surface 8 . in fig5 the cavity resonator 12 is illustrated as a parallel resonance element constituted by equivalent inductance l and equivalent capacitance c . the equivalent inductance l functions as a one turn cylindrical coil having approximately the same cross section as that of the cavity resonator 12 and the cavity resonator 12 thus provides equivalent inductance as a constant of the coil . the value of the equivalent inductance l per unit length in the cylinder axial direction ( in the x - direction ) is expressed by the following equation ( 1 ). the equivalent capacitance c arises from the disturbed electric field in the vicinity of the inlet 25 of the cavity resonator 12 and is approximately expressed by the following equation ( 2 ). ## equ1 ## where ab represents the area of the rectangular cross section of the cavity 12 , μ o represents the magnetic permeability of the medium in the cavity resonator 12 , e is 2 . 72 , l m represents the distance between the inlet 25 and the areal center o of the cavity cross section of the cavity resonator 12 , ε o represents the dielectric constant of the medium in the cavity resonator 12 , k represents a correction term related to the shape in the vicinity of the inlet 25 , and g represents the distance across the gap of the inlet 25 ( the size of the inlet 25 ). the resonance frequency f o of the cavity resonator 12 is represented by the following equation ( 3 ). ## equ2 ## from equation ( 2 ), it can be found that the equivalent capacitance c becomes larger as the gap g of the inlet 25 is made smaller or l m / g is made larger . from equation ( 3 ), it can be found that the equivalent inductance l may be made smaller as the equivalent capacitance c is made larger with the resonance frequency f o kept constant . in order to make the equivalent inductance l small , the area ab of the rectangular cross section of the cavity resonator 12 may be made small on the basis of equation ( 1 ). that is , in order to reduce the cavity resonator 12 in size , it will do to reduce the size of the gap g of the inlet 25 to thereby make the equivalent capacitance c large . making the cavity area ab small correspondingly reduces the equivalent inductance l . thus , in this condition , it will do to generate a parallel resonance at a predetermined resonant frequency f o ( the heating frequency of the microwave oven ) to thereby maximize the impedance at the inlet 25 to prevent the wave from leaking . in the microwave oven having a heating frequency of 2 , 450 mhz and microwave energy of 500 watts , the gap between the flange 2 and the seal surface 7 was selected to be 2 mm , the step height between the extending surface 1 and the seal surface 7 was selected to be 3 mm , and the width d of each of the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces was selected to be 15 mm . water in the quantity of 275 ml was heated . in that condition , the quantity of radiation leakage was measured at a position 5 cm away from the circumference of the door 5 . as a result , under the conditions that g = 5 mm , ab = 15 . 4 × 15 . 9 mm , and l m / g = 2 . 1 , the quantity of wave leakage was not larger than 0 . 1 mw / cm 2 . on the other hand , if under the condition that g = 8 mm , it was necessary to set the other conditions so that ab = 20 . 4 × 18 . 4 mm and l m / g = 1 . 75 in order to minimize the quantity of radiation leakage to substantially the same extent as the above case . thus , in this latter case , the area of the rectangular cross section of the cavity resonator 12 becomes large . from the experiment , it has been found that the dimensions a and b of the rectangular cross section of the cavity resonator 12 can be made considerably smaller than 30 . 6 mm which is 1 / 4 of the wavelength λ to be used , by making the gap g of the inlet 25 to be narrow to value within a range from about 4 to 8 mm and making l m / g to be equal to or larger than 1 . 5 . the portions 26 and 27 projected from the dielectric cover 13 are formed as the capacitance adjusting elements for surely adjusting the equivalent capacitance c of the cavity resonator 12 to thereby reliably obtain a parallel resonance . being provided also in the vicinity of the cut end of the extending surface 11 , the capacitance adjusting elements 26 and 27 are useful for preventing deformation of the u - shape electrically conductive pieces 10 so that a stable wave seal effect can be kept for a long time . the equivalent capacitance c can be adjusted by the capacitance adjusting elements 26 and 27 to dependably generate a parallel resonance to thereby improve the wave seal effect . further , the capacitance adjusting element 27 provided in the vicinity of the first wall surface 8 is selected to be longer in projecting length than the capacitance adjusting element 26 provided in the vicinity of the end portion of the extending surface 11 . as a result , when the dielectric cover 13 is fitted , the capacitance adjusting element 27 is first inserted along the first wall surface 8 and after positioning of the capacitance adjusting element 27 , the capacitance adjusting element 26 enters the inlet 25 . accordingly , there is no possibility that the capacitance adjusting element 26 presses the extending surface 11 in the y - direction to thereby deform the extending surface 11 . the capacitance adjusting element 26 is used also to minimize the deformation of the extending surface 11 against the external force in the z - direction in the condition that the dielectric cover is fixed . as described above , according to the present invention , the inlet of the cavity resonator having a rectangular cross section surrounded by a number of the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces and the first wall surface is made narrow with a structure in which the cut end plane of the extending surface of each of the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces and the first wall surface are made opposite to each other . the dimensions are selected to satisfy , for example , l m / g ≧ 1 . 5 . accordingly , the dimensions a and b of the cross section of the cavity resonator can be made smaller than 1 / 4 of the wavelength λ to be used , the shape of the cavity resonator can be simplified , and the door can be made small and thin . accordingly , it is possible to provide a microwave heating apparatus which is compact and which is easy in assembling , resulting in a significant effective economical point of view . further , a parallel resonance can be surely generated by the provision of one or more capacitance adjusting elements . further , at least one of the capacitance adjusting elements is provided in the vicinity of the cut end of the extending surface , so that the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces can be prevented from being deformed against external force ( in the z - direction ) to thereby improve the stability of the wave sealing effect . further , each of the u - shaped electrically conductive pieces is arranged such that one end surface thereof is made to be in contact with the second wall surface . accordingly , the assembling work is made easy . | 7 |
in order to promote a fuller understanding of the present invention , we will begin by discussing the operation of a prior art dredger . referring to fig1 a support vessel or mother vessel 10 is shown moving forward or stationary heading into a tidal flow . the tidal flow may be in a river , estuary , or at sea . this wing dredger 11 is suspended at an appropriate distance from the sea bed via a pair of cables 12 , 13 , one cable extending from each side of a lifting means 14 on the mother vessel 10 and there is provided a further cable 16 from adjacent the bow of the vessel 10 . as illustrated in fig2 the wing dredger has a hydrofoil cross section and is rectangular in plan . it is constructed as a casing comprising vertical end walls 17 , connected by laterally extending wall 18 , which provide lower angled faces 19 to provide a downward component of force when acted on by tidal flow providing as stability . the upper wall 21 is generally flat . referring to fig3 it will seen that this wing dredger 11 is constructed of three units , a front unit 11 a , and mid - unit 11 b and a rear unit 11 c connected together , so that the wing dredger can be split into three sections for ease of transportation . each of the three units 11 a , 11 b and 11 c are of steel skin construction and units 11 a and 11 c are hollow closed boxes . the hollow closed boxes are divided into compartments by suitable bulkheads . it will be seen from fig3 that the wing dredger is symmetrical about its lateral axis so that it can be used in either direction with the respective end wall 18 leading . the dredger 11 is provided with two closed vertical bores 22 which are laterally spaced from each other , each housing a thrust means 23 in the form of a motor driven propeller 24 mounted substantially in the plane of the wing 11 and the two propellers are driven in opposition to reduce the effects of centrifugal / centripetal forces . where the two contra - rotating vertical jet vortices meet , very high forces are created which increase seabed penetration . upwardly extending from the upper wall 21 are a pair of fins 26 and 27 each extending from adjacent the front edge to adjacent the rear edge . each closed vertical bore 22 extends up through a respective fin 26 , 27 . the propellers are driven by respective electric motors . in use , a downward vertical component of force is provided by the leading angled face 19 when acted upon by the tide or other flow of water , and / or forward speed of the vessel , which component can be increased by adjustment of the cables to tilt the casing , and hence the upper wall 21 thereof appropriately to the horizontal . in a practical construction capable of operating down to a depth of approximately 300 meters of water , the wing dredger has dimensions of the order of 9000 mm wide , by 6000 mm long and 2600 mm high . with a wing dredger of such size tilted 10 - 15 degrees from the horizontal , a resultant hydro - dynamic downward vertical component of force of up to about 9 . 5 tonnes is generated when the wing moving or subject to a tidal flow of about 4½ knots ( 8 . 3 km / hr ). the thrusters are designed to produce a thrust of between 0 . 5 and 2 . 5 tonne each . the wing 11 is provided with a number of ballast tanks so that the weight of said casing can be adjusted by the injection / ejection of a suitable ballast medium such a water and / or sand , silt , etc . from the area being cleared . means for controlling the buoyancy of an underwater object are well known and reference is made , for example , to i . b . mcdonald &# 39 ; s paper in oceanology international 72 , pp 424 et seq . to recover the smallest articles from a wreck , preferably the lowest thrust required to lift the material to be cleared should be used . thus , it will be appreciated that weight adjustment of the wing is necessary , depending upon the depth at which working is to be effected and the amount of thrust required to be generated by the propellers , which in turn will depend upon the nature of the material being cleared , e . g . light or heavy sand , silt , gravel etc . with reference now to fig5 there is shown , schematically , a first embodiment of a dredging apparatus in accordance with the present invention . the body 11 of the apparatus is self - propelling through the water and so does not require tethering to the support vessel 10 . except as otherwise stated , the dredging operation of the wing dredger shown is essentially the same as described above and the same reference numerals indicate the same components as in the prior art wing dredger . the body of the apparatus houses a diesel engine ( not shown ). for the 9 m × 6 m dredger described above , an engine with an output of around 600hp will be suitable . the engine is aspirated and exhausted by means of a snorkel forming a part of an umbilical cord 40 . such snorkels are well known in the field of submarines . for example , suitable systems are described in u - bootbau by ulrich gabler , published by wehr & amp ; wissen ( 1973 ) ( isbn 3 - 8033 - 0260 - 9 ) to which further reference should be made . for protection from the elements . the ventilation head of the snorkel terminates inside the body of a buoy 41 floating on the surface of the water above the body 11 . a diesel engine of around 600hp will require an air input of around 2300 m 3 per hour . the buoy 41 will , to a certain extent , be towed around as the body 11 of the apparatus moves around the seabed . those skilled in the art of snorkel design will be readily able to determine suitable dimensions , materials and constructions for the umbilical cord which will withstand the tensions placed upon the cord in use and allow the required amount of air to flow to the engine . in addition to providing the power for the first thrust means 23 which provide the scouring of the seabed surface , the engine also provides power to further thrust means in the form of positioning thrusters to manoeuvre the wing in an altazimuth manner , both to and from the work - site and along the seabed . suitable arrangements of such positioning thrusters will be described in further detail below with reference to the preferred embodiment . however , in the arrangement shown , the positioning thrusters include a pair of propellers 58 , 59 mounted on respective fins 26 , 27 , each being capable of being run in reverse . the positioning thrusters also include propellers for adjustment of the attitude of the wing and altitude above the seabed . these are conveniently mounted in a similar configuration to that used on one - man submarines . they may be a pair of directionally adjustable propellers mounted on respective sides of the wing , or may comprise two sets of propellers , one mounted for vertical movement and one for fore / aft motion . with this arrangement of motion thrusters , it will also be possible to adjust the side to side inclination of the wing to enable dredging of wider channels , as is described in our corresponding application gb 2 315 787 . the body of the apparatus also houses a number of sensors and scanning instruments . these detect the orientation of the body , its heading , height above the seabed , the geography and geology of the seabed etc . these instruments and the control systems for the various thrust means all clearly require communication with the operators of the apparatus on the surface in a support vessel . in the embodiment shown in fig5 this is achieved by means of radio signals . an aerial lead ( or more preferably a range of aerial leads with specific enhanced frequency responses for the wide range of frequency outputs of the apparatus used ) within the umbilical cord 40 from the body of the apparatus communicates with an aerial ( or aerials ) 42 mounted upon the buoy 41 floating on the surface . from there , signals are transmitted to and from the support vessel 10 . alternatively , in order to avoid possible loss of signals particularly in high seas , the communications system may use transmissions via satellites . to assist in taking the body down towards the seabed , the body includes means adapted to carry solid ballast , such as concrete blocks or iron chains , which can be jettisoned upon completion of a job to enable the dredger to return to the surface . to return to the surface , the dredger will use its thrusters and rudders 44 to direct the wing on an inclined path towards the surface . once at the surface or very close thereto , the ballast tanks can be blown . in a modification ( not shown ), power is supplied from a diesel engine , housed within a suitably protected buoy 41 ′ floating on the surface of the water . the engine powers an electrical generator or hydraulic pump , the output from which is transmitted to the drive means in the body of the apparatus by means of the umbilical cord 40 ′. in a modification of this embodiment , the power is supplied by means of an umbilical cord from a submarine running above the apparatus . referring to fig4 there is shown in a very diagrammatic form a front view of a wing dredger as above described passing at a meter or two above the sea bed 29 and as a result of the downward thrust of the propellers 24 , there is produced a trench 31 in the sea bed 29 . at least some of the material which has been dislodged from the sea bed to produce the trench 31 is deposited on each side of the trench 31 to form a ridge 32 . a preferred embodiment of a wing dredger in accordance with the present invention is shown in fig6 in which reference numerals common with fig2 and 3 indicate similar features in this embodiment with the same characteristics as described above . in this embodiment , the wing dredger , shown generally at 50 , includes a diesel engine ( not shown ) housed in the central section 11 b . the engine receives its oxygen supply from a compressed gas supply in the body of the wing 50 and includes apparatus for recycling the exhaust gases to provide a carrier and diluent for the pure oxygen supply . such apparatus is not shown or specifically described further as full details of such systems are already well known in the art . in particular , further reference should be made to paper number 710827 by j . r . puttick of ricard & amp ; co limited presented to the society of automotive engineers &# 39 ; national combined fuels and lubricants powerplant and track meetings , st . louis , mo ., oct . 26 - 29 , 1971 . otherwise , the operation of the apparatus is substantially as described above . as shown , each fin 26 , 27 is fitted with respective pairs of elevators 56 , 57 which act to guide the wing dredger , in use , during descent and surfacing and to aid recovery of the apparatus . as described above , the engine also provides power to a number of positioning thrusters . these include sideways positioning thruster reversible propellers 58 , 59 mounted within respective fins 26 , 27 . the housings of the propellers 58 , 59 may also be mounted for rotation within the fins to provide a fine - adjustment mechanism for the wing . the positioning thrusters also include one or more propeller units mounted in a similar configuration to that used on one - man submarines . they may comprise a pair of directionally adjustable propeller units 55 , one mounted on the on the leading edge of the wing and another mounted on the rearward edge . these propeller units 55 allow forward and reverse adjustment of the apparatus . preferably , the axis of rotation of each unit is arranged to be adjustable such that a certain degree of sideways motion of the apparatus can also be achieved . as described above , the wing dredger includes a number of sensors and scanning instruments . for example , the wing dredger of fig6 shows the provision of a motion sensor and gyroscope unit 60 ; transponders 61 fore and aft to enable precise location and thus alignment of the dredger ; together with survey data transmission and reception apparatus 62 . in the preferred embodiment , the motion of the dredging apparatus and its on - board sensors and instruments is controlled from the support vehicle ( ship on the surface , submarine , submersible or a remotely operated vehicle ) by means of multi - channel sonar . this means of control allows almost real - time remote control of the movement and activities of the dredging apparatus from distances , with current technology , of up to 800 meters . suitable systems are well known in the art . a further embodiment of a wing dredger is illustrated in fig7 and 8 . the wing dredger is of smaller overall dimensions than those described above , for use in situations where there may be less room to manoeuvre a large wing dredger or a less powerful dredger is all that is needed . as shown , the dredger 70 comprises a wing body 71 comprising forward , middle and rearward sections 71 a , 71 b and 71 c substantially as described above with respect to the larger dredger . this embodiment includes a single central vertical bore 72 housing thrust means 73 in the form of a pair of propellers 74 , 75 . the bore 72 extends , as in the embodiments described above , upwardly through an axial fin 76 in which are mounted two positioning thrusters 77 , 78 , one fore and one aft . the dredger includes a pair of jets pumps 80 , 81 positioned either side of the fin 76 . the jet pumps supply powerful jets of water from a plurality of outlets 82 in the underside of the wing . as shown , there are four such outlets arranged around the bottom exit of the vertical bore 72 . alternative arrangements are equally possible within the central section 71 b of the wing as desired . the pressure jets 82 are particularly suitable for cutting hard clays . this feature may also be added to any of the other embodiments of the wing dredger described above . furthermore , as space provides or as required , the jet pumps 80 , 81 can be mounted within the body of the dredger . a dredger described above has many uses , for example , it can be simply used for a normal dredging purpose , that is clearing a channel in a river or the sea . a dredger of lateral dimensions approximately 9 m × 6 m may be used to clear from a river or sea bed of heavy clay a channel approximately 10 m wide , 5 m deep and 100 m long in approximately 6 hours . thus in that 6 hour period it moves of the order of 300 tonnes of heavy clay . clearly if the river or sea bed is of sand or silt , then a much larger volume of material would be removed in that six hour period . in addition to dredging , the dredger may be used in salvaging , that is for clearing mud and silt from wrecks . a particularly interesting use is to level the seabed and then dredge a trench in which oil / gas pipelines may be laid and then by a similar “ agitation ” operation of the dredger , the trench may be backfilled . the dredger may be used to clear silt away from what is called in the oil industry , “ christmas trees ”, around buried debris , such as ordinance , and for freespan recitification . the dredger may also be used to level a site on which an oil platform is to be mounted and can be conveniently used to remove the silt which accumulates around the legs of an oil rig , so that the oil rig may be removed . in another use , the dredger may be used to remove the top layer of silt from the river or sea bottom so that an offshore mining operation can get to the required lower layers . to reduce environmental effects , the silt may be removed in small thicknesses at a time . the dredger can be used for localised shaped excavations such as directional drilling exit holes . other uses of the dredger include disturbing the bottom of a river to maintain in the stream toxic substances which would otherwise settle on the bottom of the river so that the river and river bed lift is improved . the dredger is particularly suitable for sandwave levelling and pre - sweeping and also the removal or dilution of muds and silts of various densities . it is also suitable for rockdump removal , rockberm removal and for widening and deepening channels . in this application , it is to be understood that the term ‘ seabed ’ includes similar areas such river beds , estuaries , lakes etc . | 4 |
herein , the amino acid nomenclature corresponds to standard conventions where : l - leucine is “ l ” or “ leu ”, l - lysine is “ k ” or “ lys ”, l - alanine is “ a ” or “ ala ”, benzyloxycarbonyl is “ z ” or cbz , d -( 1 - naphthyl ) alanine is “ d - nal ”, 4 - chlorophenylalanine is “ d - cal ”, l - serine is “ l - ser ” and d - 3 - pyridylalanine is “ d - pal ”. in addition all amino acid residue sequences are represented by formulae whose left to right orientation is in the conventional direction of amino - terminus to carboxy - terminus . a dash at the beginning or end of the sequence indicates a bond to a radical such as h , oh or obzl ; and a dash in the middle of the sequence indicates a convential amide bond . other abbreviations and symbols are as follows : dmf is n , n - dimethylformamide , meoh is methanol , hobt is 1 - hydroxybenzotriazole , thf is tetrahydrofuran , dcc is 1 , 3 dicyclohexylcarbodiimide , etoh is ethanol , iproh is isopropanol , hbtu is n , n , n ′, n ′- tetramethyl - o -( 1 h - benzotriazol - 1 - yl ) uronium - hexafluororphosphate ), dipea is n , n - diisopropylethylamine , nmp is 1 - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidone , hoobt is 3 , 4 - dihydro - 3 - hydroxy - 4 - oxo - 1 , 2 , 3 - benzotriazine , wscdi ( water soluble carbodiimide ) is 1 -( dimethylaminopropyl )- 3 - ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride and dic is 1 , 3 - diisopropylcarbodiimide . the term “ alkyl ” includes straight and branched groups ; the term “ hydroxide ” includes group i metal hydroxides ( naoh , lioh and the like ) as well as tetraalkylammonium hydroxides ; the term “ salts ” includes tetraalkylammonium halides and tetrahalo borates and “ ac ” is acetyl . the synthesis of ( lys - leu 4 ) 4 lys ( seq . id no . 1 ) in accordance with the present invention , follows two pathways . procedure a uses three peptides fragments : a 3 - residue left - hand ( amino - end ), a three residue right hand ( carboxy terminus ) and a five residue body fragment to construct the molecule . as illustrated in scheme a , h - leu - leu - lys ( z )- obzl and boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - oh ( seq . id no . 2 ) are reacted together in the presence of a peptide coupling agent and an inert solvent at about 0 ° c . to room temperature to give boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - leu - leu - lys ( z )- obzl . ( seq . id no . 6 ) examples of suitable peptide coupling agents include : dcc , dic , hbtu , wscdi , hobt , hoobt , where the preferred agents are hoobt and htbu . solvents are chosen for their compatibility with the chosen coupling agent . suitable solvents include dmf , thf , nmp and acetonitrile , where a mixture of dmf and acetonitrile is preferred . if the acid salt of h - leu - leu - lys ( z )- obzl is used , this peptide is neutralized with an organic base . the boc protecting group is cleaved by treating boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - leu - leu - lys ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 6 ) with an acid at about − 20 to 0 ° c . under an inert atmosphere . although a solvent may be used with a gaseous acid , such as hcl , the preferred method uses neat trifluoroacetic acid at about 0 ° c . h - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu 4 - lys ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 6 ) is treated with a peptide coupling agent , an organic base and boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - oh ( seq . id no . 2 ) in an inert solvent at about − 4 to 10 ° c . to give boc - leu - leu -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) 2 - lys ( z )- obzl . ( seq . id no . 5 ) the preferred peptide coupling agents are hoobt and hbtu , the preferred solvent is dmf and the preferred organic base is dipea . the boc protecting group is cleaved by treating boc - leu - leu -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) 2 - lys ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 5 ) with an acid at about − 20 to 0 ° c . under an inert atmosphere . the preferred acid was hcl and the inert solvent was ethyl acetate . h - leu - leu -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) 2 - lys ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 5 ) is treated with a peptide coupling agent , an organic base and boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - oh ( seq . id no . 2 ) in an inert solvent at about − 4 to 10 ° c . to give boc - leu - leu -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) 3 - lys ( z )- obzl . ( seq . id no . 3 ) the preferred peptide coupling agents are hoobt and dic , the preferred solvent is thf and the preferred organic base is dipea . the boc protecting group is cleaved by treating boc - leu - leu -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) 3 - lys ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 3 ) with an acid at about − 20 to 0 ° c . under an inert atmosphere . h - leu - leu -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) 3 - lys ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 3 ) was treated with a salt , an organic base , a peptide coupling agent , water and z - lys ( z )- leu - leu - oh in an inert solvent at about 0 to 20 ° c . over 2 to 5 h to give z -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) 4 - lys ( z )- obzl . ( seq . id no . 1 ) the preferred coupling agents are dic and hoobt , the preferred solvent is thf and the preferred salt is libf 4 . the benzyl protecting groups are removed by hydrogenating z -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) 4 - lys ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 1 ) in the presence of a catalyst and an inert solvent under a positive h 2 atmosphere . the preferred catalyst is pd / c , the preferred solvent is acetic acid and the preferred h 2 pressure is 2 to 2 . 2 bar . procedure b follows another approach . this method employs a convergent pathway where two larger fragments are combined to produce the protected final product . in addition this method uses tetrabutylammonium hydroxide to saponify an ester protected carboxy group with less than 1 % racemization of the α - carbon . as illustrated by scheme b , h - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - or ( seq . id no . 2 ) is treated with boc - lys ( z )- leu - leu - oh , a peptide coupling agent , an organic amine in an inert solvent at about − 5 to − 2 ° c . for about 2 to 3 h to give boc - lys ( z )- leu - leu - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - or . ( seq . id no . 4 ) the preferred coupling agents are hoobt and hbtu , the preferred organic base is dipea , the preferred solvent is dmf and the preferred group for r is methyl . the terminal ester protecting group is saponified by treating boc - lys ( z )- leu - leu - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - or ( seq . id no . 4 ) with a tetraalkylammonium hydroxide and water in an inert organic solvent at about − 17 to 0 ° c . over 10 to 160 min . inert solvents include dmf and thf , tetraalkylammonium hydroxide reagents include tetrabutylammonium hydroxide , tetramethylammonium hydroxide , tetraethylammonium hydroxide and tetrabenzylammonium hydroxide . the preferred solvent is thf , the preferred tetraalkylammonium hydroxide is tetrabutylammonium hydroxide and the preferred temperature is − 5 to 0 ° c . the reaction should be monitored by analytical methods , particularly hplc in order to determine when the starting ester is saponified , for racemization increases over time . boc -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) lys ( z )- leu - leu - oh ( seq . id no . 4 ) is treated with a salt , a peptide coupling agent , an organic base and h - leu - leu -( lys ( z ) leu 4 ) 2 - lys - obzl ( seq . id no . 5 ) in an inert organic solvent at about 0 to 25 ° c . over 1 to 30 h to give boc -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) 4 lys ( z )- obzl . ( seq . id no . 1 ) the preferred coupling agents are hoobt and dic , the preferred organic base is dipea , the preferred solvent is thf / water and the preferred salt is tetrabutylammonium chloride . the protecting groups of boc -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) 4 lys ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 1 ) are removed by treatment with trifluoroacetic acid followed by hydrogenation in the presence of a catalyst and an inert solvent under a positive h 2 atmosphere . the preferred catalyst is pd / c , the preferred solvent is acetic acid and the preferred h 2 pressure is 2 to 2 . 2 bar . although tetraalkylammonium hydroxides are employed in the synthesis of ( lys - leu 4 ) 4 - lys , ( seq . id no . 1 ) their utility is not restricted to the saponification of peptides with l - confirmations , nor to peptides of lys or leu . it is used in the saponification of ac - d - nal - d - p - cal - ome , where this peptide was treated with tetraalkylammonium hydroxide in an inert solvent at about − 10 to 0 ° c . to give ac - d - nal - d - p - cal - oh . the preferred tetraalkylammonium hydroxide is tetrabutylammonium hydroxide and the preferred solvents are dmf and thf . this procedure gives 2 . 6 % of the undesired l isomer while other methods , namely naoh and aqueous acetone give 13 % of the undesired diastereomer . in addition , tetraalkylammonium hydroxides are used in the saponification of ac - d - nal - d - p - cal - d - 3 - pal - l - ser ( oh )- obzl . ( seq . id no . 7 ) the preferred solvent for this saponification is thf , the preferred hydroxide is tetrabutylammonium hydroxide and the preferred temperature is about − 6 to − 3 ° c . the following examples are meant to illustrate the invention , not to limit it . other embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art and are claimed by this invention . the identity of the compounds was confirmed by hplc and lc comparison with known standards . the purity of the compounds was determined by their hplc area %, where the racemization % was determined by the same method . 4 - methylmorpholine ( 12 . 62 g , 124 . 8 mmol ), boc - leucine monohydrate ( 29 . 92 , 120 . 0 mmol ) and hobt ( 1 . 62 g , 12 . 0 mmol ) were added to a solution of h - leu - ome . hcl ( 21 . 80 g , 120 . 0 mmol ) in ethyl acetate ( 205 g ). a solution of dcc ( 29 . 71 g , 144 . 0 mmol ) in ethyl acetate ( 25 . 0 g ) was added at 0 to 5 ° c . over 30 min and the resulting mixture was stirred over 2 h at a maximum temperature of 20 ° c . the resulting urea was removed by filtration and washed with ethyl acetate and the combined organic filtrate was extracted with successive portions of 5 % aq . k 2 co 3 and 5 % aq . khso 4 . the organic layer was dried ( mgso 4 ), concentrated in vacuo , and the residual solid was recrystallized from petroleum ether ( bp 100 - 125 ° c .) to giveboc - leu - leu - ome ( 38 . 6 g , 89 . 8 %). a solution of naoh ( 1 . 34 g , 33 . 5 mmol ) in water ( 15 . 0 g ) was added dropwise over 10 min to the solution of boc - leu - leu - ome ( 10 . 0 g , 27 . 9 mmol ) in acetone ( 20 . 0 g ) and water ( 50 . 0 g ) at 18 - 22 ° c . the reaction mixture was stirred at this temperature for 1 h and then analyzed by hplc . when the methyl ester is under 5 %, the reaction stirred for an additional 0 . 5h . a white turbidity formed by the end of the reaction which was removed by filtration and rinsed with water ( 5 . 0 g ). the clear filtrate was treated with formic acid ( ca 0 . 8 g ) to form a cloudy solution followed by immediate crystallization of product . additional formic acid ( 1 . 5 g ) was added ( to ph 4 . 0 - 4 . 5 ) and the resulting product was collected by filtration then was washed by a mixture of acetone ( 10 . 0 g ) and water ( 40 . 0 g ). the solid product was suspended in a mixture of acetone ( 14 . 0 g ) and water ( 56 . 0 g ) for 15 min . the solid was collected by filtration and washed with a mixture of acetone ( 7 . 5 g ) and water ( 30 . 0 g ) and dried in vacuo at 45 ° c . yield : 8 . 6 - 8 . 8 g ( 89 . 6 - 91 . 7 %). gaseous hcl ( 10 . 2 g , 279 mmol ) was infused into a mixture of boc - leu - leu - ome ( 17 . 9 g , 50 . 0 mmol ) and ethyl acetate ( 71 . 4 g ) at 20 to 25 ° c . after 30 min , t - butyl methyl ether ( 142 . 9 ) was added to the resulting solution followed by a seed crystal . the resulting solid crystalline product was filtered at 0 to 5 ° c . and dried in vacuo to give h - leu - leu - ome . hcl ( 14 . 1 g , 95 . 7 %). isobutyl chloroformate ( 13 . 66 g , 100 mmol ) was added dropwise over 15 min at − 15 to − 10 ° c . to a solution of boc - lys ( z )- oh ( 38 . 04 g , 100 mmol ) in ethyl acetate ( 200 g ). another portion of ethyl acetate was added ( 10 g ) and the mixture was stirred for 15 min . 4 - methylmorpholine ( 10 . 12 g , 100 mmol ) was added dropwise over 15 min at − 15 to − 10 ° c ., followed by an additional portion of ethyl acetate ( 10 . 0 g ) and the resulting mixture was stirred for 2 h . in a separate reaction vessel 4 - methylmorpholine ( 10 . 12 g , 100 mmol ) was added dropwise over 15 min , to a solution of h - leu - leu - ome . hcl ( 29 . 48 g , 100 mmol ) in ethyl acetate ( 200 . 0 g ) at − 23 to − 10 ° c . an additional portion of ethyl acetate ( 10 . 0 g ) was added followed by the addition of the formed anhydride over 30 to 45 min at a temperature of − 8 to − 10 ° c . another portion of ethyl acetate ( 30 . 0 g ) was added and the resulting mixture was stirred for 1 . 5 h . ethyl acetate ( 50 . 00 g ) was added , the solution was filtered and the resulting organic filtrate was concentrated in vacuo . the resulting solid was recrystallized from petroleum ether ( bp 100 to 125 ) to give boc - lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome ( 55 . 9 g , 90 . 2 %). a solution of hcl ( 28 g , 770 mmol ) in ethyl acetate ( 100 g ) at − 10 ° c . was rapidly added to boc - lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome ( 35 . 0 g , 55 . 74 mmol ) under n 2 at − 15 to − 12 ° c . the mixture was stirred and maintained at − 15 to − 12 ° c . for 60 to 70 min and allowed to crystallize for 1 h at − 10 to − 5 ° c . the solid was filtered while excluding moisture , washed with several portions of t - butyl methyl ether and dried in vacuo to give h - lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome . hcl ( 28 . 7 g , 91 . 4 %). 4 - methylmorpholine ( 2 . 53 g , 25 mmol ) was added to a solution of h - lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome . hcl ( 13 . 93 g , 25 mmol ) in dmf ( 85 . 0 g ) at 10 ° c . hobt ( 3 . 38 g , 25 mmol ), boc - leu - leu - oh ( 8 . 61 g , 25 mmol ) and dic ( 3 . 47 g , 27 . 5 mmol ) were added over 30 min at 8 - 10 ° c . an additional portion of dmf ( 5 . 0 g ) was added and the reaction was kept at 8 - 10 ° c . for 16 h . the reaction was stirred at 18 - 20 ° c . for 3 h , cooled to 5 - 10 ° c . and treated with h 2 o ( 130 . 0 g ). a solid precipitated at 25 ° c . which was filtered , washed with h 2 o and recrystallized from meoh and h 2 o to give boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome ( seq . id no . 2 ) ( 18 . 3 g , 86 . 4 %). a solution of naoh ( 1 . 44 g , 36 . 0 mmol ) in h 2 o ( 15 . 0 g ) was added at 20 - 25 ° c . over 5 min to a mixture of boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome ( seq . id no . 2 ) ( 12 . 0 g , 14 . 16 mmol ) thf ( 48 . 0 g ) and h 2 o ( 18 . 0 g ). the resulting mixture was stirred for 2 h . 98 % formic acid ( 5 g ) was added , followed by ethyl acetate ( 30 . 0 g ). the resulting organic phase was washed with h 2 o , concentrated in vacuo and the residue was dissolved in meoh ( 60 . 0 g ). the solids were filtered and rinsed with an additional portion of meoh ( 8 . 0 g ). the combined meoh solution was heated to 60 - 65 ° c . and h 2 o ( 30 . 0 g ) was added over 10 min . this mixture was cooled to 20 - 25 ° c ., the solid product began to crystallize . an additional portion of h 2 o ( 35 . 0 g ) was added and the mixture was stirred for 1 h . the solid product was filtered , washed with h 2 o and dried in vacuo to give boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - oh ( seq . id no . 2 ) ( 11 . 5 g , 97 . 5 %). a solution of h - lys ( z )- obzl . hcl ( 20 . 35 g , 50 mmol ) in dmf ( 50 . 0 g ) was treated with et 3 n ( 5 . 26 g , 51 mmol ) at 25 to 30 ° c . boc - leu - leu - oh ( 17 . 57 g , 51 mmol ) and hobt ( 1 . 08 g , 8 mmol ) were added followed by an additional portion of dmf ( 7 . 0 g ). a solution of dcc ( 11 . 35 g , 55 mmol ) in dmf ( 25 . 0 g ) was added dropwise over a period of 30 min at 20 ° c . the reaction mixture was stirred for 4 h and the temperature was allowed to rise ( to ca . 34 ° c .). acetic acid ( 0 . 2 g ) was added , the resulting suspension was filtered and the filter cake was rinsed with dmf ( 15 . 0 g ). acetone ( 126 . 0 g ) was added to the filtrate , followed by two portions of h 2 o ( 66 . 5 g , 89 . 5 g - 30 min apart ). the resulting precipitate was filtered and the filter cake was washed with acetone ( 53 . 0 g ) and h 2 o ( 212 . 0 g ). the crude solid was triturated with a mixture of acetone ( 100 g ) and h 2 o ( 400g ), filtered , washed with h 2 o and dried in vacuo at 40 ° c . to give boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- obzl ( 32 . 6 g , 93 . 4 %). a cooled solution (− 15 ° c .) of gaseous hcl ( 50 . 0 g , 1 . 37 mol ) in ethyl acetate ( 250 g ) was added to boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- obzl ( 50 . 0 g , 71 . 7 mmol ) at − 15 to − 10 ° c . over 15 min . the mixture was stirred at − 15 to − 10 ° c . for 75 min and t - butyl methyl ether ( 310 g ) was added over 25 min . the temperature was allowed to rise to about − 8 to − 5 ° c . and the excess hcl was removed under reduced pressure . another portion of t - butyl methyl ether ( 310 . 0 g ) was added over 15 min and the reaction temperature was maintained at − 5 ° c . for approximately 2 h . the resulting solid product , h - leu - leu - lys ( z )- obzl . hcl was filtered and rinsed with t - butyl methyl ether then dried to give 41 . 8 g , 92 . 1 %. 4 - methylmorpholine ( 1 . 26 g , 12 . 5 mmol ) and hobt ( 1 . 69 g , 12 . 5 mmol ) were added to a solution of h - leu - leu - ome . hcl ( 4 . 04 g , 13 . 75 mmol ) in ethyl acetate ( 160 . 0 g ) and dmf ( 36 . 0 g ) over 15 min . z - lys ( z )- oh ( 5 . 18 g , 12 . 5 mmol ) was added to this stirred mixture over 15 min . a solution of dcc ( 3 . 10 g , 12 . 5 mmol ) in ethyl acetate ( 10 . 0 g ) was added dropwise at 18 - 20 ° c . over 30 min . the reaction mixture was stirred at 18 - 20 ° c . for 16 h and filtered . the filter cake was washed with ethyl acetate ( 100 . 0 g ) and the combined filtrate was washed with aqueous nahco 3 . the resulting organic layer was washed with aqueous nacl and concentrated under reduced pressure . the residue was dissolved in meoh ( 80 . 0 g ) at about 50 ° c . water ( 160 g ) was slowly added and the mixture was stirred for about 1 h at 20 ° c . the resulting solid was filtered , washed with h 2 o ( 80 . 0 g ) and dried at 40 ° c . in a vacuum oven to give 8 . 16 g , 99 . 6 % of the product z - lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome . a solution of lioh . h 2 o ( 7 . 36 g , 0 . 182 mol ) in h 2 o ( 360 g ) was added dropwise over 20 min to a solution of z - lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome ( 100 g , 0 . 152 mol ) in acetone ( 40 ml ) under n 2 at 25 ° c . the reaction mixture was stirred for an additional 40 min at 25 ° c . the ph was adjusted to 4 , using 96 % formic acid ( 1 . 25 g , 0 . 0273 mol ). the reaction mixture was cooled to 15 ° c . and water ( 42 g ) was added dropwise over 1 h followed by a few seed crystals of z - lys ( z )- leu - leu - oh and the mixture was stirred at 15 ° c . for 2 h . the resulting solid was collected by filtration and washed with h 2 o ( 10 ml ) and acetone ( 10 ml ). the solid was air dried then further dried in a vacuum oven at 45 ° c . for 24 h to give 87 . 3 g , 89 . 7 % of z - lys ( z )- leu - leu - oh . boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - oh ( seq . id no . 2 ) ( 41 . 65 g , 50 mmol ), h - leu - leu - lys ( z )- obzl . hcl ( 31 . 65 , 50 . 0 mmol ) hobt ( 8 . 10 g , 60 mmol ), and hbtu ( 22 . 75 , 60 mmol ) was dissolved in dmf ( 200 g ) and acetonitrile ( 300 g ) and was cooled to 0 ° c . diea ( 19 . 35 g , 150 mmol ) was added over 10 min and the resulting mixture was stirred at 0 ° c . for 2 h . the temperature was allowed to rise to 20 ° c . and the mixture was stirred for another 1 h . the reaction mixture was poured into water ( 2500 g ) and the resulting solid was collected by filtration and dried in vacuo at 45 ° c . the crude solid was powdered and stirred with a mixture of acetone ( 500 g ) and t - butyl methyl ether ( 500 g ) for 20 min at 50 ° c . and for 1 . 5 h at room temperature . this mixture was filtered and the solid was washed with a mixture of acetone ( 50 g ) and t - butyl methyl ether ( 50 g ) to give boc - llk ( z )- llllk ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 6 ) ( 65 , 6 g , 92 . 9 %). trifluoroacetic acid ( 11 ml ) was cooled in an ice bath to 0 ° c . under n 2 . boc - llk ( z )- llllk ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 6 ) ( 2 . 5 g , 1 . 77 mmol ) was added in one portion and the mixture stirred at 0 ° c . for 1 h . the resulting solution was poured into ice water ( 100 ml ) and stirred for 20 min . the resulting white solid was collected by filtration and washed with distilled water ( 50 ml ) then air - dried . yield of white solid product was 2 . 49 g ( 98 . 8 %); hplc area % purity : 97 %. h - llk ( z ) llllk ( z )- obzl . tfa ( seq . id no . 6 ) ( 19 . 4 g , 13 . 608 mmol ) was dissolved in dmf ( 500 ml ) at 50 ° c . in a 1l reaction flask . the solution was cooled to − 4 ° c . and stirred under nitrogen . boc - llk ( z ) ll - oh ( seq . id no . 2 ) ( 11 . 60 g , 13 . 92 mmol ) was added and was dissolved immediately . hobt ( 4 . 44 g , 27 . 216 mmol ) and hbtu ( 6 . 193 g , 16 . 3 mmol were added followed by a solution of dipea ( 5 . 28 g , 40 . 824 mmol ) in dmf ( 20 ml ) at − 4 ° c . over 10 min . the resulting yellow solution was stirred at − 4 ° c . for 4 h ( hplc analysis showed a near complete reaction after 2 h ). the reaction mixture was allowed to warm up to 10 ° c . then was poured into ice water ( 1l ). saturated aq . nacl ( 100 ml ) was added and the mixture stirred for 20 min at rt . the yellow solid was collected by filtration and was washed with distilled water ( 300 ml ) then was air - dried overnight . yield of crude product ( 28 . 9 g ). the crude solid was suspended in meoh ( 200 ml ) where it became sticky . the mixture was heated to boiling on a steam bath ; the material solidified as a result of this treatment . the lumpy solid was powdered and heating was continued for additional 10 min . the mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and the solid was collected by filtration , rinsed with meoh ( 50 ml ) and dried to give boc - ll - k ( z ) ll * llk ( z )- llllk ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 5 ) ( 27 . 9 g , 96 . 5 %), area % hplc purity : 93 . 0 %, d - 13 (*) diastereomer : 0 . 4 %. gaseous hcl ( 98 . 6 g ) was introduced to a suspension of boc - llk ( z ) llllk ( z )- llllk ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 5 ) ( 38 . 1 g , 17 . 9 mmol ) in ethyl acetate ( 280 g ) at − 18 to − 22 ° c . over 80 min . the resulting solution was stirred at − 16 to − 14 ° c . for 60 min . the excess hcl was removed under reduced pressure at − 20 to − 0 ° c . and diethyl ether ( 192 g ) was added at − 3 to 3 ° c . a solution of potassium bicarbonate ( 33 g ) in h 2 o ( 200 g ) was added in portions until the ph of the reaction mixture was between 1 . 5 and 2 . 5 , the resulting mixture was warmed to 19 to 23 ° c . and stirred for 30 min . the resulting solid was collected by filtration , rinsed with h 2 o and dried in vacuo at 35 to 40 ° c . to give h - llk ( z ) llllk ( z )- llllk ( z )- obzl . hcl ( seq . id no . 5 ) ( 34 . 9 g , 95 %). h - llk ( z ) llllk ( z )- llllk ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 5 ) ( 10 . 0 g , 4 . 85 mmol ) was added to a stirred solution of libf 4 ( 3 . 04 g , 32 . 4 mmol ) in nmp ( 99 g ) thf ( 286 g ). boc - leu - leu - k ( z ) leu - leu - oh ( 5 . 24 g , 6 . 29 mmol ) was added and the mixture was homogenized until a viscous gel was formed . water ( 36 g ) was added and the mixture was stirred for 20 min a well stirred turbid solution is obtained . the reaction mixture was cooled to − 6 to − 4 ° c . and treated with hoobt ( 2 . 76 g , 16 . 92 mmol ) and dic ( 1 . 84 g , 14 . 58 mmol ). dipea ( 3 . 76 g , 29 . 09 mmol ) in thf ( 4 g ) was added to the resulting solution while maintaining an internal temperature of − 6 to − 4 ° c . the resulting mixture was stirred at − 6 to − 4 ° c . for 1 h and allowed to warm to 20 to 25 ° c . over 3 h then stirred at this temperature overnight . thf was removed in vacuo at 35 - 40 ° c . and the remaining mixture was diluted with meoh ( 20 g ). this resulting yellow solution was added dropwise , over 5 - 10 min , to a cooled solution of na 2 co 3 ( 3 . 34 g ) in h 2 o ( 330 g ) and rinsed with meoh ( 5 g ). the resulting mixture was stirred for 15 min and the precipitate was collected by filtration . this crude solid was suspended in acetonitrile ( 110 g ), warmed to 60 - 70 ° c ., and the fine suspension was added to water ( 48 g ) and cooled to 20 - 25 ° c . the resulting solid was separated , rinsed with a solution of h 2 o ( 24 g ) and acetonitrile ( 28 g ) and dried under vacuum at 38 - 42 ° c . to give boc - llk ( z ) ll * llk ( z ) llllk ( z )- llllk ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 3 ) ( 12 . 05 g , 89 %), d - 8 (*) diastereomer : 5 . 5 %. trifluoroacetic acid ( 180 g ) was cooled to − 10 to − 14 ° c . the powdered solid boc - llk ( z ) llllk ( z ) llllk ( z ) llllk ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 3 ) ( 50 g , 17 . 6 mmol ) was added slowly into the cooled tfa . the mixture stirred at − 9 to − 5 ° c . for 3 h or until complete dissolution . ethanol ( 99 g ) was added slowly at − 9 to − 5 ° c . the resulting cold solution was added slowly to a solution of khco 3 ( 197 . 5 g , 507 mmol ) in water ( 750 g ) cooled to 12 - 18 ° c . the white solid was collected by filtration and washed with water ( 480 g ). the wet solid was slurried in water ( 500 g ) for 10 min then filtered and washed with water ( 50 g ). the white solid was dried under reduced pressure at 40 - 45 ° c . to give h - llk ( z ) llllk ( z ) llllk ( z )- llllk ( z )- obzl . tfa ( seq . id no . 3 ) ( 51 . 16 g , 102 %), hplc purity : 88 . 2 %. finely powdered h - llk ( z ) llllk ( z ) llllk ( z ) llllk ( z )- obzl . tfa ( seq . id no . 3 ) ( 23 . 13 g , 8 . 1 mmol ) was added slowly to a mixture of nmp ( 40 g ) and thf ( 160 g ). this was followed by the addition of z - k ( z ) ll - oh ( 5 . 71 g , 8 . 9 mmol ). the resulting solution was cooled to − 3 to 3 ° c . hoobt ( 3 . 96 g , 24 . 3 mmol ) and hbtu ( 3 . 99 g , 10 . 5 mmol ) were added followed by nmp ( for rinse ) and the mixture stirred for a few minutes until complete dissolution then cooled to − 6 to − 9 ° c . a solution of dipea ( 4 . 19 g , 32 . 4 mmol ) in thf ( 4 g ) was added slowly at − 6 to − 9 ° c . leading to a deep orange color . the solution was stirred for 2 h at − 6 to − 9 ° c ., for 3h at − 1 to 3 ° c . and then was warmed up slowly to room temperature . the thf was distilled under reduced pressure at 40 - 45 ° c . to give an oily yellow residue . the residue was added to a solution of na 2 co 3 ( 1 . 8 g ) at 15 - 25 ° c . the resulting suspension was stirred for 15 min and the solid was isolated by filtration and washed with water ( 75 g ) then with a mixture of water ( 26 g ) and iproh ( 32 g ). the wet crude solid was slurried in a mixture of iproh ( 104 g ) and water ( 86 g ) for 30 min at 20 - 25 ° c . the solid was collected by filtration , washed with a mixture of iproh ( 27 g ) and water ( 22 g ) and dried in vacuo at 38 - 42 ° c . to give z - k ( z ) ll * llk ( z ) llllk ( z )- llllk ( z )- llllk ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 1 ) ( 25 . 1 g , 92 %), hplc purity : 90 %, d - 3 (*) diastereomer : 1 . 1 %. z - k ( z ) llllk ( z ) llllk ( z ) llllk ( z )- llllk ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 1 ) ( 630 g , 187 . 26 mmol ) was added to a mixture of trifluoroacetic acid ( 2815 g ) and acetic acid ( 3969 g ). after dissolution , water ( 630 g ) was added followed by wet ( 50 % h 2 o ) 5 % pd / c ( 252 g ). the mixture was hydrogenated under a h 2 pressure of about 2 . 8 bar for 3 h . the mixture was filtered in absence of air and was rinsed with a mixture of tfa ( 939 g ), acoh ( 1323 g ) and h 2 o ( 210 g ). the filtrate was concentrated at & lt ; 35 ° c . under reduced pressure to give an oil . this oil was dissolved in iproh ( 2021 g ) and added dropwise , within 30 min into stirred t - butyl methyl ether ( 12405 g ) and rinsed with iproh ( 300 g ). after stirring for 30 min at rt , the solid was collected by filtration and was washed , immediately with t - butyl methyl ether ( 18173 g ) and dried in a vacuum oven at & lt ; 40 ° c . to give crude ( lys - leu 4 ) 4 - lys . ( seq . id no . 1 ) yield : 534 g , 94 . 7 %, hplc area % purity : 81 . 8 %. boc - lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome ( 12 . 0 g , 19 . 33 mmol ) was dissolved in acetone ( 41 . 0 g , 52 ml ) at 22 - 23 ° c . a solution of naoh ( 1 . 94 g , 48 . 5 mmol ) in water ( 18 . 0 g ) was added over 5 min . after stirring for 40 min ., the reaction was quenched with a solution of citric acid ( 10 . 2 g , 53 . 0 mmol ) in water ( 18 . 0 g ). the acetone was removed on a rotary evaporator at 40 ° c . the remaining mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate ( 2 × 65 ml ). the etoac extract was washed with water ( 50 g ) then with aqueous saturated sodium chloride solution ( 50 g ). the etoac extract was dried over anhydrous mgso 4 ( 10 g ). the etoac solution was filtered and diluted with dmf ( 40 . g ). the ethyl acetate was evaporated at 40 ° c . under reduced pressure to give the solution of the product in dmf . weight of solution ˜ 52 g . boc - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome ( seq . id no . 2 ) ( 18 . 2 g , 21 . 5 mmol ) was added to a solution of hcl gas ( 31 . 0 g , 850 mmol ) in meoh ( 360 g ) and cooled to 5 ° c . the reaction mixture was stirred , allowed to warm up to room temperature and stirring was continued for 4 . 5 h . the reaction mixture was cooled to 0 ° c ., poured into ice / h 2 o ( 630 g ) and stirred for 1 h . the white solid was collected by filtration , washed with distilled water ( 500 ml ) and air dried . yield of product : 14 . 8 g , 87 . 6 %; hplc area % purity : 99 . 2 %. h - leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome . hcl ( seq . id no . 2 ) ( 15 . 12 g , 19 . 33 mmol ) was dissolved in dmf ( 100 g ). a solution of 11 . 73 g boc - lys ( z )- leu - leu - oh ( 19 . 33 mmol ) in dmf ( obtained from step 20 ) was added and the resulting solution was cooled to − 5 ° c . while stirring under nitrogen . to the cold solution was added hoobt ( 3 . 30 g , 20 . 2 mmol ) followed by hbtu ( 7 . 67 g , 20 . 2 mmol ) and dipea ( 7 . 76 g , 60 . 03 mmol ) over 5 min . the clear yellow solution became cloudy after about 5 min . the reaction mixture stirred at − 4 ° c . for 80 min . the mixture became thicker as the reaction progressed but was easy to stir . the mixture was quenched by adding a solution of k 2 co 3 ( 10 . 0 g ) in water ( 200 g ). the mixture warmed up gently on a steam bath to 40 - 45 ° c . and was kept at that temperature for about 30 min . the solid was collected by filtration and washed with hot ( 60 - 70 ° c .) water ( 2 × 150 g ). the product was dried overnight in a vacuum oven at 40 ° c . to give boc - lys ( z )- leu 4 lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome ( seq . id no . 4 ) ( 25 . 0 g , 96 . 8 %). hplc area % purity : 94 %. boc - lys ( z )- leu 4 lys ( z )- leu - leu - ome ( seq . id no . 4 ) ( 16 . 03 g , 12 . 0 mmol ) was powdered and suspended in thf ( 240 . 0 g , 270 ml ). the mixture stirred and cooled to − 4 ° c . under nitrogen . the cold solution was treated with 40 % aqueous tetrabutylammonium hydroxide ( 24 . 0 g , 37 . 0 mmol ), added dropwise over 5 min . ( the temperature maintained at & lt ;− 1 ° c . during the addition ). the suspension dissolved to form a clear light yellow solution . the hplc analysis indicated a complete hydrolysis after 50 min . the reaction mixture stirred at − 2 ° c . for 70 min . and was quenched with a solution of glacial acetic acid ( 6 . 0 g , 100 . 0 mmol ) in water ( 9 . 0 g ). the reaction mixture remained as a clear solution . the reaction flask was equipped with an addition funnel containing an aqueous solution made of saturated aqueous sodium chloride ( 50 . 0 g ) and water ( 200 g ). the initial volume of the solution in the reaction flask was marked . the reaction mixture was heated to distill the thf at atmospheric pressure while adding aqueous nacl to maintain a constant volume . precipitation started about midway of the evaporation / addition . near the end of evaporation foaming occurred . at that point , heating stopped and the remaining aqueous solution was added . the temperature reached 83 ° c . at the end of evaporation and a total of 224 g of thf distillate was collected . the hot mixture was centrifuged to collect the white solid product . the solid was washed with a total of hot ( 50 ° c .) water ( 200 g ). the white solid was dried at 40 ° c . in a vacuum oven to give boc - lys ( z )- leu - leu *- leu - leu - lys ( z )- leu - leu **- oh ( seq . id no . 4 ) ( 15 . 6 g , 98 %), hplc area % purity : 91 . 4 %. diasteromeric purity : 99 . 08 %, d3 - diastereomer (*): 0 . 42 %, d8 - diastereomer (**): 0 . 50 %. boc - k ( z ) llllk ( z ) ll - oh ( seq . id no . 4 ) ( 6 . 61 g , 5 . 0 mmol ) was mixed with h - llk ( z ) llllk ( z )- llllk ( z )- obzl . hcl ( seq . id no . 5 ) ( 10 . 32 g , 5 . 0 mmol ) and 85 % bu 4 ncl ( 7 . 5 g , 22 . 9 mmol ) in tetrahydrofuran ( 400 g ) and purified water ( 30 g ). the mixture was cooled to 0 ° c . and treated with hoobt ( 2 . 25 g , 15 . 0 mmol ) and n , n - diisopropylcarbodiimide ( dic ) ( 1 . 90 g , 15 . 0 mmol ), followed by n , n - diisopropyl ethylamine ( dipea ) ( 2 . 25 g , 17 . 4 mmol ). the yellow solution was stirred at 0 ° c . for 1 h then at rt ( 23 - 25 ° c .) for 20 h and finally at 30 ° c . for 2 h . the reaction mixture became a clear yellow solution in a few hours from the start of reaction . at the end of the 24 h period , the yellow solution was diluted with 1 - methyl - 2 - pyrrolidone ( 100 g ) and the thf was evaporated at 35 - 40 ° c . under reduced pressure . the residual solution was added to cold water ( 350 g ) containing potassium carbonate ( 12 g ). the flask was rinsed with methanol ( 50 ml ) and the rinse was combined with the aqueous mixture . the product precipitated as a fine yellow solid . the mixture stirred slowly at rt for 20 - 30 min and the solid was collected by filtration and was washed with water ( 150 ml ) followed by an 80 : 20 meoh / h 2 o mixture ( 250 ml ). the solid was air - dried on the filtration funnel for about an hour then further dried in a vacuum oven at 40 ° c . overnight . the product was a light yellow solid , 16 . 6 g ( 99 . 7 %), hplc area % purity : 92 %. boc -( lys ( z )- leu 4 ) 4 lys ( z )- obzl ( seq . id no . 1 ) ( 16 . 0 g , 4 . 8 mmol ) was dissolved in trifluoroacetic acid ( 64 . 0 g ) at room temperature . it took about 20 - 25 min for the solid to completely dissolve . glacial acetic acid ( 80 . 0 g ) was added followed by distilled water ( 16 . 0 g ) and finally 5 % palladium on moist activated carbon ( 4 . 5 g ). the mixture was hydrogenated at 40 - 50 psi overnight ( about 18 h ). the resulting mixture was filtered through a buchner funnel ( 5 . 5 cm diameter ) using five whatmann qualitative filter papers . the hydrogenation flask was rinsed with trifluoroacetic acid ( 10 . 0 g ). the colorless filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure at 40 - 45 ° c . to a weight of about 30 g . the residue was dissolved in trifluoroacetic acid ( 74 . 0 g ) and was added slowly over 10 min to t - butyl methyl ether ( 300 ml ) while cooling in an ice bath with stirring . the product precipitated as a white solid . after stirring for about 15 min ., the product was collected by filtration and was washed immediately with t - butyl methyl ether ( 100 ml ). the solid was dried in a vacuum oven at 40 ° c . overnight . yield of isolated solid : 14 . 74 g ( 95 . 6 % assuming the formation of a hexatrifluoroacetate salt ), hplc area % purity : 80 . 5 %. ac - d - nal - d - p - cal - ome ( 45 . 3 g , 100 . 0 mmol ), powdered to a fine solid , was suspended and stirred in thf ( 450 . 0 ml ) then cooled to − 6 ° c . the cold suspension was treated with 40 % aqueous tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide ( 72 . 0 g , 111 . 0 mmol ), added in such a rate that the reaction temperature did not exceed − 3 ° c . the solid dissolved as the base was added and was a completely in solution at the end of addition . the reaction was complete shortly after the end of addition ( as determined by hplc analysis ). the reaction was acidified at − 6 ° c . by a slow addition of a solution of conc . hcl ( 20 ml ) in water ( 20 ml ). after acidification , the clear solution was diluted with water ( 100 ml ) and most of the thf was evaporated on a rotovap at 25 - 30 ° c . until heavy precipitation occurred . the mixture was diluted with methanol ( 200 ml ) and the solid was collected by filtration . the flask and the solid were rinsed with additional methanol ( 150 ml ) and the solid was air - dried . yield of isolated dry solid : 40 . 2 g , 91 . 6 %. hplc area % purity : 93 . 7 %, diastereomer (*): 2 . 6 %, ac - d - nal - d - p - cal *- oh ac - d - nal - d - p - cal - d - 3 - pal - l - ser ( oh )- obzl ( seq . id no . 7 ) ( 58 . 1 g , 76 . 0 mmol ), powdered to a fine solid , was suspended in thf ( 400 . 0 ml ) then stirred and cooled to − 5 ° c . the cold suspension was treated with 40 % aqueous tetrabutylammonium hydroxide ( 98 . 6 g , 152 . 0 mmol ), added in such a rate that the reaction temperature did not exceed − 2 ° c . ( about 15 min ). the solid dissolved slowly after the base was added and completely dissolved after 40 min following the end of addition . the reaction mixture stirred for a total of 1 . 5 h , during which the temperature was allowed reach and remain at 0 ° c . the hplc analysis indicated a complete hydrolysis . the resulting clear solution was poured into a solution of glacial acetic acid ( 35 g ) in ice / water ( 1 . 1 l ) with stirring . the product precipitated as a thick white solid which was collected by filtration . the wet cake was slurried in hot ( 65 ° c .) water ( 1 l ) and filtered . the wet cake was slurried in methanol ( 700 ml ) and heated to boiling with stirring . the solid was collected by filtration from the hot slurry and was rinsed with methanol ( 150 ml ) then was air - dried . yield of isolated dry powdered solid : 44 . 8 g , 87 . 4 %. hplc area % analysis of product : 95 %, diastereomer (*): 1 . 7 %, ac - d - nal - d - p - cal - d - 3 - pal - l - ser *( oh )- oh . ( seq . id no . 7 ) | 2 |
fig1 shows the system of a distance detector mounted on a vehicle according to a preferred embodiment of the invention . this system includes a microcomputer ( hereinafter called cpu ) 1 at its center . to its bus line a read only memory ( rom ) 2 and a memory ( ram 3 ) in which parameters in process are stored and input , and output ports ( i / o ) 4 , 5 , and 6 to which constitution elements are connected and others are connected . a tv camera 6b , shown in more detail in fig4 is installed near the upper section of the center of the front window of the vehicle , and it takes pictures and outputs analog image signals for 512 × 480 image elements per frame . the analog image signal which is the output of tv camera 6b is supplied to an a / d converter 6c and a crt driver 4a . the a / d converter 6c converts the analog image signals from the tv camera 6b into digital data ( tone data ) in 256 tones ( tone 0 represents black level and tone 255 white level ) per image element . the cpu 1 controls the iris diaphragm of the tv camera 6b , levels of image signals , etc . through a tv camera controller 6a , and it also synchronously controls the inputs and outputs of the a / d converter 6c and the writing process to an image memory 5a , and other processes . the crt driver 4a drives a crt 4b which is provided near the center of an instrument panel according to the images supplied from the tv camera 6b . namely , on a crt 4b , the scenes in front of the vehicle which were photographed by the tv camera 6b can be seen . next , the operation in outline of the cpu 1 will be explained with reference to the general flow chart of cpu 1 which is shown in fig2 . when electric power is connected to the cpu 1 , in step 1 , the ram 3 , image memory 5a and every constitution element are initialized , and then the processes of steps 2 - 27 are repeated . in step 2 , the tv camera 6b , a / d converter 6c and image memory 5a are controlled , and the tone data for 512 × 480 image elements per frame for the scenes in front of the vehicle which were photographed by the tv camera 6b are written in the image memory 5a . fig5 shows an area ia ( hereinafter called original image area ) of one frame in the image memory 5a . in the following description , the horizontal direction of the original image area ia is denoted by the x - axis ( positive in the right direction ), the vertical direction by the y - axis ( positive in a downwards direction ) and the coordinates of an image element which is included in the area are represented by ( x , y ). in step 3 , by paying attention to individual data in the tone data in the original image area ia , a smoothing treatment is carried out in which the average of the tone data on the image element to which attention is directed and , further , eight ( 8 ) image elements surrounding said image element ( that is , in the 3 × 3 image elements the central image element becomes the one to which attention is directed ) replaces the original data of the image element of attention . ( in the following processes the tone data are all subject to this smoothing .) noises of an isolated image element , etc . are suppressed by the smoothing and the change in the tones between two image elements become continuous . in this embodiment of the invention the number of image elements for which tone data was averaged for smoothing was changed in different numbers and from the results in the observation of the relation between the noise suppression and resolving power the number nine ( 9 ) of the image elements in the smoothing was determined . in step 4 , the tone data included in the left white line extraction area w a ( which is set in the original image area ia as shown in fig5 ) is differentiated in the 45 ° direction ( right turning is positive with reference to the x - axis ) and the tone data included in the right white line extraction area w b is differentiated in the 135 ° direction . this is because the white lines for the vehicle running band divisions which extend on both sides of a vehicle have a certain degree of tilting , and in the 45 ° differentiation , tone data of the white line which extends on the left side ( with an obtuse angle of tilting ) has the edge of the white line extending on the left side emphasized , and in the 135 ° differentiation , tone data of the white line which extends on the right side ( with an acute angle of tilting ) has the edge of the white line extending on the right emphasized . and , in the differentiation , the portions where the tone data is spatially increased , or the portions where the tone data is spatially decreased , for example , on both edges of a white line are emphasized , but in this embodiment the latter is omitted . in step 5 , the points of inflection in various directions in the 45 ° differential tone data and 135 ° differential tone data are detected , and the ridge for each edge is extracted . the width of this edge line becomes one image element . in step 6 , the continuity of image elements of a ridge is noted and it is traced to effect labelling . in this case a line segment ( ridge ) which has continuous image elements less than five ( 5 ) is removed as noise . this number five ( 5 ) of the image elements which is used for the basis of judgment has been obtained by experiment . in step 7 , a preferable line segment , such as a white line on the right side of a vehicle , and a preferable line segment such as a white line on the left side of a vehicle are examined from the line segments which were labelled . at this time , the standard of judgment is based on experimental data . in step 8 , out of the line segments that were examined and selected , the longest line segment which is preferable for the white line on the right side of a vehicle , and the longest line segment which is preferable for the white line on the left side of a vehicle are selected and extracted , and other line segments are consolidated to those longest lines . in this case , the extensions of those longest line segments are given a width equal to ± 7 image elements at right angles to the extensions , and line segments which are outside the width are omitted . in step 9 , an equation for the right side white line is sought from the longest line segment which is preferable for a white line on the right side of a vehicle out of the consolidated line segments , and the second longest line segment ( if there is none , only the longest line segment is used ), and an equation for the left side white line is sought from the longest line segment which is preferable for a white line on the left side of a vehicle , and the second longest line ( if there is none , only the longest line segment is used ) out of the consolidated line segments . in step 10 , the equation for the right side white line and the equation for the left side white line are combined as simultaneous equations and the coordinates of the point of intersection given by them , namely the perspective point vp are sought . in step 11 , the angle α which is produced by the optical axis of the tv camera 6b and the horizontal line is sought from the coordinates of the perspective point vp . for this angle refer to fig1 a . the perspective point vp corresponds to the projection of the horizontal line so that the tangent of the angle α is represented by the ratio of the focal length of the tv camera 6b and the difference of the y - coordinate , y 2 of the projection point of the optical axis and y - coordinate , y 0 of the perspective point vp . namely the tangent of the angle α is given by : in step 12 , a search window w s ( see fig5 ) is set up in the supervision area ar which is defined by an approximation line of the right side white line and an approximation line of the left side white line and the end line of the bonnet and tone data included in the search window w s is investigated . the search window w s is the area of a rectangle ( in this embodiment it occupies 15 image elements ) which is in the y - direction and inscribes the supervision area ar , and the search window w s is set up by renewing by - m ( in this embodiment m = 10 image elements ) of y - coordinate form the position which touches the bottom side of the supervision area . in other words , in the search process every search window is successively renewed upwards by m . in this search process , a tone histogram that shows the number of image elements per each tone data contained in the first search window w s is produced , and the tone which corresponds to the maximum value in said histogram is set as the tone representing the image elements corresponding to a road surface . the same histogram is produced based on the next search window w s , and if the tone which corresponds to the peak that is the lowest in tone and appeared in the histogram is substantially equal to the tone representing the image element corresponding to the road surface , that tone is set by renewal as a new tone representing the image elements corresponding to the road surface . this process is repeated , and when the difference of the tone which corresponds to the peak that is the lowest tone in the histogram that was made in the renewal and the tone that represents the image elements corresponding to the road surface and set before said histogram goes over an allowable range , the search process is finished there . in step 13 , a first window is set based on the search window w s which was set up when the search was finished . this first window has its bottom side equal to the search window w s and is a rectangular area which has height corresponding to the y - coordinate at the time of the last search . in step 14 , the tone data contained in the first window ( w1 ) ( see fig1 a ) is differentiated in the horizontal direction . if the vehicle in the front is included in this area , the edges in the vertical components of the side edges , tires and so on are emphasized by horizontal differentiation . in step 15 , the spatial point of inflection in the horizontal differential tone data is detected and a ridge ( vertical line segment ) with the line width of one image element is extracted . in step 16 , each ridge is expanded in the upward direction and downward direction by one image element , and then the ridge after expansion in the up - and - down directions by one image element is shrinked to return it to the original proportion . with this process , ridges that have a maximum gap of two image elements between adjacent ridges are connected . in step 17 , in the same way as mentioned above , image elements of each ridge are traced , noting their continuity , and then labelling is applied . if , in this labelling , a line segment whose image elements are less than 10 % of the height of the first window is omitted as noise . in step 18 , from line segments to which labelling was given , a pair of preferable line segments such as a line segment which shows both ends of the vehicle in front are examined . if they are the line segments that show both ends of the vehicle in front , their inclination is nearly vertical and the distance between them can be limited to a certain extent by the y - coordinates . now the first window is divided into right and left from the center and a line segment which as an inclination over 1 . 1 ( based on experimental data ) in the right side area and distance from the longest line segment in the x - direction in a set range and an inclination over 1 . 1 in the left side area is searched . if this line segment cannot be found , the right and left are exchanged and again the line segment is searched . if still it is not found , the above search is repeated for the next longest line segment . if the line segment exists only in either one area , or if a line segment is left in either one of the areas after repeating the above search , the first window is shifted in the direction of that area and the search is repeated from step 14 . if the line segment does not exist in both areas , or if no line segment is left in either one of both areas , the search is returned to step 12 and it is continued . in step 19 a second window is set up based on the extracted left and right end line segments ( see fig1 b ). this second window ( w2 ) is a square area as shown in fig1 b which has one side length equal to 1 . 4 w 0 where the distance between the left and right end lines segments is w 0 . each line segment is at the distance of 0 . 2 w 0 from both sides in the direction of the x - axis in this area and at the distance of 0 . 2 w 0 from the bottom side of the lower end ( y - coordinate is large ) in the direction of y - axis . the method of setting up this second window w 2 is based on the experiment , but the whole images of most vehicles can be received in this area . in step 20 , the tone data included in the second window w 2 is differentiated in the vertical and horizontal directions . in the vertical differentiation , the edges in the horizontal component of the roof of the front vehicle , upper edge of luggage compartment , lower ends of body and the shadow reflected from the road surface , etc . are emphasized . for example , when each data of the image shown in fig1 a is differentiated vertically the edges as shown in fig1 b are extracted ( note : ridge extraction is applied in fig1 b ). in step 21 , the difference of differentiated tone data in the vertical and horizontal directions is taken to produce a difference image . this is a process to make clean both end sections of the edge in the horizontal component . in step 22 , the spatial point of inflection of the differentiated data of the difference image is detected and a ridge ( substantially horizontal line segment ) the width of which is one image element is extracted . in step 23 , each ridge is expanded by one image element in the left and right directions and then the ridge after the expansion is shrinked by one image element in the left and right directions to return it to the original ridge . with this , ridges that are apart by two image elements are connected . in step 24 , as mentioned above , each ridge is traced , noting the continuity of the image elements in ridges and labelling is applied to them . in this labelling of a line segment , the continuous image elements of which are less than 30 % of the width of the second window w 2 , is omitted as noise . in step 25 , in the case in which line segments to which labelling is applied are more than 3 in number , it is judged that a vehicle is in front , and the second window w 2 is shifted so that the line segment farthest downward ( largest y - coordinate ) becomes the center in the y - direction of the second window w 2 , which is shifted with the tone data corresponding to this line segment taken as threshold limit value is given a binary digit value . according to an experiment if , in giving two digit value , the rate of black image elements ( rate of occupation by image elements which have a tone lower than the threshold limit ) in the upper half is over 20 % and the rate of white image elements ( rate of occupation by image elements which have a tone higher than the threshold limit ) is over 85 %, the line segment ( the lower line segment , which is the line of the second w 2 at present ) can be specified to a line which shows the boundary between the vehicle in front and the road surface . in step 26 , from the y - coordinate y 1 of the line segment which shows the boundary between the vehicle in front and the road surface , the distance ( d ) to the vehicle in front is sought . for this distance , refer to fig1 a and fig1 b which is an enlargement of part of fig1 a . in reference to those figures . ## equ1 ## substituting in ( 6 ) y 0 , y 1 and α which were sought in the above - mentioned processing , the distance d is calculated . in step 27 , the data representing the calculated distance is transferred to crt driver 4a . the crt driver 4a displays , in letters , the data near the detected vehicle . the above description gives the general outline of the processes by the cpu 1 , and now the specific details of each processing will be explained below . in reference to the flow chart shown in fig3 a , the smoothing operation of step 3 will be explained in detail . in step 101 , the y - coordinate is set at 1 , and in step 102 , the x - coordinate is also set at 1 . p ( x , y ) is an area specified by the address ( x , y ) in the memory p , or by data stored therein , namely it is to show the data corresponding to the image element specified by the coordinates ( x , y ) in the original image area ( hereinafter the same meaning ). in this case , the tone data for each image element is stored in the memory p . in step 103 , attention is paid to the image element at the coordinates ( x , y ) and its tone data , and tone data of 8 image elements adjacent the image element in attention are added . refer to fig6 in which the relation between the coordinates of the image element of attention and the coordinates of 8 image elements adjacent to the image element in attention is shown . further , in the following description of the image element in attention as shown in fig8 and 8 adjacent image elements will be called a 3 × 3 image element matrix . in step 104 , an average data is sought by dividing the total additional data by 9 , and it is stored in the area ( x , y ) in the memory p . in step 105 , the area specified p ( x , y ) is set as the average data . in step 106 , x - coordinate is given one increment , and the processes from step 103 to step 106 are repeated until the x - coordinate becomes 512 . when the x - coordinate becomes 512 , y - coordinate is given one increment and the process returns to step 102 . the above - mentioned processes are repeated in the number of luster scanning until the x - coordinate becomes 512 and y - coordinate 480 . in fig3 b a flow chart which processes simultaneously the differentiation conducted in the step 4 of the flow chart in fig2 and the ridge extraction process conducted in step 5 is shown . the explanation below refers to this figure . in step 201 , whole areas of memory q and memory r are cleared . in the left side white line extraction area w a is , as shown in fig5 a rectangular area specified by the diagonal coordinates ( x1 and y1 ), ( x2 , y2 ) and the right side white line extraction area w b is the area which is the above specified area for w a with parallel displacement of φ . accordingly , in step 202 , the y - coordinate is set at y1 and in step 203 , the x - coordinate is set at x1 . steps 203 - 207 show the 45 ° differentiation with attention paid to p ( x , y ). the 45 ° differentiation process is a process to seek the difference of the tone data for the left upper 3 image elements in the 3 × 3 image element matrix , and the tone data of the right lower 3 image elements , namely the variation of the tone data in a 45 ° direction . in practice , in step 204 the values of i and j are changed to 0 and 1 respectively , and after the total sum of the tone data of the left upper four ( 4 ) image elements including the image element in attention is loaded in the a register , and the total sum of the tone data of the right lower four ( 4 ) image elements , including the image element in attention is loaded in the b register . in step 205 the content of the b register ( the tone data of the image in attention which both a register and b register include is offset in this subtraction ) and the differences are averaged ( divided by 3 ) and the average is reloaded in a register . because in this embodiment the case in which the tone data changes to decrease is omitted as described above , only when the content of the a register goes over 0 in step 206 , is it stored in the area ( x , y ) of the memory q as differential tone data . steps 208 - 211 show the differential process with attention paid to p ( x + φ , y ). the 135 ° differential process is a process to seek the difference of the tone data of the right upper three ( 3 ) image elements and the tone data of the left lower three ( 3 ) image elements in 3 × 3 image element matrix , namely the variation of tone data in the direction of 135 °. the actual method in this process is exactly the same as the 45 ° differential process except for the difference in the coordinates which is the object of the differentiation . the explanation is , therefore , omitted . steps 213 - 217 show the ridge extraction processing at 45 ° ( process in the direction of 45 °) which extracts ridges that have an inclination of obtuse angle from the differential tone data , and steps 218 - 222 show the ridge extraction process at 135 ° ( process in the direction of 135 °) which extracts ridges which have an inclination of acute angle from the differential tone data . the 45 ° ridge extraction processing uses the image element in attention and the image element that is diagonally upper left to the element in attention and the image element that is diagonally lower right to the element in attention in the 3 × 3 image element matrix so that it is possible to effect the 45 ° ridge extraction process with attention paid to the image element with the coordinates of ( x1 + 1 , y1 + 1 ) when the 45 ° differentiation process for p ( x1 + 2 , y1 + 2 ) is finished , namely at the time when the 45 ° differential tone data is planted . in the 135 ° ridge extraction process the tone data of the image elements in the 3 × 3 image element matrix in the diagonal line pointing upward to the right , namely the image element in attention and the upper right and lower left image elements are used so that it is possible to effect the 135 ° ridge extraction process with attention paid to the image element of the coordinates ( x1 + φ + 1 , y1 + 1 ) when the 135 ° differential process is over , namely at the time when the 135 ° differential tone data is planted at φ ( x1 + φ , y1 + 2 ). this means that , if a condition that x - coordinate is over ( x1 + 2 ) and y coordinate is over ( y1 + 2 ) is added , the ridge extraction processing can be done with the differential process at the same time . this judgment is carried out in step 212 . when x - coordinate is ( x1 ) or ( x1 + 1 ) or y - coordinate is ( y1 ) or ( y1 + 1 ), the process jumps to step 223 to give an increment to the x - coordinate , and if its value is lower than ( x2 + 1 ). step 212 returns to step 204 to repeat the differential process , and if the value of x - coordinate becomes larger than ( x + 2 ), y - coordinate is incremented by one increment in step 225 and the x - coordinate is reset to ( x1 ) in step 203 and the differential process is repeated . when x - coordinate is larger than ( x1 + 2 ) and y - coordinate is over ( y1 + 2 ), first , the 45 ° ridge extraction process in steps 213 - 217 are executed . in this process , the differential tone data q ( x - 1 , y - 1 ) of the image element in attention is loaded to the a register and the differential tone data of the left upper image element q ( x - 2 , y - 2 ) is loaded to the b register , respectively , in step 213 , and the differential tone data q ( x , y ) is loaded to the c register . when only the content of the a register is larger than the content of the b register and the c register , and the value of two times the content of the a register from which the sum of the contents of the b register and c register is extracted is larger than a specified value c st 1 , step 214 proceeds to steps 215 and to step 216 and to step 217 , and 1 ( there is a ridge ) is planted to the area ( x - 1 , y - 1 ) of the memory q . following the above process , the 135 ° ridge extraction process in steps 218 - 222 are executed , and the actual method is the same as the above mentioned 45 ° ridge extraction process except for the difference in the coordinates of the image element which is the object of the process , so that the explanation is omitted . after this , x - coordinate is incremented by one increment in step 223 , and the process returns to step 204 . when the x - coordinate becomes equal to or greater than ( x2 + 2 ), the y - coordinate is incremented by one increment and the process returns to step 203 . with the above described method , the differential process and ridge extraction process are executed simultaneously to luster - scan the image elements in the window w a and window w b from above . fig3 c is a flow chart to show in detail the labelling process . when this is done in step 6 in the flow chart of fig2 a constant value v1 used for this process is specified to six ( 6 ), xs to x1 , y s to y1 , x e to x2 + φ + 1 , and y e to y2 + 1 , respectively . in step 301 , the memory h is cleared ( 0 ), and the value of i is set to 1 , and the y - coordinate to y s , that is y1 . in step 302 , x - coordinate is set to x s , that is to x1 . in step 303 , the ridge data r ( x , y ) of the image element in attention is loaded to the a register . if this data is not , &# 34 ; 1 : there is a ridge &# 34 ;, then the process proceeds to steps 337 and 338 , or steps 337 , 338 , 339 , and 340 , and the x and y coordinates are renewed , and the inside of the area of the diagonal coordinates of which are specified by ( x s , y s ) and ( x e , y e ) are luster - scanned . if an address planted in &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; of the memory r is detected by the above mentioned process , the luster - scanning is stopped at that position once , and in step 305 &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is planted in the area i ( the area specified by i : this applies to the following ) of the memory g in which continuous image elements are planted , and x - coordinate at that time is evacuated to the memory x m and y - coordinate to the memory y m . in other words , the coordinates at the time of stopping the luster - scanning are evacuated to the memories x m and y m . in step 306 , the x - coordinate at that time is planted in i areas in the memories xmax , xmin , xtop , and ybtm x - coordinate , and in i areas of ymax and ymin the y - coordinate at that time is planted . in step 307 , in order to make the following processes easy , the ridge data for the image element in attention and the eight ( 8 ) adjacent image elements are planted in the memories d ( 1 ) to d ( 8 ). the relation of correspondence between the memories d ( 1 ) to d ( 8 ) and respective coordinates of the eight ( 8 ) adjacent image elements are shown in fig6 . in steps 308 to 313 , the contents of the memories d ( 1 ) to d ( 8 ) are detected , and the number of &# 34 ; 1 : there is a ridge &# 34 ; in the ridge data for the eight ( 8 ) adjacent image elements is counted . if the number of the count is not 1 ( step 319 ), then the process proceeds to step 332 from step 314 because the image element in attention is not an edge image element , and the coordinates that are evacuate to xm and ym when the luster - scanning is stopped are called back . in g ( i ), the number of continuous image elements of ridge that were detected in the i - th detection is planted as explained below , and if the number is not over v1 ( in this case v1 = 6 ), the process proceeds to step 337 and the luster - scanning is reopened . when edge points of a continuous ridge are paid attention , the image element of the ridge data &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; only is included in the eight ( 8 ) adjacent image elements . when this image element is detected , the ridge data corresponding to the image element in attention is deleted in step 315 , and the image element data g ( i ) is counted up by 1 . in this case the value of k which is set in step 311 corresponds to the next image element in attention of the memory d , that is the address of the image element of the ridge data &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; which is included as only one in the eight ( 8 ) adjacent image elements which is paid second attention . ( see fig6 ) if the value of k is 1 , 2 or 8 the image element next to the image element in attention to the right or to the upper right or to the lower right is the image element in second attention , so that in step 317 , the x - coordinate is incremented by one increment . in step 318 , the maximum value x max of the x - coordinates in a continuous ridge which is the maximum up to that time , is compared with the x - coordinates at that time , and if the latter is larger than the former , the maximum value is renewed . if the value of k is 4 , 5 , or 6 , the image element next to the image element in attention to the upper left or to the left or the lower left is the image element which is paid second attention , so that in step 321 , the x - coordinate is incremented by one increment . in step 332 the minimum value xmin ( i ) of the x - coordinates in a continuous ridge up to that time , is compared with the x - coordinate at that time , and if the latter is smaller than the former , the minimum value is renewed . if the value of k is 6 , 7 or 8 , the image element next to the image element in attention to the lower left , to the below right , or to the lower right is the image element in second attention , so that the y - coordinate in step 325 is incremented by one increment . in step 326 , the maximum value ymax ( i ) of the y - coordinates in a continuous ridge up to that time is compared with the y - coordinate at that time , and if the latter is larger than the former , the maximum value is renewed and , further , the x - coordinate corresponding to the new maximum value is planted in the area ( i ) of the memory x btm . if the value of k is 2 , 3 or 4 , the image element next to the image element in attention to the upper right , to above right , or to the upper left is the image element in second attention , so that the y - coordinate is incremented by one increment in step 329 . in step 330 , the minimum value y min ( i ) of the y - coordinates in a continuous ridge up to that time is compared with the y - coordinates at that time , and if the latter is smaller than or equal to the former , the minimum value is renewed and the x - coordinate corresponding to the new minimum value is planted in the area ( i ) of the memory x top . the image element in the next attention , that is the ridge data which was included as only one image element out of the eight ( 8 ) adjacent image elements up to that time , is moved to the image element of &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; by the processes of steps 318 to 331 . because at this time the ridge data of the &# 34 ; image element in attention up to that time &# 34 ; has been deleted in step 315 the image element in attention which was removed and set , can still be the image element at the edge point . to repeat the above described processes is to trace a continuous ridge from the end point at one end to the end point at the other end , and at other end points the ridge data of the eight ( 8 ) adjacent image elements all become &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, and the process proceeds from steps 314 to 332 . at this time , the x - coordinate of the farthest right end image element of the ridge is planted in the memory x max ( i ), the x - coordinate of the farthest left end image element of the ridge in the memory xmin ( i ), the y - coordinate of the lower end image element of the ridge in ymax ( i ), the x - coordinate of an image element at the right end for a ridge with an obtuse angle inclination or an image element at the left end ( image element on the lowest end means hereinafter this image element ) for a ridge with an acute angle inclination out of the image elements on the lowest end to the memory xbtm ( i ), the x - coordinate of the image element at the top most end of the ridge to the memory ymin ( i ), and the x - coordinate of an image element at the left end for a ridge with an obtuse angle inclination or an image element at the right end ( image element at the top most end means hereinafter this image element ) for a ridge with an acute angle inclination to the memory xtop ( i ). refer to fig7 which shows the relation between a continuous ridge and data planted at memories xmax , xmin , xtop , xbtm , ymax and ymin . ( in fig7 data is abbreviated as xmax , xmin , xtop , xbtm , ymax and ymin and an arbitrary y - coordinate as y .) in step 332 if the coordinates of xm and ym which were evacuated at the time when the luster scanning was stopped are called back , the image element number data g ( i ) for the ridge detected at that time is loaded to the a register . in step 6 of the flow chart shown in fig2 if this process is conducted , a ridge , the total image elements of which is less than six ( 6 ) in number is omitted as noise ( the number 6 was determined by experiment ). accordingly , if the value of the a register is over six ( 6 ), the value of ( i ) in step 335 , that is the number of ridges which were detected and continuous and which do not belong to noise is planted in the memory h . in other words , with this process , ridges in the number of i and data on them are registered in each memory . after step 336 , the value of i is incremented by one increment , the luster - scanning is reopened , and the detection of the image element of an end point in the next ridge is continued . the flow chart shown in fig3 d shows in detail the white line extraction process which is executed in step 7 of the flow chart shown in fig2 . in step 401 , the content of the memory h , ( i . e ., the registered number of ridges ) is examined . if the registered number of ridges is less than 1 , it is regarded as a mistake in sampling and the process is returned to step 2 of the flow chart , and it starts again from image reading . if the registered number of ridges is equal to or more than 2 , then the value of i is sent to 1 , and the following examination is started from the ridge with registered number 1 . f3 and f4 are , as shown in fig1 , functions which limit the distribution area of ridges which are preferable for perspective point detection and the distribution of white lines when a vehicle is running to the farthest right side white line and when it is running to the farthest left side white line was obtained by actual experimentation . in other words , in step 403 and 404 , ridges outside of the area which stands between those two functions are omitted . actually , the x - coordinate xbtm ( i ) of the lowest image element of the ridge under examination is substituted into the functions f3 and f4 , and it is examined whether or not the y - coordinate of the lowest image element , y max ( i ) is included in the area bounded by those function values . if it is included , the process proceeds to step 405 and so on , and if it is not included 0 is planted in the area i of the memory j in step 416 ( deletion of ridge ). in step 405 , the inclination of a straight line which connects the highest image element and the lowest image element of the ridge ( this line inclination is hereinafter called ridge inclination ) is sought and it is planted in the area i of the memory 1 . in step 406 , the ratio of the lateral side and longitudinal side of a rectangular area ( which the ridge under examination inscribes ) is planted in register b . this is , as obvious in reference to fig7 is the ratio of the x - coordinates of the image element to the farthest right and the image element to the farthest left . in steps 407 and 408 , the ratio of the content of the memory i ( i ) and the value of the b register is investigated . refer to fig9 for this investigation . in fig9 ` aspect ` means the b register in this case , and [ slop ] the content of the memory i ( i ). namely the absolute value of the ridge inclination . in this graph , the data obtained is the actual measurement on the white line on the right side and on the left side of the vehicle is marked by 0 , and noises are shown by x mark , and it can be seen that 0 marks are collected to the range where the ratio of slop and aspect is 0 . 9 to 1 . 1 . accordingly , if the ratio is not in the range of 0 . 9 1 . 1 , it is considered that the ridge is not suitable for detecting a perspective point , and the flow line proceeds to step 416 and this ridge is omitted . next , refer to fig1 . this graph shows the inclinations of line segments with respect to the x - coordinate of the lowest image element of the ridge by actual measurement . in reference to the graph , it can be seen that with the center line x = 225 of the original image area as a boundary , the inclination is positive when x - coordinate is larger than it , and the inclination is negative when the x - coordinate is smaller than it . it will be noted that the area in x = xn xp where reliability is low is set up as a dead zone . in steps 409 to 412 the study based on fig1 was made . in other words , if the x - coordinate of the lowest image element of a ridge under study is larger than xp , only the ridges that have positive inclination are adopted , and if smaller than xn , only the ridges that have negative inclination are adopted . ridges that were not adopted in this selection are omitted in step 416 . for the ridges that were adopted in the study based on fig1 , further study about the length of the line segment is made in steps 513 and 514 . fig1 is a graph based on actual measurement data of the distribution of the lengths ( number of image elements ) of ridges . in this embodiment of the invention , functions f5 and f6 were determined to limit the area which contains many white which were actually measured based on the graph . in step 413 , the y - coordinate of the lowest image element of a ridge under study is substituted in the functions f5 and f6 respectively , and the values of the functions , a and b are loaded in the register , and in step 414 , the data on the number of image elements , g ( i ), is checked if it is in the range bounded by those values . if it is bound , the ridge under study is regarded as suitable for the detection of a perspective point , and in step 415 1 is planted in the area i of the memory j , and re - registration is made , but if it is outside of the range , it is deleted in step 416 . the above mentioned processes are made with incrementing the value of i by one increment successively , and the study is conducted for all of the ridges in the number of h ( content of h memory ) that are constituted with more than six ( 6 ) image elements . in step 419 , the value of i is reset to 1 . in step 420 , the content of the memory j is examined . if it is 0 , the value of i is incremented by one increment in step 436 because in the processes of steps 403 418 the ridge with the registration number of 1 is deleted , and the next ridge is studied . in other words , if the content of the memory j ( i ) is 1 , the ridge that is shown by the value of i at that time is a ridge that was re - registrated , and in this case in step 421 the value of j is set to the value of i at that time , and in step 422 the value of j is incremented by one increment . in step 423 , the content of the memory j ( j ), that is , the data in the area that is shown by the value of j in the memory j at this time is examined . if it is 0 , it is a ridge that was already omitted so that in step 422 the value of j is further increased by one increment and a ridge that is re - registered is searched . when a re - registered ridge is found , in step 424 the product of the ridge inclination data ( i ) of the registration number j and the ridge inclination data i ( i ) of the ridge of the registration number j is taken , and in step 425 it is judged whether the value of the product is positive or negative . if the value is negative , it means that two line segments of them are different , and in step 422 the value of j is increased by one increment and next ridge is searched . if the inclinations of the two line segments are equal , the product of respective inclinations becomes positive , so that in steps 426 to 431 the overlapping of the line segments are detected . for this detection refer to fig1 . in the embodiment of the invention , when the rectangular area ( shown in dotted lines ) which the ridge of the registration number 9 ( it is shown as i in the figure ) internally inscribes and a rectangular area ( two - dot chain line ) which the ridge of the registration number j ( in figure shown by j ) internally inscribes are overlapped those ridges are considered to overlap . actually , when between the x - coordinate xmin ( i ) of the farthest left end image element and the x - coordinate xmax ( i ) of the farthest right end image element of a ridge of registration number i there exists the x - coordinate xmin ( i ) of the farthest left end image element or the x - coordinate xmax ( j ) of the farthest right end image element of a ridge of the registration number j , and between the y - coordinate ymin ( i ) of the highest end image element and the y - coordinate ymax ( i ) of the lowest image element of a ridge of the registration number i there exists the y - coordinate ymin ( j ) of the highest end image element or the y - coordinate ymax ( j ) of the lowest end image element of a ridge of the registration number j , it is judged that there is an overlapping of ridges . when there is an overlapping , in step 432 the lengths of those two ridges , that is the content of the memory g ( i ) and the content of the memory g ( j ) are compared , and if the former is longer , then step 433 , j ( i ) is rewritten to 0 , and the ridge with the registration number j is omitted , and if the latter is longer , then in step 434 , j ( i ) is rewritten to 0 , and the ridge with the registration number i is omitted . in other words , if there is overlapping , the shorter ridge is merged into the longer ridge . the above mentioned process is executed for all ridges that were re - registrated in steps 403 - 418 , with the value of i successively increased by one increment in step 406 and white line extraction is effected . fig3 e is a flow chart which shows in detail the connection process in step 8 of the flow chart shown in fig2 . for this connection , first the value of i is set to 1 in step 501 , the values of j and k are set to 0 , and the registers a and b are cleared to ( 0 ). in the loop of steps 502 - 515 , longest line segments with positive inclination , and longest line segments with negative inclination are detected , and at the same time , a list of line segments which have positive inclination , and a list of line segments which have negative inclination are made . in this process , the value of i corresponds to the registration number given to each ridge in the labelling process executed in step 6 of the flow chart shown in fig2 and the value of j corresponds to the address in the memory l1 , and the value of k to the address in the memory m1 . in other words , when in steps 502 - 505 , the content of the memory j ( i ) is 1 ( a ridge extracted in the white line extraction ) and the content of the memory 1 ( i ) is positive ( inclination positive ), the value of i is increased by one increment , and the value ( registration number of the ridge ) of i is written in the area j of the memory l1 , and if in steps 502 , 503 , 509 , and 510 the content of memory j ( i ) is 1 ( a ridge extracted in the white line extraction ) and the content of the memory i ( i ) is negative ( inclination negative ), the value of k is increased by one increment , and the value ( registration number of the ridge ) of i is written in the area k of the memory m1 . as a result , when this loop process is finished , a list of line segments which have positive inclination is completed in the memory l1 , and a list of line segments which have negative inclination is completed in the memory l1 . the length of each list is shown by the value of j or the value of k when this loop is finished . further , in steps 506 - 508 , lengths of the ridges with positive inclination which were sorted in steps 502 and 503 by using register a , that is , the corresponding contents of the memory g are successively compared , and every time a longer ridge is detected , the value of j at that time ( address of the memory l1 ) is planted to a register , and in steps 511 - 513 , lengths of the ridges with negative inclination which were sorted in steps 502 and 503 by using b register , that is , the corresponding contents of the memory g are successively compared , and every time a longer ridge is detected , the value of k at that time ( address in the memory m1 ) is planted to the b register . consequently , when this loop process is finished , the value of ` a ` register becomes an address in the memory l1 to which the registration number of the longest ridge with positive inclination is planted , and the value of ` b ` register becomes an address in the memory m1 to which the registration number of the longest ridge with negative inclination is planted . in step 516 , the value of j , namely the length of the list made in the memory l1 for ridges with positive inclination is planted to the memory h1 , and the value of k namely the length of the list made in the memory m1 for ridges with negative inclination is planted to the memory h2 . in step 517 , the length of each line is studied . in other words , if out of the contents of the memories in h1 and h2 at least one is 0 , it is regarded as a mistake in the sampling . then the process returns from step 517 to step 2 in the flow chart shown in fig2 and it is restarted from reading images . if the length of each of those lists is over one ( 1 ), the process proceeds to step 518 . if the content of the memory h1 is over two ( 2 ), that is , there are more than two ridges with positive inclination , the connection process of ridge with positive inclination is executed in step 532 , if the content of the memory h2 is over two ( 2 ), that is , there are more than two ridges with negative inclination , the connection process of ridges with negative inclination is executed in steps 533 - 547 . because those two processes are similar , only the connection process of ridges with positive inclination will be explained . in step 519 , the content of the memory l1 ( 1 ) and the content of the memory l1 ( a ) are exchanged , and the value of k is set to zero ( 0 ) in order to facilitate the following processes . in step 520 the content of l1 ( 1 ), that is the registration number of the longest ridge with positive inclination is loaded to the ` a ` register because of the exchange made in step 519 . in step 521 , a function f1 ( x ) for a straight line connecting the highest end image element of ridge and the lowest end image element of ridge in the registration number ` a ` ( content of ` a ` register ) is calculated . in step 522 , the value of i is set to two ( 2 ). in sep 523 , the content of l1 ( i ) is set to j , and in steps 524 , 525 , 530 , and 531 , the y - coordinate ymin ( a ) of the highest end image element of the ridge of the registration number ` a ` and the y - coordinate ymax ( j ) of the lowest end image element of the ridge of the registration number j are compared as the value of ` i ` is successively renewed in order to search for a ridge which is located above the longest ridge with positive inclination . if this ridge is found , the x - coordinate xbtm ( j ) of the lowest end image element of the ridge is substituted in the function f1 ( x ) in steps 526 and 527 to examine the deviation of the y - coordinate ymax ( j ) of the lowest end image element of the ridge . the aspect of the process at this time is shown in fig1 . as shown in fig1 , the value of the b register given in step 526 is the distance in the direction of y - axis of the upward extension of the ridge ( longest ridge ) of the registration number ` a ` from the lowest end image of the ridge of the registration number j . if this deviation is smaller than seven ( 7 ) image elements ( this number determined by experimentation ), those elements are regarded as belonging to the same straight line , and they are consolidated and in steps 528 and 529 , the registration number of the consolidated ridges is written in the area k of the memory l2 . when the above mentioned process is finished for all ridges with positive inclination which are entered in the list of the memory l1 , a list of the ridges with positive inclination which are consolidated to the longest ridge is completed in the memory l2 , and the length of this list is shown by the value of k . then the content of the memory h1 is corrected to this length of list in step 532 . if in the same way as explained above the processes of steps 533 - 547 are executed , a list of ridges with negative inclination which are consolidated to the longest ridge is completed in the memory m2 , and the content of the memory h2 is corrected to the length of this list . fig3 f is a flow chart describing in detail the correction process executed in step 9 of fig2 and the vp calculation process executed in step 10 of the flow chart shown in fig2 . in steps 601 - 610 , the function f1 ( x ) for a straight line with positive inclination is corrected in order to obtain a perspective point vp , and in steps 611 - 620 the function f2 ( x ) for a straight line with negative inclination is corrected . because those processes are similar , the former process will only be explained below . in step 601 , the number of ridges with positive inclination which were detected in the above connection process and consolidated , that is , the content of the memory h1 is examined . if the number is 0 , there is no need of correction so that the processes to follow are not executed and the process proceeds directly to step 611 , but if the number is 1 or over 1 , the value of ` i ` is set to 1 in step 602 and the a register is cleared . in steps 603 - 608 , referring to the list of the consolidated ridges with positive inclination which are written in the memory l2 as the value of ` i ` is renewed , the registration number of the longest ridge is searched by successive comparison . when this is finished , the value of the ` a ` register becomes the registration number of the longest consolidated ridge . in step 609 , the content of the memory l1 ( i ), that is the registration number of the longest ridge with positive inclination is loaded to the ` b ` register . in step 610 , a function which connects the highest end image element of a ridge of the registration number a ( xtop ( a ), ymin ( a )), and the lowest end image element of a ridge with the registration number of b xbtm ( b ), ymax ( b ) is sought and the function f1 ( x ) is corrected by it . in steps 611 - 620 , the function f2 ( x ) is corrected in the same way as described above , and then in step 621 an intersection point given by f1 ( x )= f8 ( x ). that is a perspective point vp is sought for its x - coordinate and y - coordinate ( xv , yv ). in step 11 of the flow chart shown in fig2 from the x and y coordinates of the perspective point vp , the angle α which is made between the tv camera 6b and the horizontal line is calculated as explained above . for this process refer to the explanation above given . fig3 g shows the detail of the search process which is executed next . in this process , first the y - coordinate is set to the value y0 which corresponds to the edge of the bonnet , and in step 702 the histogram making process is carried out . the histogram making process is , as shown in fig1 , to set up a search window ws which inscribes the supervision area ar bounded by the function f1 ( x ) and f2 ( x ) and y = y0 , and to seek the image element for each tone data of the image elements that are included in the search window ws . referring to fig3 h , a flow chart of the histogram making process is shown . in step 725 of fig3 h , the y - coordinate at that time is evacuated to the memory ym . further , the y - coordinate yb of the base of the search window ws is set up , and the y - coordinate ya of the upper side which has a value smaller than yb by n ( the number 15 for b is adopted in the embodiment ) is set up , and the whole area of the memory e and the content of the memory emax are cleared ( 0 ). in step 726 , the x - coordinate of the point where the upper side touches the area ar is sought from the inverse functions of the functions f1 and f2 , and respective x - coordinate xb of the right side and x - coordinate xa of the left side are set up . in steps 727 - 735 , the number of image elements with the same tone and an image element with the highest tone are detected with the image elements in the search window ws being scanned . in other words , in the luster - scanning the tone data p ( x , y ) of the coordinates ( x , y ) is loaded to the a register , and the content of the area a of the memory e is increased by one increment to make a histogram , and the largest tone data planted to the memory emax and the value of the a register are compared , and if the latter is larger , the content of the memory emax is renewed . in step 704 , a process to seek the largest limit value in the histogram made in step 702 is executed . this will be explained referring to the flow chart shown in fig3 i . in step 741 , the values of i and k are reset to 0 , and the whole area of the memory s is cleared ( 0 ) and the flag f is reset ( 0 ). in step 742 , the number of image element data e ( i ) which corresponds to the tone data i is loaded to the a register , number of image element data e ( i - 1 ) which corresponds to the tone data e ( i + 1 ) which corresponds to the tone data i + 1 to the c register , providing that if i = 0 , 0 is loaded to the b register . when flag f is reset ( 0 ), the values of the a register and b register , and the values of the a register and c register are compared in step 744 . if the value of the a register is larger than the value of the b register , and the value of the a register is larger than or equal to the value of the c register , the value of the a register is considered to be one of maximum values in the histogram . in this case the value of the a register is compared with a constant cst2 to remove noise in step 745 , and if it is larger than the constant , the tone data by which the value of i , namely the value of the a register was given is loaded to the s register . in step 747 , the value of the a register and the value of the c register are further compared , and if the value of the a register is equal to the value of the c register , then the flag f is set to ( 1 ) in step 748 because the maximum value should be examined by changing the value of i , but if the value is not equal to the value of the c register , the value of the a register is judged to be the maximum value , and the value of k is increased by one increment and the value of the a register , namely the tone data to obtain the maximum value is registered to the are k of the memory s . after this , the value of i is increased by one increment in step 756 , and the process returns to step 742 and the next maximum value is searched . in step 748 if the flag f is set , the value of i is increased by one increment in step 756 and the process returns to step 742 , but from step 743 the process then proceeds to step 751 . at this time , if the value of the a register is equal to the value of the c register , the value of i is further renewed and examination continues . if the maximum value portion of the histogram is flat , the above examination continues and at the same time the value of the a register becomes larger than the value of the c register . in this case , the flag f is reset in step 752 , and in step 753 the central tone of the flat portion , that is the tone data at the place where the flat portion which is the value of the s register and the value of i at that time , that is the tone data when the flat portion ends are averaged , and the average is loaded to the s register . after this , the process proceeds from step 749 to step 750 , and as stated above , the value of the register is registered . incidentally , if at the end of the flat portion of the histogram the gone again increases , the value of the c register is larger than the value of the a register . in this case , the process proceeds from step 754 to step 755 , and the flat f is reset ( 0 ) and the search of the maximum value continues . in the process of making histograms , the maximum tone data in the search window is planted to the memory emax so that the process to obtain the maximum value should be ended at reaching the tone which is equal to the content of the memory emax . when this process is finished , in the memory s a list of tone data to obtain the maximum value , and the length of the list is shown in the value of k . as explained in the proceeding description , because the value of k is the length of the list of tone data to obtain the maximum value and made in the memory s , if this value is over two ( 2 ), the process proceeds from step 704 to step 705 . in steps 705 - 711 , of the maximum value of the histogram made in step 702 from the list made in the memory s , the tone data to obtain the largest is planted to the memory t . in other words , every time the value of i is changed to 1 - k , the tone data s ( i ) to obtain the maximum value of the registered number i is read and set to j , and the image element number data e ( j ) that corresponds to the tone data ( j ), and the value of the a register are compared . when the image element number data e ( j ) is larger , the value of the a register is renewed , and the tone data j at that time is planted to the memory t . when this process is finished , the value of the a register shows the number of the image element that is the maximum limit value , and the content of the memory t is the tone data to obtain it . further , if the histogram made from step 702 has only one limit value , the process proceeds from step 704 to step 712 , and the tone data s ( 1 ) to obtain the limit value is planted to the memory t . as a result , the content of the memory t shows the tone that represents the image element corresponding to the read surface . in step 713 , the y - coordinate of the base in the search window which is set when it is evacuated to the memory ym is read and the y - coordinate is set . in step 714 , the coordinate of y is renewed by m that is small , and in step 715 , it is examined to determine whether the search window set up by making the y - coordinate the base at that time falls in the supervision area ar . if the process fails to make the search window fall in the area , it returns to step 2 in the flow chart shown in fig2 and is restarted from reading images . when it is possible to set the next search window in the supervision are ar , the histogram making process which is the same as described above for the search window set up by making the y - coordinate the base at that time , and in step 717 and in step 717 , the process that is the same as explained above is executed to obtain the limit value in the histogram which was made . by the way , in this embodiment of the invention , the renewal distance of the y - coordinates is ten ( 10 ) and the height of the search window is fifteen ( 15 ), so that each search window has a portion that is overlapped by the next one in the direction of y - axis by five ( 5 ) ( see fig1 ). in step 718 , out of the histograms made in step 716 , the tone data of the peak ( limit large section ) which appears in the side where the tone is the lowest , that is , the tone data planted to s ( 1 ) is read and loaded to the a register . in steps 719 and 720 , the difference of its tone data and the content of the memory t , in this case the tone data which obtained the largest limit value in the histogram about the first search window is compared with a constant value cst 3 . if this difference is lower than cst 3 , the content of the memory t is renewed to the value of the a register and the process returns to step 713 and the above processes are repeated , but when cst 3 is exceeded , the process ends . the above mentioned processes are summarized below in reference to fig1 a - fig1 d . fig1 a shows that only one limit large value exists in the tone histogram in the search window that was first set up , and the central tone data ( in figure shown by t ) is planted to the memory t as judgment data for the next search window . fig1 b shows the tone histogram in the next search window . if the central tone of the peak that appears here first is substantially the same as the content of the memory t , the content of the memory t is renewed by that tone data . in other words , in this case , a peak with tone higher than the tone data t appears in the histogram , but it is neglected as one that reflects the white lines , etc . fig1 c and fig1 d show other tone histograms of different search windows . here a peak that has a tone which is lower than the content of the memory t appears . in such a case , there is a high possibility that there is a vehicle in front and the search process is finished . in fig3 j , the first window setting process in step 13 , horizontal differential process in step 14 , ridge extraction process in step 15 and recovery process in step 16 of the flow chart in fig2 are shown in detail . in step 801 , the y - coordinate yb of the base of the search window when the search process is finished is substituted in a function fw ( yb ) which was set up beforehand to obtain the height v of the first window . in step 802 , the y - coordinate ya of the upside of the first window w1 is set by this height , and in step 803 , the value of y is set by the y - coordinate of the upside . in step 804 , from the inverse function of an approximation function for the left side white line which defines the supervision area ar and from the inverse function of an approximation function for the right side white line , the x - coordinates xa and xb of the left and right sides of the first window w1 are sought and the whole areas of the memories q and r are cleared ( 0 ). in steps 805 - 819 , the horizontal differentiation process in steps 806 - 809 , and the ridge extraction and expansion processes in steps 811 - 815 are conducted with the inside of the first window being luster - scanned . in steps 806 and 807 , attention is paid to the coordinates ( x , y ) image element , and from the sum of tone data of the image element upper right to the image element in attention , image element next to it to the right , and the image element lower right to it , the sum of the tone data of the image element upper left to the image element in attention , image element left to it and image element lower left to it is subtracted and divided by 3 to average them . here the absolute value of this average is made a differentiation tone data , and it is written in the area ( x , y ) of the memory q in step 809a or 809b . in the case in which the ridge extraction process is carried out horizontally ( by a horizontal process to extract a ridge which extends almost vertically ), the differential tone data of the image elements right and left to the image element in attention is necessary . in other words , it is possible to extract ridge with attention paid to the image element that is one element nearer , if the x - coordinate is more than xa + 2 . in step 810 , if this condition is met , then in step 811 the differential tone data q ( x - 1 , y ) of the image element in attention is loaded to the a register , the differential tone data q ( x - 2 , y ) of image element left to the image element in attention is loaded to the b register , and the differential tone data of the image element right to it , q ( x , y ) is loaded to the c register . if among those differential tone data , the relations : a ≧ b , a ≧ c , and 2a -( b + c )≧ cst 4 ( given constant ), it is assumed that ridge is extracted , and it is expanded vertically up - and - down and &# 34 ; 1 : there is α ridge &# 34 ; is planted to memory areas of the memory r , ( x - 1 , y - 1 ), ( x - 1 , y ) and ( x - 1 , y + 1 ). when the above horizontal differential process , ridge extract process and expansion process are finished for all image elements in the first window w1 , data that shows a ridge vertically expanded in the first window is planted to the memory r . then , in steps 820 - 828 , a ridge after expansion is shrinked by the size of one image element in the vertical direction . in other words , every time &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; is detected in steps 823 and 824 , with the area of the memory r which corresponds to the first window w1 being luster - scanned , &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; is planted to its upper and lower areas . in step 17 of the flow chart of fig2 the labelling process shown in fig3 c is made by specifying xs to xa , ys to ya , xe to xb , ye to yb and v1 to the value of about 10 % of the height v of the first window . with this process , ridges that are distributed in the first window , as shown in fig1 a , are registered . for the detail of the labelling process refer t the explanation of the labelling given above . the detail of the extraction process for the right and left line segments executed in step 18 will be explained with reference to the flow chart of fig3 k . in this flow chart , if the number of the ridges ( hereinafter called first registration ridge ) that were registered in the labelling process in step 17 ( fig2 ) is smaller than 1 , it is regarded as mistake in the sampling , and the process returns to step 713 of the search process ( fig3 g ) that was described before , and the search window is renewed and set up . the above number is the content of the memory h . in step 902 , the values of i , j , and k are reset to 0 , whole areas of l1 and l2 are cleared ( 0 ), and the x - coordinate of the middle line of the first window w1 is set to xc ( see fig1 a ). in steps 903 and 904 , out of first registered ridges those with inclination over 1 . 1 ( obtained by experiment ) are sorted out . in other words , in step 904 , for each image element in the inclination of a line segment which connects the highest image element and lowest image element is sought , and in step 904 its inclination is compared with 1 . 1 . in steps 905 and 906 the x - coordinate xbtm ( i ) of the lowest image element for each ridge , and the x - coordinate , xc of the middle line of the first window w1 are compared , and ridges are classified in those ( called hereinafter right side ridges ) which belong to the right area ( right side area after division by middle line ) and those ( called hereinafter left side ridges ) which belong to the left are a ( left side area after division by middle line ). in steps 907 and 908 , the registration numbers of the right side ridges are planted to the area ( u ) of the memory l1 , and in steps 909 and 910 , the registration number of the left side ridges are planted to the area ( k ) of the memory l2 . when the process from steps 903 to 910 is applied to all of the first registration ridges , a list of the right side ridges which have inclination over 1 . 1 , and which belong to the right side is made in the memory l1 , and a list of the left side ridges which have inclination over 1 . 1 , and to belong to the left side is made in the memory l2 , and since their respective lengths are shown by the values of j , and k , in step 913 , the value of j is planted to the memory h1 , and the value of the k are planted to the memory h2 . if the content of the memory h1 and h2 are both over 1 , the process goes direct to step 919 , and those that follow , but if only the latter is 0 , a vehicle in front is considered to be running along the right side , and in step 916 the first window is shifted to the right by a half of its total width to be reset , and after this the process returns to step 805 in fig3 j , and if only the former memory h1 is 0 , the vehicle in front is considered to be running along the left side , and the first window is shifted to the left by a half of its width in step 918 to be reset , and the process returns to step 805 of fig3 j . if both are 0 , it is considered to be a mistake in sampling , and the process returns to the search process ( fig3 g ) from step 917 , and the search window is renewed and set up . in step 919 , the minimum vehicle width data , dmin for a minimum vehicle width which can be regarded as a vehicle in front is set to the da register , and the maximum vehicle width data , dmax , is set to the db register . because those vehicle width data are different with regard to the y - coordinate , they are read by the y - coordinate , yb of the base of the first window from a table prepared beforehand . steps 920 - 926 is a loop to search for a longest ridge by successively comparing the lengths of first registration ridges in the list of right side ridges . the search process for a maximum value of this kind has been explained above so that it will not be explained here . the right side longest ridge becomes a candidate ( hereinafter called right side candidate ridge ) for a ridge which indicates the right side edge of the front vehicle . the value of k when this loop is finished becomes the address of the memory l1 to which the registration number of the longest ridge on the right side is planted . here , in step 927 the content ( registration number of longest ridge ) of the area k of the memory l1 , and the content of the area h1 ( area at the tail end ) are exchanged . in steps 928 and 929 , the registration number of the right side candidate ridge is read , and its lowest end image element is loaded to the a register . after the value of k is set to one ( 1 ) in step 930 , the x - coordinate of the lowest end image element of the k - th registration ridge in the list of left side ridges is loaded to the b register in steps 931 and 932 , and in steps 933 and 934 , the difference of the value of the a register and the value of the b register , namely the distance to the right side candidate ridge is sought , and it is examined to determine whether or note the distance is in the range limited by the vehicle width data da and db . if this distance is outside of the range , the value of k is renewed in step 935 , and the process returns to step 931 . if a left side ridge which has its distance from the right side candidate ridge in the range limited by vehicle width data is found , it is taken as a ridge ( hereinafter called left side candidate ridge ) which is a candidate for showing the left side edge of a vehicle in front , and the process is finished in step 934 , but if there is no candidate in the list of left side ridges , the reposes from step 937 is executed . steps 937 - 953 is a process to search for a right side ridge , the distance of which from the left side longest ridge taken as the left side candidate ridge is in the range limited by vehicle width , and because this is similar to the process of steps 920 - 936 , its explanation is omitted . if in the process of steps 937 - 953 the right side candidate ridge is not found , the contents of the memories h1 and h2 are respectively decreased by one decrement and the process returns to step 914 . with this , the second length right side ridge or left side ridge becomes the right side candidate ridge or left side candidate ridge and the above process is repeated . the value of i when the right and left line segment extraction process if finished is the registration number of the right side candidate ridge , the value of j is the registration number of the left side candidate ridge , the value of the a register is the x - coordinate of the lowest end image element of the right side candidate ridge , the value of the b register is the x - coordinate of the lowest end image element of the left side candidate ridge , and the value of the c register is the distance between the right side candidate ridge and the left side candidate ridge . the second window setting process executed in step 19 and vertical and horizontal differential processes executed in step 20 , difference image making process executed in step 20 of the flow chart in fig2 will be explained in reference to the flow chart shown in fig3 . in step 1101 , the y - coordinate , ymax ( i ) of the lowest end image element of the right side candidate ridge , and the y - coordinate , ymax ( j ) of the lowest end image element of the left side candidate ridge are compared . if the former is larger or both are equal , the value of y is set to the former in step 1102 , and if the latter is larger , the value of y is set to the latter in step 1103 . in step 1104 , the value of the c register , namely 20 % of the distance between the right side candidate ridge and left side candidate ridge is set to the c register . in step 1105 , the value of xa is set to the value of the b register , that is , the coordinate which is on the left side from the x - coordinate of the lowest end image element of the left side candidate ridge by the value of the c register , and the value of xb is set to the value of the a register , that is , the coordinate which is on the right side form the x coordinate of the lowest end image element of the right side candidate ridge by the value of the c register , and the value of ya is set to the coordinates which are on the upper side from the value of y set in step 1104 by the value of the c register plus the value of the c register , and the value of yb is set to the coordinates which are below the value of y by the value of the c register that set up the second window w2 shown by diagonal coordinates ( sz , ya ) and ( sb , yb ) as shown in fig1 b . two line segments in the second window w2 shown in fig1 b show respectively the right side candidate ridge and the left side candidate ridge , and here the distance between them is shown by two . in step 1106 , the whole area of the memory q is cleared ( 0 ), and in step 1107 the value of y is set to ya . in step 1108 , the y - coordinate to start the process , that is , the y - coordinate , ya of the upper side of the second window w2 and the short distance limit y l are compared . in this comparison , if the y - coordinate is smaller than the short distance limit y l ( including the case of equality ), that is , the spatial tone variation is comparatively rapid for an image in the far away so that vertical and horizontal differentiation using the 3 × 3 image element matrix in step 1109 and the processes to follow are executed , and in this case when the y - coordinate is larger than the short distanced limit y l , that is , when the second window w2 is set for near images , the spatial variation in the tone is relatively small so that the process below step 1124 which executes vertical and horizontal differentiation using 5 × 5 image element matrix is carried out . in steps 1110 - 1113 , vertical differentiation is made with attention paid to the image element at ( x , y ) coordinates . the vertical differentiation is to subtract the sum of the tone data of the three image elements under the image element in attention from the sum of the tone data of the three image elements that are on the upper side of the image element in attention in the 3 × 3 image element matrix and the to divide the difference by three ( 3 ). if the result is negative , it is corrected to positive data . in steps 1110 - 1113 horizontal differentiation is carried out with attention paid to the image element at the coordinates ( x , y ). this horizontal differentiation is , as explained above , to subtract the sum of the tone data of the three image elements that are on the right side of the image element in attention from the sum of the tone data of the three image elements that are on the left side of the image element in attention in the 3 × 3 image element matrix , and to divide the difference by 3 . if the result is negative , it is corrected to positive data . in steps 1118 and 1119 , the difference ( absolute value ) of the vertical differential tone data and the horizontal differential tone data are planted to the area ( x , y ) of the memory q which corresponds to the image element in attention . if the above mentioned processes are made for all image element in the second window w2 with the method for luster - scanning , the data that corresponds to the difference image of the vertical differential image and the horizontal differential image in the second window w2 is written in the memory q . because the processes in steps 1124 - 1138 are the same as the above processes in steps 1109 - 1113 except that the size of the matrix is different , their explanation is omitted . fig3 m is a flow chart which shows in detail the ridge extraction process executed in step 22 and the recovery process executed in step 23 in the flow chart of fig2 . in step 1201 , the whole area of the memory r is cleared ( 0 ). in the memory r , the ridge data is written in the following processes . in steps 1201 - 1212 , the vertical ridge extraction process ( by vertical extraction ridges which extend substantially horizontally are extracted ) and expansion process are executed with the difference image data being luster - scanned . in the ridge extraction process , because the image element in attention and adjacent image elements that are on or under the image element in attention are used , the difference image data q ( x , y ) of the image element in attention is loaded to the a register , and the difference image data q ( x , y - 1 ) right on the image element in attention to the b register , and the difference image data q ( x , y + 1 ) of the image element right under the image element in attention to the c register in step 1204 . in steps 1205 - 1208 , if among the difference image data that were set to the registers a , b , and c , a relation , a ≧ b , a ≧ c and 2a -( b + c )≧ cst 5 ( specified number ) is established , it is judged that a ridge is extracted and &# 34 ; 1 : there is a ridge &# 34 ; is written in the area ( x , y ) that corresponds to the image element in attention in the memory r and at the same time &# 34 ; 1 : there is a ridge &# 34 ; is written in the area ( x - 1 , y ) and area ( x + 1 , y ) in order to expand the area ( x , y ) by one image element space . when the above mentioned vertical ridge extraction process and expansion process are finished for all image elements in the second window w2 , the ridge data planted to the area of the memory r which corresponds to the second window w2 is luster - scanned to give a shrinkage process in step 1213 and the processes to follow it . in the shrinkage process , the ridge data corresponding to the image element in attention is read in step 1215 and examined in step 1216 , and if it is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, then &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; is planted in step 1217 to the area of the memory r which corresponds to the image element left to the image element in attention . in step 24 of the flow chart shown in fig2 xs is specified to xa , ys to ya , xe to xb , ye to yb and v1 to the value about 30 % of the width of the second window w2 to carry out the labelling process shown in fig3 c . when this process is finished , a ridge consisting of image elements which are distributed in the second window w2 and extend substantially horizontally is registered as shown in fig1 b . for details of the labelling process refer to the above explanation . now the detail of horizontal line segment extraction process which is executed in the flow chart of fig2 will be explained in reference to fig3 n . in this extraction , if the number ( content of the memory h ) of ridges registered in the labelling process which was done in step 24 ( fig2 ) is under 2 , it is regarded as a mistake in sampling , and the process returns to step 713 of the search process ( fig3 g ) above mentioned from step 1301 and the search window is renewed and set up . steps 1302 - 1307 is a loop to search the registration number of the second registration ridge which has the lowest end image element which is most downwards ( y - coordinate largest ) with the y - coordinates of the lowest end image element of the second registration ridge being successively compared , and the registration number which is sought is the value of j when this loop is finished . processes of this kind have been explained several times , and now the explanation is omitted . in step 1308 , the height which is half the height of the second window w2 , ( yb - ya )/ 2 is sought , and the height thus sought is set to the a register , and in step 1309 ymax ( j ), namely from the y - coordinate of the lowest image element out of the lowest end image elements of the second registered ridge the value of the a register is subtracted , and the value obtained in the subtraction is set at ya , and the value obtained by adding the value of the a register is set at yb . namely , the second window w2 is lowered to the position where ymax ( j ) becomes the center of the window , and then a window that is given a binary value is set up . in step 1310 , the value of x is set at the x - coordinate of the middle line of the window that was given binary value and the value of y1 is set to ymax ( j ). in steps 1311 and 1312 , the tone data of the central image element of the window that is given binary value and tone data of the image elements to the right and left of the central image elements are averaged , and the average is set to the a register as the threshold value of the binary values . in step 1313 , count registers u1 and u2 are reset ( 0 ). in steps 1314 - 1325 , the image elements in the window that are given binary values are luster - scanned , and at the same time the tone data of each image element and the value of the a register are compared . in this comparison , in the image element which is on top of the central image element the number of image elements ( black image element ) that have tone data lower than the value of the a register is counted by the count register u1 , and in the image elements that are below the central image element , the number of image elements ( white image element ) which have higher tone data than the value of the a register is counted by the counter register u2 . in other words , in step 1316 , the tone data of an image element at the coordinates ( x , y ) is read to the b register , and if the value of y is lower than y 1 ( image element above the central image element ), the value of the a register and the value of the b register are compared in step 1318 , and if b & lt ; a , the count register u1 is counted up by one count in step 1319 , and if the value of y is over y 1 ( image element lower than the central image element ), the value of the a register and the value of the b register are compared in step 1320 , and if b ≧ a , the count register u2 is counted up by one count in step 1321 . in this way , the number of black image elements on top of the central image element ( value of u1 ), and the number of white image elements under the central image element ( value of u2 ) are counted when image elements are given binary values with the tone of the central image elements as the threshold value ( average value including two image elements on the left and right ). in steps 1316 and 1317 , a half of the number of all image elements in the window that is given a binary value is set to the register a . in steps 1328 and 1329 , it is judged whether the detection is correct or not . in other words , the above mentioned detection is judged proper and the process is finished when there are over 20 % of black image elements in the area on the upper side of the central image element of the window that is given a binary value in the above mentioned binary value given ( value of u1 over 20 % of value of a register ) and in the area under the central image element in the window that is given binary value white image elements are over 85 % ( value of u2 is over 85 % of value of a register ), and in other cases a mistake in sampling is judged , and the process returns from step 1329 to step 713 of the search process ( fig3 t ) which was explained above and the search window is renewed and set up . when the above mentioned process is finished , the value of y 1 indicates the y - coordinate of the boundary of the vehicle in front and the road surface . regarding this boundary , refer to fig1 . fig1 photographed a number of scenes which include a vehicle in front , and the correlation of the rate of white image elements in the lower side area and the rate of black image elements in the upper side area when a window of binary value is set up with the boundary as a center is marked by 0 mark , and the correlation of the rate of white image elements in the lower side area and the rate of black image elements in the upper side area when a window of binary values is set up with other places than the boundary between the vehicle and road surface as centers is marked by an x mark in fig1 . it can be seen that in the former the percentage of the white image elements in the lower side area of the window of binary value is over 85 %, and the percentage of the black image elements in the upper side area is over 20 %. when a contrary description is used , this graph shows that , when a window of binary value is set up with a second registration ridge as center and the percentage of the white image elements in the lower side area is over 85 % and the percentage of the black image elements on the upper side area is over 20 %, reliability to consider that ridge indicates the boundary of a vehicle in front and the road surface is high . in step 26 in the flow chart shown in fig2 the value of y 1 is substituted into the above mentioned equation ( 6 ) to calculate the distance d to the vehicle in front . in this calculation the y - coordinate of the perspective pint given in step 10 and the value given in step 11 are substituted for α . by using the device of this embodiment of the invention which was explained above , the distance to a vehicle in front was actually measured from a vehicle running on a highway , and distances were obtained in the measurement tolerance . in general , vehicles are mostly symmetrical in the right and left direction , as shown in fig1 a . accordingly , when a ridge is extracted by vertical differentiation of an image which corresponds to a vehicle , the center points ( glac dots ) of each ridge are lined up substantially on the x - axis as shown in fig1 b . in other words , when the correlation of the accumulation of ridge lengths which have the same x - coordinate and the x - coordinate of the middle point is sought , a remarkable peak appears on the x - axis is shown in fig1 c if there is a vehicle in front in the second window w2 . in the embodiment above described , it judges that if there are more than three ridges in the second window w2 , there is a vehicle in front but it is possible to judge whether or not there is a vehicle in front by the correlation of the x - coordinate of the middle point of a ridge and accumulated lengths . as stated above , according to the invention , a supervision area , first feature area and second feature area and processing area are successively set up and the information contained in them is compacted neatly , so that it is possible to detect an obstacle such as vehicle , etc . with simple conditioning . furthermore , it is possible to accurately detect the distance of an obstacle such as vehicle , etc . from the spatial information obtained from image formation . | 6 |
throughout all the figures , same or corresponding elements are generally indicated by same reference numerals . turning now to the drawing , and in particular to fig1 there is shown a view onto a backside of an exemplary mold mounting plate 1 of an injection molding machine for plastic . the mold mounting plate 1 is made essentially of a rectangular baseplate 2 and a dome - shaped element 3 arranged in its center ( see also fig2 and 3 ). opening 4 are arranged in each of the corner regions 2 a of the baseplate 2 , wherein holding and / or guide elements ( not shown ) of an injection molding machine can be inserted into the openings 4 . as seen in fig2 which shows a cross - section of fig1 taken along the line ii - ii , the dome - shaped element 3 has a symmetric shape and transitions with its base 3 a into the backside 2 c of the baseplate 2 . the radius r of the dome - shaped element 3 thereby corresponds approximately the distance between the two openings 4 in the baseplate 2 parallel to the shorter edge 2 e . in the region of the tip 3 b of the dome - shaped element 3 , the dome - shaped element 3 has an tapered section 5 which points towards the baseplate 2 and extends to the baseplate 2 , so that the taper facing the baseplate 2 transitions into the baseplate 2 . the round , funnel - shaped 5 is oriented symmetrical to the center 2 d of the baseplate 2 and is tapered in the direction of the baseplate 2 . the tapered section 5 is adapted to receive the injection unit ( not shown ) of the plastic injection molding machine and is configured as narrow as possible , depending on the injection unit , so as to properly support the baseplate 2 . adjacent to the tapered section 5 is a bore 6 through which the tip of the injection unit ( not shown ) passes to the mold half ( not shown ) that is secured to the front face 2 a of the baseplate 2 . as also seen in fig1 recesses 7 are provided in the dome - shaped element 3 in the region of the marginal edges 2 e and 2 f of the baseplate 2 , with ribs 8 supporting the baseplate 2 between the openings 4 . the ribs 8 are oriented perpendicular to the baseplate ( see fig2 and 3 ) and also perpendicular to the marginal edge 2 e and 2 f , on which the ribs are arranged . [ 0023 ] fig2 shows with respect to the recesses 7 , that window - like openings 9 are arranged in the wall that separates the dome - shaped element 3 from the respective marginal edge 2 e and 2 f , and consequently also between the ribs 8 . the walls 3 that connect the ribs on their ends facing away from the marginal edges 2 e and 2 f are , like the ribs 8 , also oriented perpendicular to the baseplate 2 . when viewed from the side , the rib 8 has an essentially triangular form that matches the contour of the dome - shaped element 3 . a cavity 10 a and 10 b remains between the backside 2 b of the baseplate 2 and the interior face 3 d of the dome - shaped element 3 , with the cavity being connected with the window - shaped openings 9 . the cavity 10 a and 10 b is divided into two sections 10 a and 10 b by an intermediate wall 11 which connects the backside 2 b of the baseplate 2 with the interior face 3 d of the dome - shaped element 3 . the intermediate wall 11 , which is depicted in fig3 as a cross - sectional view taken along the line iii - iii of fig1 is oriented perpendicular to the baseplate 2 and extends through the center 2 d of the baseplate 2 . the intermediate wall 11 also extends parallel to the shorter edge 2 e of the baseplate 2 . as also shown in fig1 to 3 , sleeves 12 in the form of parallelepipeds , into which the holding and / or guide elements ( not shown ) can be inserted , are arranged subsequent to the openings 4 . the height h of the sleeves is smaller than the maximum height h of the dome - shaped element 3 as measured from the baseplate 2 . as shown clearly in fig1 the sleeves 12 transition smoothly into the dome - shaped element 3 . the lower sections of the sleeves 12 visible in fig1 extend slightly in the downward direction so as to form a spacer surface for the mold mounting plate on the frame ( not shown ) of the injection molding machine . the design of the mold mounting plate 1 with the baseplate 2 , the dome - shaped element 3 , the ribs 8 , and the sleeves 12 allows the mold mounting plate 1 to be easily fabricated as a single cast part , in particular a cast steel part . the mold mounting plate 1 can hence be constructed in a very simple manner . the aforedescribed mold mounting plate 1 can be used in a horizontal dual - mold injection molding machine for plastics . such injection molding machine has typically a stationary mold mounting plate 1 and a movable mold mounting plate 1 that can be moved via a closing unit . the closing unit can have stationary spindles arranged in the corner regions of a mold mounting plate , with the other mold mounting plate 1 being movable along the closing unit via ball screw drives attached to the spindles . while the invention has been illustrated and described in connection with preferred embodiments shown and described in detail , it is not intended to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and practical application to thereby enable a person skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by letters patent is set forth in the appended claims and their equivalents : | 1 |
[ 0021 ] fig1 is a front view of an oven 10 including a door 12 and an oven control user interface 14 . door 12 includes a window 16 and a handle 18 . oven control user interface 14 includes a plurality of input devices 20 and a display 22 , which are described in greater detail below . oven 10 is illustrated as a built - in wall oven . the oven control described herein , however , can be utilized in connection with many other types of ovens such as free - standing ovens , drop - in ovens , slide ovens , and speed cooking ovens . in one embodiment , oven 10 is a convection microwave oven . generally , the control described herein can be used in connection with any convection oven that includes a convection fan . such ovens are commercially available from the ge appliances business of general electric company , louisville , ky . [ 0022 ] fig2 is a cut away view of oven 10 illustrating in schematic form a portion of an oven cavity 24 formed by a plurality of oven walls 26 , a back wall 28 , and door 12 ( shown in fig1 ). a plurality of heating segments 30 form a baking element 32 ( a heat source ) and a plurality of heating segments 34 form a broiling element 36 ( a heat source ). a convection assembly 38 is mounted on back wall 28 of oven 10 . in an exemplary embodiment , broiling element 36 is a 3600 watt ( w ) element and baking element 32 is a 2800 w element . [ 0023 ] fig3 is an exploded view of convection assembly 38 . convection assembly 38 includes a fan assembly 39 . fan assembly 39 includes a motor 40 including a shaft 42 extending from motor 40 , and a fan 44 mounted to shaft 42 . convection assembly 38 also includes a convection element 46 ( a heat source ) and a cover member 48 . in an exemplary embodiment , convection element 46 is a 2500 w element . in an alternative embodiment , convection assembly 38 does not include a convection element 46 and oven 10 is a pseudo - convection oven . cover member 48 includes a base portion 50 and a wall portion 52 extending obliquely radially inward from base portion 50 to a rim portion 54 . rim portion 54 extends substantially planer to an inner wall portion 56 which extends obliquely radially inward toward base portion 50 to a substantially planer face portion 58 . wall portion 52 includes a plurality of openings 60 . in one embodiment , openings 60 are substantially rectangular shaped . rather than being rectangular shaped , openings 60 can have many other different geometric shapes such as circular . face portion 58 includes a plurality of elongated openings 62 . selected openings 60 can be partially or completely covered to allow for a tailoring or tuning of air flow within the cooking cavity . motor 40 is mounted to an oven rear wall such that shaft 42 extends through an opening in rear cavity wall 28 and into cavity 24 ( shown in fig2 ). fan 44 is mounted to shaft 42 such that fan 44 is positioned within cavity 24 . convection element 46 is mounted to rear cavity wall 28 and connected to an energy source ( not shown ). in the example embodiment , convection element 46 extends circumferentially around fan 44 . cover member 48 is attached to back wall 28 and shields convection element 46 and fan 44 . in an example embodiment , motor 40 is a permanent split capacitor ( psc ) motor . motor 40 is reversible in that motor 40 can alternately drive fan 44 in a clockwise and in a counter - clockwise direction . psc motors are commercially available , such as from plaset s . p . a ., 10024 moncalieri ( to ), italy . in the example embodiment , motor 40 is a two pole psc motor and is configured to rotate shaft 42 at speeds up to 3600 revolutions per minute ( rpm &# 39 ; s ) in both a clockwise direction and a counter - clockwise direction , and has a 6μfarads ( f ) capacitor . in an alternate embodiment , motor 40 is a reversible motor other than a psc motor . [ 0026 ] fig4 is a front view of fan 44 including a plurality of radially extending portions 64 extending from a circular central section 66 . central section 66 includes an opening 68 having a flat portion 70 and an arcuate portion 72 facilitating keying fan 44 with shaft 42 . each radially extending portion 64 includes a fan blade 74 that extends radially outward , is substantially planar , and pushes air when fan 44 is rotated . [ 0027 ] fig5 is a perspective view of fan 44 . each fan blade 74 includes an outer edge 75 . in an exemplary embodiment , fan 44 is fabricated from a single piece of sheet steel . outer edges 75 are cut from the single piece of sheet steel and portions of the single sheet of steel are folded along a line 76 to form fan blades 74 , radially extending portions 64 , and a plurality of voids 77 . [ 0028 ] fig6 is a front view of oven control user interface 14 . various touch sensitive pads 20 allow a user to select various cooking parameters such as convection roast and convection bake . the user can also select non - convection settings such as bake , broil , proof , and warm . additionally , the user can use a numeric keypad 78 to enter numerical data relating to temperature , cook time , clock time , and kitchen timer . display 22 includes a multi light 80 . when the user selects convection bake a first time , multi light 80 is illuminated indicating that oven 10 is in multiple rack mode as explained in detail below . when the user selects convection bake a second time , multi light 80 is not illuminated indicating that oven 10 is in single rack mode as explained below . the user can toggle between single rack mode and multiple rack mode . in an alternative embodiment , and rather than relying on user input regarding selection of the number of racks on which food is located , at least one sensor senses whether one rack or multiple racks ( e . g ., by pressure or weight on a rack , or by sensing the presence of baking ware ) are being used and provides an indication of rack mode to an oven controller automatically . additionally , multiple rack mode need not be the first mode . for example , when the user selects convection bake a first time , multi light 80 is not illuminated indicating that oven 10 is in single rack mode , and when the user selects convection bake a second time , multi light 80 is illuminated indicating that oven 10 is in multiple rack mode . [ 0030 ] fig7 is a block diagram of oven 10 including an oven controller 82 . oven controller 82 is electrically connected to oven control user interface 14 and fan 44 . in addition , oven controller 82 is electrically connected to baking element 32 , broiling element 36 , and convection element 46 . oven controller 82 receives inputs from oven control user interface 14 and controls fan 44 , baking element 32 , broiling element 36 , and convection element 46 as described herein . [ 0031 ] fig8 illustrates an exemplary algorithm for controlling operation of the oven 10 in response to various user selections . for example , when convection bake is selected in multiple rack mode as explained above , and a temperature between 170 degrees fahrenheit ( f .) and 550 ° f . is selected , fan 44 is rotated clockwise for twenty seconds and then de - energized for ten seconds before being energized in the counter clockwise direction for forty seconds . fan 44 is then de - energized for ten seconds and then re - energized for twenty seconds in the clockwise direction starting the cycling over again . in addition to cycling fan 44 , convection heating element 46 is cycled on for periods of time equal to integral minutes ( i . e ., x minutes where x in an integer ). for example , the temperature within cavity 24 is measured continuously and when the temperature is about 15 ° below ( or less than 15 ° below ) the temperature set by the user , heating element 46 is energized supplying heat to cavity 24 . the temperature continues to be measured and when the temperature in cavity 24 is about 15 ° above ( or greater than 15 ° above ) the user specified temperature , heating element 46 is de - energized . the cycling of fan 44 is independent of the temperature of cavity 24 . although the illustrated embodiment uses a 15 ° temperature range which has been empirically derived to provide satisfactory cooking results , other temperature ranges are also useful , and accordingly , in other embodiments , a range other than 15 ° is used . additionally , when convection bake is selected in single rack mode as explained above , and a temperature between 170 ° f . and 550 ° f . is selected , fan 44 is rotated clockwise for three minutes and then de - energized for ten seconds before being energized in the counter clockwise direction for three minutes . fan 44 is then de - energized for ten seconds and then re - energized for three minutes in the clockwise direction starting the cycling over again . in addition to cycling fan 44 , bake element 32 and broil element 36 are cycled on for periods of time equal to integral minutes . for example , the temperature within cavity 24 is measured and when the temperature is about 5 ° below ( or less than 5 ° below ) the temperature set by the user , bake element 32 and broil element 36 are energized supplying heat to cavity 24 . more specifically , bake element 32 is energized for the first 45 seconds of each minute and broil element 36 is energized for the last fifteen seconds of each minute . when bake element 32 is energized , broil element 36 is de - energized , and when broil element 36 is energized , bake element 32 is de - energized . the temperature continues to be measured and when the temperature in cavity 24 is about 5 ° above ( or greater than 5 ° above ) the user specified temperature , bake element 32 and broil element 36 are de - energized . although the illustrated embodiment uses a 5 ° temperature range which has been empirically derived to provide satisfactory cooking results , other temperature ranges are also useful , and accordingly , in other embodiments , a range other than 5 ° is used . additionally , while an approximate five degree range is maintained when the selected mode is single rack , an approximate fifteen degree range is maintained when the selected mode is multiple rack . the different degree ranges facilitate an even cooking in both rack modes . when convection roast is selected , fan 44 rotates counter clockwise continuously . fan 44 also rotates continuously counter clockwise when a dehydrate mode is selected . when a proof mode is selected all heating sources 32 , 36 , and 46 are kept de - energized and an oven light ( not shown ) inside cavity 24 is illuminated . additionally , in the proof mode , fan 44 is rotated clockwise for one minute and then fan 44 is de - energized for ten minutes . fan 44 is then energized in the counter clockwise direction before being de - energized for ten minutes before the cycle starts over again . [ 0034 ] fig9 illustrates the cycling of oven 10 in convection bake multiple rack mode . convection heating element 46 is energized until cavity 24 reaches about 15 ° above the desired temperature ( 325 f .). convection heating element 46 is de - energized until the temperature falls to about 15 ° below the desired temperature , at which point heating element 46 is energized again until the temperature is about 15 ° above the desired temperature . fan 44 is cycled independent of heating element 46 . the cycling of fan 44 facilitates an evenness of cooking in oven 10 . [ 0035 ] fig1 is a perspective view and fig1 is a plan view of a blocking fan 50 including a generally circular middle portion 52 including a mounting hole 54 . a plurality of support members 56 extend radially from middle portion 52 to a plurality of arcuate fan sections 58 . each fan section 58 extends from one support member 56 to another support member 56 and includes a centrally positioned opening 60 . between each fan section 58 is an open section 62 such that open sections 62 alternate with fan sections 58 . fan sections 58 extend both radially and axially away from middle portion 52 . fan sections 58 are also arcuate circumferentially . locking fan 50 is positioned within cavity 24 and separate from fan 44 . more particularly , blocking fan 50 is rotatably mounted such that blocking fan 50 is aerodynamically coupled with fan 44 . blocking fan 50 is not connected to a motor , rather blocking fan is positioned such that when fan 44 rotates causing an air flow within cavity 24 , the air flow caused by fan 44 causes blocking fan 50 to rotate and create dynamically changing air flow patterns within cavity 24 . in an exemplary embodiment , blocking fan 50 is positioned such that mounting hole 50 is axially aligned ( but not connected ) with shaft 42 . the size of openings 60 and open sections 62 can be varied to create different dynamically changing air patterns . during operation of fan 44 in a single direction or any single direction fan , blocking fan 50 rotates in the same direction as fan 44 but at a lower speed than fan 44 . in an alternate embodiment , blocking fan 50 rotates in a direction opposite of fan 44 . because blocking fan 50 has fan sections 58 and open sections 62 , blocking fan 50 blocks off different portions of the air flow generated by fan 44 as blocking fan 50 rotates to dynamically change the air flow inside cavity 24 . this dynamic changing of the airflow within cavity 24 facilitates an evenness of cooking with oven 10 . [ 0038 ] fig1 is a perspective view of a blocking fan 70 and fig1 is an exploded view of convection assembly 38 with blocking fan 70 included . blocking fan 70 includes a central portion 72 and a plurality of support members 74 extending from central portion to a plurality of arcuate fan sections 76 . each arcuate fan section 76 includes at least one vane 78 defining a vane angle 80 . although illustrated with four fan sections 76 , in other embodiments , fan 70 has more than and less than four fan sections 76 . in an ex during operation of fan 44 in a single direction or any single direction fan , blocking fan 70 rotates to dynamically change the air flow inside cavity 24 as explained with respect to blocking fan 50 . this dynamic changing of the airflow within cavity 24 facilitates an evenness of cooking with oven 10 . accordingly , a reliable cost - efficient oven is provided that provides an evenness in cooking . the evenness is achieved when both a single rack is used and when multiple racks are used to cook food . additionally , a dynamic airflow is achieved with a single fan motor . in one embodiment , the dynamic air flow is made by reversing the direction of the motor , and , in another embodiment , the dynamic air flow is made with a blocking fan aerodynamically coupled to a single direction fan . while the invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments , those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims . | 7 |
10 ml of a 1 . 2m solution of diisobutylaluminum hydride in toluene was slowly instilled into a solution , cooled to - 70 ° c ., of 3 . 52 g ( 10 mmol ) of ( 3as , 6ar )- 3 - benzyl - 1 -[( r )-( 1 - phenylethyl )]- tetrahydro - 1h - thieno -[ 3 , 4 - d ]- imidazole - 2 , 4 - dione in 120 ml of toluene with stirring , and the temperature of the reaction solution did not rise above - 60 °. after the addition was ended , it was stirred for 2 hours at - 70 ° c . and 50 ml of 10 percent aqueous ammonium chloride solution as added . the partly precipitated white product was filtered off , the phases were separated and the aqueous phase was extracted twice more with ethyl acetate . the combined organic phases were dried with mgso 4 and concentrated by evaporation on the rotavapor . the white residue was combined with the product already filtered off . in total , 3 . 49 g ( 98 . 6 percent ) of ( 3as , 6ar )- 3 - benzyl - 1 -[( r )-( phenylethyl )]- tetrahydro - 4 - hydroxy - 1h - thieno -[ 3 , 4 - d ]- imidazol - 2 ( 3h )- one was obtained as a ( 94 : 6 ) diastereomeric mixture . the following spectroscopic data are from the main diastereoisomer ( mp 216 °- 217 ° c . ): 1 h - nmr ( d 6 dmso ) 1 . 58 ( d , j = 7 . 5 hz , 3h ), 2 . 25 ( d , j = 12 . 5 hz , 1h ), 2 . 85 ( dd , j = 5 hz , 12 . 5 hz , 1h ), 3 . 90 ( d , j = 8 . 7 hz , 1h ), 4 . 25 ( d , j = 15 hz , 1h ), 4 . 55 ( m , 1h ), 4 . 60 ( d , j = 15 hz , 1h ), 5 . 05 ( q , j = 7 . 5 hz , 1h ), 5 . 22 ( d , j = 4 . 5 hz , 1h ), 6 . 00 ( d , j = 4 . 5 hz , 1h ), 7 . 20 - 7 . 50 ( m , 10h ), ms ( m / e ) 354 ( m + , 2 ) 187 ( 28 ), 105 ( 66 ), 97 ( 16 ), 91 ( 100 ), 77 ( 14 ), 44 ( 19 ), 36 ( 38 ) a solution of 0 . 70 g ( 2 mmol ) of ( 3as , 6ar )- 3 - benzyl - 1 -[( r )- 1 ( 1 - phenylethyl )]- tetrahydro - 4 - triphenyl phosphonium - 1h - thieno -[ 3 , 4 - d ]- imidazol - 2 ( 3h )- one and 0 . 77 g ( 2 . 2 mmol ) of triphenylphosphonium tetrafluoroborate in 20 ml of acetonitrile was refluxed for 2 hours . checking by tlc showed that no more educt was present . the solvent was distilled off on the rotavapor and the residue was dried . the yield was 1 . 35 g ( 98 . 5 percent ) of ( 3as , 6ar )- 3 - benzyl - 1 -[( r )- 1 ( 1 - phenylethyl )]- tetrahydro - 4 - triphenyl phosphonio - 1h - thieno -[ 3 , 4 - d ]- imidazol - 2 ( 3h )- one - tetrafluoroborate , which had a melting point of 116 ° to 118 ° c . the spectroscopic data was : ir ( kbr ) 2935 , 1697 , 1479 , 1450 , 1439 , 1427 , 1252 , 1107 , 1071 , 1036 , 996 , 738 , 689 1 h - nmr ( cdcl 3 ) 1 . 15 ( dd , j = 5 . 0 hz , 12 . 5 hz , 1h ), 1 . 55 ( d , j = 7 . 5 hz , 3h ), 1 . 85 ( d , j = 12 . 5 hz , 1h ), 4 . 28 ( d , j = 17 . 5 hz , 1h ), 4 . 40 - 4 . 50 ( m , 1h ), 4 . 80 - 4 . 90 ( m , 1h ), 4 . 90 ( d , j = 17 . 5 hz , 1h ), 5 . 05 ( t , j = 7 . 5 hz , 1h ), 5 . 28 ( q , j = 7 . 5 hz , 1h ), 7 . 15 - 7 . 50 ( m , 15h ), 7 . 55 - 7 . 85 ( m , 10h ) in portions 0 . 44 g ( 3 . 80 mmol ) of freshly sublimated potassium tert - butylate was added to a solution of 2 . 28 g ( 3 . 30 mmol ) of ( 3as , 6ar )- 3 - benzyl - 1 -[( r )-( 1 - phenylethyl )]- tetrahydro - 4 - triphenyl phosphonio - 1h - thieno -[ 3 , 4 - d ]- imidazol - 2 ( 3h )- one - tetrafluoroborate in 30 ml of tetrahydrofuran at room temperature . the orange red reaction mixture was stirred for 2 hours at room temperature and then 0 . 53 g ( 3 . 80 mmol ) of 5 - oxo - valeric acid methylester , diluted with 1 ml of tetrahydrofuran , was slowly instilled . the reaction mixture was stirred overnight , taken up in water / ethyl acetate and the solvent was concentrated by evaporation on the rotavapor . silica gel chromatography with ethyl acetate / hexane as the eluant yielded 0 . 97 g ( 65 percent ) of ( 3as , 6ar )- 3 - benzyl - 1 -[( r )-( 1 - phenylethyl )]- tetrahydro - 1h - thieno -[ 3 , 4 - d ]- imidazol - 2 ( 3h )- on - 4 - ylidene pentanoic acid methyl ester as a colorless oil . the spectroscopic data was : ir ( film ) 2935 , 1736 , 1694 , 1435 , 1415 , 1360 , 1245 , 1216 , 1168 , 756 , 702 1 h - nmr ( cdcl 3 ) 1 . 45 - 1 . 60 ( m , 2h ), 1 . 68 ( d , j = 7 . 5 hz , 3h ), 1 . 75 - 1 . 88 ( m , 2h ), 2 . 08 ( t , j = 7 . 5 hz , 2h ), 2 . 28 ( dd , j = 3 hz , 12 . 5 hz , 1h ), 2 . 52 ( dd , j = 5 . 5 hz , 12 . 5 hz , 1h ), 3 . 60 ( s , 3h ), 4 . 02 ( d , j = 16 . 0 hz , 1h ), 4 . 33 - 4 . 41 ( m , 1h ), 4 . 65 ( d , j = 7 . 5 hz , 1h ), 4 . 92 ( d , j = 16 . 0 hz , 1h ), 5 . 38 ( q , j = 7 . 5 hz , 1h ), 5 . 60 ( t , j = 7 . 5 hz , 1h ), 7 . 15 - 7 . 50 ( m , 10h ), ms ( m / e ) 450 ( m + , 1h ) 345 ( 5 ), 237 ( 14 ), 120 ( 20 ), 105 ( 80 ), 91 ( 100 ), 79 ( 14 ), 44 ( 10 ) in portions 0 . 47 g ( 4 . 19 mmol ) of freshly sublimated potassium tert - butylate was added to a solution of 2 . 60 g ( 3 . 64 mmol ) of ( 3as , 6ar )- 3 - benzyl - 1 -[( r )- 1 ( 1 - phenylethyl )]- tetrahydro - 4 - triphenyl phosphonio - 1h - thieno -[ 3 , 4 - d ]- imidazol -( 3h )- one - tetrafluoroborate in 35 ml of tetrahydrofuran at room temperature . the orange red mixture was stirred for 2 hours at room temperature and then 0 . 84 g ( 4 . 20 mmol ) of 5 - oxo - valeric acid hexylester , diluted with 1 ml of tetrahydrofuran , was slowly instilled . the reaction mixture was stirred overnight , taken up in water / ethyl / acetate and the solvent was removed on the rotavapor . silica gel chromatography with ethyl acetate / hexane as the eluent yielded 1 . 10 g ( 58 percent ) of ( 3as , 6ar )- 3 - benzyl - 1 -[( r )-( 1 - phenylethyl )]- tetrahydro - 1h - thieno -[ 3 , 4 - d ]- imidazol - 2 ( 3h )- on - 4 - ylidene pentanoic acid hexylester as a faintly yellowish oil . the spectroscopic data was : ir ( film ) 2931 , 1732 , 1696 , 1432 , 1413 , 1359 , 1244 , 1216 , 1169 , 756 , 701 1 h - nmr ( cdcl 3 ) 0 . 85 - 1 . 00 ( m , 3h ), 1 . 25 - 1 . 45 ( m , 6h ), 1 . 55 - 1 . 80 ( m , 7h ), 1 . 95 - 2 . 15 ( m , 2h ), 2 . 27 ( t , j = 7 . 5 hz , 2h ), 2 . 38 ( dd , j = 3 hz , 12 . 5 hz , 1h ), 2 . 49 ( dd , j = 5 . 5 hz , 12 . 5 hz , 1h ), 4 . 00 - 4 . 10 ( m , 3h ), 4 . 20 - 4 . 30 ( m , 2h ), 4 . 93 ( d , j = 15 . 5 hz , 1h ), 5 . 32 - 5 . 45 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 20 - 7 . 50 ( m , 10h ), ms ( m / e ) 520 ( m + , 15 ), 487 ( 10 ), 415 ( 32 ), 253 ( 14 ), 237 ( 41 ), 187 ( 11 ), 132 ( 17 ), 120 ( 21 ), 105 ( 100 ), 91 ( 92 ), 43 ( 28 ) in portions of 0 . 54 g ( 4 . 78 mmol ) of freshly sublimated potassium tert - butylate was added to a solution of 2 . 85 g ( 4 . 15 mmol ) of ( 3as , 6ar )- 3 - benzyl - 1 -[( r )- 1 ( 1 - phenylethyl )]- tetrahydro - 4 - triphenyl phosphonio - 1h - thieno -[ 3 , 4 - d ]- imidazol - 2 ( 3h )- one - tetrafluoroborate in 35 ml of tetrahydrofuran at room temperature . the orange red mixture was stirred for 2 hours at room temperature and then 0 . 99 g ( 4 . 78 mmol ) of 5 - oxo - valeric acid benzylester , diluted with 1 ml of tetrahydrofuran , was slowly instilled . the reaction mixture was stirred overnight , taken up in water / ethyl / acetate and the solvent was concentrated by evaporation on the rotavapor . silica gel chromatography with ethyl acetate / hexane as the eluent yielded 1 . 57 g ( 72 percent ) of ( 3as , 6ar )- 3 - benzyl - 1 -[( r )-( 1 - phenylethyl )]- tetrahydro - 1h - thieno -[ 3 , 4 - d ]- imidazol - 2 ( 3h )- on - 4 - ylidene pentanoic acid benzylester as a colorless oil . the spectroscopic data was : ir ( film ) 2935 , 1734 , 1694 , 1444 , 1414 , 1358 , 1236 , 1215 , 1161 , 752 , 700 1 h - nmr ( cdcl 3 ) 1 . 62 - 1 . 78 ( m , 5h ), 1 . 98 - 2 . 15 ( m , 2h ), 2 . 33 ( t , j = 7 . 5 hz , 2h ), 2 . 38 ( dd , j = 4 hz , 12 . 5 hz , 1h ), 2 . 46 ( dd , j = 5 . 5 hz , 12 . 5 hz , 1h ), 4 . 03 ( d , j = 15 . 5 hz , 1h ), 4 . 18 - 4 . 28 ( m , 2h ), 4 . 93 ( d , j = 15 . 5 hz , 1h ), 5 . 11 ( s , 2h ), 5 . 33 - 5 . 42 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 20 - 7 . 50 ( m , 15h ), ms ( m / e ) 526 ( m + , 14 ), 493 ( 10 ), 435 ( 12 ), 421 ( 20 ), 331 ( 10 ), 253 ( 10 ), 237 ( 31 ), 187 ( 17 ), 132 ( 10 ), 105 ( 65 ), 91 ( 100 ), 79 ( 8 ), 65 ( 4 ) | 2 |
fig1 comprises a block diagram very similar to fig1 of aforecited u . s . pat . no . 3 , 920 , 936 but modified to show how apparatus in accordance with the present invention is incorporated to enable a telephone unit user to selectively inhibit the restriction function . the newly incorporated elements in fig1 herein comprise tone generator 200 , tone detector 210 , and tone flip flop 220 . by way of review , that portion of fig1 herein which is common to fig1 of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 920 , 936 will be discussed initially followed by an explanation of the structure and function of the apparatus introduced in accordance with the present invention . the exemplary embodiment of fig1 assumes the use of a dial - type phone 10 and further assumes that any telephone exchange to be reached is represented by the first three dialed digits . therein , numerals 11 and 12 designate the telephone lines which are conventionally connected directly to the phone . in the present invention , one of the lines , e . g . line 12 , is connected to the phone 10 through a movable contact 15 and a stationary contact 20 . as shown , the relay is assumed to be energized or simply on thereby providing electrical continuity between line 12 and the phone 10 . when the relay is de - energized , i . e ., switches to off , the contact between contacts 15 and 16 is broken and contact 20 is connected to the phone 10 through movable contact 15 , as shown by the dashed line 22 . to prevent arcing between contacts 15 and 16 , due to contact make or break , an arc supressor 24 is connected across them . in the contacts &# 39 ; positions , as shown , the lines 11 and 12 are connected to the phone 10 as if the system of the invention were not present . the system includes an input unit 25 which is connected across the lines 11 and 12 by lines 26 and 27 . unit 25 , whose operation is described in detail in said u . s . pat . no . 3 , 920 , 936 , has at least three output lines 28 - 30 . as the receiver of phone 10 is picked up and each of the digits of the desired phone is dialed , unit 25 produces a sequence of pulses on line 28 , corresponding to the sequence of pulses produced on lines 11 and 12 . the number of pulses in each sequence is equal to the dialed digit except that for the dialed digit 0 , 10 pulses are provided . at the end of each dialed digit , and before a subsequent digit is dialed , unit 25 produces a shift pulse on line 30 . if , however , before dialing the first three digits , or after the end of the telephone conversation , the receiver is returned to the phone hooks or cradle , or the latter is depressed for redialing , a reset pulse is produced by unit 25 on line 29 . for a telephone system in which an exchange is reachable by the first three digits , the system of the present invention includes a 4 - bit ( stage ) shift register 32 , three counters 33 - 35 , and three input and gates 38 - 40 , respectively associated with counters 33 - 35 . register 32 and the counters are reset by each reset pulse on line 29 . when reset , the register &# 39 ; s first bit or stage is set to a high state and each of the other three bits to a low state . when the first shift pulse is applied thereto , the high state is shifted to the next bit and the first bit is driven to its low state . each succeeding shift pulse shifts the high state to a succeeding bit while returning the preceding bit to the low state . at any time , only one bit is at a high state and the other three at the low state . the register has four output lines 42 - 45 , respectively associated with the first through fourth bits of the register . thus , at any time , only the output line , which is connected to the bit at the high state , is at a high level or simply high , while the other three output lines are at low level or simply low . output lines 42 - 44 are shown respectively connected to gates 38 - 40 while output line 45 is connected through an or gate 47 , whose function can be ignored for the present description , to a timer 50 . the output of the latter is shown connected as one input to an and gate 52 . the other input of gate 52 is connected to the output of a read only memory ( rom ) 55 which is connected to counters 33 - 35 . the function of the rom 55 is to provide a low output to gate 52 whenever the three numbers in counters 33 - 35 , representing a three - number combination , is one which corresponds to the number of an exchange to which the user is to have access . on the other hand , if the three - number combination in the counters is one which corresponds to the number of an exchange to which the user is not to have access , the rom output to gate 52 is high . it should be appreciated that various circuits may be used in implementing the rom 50 . for example , a rom with magnetic cores may be used . however , to reduce system cost a rom consisting of a monolithic diode matrix may be employed . in such a rom , the three - number combination in the counters represents an address of a location in the memory . the rom is designed so that only when any one of selected locations therein representing different exchanges to which access is permitted is addressed by the three - number combination in the counters , a low output is produced . otherwise , the rom output is high . for explanatory purposes and to define the scope of the invention , each location which when addressable by the three - number ( or multinumber ) combination from the counters produces a low output is assumed to store a three - number combination designating an accessible exchange . thus , the rom required for the present invention is one which produces an output of a first level , e . g ., low when a multinumber combination supplied thereto matches any multinumber combination in the rom . otherwise , the rom output is of a second level , e . g ., high . the output of gate 52 is shown connected to a switch 57 which is in turn connected to one end of coil 19 , the other end of which is connected to a source of voltage designated + v . with switch 57 in the position as shown , the phone 10 is controlled by the system . as long as gate 52 is not enabled , its output is sufficiently low ( with respect to + v ) thereby producing a sufficient voltage drop across the coil 19 to hold the relay on , thereby connecting the phone 10 across lines 11 and 12 . on the other hand , when the first three dialed digits represent an exchange to which the user of phone 10 is not to have access , the output of gate 52 goes high , as will be described hereinafter , thereby de - energizing relay 18 . as a result , the connection between line 12 and the phone 10 is broken . the system may be completely bypassed by switching switch 57 to the position represented by line 57a . when in this position , switch 57 connects one end of the coil 19 to ground thereby maintaining the relay on so that the phone 10 remains connected to line 12 through contacts 15 and 16 regardless of the dialed exchanges . briefly , gate 52 provides a high output only when the output of timer 50 is high and the output of rom 55 is high . the former is high for a fixed time period , e . g ., 2 seconds , after being enabled by a high level on line 45 . as previously stated , the output of rom 55 is high as long as the three numbers stored in counters 33 - 35 , representing a three - number combination , does not match any of a plurality of three - number combinations in the rom . these three - number combinations represent exchanges to which the user is permitted to have access . the numbers in counters 33 - 35 respectively represent the first , second and third digits of the three - digit number . if however , the three numbers in the three counters comprise a combination in the rom , the latter &# 39 ; s output is low and therefore gate 52 remains disabled and its output remains low , regardless of the timer &# 39 ; s output level . it should thus be appreciated that the relay is disabled , thereby disrupting the connection between phone 10 and the incoming lines 11 and 12 , only during the time period defined by timer 50 and only if during said timer period the output of rom 55 is high . thus , it is the content of rom 55 which controls which exchanges are accessible by phone 10 . if desired , rom 55 may store combinations representing the non - available exchanges . however , since for practical purposes the number of non - available exchanges will be greater than those to which access is to be permitted , the latter rather than the former are stored in rom 55 . the foregoing description will now be described in connection with a specific example . let it be assumed that a user raises the receiver of phone 10 and starts dialing a phone number whose first three digits are 938 . prior to dialing , the relay 18 is on , as shown in fig1 and shift register 32 is reset so that its first bit is high and counters 33 - 35 are all reset so that each stores a 0 . thus , the three number combination from the counters is 000 . the rom does not include such a number and therefore , its output is high . however , the output of gate 52 is low , since timer 50 was not yet activated and therefore its output is low , thereby holding relay 18 on . as the first digit 9 is dialed , due to the 9 pulses appearing on lines 11 and 12 , input unit 25 produces a sequence of 9 pulses on line 28 . since the first bit of register 32 is high , line 42 is high and only gate 38 is enabled . thus , the 9 pulses pass through gate 38 and are stored in counter 33 , which now stores the number 9 . after dialing the 9 and before dialing the 3 , unit 25 provides a shift pulse on line 30 . thus , the register 32 shifts the high state from the first bit to the second bit . consequently , only output line 43 is high , enabling gate 39 while gate 38 is disabled when the first bit is shifted back to low . when the digit 3 is dialed , 3 pulses are produced on line 28 . since gate 39 is enabled , they are clocked into counter 34 . thus , the latter stores the number 3 . before dialing the 8 , another shift pulse is produced by unit 25 on line 30 . thus , the third bit of register 32 goes high enabling gate 40 . unit 25 now produces a sequence of 8 pulses which are clocked into counter 35 through enabled gate 40 . thus , the counters 38 - 40 respectively store the numbers 9 , 3 , and 8 representing the three - number combination 938 . the combination in counters 33 -- 35 is continually compared with the three - number combinations in the rom 55 . after the 8 digit is dialed and before the next digit is dialed , another shift pulse is provided by unit 25 . thus , the fourth bit of register 32 goes high . consequently , output line 45 goes high and through or gate 47 enables the timer 50 . the latter produces a high output for a selected period , e . g ., 2 seconds . during these 2 seconds , if the rom 55 stores a combination 938 , its output remains low and therefore even though the timer output is high , gate 52 remains disabled , producing a low output which holds the relay on , thereby enabling the completion of the call . if , however , rom 55 does not store the combination 938 , its output is high . therefore , during the 2 seconds that the timer &# 39 ; s output is high , gate 52 is turned on to produce a high output . consequently , relay 18 is turned off , breaking the connection between phone 10 and line 12 . thus , the call cannot be completed . the contents of the three counters can be thought of as a three - number combination or a three - digit number . in each counter the stored number is the same as a dialed digit , except that for the dialed digit 0 , the counter stores the number 10 . the 2 - second period during which the line connection is broken is sufficient for the first three dialed digits to be ignored by the telephone equipment . then , after the 2 seconds , the output of timer 50 is low , thereby disabling gate 52 . thus , the relay is turned on again , line connection is re - established , and the original dial tone is re - established . when the phone is disconnected , i . e ., relay 18 is off , the unit 25 produces a reset pulse on line 29 which resets the register 32 and the counters 33 - 35 to the original state . thus , if the same number starting with 938 is redialed , the operation merely repeats itself . although the phone disconnect takes place prior to the end of the 2 seconds and clears the counters , since the cleared or reset counters store the combination 000 which is not present in the rom , it produces a high output and therefore the disconnect lasts for the full 2 seconds defined by the timer &# 39 ; s output . if desired , the system may include a tone generator or tape player designated by block 60 and hereinafter referred to as unit 60 . it is shown activated by the timer output and its output is connected to contact 20 . thus , when the relay is off and the timer output activates unit 60 , the latter sends either a selected tone or message to the user to inform him that the call cannot be made on phone 10 . from the foregoing , it should thus be appreciated that the system is capable of preventing any call from being completed from phone 10 , based on the first three digits of the call number . with this system , calls are restricted only to those numbers whose first three digits are represented by three - number combinations in rom 55 . clearly , the rom may include any desired set of three - number combinations and may be tailored for the user &# 39 ; s particular needs . the rom may be made to include all exchanges in the particular area code , in which the phone is located , while excluding all other area codes , as well as exclude certain exchanges within the particular area code while including selected area codes . in this embodiment with three counters , once a remote area code is included in the rom , all exchanges within that area code are accessible . although all phones in the united states are presently reachable by direct dialing , quite often operator assistance is employed by dialing the digit 0 . the system of the present invention may include circuitry to abort all operator calls . such operator - call abort circuitry is represented in fig1 by a 10 - digit decoder 65 and an and gate 66 . the former is connected to the output of counter 33 and its output is connected to one input of gate 66 , whose other input is connected to line 43 of register 32 . the output of gate 66 is connected to or gate 47 . in operation , when the first dialed digit is a 0 , 10 pulses are produced by unit 25 which are stored in counter 33 as a number 10 . the other two counters 34 and 35 store 0 &# 39 ; s . the rom does not include the combination 10 - 0 - 0 . thus , its output is high . when counter 33 stores a 10 , decoder 65 provides a high output to gate 66 . after dialing the first digit , register 32 is shifted so that its second bit is high . thus , line 43 is high and since the output of decoder 65 is high , the gate 66 output is high , activating timer 50 through gate 47 . as a result , both inputs to gate 52 are high and consequently , the output of the latter is high , thereby switching the relay to off . thus , all operator calls are aborted , after dialing only the digit 0 . it should be appreciated that the system of the present invention is not required for each phone instrument but rather for each pair of lines 11 and 12 , i . e ., for each number to which one or more phones may be connected directly or through a company telephone exchange unit . thus , phone 10 can be viewed as a group of phones , any one of which is connectable to lines 11 and 12 . the portion of fig1 described thus far is common to the aforementioned u . s . pat . no . 3 , 920 , 936 . the present invention is directed to improved means for enabling the user to selectively defeat or bypass the restriction function to enable him to complete a call to an otherwise unpermitted telephone exchange . more particularly , in accordance with the present invention , a tone generator 200 is provided and made available to each user who is authorized to defeat or bypass the restriction system . the tone generator 200 is preferably a portable unit having a push - button 202 to enable a user to produce a tone or sound wave having certain precise and predetermined characteristics . typically , the sound produced by the tone generator 200 would comprise a single tone of precise frequency . in use , the user will initially lift the handset of the telephone unit 10 from the cradle and then activate the tone generator to produce a tone proximate to the telephone unit mouthpiece 204 . since the tone is generated prior to the user dialing any digits , the telephone unit 10 is coupled to the telephone lines 11 and 12 through the normally closed switch contact 15 . a tone detector 210 is connected to the telephone lines 11 and 12 and is tuned to respond to the characteristics of the signal appearing in lines 11 and 12 representative of the tone produced by the tone generator 200 . the output of tone detector 210 is connected to the set input terminal of tone flip - flop 220 . thus , the tone detector 210 will set the flip - flop 220 in response to the tone generator 200 being activated . by setting the tone flip - flop 220 , its true output terminal will be forced to a high logic level while its false output terminal will be forced to a low logic level . as depicted in fig1 the false output terminal of flip - flop 220 is connected as an input to and gate 52 . thus , with tone flip - flop 220 in its set state , and gate 52 is disabled , thereby preventing the deenergization of relay coil 19 . in other words , when the tone flip - flop 220 is in its set state , the relay coil 19 cannot be deenergized to open the normally closed switch contacts 15 and 16 . therefore , the setting of the tone flip - flop 220 prevents the restriction system from operating to disrupt the connection between the telephone unit 10 and the telephone lines 11 and 12 . it should be recognized that although it has been assumed that switch contacts 15 and 16 are closed when relay coil 19 is energized , the system can be oppositely wired to require coil 19 to be energized to open contacts 15 and 16 . in this manner , a power failure will not disrupt telephone service . the reset input terminal of tone flip - flop 220 is connected to the reset line 29 of unit 25 . as has already been described herein , unit 25 produces a reset pulse on line 29 in response to the user returning the telephone unit handset to its cradle . thus the tone flip - flop 220 will normally be in a reset state , except when it is intentionally set by a user by activating a tone generator 200 prior to disruption of the connection between the telephone unit 10 and the telephone lines 11 and 12 . although it has herein been assumed that the tone generator 200 provides a single frequency tone , it will readily be recognized by those skilled in the art that the tone generator 200 can be more complex and can provide multiple tones or a more complex waveform , if necessary , to facilitate discrimination by the tone detector 210 . moreover , although the improvement herein has been described specifically in connection with an embodiment usable with a dial - type telephone unit , it will be readily appreciated that the improvement in accordance with the present invention is readily adapted for use with touch - tone telephone unit installations and various other types of telephone systems , as for example are disclosed in said aforecited u . s . pat . no . 3 , 920 , 936 . accordingly , although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated herein , it should be recognized that modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art , and consequently it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents . | 7 |
reference will now be made in detail to some possible embodiments of the invention , examples of which are outlined in this description . according to one embodiment , a fire extinguishing agent configured to extinguish a class d fire and one or more other classes of fires such as , for example , a class a fire and / or a class b fire , may include a foam and one or more inert gases combined with the foam . for example , the foam may include a foam marketed by tyco international ltd . as “ ansul target - 7 ®” foam . the use of other foam agents known to those having skill in the art is contemplated . some embodiments may include foam agents that do not include foams based on fluorocarbon chemistry , such as , for example , aaaf - type foams . the one or more inert gases may include , for example , helium , neon , argon , krypton , xenon , and / or radon . for example , the fire extinguishing agent may include a conventional fire fighting foam gasified with , for example , helium and / or argon , although neon , krypton , and / or xenon may be included in the fire extinguishing agent . the foam and the one or more inert gases may be combined via any method known to those having skill in the art , such as , for example , via combining in a nozzle of a fire extinguisher agent delivery apparatus and / or combining in a fire extinguisher agent mixing conduit . the fire extinguishing agent may be applied to a fire via any methods and / or devices known to those having skill in the art . according to some embodiments , the foam and the one or more inert gases may be combined in a ratio corresponding to about 60 gallons of foam - generating solution per 400 cubic feet of inert gas . other ratios are contemplated . most classes of fires , including class d fires , require fuel , an oxidizer , and heat in order to sustain combustion . unlike most other classes of fires , however , class d fires can sustain combustion by liberating necessary oxidizers from otherwise stable compounds , such as , for example , co 2 and / or halon ®. furthermore , unlike many common classes of fires , metal and / or metal compound fires may burn in oxidizers other than oxygen , such as , for example , chlorine , fluorine , and / or nitrogen . class d fires , however , cannot burn in an inert atmosphere . the family of “ true ” inert or noble gases includes helium , neon , argon , krypton , xenon , and radon . many of the inert gases may be currently thought to be too rare to be economically viable for use in a fire extinguishing agent . further , radon is radioactive . as a result , helium and argon are two inert gases that currently appear to be desirable for use in a fire extinguishing agent according to some embodiments . attempting to extinguish fires including burning metal ( s ) and / or metal compound ( s ) ( e . g ., class d fires ) using one or more inert gases alone , however , may be very difficult . for example , attempting to use an inert gas alone to deprive such a fire of its oxidizer may not be effective because maintaining coverage may be difficult since helium is lighter than the surrounding atmosphere and will quickly float off , and argon is heavier than the surrounding air and will tend settle away from the area of deployment . furthermore , the use of conventional foams to extinguish burning metal ( s ) and / or metal compound ( s ) has proven substantially ineffective , for example , because the water in the foam reacts with the metals to liberate hydrogen and because of the extreme heat of class d fires , the fire &# 39 ; s reaction will continue and use the air and / or nitrogen in the foam as an oxidizer , and the fire will continue to burn . the combination of foam and inert gas may be effective because when water in the foam reacts with the metal , a hydroxide radical ( not oxygen or any other oxidizer ) is liberated during the reaction . hydrogen is also liberated , but in the absence of an oxidizer ( no air or nitrogen is used to generate the foam ), the fire is starved out . the foam may serve to trap the inert gas and keep it positioned where it most effectively acts to extinguish the fire . other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein . it is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only , with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims . | 0 |
the following detailed description is given by way of example and is not intended to limit the present invention solely to any example or embodiment described therein . the description will be best appreciated in conjunction with the accompanying drawings . the system of the present invention includes an automated facility that enables dealers , at their option , to manually or automatically direct customer orders to an inter - dealer exchange or to fill the order and not pass it on to the exchange . the automated facility would be comprised of a central computer system , having some form of memory for storing information entered by customers and dealers , in communication with one or more dealers and customers , who interact with the computer and each other through some form of user interface , such a computer networked to the central computer , through a networked terminal , or even handheld and wireless devices in communication with the central computer . for purposes of the present invention , the central computer is described as such , but need not actually be centrally located . rather , the central computer could be integrated into the dealer &# 39 ; s computer system , managed as an independent computer system , or even as a third party system . the central computer also need not be relied upon to perform each and every function of the methods described herein . for example , comparison results could be generated by the central computer , or by the customer &# 39 ; s computer , or by the dealer &# 39 ; s computer . likewise , the customer interface need not be limited to a physical machine located at the customer &# 39 ; s location , but rather could just be a secondary screen or portion of a screen used by the dealer or another party that is in communication with the customer and capable of entering orders on the customer &# 39 ; s behalf . with reference to fig2 , customers only have access to view or trade in the exchange if one or more dealers have registered the customer 201 and established a trading profile 202 . the trading profile 202 can define the customer name , different locations , different traders names , the type of security ( s ), maximum and minimum trade sizes , and auto trading rules or price parameters . if more than one dealer has registered a customer with the exchange , the customer or a primary dealer can select an order of priority between the dealers 203 and have this entered into the system . once a customer places a bid or offer 204 , the dealer is given a first look at the bid / offer and a determination is made by the dealer whether it will fill the bid / order or pass the bid / order to the exchange 205 . if the dealer decides to fill the bid / order , it then deals with the customer directly 206 . if the dealer decides not to take any capital risk on the bid / order and directs it to the exchange 205 , then the dealer will act solely as a clearing dealer 210 . in other words , when the customer completes a trade with the exchange , the exchange will still indicate that the trade was executed through the dealer , as though the dealer had bought or sold the security itself 211 . the dealer , and not the exchange , will be responsible for settlement with the customer . assuming the dealer can settle the transaction with the customer , then the dealer will be able to settle the transaction with the marketplace , resulting in a zero risk position . if a dealer has established auto trading rules 207 for a particular customer , that customer &# 39 ; s bid / order might be settled with the selected dealer 208 or placed directly in the system without first giving the dealer an opportunity to trade 209 or decide . auto trading could be established in numerous different scenarios and in numerous different ways , the most likely of which would be where the size or price of the customer &# 39 ; s bid / order is above or below a threshold level . orders that are too small or too large might not be appropriate for either the dealer or the market to efficiently handle , while prices that are too high or too low may not be desirable to the dealer for other reasons . auto trading could occur before the dealer has the first look , or afterwards , as shown in fig2 . although the customer &# 39 ; s order would also typically first be compared to the current market within the exchange before auto trading rules could be applied , that is not always the case . for example , a dealer could designate a particular customer account to always receive first look status , irrespective of the market , such that a customer order will not automatically start a trade in the inter - dealer exchange . with the first look designation activated , all orders that join or establish a best bid or offer level in the market will be put into a fill state , a predetermine period of 10 seconds ( or smaller or larger ) where a dealer can decide if he wants to fill the order or send it to the exchange . this enables the dealer to have the option of filling a partial or total amount of the order before it is sent to the inter - dealer exchange . with auto trading , all orders that are entered at levels that do not join or establish a bid or offer level will be immediately sent to the exchange 209 and the dealer will not be granted the option to fill the customer &# 39 ; s order . the dealer will also have the ability to run rule - sets against client orders in their names . the rule - sets will filter and organize orders entered by customers based upon pre - established criteria , such as type of financial instrument , size , client institution , time of day , etc . the filters could be modifiable in real - time . rules could be applied on an all - or - nothing basis or there could be partial customer fills with the balance being sent to the inter - dealer exchange for execution . the multi - dealer exchange provides a front - end graphical user interface for dealers to control the rule - set parameters . as previously noted , the first look trading system provides a graphical user interface to a customer with a front - end application to access real time pricing in the central marketplace and to place limit orders ( specified amount and price ). when a customer places or enters a limit order , it is passed by the system to the designated dealer . once the dealer receives the order ( s ), it can be matched automatically by the dealer or passed on to the marketplace . through the dealer &# 39 ; s display terminal , the dealer can either ( 1 ) set up rules to automatically execute all or part of orders that fall within its first look parameters , or ( 2 ) have all or part of orders that meet certain first look parameters “ pop up ” with a timer for the dealer to manually select an action . customer orders will typically be entered as limit orders for a specified par ( dollar ) amount . for example , although the present invention is applicable to any type of financial instrument , if utilized in the context of fixed income securities , and order might be for $ 100 mm of a particular security at a price of x . when the dealer has set up the automatic execution of orders , the dealer is provided with an administrative tool that allows him / her to enter parameters for processing a customer order ( including minimum order size , maximum order size , price spread to the market price and conditions to allow the dealer to execute within the system timer settings ). orders entered by the customer that match the parameters will not be passed to the marketplace and the existence of the transaction will only be known by the dealer and the customer . alternatively , depending on the circumstances , the dealer could choose to match part of the order and send the rest to the exchange . for example , assume the market for a particular security is bid amount x for price y and offer for amount a for price b and a customer wished to buy amount c at price d . if amount c is greater than or equal to the market place offer amount a , and the amount c is greater than or equal to the parameters set by the dealer for minimum / maximum order , all or part of the order will be auto executed by the dealer . if the amount c is less than the offer amount a , or if the amount c falls outside the range set by the dealer , the order will appear on the dealers computer interface in a pop up asking the dealer if he wishes to execute the order or pass it to the marketplace . the dealer will have a specified time ( i . e ., ten seconds ) to respond otherwise the order will be passed to the marketplace . the predetermined time for the dealer to respond could be based on the price level that the customer enters or some other parameter . any order that satisfies a trading level will not create a transaction in the inter - dealer system , but will be directly matched between the customer and the clearing dealer . this structure will allow the dealer to assume the risk and act as counter - party to selected trades . the dealer will have the ability to set limits for both transactions , where the dealer opts to fill its customer &# 39 ; s order , and its overall risk , when the dealer acts as a clearing dealer for each customer . for both types of trades , the dealer must first have the customer signed on with a clearing agreement . the dealer must then specify which customers they want for the first look function . during registration , the administrator can establish the customer trading parameters determined by the clearing dealer . these parameters could include , types of securities , size , time , price ranges , and approved traders or desks . the parameters may be periodically changed by the dealer . in a preferred embodiment , in order to transact with the first look trading system at a tradable level , the customer must first lock on an existing bid or offer in the inter - dealer exchange and then via the multi - dealer exchange enter either a buy or sell order for a specified size . the locked on bid or offer must remain on the screen for a specified time , for example , two ( 2 ) seconds after the execution is entered . if this requirement is met and the dealer &# 39 ; s system is set for all or none , then the dealer is responsible for taking the counter - party risk entered for the total size , regardless of the size of the locked on bid or offer . if the locked on bid or offer cancels or drops back within the two ( 2 ) second hold time , the dealer will not be responsible to print the level and the order will be entered into the system in an order state as a resting bid or offer for ten ( 10 ) seconds before being sent to the exchange . the customer will not have the ability to cancel the order during the hold time . additionally , all passive or resting orders that were the result of off market orders , will be immediately sent to the exchange , but will still be subject to the two ( 2 ) second hold time . the customer will then have the ability to cancel any order after the two ( 2 ) seconds are satisfied . all orders that are matched will be immediately filled and there will be no time for cancellation by the customer . any crossed market order will be immediately filled for the specified size . with resting bids and offers , the dealer will have the ability to release the risk at any time and send the order directly to the inter - dealer exchange . if the dealer decides to not release the risk , the orders will be left in the clearing state for ten ( 10 ) seconds or until the market is either bid / offered or prints at the level . once these requirements are met , the trade will print and the order will be deleted from the book . upon execution , the dealer will receive a pop up notification detailing the trade with security , size , price , time and counter - party information . fig3 illustrates the steps to be followed in placing a customer order in line with the auto trading rules set up for customer orders . the process begins when a customer enters a bid or offer 301 into a multi - dealer exchange and the order is compared to the current market for the specified financial instrument within the exchange . customer orders are thereafter directed as follows : case 1 — dealer allows pass through 304 and customer orders are directed to the exchange and matched or entered as a resting bid or offer 305 . if the dealer chooses to provide the customer with direct access to the inter - dealer exchange , the dealer will act in a clearing capacity and not have the ability to take the opposing position to the customer order entered . each order will be directly matched or stored in the exchange . case 2 — customer order matches an existing bid , offer or workup level 306 in the market place where there are contra buyers or sellers at the level of the inter - dealer &# 39 ; s screen ( i . e ., order matches a “ tradable level ” within inter - dealer exchange ). if the order meets the dealer &# 39 ; s parameters , the dealer will immediately fill the order and the order never enters the system 307 . the marketplace does not receive a flash or other transparency that indicates the order has traded . under such circumstances , the first look system is completely automated , with dealer managed rule - sets being completely exercised within the multi - dealer system , to minimize the additional latencies introduced by an additional layer of order matching in the inter - dealer exchange . case 3 — customer order partially matches an existing bid , offer or workup level 308 in the market place , where there are contra buyers or sellers at the same level of the inter - dealer screen . due to the filter setting for the specific customer , a partial order is immediately filled by the dealer 310 , but the balance will then carry into the inter - dealer exchange and either match with existing liquidity or be entered as a stored bid or offer . case 4 — customer order does not match a tradable level within the inter - dealer exchange , but it is better than or equal to the best bid or offer in the market 311 . in such a case , the order is entered into a separate order book for ten ( 10 ) seconds 312 awaiting a fill by the clearing dealer . if there is no fill , the order is sent to the exchange . the dealer would hold the order in an internal matching book for ten ( 10 ) seconds 312 . if the order price level should become tradable during this period , i . e ., for at least 1 million of a fixed security within the trading system , then the dealer must immediately fill the client order at that price level . the dealer would also have the option of executing the orders in this state either through a manual or automated process . case 5 — customer order does not match a tradable level within the inter - dealer exchange , and it is not better or equal to the best bid or offer in the market , order is sent to the exchange 313 . all customer limit orders that do not better or equal the best bid or offer , regardless of whether they are set for first look by the dealer , will immediately be sent to the exchange 314 and the dealer will not have the ability to act as a contra party and take on the risk of the trade . all trades are entered into the first look system by customers and dealers through an application programming interface ( api ). the customer sees the trades in their trading blotter with the same information , but their price incorporates any commission for the transaction . dealers could also charge their customers for use of the system . the system would likely also collect a processing fee . the following examples serve to further illustrate the invention . however , those skilled in the art of the foregoing invention will recognize that numerous alternatives , modifications , and variations that may be implemented . customer a wishes to buy 5 million of financial instrument x at $ 100 10 / 32 . customer a &# 39 ; s dealer , dealer k , determines that he cannot fill customer a &# 39 ; s order . dealer k had previously registered customer a with an inter - dealer exchange . dealer k directs customer a to the inter - dealer exchange where customer a enters her bid to purchase financial instrument x . the inter - dealer exchange has an offer for financial instrument x at a price of $ 100 10 / 32 and is able to match this offer with customer a &# 39 ; s order . the transaction is cleared through dealer k . the inter - dealer market for financial instrument x is offer amount of 5 million at a price of $ 100 10 / 32 /$ 100 11 / 32 . customer a enters into the system a buy order for 10 million of financial instrument x at a price of $ 100 11 / 32 . the system matches half of the customer order with the 5 million offer that is available at the inter - dealer market . customer a &# 39 ; s bid for 5 million of financial instrument x is cleared through customer a &# 39 ; s selected dealer . financial instrument x has a pre - existing bid and offer of $ 100 10 / 32 and $ 100 11 / 32 . the quantity of both of these orders is 5 million . customer a enters an aggressive buy order with storable characteristics at $ 100 10 / 32 for 5 million . this order does not meet a minimum quantity requirement to be first shown to the selected dealer and immediately enters the exchange . additionally , as this incoming order does not match the current offer order in the market ($ 100 11 / 32 ), and has storable characteristics , the order is placed in the market at $ 100 10 / 32 behind the pre - existing bid order . the resulting orderbook for financial instrument x has 2 bids at $ 100 10 / 32 totaling 10 million and one offer at $ 100 11 / 32 for 5 million . another participant in the market hits ( sells to ) the $ 100 10 / 32 bid orders for a quantity of 10 million and both the pre - existing bidder and customer a are filled on their orders for 5 million each . in some instances , a dealer will utilize the option to conduct a transaction directly with his customer using the first look functionality and the customer order will not be entered into the inter - dealer market . an illustration of this scenario is as follows : a customer enters a buy order for 5 m of a financial instrument at $ 100 11 / 32 . the inter - dealer market offers the financial instrument at the same quantity and the same price as the customer order . the dealer also is able to fill the customer order at the same price and quantity that the customer has requested . in this scenario , the dealer will opt to fill the order himself and the customer will not enter the inter - dealer exchange . the inter - dealer exchange offers 5 million of financial instrument at $ 100 10 / 32 /$ 100 11 / 32 . customer b &# 39 ; s dealer , dealer k , has established that she can fill a bid of financial instrument x at $ 100 11 / 32 for a maximum size of 25 million . customer b enters an order to buy 10 million of financial instrument x at $ 100 11 / 32 . customer b &# 39 ; s order is filled by dealer k directly and customer b never enters the inter - dealer exchange . customer a enters a buy for 30 million of financial instrument x at $ 100 11 / 32 into the system . dealer k has set up in the parameters a 25 million maximum purchase size for financial instrument x . the inter - dealer exchange can take $ 100 10 / 32 or $ 100 11 / 32 for a bid of $ 5 million of financial instrument x . customer a will buy 25 million of financial instrument x from the dealer directly . customer a will also buy 5 million of financial instrument x at $ 100 11 / 32 with dealer k clearing the transaction . the inter - dealer exchange has an offer for 5 million of financial instrument x at a price of $ 100 10 / 32 /$ 100 11 / 32 . customer b enters into the system a bid of $ 100 10 / 32 for 5 million of financial instrument x . customer b &# 39 ; s bid enters into the fill state , a ten second period during which time the dealer decides if he wants to fill the order or send it to the inter - dealer exchange . within the ten second time frame , the inter - dealer market price for financial instrument x changes to $ 100 10 / 32 /$ 100 10 / 32 . before the ten second fill state elapses , the dealer opts to fill the order . customer b buys 5 million of financial instrument x at $ 100 10 / 32 directly from the dealer . the inter - dealer exchange has an offer for 5 million of financial instrument x at a price of $ 100 10 / 32 /$ 100 11 / 32 . customer a enters a bid for 5 million of financial instrument x at $ 100 10 / 32 . customer a &# 39 ; s bid is entered into a fill state for ten seconds . the ten seconds elapse without customer a &# 39 ; s dealer filling the order . the order is therefore sent to the inter - dealer exchange . a dealer on the inter - dealer exchange fills customer a &# 39 ; s bid for 5 million of financial instrument x at $ 100 10 / 32 . the transaction is cleared through customer a &# 39 ; s dealer . | 6 |
fig1 and 2 are brief functional block diagrams of a transmitter and a receiver , respectively , which form a high speed data telecommunication system . the figures show only parts concerning encoding / decoding multiplex / demultiplexing and framing control etc ., and are only small portions of functions which are carried out in a respective semiconductor chip . therefore in fig1 there are illustrated an encoder 10 and a framing and control circuit 12 , both of which are connected to a serializer 14 . the encoder 10 receives a parallel data signal and sends an encoded data signal to the seralizer 14 . at the same time , a parity check signal is sent to the framing and control circuit 12 . the framing and control circuit 12 includes a frame pattern generator which generates frame bits in a distinct frame pattern . the circuit obtains control signals and mixes them with the generated frame bits . the mixed frame bits and control signals are sent to the serializer 14 which converts to a serial bit stream . a multiplexer 20 multiplexes various serial bit streams and a driver circuit 22 transmits multiplexed serial bit streams to a receiver . the driver circuit 22 includes amplifiers for a normal output and loopback output , the latter of which is used for system testing of the communication paths . the transmitter also includes a remote loopback circuit 16 to handle a remote loopback input for testing . fig2 shows a receiver in brief diagrams . the serial bit streams , normal input and loopback input , from the transmitter are received and processed at a line driver 24 . after having been demultiplexed at a demultiplexer 28 , a bit stream is converted to a parallel signal at a deserializer 30 . the deserializer 30 separates frame and control bits and data bits , both of which are respectively sent to a framing and control circuit 34 and a decoder 36 . a loopback means 38 produces loopback control signals . an error signal is produced at a parity check circuit which compares signals from the framing and control circuit and the decoder . a remote loopback circuit 32 handles a remote loopback output for testing . fig3 and 4 show a flow chart and a circuit diagram , respectively , of the encoder illustrated in fig1 . it should be noted that the following description deals mainly with a specific embodiment of a line coding scheme of the present invention . the embodiment finds its applications chiefly in high speed telecommunication . however , similar or same line coding schemes can be used in various areas of data communications . the important criteria for a code to be used in high speed telecommunication are : in one of the preferred embodiments which will be described below , the code is based on 20 bit long blocks . the coding does not carry across block boundaries ( except to maintain dc balance ). the 20 bits are assigned in the following manner : the description below follows the flow chart of fig3 . the steps described are not always carried out exclusively at the boxes indicated but may involve other boxes numbered or unnumbered . step 1 ( at box 40 ): apply inversion to bits b3 , b6 , b7 , b9 , b11 , b12 , b13 , b14 , b16 . this step is included to distribute the energy in the data spectrum for a static pattern of all zero data or all ones data , and thus to reduce emi ( electro - magnetic interference ). there exists a input pattern that will produce a square wave line pattern , however it is unlikely to be maintained for any significant length of time . this step can be eliminated for a circumstance where emi is not a problem or other bits may be selected for inversion for other circumstances . step 2 ( at box 42 ): a transition bit set to zero ( t = 0 ) is added to the b16 side of the block . the block is checked to determine how many bits are zero . if nine or more are zero , then all bits are inverted . thus the transition bit is set if the inversion took place , and is zero otherwise . output : [ b0 &# 39 ;, b1 &# 39 ;, . . . , b16 &# 39 ;, t ] step 3 ( at box 44 ): the 18 bits are converted into non - return - to - zero - invert - on - ones ( nrzi ). this operation turns the ones obtained in the previous step into transitions . this operation begins at t and proceeds across to b0 &# 39 ;. the level preceding t is assumed to have been a zero ( therefore t = t &# 34 ;). output : [ b0 &# 34 ;, b1 &# 34 ;, . . . , b16 &# 34 ;, t &# 34 ;] step 4 ( at box 46 ): a dc balance bit set to zero ( d = 0 ) is added to the t bit side of the block . the block balance of the resulting 19 bit code is calculated ( number of ones - number of zeros ). output : [ b0 &# 34 ;, b1 &# 34 ;, . . . , b16 &# 34 ;, t &# 34 ;, d ] step 5 ( at box 48 ): the dc block balance is compared to the accumulated system balance . the bits are inverted if the signs are the same . the purpose of this operation is to reduce the absolute value of the accumulated balance . it should be noted that the balance of the block can never be zero , but the system balance can . when this is the case , blocks with a positive balance are inverted at box 50 , and those with a negative balance are not . after this operation , the d bit is set if an inversion occurred , and is zero otherwise . output [ b0 *, b1 *, . . . , b16 *, t *, d ] step 6 ( at boxes 52 ): the calculated dc balance is added to the accumulated system balance if no inversion occurred and subtracted if it did ( algebraic summation ). ( the system balance is set to zero on power up or reset .) step 7 ( at box 54 ): the frame bit is added to the d bit side of the block . the framing sequence is produced by a recursive 4 bit shift register , which will be shown below . this produces a sequence which is 15 bits long . three of these 15 bits are reserved to carry control information . these three bits are identified by decoding 3 unique states of the shift register . output [ b0 *, b1 *, . . . , b16 *, t *, d , f ] step 8 : the block is transmitted serially . the f bit is transmitted first and b0 last . it should be noted that the effect of the f bit on the dc balance is ignored . ______________________________________system dc balance = 6next frame bit = 1______________________________________input 17 data bits 00110000011111010step 1 00100011001000111 selective inversionstep 2 110111001101110001 inversionstep 3 101101000100101111step 4 1011010001001011110 add d = 0 ( block balance = 1 ) step 5 0100101110110100001 inversionstep 6 system balance = 5step 7 01001011101101000011 add f = 1 or 0______________________________________ fig4 is a block diagram of the encoder , and further includes the complexity which indicates the amount of hardware which may be required to accomplish these functions . the complexity shown is a set of estimated values and the actual figures may vary not only in numbers but breakdowns of stages . as in fig3 and 4 , the decoder functions are illustrated in fig5 and 6 as a flow chart and a circuit diagram respectively . the description below follows the flow chart of fig5 . the incoming serial stream is [ b0 *, b1 *, . . . , b16 *, t *, d , f ]. step 1 ( at box 60 ): align to frame and remove frame bit . output : [ b0 *, b1 *, . . . , b16 *, t *, d ] step 2 ( at box 62 ): invert if d = 1 and remove d bit . output : [ b0 &# 34 ;, b1 &# 34 ;, . . . , b16 &# 34 ;, t &# 34 ;] step 3 ( at box 64 ): reverse the nrzi . output : [ b0 &# 39 ;, b1 &# 39 ;, . . . , b16 &# 39 ;, t &# 39 ;] step 4 ( at box 66 ): invert if t = 1 and remove t bit . output : [ b0 , b1 , . . . , b16 ] ( 16 data bits and 1 cell frame pulse bit ) step 5 ( at box 68 ): apply selective inversion to bits ( b3 , b6 , b7 , b9 , b11 , b12 , b13 , b14 , b16 ) ______________________________________system dc balance = 6______________________________________incoming serial bits 01001011101101000011step 1 0100101110110100001step 2 101101000100101111step 3 110111001101110001step 4 00100011001000111step 5 00110000011111010______________________________________ fig6 includes a block diagram of the decoder and the complexity . the frame pattern is a self synchronizing pseudo - random pattern of length 15 . three of the bits will be overwritten to carry control codes . the frame pattern creation circuit is shown in fig7 . in the figure , a set of four shift registers e0 , e1 , e2 and e3 are used to generate the pseudo - random bit pattern for framing . there is also shown in the figure a control bit insertion circuit 72 which receives three control logic bits c1 , c2 , c3 for modifying bits in predetermined positions within the framing pattern . in this embodiment , the control logic bits are used for the control of certain control functions in the data communication , such as equipment testings ( loopback testings ) in addition to the normal mission . the pseudo - random pattern of 15 bits long generated by four shift registers is shown in fig8 . three control logic bit positions occur when e2 and e0 of the shift register are zero . the remaining two bits determine which control bit is indicated . if all the bits are zero , a one is shifted into e3 of the shift register to kickstart the framing sequence . thus : ______________________________________state e3 e2 e1 e0______________________________________c1 0 0 1 0 control logic bitc2 1 0 0 0 control logic bitc3 1 0 1 0 control logic bitkick start 0 0 0 0 disallowed state______________________________________ a control logic bit is asserted by inverting the frame bit that would normally occur in that position . control logic bits are not acted upon until framing is established . a strobe signal will be provided to indicate when the externally accessed control logic bits may be changed . it will occur when 1111 is held in the shift register . in the present embodiment , combinations of c1 and c2 are used for mission for transmitting data , and for testing the system by looping back test data through the transmitter or receiver . c3 is dedicated to link error monitoring . the four possible combinations of c1 and c2 are assigned in the following table ______________________________________c2 c1 control code______________________________________0 0 mission ( normal mode ) 0 1 mission ( normal mode ) 1 0 repeater loopback control code1 1 remote loopback control code______________________________________ in the mission mode the parallel data is encoded , the frame and control logic bits are added , and then converted to serial format using an internally generated clock . the loopback modes are used for system testing of the communication paths . in local loopback mode the serial data is sent through the local mate receiver to test its functionality . the remote loopback mode tests the serial transmission medium used in a bidirectional link . fig9 depicts a configuration of a bi - directional link using pairs of transmitters and receivers . a transmitter tx1 and receiver rx2 are a local set located at one location , and a transmitter tx2 and receiver rx1 are a remote set located at another location . serial data bits and other control or frame bits are sent in directions shown therein . a selection of control signals determines the mode of operations and selects the proper paths for such operations . fig1 on the other hand illustrates a configuration of a bi - directional link using pairs of transmitters and receivers in addition to repeaters . referring back to fig7 the control logic bit c3 in the framing sequence carries a parity bit that covers the data after encoding ( before decoding ). it does not cover the frame bit . as the parity is inserted only once in a frame it covers 19 * 15 bits . the control logic bit strobe signal is used to update the parity value . the frame bit in the code according to the present invention does not interact with the rest of the block . this allows greater freedom in choosing the frame pattern and also the line interface part of the system design remains completely independent of data structure . any frame length or pattern can be chosen to fit the needs of the communication system . also , in the case where the data has been previously encoded with framing , by choosing a frame length that is not a fraction of the previous frames , the possibility of mimicking the frame pattern by static data is virtually eliminated . this method has allowed the use of a circuit which generates efficient pseudo - random codes for framing patterns . the length of the frame pattern and the framing state machine combine to define the average reframe and false frame times and the probability of static data imitating the frame pattern . by using a two - state framing algorithm , the time to loss of frame due to random errors can be significantly increased . this algorithm requires two consecutive frame words to have errors before a frame is considered lost . it also requires two consecutive correct frame words before a frame is found . this has negligible effect on the reframe time . using this algorithm the reframe time ( based on average maintenance time for false frame ) is less than 1μ second for frame pattern length from 4 to 32 bits . at the shortest frame pattern the time is dominated by false framing , at the longest by the time taken to load the pattern . the maintenance time assuming a bit error rate of 10 - 14 is essentially forever . thus , within the range of 4 to 32 bits the frame length is not critical . while fig1 and 2 show encoding and decoding operations on parallel data streams at the block rate , it is of course possible to perform such operations on serial data streams at the transmission rate . therefore as shown in fig1 , a transmitter includes a parallel - to - serial converter which is located ahead of an encoder for the serial operations . a combiner combines the frame and encoded serial bits . a receiver can be arranged in a similar fashion for reverse operations . the properties of the coding scheme according to the present invention have been analyzed by a combination of analytical methods , exhaustive code combinations , and random data simulations . the last two methods involved computer analysis due to the number of possible data combinations in 17 bits of data ( 131 × 10 3 ). the resulting statistics on the run bound and the dc balance appear below . comparisons are made with the hp ( hewlet - packard ™) code and the fddi 4b5b code . these codes are the most similar to the code according to the present invention . the hp code is made up of four blocks of 4b5b and can be considered as 16b20b or modified 4b5b . the hp code is described in detail in the proceedings of the 1989 bipolar circuits and technology meeting on sep . 18 - 19 , 1989 , in an article entitled &# 34 ; a chipset for gigabit rate data communication &# 34 ; by walker et al , pp . 288 - 290 . of the 20 bits in a code block , there are 3 bits of overhead which provide improvement in the transmission characteristics , control codes and framing for the link . this corresponds to 15 % overhead . the hp code uses 4 bits out of a 20 bit block to provide these features ( 20 % overhead ). the 4b5b encoding uses 20 % overhead to provide the data transmission characteristics . additional bandwidth would be needed to provide framing and control codes . the code according to the present invention has a minimum of 9 transitions in each 20 bit block . this gives a minimum transition density of 44 % and a maximum run bound of 19 . this run bound can only occur across block boundaries . it occurs very infrequently and is separated by at least 18 transitions . the hp code has a minimum transition density of 5 % , as only one transition is guaranteed in the 20 bit block . the run is 20 bits . this occurs only within a block , but can occur in adjacent blocks as many times as the data remains unchanged . the 4b5b has a minimum transition density of 40 % and a run bound of 3 bits . the accumulated dc imbalance cannot exceed + 8 , - 9 bits using the code of the present invention ( measured at block boundaries and not including the frame bit ). withing blocks the imbalance can reach + 13 or - 14 bits . the hp code bounds the dc imbalance to ± 19 bits at block boundaries , and ± 28 within block . in 4b5b code , each code has a balance of ± 10 %. therefore , the code can have a dc drift of up to ± 10 % at all frequencies . in an ac coupled system , dc imbalance in the transmitted signal causes the mid height of the received pulses to be shifted from set sampling point . this causes eye closure . in a code ( like the code according to the present invention ) where both system dc imbalance and run length are bounded , the longer of the two bounds determines the maximum eye closure due to ac coupling . thus , in this code , it is determined by the rum bound of 20 bits ( included framing ): ## equ1 ## where : r = run bound ( 20 bits ) comparisons of circuit complexity are difficult to make meaningful unless the same amount of time is spent optimizing each implementation . the hp code can be reasonably estimated as requiring 2 / 3 the circuitry as the code of the present invention as the hp code only performs 2 / 3 the operations on the data . even though the present code requires more circuitry than the hp code , it is not excessive . a rough estimate in terms of equivalent 2 input gates is 1 . 6k gates for the encoder , and 1k gates for the decoder . these estimates include the framing circuitry , control circuitry and retiming flip - flops . for comparison purpose , the alignment buffer in the receiver is estimated at 2k gates . if one bit in this code is corrupted in transport , several bit errors may result after decoding . these errors never span across 16 bit words . thus , if the data is used on a word basis , the error multiplication effect is important only in the manner in which error detection is encoded into the data itself . it should be noted that parity on a word basis is particularly poor choise as it will miss the majority of single bit errors . the following table shows the result to the output data of each possible single bit error : ______________________________________bit in error result______________________________________f no errors in output data , will cause change in frame or control code state machineb flips all bits except b16b1 - b16 errors in bits bn and bn - 1b0 errors in bit b0______________________________________ | 7 |
the present invention is particularly useful for processing camera speed negative photographic films containing silver bromoiodide emulsions . generally , the iodide ion content of such silver halide emulsions is at least 0 . 5 mol % and less than about 40 mol % ( based on total silver ), preferably from about 0 . 05 to about 10 mol %, and more preferably , from about 0 . 5 to about 6 mol %. substantially the remainder of the silver halide is silver bromide . there can be very minor amounts of silver chloride ( less than 5 mol %, and preferably less than 2 mol %). the emulsions can be of any regular crystal morphology ( such as cubic , octahedral , cubooctahedral or tabular as are known in the art ) or mixtures thereof , or irregular morphology ( such as multiple twinning or rounded ). for tabular grains , preferably , the emulsions have as aspect ratio greater than about 5 and preferably greater than about 8 . the size of the tabular grain , expressed as an equivalent circular diameter , is determined by the required speed for the applied use , but is preferably from about 0 . 06 to about 10 mm , and more preferably , from about 0 . 1 to about 5 mm . preferably , the elements have at least two separate light sensitive emulsion layers , at least one being in each of two different color records . more preferably , there are three color records , each having at least one silver bromoiodide emulsion as described herein . such elements generally have a camera speed defined as an iso speed of at least 25 , preferably an iso speed of at least 50 and more preferably , an iso speed of at least 100 . the speed or sensitivity of color negative photographic materials is inversely related to the exposure required to enable the attainment of a specified density above fog after processing . photographic speed for color negative films with a gamma of about 0 . 65 has been specifically defined by the american national standards institute ( ansi ) as ansi standard number ph 2 . 27 - 1979 ( asa speed ) and relates to the exposure levels required to enable a density of 0 . 15 above fog in the green light sensitive and least sensitive recording unit of a multicolor negative film . this definition conforms to the international standards organization ( iso ) film speed rating . for the purpose of this invention , if the film gamma is substantially different from 0 . 65 , the iso speed is calculated by linearly amplifying or deamplifying the gamma vs . log e ( exposure ) curve to a value of 0 . 65 before determining the sensitivity . the layers of the photographic elements can have any useful binder material or vehicle known in the art , including various types of gelatins and other colloidal materials ( or mixtures thereof ). one useful binder material is acid processed gelatin that can be present in any layer in any suitable amount . the photographic elements processed in the practice of this invention are multilayer color elements having at least two color records . multilayer color elements typically contain dye image - forming units ( or color records ) sensitive to each of the three primary regions of the visible spectrum . each unit can be comprised of a single emulsion layer or multiple emulsion layers sensitive to a given region of the spectrum . the layers of the element can be arranged in any of the various orders known in the art . in an alternative format , the emulsions sensitive to each of the three primary regions of the spectrum can be disposed as a single segmented layer . the elements can also contain other conventional layers such as filter layers , interlayers , subbing layers , overcoats and other layers readily apparent to one skilled in the art . a magnetic backing can be used as well as conventional supports . preferably , transparent supports are employed in the films as are well known in the art . considerable details of element structure and components , and suitable methods of processing various types of elements are described in research disclosure , noted below . included within such teachings in the art is the use of various classes of cyan , yellow and magenta color couplers that can be used with the present invention . in particular , the present invention can be used to process photographic elements containing pyrazolotriazole magenta dye forming couplers . representative color negative films that can be processed using the present invention include , but are not limited to , kodak royal gold ® films , kodak gold ® films , kodak pro gold ™ films , kodak funtime ™ films , kodak ektapress plus ™ films , eastman exr ™ films , kodak advantixt ™ films , fuji super g plus films , fuji smartfilm ™ products , fujicolor nexia ™, konica vx films , konica srg3200 film , 3m scotch ® atg films , and agfa hdc and xrs films . further details of such elements , their emulsions and other components are well known in the art , including research disclosure , publication 36544 , pages 501 - 541 ( sep . 1994 ). research disclosure is a publication of kenneth mason publications ltd ., dudley house , 12 north street , emsworth , hampshire po10 7dq england ( also available from emsworth design inc ., 121 west 19th street , new york , n . y . 10011 ). this reference will be referred to hereinafter as “ research disclosure ”. the films described herein are color developed using a color developer solution having a ph of from about 9 to about 12 ( preferably from about 9 . 5 to about 11 . 0 ). the color developer solution ph can be adjusted with acid or base to the desired level , and the ph can be maintained using any suitable buffer having the appropriate acid dissociation constants , such as carbonates , phosphates , borates , tetraborates , phosphates , glycine salts , leucine salts , valine salts , proline salts , alanine salts , aminobutyric acid salts , lysine salts , guanine salts and hydroxybenzoates or any other buffer known in the art to be useful for this purpose . the color developer also includes one or more suitable color developing agents , in an amount of from about 0 . 01 to about 0 . 1 mol / l , and preferably at from about 0 . 017 to about 0 . 07 mol / l . any suitable color developing agent can be used , many of which are known in the art , including those described in research disclosure , noted above . particularly useful color developing agents include but are not limited to , aminophenols , p - phenylenediamines ( especially n , n - dialkyl - p - phenylenediamines ) and others that are well known in the art , such as ep - a 0 434 097a1 ( published jun . 26 , 1991 ) and ep - a 0 530 921a1 ( published mar . 10 , 1993 ). it may be useful for the color developing agents to have one or more water - solubilizing groups . bromide ion may be included in the color developer in an amount of up to about 0 . 02 mol / l , and preferably from about 0 . 01 to about 0 . 1 5 mol / l . bromide ion can be provided in any suitable salt such as sodium bromide , lithium bromide , potassium bromide , ammonium bromide , magnesium bromide , or calcium bromide . preferably , the color developer also includes a small amount of iodide ion from a suitable iodide salt , such as lithium iodide , potassium iodide , sodium iodide , calcium iodide , ammonium iodide or magnesium iodide . the amount of iodide ion is generally at least about 5 × 10 − 7 mol / l , and preferably from about 5 × 10 − 7 to about 2 × 10 − 5 mol / l . in addition to the color developing agent , bromide salts and buffers , the color developer can contain any of the other components commonly found in such solutions , including but not limited to , preservatives ( also known as antioxidants ), metal chelating agents ( also known as metal sequestering agents ), antifoggants , optical brighteners , wetting agents , stain reducing agents , surfactants , defoaming agents , auxiliary developers ( such as those commonly used in black - and - white development ), development accelerators , and water - soluble polymers ( such as a sulfonated polystyrene ). useful preservatives include , but are not limited to , hydroxylamines , hydroxylamine derivatives , hydroxamic acid , hydrazines , hydrazides , phenols , hydroxyketones , aminoketones , saccharides , sulfites , bisulfites , salicylic acids , alkanolamines , alpha - amino acids , polyethyleneimines , and polyhydroxy compounds . mixtures of preservatives can be used if desired . hydroxylamine or hydroxylamine derivatives are preferred . wherein l and l ′ are independently substituted or unsubstituted alkylene of 1 to 8 carbon atoms ( such as methylene , ethylene , n - propylene , isopropylene , n - butylene 1 , 1 - dimethylethylene , n - hexylene , n - octylene and t - butylene ), or substituted or unsubstituted alkylenephenylene of 1 to 3 carbon atoms in the alkylene portion ( such as benzylene , dimethylenephenylene , and isopropylenephenylene ). the alkylene and alkylenephenylene groups can also be substituted with up to 4 substituents that do not interfere with the stabilizing effect of the molecule , or the solubility of the compound in the color developer solution . such substituents must be compatible with the color developer components and must not negatively impact the photographic processing system . such substituents include but are not limited to , alkyl of 1 to 6 carbon atoms , fluoroalkyl groups of 1 to 6 carbon atoms , alkoxy of 1 to 6 carbon atoms , phenyl , hydroxy , halo , phenoxy , alkylthio of 1 to 6 carbon atoms , acyl groups , cyano , or amino . in the noted formula , r and r ′ are independently hydrogen , carboxy , sulfo , phosphono , carbonamido , sulfonamido , hydroxy , alkoxy ( 1 to 4 carbon atoms ) or other acid groups , provided that at least one of r and r ′ is not hydrogen . salts of the acid groups are considered equivalents in this invention . thus , the free acid forms of the hydroxylamines can be used , as well as the organic or inorganic salts of the acids , such as the alkali metal , pyridinium , tetraethylammonium , tetramethylammonium and ammonium salts . the sodium and potassium salts are the preferred salts . in addition , readily hydrolyzable ester equivalents can also be used , such as the methyl and ethyl esters of the acids . when l or l ′ is alkylenephenylene , the carboxy , sulfo or phosphono group is preferably at the para position of the phenylene , but can be at other positions if desired . more than one carboxy , sulfo or phosphono group can be attached to the phenylene radical . preferably , one or both of r and r ′ are hydrogen , carboxy or sulfo , with hydrogen and sulfo ( or salts or readily hydrolyzable esters thereof ) being more preferred . most preferably , r is hydrogen and r ′ is sulfo ( or a salt thereof ). preferably , l and l ′ are independently substituted or unsubstituted alkylene of 3 to 6 carbon atoms ( such as n - propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , sec - butyl , t - butyl , n - pentyl , 1 - methylpentyl and 2 - ethylbutyl ), or substituted or unsubstituted alkylenephenylene having 1 or 2 carbon atoms in the alkylene portion ( such as benzyl , and dimethylenephenyl ). more preferably , at least one , and optionally both , of l and l ′ is a substituted or unsubstituted alkylene group of 3 to 6 carbon atoms that is branched at the carbon atom directly attached ( that is , covalently bonded ) to the nitrogen atom of the hydroxylamine molecule . such branched divalent groups include , but are not limited to , isopropylene , sec - butylene , t - butylene , sec - pentylene , t - pentylene , sec - hexylene and t - hexylene . isopropylene is most preferred . in one embodiment , l and l ′ are the same . in other and preferred embodiments , they are different . in the latter embodiment , l is more preferably a branched alkylene as described above , and l ′ is a linear alkylene of 1 to 6 carbon atoms ( such as methylene , ethylene , n - propylene , n - butylene , n - pentylene and n - hexylene ). representative hydroxylamine derivatives useful of the noted formula include , but are not limited to , n - isopropyl - n -( 2 - ethanesulfonic acid ) hydroxylamine , n , n - bis ( propionic acid ) hydroxylamine , n , n - bis ( 2 - ethanesulfonic acid ) hydroxylamine , n - isopropyl - n -( n - propylsulfonic acid ) hydroxylamine , n - 2 - ethanephosphonic acid - n -( propionic acid ) hydroxylamine , n , n - bis ( 2 - ethanephosphonic acid ) hydroxylamine , n - sec - butyl 2 - ethanesulfonic acid ) hydroxylamine , n , n - bis ( sec - butylcarboxylic acid ) hydroxylamine , n - methyl - n -( p - carboxylbenzyl ) hydroxylamine , n - isopropyl - n -( p - carboxylbenzyl ) hydroxylamine , n , n - bis ( p - carboxylbenzyl ) hydroxylamine , n - methyl - n -( p - carboxyl - m - methylbenzyl ) hydroxylamine , n - isopropyl - n -( p - sulfobenzyl ) hydroxylamine , n - ethyl - n -( p - phosphonobenzyl ) hydroxylamine , n - isopropyl - n -( 2 - carboxymethylene - 3 - propionic acid ) hydroxylamine , n - isopropyl - n -( 2 - carboxyethyl ) hydroxylamine , n - isopropyl - n -( 2 , 3 - dihydroxypropyl ) hydroxylamine , and alkali metal salts thereof . the hydroxylamine derivatives described herein as useful antioxidants can be readily prepared using published procedures , such as those described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 287 , 125 , 3 , 778 , 464 , 5 , 110 , 985 and 5 , 262 , 563 , all incorporated herein by reference for the synthetic me general synthetic procedure for preparing sulfo - substituted hydroxylamine derivatives comprises reacting an n - alkylhydroxylamine with a vinylsulfonate in a suitable solvent ( such as water , an alcohol , tetrahydrofuran or methyl ethyl ketone ). for the alkali metal salts of vinylsulfonates , water is the best solvent . in cases where the hydroxylammonium salt is available , an equivalent of a base must be used to liberate the free n - alkylhydroxylamine . the antioxidant described herein is included in the color developer composition useful in this invention in an amount of at least about 0 . 001 mol / l , and in a preferred amount of from about 0 . 001 to about 0 . 5 mol / l . a most preferred amount is from about 0 . 005 to about 0 . 5 mol / l . more than one antioxidant can be used in the same color developer composition if desired , but preferably , only one is used . the elements are typically exposed to suitable radiation to form a latent image and then processed to form a visible dye image . processing includes the step of color development in the presence of a color developing agent to reduce developable silver halide and to oxidize the color developing agent . oxidized color developing agent in turn reacts with a color - forming coupler to yield a dye . optionally but preferably , partial or total removal of silver and / or silver halide is accomplished after color development using conventional bleaching and fixing solutions ( i . e ., partial or complete delivering steps ), or fixing only to yield both a dye and silver image . alternatively , all of the silver and silver halide can be left in the color developed element . one or more conventional washing , rinsing or stabilizing steps can also be used , as is known in the art . these steps are typically carried out before scanning and digital manipulation of the density representative signals . development is carried out by contacting the element for up to about 90 seconds ( preferably from about 30 to about 90 seconds , and more preferably from about 40 to about 90 seconds ) at a temperature above 40 ° c ., and at from about 45 to about 65 ° c . in suitable processing equipment , to produce the desired developed image . the overall processing time ( from development to final rinse or wash ) can be from about 50 seconds to about 4 minutes . shorter overall processing times , that is , less than about 3 minutes , are desired for processing photographic color negative films according to this invention . processing according to the present invention can be carried out using conventional deep tanks holding processing solutions or automatic processing machines . alternatively , it can be carried out using what is known in the art as “ low volume thin tank ” processing systems , or lvtt , which have either a rack and tank or automatic tray design . such processing methods and equipment are described , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 436 , 118 ( carli et al ) and publications noted therein . the residual error in photographic responses of photographic films that are processed as described above , is corrected by transforming the photographic color negative image to density representative digital signals and applying correction values to those digital signals . the term “ correction value ” is taken to refer to a broad range of mathematical operations that include , but are not limited to , mathematical constants , matrices , linear and non - linear mathematical relationships , and single and multi - dimensional look - up - tables ( lut &# 39 ; s ). the term “ density representative digital signals ” refers to the electronic record produced by scanning a photographic image point - by - point , line - by - line , or frame - by - frame , and measuring the - log ( transmission ) of light beams , that is blue , green and red scanning beams that are modulated by the yellow , magenta and cyan dyes in the film negative . in a variant color scanning approach , the blue , green and red scanning beams are combined into a single white scanning beam that is modulated by the dyes , and is read through red , green and blue filters to create three separate digital records . scanning can be carried out using any conventional scanning device . the records produced by image dye modulation can then be read into any convenient memory medium ( for example , an optical disk ) for future digital manipulation or used immediately to produce a corrected digital record capable of producing a display image having desired aim color and tone scale reproduction . the aim color and tone scale reproduction may differ for a given photographic film image or operator . the advantage of the invention is that whatever the “ aim ”, it can be readily achieved using the present invention . the corrected digital signals ( that is , digital records ) can be also forwarded to an output device to form the display image . the output device may take a number of forms such as a silver halide film or paper writer , thermal printer , electrophotographic printer , ink jet printer , crt display , cd disc or other types of storage and output display devices . in one embodiment of this invention , the density representative digital signals obtained from scanning the high temperature , rapidly processed film ( r ti , g ti , b ti ) are compared with the density representative digital signals ( r oi , g oi , b oi ) obtained from standard processing of the same film having identical exposures , and a correction factor is determined . the standard processing conditions could be those used in the commercial process c - 41 ( e . g ., color development for 3 minutes , 15 seconds , bromide ion level of 0 . 013 mol / l , color developing agent level of 0 . 015 mol / l , temperature of 37 . 8 ° c ., and a ph of 10 . 0 ) for processing color negative films . in its simplest form , the correction factor can be derived from two exposures that are selected to exceed the minimum exposure required to produce a density above dmin and are less than the minimum exposure required to achieve dmax . preferably , these exposures are selected to be as different as possible while falling within the region that exhibits a linear density response to log exposure . preferably , the exposures are also neutral . based on the density representative digital signals obtained for the two exposures in both the rapidly processed , high temperature film according to this invention , and the standard temperature and time processed film , a simple gamma correction factor may be obtained . equations 1 - 3 below are used to calculate the correction factor for the red , green and blue color records respectively : δ γ r = r oih - r oil r tih - r til ( 1 ) δ γ g = g oih - g oil g tih - g til ( 2 ) δ γ b = b oih - b oil b tih - b til ( 3 ) in the above equations the subscript h and l refer to the high and low exposure levels respectively . in this approach , the density representative digital signals for the high temperature , rapidly processed negative ( r ti , g ti , b ti ) are multiplied by ( δ γr , δ γg , δ γb ) to obtain the corrected density representative signals ( r pi , g pi , b pi ). an improved correction factor can be obtained by comparing additional density representative digital signals over a broad range of exposures . either a set of 3 one - dimensional look - up tables could be derived or , to achieve additional accuracy , a multidimensional look - up table could be used . in practice these approaches would use the density representative digital signal ( s ) ( rt i , g ti , b ti ) for each pixel of an image as an index into the look - up tables to find a new density representative signal ( s ) ( r pi , g pi , b pi ) that would more closely match that set of density representative digital signals ( r oi , g oi , b oi ) which would be achieved using a standard temperature , standard time processed negative . another variant of this approach would be to calculate the functional relationship between ( r ti , g ti , b ti ) and ( r oi , g oi , b oi ) as f (( r oi , g oi , b oi ))= g (( r ti , g ti , b ti )) and to use this equation to calculate corrected density representative digital signals ( r pi , g pi , b pi ) which more closely match that set of density representative digital signals ( r oi , g oi , b oi ) which would be achieved by a standard temperature , standard time processed negative . additional variations on this approach could include a matrix , derived by regressing the density representative digital signals achieved by the high temperature , rapidly processed negative , ( rt i , g ti , b ti ) and the desired density representative digital signals obtained from a standard temperature , standard time processed film , ( r oi , g oi , b oi ). the matrix could also be used in combination with a set of look - up tables . the corrected density representative digital signals ( r pi , g pi , b pi ) achieved by these approaches could then be further manipulated and / or enhanced digitally , displayed on a monitor , transmitted to a hardcopy device , or stored for use at a later date . in another embodiment of the invention , the density representative digital signals from a high temperature , rapidly processed film ( rt i , g ti , b ti ) are obtained for a well manufactured , correctly stored and processed film exposed to a series of patches that differ in color and intensity , and are stepped in intensity over the exposure scale . these density representative digital signals are used in combination with the exposure information for the different patches to generate an interimage correction matrix ( mat ii ). mat ii = a 1 a 4 a 5 a 7 a 2 a 6 a 8 a 9 a 3 this matrix describes the interaction between the three color records where development in one color record can influence development in one or both of the other color records . these types of interactions are well known in the photographic art and are the result of both undesired chemical interactions during development and deliberate chemical and optical interactions designed to influence the overall color reproduction of the film . the inverse of this matrix ( mat ii ) − 1 , in combination with the density representative digital signal ( rt i , g ti , b ti ) of the high temperature , rapidly processed film according to this invention , can be used to calculate a channel independent density representative digital signal ( r ci , g ci , b ci ) representative of those densities that would have been obtained for the particular exposure if there were no interactions between layers ): [ r ci g ci b ci ] = mat ii - 1 [ r ti g ti b ti ] . the red , green and blue channel independent density representative digital signals ( r ci , g ci , b ci ) are then converted to log ( exposure or e ) representative digital signals ( r le , g le , b le ) by the use of three one dimensional look - up tables . the recorded image is then in a form that is independent of the chemical processing . the log ( exposure ) representative signals can now be processed in a variety of ways . they can be processed so as to achieve the color density representative digital signals ( r oi , g oi , b oi ) which would have been achieved by a well manufactured , correctly stored and processed film of the same photographic film type that has been given identical exposures and processed in a standard temperature , standard time process . alternatively , those signals can be processed to achieve the density representative digital signals that would have been obtained for an alternative photographic film type that has been given the same exposures and processed through a standard temperature and standard time process . the methods for these corrections include , but are not limited to , mathematical constants , linear and non - linear mathematical relationships , and look - up tables ( lut &# 39 ; s ). it is important to remember that while the images are in the digital form the image processing is not limited to the color and tone scale corrections described above . while the image is in this form , additional image manipulation may be used including , but not limited to , standard scene balance algorithms ( to determine printing corrections based on the densities of one or more areas within the negative ), sharpening via convolution or unsharp masking , red - eye reduction and grain - suppression . moreover , the image may be artistically manipulated , zoomed , cropped , combined with additional images , or other manipulations known in the art . once the image has been corrected and any additional image processing and manipulation has occurred , the image may be written to a variety of devices including , but not limited to , silver - halide film or paper writers , thermal printers , electro - photographic printers , ink - jet printers , display monitors , cd disks and other types of storage and display devices . a designed factorial of processing conditions and compositions that were within the regions specified by cole and bohan ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 804 , 356 ) was performed . we found regions that gave good signal , along with reasonable d - min , reasonable d - max below 3 . 15 and toe speeds that were matched closely together . we also calculated a chrominance area ( described below ) of kodak max 800 film processed under the above designed factorial conditions . typically , one would optimize the system based on the aim densitometric results . even though there is no densitometric aim for rapidly processed films one can still provide chemical compositions and processing conditions that maximize film performance . first , we optimized on gamma normalized granularity signal vs . the gamma normalized granularity of a check film in the standard 195 second development time process of c - 41 to insure that from a signal to noise standpoint we achieved the same photographic speed recording capability . we then optimized by minimizing the amplification required to restore colors measured in the rapid process to the color achieved in the c - 41 process . our objective was to find developer chemical compositions and processing conditions that exhibited good values in the toe region of the characteristic curve , had low d - min , and had d - max values that were below about 3 . 0 density . we further limited chemical composition and processing conditions subject to minimum gamma constraints . we then optimized based on minimizing the amplification required to restore colors measured in the rapid process to the color achieved in the c - 41 process by maximizing the area enclosed by chrominance values measured from scanned red , green , blue , cyan , magenta , and yellow target color patches . another objective was to find developer chemical compositions and processing conditions for rapid film processing ( development in less than 90 seconds ) that produced superior color negative images for digital scanning . for simplicity and case of analysis , we optimized the developer composition to three photographic parameters . more parameters can be included to further refine the results , if desired . these three parameters and their respective boundary conditions had the following requirements : ( 1 ) require the maximum blue record density to be below a threshold value , such as a density of 3 . 5 , ( 2 ) require the red record contrast as measured by the best fit slope to be greater than 0 . 15 , and after defining the development area with the first two parameters , further minimize the area by ( 3 ) employing developer compositions that are within 70 % of the maximum possible chrominance area values . the first requirement acknowledges , that at an optical density of 3 . 5 , many digital scanners will have high noise levels due to the small fraction of light transmitted through the sample . we further limited chemical composition and processing conditions subject to minimum gamma constraints . in rapid development , the red color record of conventional color negative films would typically be under developed when compared to standard processing such as kodak c41 processing . we then optimized based on minimizing the amplification required to restore colors measured in the rapid process to the color achieved in the c - 41 process by maximizing the area enclosed by chrominance values measured from scanned film images of red , green , blue , cyan , magenta , and yellow target color patches . we developed a designed factorial of processing conditions and compositions that were within the regions specified by cole and bohan ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 804 , 356 ). we found regions that complied with the boundary conditions that the maximum blue density be below 3 . 5 and the red color ( best fit slope ) contrast be above 0 . 15 . we also calculated a chrominance area ( described below ) of kodak max 800 film processed under the above designed factorial conditions . typically , one would optimize the system based on the aim densitometric results . even though there is no densitometric aim for rapidly processed films , one can still provide chemical compositions and processing conditions that maximize film performance . first , we optimized on gamma normalized granularity signal vs . the gamma normalized granularity of a check film in the standard 195 second development time process of c - 41 to insure that from a signal to noise standpoint we achieved the same photographic speed recording capability . we then optimized by minimizing the amplification required to restore colors measured in the rapid process to the color achieved in the c - 41 process . the images of the macbeth color checker chart were scanned with a kodak professional rfs film scanner . the scanner was calibrated and focused for each scan and images from day to day gave the same results the film matrix that was used for the default in the scanner was film 5190 , the original 800 max film . adobe photoshop 5 . 0 mathematical model was used to obtain the rbg and cie lab values of the gray scale and the cyan , magenta , yellow , red , green and blue patches of the color chart image on each film for the 2 stop over exposure frame . while the cie lab values in the context of the above described experiment and method may not correspond to true cie lab data , the rgb to cie lab transformation provided by photoshop served to map the scanner rgb values to a chrominance area that could be used to maximize the chrominance area which is a useful measure of minimizing the subsequent digital amplification required to recover a full color image . in other words , the larger the chrominance area , the less amplification required . hereafter it is understood that a * and b * refer to the aforementioned values produced from the described scanner and photoshop processing and they do not refer to true calorimetric data . the a * and b * values for each patch were tabulated in excel . a simple estimate of the attained chrominance area for the kodak max 800 film with any developer formula could be made by calculating the a * x b * area of the boundary of a figure defined by the a * and b * values of red , green , blue , cyan , magenta , and yellow . for simplicity , this boundary was made by connecting adjacent color patch values to form a six sided figure . the figure was divided into four triangles and the area was calculated via summing the areas of the four triangles . fig1 shows the triangles . film : the films used in the following examples are 1 inch by 12 inch strips kodak max 800 . the photographic speed is iso 800 . film exposure : the films for the determination of photographic parameters were exposed on a kodak 1b sensitometer through a 21 step tablet that incremented the step density in units of 0 . 2 density from a density of 0 to a density of 4 . 0 . the light source was a simulated daylight exposure with a color temperature of 5500 k . the films used in the chrominance maximizing area determination were camera exposed images of a macbeth color checker chart that was photographed under constant lighting conditions . film processing : all film processing was done in deep tanks on special racks that held the films vertical in the tank . the agitation was via bursts of nitrogen bubbles for two seconds , every six seconds , in the development tank . all other tanks had vigorous and continuous air bubble agitation , except for the final rinse , which had no agitation . photographic parameter data : the densitometric data were collected with an automated , 49 micron aperture granularity instrument and the parameters were calculated via algorithms well know in the trade . data tables were constructed by importing the data into excel ( microsoft corporation ) spreadsheets and jmp ( sas institute ) spreadsheets . obtaining digital images of macbeth color chart : the films for the maximizing chrominance area determination were camera exposed images of a macbeth color checker chart that was photographed under constant lighting conditions with kodak 800 max film . the images of the macbeth color checker chart were scanned with a kodak professional rfs ( model 3570 ) film scanner . the scanner was calibrated and focused for each scan and images from day to day gave the same results . the film matrix that was used for the default in the scanner was film 5190 , the original 800 max film . the following examples are presented to illustrate , but not limit , the practice of this invention . example 1 describes a designed factorial model that is within the developer composition and processing conditions described by cole and bohan . the film processing cycles are in the table 1 below . the cross over time between all tanks is 10 seconds for the c - 41 development and 5 seconds for the rapid development . for example , in the c - 41 development , the film would be in listed time of 195 seconds is 185 seconds in the tank , followed by 10 seconds out of the tank solution , which includes drain time and positioning time , prior to dropping the film into the bleach tank precisely 195 seconds after the film was dropped into the development tank . the rapid process is similar , with 25 seconds in the development tank , followed by a 5 second drain and position time prior to dropping into the bleach tank precisely at 30 seconds after the initial drop into the development tank . processing of film with the macbeth color checker chart images was done in the same time as the respective 21 step tablet exposure for that film for each of the 33 developers in the factorial . the base composition of the developers for the study are shown in table 2 below . the factorial design was a fractionated , two level design of five factors and it included axial points . the factors were temperature in degrees c , ph , and the following three chemicals reported in grams per liter of processing solution : sodium bromide , potassium sulfite and 4 -( n - ethyl - n - 2_ - hydroxyethyl )- 2 - methylphenylenediamine sulfate . the levels of the factors in the design are reported in table 3 below . all concentrations for chemicals are reported in grams per liter of final solution . the ph of the one liter solution was adjusted to the aim ph with potassium hydroxide or sulfuric acid at 24 ° c . it can be observed that all of the developer formulations in table 3 are within the boundary regions described in the patent of cole and bohan ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 804 , 356 ). their regions are listed in table 4 . the composition of the c - 41 ra bleach is in table 5 below . all component concentrations are reported in grams per liter of final solution . the ph of the one liter solution was adjusted to the aim ph with ammonium hydroxide or sulfuric acid at 24 ° c . the composition of the c - 41 ra fixer is in table 6 below . all component concentrations are reported in grams per liter of final solution . the ph of the one liter solution was adjusted to the aim ph with ammonium hydroxide or sulfuric acid at 24 ° c . examples of developers within the range boundaries of cole and bohan ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 804 , 356 ) that produce unacceptable photographic images for digital scanning based on a maximum blue record density signal are shown in table 7 below . by inspection , the developers listed below would not be suitable as developers for kodak max 800 at a 30 sec processing time , and especially b - 4 at a 40 second processing time . we therefore demonstrate that not all conditions within the boundary ranges of cole and bohan ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 804 , 356 ) produce results that are acceptable for a film image that is readily digitally scannable to produce a digital imaging file . we generously put the cut off of these data at 0 . 25 density units above the c - 41 standard processed film sample . in addition , the d - min response for the listed developers is also significantly above the d - min of the check film . examples of developers within the range boundaries of cole and bohan ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 804 , 356 ) that produce unacceptable photographic images for digital scanning based on the red record best fit contrast signal are shown in table 8 below . we also develop the concept of chrominance area . defining and calculating chrominance area from rgb and cie lab values adobe photoshop 5 . 0 was used to obtain the rbg and cie lab values of the gray scale and the cyan , magenta , yellow , red , green and blue patches of the color chart image on each film for the 2 stop over exposure frame . while the cie lab values in the context of the above described experiment and method may not correspond to true cie lab data , the rgb to cie lab transformation provided by photoshop served to map the scanner rgb values to a chrominance area that could be used to maximize the chrominance area which is a useful measure of minimizing the subsequent digital amplification required to recover a full color image . in other words , the larger the chrominance area , the less amplification required . hereafter it is understood that a * and b * refer to the aforementioned values produced from the described scanner and photoshop processing and they do not refer to true calorimetric data . the a * and b * values for each patch were tabulated in excel . a simple estimate of the attained chrominance area for the kodak max 800 film with each of the developer formulas in table 3a was made by calculating the a * x b * area of the boundary of a figure defined by the a * and b * values of red , green , blue , cyan , magenta , and yellow . for simplicity , this boundary was made by connecting adjacent color patch values to form a six - sided figure . the figure was divided into four triangles and the area was calculated via summing the areas of the four triangles . fig1 shows the triangles . the processing cycle is the same as listed in table 1 of example 1 . the developer compositions are the same as listed in tables 2 and 3 of example 1 . the same bleach and fix compositions were used as listed in tables 5 and 6 of example 1 . by inspection , the developers listed below would not be suitable as developers for kodak max 800 at a 30 sec processing time . we therefore demonstrate that not all conditions within the boundary ranges of cole and bohan ( u . s . pat . no . 5 , 804 , 356 ) produce results that are acceptable for a film image that is readily digitally scannable to produce a digital imaging file . the 20 second processing with the center point chemical composition at 55 ° c . has very low red and green contrast . the low value of 7 for the chrominance area reinforces the point that going much lower than 30 seconds for processing with the base formula described here will not produce acceptable images . inspection of table 8 also reveals many other developers that produce results severely deficient in red contrast as measured by best fit slope . the data in tables 7 and 8 are offered as comparison developers that do not produce suitable scannable images in a rapid , 30 second development process . not only does the kodak max 800 film produce low red best fit slope values for there points , but the chrominance area number is also low . in example 3 , we identify by inspection discrete model data points that satisfy the boundary conditions of maximum blue record density below 3 . 15 and also show have red contrasts as described by the best fit slope to be greater than 0 . 210 . these attributes also correlate well with the value for the chrominance space are as defined in example 2 above . the processing cycle is the same as listed in table 1 of example 1 . the developer compositions are the same as listed in tables 2 and 3 of example 1 . the same bleach and fix compositions were used as listed in tables 5 and 6 of example 1 . in table 9 , we list several of the responses from the developers of the factorial design that demonstrate that developer composition is unacceptable for processing film negatives for scanning . we also highlight the inventive developer formulations that can produce film negatives that are suitable for digital scanning . the films also have chrominance areas that are 500 or greater . although the inventive developer formulations have maximum blue record densities similar to the c41 check , the inventive rapid developer formulations have low red contrast as measured by the red best fit slope . the film that was processed in the c - 41 check process had the largest chrominance area . we used the above described chrominance area parameter to define a model surface in the factorial design listed in table 3a . from that model , one could predict factor level changes that would make the model developer more like the check developer . the only factor that would move to a boundary during the optimization was the temperature , and it always moved to the highest boundary condition . we limited the boundary level for the temperature to several values and ran the prediction option . the results are in table 10 . the method that we employed to generate the statistical model is generic to any set of data , especially developer processing models that differ in constituents and processing parameters such as , time of development , or other parameters . the only constraint is that additional data must be collected and a new model produced . the statistical model was determined by analysis of the data in the statistical computer program package jmp version 3 . 2 . 6 ( sas institute inc ., cary , n . c ., usa ) all 29 ( left out the time variations of b - 4 and b - 16 ) factor levels ( values of temperature , ph , and the concentrations of sulfite , bromide and developing agent ) for each processing run in table 3a were tabulated in an excel spreadsheet , along with their respective experimental chrominance area response . within the microsoft windows 2000 environment , the excel spreadsheet was uploaded into jmp spreadsheet . multiple types of statistical analysis can now be performed on the data in the jmp spreadsheet using the jmp program . in addition , the jmp program can export the data as sas transport files that are amenable to analysis with sophisticated programs on mainframe computers that run additional sas institute inc . software , in particular , programs that are written in the sas programming language . our major method of analyzing the jmp spreadsheet data within the jmp program was the following . the first step was to graph the data to make sure that the data transferred correctly to jmp and that there were no unexplained outliers in the data . the second point was to generate a mathematical model for the data via the following set of commands in jmp : analyze , then fit model . we defined the effect factors to be the temperature , ph , and concentrations of sulfite , bromide , and developing agent . we picked the model type to be the response surface model and the response factors were maximum blue record density , blue record d - min , the red contrast as measured by best fit slope , and the chrominance area . after the model was run , the parameter field contained a listing of all of the coefficients and the constant for the quadratic fit of all of the first and second order model terms , including the cross terms . a graphical prediction profile was also generated and initialized at the center point values of the effect factor levels . one could now interactively drag the data lines of the graph for the various effect factors to analyze how the response factor values change . one could optimize simple systems like this one on the jmp graphical interface by iteratively observing responses vs . effect changes , and moving to an optimum region of the design area . one is not limited to the effect factors and response factors mentioned above . in particular , an analogous response factor , which we will call the delta rgb , correlates well with the chrominance area . delta rgb is defined in the following way . as we mentioned above , we have tabulated all of the rgb data for each red , green blue , cyan , magenta , and yellow image patch on the film for each processing condition of the factorial model and a c41 standard processing check . for a given factorial processing condition , we can determine the euclidian distance between the check rgb value and the factorial processing condition rgb value for each of the six color patches . sunming the six distances together gives an indication of how close the factorial processing condition is to the check processing condition . the lower the summed value , the more optimum is the factorial processing condition . one can do this analysis in jmp in exactly the same way as the above chrominance area method , except the optimum processing condition and developer composition should produce a minimum value for the summed distances . one is not limited to doing the statistical optimization process with the graphical interface of the jmp software . one can also use software from other vendors , such as minitab , and also mainframe computer software , such as the sas programming language by sas institute inc . an elegant option is to write a program in sas programming language code and have the software include an algorithm to find the optimum vs . the aim values . such a subroutine is the quasi - newton optimization . there is a description of the subroutine in the sas manual “ sas / iml software changes and enhancements — through release 6 . 11 ”, manual number 555492 , chapter 4 from sas institute inc . we have accomplished such optimizations of the above data with custom sas software programs owned by the eastman kodak company . for a 30 second development process with the factorial design from table 3 , we find that we can use the model from the jmp program and manipulate the factor levels on the interactive graphical interface to obtain regions that are maximized for the chrominance area metric . in all cases , the model predicts the upper bound for temperature . temperature is the major driving force to greater developability of all three color records . however , the other four factors are found to have values that are not at the boundaries , but comfortably within the design space range . in table 10 , we list developers c , d , e , f , and g , that were found to be optima based on the maximization of the chrominance area . the film that was processed in the c - 41 check process had the largest chrominance area . from that model , one could predict factor level changes that would make the model developer more like the check developer . we also calculated the predicted a * x b * area for the effective chrominance area . a more general model of the factorial design in table 3 could also include time as a factor . however , in this example , we set the time development time at 30 seconds . from the jmp parameter tables , we obtain the coefficients and the constant for the quadratic fit of the response , in this case the chrominance area , to the five variables . explicitly , for the data in this experiment , a unique equation be written for every response factor . for the chrominance area , the equation , with concentrations expressed in moles / liter is the following : cs =− 288240 − 1897 . 3 × t − 85351 × s − 360960 × b − 119840 × d + 66507 × p − 11 . 705 × t × t − 528 . 31 × s × t − 114130 × s × s − 59 . 505 × b × t − 22917 × b × s − 222700 × b × b + 1114 . 6 × d × t + 239620 × d × s 993760 × d × b 1259500 × d × d + 78 . 542 × p × t 10912 × p × s + 29381 × p × b − 9684 . 1 × p × d − 3454 . 2 × p × p the above equations are in terms of moles / liter for the component materials and the variables would then have the units as follows : t = temperature in degrees c ., s = sulfite in moles / liter , b = bromide in moles / liter , d = developing agent ( s ) in moles / liter , and p = ph in ph units at 24 ° c . it should be noted that the equations can be cast recast in any convenient set of units . in table 11 , we report the photographic results of the processing with the predicted developer formulation compositions , formula c though formula g . only formula c and d have blue d - max values that are under the acceptable upper bound limit of 3 . 10 . these two developers also have reasonable red slope contrast . the data in table 11 is experimental data . it is from film that was processed at the predicted developer compositions and processing conditions listed in table 10 . we observe that developers c and d produce maximum blue densities that are below 3 . 1 . developers e , f , and g have higher values , and would not be appropriate for many scanners . all of the developers have a red best fit slope that is above 0 . 215 . the red signal is reasonable for digital enhancement to provide pictures files of high quality . we determined the experimental chrominance area for only one of the developers . the value was 1500 . this is unexpectedly low . however , models have greater difficulty predicting values at the boundary levels , and in the model , the temperature of 59 ° c . is an axial level . the model is not well defined there . a model with higher temperature ranges than the levels in the model in table 3 would be needed for better predictive capabilities at 59 ° c . method of determining any developer compositions and processing conditions that have a maximum blue record density below 3 . 15 , and therefore suitable for processing color negative film images for digital scanning . the factorial design in table 3 can be used to generate a mathematical model of how a response variable , such as maximum blue record density would vary with the levels of the five factors . the methodology is exactly the same as for example 4 . the unique equation derived from calculating the parameter table in jmp is shown below . using this equation , one can rapidly determine what areas of the design space would provide developer compositions and processing conditions that would yield maximum blue record densities below 3 . 15 . bdmax =− 78 . 658 + 0 . 25006 × t + 4 . 7743 × s − 174 . 26 × b + 102 . 25 × d + 13 . 4 × p − 0 . 002084 × t × t + 0 . 012755 × s × t + 11 . 893 × s × s + 0 . 6434 × b × t − 4 . 8478 × b × s + 29 . 136 × b × b − 0 . 94252 × d × t + 59 . 363 × d × s + 181 . 03 × d × b + 198 . 27 × d × d + 0 . 010364 × p × t − 1 . 1171 × p × s + 11 . 362 × p × b − 6 . 7378 × p × d − 0 . 64857 × p × p the above equations are in terms of moles / liter for the component materials and the variables would then have the units as follows : t = temperature in degrees c ., s = sulfite in moles / liter , b = bromide in moles / liter , d = developing agent ( s ) in moles / liter , and p = ph in ph units at 24 ° c . it should be noted that the equations can be cast recast in any convenient set of units . as an illustrative example , the bdmax can be recast in terms of grams per liter of the materials , using the appropriate molecular weights of the materials . the equations for the determination of blue record max density using gms / liter for the units of the materials is the following : bdmax =− 78 . 658 + 0 . 25006 × t + 0 . 030217 × s − 1 . 4643 × b + 0 . 34975 × d + 13 . 4 × p − 0 . 002084 × t × t + 0 . 0000807 × s × t + 0 . 0004764 × s × s + 0 . 0054062 × b × t − 0 . 000258 × b × s + 0 . 0020571 × b × b − 0 . 003224 × d × t + 0 . 0012852 × d × s + 0 . 0052031 × d × b + 0 . 0023198 × d × d + 0 . 010365 × p × t − 0 . 00707 × p × s + 0 . 095469 × p × b − 0 . 023047 × p × d − 0 . 648572 × p × p where , in the above equation , t = temperature in degrees c ., s = potassium sulfite in grams / liter , b = potassium bromide in grams / liter , d = developing agent in grams / liter , and p = ph in ph units at 24 ° c . method of determining any developer compositions and processing conditions that have a red best fit slope above 0 . 21 , and therefore suitable for processing color negative film images for digital scanning . the factorial design in table 3 can be used to generate a mathematical model of how a response variable , such as maximum blue record density would vary with the levels of the five factors . the methodology is exactly the same as for example 4 . the unique equation derived from calculating the parameter table in jmp is shown below . using this equation , one can rapidly determine what areas of the design space would provide developer compositions and processing conditions that would yield a red best fit contrast of 0 . 215 or greater . for the red record best fit slope , the equation , with concentrations expressed in moles / liter is the following : rbfs =− 16 . 805 − 0 . 020274 × t + 4 . 5693 × s − 13 . 661 × b + 8 . 3327 × d + 3 . 2321 × p + 0 . 0000678 × t × t − 0 . 023042 × s × t + 0 . 79677 × s × s − 0 . 014876 × b × t + 7 . 9328 × b × s − 8 . 1877 × b × b − 0 . 073088 × d × t + 9 . 7435 × d × s − 1 . 0873 × d × b 68 . 368 × d × d + 0 . 0036458 × p × t − 0 . 41969 × p × s + 1 . 2645 × p × b − 1 . 0963 × p × d − 0 . 16167 × p × p the above equations are in terms of moles / liter for the component materials and the variables would then have the units as follows : t = temperature in degrees c ., s = sulfite in moles / liter , b = bromide in moles / liter , d = developing agent ( s ) in moles / liter , and p = ph in ph units at 24 ° c . the above equations are illustrative of models for processing at 30 seconds . it must be emphasized that the model could also have included many other factors as the effect variables , including development time . we have run models with development time as a variable , and they models are predictive of changes to the development response variables , including the time factor . a color negative film developer composition and processing condition that allows for optimum rapid processing of the film for subsequent digital scanning and digital image file manipulation . the rapid processing can be from a time of 20 seconds to 90 seconds in the developer solution . the temperature of the developer solution can be from 40 ° c . to 65 ° c . a preferred embodiment of the invention is the generation of a film negative for digital scanning that was developed to the following photographic parameters and conditions : the blue record maximum density is less than or equal to an optical density of 3 . 5 . the red record best fit contrast is equal to or greater than 0 . 15 . the factor levels of temperature in degrees c ., ph in ph units at 24 c ., and the molarities of the bromide ion , sulfite ion , and color developer compound ( s ) that , when used in the below set of three defining functions , model the ranges of the photographic parameters above for blue record d - max , red record best fit contrast , and maximize the chrominance space area . the function for the blue record maximum density , bdmax , is then : bdmax = f ( t , s , b , d , p ), where t in the temperature , s is the concentration of sulfite , b is the concentration of bromide , d is the concentration of developing agent ( s ), and p is the ph of the developer solution at 24 c . the function for the red record best fit slope ( contrast ) , rbfs , is then : rbfs = f ( t , s , b , d , p ), where t in the temperature , s is the concentration of sulfite , b is the concentration of bromide , d is the concentration of developing agent ( s ), and p is the ph of the developer solution at 24 c . cs == f ( t , s , b , d , p ), where t in the temperature , s is the concentration of sulfite , b is the concentration of bromide , d is the concentration of developing agent ( s ), and p is the ph of the developer solution at 24 c . an example of equations optimized to a 25 second development step in the processing sequence that satisfy the above functions are as follows : bdmax =− 78 . 658 + 0 . 25006 × t + 4 . 7743 × s − 174 . 26 × b + 102 . 25 × d + 13 . 4 × p − 0 . 002084 × t × t + 0 . 012755 × s × t + 11 . 893 × s × s + 0 . 6434 × b × t − 4 . 8478 × b × s + 29 . 136 × b × b − 0 . 94252 × d × t + 59 . 363 × d × s + 181 . 03 × d × b + 198 . 27 × d × d + 0 . 010364 × p × t − 1 . 1171 × p × s + 11 . 362 × p × b − 6 . 7378 × p × d − 0 . 64857 × p × p for the red record best fit slope , the equation , with concentrations expressed in moles / liter is the following : rbfs =− 16 . 805 − 0 . 020274 × t + 4 . 5693 × s − 13 . 661 × b + 8 . 3327 × d + 3 . 2321 × p + 0 . 0000678 × t × t − 0 . 023042 × s × t + 0 . 79677 × s × s − 0 . 014876 × b × t + 7 . 9328 × b × s − 8 . 1877 × b × b − 0 . 073088 × d × t + 9 . 7435 × d × s − 1 . 0873 × d × b 68 . 368 × d × d + 0 . 0036458 × p × t − 0 . 41969 × p × s + 1 . 2645 × p × b − 1 . 0963 × p × d − 0 . 16167 × p × p for the chrominance space area , the equation , with concentrations expressed in moles / liter is the following : cs =− 288240 − 1897 . 3 × t − 85351 × s − 360960 × b − 119840 × d + 66507 × p − 11 . 705 × t × t − 528 . 31 × s × t − 114130 × s × s − 59 . 505 × b × t − 22917 × b × s − 222700 × b × b + 1114 . 6 × d × t + 239620 × d × s 993760 × d × b 1259500 × d × d + 78 . 542 × p × t 10912 × p × s + 29381 p × b − 9684 . 1 × p × d − 3454 . 2 × p × p the above equations are in terms of moles / liter for the component materials and the variables would then have the units as follows : t = temperature in degrees c ., s = sulfite in moles / liter , b = bromide in moles / liter , d = developing agent ( s ) in moles / liter , and p = ph in ph units at 24 ° c . it should be noted that the equations can be cast recast in any convenient set of units . for example , the bdmax can be recast in terms of grams per liter of the materials , using the appropriate molecular weights of the materials . the equations for the determination of blue record max density using gms / liter for the units of the materials is the following : bdmax =− 78 . 658 + 0 . 25006 × t + 0 . 030217 × s − 1 . 4643 × b + 0 . 34975 × d + 13 . 4 × p − 0 . 002084 × t × t + 0 . 0000807 × s × t + 0 . 0004764 × s × s + 0 . 0054062 × b × t − 0 . 000258 × b × s + 0 . 0020571 × b × b − 0 . 003224 × d × t + 0 . 0012852 × d × s + 0 . 0052031 × d × b + 0 . 0023198 × d × d + 0 . 010365 × p × t − 0 . 00707 × p × s + 0 . 095469 × p × b − 0 . 023047 × p × d − 0 . 648572 × p × p where , in the above equation , t = temperature in degrees c ., s = sulfite in grams / liter , b = bromide in grams / liter , d = developing agent in grams / liter , and p = ph in ph units at 24 ° c . the above functions for blue record maximum density , red record best fit contrast , and chrominance area , with their respective boundary conditions , are useful for any processing time from 20 to 90 seconds , and may include additional materials added to the developer such as anticalcs , ph buffers , ion buffers , antifoggants , preservatives , antioxidants , surfactants , lubricants , antistats , and the like . the poly ( vinyl pyrrolidone ) polymer , or similar polymer is between 1 to 9 gms / liter , added as an anti fogger . any amount of solution agitation from none to up to any amount that is not physically destructive to the film . another embodiment of the invention is the generation of a film negative for digital scanning that was developed to the following photographic parameters and conditions : the blue record maximum density is less than or equal to an optical density of 3 . 2 . the red record best fit contrast is equal to or greater than 0 . 18 . the factor levels of temperature in degrees c ., ph in ph units at 25 c ., and the molarities of the bromide ion , sulfite ion , and color developer compound ( s ) that , when used in the defining functions of statement 1 and associated equations , model the ranges of the photographic parameters above for blue record d - max , red record best fit contrast , and maximize the chrominance area . in another embodiment of the invention is the generation of a film negative for digital scanning that was developed to the following photographic parameters and conditions : the blue record maximum density is less than or equal to an optical density of 3 . 1 . the red record best fit contrast is equal to or greater than 0 . 2 . the factor levels of temperature in degrees c ., ph in ph units at 25 c ., and the molarities of the bromide ion , sulfite ion , and color developer compound ( s ) that , when used in the defining functions of statement 1 and associated equations , model the ranges of the photographic parameters above for blue record d - max , red record best fit contrast , and maximize the chrominance space area . | 6 |
referring now to the drawings in which like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several views , fig1 and 2 each depict one embodiment of an improved draft chimney 10 of the present invention within a convection based grill 12 . each convection based grill 12 includes a cabinet 14 with a plurality of surfaces for defining a cabinet interior 16 ( fig3 a and 3b ). the cabinet interior 16 is divided into two chambers by an insulating baffle 18 extending across the longitudinal dimension of the cabinet 14 . the two chambers include a heating chamber 20 and a cooking chamber 22 . in the lower portion of the heating chamber 20 is a heating element 24 and a steel flame grate 26 is positioned over the heating element 24 . a cooking surface 28 substantially extends the length and the width of the cooking chamber 22 . the grill 12 is described in greater detail in copending u . s . patent application having u . s . ser . no . 09 / 083 , 416 filed on may 22 , 1998 and titled “ a convection based cooking apparatus with improved airflow ”, and in copending u . s . patent application having u . s . ser . no . 09 / 329 , 690 filed on jun . 10 , 1999 and titled “ a convection based cooking apparatus with improved airflow ”, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference . referring now to fig3 a , 3 b and 4 , the cabinet 14 is defined by a bottom surface 30 , a front surface 32 , a back surface 34 , a left side surface 36 , and a right side surface 38 . the combination of the bottom surface 30 with lower portions of the front surface 32 , the back surface 34 , the left side surface 36 and the right side surface 38 , defines a lower portion of the cabinet interior , and is commonly referred to as a lower container 40 . also , the cabinet 14 is further defined by a hood 42 , the interior of which is commonly referred to as an upper cabinet interior , best illustrated in fig5 . the hood 42 is defined by upper portions of the front surface 32 , the back surface 34 , the left side surface 36 , and the right side surface 38 . still referring to fig3 a and 3b , the chimney 10 is defined by the right side surface 38 , portions of the front and back side surfaces 32 , 34 , and an internal surface 50 positioned in substantially a vertical manner . in fig3 a , the internal surface 50 is parallel to the right side surface 38 . in another embodiment , as shown in fig3 b , a portion of the internal surface 50 is parallel to the right side surface 38 and an another portion of the internal surface 50 tapers away from the right side surface 38 . as best shown in fig1 and 2 , the internal surface 50 has an upper portion 52 and a lower portion 54 . the upper portion 52 is attached to the inside of the hood 42 and the lower portion 54 is attached to the inside of the lower container 40 . when the hood 42 is opened to expose the cabinet interior 16 as shown in fig1 and 2 , the draft chimney 10 is separated into two pieces . however , when the hood 42 is closed as shown in fig3 a and 3b , the upper and lower portions 52 , 54 are joined together to define the entire length of the draft chimney 10 . the length of the draft chimney is commonly refer to as a flue and is described in greater detail below . in order to insure the upper and lower portions 52 , 54 of the internal surface 50 are properly joined together each time they come into contact with each other , the ends of each portion are bent back in a widthwise manner to define flanges 56 and 58 . the end of the upper portion 52 of the internal surface is bent inward and the end of the lower portion 54 of the internal surface in bent outward toward the right side surface 38 to form a seal when the hood 42 is closed . fig4 also illustrates the inwardly bent flanges 56 , 58 of the internal surface 50 . the seal is formed by permitting the upper and lower portions 52 , 54 to overlap as shown in fig3 a . alternatively , as shown in fig3 b , the seal could be formed by permitting the flange 56 to directly abut the flange 58 without the upper and lower portions 52 , 54 overlapping . the draft chimney 10 includes an elongated , vertical flue 60 having a first opening 62 and a second opening 64 . the internal surface 50 defines a portion of the flue 60 . therefore , the flue 60 is separable into two portions as shown in fig1 and 2 . preferably , the flue 60 is prismatic and the length of the flue 60 in the direction of airflow is longer than the width of the flue ; however , alternative configurations are also anticipated by the present invention . the first opening 62 communicates with the cabinet interior 16 . preferably , the first opening 62 is defined between the bottom surface 30 and the end of the vertically positioned internal surface 50 as shown in fig1 and 2 . the width of the first opening 62 can extend only a portion of the width of the cabinet 14 as shown in fig1 or , alternatively , the width of the first opening 62 can extend the full width of the cabinet 14 as shown in fig2 . in operation , ambient air enters the heating chamber 20 through an air inlet 70 . the ambient air is heated and rises through the steel frame grate 26 towards the top of the heating chamber 20 . eventually , the heated air is forced through an air passage 72 over the baffle 18 into the cooking chamber 22 . as the heated air is forced into the cooking chamber 22 , the cooler air existing the cooking chamber 22 is forced down through the first opening 62 of the flue 60 . the heated air that is forced into the flue 60 of the draft chimney 10 rises to the top and exits through the second opening 64 in the top of the hood 42 to the environment surrounding the cabinet 14 . in the preferred embodiment , a plurality of smaller exit openings combined together to form the second opening 64 as shown in fig5 . the portion of the surface with the smaller exit openings is commonly referred to as being grilled . a path of convection airflow , generally shown by arrows 80 a , 80 b and 80 c in fig3 a and 3b is created within the cabinet 14 during operation of the grill 12 . the portion 80 a of the path begins at the air inlet 70 and proceeds to the passage 72 over the baffle 18 as described above . then , the path continues through the cooking chamber 22 to pass over the cooking surface 28 in an even manner . this portion of the path is shown by the reference numeral 80 b . next , the path continues to the first opening 62 of the flue 60 of the draft chimney 10 . the portion 80 c begins at the first opening 62 , rises to the second opening 64 , and passes into the exterior environment surrounding the grill 12 . preferably , the draft chimney 10 is entirely defined within the cabinet 14 such that the end of the path 70 communicates with the exterior of the cabinet as best shown in fig1 - 3a and 3 b . alternatively , the flue 60 may extend beyond the top of the hood 42 so that a portion of the path of airflow extends beyond the cabinet 16 before exiting to the environment surrounding the grill . the present invention has been illustrated in relation to particular embodiments which are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive . those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is capable of many modifications and variations without departing from the scope of the invention . accordingly , the scope of the present invention is described by the claims appended hereto and supported by the foregoing . | 0 |
illustrative embodiments are now discussed . other embodiments may be used in addition or instead . details that may be apparent or unnecessary may be omitted to save space or for a more effective presentation . conversely , some embodiments may be practiced without all of the details that are disclosed . this disclosure seeks to exploit the awareness that drivers already make with flashing light as it grabs attention . an extension to that idea is drivers associate increased urgency with increased rate of flashing light . fig1 shows one embodiment of the disclosure . a motorcycle jacket 10 may be provided with a deceleration rate indicator apparatus 11 on a back panel thereof . as will be described in greater detail below , the apparatus 11 includes a visible lighting mechanism 12 having one or more lights . the apparatus 11 may be mounted anywhere on the back of the motorcycle jacket 10 and is shown in the present embodiment on an upper , center portion of the back panel . in one embodiment the motorcycle jacket 10 may be manufactured with the apparatus 11 already integrated in the jacket . alternatively , the apparatus 11 may be manufactured and sold separate from the motorcycle jacket 10 and attached afterward . fig6 illustrates one configuration of the apparatus 11 . here , the apparatus 11 is shown having a circular configuration , however , the apparatus 11 may be adapted to other shapes and sizes . the lighting mechanism 12 may include one or more lights to improve the visibility of the apparatus 11 . for example , the lighting mechanism 12 may include a first section 13 having a plurality of lights 25 and a second section 14 having a plurality of lights 26 . the first section 13 may be concentric with the second section 14 . the lights 25 and 26 of first and second sections 13 and 14 , respectively , may be designed in any shape with any sizes and number of lights . in addition , there may be additional sections of lights . it is preferably that the arrangement of the sections of lights has a combined area of at least 113 cm 2 and up to 300 cm 2 for users of non - enclosed vehicles , such as motorcycles , jet skis or snowmobiles to meet regulatory requirements . the lights 25 and 26 may have high luminance red - amber automotive grade surface mount light emitting diodes ( leds ) meeting sae / ece / jis automotive color requirements . these leds are mounted on a pcb board . the indicators could be mounted on the visible part of the apparatus 11 and the supporting electronics are on the reverse side . the number of leds may be determined by luminous output requirements , power available , and physical size . other aspects of the lighting mechanism can be varied for different driving situations or to meet different market , regulatory requirements and applications . the color , flash rate , size and brightness of the lighting mechanism may be varied to meet these different requirements . fig9 illustrates the electrical components of the deceleration rate indicator apparatus 11 . supporting electronics include a voltage regulator 51 , a 3 - axis microelectromechanical ( mems ) sensor 52 , a microprocessor 53 , a first section led driver 54 , and a second section led driver 55 . the voltage regulator 51 regulates the supply voltage with a range of voltage 3v to 14v to the 3 . 5 vdc for the mems 52 and the microprocessor 53 and 42 vdc for the first section 54 and second section led string driver 55 . it may also be designed to be protected from over - voltage and resettable over - current protection . the supporting electronics communicates with a user interface 60 . the user interface 60 includes an on / off switch 56 and a mode switch 57 . both the on / off switch 56 and the mode switch 57 are designed to be large membrane type switches that may be provided on the left chest or left shoulder area of the user . the large switch is designed to operate while the user is wearing gloves and lights up to confirm to the user that the system is activated . as discussed earlier , the first section lights 25 and second section lights 26 are preferably leds designed for automotive application . a flexible printed circuit board ( pcb ) is utilized to maintain the flexibility of a traditional jacket , although a conventional pcb could also be used . a first section ( visible ) of the apparatus 11 is populated with lights 25 and 26 , while a second section ( not shown ) holds the control circuit , led driver circuits and connector . the first and second section may be located separate from each other or together . the first section lights 25 may include leds that are designed to be brighter and visible from at least 150 meters . the first section 13 of lights 25 , with ultra bright leds , emits more heat and activates when the user is decelerating or stopped , and is therefore designed for lower duty cycle . the second section 14 of lights 26 may include leds that are designed to run at higher duty cycle . the main purpose of the second section 14 of lights 26 is to serve as running lights to improve visibility of the user . the second section 14 of lights 26 complements the first section 13 of lights 25 by increasing the intensity of the leds with increased deceleration . fig7 shows an axis and orientation of an accelerometer of the apparatus 11 . the mems sensor 52 ( fig9 ) of apparatus 11 is a common type of an accelerometer . the accelerometer may be a low g , low power inertial sensor . a 3 - axis digital accelerometer is utilized in this embodiment , but an analog 2 - axis accelerometer could also be used . fig7 shows how the axis of the mems sensor 52 relates to the user . the orientation axis is calibrated during the initialization sequence , which will be explained in greater detail below . fig9 is a top level diagram that shows how information data flows in the apparatus 11 . the on / off switch 56 and the mode switch 57 allow the user to turn the apparatus 11 on and off , as well as adjust the different modes of operation available to the user . since the mode of operation is programmed on the microprocessor 53 , it could be updated with improved algorithm for different applications . the deceleration rate indicator apparatus 11 need not be limited to a motorcycle jacket 10 . fig2 - 5 show alternative implementations of the apparatus 11 . in fig2 , the apparatus 11 is mounted on the front panel of a bag , such as a backpack 15 . in fig3 the apparatus 11 is mounted on a motorcycle trunk 19 . in this embodiment , the apparatus 11 could be wired to the existing motorcycle wiring or as battery powered standalone . in fig4 , the apparatus 11 is shown mounted on a helmet 30 . the apparatus 11 could be marketed as an after - market part or designed as original equipment . in fig5 , the apparatus is shown mounted on a motorcycle 41 . apparatus 11 is housed in housing 41 . the apparatus 11 requires initialization or calibration before it is used for the first time . fig1 is a flow diagram illustration an initialization sequence 100 for the apparatus 11 . at step 102 , the user begins initialization of the apparatus . the user is instructed to enter the initialization sequence the first time the apparatus 11 is used on a particular vehicle . initialization is performed on a flat surface with the user maintaining the vehicle upright on a flat surface at step 104 . the first step is for the apparatus 11 to sample deceleration rate in the x , y , and z axis when the vehicle is stationary with the engine on . the accelerometer 52 samples up to 100 samples on each axis and provide the data to the microprocessor 53 . the apparatus 11 signals to the user that it is ready for the step 110 in step 108 by flashing led 58 twice in quick succession . at step 110 , user accelerates to a determined speed up to 50 km / h and maintains speed for up to 5 seconds . the accelerometer 52 samples up to 100 samples on each axis and provides the data to the microprocessor 53 . at step 112 , the user decelerates to a stop in a safe manner . the accelerometer 52 samples up to 100 samples on each axis and provides the data to the microprocessor 53 . the data is stored in the digital microprocessor 53 memory or an external memory can be used . the data serves as spatial orientation to the front of the vehicle . fig1 is a flow diagram illustration an operating sequence 200 for the apparatus 11 . the apparatus 11 is activated when user plugs in the cable battery and presses the membrane switch 56 in step 202 . in step 204 , the apparatus 11 starts sampling deceleration rate in x , y , and z axes . in step 206 , the data is filtered with the offset and gain based on data that was collected in the initialization sequence 100 . in step 208 the microprocessor 53 determines vector gravity and calculates a range of moving vectors that are 45 ° wide and at least 60 ° to the gravity vector . in step 210 , the microprocessor determine the deceleration rate of the in the moving direction of the motorcycle , or other vehicle . in step 212 the processor 53 then compares the resulting moving axes against a look up table values to determine the flash rate of the light . if deceleration rate exceeds the threshold the next step is 218 and the microprocessor flashes the lights at the rate based on the stored look up table . if deceleration rate does not exceed the threshold , the microprocessor makes a determination if the motorcycle is stopped or moving constantly by comparing deceleration rate to data acquired during the initialization sequence 100 . the apparatus 11 determines the motorcycle is stopped if there are no deceleration in any axes except for the gravity vector . if the motorcycle is determined to be stopped instead of moving at constant speed the light the next step is step 220 where the light flashes for 2 seconds before resetting itself . a status table is simplified below . user can select the different modes for the apparatus . the apparatus 11 can also be set to automatically switch between city mode and highway mode . fig1 is an interrupt sequence 300 for the apparatus 11 . the apparatus 11 sets the counter to 0 during power up in step 302 . if the deceleration exceeds the set threshold in step 304 an interrupt service routine is called and the counter is increased by 1 in step 306 . in step 308 the counter overflow is reviewed . the counter overflow indicates that apparatus deceleration count has exceeded and the user is likely riding in stop and go traffic in a city . if the counter overflowed the apparatus 11 is set to city mode in step 312 and the counter is set back to 0 in step 302 . if the counter does not overflow then the city mode reset time is reviewed . if the user has not decelerated exceeding the set threshold this indicates that the user is likely moving on a highway and the apparatus 11 remains in the default mode which is the highway mode and sets the counter back to 0 in step 302 . the sensitivity of the mode can be software adjusted as city mode overflow counter value and city mode reset time can be modified . in city mode the led brightness is set to low and the brake lights only functions when stopped ( flash at 1 - 2 hz ) and when decelerating at a rate greater than 5 m / s ̂ 2 ( flash at 10 hz ). the user may select the city mode or when set to automatic mode the apparatus switches mode when the deceleration counter exceeds the threshold set . in highway mode the led brightness is set to high ( 200 - 500 millicandela ) and the full deceleration rate table is utilized . when integrated as on oem in motorcycle or automotive brake lights power conservation is less of an issue but the system receives two inputs from the vehicle . running lights and traditional brake lights . both led brightness are software adjusted to be brighter . the user may also set this mode when concerns for additional visibility exceed concerns for battery conservation such as in bad weather condition . minimum threshold deceleration rate is 2 m / s ̂ 2 for a minimum of 0 . 25 seconds . ( i . e . the moving average minimum ). once the minimum threshold is reached the light will flash based on the look up table below for 2 - 5 seconds . minimum threshold deceleration rate is software adjustable . flash rate ranges from 1 - 15 hz . table below shows flash rate and its corresponding deceleration rate . all values in the look up table below are software adjustable . the table below shows software adjustable values . different manufacturers of apparel may wish to customize how the apparatus behaves to suit the need and preference of their customers . advantages of the apparatus 11 include a simple standalone unit that can easily be integrated into apparel or other accessories to provide more perceptible indication to a following vehicle that the user has begun a deceleration event . drivers following a user with the present apparatus receive indication of the user &# 39 ; s deceleration and the rate of deceleration and may , therefore , make better driving decisions . since the apparatus 11 detects deceleration by using an electro - mechanical sensor , the apparatus 11 warns following vehicles of deceleration when the user releases throttle or uses engine braking . the motorcycle safety foundation encourages motorcyclists to constantly flash their brake lights when stopped to increase visibility , however , many fail to do so because of the effort required . the apparatus 11 can be adapted for safety apparel and accessories or incorporated into conventional automotive brake lights . the only modification required when integrating in an existing brake light is to provide a low voltage dc source and this modification is not needed if an auxiliary battery power is used . since the apparatus 11 is a standalone unit , the apparatus 11 can be marketed in the aftermarket industry or original equipment manufacturer . bicyclist , snowmobile riders , jet - ski riders all can benefit from deceleration indicator . thus several advantages of one or more aspects are to provide improved decelerating indication , improved visibility and increased time for drivers to react as deceleration by releasing throttle or downshifting typically precedes actual braking . while the above description contains many specificities , these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any embodiment , but as exemplifications of various embodiments thereof . many other ramifications and variations are possible within the teachings of the various embodiments , for example , the apparatus could be applied for sports such as skiing , bicycling , etc . thus the scope should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents , and not by the examples given . the above descriptions are the embodiments to exemplify the present disclosure to enable the person skilled in the art to understand , make and use embodiments of the present disclosure . this description , however , is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure . any equivalent modification and variation according to the spirit of the present disclosure is to be also included within the scope of the claims stated below . the components , steps , features , benefits and advantages that have been discussed are merely illustrative . none of them , nor the discussions relating to them , are intended to limit the scope of protection in any way . numerous other embodiments are also contemplated . these include embodiments that have fewer , additional , and / or different components , steps , features , benefits and advantages . these also include embodiments in which the components and / or steps are arranged and / or ordered differently . unless otherwise stated , all measurements , values , ratings , positions , magnitudes , sizes , and other specifications that are set forth in this specification , including in the claims that follow , are approximate , not exact . they are intended to have a reasonable range that is consistent with the functions to which they relate and with what is customary in the art to which they pertain . the scope of protection is limited solely by the claims . that scope is intended and should be interpreted to be as broad as is consistent with the ordinary meaning of the language that is used in the claims when interpreted in light of this specification and the prosecution history that follows and to encompass all structural and functional equivalents . | 6 |
in the following detailed description , reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof , and in which is shown by way of illustration specific illustrative embodiments in which the invention may be practiced . these embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention , and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical , mechanical and electrical changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . the following detailed description is , therefore , not to be taken in a limiting sense . embodiments of the present invention allows for the testing of an oscillator on a circuit board without the use of a test fixture . in particular , embodiments of the present invention test the oscillator ( or generator ), as well as other electronic devices of the circuit board , by passing a clock signal from the oscillator through the other electronic devices of the circuit board and then measuring the frequency of the clock signal at an already existing access point on the circuit board . the tests used in the embodiments of the present invention can occur even when the circuit board that contains the oscillator is mounted in its normal operational location . that is , testing of the oscillator using embodiments of the present invention does not require the attachment of the circuit board to a bed of nails in a test fixture . referring to fig1 a , one embodiment of an oscillator testing system 100 of the present invention is illustrated . as illustrated , the oscillator testing system 100 includes a circuit board 101 and a tester 130 . in particular , in the embodiment of fig1 generally only the electronic devices on the circuit board 101 that focus on this embodiment of present invention are illustrated . the electronic devices include an oscillator 102 , a microprocessor 104 , a random access memory ( ram ) 106 , a system bus 107 , a field programmable array ( fpga ) 108 ( or application specific integrated circuit 108 ), a buffer 114 , an access port 116 , a universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter ( uart ) 118 , and a uart port 119 . the fpga typically performs the functions of the circuit board 101 and is electrically coupled to an external port . the fpga 108 includes logic circuit 112 . in particular , logic circuit 112 includes all of the circuits typically used in forming a fpga 108 . in addition , the fpga 108 is illustrated as including multiplexer ( mux ) 110 . in embodiments of the present invention , normal activation power is supplied to oscillator 102 . oscillator 102 produces a clock signal used to clock the microprocessor 104 in response to the activation power . tester 130 is coupled to the uart port 119 to supply test instructions to the microprocessor 104 via the uart 118 . in response to the instructions , the microprocessor 104 enters into a test mode and passes the clock signal through the system bus 107 to mux 110 of the fpga 108 along with instructions to mux 110 . in response to the instructions , mux 110 passes the clock signal to buffer 114 . buffer 114 is used to change voltage levels . in particular , buffer 114 in this embodiment is an output buffer 114 that provides a passageway to access port 116 . access port 116 , in one embodiment , is an existing input / output pin . in other embodiments , in which a passageway to an external port does not flow through a buffer , a buffer is not required . the frequency of the clock signal is measured at access port 116 . the tester 130 of the embodiment of fig1 a includes a tester function 132 and a measuring device 134 . the tester function 132 provides a test signal , containing the test instructions , to the uart port 118 . the measuring device 134 is adapted to measure the frequency of a clock signal and , in this embodiment , is selectively coupled to measure the frequency of the clock signal 120 off access port 116 . in other embodiments a separate different tester is used to measure the frequency . in further embodiments the oscillator is coupled directly to a fpga . in these embodiments , a clock signal passes directly from the oscillator to a multiplexer in the fpga and then to an external port under the control of a microprocessor . an example of an embodiment in which the clock signal passes directly from the oscillator 102 to mux 110 in the fpga 108 is illustrated in fig1 b . the testing system 150 of fig1 b is similar to the testing system 100 of fig1 a except , as illustrated , connection 170 connects the oscillator 102 to the system bus 107 . the system bus 107 is coupled to mux 110 in the fpga . fig1 b also illustrates , an embodiment where the measuring device 134 is in a different tester 160 than the tester 130 that contains the tester function 132 . referring to fig2 flow chart 200 illustrates a method of use for one embodiment of the present invention . as flow chart 200 illustrates , the method starts by applying power to the oscillator 102 that supplies the clock signal to the microprocessor 104 ( 202 ). the tester applies test instructions to the uart 118 which are passed on to the microprocessor 104 ( 204 ). the test instructions direct the microprocessor 104 to enter into a test mode . once in the test mode , the microprocessor 104 passes the clock signal from the oscillator 102 along with operation instructions to the mux 110 in the fpga 108 via the system bus 107 ( 206 ). in response to the operation instructions received , the mux 110 multiplexes the clock signal to buffer 114 ( 208 ). the buffer 114 then passes the clock signal on to the access port 116 ( 212 ). the frequency of the clock signal is measured at access port 116 ( 216 ). if the frequency of the clock signal matches an expected frequency ( 218 ), the oscillator 102 , as well as other electronic devices in the clock signal path , are verified as working ( 222 ). if the frequency of the clock signal does not match an expected frequency ( 218 ), the oscillator 102 is not verified as working properly ( 220 ). although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein , it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement , which is calculated to achieve the same purpose , may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown . this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention . therefore , it is intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof . | 6 |
it will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration , numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein . however , it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details . in other instances , methods , procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described . also , the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein . the drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts may be exaggerated to better illustrate details and features of the present disclosure . the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein . several definitions that apply throughout this disclosure will now be presented . the term “ comprising ” means “ including , but not necessarily limited to ”; it specifically indicates open - ended inclusion or membership in a so - described combination , group , series and the like . referring to fig1 , a light emitting diode ( led ) illumination device 1 includes a plurality of leds 20 and two reflectors 10 incorporating with the leds 20 . the led illumination device 1 emits light to a table 2 located below the led illumination device 1 . while a table 2 is provided herein , the present disclosure contemplates replacing the table 2 with any surface that is substantially flat and satisfies the other conditions of the table present herein . the two reflectors 10 are located at opposite side of a top of the table 2 and configured symmetrically about an imaginary surface perpendicularly to the table 2 . each reflector 10 defines a groove 15 therein . the leds 20 are received in the groove 15 . light emitted from the led 20 is reflected by an inner surface of the reflector 10 and to be projected towards the table 2 . a projecting direction of the light is contrary with a direction of the light emitted from the leds 20 . a cross section of the reflector 10 is l - shaped . each reflector 10 includes a first reflecting plate 11 , a second reflecting plate 12 and a third reflecting plate 13 . the third reflecting plate 13 is configured above and relatively to the first reflecting plate 11 . the second reflecting plate 12 connects the first reflecting plate 11 and the third reflecting plate 13 . specifically , the first reflecting plate 11 , the second reflecting plate 12 and the third reflecting plate 13 cooperatively defines the groove 15 . a side of the reflector 10 has an opening 14 relative to the second reflecting plate 12 such that the groove 15 directly contacts with external by the opening 14 . in at least one embodiment , a top surface of the first reflecting plate 11 and the third reflecting plate 13 are configured parallelly to a top surface 201 of the table 2 , and both sides surface of the second reflecting plate 12 configured vertically with the top surface 201 of the table 2 . a length of the third reflecting plate 13 is more than that of the first reflector plate 11 . left ends of first reflecting plate 11 and the third reflecting plate 13 are coplanar . the second reflecting plate 12 connects the left ends of the first reflecting plate 11 and the third reflecting plate 13 . a right end of the third reflecting plate 13 is beyond a right end of the first reflecting plate 11 . the reflector 10 is made of thermal conductive material , such as aluminum , or cooper . the leds 20 are mounted on the top surface the first reflecting plate 11 and spaced from the third reflecting plate 13 . light emitted from the leds 20 is reflected by the first reflecting plate 11 and the third reflecting plate 13 to exit through the opening 14 . in this embodiment , the leds 20 includes a plurality of white leds arranged in series near the opening 14 . in other embodiment , the leds 20 includes a red led , a green led and a blue led to mix to be white light in the groove 15 . also referring to fig2 , the table 2 has a length of l 4 , and a width of l 5 . a width of the reflector 10 is equal to that of the table 2 . an area of the reflector 10 projected to the top surface 201 of the table 2 has a width of l 3 . in one example , the length l 4 is 120 cm , and the width l 5 is 60 cm . the two reflectors 10 are located at two ends along the long direction thereof and above the table 2 . a distance between the reflector 10 and the table 2 is a height h 1 . the height h 1 can be 50 cm . because the reflector 10 has the width equal to the table 2 , the length of the reflector 10 is not changed . only changes the length of the third reflecting plate 13 can change the area of the led illumination device 1 projected to the table 2 to adjust the light intensity provided by the led illumination device 1 on the table 2 . generally , the light intensity uniformity is a ratio between the lowest light intensity and the average light intensity , and has nothing with a shape of the leds 20 and the reflector 10 . so the light intensity uniformity of the led illumination device 1 projected to the table 2 can be adjusted by changing the length of the third reflecting plate 13 . in one embodiment , a ratio between an area of the third reflecting plate 13 projected to the table 2 and the top surface 201 of the table is defined x . the x and the light intensity uniformity have relations as following chart : as illustrated in the chart , while the x & gt ; 0 . 0136 , the light intensity uniformity is less than 0 . 6 . however , in order to have a great light effect , the light intensity uniformity is greater than 0 . 6 . therefore , a relationship can be construed as 0 . 0136 ≦ x ≦ 1 . further referring to fig3 , a reflector 10 a of the led illumination device 1 of a second embodiment is provided . the reflector 10 a differing from the reflector 10 is that the third reflecting plate 13 has arc - shaped . a cross sectional of the third reflecting plate 13 is arc . a length of the first reflecting plate 11 projected to the table 2 is l 1 . the length of the second reflecting plate 12 is l 2 . a length of the third reflecting plate 13 projected to the table 2 is l 3 . a projection of the first reflecting plate 11 along a direction paralleled with the top surface 201 of the table 2 defines a vector { right arrow over ( op 2 )}. the second reflecting plate 12 along an extending direction thereof defines a vector { right arrow over ( op )}. the projection of the third reflecting plate 13 along a direction paralleled with the top surface 201 of the table 2 defines a vector { right arrow over ( pp 1 )}. the third reflecting plate 13 along an extending direction thereof defines a vector { right arrow over ( pp 3 )}. the { right arrow over ( pp 3 )} satisfies following relations : the a and the v are constant , and 0 ≦ a ≦ 1000 , 0 ≦ v ≦ 1 . while the a is constant , the v is changed from 0 to 1 to form the trajectory of the third reflecting plate 13 . an angle is defined between the { right arrow over ( pp 1 )} and the { right arrow over ( pp 2 )}. the { right arrow over ( pp 3 )} is located in the angle . while the length of l 1 is equal to the length of l 2 , the angle is 45 °. while the a is increased , the { right arrow over ( pp 3 )} gradually moves towards the { right arrow over ( pp 1 )}; while the a is reduced , the { right arrow over ( pp 3 )} gradually moves towards the { right arrow over ( pp 1 )}. for example , while the a = 0 , the pp 3 overlaps together with the { right arrow over ( pp 1 )}. while the x = 0 . 1 , the relation between a and the light intensity uniformity illustrated as following chart : as illustrated in the chart , while x = 0 . 1 , the scope of a is : 0 ≦ a ≦ 0 . 15 , and the light intensity uniformity is more than 0 . 667 . in the present disclosure , the light emitted from the leds 20 is reflected by the reflector 10 or reflector 10 a to be projected to the table 2 . so adjusting the light intensity uniformity at the table 2 is by changing the area of the reflector 10 and the reflector 10 a projected to the table 2 , or by changing the shaped of the reflector 10 or the reflector 10 a . so the light reflected by the reflector 10 or the reflector 10 a to be projected to the table 2 has uniform light intensity . the embodiments shown and described above are only examples . many details are often found in the art such as the other features of a reflector and led illumination device having the same . therefore , many such details are neither shown nor described . even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present technology have been set forth in the foregoing description , together with details of the structure and function of the present disclosure , the disclosure is illustrative only , and changes can be made in the detail , including in matters of shape , size and arrangement of the parts within the principles of the present disclosure up to , and including the full extent established by the broad general meaning of the terms used in the claims . it will therefore be appreciated that the embodiments described above can be modified within the scope of the claims . | 5 |
the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments . referring first to fig1 showing a rotary piston engine equipped with an ignition system according to a first embodiment of the present invention , numeral 3 designates a side housing , 5 a rotor kept in contact with the walls of rotor housing 4 and adapted to rotate eccentrically in the housing while forming the working chambers where the intake , compression , power and exhaust strokes take place , 6 an exhaust port , 7 an intake port . in the conditions of fig1 the rotor 5 is at the top dead center and a working chamber 8 constitutes a combustion chamber . a first spark plug 1 is mounted in the vicinity of the forward end of the combustion chamber in the direction of rotation of the rotor , and a second spark plug 2 is mounted on the back side of the first spark plug 1 in the direction of the rotation of the rotor . in fig2 there is illustrated a schematic diagram of the ignition system according to the first embodiment . the first spark plug 1 is supplied with a high voltage from a battery 9 , a breaker 10 and an ignition coil 11 to provide a spark . the second spark plug 2 is supplied with a high voltage from the battery 9 , a breaker 12 and an ignition coil 13 . numeral 14 designates a speed sensor for detecting the number of revolutions of an engine , 15 a vacuum sensor for detecting the vacuum within the engine intake manifold . numeral 16 designates a change - over switch for receiving the output signal of the sensors 14 and 15 to selectively supply power from the battery 9 to either one of the first and second spark plugs 1 and 2 . with the construction described above , the operation of the first embodiment is as follows . under normal operating conditions , the engine is operated using the first spark plug 1 alone and power is supplied to the first spark plug 1 from the battery 9 through the change - over switch 16 , the breaker 10 and the ignition coil 11 . however , when the engine load increases so that the manifold vacuum decreases , the vacuum sensor 15 produces a signal and actuates the change - over switch 16 . consequently , the voltage from the battery 9 is supplied to the second spark plug 2 through the breaker 12 and the ignition coil 13 and the engine is operated using the second spark plug 2 . when the engine load decreases so that the manifold vacuum increases , the vacuum sensor 15 similarly generates a signal and the change - over switch 19 is actuated to supply the power to the first spark plug 1 . on the other hand , when the number of revolutions of the engine increases , the speed sensor 14 generates a signal so that the change - over switch 19 comes into operation and supplies the power to the second spark plug 2 . when the engine speed decreases , the speed sensor 14 similarly generates a signal and the change - over switch 19 is actuated to supply the power to the first spark plug 1 . fig3 is a wiring diagram showing an exemplary form of the speed sensor 14 , the vacuum sensor 15 and the change - over switch 16 . in fig3 numeral 17 designates a generator driven from the output shaft of the engine , whereby the output voltage of the generator 17 is compared with a preset voltage to turn a transistor on and off and the electromagnetic solenoid of the change - over switch 19 is energized and deenergized thereby to switch the supply of power between the first and second spark plugs 1 and 2 . numeral 18 designates a diaphragm actuator into which the engine manifold vacuum is introduced , whereby when the manifold vacuum is low , e . g ., during the acceleration and high load operation , the electromagnetic soleniod of the change - over switch 19 is energized to supply the power to the second spark plug 2 . next , a second embodiment of this invention will be described . referring to fig4 there is illustrated a schematic sectional view of a rotary piston engine incorporating the ignition system according to the second embodiment which is identical with the first embodiment of fig1 except that the first sparking means is comprised of a glow plug . in the second embodiment in which the like reference numerals as used in fig1 designate the like elements , a glow plug 1 &# 39 ; is mounted in the vicinity of the forward end of the combustion chamber 8 in the direction of rotation of the rotor , and a second spark plug 2 &# 39 ; is mounted on the back side of the first plug 1 &# 39 ; relative to the direction of rotation of the rotor . fig5 illustrates a schematic diagram of the ignition system according to the second embodiment . the glow plug 1 &# 39 ; is supplied with power from the battery 9 so that it is heated red - hot and ignites the fuel mixture . on the other hand , a high voltage is supplied to the spark plug 2 &# 39 ; from the battery 9 through the breaker 12 and the ignition coil 13 to provide a spark that ignites the fuel mixture . numeral 14 designates a speed sensor for detecting the number of revolutions of the engine , 15 a vacuum sensor for detecting the vacuum within the intake manifold . numeral 16 &# 39 ; designates an interrupter circuit which receives the signal from the sensors 14 and 15 to open and close the circuit , 19 a timer which is turned on by the closing of a key switch 20 and which is turned off at the expiration of a predetermined time . with the construction described above , the operation of the second embodiment is as follows . when the key switch 20 is closed , the power from the battery 9 is supplied to the glow plug 1 &# 39 ; and the power supply is continued until the key switch 20 is opened . on the other hand , the closing of the key switch 20 switches the timer 19 on , so that power is supplied to the spark plug 2 &# 39 ; for a predetermined period of time until the glow plug 1 &# 39 ; is heated red - hot after which the timer 19 is turned off . with the engine being operated using the glow plug 1 &# 39 ; alone , when the engine load increases so that the intake manifold vacuum decreases , the vacuum sensor 15 generates a signal and the interrupter circuit 16 &# 39 ; is actuated . consequently , power is supplied to the spark plug 2 &# 39 ; and the ignition timing is advanced to produce an increased output . when the engine load decreases so that the manifold vacuum increases , the vacuum sensor 15 similarly generates a signal so that the interrupter circuit 16 &# 39 ; is cut out of action and the supply of the power to the spark plug 2 &# 39 ; is terminated . on the other hand , when the number of revolutions of the engine increases , the speed sensor 14 generates a signal so that the interrupter circuit 16 &# 39 ; is actuated and power is supplied to the spark plug 2 &# 39 ;, thereby advancing the ignition timing and reducing hc emissions . when the engine speed decreases , the speed sensor 14 similarly generates a signal so that the interrupter circuit 16 &# 39 ; is cut out of action and the supply of the power to the spark plug 2 &# 39 ; is stopped . fig6 illustrates a circuit diagram showing an exemplary form of the speed sensor 14 , the vacuum sensor 15 and the interrupter circuit 16 &# 39 ;. in fig6 numeral 17 designates a generator driven from the output shaft of the engine , and the output voltage of the generator 17 is compared with a preset voltage so that a transistor is turned on and off and the electromagnetic solenoid of the interrupter circuit 16 &# 39 ; is energized and deenergized to switch on and off the current to the ignition coil 13 . numeral 18 designates a diaphragm actuator operated by the manifold vacuum and it also switches on and off the current to the ignition coil 13 . while only a few embodiments have been described in detail hereinabove , those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications of the invention may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . for instance , the requirements for supplying current to a spark plug differ for different specifications of engines , and it is possible to arrange so that the power is supplied to the spark plug only when it is desired to reduce the content of harmful substances in the exhaust gases under engine operating conditions other than those described hereinabove or when it is desired to provide an increased output during the high power operation , e . g ., when it is desired to produce a high power for a short period of time during intermediate speed operation of the engine . | 5 |
for better comprehension of the spirit of the present invention , a further description is provided in the following with reference to some exemplary embodiments of the present invention . in the initial stage of coordinated multi - point development , it is conceived that the network uses a measurement report of a ue , for example , a reference signal receiving power / reference signal receiving quality ( rsrp / rsrq ) of a cell - specific reference signal ( crs ) and an rsrp measurement report of a channel state information - reference signal ( csi - rs ) to determine a measurement set of the ue . with further development of the 3rd generation partnership project ( 3gpp ), the concept of csi - rs rsrp is no longer introduced . therefore , the network only can use a crs rsrp / rsrq measurement report to determine a measurement set of the ue . the problem lies in that such a technical solution cannot be applied to scene 4 in a protocol tr36 . 819 , that is , the network contains low - power rrhs in macrocell coverage , and a tp created by an rrh 11 and a macrocell have the same cell identifier . fig1 is an embodiment according to scene 4 of a protocol tr36 . 819 . a network 10 includes three base stations 11 , that is , enb - 1 , enb - 2 , and enb - 3 ; each base station 11 governs two rrhs 12 , for example , enb - 1 governs rrh1 - 1 and rrh1 - 2 , enb - 2 governs rrh2 - 1 and rrh2 - 2 , and enb - 3 governs rrh3 - 1 and rrh3 - 2 . however , some rrhs 12 , for example , rrh2 - 1 and rrh3 - 1 , do not transmit a crs , and the ue cannot measure a reference signal therefrom . the corresponding network 10 cannot determine which rrhs 12 can be configured into a coordinated multi - point measurement set to the ue . it seems that some general ideas about the coordinated multi - point measurement set have been rejected , and how to be compatible with the existing protocol to configure a coordinated multi - point measurement set becomes a difficulty in coordinated multi - point development . the method and the apparatus for configuring a coordinated multi - point measurement set according to the embodiments of the present invention well solve such a difficulty . a neighboring tp is determined by detecting an uplink signal sent by the ue , thereby selecting whether to configure the neighboring tp in the coordinated multi - point measurement set . fig2 is a structural block diagram of a communication system applying a method and an apparatus for configuring a coordinated multi - point measurement set according to an embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig2 , the communication system 20 includes a ue 22 , a serving base station ( serving enb ) 24 of the ue 22 , and a neighboring base station ( neighboring enb ) 26 ( which may be one or more , but only one is shown for clarity ) of the ue 22 . the serving base station 24 and the neighboring base station 26 may govern one or more tps ; the serving base station 24 is a base station governing a cell where the ue 22 is located , and the neighboring base station 26 is a base station governing a cell adjacent to the cell where the ue 22 is located . the serving base station 24 includes : a configuration information sending apparatus 240 , used for sending , to the neighboring base station 26 , configuration information about an uplink signal sent by the ue 22 ; and a report receiving apparatus 242 , used for receiving a tp receiving the uplink signal and strength of the tp receiving the uplink signal , where the tp and the strength are reported by the neighboring base station 26 . the neighboring base station 26 includes : a configuration information receiving apparatus 260 , used for receiving , from the configuration information sending apparatus 240 of the serving base station 24 , the configuration information about the uplink signal sent by the ue 22 ; a detection apparatus 262 , used for detecting , according to the configuration information , the uplink signal sent by the ue 22 ; and a reporting apparatus 264 , used for reporting , to the serving base station 24 , the tp receiving the uplink signal and the strength of the tp receiving the uplink signal . fig3 is a flow chart of a method for configuring a coordinated multi - point measurement set according to an embodiment of the present invention . the method is applied to a serving base station 24 of a ue 22 . specifically , in step 30 , for the ue 22 supporting multi - point cooperation , the serving base station 24 thereof may receive a legacy rsrp measurement report sent by the ue 22 , and therefore determine whether the ue 22 is interfered with ; or the serving base station 24 roughly determines that the ue may be in an interference region according to network topology and the legacy rsrp measurement report reported by the ue 22 . it should be noted herein that , the neighboring base station 26 , for saving power , may enable tps it governs not to send a signal , where the tps are in an off state , but at this time , the tps may also receive a signal sent by the ue 22 . if the serving base station 24 determines that the ue 22 is suffering from interference or in an interference region , the serving base station plans to adopt multi - point cooperation for the ue . then in step 32 , the configuration information sending apparatus 240 of the serving base station 24 may send , to the neighboring base station 26 of the ue 22 , configuration information about an uplink signal sent by the ue 22 . in step 34 , the report receiving apparatus 242 of the serving base station 24 receives , from the neighboring base station 26 , a tp receiving the uplink signal and strength of the tp receiving the uplink signal , where the tp and the strength are reported by the neighboring base station . in step 36 , the serving base station 24 configures a coordinated multi - point measurement set for the ue 22 according to reported information and a legacy reference signal receiving power measurement report ( that is , an rsrp / rsrq measurement report about a crs reported by the ue ). for example , the serving base station 24 may select to configure a tp with the highest strength receiving the uplink signal into the measurement set of the ue 22 . if the selected tp belongs to the neighboring base station 26 and the tp is in a non - open state , the serving base station 24 sends , to the neighboring base station 26 , an indication of opening the tp . fig4 is a flow chart of a method for configuring a coordinated multi - point measurement set according to an embodiment of the present invention . the method is applied to a neighboring base station 26 of a ue 22 . specifically , in step 40 , a configuration information receiving apparatus 260 of a neighboring base station 26 receives , from a serving base station 24 of the ue 22 , configuration information about an uplink signal sent by the ue 22 . in step 42 , the neighboring base station 26 , for example , its detection apparatus 262 , detects , according to the configuration information , the uplink signal sent by the ue 22 . for example , the neighboring base station 26 may detect which tps it governs have received the uplink signal , and how the receiving strength is . in step 44 , the neighboring base station 26 , for example , a reporting apparatus 264 , reports , to the serving base station 24 , a tp receiving the uplink signal and strength of the tp receiving the uplink signal . in an embodiment , the method further includes : the neighboring base station 26 storing the tp and the strength of the tp receiving the uplink signal , for example , storage is performed before reporting . uplink signals conforming to the requirements all can be applied to the present invention . for example , in an embodiment , the uplink signal is a sounding reference signal ( srs ). at this time , configuration information of the uplink signal sent by the serving base station 24 is cell - specific configuration information , that is , srs uplink common configuration ( soundingrs - ul - configcommon ). the srs uplink common configuration includes srs bandwidth configuration ( srs - bandwldthconfig ) and srs subframe configuration ( srs - subframeconfig ). the configuration information further includes ue - specific configuration information , that is , srs uplink dedicated configuration information ( soundingrs - ul - configdedicated ) linked to the ue . the srs uplink dedicated configuration information includes srs - bandwidth ( srs - bandwidth ), srs frequency hopping bandwidth ( srs - hoppingbandwidth ), a frequency domain position ( freqdomainposition ), an srs configuration index ( srs - configindex ), transmission comb ( transmissioncomb ), and cyclic shift ( cyclicshift ). in an embodiment , the uplink signal is a physical uplink control channel ( pucch ) resource . at this time , the serving base station 24 notifies that configuration information of the neighboring base station 26 includes a channel quality indication - pucch resource index ( cqi - pucch - resourceindex ), pucch common configuration ( pucch - configcommon ), a precoding matrix index configuration index ( pmi - configindex ) ( optional ), a rank indication configuration index ( ri - configindex ) ( optional ), and a serving cell identifier ( serving cell id ). in another embodiment , the adopted uplink signal may be a demodulation reference signal ( dmrs ). generally , when the ue 22 receives an uplink license , it will send data on a designated physical uplink shared channel ( pusch ), and the dmrs is embedded in the data . in a case where the serving base station 24 dynamically schedules the pusch , to avoid that the neighboring base station 26 detects the dmrs in all uplink frames and the whole uplink bandwidth , preferably , the serving base station 24 schedules the ue 22 ( or called pre - schedules the ue ) periodically in some subframes , and notifies the neighboring base station 26 of the scheduling information and dmrs configuration information of the ue 22 in advance , so that the neighboring base station 26 can conveniently detect a dmrs of the ue 22 according to the received information . the above embodiments all set that the serving base station 24 and the neighboring base station 26 are synchronous , while when they are not synchronous , for example , at an x2 interface , the serving base station 24 further needs to notify the neighboring base station 26 of a time difference therebetween ( between two base stations ), and the neighboring base station 26 may perform detection at a right time after receiving the time difference . it should be noted that with the development of the technology and update of the standard , components having the same function generally have different names . the technical terms in the specification of the present invention patent application are used to explain and demonstrate the technical solution of the present invention , and shall be subject to common functions in the technical field rather than being randomly understood merely according to the names thereof . the technical content and technical features of the present invention are disclosed above , and a person skilled in the art may still make various replacements and modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention on the basis of the teaching and disclosure of the present invention . therefore , the protection scope of the present invention shall not be limited to the content disclosed by the embodiments , but shall cover all replacements and modifications not departing from the present invention , and shall be subject to the claims of the present patent application . | 7 |
the carboxylic acids suitable for use include aliphatic , cycloaliphatic and aromatic mono and polybasic carboxylic acids . the acids may be saturated or unsaturated , straight or branched chained . the organic carboxylic acids can be either natural or synthetic or mixtures thereof . examples of natural acids , although usually refined , include straight and branched chain carboxylic acids and mixtures such as tall oil acids and cyclic carboxylic acids such as naphthenic acid . a variety of synthetic carboxylic acids and particularly aliphatic or alicyclic mono - carboxylic acids or mixtures thereof , are useful . long chain , branched carboxylic acids are preferred . the organic carboxylic acids preferably will contain from about 6 to about 32 carbon atoms , preferably from about 5 to about 18 and more preferably from about 8 to about 10 , but when more than one of the acids is employed , carboxylic acids containing as little as about 5 carbon atoms or as little as 2 carbon atoms can be employed as one of the acids of the mixtures . examples of useful organic carboxylic acids include isopentanoic acid , hexanoic acid , 2 - ethyl butyric acid , nonanoic acid , decanoic acid , 2 - ethyl hexanoic acid , iso octanoic acid , isononanoic acid , neodecanoic acid , lauric acid , palmitic acid , stearic acid , oleic acid , linoleic acid , and commercially available mixtures of two or more carboxylic acids such as naphthenic acids . the acid number for the preferred naphthenic acid is from about 160 to about 300 mg koh / g . preferred carboxylic acids for use are neodecanoic acids ( such as versatic acid supplied by shell and neodecanoic acid supplied by exxon ), 2 - ethyl hexanoic acid , naphthenic acid , ( preferably having an acid number of from about 160 to about 300 mg koh / g ), 2 - methyl butanoic acid , 3 - methyl butanoic acid , 2 , 2 - dimethyl propanoic acid , 3 , 5 dimethyl hexanoic acid , 2 - ethyl pentanoic acid , 2 , 5 dimethyl hexanoic acid , 3 - ethyl hexanoic acid , 2 , 2 , 4 - trimethyl hexanedioic acid , 3 , 3 , 4 - trimethyl hexanedioic acid , 2 , 6 - dimethyl octanoic acid , 4 , 6 - dimethyl octanoic acid , 2 , 4 , 6 - trimethyl octanoic acid , undecylenic acid , 2 , 4 , 6 - trimethyl nonanoic acid , and 2 , 4 , 6 - trimethyl nonacosonoic acid . the most preferred carboxylic acids for use are naphthenic acid ( preferably having an acid number of from about 160 to about 300 mg koh / g ), neodecanoic acid ( also referred to as versatic acid ), and 2 - ethyl hexanoic acid . the term &# 34 ; neodecanoic acid &# 34 ; as utilized herein refers to mixtures of branched carboxylic acids , generally predominately about 10 carbon atoms . these acid mixtures generally have an acid number of from about 310 to about 325 mg koh / g . commercially available neodecanoic acids are supplied by shell under the tradename , &# 34 ; versatic 10 &# 34 ; and by exxon under the name &# 34 ; neodecanoic acid &# 34 ;. these acids are well known and described in , for example kirk - othmer , encyclopedia of chemical technology , fourth edition , john wiley & amp ; son , new york , 1993 , vol . 5 , pp . 147 - 192 , which is incorporated herein by reference . the amount of carboxylic acid utilized may vary , although it is generally preferred that the molar equivalent ratio of rare earth element to carboxylic acid be at least about 1 to about 3 . a carboxylic acid salt solution is preferably prepared by reaction of the carboxylic acid with a base which is an alkali metal , alkaline earth metal or ammonium ( preferably tetra ( lower alkyl ) ammonium ) oxide , hydroxide , carbonate or hydrogen carbonate . the base suitable for reaction with the carboxylic acid is preferably a hydroxide of an alkali metal of group i , preferably lithium , sodium or potassium . most preferably the base is a hydroxide of sodium . bases suitable for use include : sodium hydroxide , lithium hydroxide , potassium hydroxide , tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide , tetra methyl ammonium hydroxide , and tetra ethyl ammonium hydroxide . the reaction of carboxylic acid and base preferably occurs in the presence of water to form the carboxylic salt solution , i . e ., water is the preferred reaction medium . the carboxylic salt , preferably in the form of a salt solution , is then preferably reacted with a rare earth nitrate ( re ( no 3 ) 3 ) to produce the rare earth carboxylate solid which will precipitate out of solution . the rare earth nitrates suitable for use are the nitrates of group iii b of the periodic table ( lanthanide series ). suitable rare earth nitrates are , for example , the nitrates of lanthanum , cerium , praseodymium , neodymium , promethium , samarium , europium , gadolinium , terbium , dysprosium , holmium , erbium , thulium , ytterbium and lutetium . preferred for use are the nitrates of neodymium , lanthanum , praseodymium and cerium ( preferably ce iii ). other rare earth water soluble salts can be utilized such as rare earth chlorides . it is most desirable to perform the process steps , production of the carboxylic salt and then reaction of the carboxylic salt with a rare earth nitrate , solely in water ; however the use of other solvents can have a beneficial effect on the consistency of the material . methanol or mixtures of water and methanol can be suitable solvent media . although , one skilled in the art would recognize the unsuitability of the utilization of solely methanol or a mix of water and methanol when producing a rare earth versatate or neodeconoate since they are soluble in methanol . thus , suitable solvent media includes water , methanol , water and methanol mixtures and combinations thereof . preferably , the solvent medium is at least about 50 % water . when water and alcohol mixtures are utilized a ratio of about 1 to about 1 is most preferred . after reaction of the carboxylic salt with the rare earth nitrate , the product , the precipitated rare earth carboxylate is treated to remove by - products and solvent . this can be done by any conventional means although a washing treatment is preferred . preferably , the product is washed with water , methanol , water and methanol mixtures or any combination thereof . when a water and methanol mixture is utilized , preferably the ratio of water to methanol is about 1 to about 1 or at least about 50 % water . then conventional filtering and drying steps are preferably undertaken . drying can be carried out , for example , by use of a drying oven , screw drier or any suitable equipment for drying . the product when dried will generally comprise less than about 2 % water , preferably less than about 1 % water , and most preferably less than about 0 . 5 % water . the ph should be controlled in relation to the addition to form the carboxylic salt such that when the addition is complete the ph is from about 7 . 5 to about 12 , preferably from about 11 to about 12 . controlling the temperature of the reaction of the carboxylic salt with the rare earth nitrate is also important . the temperature of the reaction is generally less than about 25 ° c ., preferably less than about 20 ° c ., and most preferably less than about 10 ° c . general temperature ranges are from about - 5 ° c . to about 25 ° c ., preferably from 0 ° c . to about 25 ° c ., more preferably from 0 ° c . to about 20 ° c . and most preferably from 0 ° c . to about 10 ° c . the rare earth carboxylates produced by the process of the present invention when dried are characterized in that the particle size is less than about 1260 μm , preferably less than about 1250 μm and most preferably less than about 1200 μm . general particle size ranges are from about 100 to about 1260 μm and preferably from about 200 to about 1200 μm . the particle size can be measured by examining a representative sample , such as about 100 mg distributed / spread over a dry slide , utilizing an olympus optical microscope model no . pmg - 3 with a leco 2001 image analyzer , software version 2 . 02 . the size range represents the size of the most representative smallest and largest particles / agglomerates in a sample . in the case of sticky or waxy materials the measurement by this method is not possible due to the large size of the agglomerates . the dried rare earth carboxylates preferably comprise less than about 5 %, more preferably less than about 4 %, and most preferably less than about 3 %, free acid as determined by acid base titration . further , the rare earth carboxylates can provide excellent properties as raw materials for making catalysts . catalysts made from the products of the present invention have excellent and / or improved properties for utilization in polymerization of conjugated dienes , especially 1 , 3 - butadiene , isoprene and 2 - methyl - 1 , 3 pentadiene . they have low water content and good stability . fields of application include any appropriate for the utilization of poly butadiene , for example in the manufacture of tires and technical rubber articles . a process for the production of solid , powdery rare earth carboxylates according to the present invention comprising the steps of : a ) reacting a carboxylic acid with a base to form a carboxylic salt ; and b ) reacting said carboxylic salt with a water soluble rare earth salt to form a rare earth carboxylate in the presence of a solvent which is selected from the group consisting of water , methanol , and mixtures thereof ; wherein the reaction temperature of step b is from about - 5 ° c . to about 25 ° c ., the ph of the reaction of step a ranges from about 7 . 5 to about 12 and the particle size of the product after drying is less than about 1260 μm . products of this process are preferably utilized as raw materials for the production of catalysts suitable for the polymerization of conjugated dienes , such as butadiene or isoprene . a preferred method for polymerizing conjugated dienes comprises polymerizing the conjugated diene in the presence of a catalytic amount of a zieglar - natta catalyst which is prepared utilizing the product of the present invention . any conventional polymerization method can be utilized with zieglar - natta catalysts prepared utilizing the products of the present invention with good effect . the following examples are provided to better describe and define the process and product of the present invention . they are for illustrative purposes and it is realized that changes or variations may be made with respect to these compositions that are not shown below . such changes which do not materially alter the compositions , formulation , process or function are still considered to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as recited by the claims that follow . in a 150 ml beaker add 50 g water , 1 . 24 g naoh solution ( 50 . 2 %) and 2 . 31 g 2 - ethylhexanoic acid ( mw 144 . 21 ) and stir for about 5 min . the clear solution ( ph 11 . 6 ) is then charged with 50 g of methanol . 3 . 02 g nd ( no 3 ) 3 solution ( nd content 25 . 02 %) is mixed with 10 g of a 50 % aqueous methanol solution and added in a period of about 5 minutes to the sodium salt . a white precipitate is formed immediately and the mixture is stirred for an additional 5 minutes . the precipitate is then filtered by using a buchner funnel under house vacuum ( about 10 torr ). the time required for filtration is about 10 minutes . the cake is washed 3 times with 50 g of a 50 % aqueous methanol solution , filtered and finally is washed with 10 g of methanol and filtered . the yield of the product before drying is 5 . 4 g . the product is dried for about 15 hours at about 70 ° c . to give 2 . 8 g ( yield 93 . 4 %) of a bluish powder consisting of particles in the size range of from about 100 to about 500 μm . in a comparative experiment , the synthesis is carried out at about 0 ° c ., while the other conditions remain the same as described in example 1 . the product is obtained in 96 . 4 % yield and has a similar powdery consisting of particles ranging in size from about 100 to about 600 μm . in a 2 l beaker , a solution of sodium 2 - ethylhexanoate with a ph of 11 . 6 is prepared by addition of 22 . 3 g of 2 - ethylhexanoic acid mw 144 . 21 ! ( diluted with 200 ml deionized water ) to 12 . 5 g of naoh ( 50 / 50 w / w %, diluted with 600 ml deionized water ). a solution of nd ( no 3 ) 3 ( 30 . 17 g , 25 . 025 nd ) and deionized water ( 100 ml ) is added to the clear sodium 2 - ethylhexanoate in a period of about 15 minutes . a white precipitate is formed immediately and is stirred for about an additional 10 minutes . the precipitate is filtered by buchner funnel under house vacuum ( about 10 torr ). filtration requires approximately 10 minutes . the solid is washed three times with deionized water , 200 ml aliquots , and a final wash with 100 ml methanol . the product is dried for 16 hours at about 90 ° c . to give 27 . 20 g , 90 . 7 % yield , of a bluish powder consisting of particles in the range of from about 200 to about 900 μm . in a comparative experiment , the synthesis is performed at about 0 ° c ., while all other conditions remain the same as in example 3 . the product is obtained in 88 % yield and has a similar powdery consistency with a particle size range of from about 200 to about 1000 μm . in a 2 l beaker , a 6 . 5 % molar excess ( 24 . 1 g ) of 2 - ethylhexanoic acid is added to 12 . 5 g of naoh ( 50 / 50 w / w %, diluted with 600 ml deionized water ) to make a room temperature solution of sodium 2 - ethylhexanoate with a ph of 6 . 4 . a solution of nd ( no 3 ) 3 ( 30 . 17 g , 25 . 025 nd ) and deionized water ( 100 ml ) is added to the clear sodium 2 - ethylhexanoate in a period of about 10 minutes . a white precipitate is formed immediately and is stirred for an additional 10 minutes . the precipitate is filtered by buchner funnel under house vacuum ( about 10 torr ). filtration required approximately 10 minutes . the solid is washed three times with deionized water using 200 ml aliquots . the product is dried for about 16 hours at about 70 ° c . to give 28 . 58 g , 95 . 3 % yield , of a bluish , sticky powder consisting of particles with a size of greater than 1300 μm . comparative example utilizing the procedure from ep 0 599 096 a1 a solution of sodium octoate with a ph of 7 . 3 is prepared by addition of 8 g of naoh ( 50 . 2 %, diluted with 200 g distilled water ), to 31 . 6 g 2 - ethylhexanoic acid mw 144 . 21 !. the temperature of this solution is then brought to 90 ° c . 24 g of ndcl 3 ( h 2 o ) 6 is dissolved in 100 ml distilled water and is charged with diluted hcl solution ( about 15 %) until the ph reaches 1 . 7 . the ndcl 3 solution is added to the sodium octoate solution in a period of about 18 minutes , while keeping the temperature around 90 ° c . the product , which precipitates out immediately consists mainly of big lumps . the material is then filtered by using a buchner funnel and washed three times with a total volume of 250 ml of hot water . the product is dried at about 90 ° c . for about 15 hrs to give 38 . 4 g ( 99 . 9 %) of a wax - like product consisting of lumps with an average particle size of about 5 mm . in a 2 liter beaker , 12 . 1 g of naoh ( 50 . 2 %) solution is diluted with distilled water to give a volume of 940 ml . the solution is charged with 26 . 39 g of versatic acid ( mw 173 . 1 ) to yield a clear solution with a ph of 11 . 58 . the volume of the solution is then increased to 1600 ml by addition of ice water . the beaker is placed into a salt / ice water bath in order to maintain a temperature of about 0 ° c . the agitation is carried out by using a mechanical stirrer with a rpm of about 550 . 29 . 18 g nd ( no 3 ) 3 solution ( nd content 25 . 02 %) is mixed with ice water to bring the volume to 200 ml . the cold nd nitrate solution is added to the sodium versatate solution by using a dropping funnel . time required for complete addition is about 35 min . the mixture is stirred for an additional 10 min and then filtered by using a buchner funnel under house vacuum ( about 10 torr ). time required for filtration is 1 to 2 min . the wet material is washed 3 times with 450 ml of cold ( 5 ° c .) water and dried for about 15 hrs at 70 ° c . and then for about 1 hr at about 90 ° c . to yield 28 . 4 g ( 85 %) of a non - sticky powder consisting of particles ranging from about 200 to about 1200 μm . in a comparative experiment , the synthesis is carried out at temperatures of from about 8 ° to about 10 ° c . while all other conditions are kept the same as described in example 7 , except the concentration of the reaction mixture is three times higher ( using only 1 / 3rd of the total water quantity ). the product is obtained in 90 . 5 % yield as a fine powder consisting of particles in a size range of from about 200 to about 1000 μm . in a 1 liter beaker , 6 . 05 g of naoh ( 50 . 2 %) solution is diluted with distilled water to give a volume of about 800 ml . the solution is charged with 12 . 84 g of versatic acid ( mw 173 . 1 ) to yield a clear solution with a ph of 11 . 59 . after bringing the temperature of the solution up to 70 ° c . 14 . 59 g of the nd nitrate solution nd content 25 . 02 %, diluted with water to give 100 ml ! is added in a period of about 15 min . a milk like slurry is formed immediately and towards the end of the addition the product turns into lumps . after agitating for another 5 minutes , the material is filtered by using a buchner funnel and is washed three times with a total amount of 400 ml distilled water . the wet material is dried at about 70 ° c . for about 12 hrs and then at about 90 ° c . for about 3 hrs to give 15 g ( 90 %) of a slightly sticky product consisting of lumps having an average particle size of about 5 mm . in a 2000 ml beaker add 12 . 1 g of a naoh solution ( 50 . 2 %) and 26 . 36 g neodecanoic acid ( mw 173 . 5 ) and distilled water to give a volume of 600 ml . after stirring for 5 minutes the clear solution is cooled down to about 1 ° c . 29 . 2 g of nd nitrate solution nd content 25 %, diluted with water to give 100 ml ; temperature 1 ° c .! is added to the sodium neodecanoate solution in a period of about 5 minutes . after agitating for an additional 5 minutes the precipitate is filtered by using a buchner funnel and is washed 3 times with a total amount of 400 ml of ice water . the product is dried for about 15 hrs at about 90 ° c . to give 31 . 3 g ( 93 . 4 %) of a bluish powder having an average particle size of about 1100 μm . in a 2000 ml beaker add 12 g of a naoh solution ( 50 . 2 %) and 35 . 69 g naphthenic acid ( mw 237 / an 256 ) and distilled water to give a volume of 300 ml . after agitating for about 15 minutes the slurry is charged with 300 g methanol and cooled down to about 15 ° c . by using ice water . 28 . 96 g of nd nitrate solution nd content 25 . 02 %, diluted with 50 g water and 50 g methanol ! is added to the sodium naphthenate solution in a period of about 15 minutes . after agitating for an additional 10 minutes , the precipitate is filtered by using a buchner funnel and is washed twice with a total amount of 200 ml of aqueous methanol ( 50 / 50 %) solution . the product is dried for about 15 hrs at about 55 ° c . to give 40 . 6 g ( 94 . 9 %) of a pale blue powder having a particle size of from about 600 to about 1000 μm . | 1 |
a color electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the drawings . the general construction of the color electrophotographic image forming apparatus will first be schematically described with reference to fig1 . fig1 is an illustration of the general construction of a laser beam printer which is a form of the color toner image forming apparatus . the image forming portion of the color laser beam printer is provided with an image bearing body ( photosensitive drum ( cylinder member )) 15 as an electrophotographic photosensitive body rotatable at a constant speed , a fixed type black developing unit 21 b and three rotatable color developing units ( a yellow developing unit 20 y , a magenta developing unit 20 m and a cyan developing unit 20 c ). below the image forming portion , there is disposed an intermediate transfer body 9 holding a developed and multiplexly transferred color toner image thereon and further transferring it to a recording medium 2 fed from a feeding portion . the recording medium 2 to which the color toner image has been transferred is conveyed to a fixing portion 25 , whereby the color toner image is fixed on the recording medium 2 , which is then discharged to a discharging portion 37 on the upper surface of the apparatus by discharge rollers 34 , 35 and 36 . the recording medium is , for example , a sheet of paper or an overhead projector sheet or the like . the rotatable color developing units 20 y , 20 m , 20 c and the fixed type black developing units 21 b are individually detachably attachable to the main body 100 of the printer ( i . e ., the main body of the image forming apparatus ). also , a sheet feeding roller 3 , a feeding roller 4 , a double feeding preventing retard roller 5 , a feeding guide 6 , a conveying roller 7 , registration rollers 8 and discharge rollers 34 , 35 , 36 together constitute conveying means 70 . the construction of each portion of the image forming apparatus will now be described in detail . a drum unit 13 as a process cartridge is such that the image bearing body 15 , a cleaning device provided with a cleaning member ( cleaning blade ) 16 , a charging device provided with a charging member ( charging means ) 17 , and the cleaner container 14 of the cleaning device serving also as a holder for the image bearing body 15 are constructed integrally with one another . this drum unit 13 is horizontally inserted into a unit containing portion through a mounting port , not shown , provided in the main body 100 of the printer , and is made detachably attachable to a mounting guide ( not shown ) as mounting means provided in the unit containing portion . accordingly , the drum unit 13 can be easily detached with respect to the main body 100 of the printer by a user , and is interchanged when the image bearing body 15 has reached the end of its life . the image bearing body 15 according to the present embodiment is such that an organic photoconductive material layer is applied to the outer side of the aluminum cylinder , which has a diameter of about 62 mm . it is rotatably supported on the container 14 of the cleaning device serving also as the holder for the image bearing body 15 . the cleaner blade 16 as the cleaning member and the primary charging means 17 as the charging member are disposed along the peripheral surface of the image bearing body 15 . also , a driving motor , not shown , is disposed on one rear end of the image bearing body 15 . by the driving force of this motor being transmitted , the image bearing body 15 is rotated counter - clockwise in conformity with the image forming operation . the cleaner blade 16 abuts against the image bearing body 15 , and removes any toner remaining on the surface of the image bearing body 15 after the toner image has been transferred . the charging means 17 uses a contact charging method . a charging roller , e . g . an electrically conductive roller , as the charging member , is made to abut against the image bearing body 15 . by applying a voltage to this charging roller , the surface of the image bearing body 15 is uniformly charged . the exposure to the image bearing body 15 is effected from a laser scanner portion 30 . that is , when an image signal is given to a laser diode ( not shown ), this laser diode applies a light 18 corresponding to the image signal to a polygon mirror 31 . this polygon mirror 31 is rotated at a high speed by a scanner motor 31 a , and the light 18 reflected by the polygon mirror 31 selectively exposes the surface of the image bearing body 15 rotated at a constant speed via an imaging lens 32 and a reflecting mirror 33 . as a result , an electrostatic latent image conformity to image information is formed on the image bearing body 15 . the developing mechanism of the present embodiment is provided with three rotatable developing units 20 y , 20 m , 20 c and a black developing unit 21 b which enable the development of yellow , magenta , cyan and black in order to visualize the electrostatic latent image . during color image formation , a developing rotary 23 rotates for each one full rotation of the intermediate transfer body 9 . the developing steps are carried out in the order of the yellow developing unit 20 y , the magenta developing unit 20 m , the cyan developing unit 20 c and lastly the black developing unit 21 b . each of the three rotatable developing units 20 y , 20 m and 20 c contains therein a toner corresponding in quantity to about 7000 images ( a4 size , print percentage of 4 %). they are detachably attachably held on the developing rotary 23 as holding means rotated about a rotary shaft ( hereinafter referred to as the shaft ) 22 . on this developing rotary 23 , there is provided a mounting guide ( not shown ) as mounting means for detachably mounting the rotatable developing units 20 y , 20 m and 20 c . in case of image formation , the developing units 20 y , 20 m and 20 c are rotatively moved about the shaft 22 while being held on the developing rotary 23 . a predetermined one of the developing units 20 y , 20 m and 20 c is stopped at a position opposed to the image bearing body 15 . during color toner image formation , the developing rotary 23 is rotated for each one full rotation of the intermediate transfer body 9 and the developing steps are carried out in the order of the yellow developing unit 20 y , the magenta developing unit 20 m , the cyan developing unit 20 c and the black developing unit 20 b . the developer of the developing unit of each color is a non - magnetic monocomponent developer . fig2 shows a state in which the yellow rotatable developing unit 20 y rests at a position opposed to the image bearing body 15 . the rotatable developing unit 20 y feeds a yellow toner ( yellow developer ) in the container to an applying roller 20 yr by a feeding member 20 yt . the yellow toner is applied in the form of a thin layer to the outer periphery of a developing roller 20 ys rotated clockwise by the applying roller 20 yr rotated clockwise and a developing blade 20 yb urged against the outer periphery of a developing roller ( cylinder member ) 20 ys as developing means , and charges are imparted ( frictional charging ) to the yellow toner . a developing bias is applied to the developing roller 20 ys opposed to the image bearing body 15 on which the latent images have been formed , whereby a yellow toner image is formed on the image bearing body 15 in conformity with the latent image . with respect also to the magenta developing unit 20 m and the cyan developing unit 20 c , toner development of each color is effected by a mechanism similar to what has been described above . the yellow developing unit 20 y has the applying roller 20 yr , the developing blade 20 yb , the developing roller 20 ys and a yellow toner containing portion 20 yg containing a yellow toner therein . likewise , the magenta developing unit 20 m has an applying roller 20 mr , a developing blade 20 mb , a developing roller 20 ms and a magenta toner containing portion mg containing a magenta toner therein . also , the cyan developing unit 20 c has an applying roller 20 cr , a developing blade 20 cb , a developing roller 20 cs and a cyan toner containing portion cg containing a cyan toner therein ( see fig1 ). also , the developing rollers 20 ys , 20 ms and 20 cs in the rotatable developing units 20 y , 20 m and 20 c , respectively , are connected to respective high voltage sources for color development and driving portions ( none of these being shown ) provided in the main body 100 of the printer when the developing units 20 y , 20 m and 20 c have been rotatively moved to the developing position . a voltage is selectively applied to each of the color developing units 20 y , 20 m and 20 c and the drive is connected . the intermediate transfer body 9 receives the multiplex transfer of the toner images on the image bearing body 15 visualized by the respective developing units 20 y , 20 m and 20 c four times ( the images of four colors y , m , c and b ) during the color toner image forming operation . therefore , it is rotated clockwise in synchronism with the outer peripheral velocity of the image bearing body 15 ( see fig1 ). also , the intermediate transfer body 9 which has received the multiplex transfer conveys the recording medium 2 while sandwiching the recording medium 2 between the intermediate transfer body 9 and the transfer roller 10 , to which a voltage has been applied , whereby the respective color toner images on the intermediate transfer body 9 are multiplexly transferred to the recording medium 2 at a particular time . the intermediate transfer body 9 according to the present embodiment comprises an aluminum cylinder 12 having a diameter of 186 mm and an elastic layer 11 of medium resistance sponge , medium resistance rubber or the like covering the outer periphery thereof . this intermediate transfer body 9 is driven and rotated by a gear ( not shown ) rotatably supported on and fixed integrally with the main body 100 of the printer . the cleaning means removes any toner remaining on the image bearing body 15 after the toner images visualized on the image bearing body 15 by the developing rollers ( developing means ) 20 ys , 20 ms , 20 cs and 21 bs of the developing units 20 y , 20 m , 20 c and 21 b , respectively have been transferred to the intermediate transfer body 9 . thereafter , the removed toner is stored in the cleaner container 14 . this cleaner container 14 can contain therein removed toner more than will be generated during the life ( about 50 , 000 images ) of the image bearing body 15 . accordingly , when the image bearing body 15 reaches the end of its life , the cleaner container 14 is interchanged with it . in the present embodiment , a cleaning blade 16 is used as the cleaning member . this cleaning blade 16 abuts against the surface of the image bearing body 15 . the sheet feeding portion feeds the recording medium 2 to the image forming portion , and as shown in fig1 it is comprised chiefly of a sheet feeding cassette 1 containing a plurality of recording mediums 2 therein , a feeding roller 3 , a feeding roller 4 , a double feeding preventing retard roller 5 , a feeding guide 6 , a conveying roller 7 and registration rollers 8 . during image formation , the feeding roller 3 is rotatively driven in response to the image forming operation and separates and feeds the recording mediums 2 in the sheet feeding cassette 1 one by one and also , the recording medium is guided by the feeding guide plate 6 and comes to the registration rollers 8 via the conveying roller 7 . during the image forming operation , the registration rollers 8 perform the non - rotating operation of making the recording medium 2 reset and wait and the rotating operation of conveying the recording medium 2 toward the intermediate transfer body 9 , at a predetermined sequence , and effects the alignment between the toner image and the recording medium 2 during the transferring step , which is the next step . the secondary transfer portion , as shown in fig1 is provided with a transfer belt 10 pivotally movable as a transfer member . the transfer belt 10 is a belt having its surface layer formed of rubber of high resistance ( the surface resistance being 10 9 to 10 13 ω ), and is vertically pivotally movable and rotatable . during the time when the toner images on the intermediate transfer body 9 are being formed , i . e ., during the time when the intermediate transfer body 9 is rotated a plurality of times , the transfer belt 10 is positioned below and spaced apart from the intermediate transfer body 9 as indicated by solid line so as not to disturb the images . specifically , during the time when toner images of four colors are being formed on the intermediate transfer body 9 , i . e ., during the time when the intermediate transfer body 9 is rotated a plurality of times , the transfer belt 10 is downwardly retracted relative to the intermediate transfer body 9 so as not to disturb those toner images . after the toner images of four colors have been formed on the intermediate transfer body 9 , the transfer belt 10 is urged against the intermediate transfer body 9 with predetermined pressure with the recording medium 2 interposed therebetween at an upper position indicated by thin line by a cam member , not shown , in synchronism with the timing at which the color toner images are transferred to the recording medium 2 . at the same time , a bias is applied to the transfer belt 10 and therefore , the toner images on the intermediate transfer body 9 are transferred to the recording medium 2 . each of the intermediate transfer body 9 and the transfer belt 10 is driven . therefore , the recording medium 2 sandwiched between the two is subjected to the transferring step and at the same time , it is conveyed to the left ( as viewed in fig1 ) at a predetermined speed and is conveyed toward a heating and fixing device , which is the next step . the toner images formed on the image bearing body 15 by the respective developing rollers ( developing means ) 20 ys , 20 ms , 20 cs and 21 bs of the developing units 20 y , 20 m , 20 c and 21 b are transferred onto the recording medium 2 through the intermediate transfer body 9 . the heating and fixing device 25 melts and mixes the toner images transferred onto the recording medium 2 by the use of heat and fixes the toner images on the recording medium 2 . as shown in fig1 the heating and fixing device 25 is provided with a fixing roller for applying heat to the recording medium 2 and a pressing roller 27 for urging the recording medium 2 against the fixing roller 26 , and the rollers 26 and 27 are hollow rollers . they have heaters 28 and 29 therein . they are rotatively driven to thereby convey the recording medium 2 at the same time . that is , the recording medium 2 holding the toner image thereon is conveyed by the fixing roller 26 and the pressing roller 27 and has heat and pressure imparted thereto , whereby the toner image is fixed on the recording medium 2 . the black developing unit 21 b in the present embodiment is detachably fixed to and mounted in the main body 100 of the printer . that is , the black developing unit 21 b is horizontally inserted into a unit containing portion through a mounting port provided in the main body 100 of the printer , and is detachably supported relative to a mounting guide ( not shown ) as mounting means provided in the unit containing portion . the black developing unit 21 b has a toner containing portion 21 bg as a developer containing portion containing a black toner therein , and the developing roller 21 bs ( see fig2 ). as shown in fig2 the black developing unit 21 b feeds the toner in the container into a first agitating portion 21 bm by the second feeding member 21 bu of a second agitating portion 21 bn , and feeds the toner toward the developing roller 21 bs by a first feeding member 21 bt through an opening portion 21 ba . the toner is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the developing roller 21 bs by an applying blade ( applying means ) 21 bb urged against the outer periphery of the developing roller 21 bs and imparts charges ( frictional charging ) to the toner ( see fig2 and 3 ). a developing bias is applied to the developing roller 21 bs to thereby effect reversal developing ( jumping developing ) correspondingly to the electrostatic latent image on the image bearing body 15 , thus forming a toner image by the black toner on the surface of the image bearing body 15 . spacer rollers 21 bk are coaxially disposed on the opposite end portions of the developing roller 21 bs of the black developing unit 21 b , as shown in fig2 , and the outer diameter of the spacer rollers 21 bk is slightly greater than the outer diameter of the developing roller 21 bs . these spacer rollers 21 bk bear against the outer peripheral surface of the image bearing body 15 , whereby the developing roller 21 bs secures a minute interval ( of the order 300 μm ) relative to the image bearing body 15 . a toner image by the black toner is formed correspondingly to the electrostatic latent image on the image bearing body 15 . the construction in which a minute interval is provided between the image bearing body 15 and the developing roller 21 bs is similarly present in the other colors . the toner capacity of the black developing unit 21 b , with the amount of toner consumption taken into account , corresponds to 17000 images ( a4 size , 4 %) which is approximately double the toner capacity of the other rotatable developing units 20 y , 20 m and 20 c . also , the installed position of the black developing unit 21 b is between a laser scanner portion 30 which is an exposure device and the rotatable developing units 20 y , 20 m , 20 c , as shown in fig1 . by so disposing the black developing unit 21 b , even if the toners leak when the rotatable developing units 20 y , 20 m and 20 c are rotated , the toners are prevented from scattering to optical parts such as the laser scanner portion 30 , etc . thus , the toners are prevented from adhering to a polygon mirror 31 , an imaging lens 32 , a reflecting mirror 33 , etc . and thereby hampering the latent image formation , and a clear output image can be obtained . measures for preventing the adherence of floating toners to the bottom of the toner containing portion the black developing unit 21 b , as shown in fig1 and 2 , is mounted in the main body 100 of the printer and the bottom 21 bg 1 of the toner containing portion 21 bg thereof is opposed to the developing rotary 23 . therefore , color toners scattering from the developing units 20 m , 20 y and 20 c held by the developing rotary 23 and floating in the main body 100 of the printer may adhere to the bottom 21 bg 1 of the black developing unit 21 b . thus , in the present embodiment , as shown in fig2 and 4 , a cover sheet 21 br which is a low resistance member is adhesively secured to the bottom surface of the bottom 21 bg 1 of the toner containing portion 21 bg . in the present embodiment , the cover sheet 21 br is formed of a super - high molecular polyethylene sheet material having surface resistance 10 6 ω or less ( specifically , surface resistivity of 10 13 ω / sq . or less ). the cover sheet 21 br is of low resistance and therefore its surface is not significantly charged . also , it is formed of a sheet material of a low coefficient of friction , such as a super - high molecular polyethylene sheet material , and therefore is excellent in the slipping property of its surface . by these two characteristics , the adherence of the color toners floating in the main body 100 of the printer is prevented . thus , the adherence of the color toners to the bottom 21 bg 1 of the toner containing portion 21 bg can be prevented and therefore , there can be realized a black developing unit 21 b excellent in usability . although not shown , the cover sheet 21 br is formed with an aperture in least one location . by virtue of the cover sheet 21 br being formed with an aperture in at least one desired location as described above , the air in the space of the housing of the cover sheet 21 br and the toner containing portion 21 bg can be drawn out when the cover sheet 21 br is adhered to the bottom 21 bg 1 of the toner containing portion 21 bg , and the cover sheet 21 br can be prevented from being wrinkled during the adhesive securing thereof . also , the air in the space of the housing of the cover sheet 21 br and the toner containing portion 21 bg can be prevented from being expanded by temperature rise to thereby inflate the cover sheet 21 br . the black developing unit 21 b , as shown in fig2 , comprises a toner containing portion 21 bg and a developing portion frame 21 bl coupled together by an ultrasonic joining method . a projected portion 62 is formed on a portion of the developing portion frame 21 bl , and the projected portion 62 bears against the bottom surface 63 a of a recess 63 formed in a portion of the housing of the toner containing portion 21 bg . when in this state , a portion of the housing of the toner containing portion 21 bg is held by a pedestal 61 and a portion of the developing portion frame 21 bl is pressed and vibrated by a horn 60 , the projected portion 62 is melted in the recess 63 , and the toner containing portion 21 bg and the developing portion frame 21 bl are joined together . the conventional ultrasonic joining method for the toner containing portion 21 bg and the developing portion frame 21 bl will now be described with reference to fig2 . as shown in fig2 , the toner containing portion 21 bg and the developing portion frame 21 bl have been ultrasonically joined together , in a state in which when on a blow - out preventing sheet 21 bf side provided on the developing portion frame 21 bl , the distance between the inner end 60 a 1 of a close contact area 60 a in which a horn 61 is in close contact with the developing portion frame 21 bl and the projected portion 62 of the developing portion frame 21 bl is defined as b and the distance between the outer end 60 a 2 of the close contact area 60 a in which the horn 61 is in close contact with the developing portion frame 21 bl and the projected portion 62 of the developing portion frame 21 bl is defined as a , b and a are adjusted so that b ≧ a , and in a state when on the side opposite to the blow - out preventing sheet 21 bf of the developing portion frame 21 bl , the distance between the inner end 60 b of a close contact area 60 b in which the horn 61 is in close contact with the developing portion frame 21 bl and the projected portion 62 of the developing portion frame 21 bl is defined as b and the distance between the outer end 61 b 2 of the close contact area 60 b in which the horn 61 is in close contact with the developing portion frame 21 bl and the projected portion 62 of the developing portion frame 21 bl is defined as a , b and a are adjusted so that b & lt ; a . in such an ultrasonic joining method , however , the moment m of the distance b by the pressing force ( distribution load ) of the horn 60 in the close contact areas 60 a and 60 b of the developing portion frame 21 bl is great as compared with the moment ( not shown ) of the distance a and therefore , the housing of the developing portion frame 21 bl is deformed inside an opening indicated by arrow a . as a result , the blow - out preventing sheet ( blow - out preventing means ) 21 bf strongly abuts against the developing roller 21 bs , not shown , and scrapes off a part of the black toner applied to the developing roller 21 bs . this causes either the floating of the black toner or an uneven image to occur in the portion wherein the blow - out preventing sheet strongly abuts against the developing roller 21 bs . so , in the present embodiment , when the toner containing portion 21 bg and the developing portion frame 21 bl are to be joined together , when , as shown in fig2 , the distance between the inner end 60 a 1 of the close contact area 60 a in which the horn 60 is in close contact with the developing portion frame 21 bl and the projected portion 62 is defined as b , and the distance between the outer end 60 a 2 of the close contact area 60 a in which the horn 60 is in close contact with the developing portion frame 21 bl and the projected portion 62 is defined as a , b and a are adjusted so that b & lt ; a . by effecting the adjustment of the joint as previously described , the warp of the developing portion frame 21 bl can be made small . that is , in the ultrasonic joining method according to the present embodiment , the moment m of the distance a by the pressing force ( distribution load ) of the horn 60 in the close contact area 60 a of the developing portion frame 21 bl becomes great as compared with the moment ( not shown ) of the distance b . therefore , it can be corrected for the housing of the developing portion frame 21 bl to be deformed toward the inside of an opening indicated by arrow a in fig2 . as a result , the warp of the blow - out preventing sheet 21 bf adhesively secured to the developing portion frame 21 bl becomes small and the blow - out preventing sheet 21 bf can be made to stably abut against the developing roller 21 bs . thereby , it becomes possible to effect the stable application of the black toner to the developing roller 21 bs , and both the occurrence of the floating or scattering of the black toner by the blow - out preventing sheet 21 bf scraping off part of the black toner applied to the developing roller 21 bs and the occurrence of an uneven image in the portion wherein the blow - out preventing sheet 21 bf strongly abuts can be suppressed . the aforedescribed joining method can also be suitably applied to the yellow developing unit 20 y , the magenta developing unit 20 m and the cyan developing unit 20 c . also , as shown in fig2 and 5 , an agitating member ( developer agitating member ) 21 bh and a rotatable member 21 bi are disposed in the developing portion 21 bv . the agitating member 21 bh in the present embodiment , as shown in fig1 , has one end portion 21 bh 1 thereof supported in an aperture 21 bc in the developing portion frame 21 bl , and has the other end portion 21 bh 2 thereof supported in an aperture 21 bi 1 in the rotatable member 21 bi . the agitating member 21 bh is fixed against axial movement relative to the rotatable member 21 bi . specifically , as shown in fig1 , a portion 21 bh 2 a of the other end portion 21 bh 2 of the agitating member 21 bh is pressed and thickened , and this thick portion 21 bh 2 a is forced into the aperture 21 bh 1 in the rotatable member 21 bi . in the present embodiment , the height dimension d of the thick portion 21 bh 2 a of the agitating member 21 bh and the diameter h of the aperture 21 bi 1 in the rotatable member 21 bi are in the dimensional relation that d − h ≧ 0 . 1 mm . by adopting the above - mentioned dimensional relation , the pull strength of the agitating member 21 bh relative to the rotatable member 21 bi can be 500 gf . on the other hand , the aperture 21 bc in the developing portion frame 21 b is of a tapered shape as shown in fig1 so that one end portion 21 bh 1 of the agitating member 21 bh may not slide . specifically , the taper angle is α ≧ 2 ° with respect to the peripheral surface of one end portion 21 bh 1 of the agitating member 21 bh . also , in the present embodiment , when the depth of the aperture 21 bc in the developing portion frame 21 bl is defined as l 1 and the length of the straight portion of one end portion 21 bh 1 of the agitating member 21 bh is defined as l 2 , l 2 & gt ; l 1 . by adopting such a dimensional relation , the bend root 21 bh 3 of one end portion 21 bh 1 of the agitating member 21 bh is prevented from axially interfering with the entrance of the aperture in the developing portion frame 21 bl . also , the entrance of the aperture 21 bc in the developing portion frame 21 bl is chamfered at 21 bc 1 and is made to escape more positively relative to the bend root 21 bh 3 of the agitating member 21 bh so that the interference with the bend root 21 bh 3 of the agitating member 21 bh may not occur . in the agitating member 21 bh in the present embodiment , a stopper 21 bj as an anti - slippage member is held on the inner side of the rotatable member 21 bi so that the agitating member may not fall off the developing portion frame 21 bl after the assembly thereof . as described above , in the agitating member supporting structure according to the present embodiment , the agitating member 21 bh is fixed against axial movement relative to the rotatable member 21 bi and therefore , the axial reciprocal movement of the agitating member 21 bh can be suppressed . thus , it never happens that the black toner is positively forced into the aperture 21 bc in the developing portion frame 21 bl . also , the aperture 21 bc in the developing portion frame 21 bl is provided with a taper angle of 2 ° or greater with respect to the peripheral surface of one end portion 21 bh 1 of the agitating member 21 bh . therefore , with the rotating operation of the agitating member 21 bh , the black toner can be discharged from the aperture 21 bc . moreover , the circumferential surface of one end portion 21 bh 1 of the agitating member 21 bh is not in surface contact with the aperture 21 bc and therefore , the adherence of the black toner to the inner surface of the aperture 21 bc can be reduced . also , since the dimensional relation between the depth l 1 of the aperture 21 bc in the developing portion frame 21 bl and the length l 2 of the straight portion of one end portion 21 bh 1 of the agitating member 21 bh is l 2 & gt ; l 1 , it can be avoided for the bend root 21 bh 3 of the agitating member 21 bh to axially interfere with the entrance of the aperture 21 bc in the developing portion frame 21 bl , and such a situation that the black toner adheres to the entrance of the aperture 21 bc in the developing portion frame 21 bl can be prevented . the aforedescribed agitating member supporting structure can also be suitably applied to the yellow developing unit 20 y , the magenta developing unit 20 m and the cyan developing unit 20 c . in the present embodiment , the aperture 21 bc is formed in the developing portion frame 21 bl to support one end portion 21 bh 1 of the agitating member 21 bh . however , as an alternative to the aperture 21 bc , a groove can be formed in the developing portion frame 21 bl to thereby support one end portion 21 bh 1 of the agitating member 21 bh . also , in the developing portion 21 bv , as shown in fig2 and 5 , there are disposed , besides the agitating member 21 bh , the developing roller 21 bs , the applying blade 21 bb , an openable shutter ( protective member ) 21 bo for protecting the developing roller 21 bs , etc . the shutter 21 bo , as shown in fig4 and 26 , is openably supported on the developing portion frame 21 bl through a shutter shaft 21 bq , and is opened to thereby expose the developing roller 21 bs when the black developing unit 21 b is mounted in the main body 100 of the printer , and is closed to thereby protect the developing roller 21 bs when the black developing unit 21 b is detached from the main body 100 of the printer . in the present embodiment , as shown in fig3 a magnet sheet 42 as developer catching means is disposed within 15 mm from the surface of the developing roller 21 bs . it can be mounted by being adhesively secured , for example , to a portion of the developing portion frame 21 bl , a portion of the shutter 21 bo or a portion of the applying blade 21 bb . the full length of the magnet sheet 42 is longer than the application area ( coat length ) of the black toner applied onto the developing roller 21 bs . also , the magnet sheet 42 is disposed parallel to the axis of the developing roller 21 bs . by so disposing the magnet sheet 42 , the toner floating from the developing roller 21 bs ( the toner floating around the developing roller 21 bs ) can be positively caught ( captured ) by the utilization of the adsorbing action by the magnetic force of the magnet sheet 42 . thereby , the stains of the housing of the black developing unit 21 b by the black toner and the contamination of the outer surface of the drum unit 13 disposed near the black developing unit 21 b can be prevented . by so disposing the magnet sheet 42 as developer catching means in the developing portion 21 bv , the black toner can be prevented from adhering to the other areas other than the developing portion 21 bv . measure for reducing the toner pressure to an opening seal member by falling ( 1 ) the toner containing portion 21 bg , as shown in fig7 is formed with upper and lower opening portions 21 ba , and the upper opening portion 21 ba is sealed with a lid 21 bd joined thereto , and the lower opening portion 21 ba is sealed with an opening seal member 43 adhesively secured thereto . the direction of detachment of the black developing unit 21 b relative to the main body 100 of the printer is the same as the lengthwise direction of the black developing unit 21 b ( the axial direction of the developing roller 21 bs ). just above the lower opening portion 21 ba , there is provided a partition member 44 which partitions the interior of the toner containing portion 21 bg into a plurality of containing chambers . this partition member 44 includes a first partition wall 44 a extending in the direction of detachment of the black developing unit 21 b relative to the main body 100 of the printer , and a plurality of second partition walls 44 b extending in a direction perpendicular to the direction of detachment of the black developing unit 21 b relative to the main body 100 of the printer . the first partition wall 44 a of the partition member 44 is formed so that the wall surface thereof may be larger than the opening area of the lower opening portion 21 ba ( see fig5 ). also , the first partition wall 44 a is disposed so that , as shown in fig5 the wall surface thereof may have an angle of inclination of 30 ° or less ( in the present embodiment , an angle of inclination of about 15 °) with respect to the adhesively secured surface of the opening seal member 43 and have an angle of inclination of 65 ° or less ( in the present embodiment , an angle of inclination of about 55 °) with respect to the horizontal plane h of the main body 100 of the printer . the first partition wall 44 a is formed and disposed in the toner containing portion 21 bg as described above and thus , the black toner trying to be moved toward the opening seal member 43 side by the shock or vibration to the black developing unit 21 b during shipment impinges on the wall surface of the first partition wall 44 a , whereby the movement of the black toner toward the opening seal member 43 side can be blocked by the first partition wall 44 a . thereby , the powder pressure to the opening seal member 43 by the black toner can be reduced and the breakage or the like of the opening seal member 43 by the powder pressure of the black toner can be suitably prevented . also , the plurality of second partition walls 44 b of the partition member 44 are provided in the toner containing portion 21 bg in a direction perpendicular to the direction of detachment of the black developing unit 21 b relative to the main body 100 of the printer . therefore , the black toner can be distributed to the toner containing chambers among the second partition walls 44 b , and the inclination of the black toner in the toner containing portion 21 bg can be reduced . measure for reducing the toner pressure to the opening seal member by falling ( 2 ) also , a first agitating portion 21 bm and a second agitating portion 21 bn are in the interior of the toner containing portion 21 bg , and a first feeding member 21 bt and a second feeding member 21 bu are rotatably supported on the respective agitating portions 21 bm and 21 bn . in the present embodiment , the endmost portion of the second feeding member 21 bu in the direction of rotational radius thereof is stopped so as to be opposed to the tip end portion of the first partition wall 44 a of the partition member 44 ( see fig5 ). further , the first feeding member 21 bt and the second feeding member 21 bu are provided with a phase difference of an angle of rotation of about 90 ° ( specifically , 90 °± 15 °). particularly , the first feeding member 21 bt is stopped at a position rotated by about 90 ° toward the upstream side relative to the second feeding member 21 bu . in a factory , the first feeding member 21 bt and the second feeding member 21 bu are adjusted to the previously described stopped positions and are shipped . as described above , the second feeding member 21 bu is stopped so that the embodiment portion thereof may be opposed to the tip end portion of the first partition wall 44 a , and the second feeding member 21 bu is stopped with its phase of rotation shifted to the upstream side of about 90 ° relative to the first feeding member 21 bt . therefore , in the toner containing portion 21 bg , a substantially meandering space portion is formed by the first partition wall 44 a , the second feeding member 21 bu and the first feeding member 21 bt . thus , the black toner trying to be moved toward the opening seal member 43 side by the shock or vibration to the black developing unit 21 b during shipment impinges on the first partition wall 44 a , the second feeding member 21 bu or the first feeding member 21 bt , and the movement of the black toner toward the opening seal member 43 side can be blocked by the first partition wall 44 a , the second feeding member 21 bu and the first feeding member 21 bt . the driving shafts 21 bw of the first feeding member 21 bt and the second feeding member 21 bu , as shown in fig7 are inserted into a side aperture 21 bg 1 in the toner containing portion 21 bg with oil seals 21 be . the first and second feeding members 21 bt and 21 bu are driven and rotated by the driving shafts 21 bw . the opening seal member 43 is constructed as a toner sealing member comprising , as shown in fig7 and 8 , film 43 a as a first sheet member covering ( sealing ) the lower opening portion 21 ba of the toner containing portion 21 bg in a hermetically sealed state , and a tape 43 b which is a flexible member as a second sheet member , the film 43 a and the tape 43 b being heat - welded together as a unit . the film 43 a utilizes a uniaxial oriented film material or a sheet material having a tearing property in one direction . for example , use is made of uniaxial oriented polyethylene , uniaxial oriented polypropylene , uniaxial oriented foamed polypropylene or the like . also , the tape 43 b must have sufficient strength to tear the film 43 a , and should desirably have tensile strength about three times as great as the film 43 a . as the material of the tape 43 b , use is made , for example , of film or a sheet material of biaxial oriented polypropylene , polystyene , biaxial oriented poypropylene , polystyrene , biaxial oriented nylon or the like . the film 43 a and the tape 43 b , as shown in fig1 , are joined together by a rectangular joint portion ( first joint portion ) 45 of which the four sides along the lower opening portion 21 ba of the toner containing portion 21 bg are continuous , and the free end side of the tape 43 b is turned back to the film 43 a . when the turned - back free end side of the tape 43 b is pulled , the film 43 a is torn in a predetermined direction while keeping the width of the tape 43 b . in the present embodiment , besides the rectangular joint portion 45 comprising the four sides , a joint portion ( second joint portion ) 46 joined in a spot - like fashion to the vicinity of the turned - back portion 43 b 1 of the tape 43 b is discontinuously provided on the film 43 a and the tape 43 b , as shown in fig1 , 11 and 25 . by this second joint portion 46 , an unjoined blank portion 43 a 1 created near the turned - back portion 43 b 1 of the film 43 a shown in fig2 when the tape 43 b is torn can be prevented from being folded doubly or trebly . thereby , the tape 43 b can be pulled out smoothly without being caught on the way , and the lower opening portion 21 ba of the toner containing portion 21 bg can be stably opened . in fig1 , the reference numeral 47 designates an adhesively securing area for adhesively securing the film 43 a to the toner containing portion 21 bg . now , comparing the amounts of tensile extension of the film 43 a and the tape 43 b with each other , the film 43 a is greater in extensibility than the tape 43 b . when for example , the black developing unit 21 b is made to fall , the black toner inclines in the container and , by its powder pressure , the opening seal member 43 is inflated . the greater the amount of inflation , the more the fracture of the film 43 a can be suppressed . in the present embodiment , as shown in fig1 and 13 , the corner portion at which the adjacent two sides of the rectangular joint portion 45 intersect is formed into an arcuate joint portion 45 a . even if , by the shock or vibration or the like during shipment , the powder pressure of the black toner acts on the film 43 a , the arcuate joint portions 45 a become liable to be inflated in the direction in which the powder pressure of the toner acts , and the amount of stretch in the widthwise direction of the opening seal member 43 ( the direction in which the two shorter sides of the joint portion 45 extend ) can be increased . thereby , the opening seal member 43 can be prevented from being fractured in the two shorter sides of the joint portion 45 by the shock or vibration during shipment . also , in this embodiment , as shown in fig1 and 15 , an arc - like bent portion 45 b is formed at each of two shorter sides of the rectangular joint portion 45 . with the bent portion 45 b , even if , by the shock or vibration or the like during shipment , the powder pressure of the black toner acts on the film 43 a , each bent portion 45 b of the two sides become liable to be inflated in the direction in which the powder pressure of the toner acts , and the amount of stretch in the widthwise direction of the opening seal member 43 ( the direction in which the two shorter sides of the joint portion 45 extend ) can be increased . thereby , the opening seal member 43 can be prevented from being fractured in the two shorter sides of the joint portion 45 by the shock or vibration during shipment . by adopting the construction as described above , a toner containing portion 21 bg of a large capacity capable of containing a great deal of black toner can be provided in the black developing unit 21 b . while in the present embodiment , a bent portion 45 b is formed at a location in each of the two shorter sides of the joint portion 45 , the bent portion 45 b may be formed at a plurality of locations . the aforedescribed joint structure between the film 43 a and tape 43 b of the opening seal member 43 can also be suitably applied to the yellow developing unit 20 y , the magenta developing unit 20 m and the cyan developing unit 20 c . the construction of a toner sealing member 40 as a developer sealing member according to the present invention will hereinafter be described . as shown in fig1 a and 19b , the toner sealing member 40 is divided into a first layer 40 a as a surface layer and a second layer 40 c as an inner layer . the first layer 40 a is fiber having a low coefficient of friction and wear resistance , and should desirably be a synthetic fiber , such as fluorine resin fiber , polyester , acryl or nylon , a chemical fiber such as rayon , or a mixture of these . generally , it is desirable to use fluorine resin fiber , and use can be made , for example , of polytetrafluoroethylene ( ptfe ), tetrafluoroethylene - hexafluoropropylene copolymer ( fpt ), tetrafluoroethylene - parfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer ( pfa ), tetrafluoroethylene copolymer ( etfe ) or the like . in the present embodiment , fiber having ptfe mixed therewith and made into felt is used as the first layer 40 a . as shown in fig2 , the felt has its fiber projected from the felt surface to a height of 0 . 5 to 5 mm by the use of a fork needle 41 , and is formed with loop - like projections 40 ac . next , the raising holding process is carried out , and by the use of roll press rp or the like , the loop - like projections 40 ac is laid in a predetermined direction , i . e ., the same direction as the axial direction of the developing roller 21 bs to thereby make the thickness of the texture uniform . further , the direction in which the projections 40 ac of the developer sealing member 40 is laid is toward the inside of the developing roller 21 bs . then , the first layer 40 a and the polyurethane foam ( e . g . poron produced by inoac inc .) of the second layer 40 c , which is a cushion material , are joined together by a both - surface tape 40 b having no base material ( e . g ., no . 5619 produced by nitto electric industrial co ., ltd ., f - 69pc produced by sumitomo 3m ltd . or the like ). further , the same both - surface tape 40 d having no base material as the aforedescribed both faces ( both - surface ) tape 40 b is adhered to the outer side of the second layer 40 c ( the side opposite to the first layer 40 a ). the toner sealing member 40 is fixed to the developing portion frame 21 bl on the outer side of the lower opening portion 21 ba of the toner containing portion 21 bg in a state bent along the circumferential surface ( outer peripheral surface ) of the lengthwise end portion of the developing roller 21 bs by the both - surface tape 40 d . the black toner is supplied from the opening portion 21 ba to the developing roller 21 bs , and the projections 40 ac of the belt surface of the first layer 40 a is in close contact with a portion of the circumferential surface ( outer peripheral surface ) of the developing roller 21 bs ( a portion of the outside of the area to which the black toner is applied ( the outside of the black toner bearing area )). the toner sealing member 40 fixed to the developing portion frame 21 bl as described above is such that the loop - like projections 40 ac of the felt surface of the first layer 40 a catches the black toner on the outer peripheral surface of the developing roller 21 bs and prevents the outflow of the black toner to the outside . also , the direction in which the loop - like raising 40 ac of the first layer 40 a is laid down is toward the lengthwise center of the developing roller 21 bs . therefore , the resistance in the outflow direction of the black toner can be increased and thus , the outflow of the black toner can be better prevented . also , the both - surface tape 40 b having no base material is used for the joining of the first layer 40 a and the second layer 40 c and therefore , when the toner sealing member 40 is bent along the circumferential surface of the developing roller 21 bs and fixed to the developing portion frame 21 bl , the felt surface of the first layer 40 a can be prevented from being wrinkled . also , the both - surface tape 40 d having no base material is adhesively secured to the outer side of the second layer 40 c , whereby the toner sealing member 40 can be bent so as to be along the circumferential surface of the developing roller 21 bs and accurately fixed to the developing portion frame 21 bl . while in the present embodiment , the toner sealing members 40 are disposed on the lengthwisely opposite end portions of the developing roller 21 bs of the black developing unit 21 b , of course they may be disposed on the lengthwisely opposite end portions of each of the developing rollers 20 ys , 20 ms and 20 cs of the yellow developing unit 20 y , the magenta developing unit 20 m and the cyan developing unit 20 c , respectively , or on the lengthwisely opposite end portions of the image bearing body 15 as a process cartridge . by the toner sealing members 40 of the construction as previously described being thus disposed on the lengthwisely opposite end portions of each of the developing rollers 20 ys , 20 ms and 20 cs or the image bearing body 15 , an effect similar to the effect obtained by the aforedescribed toner sealing members 40 can be obtained . now , on the black developing device 21 b , as previously described , the shutter 21 bo for protecting the developing roller 21 bs is held so as to be rotatively movable ( see fig2 and 26 ). as shown in fig2 , a shutter opening - closing member 21 bp is rotatably mounted on a holder 21 by disposed on the rear side of the black developing device 21 b , and is biased in one direction by a spring ( not shown ). also , a shutter shaft 21 bq is disposed astride a holder 21 bx disposed on the front side of the black developing device 21 b , and is rotatably supported by a mounting member , not shown , provided on the same axis as the axis of the developing roller 21 bs . when in this state , a rotational moment is given to the other end portion ( arm end ) 21 bp 1 of the shutter opening - closing member 21 bp in a direction perpendicular to the bus line of the image bearing body 15 , the shutter opening - closing member 21 bp is rotated and the shutter 21 bo is smoothly rotatively moved . in order to realize the rotation of the shutter opening - closing member 21 bp , in the present embodiment , an opening - closing guide member 51 is disposed in a pivotally movable guide portion 50 provided in the main body 100 of the printer ( see fig2 ). the opening - closing guide member 51 is fixed to the pivotally movable guide portion 50 and is a wall surface formed by a gentle slope . when the user inserts the developing unit 21 b into the pivotally movable guide portion 50 to some extent , the arm end 21 bp 1 of the shutter opening - closing member 21 bp bears against the opening - closing guide member 51 . when the insertion of the black developing unit 21 b is further continued , the arm end 21 bp 1 of the shutter opening - closing member 21 bp moves along the gentle slope formed on the opening - closing guide member 51 . the shutter 21 bo as the protective member in the present embodiment is formed of permanent charging preventing resin , of which the surface resistivity is 10 5 to 10 13 ω / sq . by the shutter 21 bo being formed of permanent charging preventing resin , dust , nap , etc . can be prevented from electrostatically adhering to the shutter 21 bo . as hydrophilic polymers used in permanent charging preventing resin , there are , for example , polyethylene glycol methacrylate copolymer , poly ( ethyleneoxide / proyleneoxide ) copolymer , polyamide of polyethylene glycol series , polyester amide of polyethylene glycol series , poly ( epichlorohydrin / ethyleneoxide ) copolymer , etc . in the aforedescribed embodiment , a color toner image forming apparatus has been exemplified as the electrophotographic image forming apparatus , whereas the present invention need not be restricted thereto , but a similar construction can also be adopted in an electrophotograhic image forming apparatus such as a monochromatic electrophotographic image forming apparatus , an electrophotographic copying apparatus , an electrophotographic facsimile apparatus or an electrophotographic word processor . also , the electrophotographic photosensitive body is not restricted to the photosensitive drum ( image bearing body ), but for example , the following are included . first , a photoconductive body may be used as the photosensitive body , and for example , amorphous silicon , amorphous selenium , zinc oxide , titanium oxide and organic photoconductive material ( opc ) may be included as the photoconductive body . also , as a shape carrying the photosensitive body thereon , use may be made , for example , of a drum - like shape or a belt - like shape , and for example , in a drum type photosensitive body , a photoconductive material is deposited by evaporation or applied onto a cylinder of an aluminum alloy or the like . also , as the developing method , it is possible to use one of several developing methods , such as the conventional two - component magnetic brush developing method , the cascade developing method , the touchdown developing method and the cloud developing method . also , while in the aforedescribed embodiment , the so - called contact charging method has been used as the construction of the charging means , it is a matter of course that as other construction , use may be made of a construction in which a metallic shield of aluminum or the like is provided around a heretofore used tungsten wire , and positive or negative ions created by applying a high voltage to the tungsten wire are moved to the surface of a photosensitive drum , and the surface of this drum is uniformly charged . as the charging means , use may be made of a blade ( charging blade ), a pad type one , a block type one , a rod type one , a wire type one or the like , besides the aforedescribed roller type one . also , as the method of removing any toner residual on the photosensitive drum , a blade , a fur brush , a magnetic brush or the like may be used to construct cleaning means . also , the drum unit as the aforedescribed process cartridge is provided , for example , with an electrophotographic photosensitive body and at least one process means acting on this electrophotographic photosensitive body . accordingly , as the modes of the process cartridge , there are , besides the aforedescribed embodiment , for example , one detachably attachable to the main body of the image forming apparatus , one comprising an electrophotographic photosensitive body and cleaning means integrally made into a cartridge so as to be detachably attachable to the main body of the image forming apparatus , and further , such cartridge also provided with a developing apparatus . | 6 |
fig4 a and fig4 b are circuit diagrams of showing an embodiment of the invention , and fig5 is a signal waveform diagram of the fig4 a and fig4 b . in the drawings , the reference number 11 shows a delay chain circuit , g12 through g14 inverters , mn5 and mn6 n channel mosfet &# 39 ; s , and mp2 through mp5 p channel mosfet &# 39 ; s , respectively . in the embodiment , the circuit is composed of inverting means and mosfet circuit . the inverting means composed of the inverter ( g12 ) inputting the address signal ( ai ), the inverter ( g13 ) connected to the inverter ( g12 ), the delay circit 11 connected to the inverter ( g13 ), and the inverter ( g14 ) connected to the delay circuit 11 . the mosfet circuit is composed of the p channel mosfet ( mp2 ) which the gate thereof is connected to the input address line and the source thereof is connected to the voltage source ( vcc ), the p channel mosfet ( mp3 ) which the gate thereof is connected to the output line ( b &# 39 ;) of the inverter ( g14 ) and the source thereof is connected to the drain of the mosfet ( mp2 ), the p channel mosfet ( mp4 ) which the gate thereof is connected to the output line ( a &# 39 ;) of the inverter ( g12 ) and the source thereof is connected to the voltage source ( vcc ), the p channel mosfet ( mp5 ) which the gate thereof is connected to the output line ( b ) of the delay circuit 11 and the source thereof is connected to the drain of the p channel mosfet ( mp4 ), the n channel mosfet ( mn5 ) which the gate thereof is connected to the output line ( b ) of the delay circuit 11 , the drain thereof is connected to the drain of the p channel mosfet ( mp3 ) and the source thereof is connected to the output line ( a &# 39 ;) of the inverter ( g12 ), and the n channel mosfet ( mn6 ) which the gate thereof is connected to the output line ( a &# 39 ;) of the inverter ( g12 ), the drain thereof is connected to the drain of the mosfet ( mp5 ) and the source thereof is connected to the output line ( b ) of the delay circuit 11 . and here the n channel mosfet &# 39 ; s ( mn5 , mn6 ) are cross - coupled with each other . in the period ( t1 ) of fig5 the address signal ( ai ) is changed to the low level , the output line ( b &# 39 ;) of the inverter ( g14 ) is turned to the high level , and then the n channel mosfet ( mn6 ) is turned on in the state blocking the current path from the voltage source ( vcc ) to the output line ( atd ). at this line the output line ( atd ) is turned to the low state . in the period ( t2 ), the address signal ( ai ) is changed to the high level , the output line ( a &# 39 ;) of the inverter ( g12 ) and the output line ( b ) of the delay circuit 11 are turned to the low level , and then the cross - coupled n channel mosfet &# 39 ; s ( mn5 , mn6 ) are turned off . at this time , the output line ( atd ) is turned to the high level . in the period ( t3 ), the output line ( b ) of the delay circuit 11 is changed to the high level in the state that the address ( ai ) line keeps the high level , and the n channel mosfet ( mn5 ) is turned on in the state blocking the current path from the voltage source ( vcc ) to the output line ( atd ), and then the output line ( atd ) is turned to the low state . in the period ( t4 ), the address signal ( ai ) is changed to the low level , the output line ( b &# 39 ;) of the inverter ( g14 ) is turned to the low level , and then the p channel mosfet &# 39 ; s ( mp2 , mp3 ) are turned on . at this time , the output line ( atd ) is turned to the high level . in the period ( t5 ), the output line ( a &# 39 ;) of the inverter ( g12 ) is changed to the high level in the state that the address signal ( ai ) line keeps the low level , the output line ( b ) of the delay circuit 11 is turned to the low level , and then the n channel mosfet ( mn6 ) is turned on . at this time , the output line ( atd ) is turned to the low level . fig6 a and fig6 b are circuit diagrams of showing another embodiment and fig7 is a signal waveform diagram of fig6 a and fig6 b . in the drawings , the reference mp6 and mp7 show p channel mosfet &# 39 ; s , mn7 through mn10 n channel mosfet &# 39 ; s , respectively , and the same reference in fig4 a and fig4 b shows the same device . the circuit of this embodiment is basically the same as the circuit of fig4 a and fig4 b and is to comprise the mosfet &# 39 ; s circuit again by inverting just the polarity of the mosfet device in comparison with the fig4 a and fig4 b . that is , the p channel mosfet &# 39 ; s ( mp2 through mp5 ) in fig4 a and fig4 b are respectively replaced with the n channel mosfet &# 39 ; s ( mn7 through mn10 ), and the n channel mosfet &# 39 ; s ( mn5 , mn6 ) are respectively replaced with the p channel mosfet &# 39 ; s ( mp6 , mp7 ) in this embodiment . and accordingly the output line ( atd ) as shown in fig7 shows the inverted state that inverts the state of the output line ( atd ) of fig5 . | 6 |
embodiments of the present invention include a device and method to correct a sagging bed mattress . the mattress can be of any size , for example , child - size , twin , double , queen , king or the like , and includes mattresses used for beds , sofabeds , hideaway beds , recliner chairs and the like . conventional mattresses sag and develop a depression or divot ( or “ body divot ”) over time where the user lays on it . fig1 illustrates a conventional bed that comprises a box spring 10 and a mattress 11 placed atop the box spring 10 . the box spring 10 is generally supported by a frame 30 ( shown in phantom ) having legs 32 . the mattress 11 shown in fig1 has a divot 12 and may potentially have multiple divots if it is shared by two people as might be the case with a double , queen or king sized mattress . the divot 12 is a depression in a portion of the upper surface 42 of the mattress 11 . a device embodiment 100 of the present invention comprises one or more layers of pads ( fig2 a and 2 c ). fig2 a is a side view of this embodiment , which comprises several pads of progressive sizes , a large pad 140 , a medium pad 150 and a small pad 160 . the size of the pads , whether small , medium or large is based on their grouping with each other for a specific mattress . for example , the pads of a device 100 used on a twin - sized mattress , while small to large with respect to each other , may all be considered as “ very small ” when compared to the pads of a device used for a king - sized bed . in use , the device 100 is positioned atop the mattress 11 ( fig3 ). the pads are selected so that the small pad 160 will fit within the cavity of the divot 12 , a larger pad 150 will be positioned atop the small pad 160 and fit within the cavity of the divot , followed by the larger pad 140 to fill the remaining space in the cavity , with the top surface 142 of the large pad 140 being approximately even with , or slightly above , the upper surface 42 of mattress 11 . as seen in the drawing , the pads of the device fill in the divot 12 and create an even sleep surface across the mattress 11 . the pads are intended to be used under a sheet ( not shown ) that covers the mattress , and can be placed on top of or under any existing mattress topper that might already cover the full surface of a bed . in embodiments , the pads may range from about ⅜ inch to about 2 inches in thickness . in other embodiments , the pads may range from about ½ inch to about 1 . 5 inches in thickness . in other embodiments , the pads may range from about 0 . 75 inches to about 1 . 25 inches in thickness . in another embodiment , the pads are about 1 inch in thickness . in embodiments , the two or more pads are progressively sized , a smaller pad being applied to the mattress top surface first , followed by a larger sized pad . as the progressively sized pads are placed on top of a sagging mattress , the cavity of the divot is filled in . fig4 illustrates placement of the device 100 beneath a user 24 ( shown in phantom ). if the mattress 11 contains , for example , two divots , resulting from use by multiple users , or someone alternating sides of the mattress being slept on , then two devices 100 would be used , one device to fill each divot . as shown in fig4 , the device 100 should be long enough to reach from a person &# 39 ; s shoulders to their hips , or , in one embodiment approximately 36 ″ long and 22 ″ wide for the large pad 140 . in this embodiment , the medium sized pad 150 is approximately 30 ″ long and 18 ″ wide , and the smallest pad 160 is approximately 24 ″ long and 14 ″ wide . the shape of the pads when viewed from the top should be non - rectangular ( oval , for example , see fig2 c ). the use of a non - rectangular shaped pad is an improvement over rectangular shaped pads because it avoids having corners that would lie outside the divot cavity area and protrude upwards . in the embodiment shown ( fig2 c and 4 ), the pads are oval . pads 300 having a taper towards their center , comparable to an hour glass but not so constricted at the center , could also be utilized in alternate embodiments ( fig7 ). when seen in a cross section ( fig2 b ), the pads are generally flat , allowing the pads to be stacked upon each other . the flat surface enables the pads to be put into a variety of positional relationships to each other for maximum versatility of use . provided that the pads are manufactured from a material that does not have a slippery surface , the pads , when stacked , should not slide with respect to each other . a flat surface configuration represents an efficient configuration for manufacturing the device because most resilient materials of which the pads would be made from are manufactured in flat sheets . the flat shape also avoids the need for molding or the complex contouring needed to achieve a parabolic cross section , which would increase both the difficulty and cost to manufacture the device of the present invention . fig3 shows how the pads 140 , 150 and 160 can be stacked to fill a divot 12 of a sagging mattress . it can be seen that by having multiple thin layers of flat material created in progressive sizes , they approximate the curved cross section of the divot and restore an even sleep surface . the flat pads can be further contoured by being provided with a beveled edge 250 on one side as shown in fig6 a - b . in use , pads having a beveled edge can be positioned as shown in fig6 , with the beveled edge facing upwards , or the pads can be utilized with the beveled edge facing downward , which may aid in forming a smoother surface as the divot is filled . embodiments of the present invention can comprises a mixture of pads , some with flat edges , others with beveled edges or a combination thereof . the pads can be provided with a component to secure them in place on the mattress and to prevent them from moving during use . an example of such a component is a cover 170 made from a non - slip fabric . cover 170 has an opening 180 through which the pads are placed ( fig5 a ). the cover 170 includes a pair of flaps 182 and 184 , which overlap each other and secure the pads inside the cover 170 after closure of the opening 180 . a means for securing 190 the opening comprising a single strip , or multiple pieces of a fastener 190 , such as a hook and loop fastener , could be positioned inside the flaps 182 and 184 or attached elsewhere on the surface of the cover ( fig5 b ), to engage a mating component ( not shown ) on second flap 184 . alternatively , one or more of other types of fasteners , such as a zipper , a button , a snap , a hook , a hook and eye , an elastic band , a drawstring or the like could also be used to close the cover . fig5 b also shows the cover 170 with a strip of a non - slip material 200 that is designed to grip a surface such as a mattress , the underside of a full size mattress pad or the underside of a cover . the strips 200 can be constructed of a tacky rubber , hook and loop fasteners or contain a pressure - sensitive adhesive such as that used for self - adhesive and removable note material . in an alternate embodiment , the pads to fill a particular size divot can be selected and stacked atop each other , and then placed within the cover 170 , and the combination of the pads and cover positioned within the divot to fill in the divot . the cover 170 can be sized to fit a particular set of pads , or can be sized larger , not only to hold the pads , but to act as a mattress topper for whatever size bed the device is being used on . an alternate embodiment of the cover ( not shown ) can be sized to cover the full size of a mattress , whether twin , double , queen or the like , and that includes a material on its mattress facing side that is gripped by hook and loop fastener strips . such a configuration allows the pad and pad cover assembly to be placed anywhere on the mattress and have the full sized cover hold it in place . the pads can be made of any resilient material known to those skilled in the art . one such material is fiber batting , selected because of its non - slip properties and low cost . other materials can be selected from urethane foam , memory foam , or quilted pads . pad embodiments can include a strip of non - slip material 220 , on the top ( fig6 ), bottom , or top and bottom surfaces of each pad , which would serve to keep individual pads in - place if a cover is not used . quilted pads can be made from either a natural or a synthetic material , or a combination thereof , with cotton being a non - limiting example of a natural material , and polyester being a non - limiting example of a synthetic material used for quilted pads . memory foam is a type of visco - elastic foam that was originally developed by the united states national aeronautics and space administration (“ nasa ”) for use in conjunction with the u . s . space program , and in recent decades has been placed into the public domain . memory foam is now a component of certain brands of mattresses , and often used in pillows , head rests and other devices . a set of pads for a particular device embodiment can comprise pads of identical composition , or may comprise pads of different compositions , or combinations of one or more of these materials . such combinations would allow a first layer to fill in the divot and another layer to match the feel of the mattress itself . in one such configuration , for example only , the top layer is made of memory foam in order to match the feel of a mattress with a memory foam top layer , while the lower layers could be a urethane foam to add firmness and support . a method of filling a divot of a sagging mattress comprises a series of steps , and these assume that one is working with a bare mattress , that is , one with no sheet on it . the upper surface and sides of the mattress may or may not be covered with a mattress pad prior to one performing the method . after determining the location of a divot on the mattress , a pad is selected from the group of pads , and the selected pad is placed within the divot so that the pad fits within the divot , and does not extend beyond the divot . a second pad , generally larger than the first pad , is selected from the group of pads , and the second pad is placed within the divot so that the second pad fits atop the first pad , the second pad fits within the divot , and does not extend beyond the divot . a third pad is selected from the group of pads , the third pad being generally larger than the first and the second pad , and the third pad is placed within the divot so that the pad fits within the divot , fills the divot , and extend beyond the divot and becomes generally even with the upper surface of the mattress . in an alternate embodiment , after the pads are stacked atop each other , the pads are placed into a cover , and the combination of the pads and the cover placed in the divot to fill in the divot . although embodiments of this invention have been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by the way of illustration , and that numerous changes in construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 0 |
in the following detailed description , numerous specific details are set forth regarding the apparatus and method , in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . it will be apparent , however , to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details . in other instances , well - known components , structures and techniques have not been shown in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the subject matter of the present invention . moreover , various examples are provided to explain the operation of the present invention . it should be understood that these examples are exemplary . it is contemplated that there are other methods and systems that are within the scope of the present invention . also , the same reference numerals are used in the drawings and in the description to refer to the same elements to simplify the description . fig2 illustrates an earphone 200 . earphone 200 includes a hands - free toggle mechanism for alternately opening and closing earphone 200 and turning on or off ( activating and deactivating ) the sound capsule . when earphone 200 is in the open mode ( as illustrated in fig2 ) earphone 200 performs as an open circumaural earphone permitting a wearer to hear outside sounds . when earphone 200 is in the closed mode ( as illustrated in fig3 ) earphone 200 performs as a closed circumaural earphone protecting a wearer from outside sounds . earphone 200 may be useful to professional users , such as djs , who may wish to monitor external sounds ( with earphone 200 in the open mode ) and then quickly return earphone 200 to the closed mode and reactivate the speaker for cuing the next track , without needing to put on or remove earphone 200 and without using their hands , which are otherwise occupied . earphone 200 includes a standard connector 210 for connecting to a headpiece , an ear pad 220 , an ear cup 230 and an o - ring 240 mounted on a resilient base ring 245 . ear cup 230 includes a sound capsule 250 and a toggle mechanism 260 . one end of a spring 270 is connected to ear cup 230 , and the other end of spring 270 is attached to a switch base 280 . switch base 280 is connected to a first end of tracks 290 . tracks 290 are connected on their other end to resilient base ring 245 of ear pad 220 . during operation of earphone 200 , ear cup 230 is movable with respect to resilient base ring 245 of ear pads 220 . during operation of earphone 200 , resilient base ring 245 of ear pad 200 is held substantially fixed in respect to the ear of the user . in the enlarged bubble of fig2 , it is illustrated that when earphone 200 is in the open mode , earphone 200 is open to outside sounds 295 , penetrating through an acoustic port 208 between ear cup 230 and resilient base ring 245 of ear pads 220 . fig3 is a schematic drawing of earphone 200 in the closed mode . as can be seen in the enlarged bubble of fig3 , in the closed mode , earphone 200 is closed to outside sounds 295 , due to closing of the acoustic port 208 between ear cup 230 and resilient base ring 245 of ear pads 220 . in operation , when a user wishes to open earphone 200 to outside sounds 295 , he may use his shoulder to push toggle mechanism 260 . pushing toggle mechanism 260 when ear cup 230 is initially in the closed position ( fig3 ), releases a latch allowing spring 270 to unwind , sliding ear cup 230 away from resilient base ring 245 of ear pad 220 , along tracks 290 opening acoustic port 208 between ear cup 230 and resilient base ring 245 of ear pads 220 placing earphone 200 in an open mode and allowing outside sounds to penetrate . when the user wishes to return earphone 200 to the closed mode he may use his shoulder again to push the toggle mechanism 260 , which is initially in the open position ( as illustrated in fig2 ), pressure from the user &# 39 ; s shoulder contracts spring 270 , pushing ear cup 230 back towards resilient base ring 245 of ear pad 220 . ear cup 230 slides back along tracks 290 , and acoustic port 208 between ear cup 230 and resilient base ring 245 is closed , attenuating outside sounds reaching the ear . it is understood that although earphone 200 is manually operated , it is within the scope of the present invention to include a servo motor to automatically move capsule housing 230 between the open and closed modes . a user could control the servo ( opening and closing the earphone ) either by switching on or off a dc power source for a hard wired version , or by using a remote control ( for example a bluetooth remote control unit including a remote control ring that could itself include a user interface such as an inertial switch or a conventional button or a voice activated switch ) or via an inertial switch internal to the earphone ( by which the user could open or close the earphone via movements of his head ). while earphone 200 is shown with standard connector 210 for connecting to a headpiece ( for example a headband ), alternate embodiments could be made without including standard connector 210 and wherein earphone 210 would be installed into a helmet ( for example a bicycle helmet or a military helmet or a motorcycle helmet ). it is understood that in all the alternative embodiments as described above switching of earphone 200 between open and closed modes is achieved while earphone remains in position over the user &# 39 ; s ear and remains operational ( capable of transmitting sounds to the user ). fig4 is a schematic drawing of another embodiment of a toggle mechanism to open and close an earphone 400 . the toggle mechanism of earphone 400 operates in a similar manner to the mechanism of earphone 200 , except that a sound capsule 450 of earphone 400 is mounted to a resilient base ring 445 which is held immobile with respect to the user &# 39 ; s ear , instead of being mounted to an ear cup 430 which moves in respect to the ear of the user . fig5 is a schematic drawing of yet another embodiment of a toggle mechanism to open and close an earphone . earphone 500 operates in a similar manner to earphone 200 , except that earphone 200 is opened and closed by swinging ear cup 530 on a hinge 540 like a house door . in earphone 500 , the sound capsule may be mounted either to resilient base ring 545 or to ear cup 530 . reference is now made to fig6 a - 6b and 6 a 1 - 6 b 1 , which illustrate sectional views and front views of an earphone 600 . a rotating cap 310 slides along a sealing surface 312 . sealing surface 312 is coupled to speaker 301 . while earphone rotating cap 310 , moves between an open mode and a closed mode such that acoustic apertures 314 are aligned with front acoustic ports 308 a in the open mode ( fig6 a and 6 a 1 ) and acoustic apertures 314 are not aligned with front acoustic ports 308 a in the closed mode ( fig6 b and 6 b 1 ). speaker 301 includes a magnet 302 and a voice coil 303 behind a diaphragm 304 housed between a front cover 306 a and a back cover 306 b ( in an alternate embodiment , speaker 301 may not include a magnet or a voice coil ). front cover 306 a includes front acoustic ports 308 a and back cover 306 b includes back acoustic ports 308 b . earphone 600 also includes an actuator including a piston 374 and a drive rod 376 . piston 374 is connected to rotating cap 310 while drive rod 376 is connected to front cover 306 a . when drive rod 376 is retracting into piston 374 ( as shown in fig3 a 1 ) rotating cap 310 is in the open position . when piston 374 is connected to a positive current , a magnet drives drive rod 376 out of piston 374 pushing rotating cap 310 with respect to front cover 306 a forcing rotating cover 310 to rotate with respect to front cover 306 a the rotation moving rotating cap 310 into the closed mode thereby closing acoustic port 308 a . when a negative current is applied to piston 374 , the magnet draws drive rod 376 into piston 374 thereby pulling rotating cap 310 and causing it to rotate into the open mode . as noted above , in this embodiment , rotating cap 310 is movable between an open position ( fig6 a and 6 a 1 ) in which front acoustic ports 308 a and acoustic apertures 314 are aligned providing a pathway for sound , and a closed position in which rotating cap 310 closes front acoustic ports 308 a by sealing against rotating cap 310 and acoustic apertures 314 are sealed against the front cover 306 a ( fig6 b and 6 b 1 ). earphone 600 is designed to be hard wired to an external signal source and a switched power source to drive speaker 301 and piston 374 respectively . the power source switch could be operated for example by a button or by a microphone with a voice activation circuit and appropriate software or by a remote control or by an inertial switch or by an electrostatic detector or by a volume detector . in an alternative embodiment , earphone 600 may include an internal power source ( for example a hearing aid battery ) and be connected to a switching source by an electromagnetic transceiver ( for example a bluetooth transceiver , a radio transceiver or an infra - red transceiver ) to receive signals and to toggle between the open and closed modes . similarly , earphone 600 could include an internal sensor ( for example a microphone or an inertial sensor ). for example , when earphone 600 includes an inertial sensor , then the user would toggle earphone 600 between the open and closed modes by shaking his head or a like movement . in further embodiments there may be a second earphone which also includes a closable acoustic port . in such an embodiment the toggling mechanism may be configured to synchronize opening and closing of the acoustic ports of the two earphones . in further embodiments , the opening and closing mechanism of earphone 600 could be installed in a circum - aural earphone held to the ears of a user by a headband or by a helmet or the like . in an alternative embodiment , the volume of the loudspeaker may be adjusted automatically upon opening or closing the earphone . the magnitude of the automatic volume change may be adjustable by the user . for example , a user may want the volume reduced when the earphone is open ( under the assumption that the user opens the earphone when he wants to hear environmental sounds and not the loudspeaker ); alternatively the volume may be increased when the earphone is open ( under the assumption that when the earphone is open , the speaker signal will need to compete with background noise ). in addition , the intensity of the sealing of the acoustic port may be used to control the attenuation of the environmental sounds . alternatively , a third party may also control opening and closing of an earphone . for example a helicopter pilot may remotely open the earphone of a rescue worker when the rescue worker reaches the vicinity of a victim seeking help , or close the earphone when the pilot begins to winch up the rescue worker into the helicopter . similarly , when control personnel in a command / control room detect that a reconnaissance commando did not receive a message , the control personnel may close the earphones of the reconnaissance commando . when the control personnel knows that a cannon is to be shot towards a target , the control personnel may send a broadcast closing all friendly earphones in the vicinity of the target . a similar broadcast mechanism may be useful for police , closing the earphones of all police in the vicinity when using audio riot control measures . in another example , a broadcast signal might be sent to close earphones of all the sailors on a boat immediately before firing a weapon ( for example discharging the boat &# 39 ; s cannon ) or to close earphones of workers at a mining site immediately before blasting a hole . alternatively , certain events might lead to automatically opening or closing an earphone . for example , a monaural earphone of a driver may close automatically when a phone call is received . similarly an earphone may close automatically when an environmental noise level reaches a certain threshold . it is understood that in all the alternative embodiments of earphone 600 described above , toggling of the earphone between open and closed modes is achieved while the earphone remains in position in the user &# 39 ; s outer ear canal and remains operational ( capable of transmitting sounds to the user ). fig7 a is a schematic drawing of a cutaway view of the fifth embodiment 770 of an earphone 700 in an open mode . earphone 700 includes a hands - free toggle mechanism for alternately opening and closing earphone 700 . when earphone 700 is in the open mode ( as illustrated in fig7 a ) earphone 700 performs as an open circum - aural earphone permitting a wearer to hear outside sounds . when earphone 700 is in the closed mode ( as illustrated in fig7 b ) earphone 700 performs as a closed circum - aural earphone protecting a wearer from outside sounds . earphone 700 may be useful to professional users , such as djs , who may wish to monitor external sounds ( with earphone 700 in the open mode ) and then quickly return earphone 700 to the closed mode for cuing the next track , without needing to put on or remove earphone 700 and without using their hands , which are otherwise occupied . earphone 700 includes a standard connector 710 for connecting to a headpiece , an ear cup 730 and an o - ring 740 mounted on a resilient base ring 745 for an ear pad ( not shown ). earphone 700 includes a sound capsule 750 which includes an on / off switch 782 for activating / deactivating sound capsule 750 . alternatively , activating sound capsule 750 , may include manipulating the volume of the transmitted sound . for example , when switching to open mode , transmitted sound may be lower in accordance with the user &# 39 ; s preferences ( users preferences may be set by a potentiometer or any other kind of interface provided for that purpose ). earphone 700 includes a toggle mechanism similar to the toggle mechanism of a standard ball point pen and well known to those skilled in the art . the toggle mechanism is connected to a sliding post 784 ( which slides up and down in the toggle mechanism like the cylindrical ink tube of a ballpoint pen ) and second spring 770 b . ear cup 730 is movable with respect to resilient base ring 745 . during operation of earphone 700 , resilient base ring 745 is held substantially fixed in respect to the ear of the user . earphone 700 also includes a distributer arm 771 which distributes force such that when a user pushes the bottom of earphone 700 with his shoulder in a direction and location indicated by arrow 792 the force is transformed into a an inward force on ear cup 730 . when earphone 700 is in the open mode , earphone 700 is open to outside sounds , penetrating through an acoustic port 708 between ear cup 730 and resilient base ring 745 . spring 770 b holds the earphone open and spring 770 b also holds spring 770 a away from switch 782 . holding spring 770 a away from switch 782 causes switch 782 to be turned off and deactivates sound capsule 782 . sound capsule 782 may synchronized to a second sound capsule located in a second earphone ( earphone 700 is configured to fit one ear of the user and the second earphone is configured to fit the other ear of the user ) such that when sound capsule 750 is activated , the second sound capsule is also activated and when sound capsule 750 is deactivated , the second sound capsule is also deactivated . when earphone 700 is in the open mode ( illustrated in fig7 a ) a light push of the users shoulder in the direction and location of arrow 792 will push spring 770 a against switch 782 turning on switch 782 and activating sound capsule 750 ( and may synchronously activating a second sound capsule located on the other ear of the user ) without closing earphone 700 or setting off the toggle mechanism . thus , with a light push of the shoulders the user can activate sound capsule 750 while earphone 700 remains in the open mode . this allows the user to hear both the audio output of sound capsule 750 and environmental sounds at the same time . in operation , when a user wishes to close earphone 700 to outside sounds , he uses his shoulder to push hard against ear cup 730 in the direction and location indicated by arrow 792 . this causes the sliding of ear cup 730 along with sliding post 784 closing earphone 770 and latching the toggle mechanism . closing the earphone pushes ear cup 730 against o - ring 740 thereby insulating the ear of the user from environmental sounds . simultaneously movement of sound cup 730 pushes spring 770 a against switch 782 thereby activating sound capsule 750 so that when earphone 700 closes , sound capsule 750 automatically resumes providing an audio signal . fig7 b is a schematic drawing of a cutaway view of the fifth embodiment of a circum - aural earphone in a closed mode . in the closed mode , earphone 700 is closed to outside sounds , due to closing of the acoustic port 708 between ear cup 730 and resilient base ring 745 . when ear cup 730 is initially in the closed position ( fig7 b ), and the user wishes to hear environmental sounds , the user uses his shoulder to push against ear cup 730 in the direction and location indicated by arrow 792 . this releases the toggle mechanism allowing springs 770 b to unwind . spring 770 b pushes sliding ear cup 730 away from resilient base ring 745 , opening acoustic port 708 between ear cup 730 and resilient base ring 745 placing earphone 700 in an open mode and allowing outside sounds to penetrate . the outward movement of ear cup 730 also pulls spring 770 a away from switch 782 turning off switch 782 and deactivating sound capsule 750 ( and may also deactivating the second synchronized sound capsule located over the other ear of the user ). with acoustic port 708 open and sound capsule 750 deactivated , the user has unhindered and undisturbed access to environmental sounds . while the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments , it will be appreciated that many variations , modifications and other applications of the invention may be made . it will be appreciated that the above descriptions are intended only to serve as examples , and that many other embodiments are possible within the spirit and the scope of the present invention . | 7 |
referring to fig1 , there is shown a host computer 102 connected to submit a print job , comprising instructions and data to be printed , to an inkjet printer 104 . for an inkjet printer , the application being used by the computer 102 must first send the data to be printed to a printer driver 106 . the driver converts or translates the data into a format that the printer can understand , and checks to see that the printer is online and available to print . the data is then sent by the driver from the computer to the printer via a connection interface such as a parallel port or usb port . to print a separator page in accordance with an embodiment of the invention , a user of host computer 102 could first select print menu , then select properties therefrom and then select separator page . upon executing the separator page command , the printer would be instructed or commanded to print a separator page . more particularly , the printer would be commanded to use a sheet of white document paper to print a visual indicator or other marking on the separator page . the visual indicator could comprise an element such as a border , trim , grid , header , or a visual banner . it is anticipated that for a printer using black ink to print on white paper , any such visual indicators would suffice to make a separator page readily distinguishable from adjacent documents or other printer pages . moreover , by proper configuration of the controlling software , the printer could be adapted to selectively change or vary the appearance of the border , header or other visual indicator , to produce visually different separator pages . the different separator pages could then be used to readily identify or distinguish between different users or different print jobs . for example , the separator pages could be coded based on user identification ( id ), or on the name of the print job submitter . in one example , persons having names that start with a - c could have a diagonal striped pattern . the next three could have a horizontal dash pattern , and so on . for color printers , a number of additional software based features may be made available . for example , a separator page could be printed having a blue color background with black wording , to make it appear similar to what would have been printed on a blue page if the printer had a separate separator paper tray with blue paper . also , different color coded separator pages could be printed , based on the user id or name of the print job submitter . for example , those that had names starting with a - c could be printed with a red background , the next alphabetical group could have a blue background and so on . more generally , color printers could provide separator pages printed with different selected background colors , border colors , grid patterns and solid colors , or mixtures of colors for patterns , headers and wording . for both color and black ink printers , further variations could be provided for separator pages , if the printer has double sided printing capability . referring to fig2 , there is shown a printer 202 , usefully comprising a laser printer , connected to host computers 206 - 212 , through a printer controller 214 . thus , printer 202 serves as a community printer , to provide printing services for multiple users . each of the host computers communicates with the printer control 214 through a connection interface such as parallel port or a usb port . the control 214 could be shown to reside within printer 202 , but has been shown external thereto in fig2 , to emphasize its essential role in communication between the host computers 206 - 212 and the printer 202 . the printer controller 214 serves as the main computer for the printer 202 , and may have to periodically start and then stop a connected host computer , to process the information received therefrom . the controller 214 handles each connected host computer separately , but may exchange data with different host computers on a concurrent basis . in laser printers such as printer 202 , it is common for the controller to save print job data in its own memory . this allows the control to put different printing jobs into a queue , so that it can work through them one at a time . this also saves time when printing multiple copies of a document , since the host computer needs to send the data out to the printer only once . in order for the printer controller 214 and one of the host computers 206 - 212 to communicate , they need to speak the same page description language ( pdl ). at present , a user may have to select a font from hundreds of different fonts , or may desire to print a complex graphic . accordingly , printer 202 must be able to communicate in a comparatively advanced language . some of these languages describe a page in vector form , that is , as mathematical values of geometric shapes . the printer controller receives the vector image language , or other pdl language , and converts it into a bit map page , which comprises a series of very small dots . with this system , the printer can receive elaborate or complex pages , picturing any sort of font or image . moreover , the printer controller 214 must organize all of the data it receives from the host computer . this includes all of the commands that tell the printer 202 what to do , such as what paper to use , how to format the page and what font to use . referring to fig3 , there is shown laser printer 202 generally comprising an electronic section 302 , optics 304 and a mechanical section 306 . electronics 302 includes printer controller 214 , provided with a cpu 308 and a memory 310 , a video controller 312 and a motor controller 314 . motor controller 314 is provided to control operation of motors and movement of mechanical components of printer 202 . optics 304 includes a laser 316 , a scanner mirror 318 operated by a scanner motor 320 , a beam position sensor 322 and a beam to drum mirror 324 . the laser 316 receives page data , one line at a time , through the video controller 312 . the page data received by the laser is in the form of bit map image data , and thus comprises a pattern of tiny dots as described above . the laser emits a pulse of light for each dot to be printed , and emits no pulse for each dot of blank space . the emitted laser signal is projected to scanning mirror 318 , and is then directed by mirror 318 to the beam to drum mirror 324 . respective optics components act to scan the beam projected by laser 316 , comprising a line of page data , along the surface of a rotating photosensitive drum 326 of mechanical section 306 . initially , drum 326 is given a total positive charge . as the drum revolves , the laser beam projected across the surface discharges points on the surface contacted by the emitted laser pulses , so that such points become negatively charged . in this way , the laser “ draws ” the letters and images to be printed as a pattern of electrical charges , so that the pattern comprises an electrostatic image . after the pattern is set on the drum , a coating of positively charged toner is applied thereto , the toner comprising a fine black powder . since it has a positive charge , the toner clings to the negatively discharged areas of the drum 326 , but not to the positively charged background areas of the drum . when the powder pattern is affixed to the drum surface , the drum 326 rolls over a page sheet ( not shown ), which is moving along a drum 326 . before the paper is moved under the drum , it is given a negative charge by the transfer roller 330 . this charge is stronger than the negative charge of the electrostatic image , so that the paper can pull the toner powder away from the drum surface . since it is moving at the same speed as the drum 326 , the paper picks up the image pattern exactly . to keep the paper from clinging to the drum , it is discharged by separation roller 332 , immediately after picking up the toner . the drum clearing assembly 334 then prepares the surface of the drum to receive another line of page data from a scanned laser beam . after receiving the toner , a feeder 336 directs the paper through a fuser 338 , comprising a pair of heated rollers 338 a and 338 b . as the paper passes through these rollers , the loose toner powder melts , fusing the toner with the fibers of the paper . the fuser 338 and printer delivery assembly 340 then act to move the paper to the print output tray 342 . referring to fig4 , there are shown principal components of printer controller 214 . the cpu 308 thereof is shown provided with a dma controller ( dma ) 402 , an interrupt control unit ( icu ) 404 and a number of timers 406 . floating point unit ( fpu ) 408 may be optionally included . the control logic 410 comprises a video shifter , a printer mechanism control , and a keyboard display control which may be respectively implemented in a system asic . the controller memory includes eproms and buffers 412 and a dram 414 . a controller interface usefully includes both an rs232 interface and a centronics connector , which is commonly used for parallel printer interfaces . respective components of controller 214 are interconnected by means of a bus 418 . as stated above , printer controller 214 performs computation and control tasks aimed at converting images , provided by a connected host computer and a page description language ( pdl ) format , into a bit map image that is sent to the printer optics and mechanical section . the pdl contains the instruction needed to create the image to be printed on a page , a task that may require a high performance 32 - bit cpu . once the data has been structured , the controller begins putting the page together . it sets the text margins , arranges the words and places in any specified graphics . when a page is arranged , the controller takes the page data , either as a whole or piece by piece , and breaks it down into the array of tiny dots comprising the bit map image . it will be readily apparent that the above procedure will be followed by the controller 214 , in preparing a selected graphic or visual indicator for printing on a separator page , in accordance with embodiments of the invention . referring to fig5 , there is shown a function block 502 indicating that a host computer is operated to generate a pdl command to print a separator page . function block 504 shows the command converted to a printer readable format ( prf ) by the printer control . it is to be understood that “ printer control ”, as used herein , is intended to be a generic term referring , for example , to devices such as printer driver 106 of inkjet printer 104 , and to devices such as printer controller 214 of laser printer 202 , but not limited to these types of printers . referring further to fig5 , decision block 506 indicates that it is necessary to consider whether or not the associated printer is a color printer . if not , the separator page command will direct the printer to set up a particular graphic or visual indicator for imprinting , as shown by function block 510 , to create the intended separator page . if the printer is a color printer , the separator page command will first specify a color or colors to the printer for respective features of the graphic indicator , as shown by function block 508 . after the graphic indicator has been selected , the separator page is printed , as indicated by function block 512 . it is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functioning data processing system , those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of a computer readable medium of instructions and a variety of forms and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media actually used to carry out the distribution . examples of computer readable media include recordable - type media , such as a floppy disk , a hard disk drive , a ram , cd - roms , dvd - roms , and transmission - type media , such as digital and analog communications links , wired or wireless communications links using transmission forms , such as , for example , radio frequency and light wave transmissions . the computer readable media may take the form of coded formats that are decoded for actual use in a particular data processing system . the description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description , and 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 , and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . | 6 |
referring now to the drawings and particularly to fig1 and 4 , a preferred embodiment of the invention will be described . fig1 comprises a schematic illustration of a charge coupled device memory 10 of the shift register or bucket brigade type . memory 10 is illustrated as a two phase device including phase one cells designated by the numeral 14 and adjacent phase two cells designated by numerals 16 . as is best seen in fig4 each of these cells has a gate and gate electrode associated therewith . in conventional fashion , the gate overlies a region of insulating material which is deposited upon a p type semiconductor substrate . the memory device further includes cells 30 , 31 which comprise n regions formed within the substrate , each having an electrode and an input terminal associated therewith . cells 30 , 31 comprise source or sink regions for minority carriers or charge , again in well known fashion . it should be recognized that an n type substrate could be utilized with p type source regions , if desired . in the preferred embodiment each cell of the two phase device attains its asymmetrical characteristics by virtue of a dual level insulating region under the gate , again as best seen in fig4 . this is a conventional design for two phase cells . if desired , however , asymmetrical characteristics for the two phase device could be attained in other well known fashion . likewise , if desired , three or four phase cells and cell configurations of other types could be utilized with the invention . in addition cells 21 , 22 and 23 are provided in the memory to input and output the charge . as best seen in fig4 each of these cells includes a gate and gate electrode overlying a single thickness oxide region deposited upon the semiconductor surface . in addition , the memory includes transfer gates 25 , 26 and 27 . again , the transfer gates each include a gate and gate electrode overlying a single thickness of oxide deposited upon the semiconductor surface . the memory is adapted to receive digital data input signals , provided on conductor 50 , to an addressing circuit illustrated in fig1 . the addressing circuit provides voltage input signals to the memory on conductor 70 which result in the storage of charge therein . the charge is subsequently circulated around the bucket brigade memory configuration in the direction indicated by the arrows , and retrieved by a conventional charge sensing means 90 which receives an output from the memory via conductor 80 . a two bit counter 126 and associated circuitry is provided to permit selective recirculation of the data received by sensing means 90 . in the preferred embodiment the memory and addressing circuit is adapted to input , circulate , and store four different levels of charge throughout the device . accordingly , the serial digital data input stream is divided into bit pairs , with the states of the bit pairs being utilized to define a bit code which determines which level of voltage is used to store charge in a given cell on each data input sequence . the input code is illustrated in table 1 below . table 1______________________________________ defined voltagebit 1 bit 2 as level______________________________________0 0 0 v1 - 10v . 0 1 1 v2 - 12v . 1 0 2 v3 - 14v . 1 1 3 v4 - 16v . ______________________________________ thus , it should be apparent that a bit pair representing 00 results in the input of voltage level v1 whereas a bit pair representing the combination 10 results in inputting of voltage level v3 . to facilitate use of the code described above , a conventional two bit shift register 101 is provided in the addressing circuit adapted to receive data from conductor 50 and convert it into bit pairs on output conductors 102 , 103 . conductors 102 , 103 serve as inputs to and gates 105 , 106 respectively . an enable signal is provided on conductor 108 to and gate 105 , 106 from a control circuit 109 . a conductor 110 connects the output of and gate 105 to an input of or gate 112 . in similar fashion , a conductor 114 connects the output of and gate 106 to an input or gate 116 . conductors 118 , 120 connect the outputs of or gates 112 , 116 respectively to a voltage waveform generator 124 . voltage generator 124 is of conventional design and produces one of four possible voltage levels at its output on conductor 70 in response to the coded inputs received on conductors 118 , 120 respectively . thus , the voltage waveform generator produces the voltage level outputs represented in table 1 in response to the bit input signals represented therein . the voltage waveform generator also receives a control signal from control circuit 109 via a conductor 121 . this control signal causes the voltage generator to sequentially produce the voltage levels v4 , v3 , v2 and v1 during charge outputting operation . in order to facilitate selective recirculation of data in the memory a conventional recirculating bit counter 126 is provided , adapted to receive input signals from sense circuit 90 via conductor 125 . the counter is a two bit counter and thus provides dual outputs 128 , 130 which comprise the memory output . conductors 129 , 131 are connected to the 128 , 130 outputs and serve as inputs to and gates 132 , 134 respectively . conductor 136 provides an enable signal input to each of and gates 132 , 134 from the control circuit . as shown , a conductor 148 connects the output of and gate 132 to an input of or gate 112 ; and a conductor 138 connects the output of the and gate 134 to an input of or gate 116 . accordingly , data sensed by circuit 90 is provided to counter 126 where it is formatted into bit pairs in the same fashion as the data formatted in register 101 . the bit pairs can then be provided selectively to the voltage waveform generator for recirculation into the memory . thus , an enable signal from control circuit 109 to and gates 132 , 134 is provided if recirculated data is to be provided to the memory , and an exclusive enable signal from control circuit 109 to and gates 105 , 106 is provided if new data is to be stored in the memory . in usual operation , recirculated data will be interleaved with new data . in addition to the circuitry described hereinabove , the control circuit 109 is adapted to provide selectively a reset signal to cell 31 and a control signal to cell 30 . in addition , control signals are provided to the electrodes of blocking cells 25 , 26 , 27 in a fashion described hereinafter and control signals are provided to sense circuit 90 and counter 126 . moreover , it should be recognized that additional voltage signals are provided , selectively , to the electrodes of cells 21 , 23 and to the electrodes of the storage cells of both phases of the memory register in order to circulate data in the register in more or less conventional fashion . the timing involved in the application of these signals is explained hereinafter . referring now to fig2 the way in which multiple charge levels can be inputted to the memory using a cell configuration such as that illustrated in the fig1 will be explained . it should be recognized that in charge coupled devices the amount of charge stored in a potential well is determined by voltage applied to the well . thus , one of four voltage levels is applied to the gate of addressing cell 22 and a reference potential is applied to the gate of reference cell 21 . consequently , a potential well is created in cell 22 that is one of four magnitudes with respect to the reference value established by cell 21 . in fig2 b , the cell voltage relationships for inputting charge are illustrated . a low voltage is supplied to cell 23 whereby it acts to block charge from flowing into the memory . a constant or reference voltage is applied to cell 21 and one of the selected voltages from waveform generator 124 is applied to cell 22 thereby establishing a potential well of predetermined magnitude between cells 21 and 23 . once the cell magnitude is established , a voltage is provided to the n + source region under cell 30 as illustrated in fig2 c . the voltage on the n + region causes charge to build up and be transferred past cell 21 into the potential well created in cell 22 . it should be recognized that the voltage on cell 30 is lowered below the reference value established on cell 21 so that the potential well in cell 22 is filled completely with charge . after a suitable charging interval , the voltage on cell 30 is altered to the level illustrated in fig2 d so that any excess charge in cell 22 will migrate or flow back to cell 30 . this creates an increment of charge in cell 22 which is directly proportional to the increment of voltage selected by generator 124 . after the desired increment of charge is stored in gate 22 , it is transferred across cell 23 to the first cell of the shift register and is subsequently circulated through the memory device in conventional fashion . it should be apparent , then , that the inputting method permits easy storage of multiple levels of charge in a charge coupled device potential well . referring to fig3 the method by which the charge is removed from the memory and sensed will be explained . fig3 a illustrates cells 21 , 22 and 23 along with the n region associated with cell 31 . to determine the level or increment of charge within a potential well within the memory , the charge is transferred to cell 22 . the voltage on cell 23 is then set to a low value so that cell 23 acts to block charge transfer to the input side of the memory . the voltage on cell 21 is set to the reference value and the voltage on cell 22 is set to the highest of the four values provided by voltage waveform generator 124 . with the voltage on the n + region in cell 31 set to a high level any excess charge from cell 22 overflowing cell 21 will migrate to the n + region for detection by sensing circuit 90 . the voltage relationships described above are represented by the waveforms of fig3 b . the voltage on cell 22 is then decreased in steps through the four levels of voltage of generator 124 . if the decrease from the fourth level to the third level results in excess charge being transferred to the n + region and the sensor then the 11 data condition is represented . in the absence of charge nothing is detected . by the same token a decrease from the third level to the second level may result in charge detection of the 10 condition . finally , if charge is detected upon decrease from the second level to the first level , the 01 condition exists . if no charge is detected , a 00 condition exists . thus , successive monitoring of the charge conditions permits identification of the bit condition stored in the cell . since cells 21 , 22 and 23 are utilized for both inputting and outputting of data a method for inputting a given level of charge , circulating the charge in memory and then detecting it exists . this assumes that the memory is not of sufficient length so that the charge loss entailed in transfer through the memory reaches a substantial portion of the increments of charge . referring now to fig1 and 4 a complete cycle of operation of the preferred embodiment through circulate , output and input cycles is described . the waveforms illustrated in fig5 represent the voltage states of the various cells for such operation . the first step in preparation for outputting charge entails movement of the charge stored in cell 14z to cell 22 via cell 27 . at the same time , the charge stored in cell 14a is transferred to 16a and the charge in 14b is transferred to 16b , etc . with a 20 volt signal on the phase one cells , a 20 volt signal is applied to cell 27 . at the same time , a 16 volt signal is present at cell 22 . the voltage on the phase one cells is then reduced to a low value whereby the charge stored within cell 14z migrates to cell 27 . at a short interval thereafter , the voltage on cell 27 is returned to a low value whereby the charge which has migrated from 14z to cell 27 is further transferred to cell 22 where it can be detected . it should be recognized that cell 23 is held in a blocking state during this operation . since cell 22 is at its highest voltage level , i . e ., 16 volts , a potential well exists which will store all of the charge from cell 14z . a 20 volt signal is applied to the phase two electrodes of the circuit , i . e ., 16a , 16b , etc . the 20 volt signal causes the charge in 14a to be transferred to 16a and the charge in 14b to be transferred to 16b , etc . this results in incrementing each charge stored in the cell through one cell position along the circulating path . it should be apparent that due to the use of two oxide thicknesses under each gate the gates are asymmetrical . consequently , charge from 14b will not overflow into 16a . once the charge transfer is accomplished the output cycle is initiated by applying a 16 volt signal to cell 26 thereby rendering the latter conducting and applying a low voltage signal to cells 25 , 27 thereby blocking them . with cell 22 at the 16 volt level , a 20 volt reset signal is applied to cell 31 . this increases the voltage of cell 31 thereby permitting any excess charge from cell 22 to flow through the reference cell and cell 26 to cell 31 . the voltage on cell 22 is then reduced to 14 volts . this permits charge overflow if the charge within cell 22 is of sufficient magnitude . however , as represented in fig4 no increment of charge is sensed at the 14 volt level . then a 20 volt reset pulse is again applied to cell 31 . subsequently , the voltage level on cell 22 is reduced to 12 volts . this results in flow of an increment of charge into cell 31 which is detected by sense circuit 90 and counted . then the 20 volt reset pulse is again applied to gate 31 . in the final decrement from 12 volts to 10 volts another charge increment is detected and counted by counter 126 . consequently , the level of charge stored within cell 14z , after transfer to cell 22 is representative of a 10 data condition . with the output cycle completed , cells 26 , 27 are set to blocking states and cell 25 is set to a conducting state . an enabling signal via conductor 136 to and gates 132 , 134 then selects the output of counter 126 for recirculation or an enabling signal via conductor 108 to and gates 105 , 106 selects the output of register 101 for input of new information . the selected output is applied to voltage waveform generator 124 whereby a predetermined voltage level is produced by generator 124 that represents the bit pair input . the voltage is applied to cell 22 , cell 23 remains in a blocking state , and cell 21 is maintained at the reference voltage level . consequently , the application of a low voltage signal to cell 30 results in transfer of charge from the n + region associated therewith to cell 22 , with the increment of charge stored being proportional to the voltage level produced by generator 124 . thus , in fig5 it should be apparent that a 12 volt level was selected representing a 01 input . after charge is inputted to cell 22 the charge is transferred from cell 22 to cell 14a and the charge in each of cells 16 of the memory is transferred to the adjacent phase one cells . this is accomplished by unblocking cell 23 , applying a 20 volt signal to all the phase one cells and subsequently lowering the voltage to all the phase two cells . the memory is then in a state where charge contained within cell 14z can again be transferred to cell 22 for readout and another cycle can be initiated . it should be apparent that the particular circuitry illustrated is intended for use of the memory described herein with a four level voltage signal and a two phase system . however , other bit input coding systems and levels of voltage could be utilized , as well . a significant aspect of the invention is the use of a simple reliable method to store multiple levels of charge within a charge coupled device memory . the method results in doubling of the memory capacity by storing four levels of charge instead of two in a given cell . in addition , the four level method is independent of process variations since it uses the same set of gates to input and output the charge . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . | 6 |
the overall invention 10 is illustrated in fig1 , where trays t are primed on the left end of the figure on a low pressure infeed conveyor . star wheels 11 both relieve pressure from the “ prime ” and index trays at predetermined pitch onto a tray conveyor 12 . trays are conveyed in a first direction ( machine direction arrow md ) toward a turning guide 13 . guide 13 turns the trays and pushes them in a second direction 14 , perpendicular to direction md , into buckets on a bucket conveyor 15 . trays are conveyed in buckets on conveyor 15 in direction md from where they are further pushed into open ends of cartons , moving in a direction md on a carton conveyor 16 adjacent the bucket conveyor 15 . the cartons are then closed , sealed and discharged . trays t as described above , may be of somewhat varied shape and size but are preferably relatively flat and are elongated or oblong as shown with opposed narrow ends and elongated edges extending therebetween . in an alternate embodiment shown in fig1 a the invention is similar except at the “ prime ” end on the left side of the figure where star wheels 20 serve to relieve pressure on a leading tray from the following prime . tray index belts as shown are used downstream to index and introduce trays onto the tray conveyor in predetermined pitch between leading and trailing lugs on the tray conveyor . in a yet further alternate embodiment illustrated in fig1 b , the apparatus and operation upstream of the tray conveyor is as in fig1 or 1 a , for example . however , in this embodiment , there is no bucket conveyor . instead , a carton conveyor 25 is operably disposed adjacent the tray conveyor . the turning and pushing or loading motion imparted by turning guide 13 introduces and loads trays directly into cartons , which are then closed , sealed and discharged . there is no intervening bucket conveyor between the first tray conveyor and the carton conveyor 25 , thus obtaining the advantages of cost , sound and part number reduction . turning to certain details of the turning and transfer aspects of the invention fig2 illustrates details of the invention . the machine or first direction md ( fig1 ) is from left to right in all fig1 - 34 . fig2 illustrates the first tray conveyor 12 , an adjacent bucket conveyor 15 and a hold - down guide 13 . the conveyor 12 includes a plurality of identical lugs 26 , 27 comprising sets of leading and trailing lugs , respectively , each set of lugs 26 , 27 defining between them a space for receiving a flat tray . each leading and trailing lug 26 , 27 is preferably identical . each lug has a rearward ( with respect to direction mb ) face 28 and a forward face 29 . face 29 also comprises a forward facing cam surface 30 . turning guide 13 includes a guide surface 32 tapered from a position over a far edge of conveyor 12 to a position beyond a near edge of conveyor 12 over bucket conveyor 15 ( in the embodiment of fig1 b , surface 32 extends to near the entry end of cartons to be filled ). these components are also similarly numbered in fig2 a , showing a plan view of the invention . the remainder of the figures also illustrates various ones of these components . bucket conveyor 15 comprises a plurality of buckets 36 , each having a leading wall 37 and a rearward wall 38 . preferably , the ends of walls 37 , 38 nearest tray conveyor 12 define a bucket entry side or mouth 39 . leading wall 37 is preferably inclined rearwardly toward rearward wall 38 so the entry mouth 39 is of greater dimension than the distance between the walls 37 , 38 at the side of the buckets furthest from tray conveyor 12 . with reference to fig3 , the invention further preferably includes an optional , elongated hold - down guide 40 oriented operatively over the path traversed by trays t as they are conveyed by conveyor 12 . the guide serves to keep the trays from climbing over the turning guide 13 and surface 32 thereof as the conveyor 12 urges the trays in the machine direction into contact with the guide b . hold - down guide 40 is pivotally mounted for motion between the operative position shown in fig3 and the inoperative position shown in fig2 . this hold - down 40 is particularly useful where the trays have sides tapered upwardly and outwardly from tray bottoms . turning guide surface 32 preferably engages the tray sides or upper rims , lids or film sealing the trays . fig5 - 7 and 10 - 17 illustrate the progression of trays ( in this case trays of frozen food covered or sealed with a clear plastic film ) through the tray feed , transport , turn and transfer areas of the invention . fig8 and 9 show the relative size of one type of trays on conveyor 12 , with one tray lifted out of succession for illustration clarity . the tray feeding and indexing apparatus and operation is perhaps most clearly shown in fig1 - 17 . in this embodiment , opposed star wheels 11 a and 11 b , rotating on vertical axes , are disposed at the downstream ends of a “ prime ” or plurality of trays t transported on a low pressure infeed conveyor ( fig1 ). the stars respectively have radially extending coordinated tips defining cooperating opposed pockets therebetween as shown , to receive a single tray therebetween . when the cooperating tips of the respective stars approach each other , they select one leading tray and hold back all following trays . the angular velocity of the stars , which may be servo or mechanically or hydraulically driven , is predetermined or selected to match the pitch between the trays to the space defined by the sequential lugs 26 , 27 ( fig1 ) on the tray conveyor 12 . as the stars rotate , their cooperating tips move away from each other , releasing the momentarily captured , and now indexed tray to the space between the lugs 26 , 27 on conveyor 12 . it will also be appreciated that the width of the tapered bucket mouth can be selected as required , and that the shape of surface 32 and cam 30 can also be selected to facilitate turning and loading particular size and shape trays . the cam surfaces 32 and 30 can be changed out to accommodate a variety of trays or products to be cartoned . moreover , it will be appreciated that the trays are subjected only to a gentle pivoting action while also gently transferred in the second direction into the buckets of conveyor 15 ( or the cartons on conveyor 25 , fig1 b ). the remaining fig1 - 13 further illustrate the continuous and sequential turning and loading of trays as shown and through the end position 45 ( fig1 ) of turning guide surface 32 . fig1 - 34 are more diagrammatic illustrations of the apparatus and methods of the invention . fig1 is a more perspective diagram of the embodiment shown in fig1 a . the dynamic geometry of the turning guide surface 32 on the trays in combination with the cam surface 30 is shown in various figures , perhaps best in fig8 and 9 . the surface 32 engages the left front corner of the narrow end of the elongated tray . the forward end of the tray is thus urged by that surface 32 toward bucket conveyor 15 . the tray is also being driven by a trailing lug surface 29 on conveyor 12 . the turning tray is also urged against cam surface 30 as the tray is progressively turned . cam 30 thus provides a cam or pivot surface against or about which the tray is turned . as the tray is turned , it is also displaced transversely in a second direction perpendicular to the first or machine direction md toward and into a bucket through mouth 39 ( fig2 a and 10 ). it will be appreciated that the parameters of the guide surface 32 and of the cam 30 are selected to facilitate both turning of the trays and transverse insertion into the buckets , so that the leading narrow end of the trays is directed into the bucket mouth as illustrated . fig1 - 34 illustrate diagrammatically various progression of one illustrative tray between initial engagement with the turning guide 13 and final transfer near guide end 45 , with fig2 and 21 showing intermediate turning and near final insertion of trays onto bucket conveyor 15 and fig2 - 34 showing the progression or sequence from near the initial engagement of the tray with guide surface 32 to final transferred position ( fig3 ). a number of figures have downstream portions of conveyor 12 and bucket conveyor 15 omitted for clarity . also , it will be appreciated that , in use , the invention will continuously convey and transfer trays in all positions and buckets ( fig5 - 7 and 10 - 17 ). as shown , the diagrammatic views in fig1 - 34 show the progression of only one tray for clarity . this invention thus provides flat tray cartoning at high speeds in excess of 200 trays per minute and preferably at speeds of 240 to 260 trays per minute or greater , in continuous flow , without abrupt changes in velocity , and with minimal damage or disruption of flow . elaborate timing is not required . the trays move along a relatively straight vector with inducement only of minimal forces necessary to turn and transfer them . it will be appreciated that the turning guide and the tray conveyor cam lugs can be varied , depending on the geometry of the product or tray . these and other modifications and variations of the invention will be readily appreciated by the foregoing to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention and applicant intends to be bound only by the claims appended hereto , | 1 |
first of all , the features of the present invention now will be described with reference to fig2 in order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention . fig2 schematically illustrates a principle showing the relation of design work and the present invention . design work for an industrial robot as a product , for example , is a set of a plurality of design stages 101 related to each other . the principle of the present invention resides in that a new design stage 101 is set from a data input device 120 interlocked with a display screen 110 of a display device constituting an output device when the design work is made in a certain design stage 101 . consequently , each of the design stages has an inherent display process and editing process as an attribute thereof . in this manner , when the new design stage is set by means of the data input device interlocked with the display screen for performing processing and editing work , the new design stage can be started even under processing and editing work of the design data to accordingly cope with a change of the design work . on the other hand , when the display process is designated as the setting information of the design stage 101 , since only necessary information in the current design stage of information included in the design data is taken out , the user is not required to refer to extra information and the work efficiency is improved . further , since the designation of the editing process limits that it can be made by the current design stage 101 and the work is clarified , the efficiency is improved . similarly , when a design stage setting file ( 140 shown in fig1 ) is provided , a new design stage 101 is easily set by referring to the existing design stage setting information . further , when there are provided a display processing device for setting a plurality of areas on the display screen 110 to associate each of the areas with one design stage 101 , an editing processing device for visualizing the editing process of the design data inherent to the design stage 101 , a command for controlling arrangement of the design stages 101 , and a command for processing in each of the design stages 101 to perform editing work , work in each of the design stages 101 is presented to the user visually and accordingly the work efficiency is further improved . with regard to the representation capability of the design stage 101 , when a limitation process of constituent elements of the design data , a spatial limitation process of the design data , an abstracting process of the design data , and a projection converting process of the design data in the design stage 101 are included in the display process of the design data inherent to the design stages 101 , a target of each of the design stages 101 , for example , the display process of the design data in accordance with operation of a hierarchical structure of components constituting a product , spatial arrangement operation or relational operation of geometric shape and symbolized function can be designated , and accordingly the effect that it is not necessary to refer to extra information with respect to the design data is further enhanced . similarly , when implementation of selection of part of various commands provided by the design supporting apparatus , implementation of addition of a new command other than the commands provided by the design supporting apparatus and method , and implementation of setting and deletion of an event driven process for performing a predetermined processing and editing in accordance with a condition of the design data are provided as the designating method of the editing process of the design data inherent to the design stage 101 , only a necessary command in the design stage 101 is presented to the user or only a necessary event driven process is operated , and accordingly the work efficiency is further improved . further , with regard to the dependence relation of the design stages 101 , when there are provided a device for making a decision by using an order relation of the plurality of design stages 101 implemented precedently and current design stage setting information , a device for setting a relation having a predetermined attribute between the design stages 101 and for making a decision by using an attribute of the relation between the current design stage 101 and the design stages 101 implemented just before and the design stage setting information , and a device for selecting the design stage 101 subsequent to the current design stage 101 on the basis of the relation attribute between the design stages for the purpose of the display process and the editing process of the design data , the final display process and editing process are dynamically decided in consideration of a result of the precedent design stage 101 and a combination with the current design stage 101 in addition to setting of individual design stage 101 , and accordingly the dependence relation of the design stages 101 can be reflected . finally , with regard to the continuity of work , by providing setting information of a group of design stages 101 for processing and editing the design data , a work procedure file for storing a relation attribute between the design stages 101 related to each other , and a device for storing an editing process result of the design data for each design stage 101 in the work procedure file , since a state of the design data upon interruption of work in each of the design stages 101 is preserved , the continuity for the interruption and resumption is maintained . further , when there are provided a device for referring to , reproducing and deleting the definition information of a group of the design stage 101 relating to one design data and the relation attribute editing processing result in the work procedure file collectively , a device for retrieving the design stage 101 necessary for processing and editing of the design data by designating the specific design data or a classification thereof , and a device for retrieving the design data requiring the design stage 101 by designating a specific design stage 101 , the design stage 101 for a new design data and the relation attribute can be set by referring to the work for the past design data and since the editing processing result of the past design data can be utilized , long - term continuity is maintained . an embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail . fig1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a design supporting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention . the user processes and edits design data stored in a design data file 100a by means of a display screen 110 of a display device , such as a crt , a liquid crystal display or the like and a data input device 120 , such as a mouse , a key board , a hand - written input device or the like , while display processing and editing processing in this case are carried out a controller 130 . there are two operations for determining the display processing and the editing processing in the controller 130 . reference is made to contents of the design stage from the design stage setting file 140 in response to designation by the user , and this is carried out by a design stage selection device 133 . the contents of the design stage are stored in the design stage setting file 140 by means of a design stage setting device 131 which has received a command from the data input device 120 interlocked with the display screen 10 . in the embodiment , display processing information , editing processing information , and the like , constituting definition information of the design stage and relation information between the design stages , are stored in the design stage definition file 140 . storing of a relation attribute is made by an inter - design stage relation setting device 132 . a further operation for deciding the display processing and / or editing processing in the controller 130 is made by a dynamic decision device 134 for display processing and / or editing processing . the display and editing processing dynamic decision device 134 changes display and editing processing of the current design stage by using an order relation of the plurality of design stages precedently implemented or a relation attribute between design stages implemented just before . operation of the design supporting apparatus shown in fig1 will now be described with reference to the flow chart shown in fig1 . in step 301 , contents of the design stage constituting part of the design work are designated by the user . for example , design data used in the design stage is designated . the design stage is set at any of steps 302 , 303 and 304 , that is , it is set newly in step 302 or it is set by the editing processing dynamic decision device 134 automatically in step 303 , or it is selected by the design stage selection device 133 in accordance with the designation of the user in step 304 . the contents of the design stage selected in any step include display information for the display screen and the editing format thereof determined by the controller 130 in step 305 . in step 306 , the user edits the design data match to the design contents . the design data edited at this time can be related to other design data in step 307 . when editing of the design data is completed , setting of the design stage is finished in step 308 and the process proceeds to setting of a next design stage . fig3 shows a layout of a display screen of the design supporting apparatus in this embodiment . the whole of fig3 is one display screen 110 and there are a design stage control menu 124 and a plurality of design stage corresponding areas 111 in the display screen 110 . the design stage control menu 124 visualizes commands for controlling and editing the design stage 101 and the user can use the design stage control menu 124 to set , select , delete and reproduce the design stage 101 , each of the design stage corresponding areas 111 corresponds to one design stage 101 . in the design stage corresponding areas 111 there are shown design data 100 processed by a specific display processing , design data processing and editing menus 122 as well as driven process control icons 123 . the design data processing and editing menu 122 is a set of commands for processing and editing the design data 100 in the same manner as a command menu of a conventional design supporting apparatus and is characterized in that a different menu is displayed in each of the design stage corresponding areas 111 on the basis of the design stage setting information transmitted from the input device 120 to the work stage setting device 131 , as shown in fig1 . in this way , by displaying the design data processing and editing menu 122 , the user can understand the contents of each of the design stages 101 clearly . the event driven process control icon 123 monitors the design data 100 and the user &# 39 ; s action in the design stage 101 and is an icon corresponding to the event driven process which operates in accordance with a produced event , to display an icon of demon process has an effect that the contents of the design stage 101 are made clear similarly to a display of the menu . the demon process is described in detail in , for example , &# 34 ; iwanami koza information engineering 22 artificial intelligence , pages 150 - 160 , chapter 7 , 2 , &# 34 ; demon &# 34 ;, mar . 26 , 1987 , 5th issue &# 34 ;. the design stage corresponding areas 111 are overlapped so that a design stage 101 which must be implemented at each time is disposed uppermost and a design stage 101 to be implemented subsequently thereto is disposed thereunder and so on . the design stage corresponding areas 111 shown in fig3 are set by a menu shown in a design stage setting menu 125 of fig4 to 7 displayed on the display screen 110 in the setting mode . the design stage setting menu 125 of fig4 appears when a setting command of a new design stage is designated in the design stage control menu 124 shown in fig3 and shows items necessary for setting of the design stage 101 , fig5 and 7 show the design stage setting menus 125 , each of which appears when the &# 34 ; setting of menu &# 34 ; is selected in items of &# 34 ; display processing &# 34 ;, &# 34 ; editing processing &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; relation attribute &# 34 ;. the display processing designation menu 126 of fig5 designates a field of vision , an abstraction and a three - dimensional projection direction of the design data constituting the display processing information . the editing processing designation menu 127 of fig6 displays editing processing information , such as selection of a necessary command from commands previously provided in the design supporting apparatus , addition and input of a new command by the user , operator or the like , and selection of a necessary demon process . an inter - stage relation designation menu 128 of fig7 designates another design stage constituting inter - stage relation information to designate an order relation to the defined design stages . utilization examples of the menus with respect to the design stage corresponding areas 111 ( a ), ( b ) and ( c ) of fig3 now will be described . in the display processing designation menu 126 , the term &# 34 ; whole &# 34 ; is designated for the &# 34 ; field of vision &# 34 ;, the phrase &# 34 ; external appearance &# 34 ; for the &# 34 ; abstraction &# 34 ; and the term &# 34 ; three - orthograph &# 34 ; for the &# 34 ; direction &# 34 ; with respect to the design stage 101 corresponding to the design stage corresponding area 111 ( b ), and consequently the whole external appearance is displayed as shown in fig3 . similarly , in the design stage corresponding area 111 ( c ), the term &# 34 ; framework &# 34 ; is designated as the &# 34 ; abstraction &# 34 ; and in the design stage corresponding area 111 ( a ), the phrase &# 34 ; holding portion &# 34 ; is designated as the &# 34 ; field of vision &# 34 ; and the term &# 34 ; analysis &# 34 ; is designated as the &# 34 ; abstraction &# 34 ;. in the editing processing designation menu 127 , a different command and the demon process correspond to the design stages are specified . consequently , the design data processing and editing menu 122 and the event driven process control icon 123 are displayed in the design stage corresponding areas 111 . further , in the relation designation menu 128 , the design stage corresponding areas 111 ( c ), 111 ( a ) and 111 ( b ) are set to have priorities which are higher in order of description thereof and are displayed on the display screen of the display device as shown in fig3 . fig8 shows an embodiment of the work procedure file , which is a feature of the present invention . that is , the work procedure file 150 includes a plurality of work procedure data 151 and each of the work procedure data 151 includes a plurality of design stage setting information 152 and a plurality of results of the design stages 101 collected in relation to a design data name 154 . the work procedure file 150 is a memory and will be described in detail with reference to fig1 . with the provision of the work procedure file 150 , the design work shown in fig9 can be implemented . more particularly , in step 201 of fig9 in order to establish the work procedure for a new design data , the work procedure data 151 relating to the same kind of design data 100 is retrieved from the work procedure file 150 . in step 202 , the obtained work procedure data 151 is reproduced to provide for modification of the work procedure data 151 . it is characterized that the processed and edited results of old design data 100 for each of the design stages are reproduced together with the reproduction of the work procedure data 151 . accordingly , the user can implement the work in each of the design stages while referring to the old design data 100 . in step 203 , one design stage of the reproduced work procedure data 151 is selected . this is performed by the design stage selection device 133 shown in fig1 . in step 204 , the selected design stage is started . in steps 205 and 206 , setting of the current or future design stage and processing and editing operation of the design data 100 , which is an inherent object , are carried out , respectively . both steps occur in operation of one design stage 101 and are repeated . step 207 involves interruption of one design stage and represents a state in which resumption in the step 204 is expected . in step 208 , the work procedure data 151 is updated and the updating is effected automatically in order to preserve the interrupted state . when the object of the design stage 101 is attained , the operation of fig9 is finished in step 209 . if the design stage 203 is a final stage , the design work itself is finished . if not , the process is returned to the step 203 and the next design stage 101 is selected . the description of fig9 has been presented so that all of the design stages 101 are processed in sequence , however the design stages 101 may be processed in parallel , as shown in fig2 . fig1 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention . this embodiment shows a system configuration having a work procedure file 150 added to the embodiment of fig1 . that is , the work procedure file 150 is connected to the design stage selection device 133 and provides setting information for the design stage 101 and the old design data in accordance with the flow of the process shown in fig9 . according to the embodiments of the present invention , the following effects are attained . since the new design stage can be started even in the processing and editing operations of the design data , the apparatus can cope with a change of the design work . since the display process and the editing process suitable for the design stage can be set , there is no reference to extra information and the work efficiency is improved . a new design stage is easily set by the design stage setting file . since the work at each of the design stages is presented to the user clearly , the work efficiency is further improved . since the display process and the editing process of the design data can be designated in accordance with the target of the design stages , the effect that there is no reference to extra information relating to the work is further enhanced . since the display process and the editing process of the design data of the design stages are decided dynamically , the apparatus can cope with a change of the design work flexibly . the continuity of the short - term work for the interruption and the resumption of the work and the long - term continuity of the past work and the current work are also maintained by the work procedure file . similarly , the design data and the design stage defined previously to a certain extent can be prepared in accordance with the classification of a product , and accordingly the work efficiency is improved . | 6 |
the present invention is now based on the idea that intolerance of certain pharmaceuticals may possibly be caused by administration thereof being followed by release of such large amounts of tnf in the body that necroses or other side effects arising from overproduction of tnf occur . this idea has been confirmed by investigations with the antimycotic amphotericin b , which is known to result in 100 % lethality after parenteral administration in animal experiments if certain amounts of active substance are exceeded . however , if amphotericin b is administered together with a tnf inhibitor the amphotericin b , which is otherwise highly toxic , is tolerated without side effects . hence the invention relates to a pharmaceutical which , besides a substance releasing tumor necrosis factor ( tnf ), also contains a tnf inhibitor . xanthine derivatives have proven to be suitable tnf inhibitors . 1 ) compounds of the formula i ## str1 ## in which one of the radicals r 1 and r 3 represents a straight - chain alkyl , ( ω - 1 )- oxoalkyl or ( ω - 1 )- hydroxyalkyl group having 3 to 8 carbon atoms , and the two other radicals , r 2 and r 3 or r 1 and r 2 , represent straight - chain or branched alkyl groups having 1 to 8 carbon atoms in the position of r 1 and r 3 and 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the position of r 2 , where the total of carbon atoms in these two alkyl substituents does not exceed 10 , 2 ) compounds of the formula ii ## str2 ## in which r represents an alkyl radical having 1 to 4 carbon atoms , 3 ) compounds of the formula iii ## str3 ## in which at least one of the radicals r 4 and r 6 represents a tertiary hydroxyalkyl group of the formula ## str4 ## where r 7 denotes an alkyl group having up to 3 carbon atoms , and n denotes an integer from 2 to 5 , and -- if only one of the radicals r 4 or r 6 denotes such a tertiary hydroxyalkyl group of the formula iiia -- the other radical represents a hydrogen atom or an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical r 8 which has up to 6 carbon atoms and whose carbon chain can be interrupted by up to 2 oxygen atoms or substituted by an oxo group or up to two hydroxyl groups ( in which case an oxo or hydroxyl group present in the radical r 8 is preferably separated from the nitrogen by at least 2 carbon atoms ), and r 5 represents an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms , 4 ) prodrug forms of the compounds of the formulae i to iii , and / or in turn , those among these compounds which are particularly preferred have the formula i with a hexyl , 5 - oxohexyl or 5 - hydroxyhexyl group in the position of r 1 or r 3 . these include , in particular , 1 - hexyl - 3 , 7 - dimethylxanthine , 1 -( 5 - hydroxyhexyl )- 3 , 7 - dimethylxanthine , 3 , 7 - dimethyl - 1 ( 5 - oxohexyl ) xanthine , 7 -( 5 - hydroxyhexyl )- 1 , 3 - dimethylxanthine , 1 , 3 - dimethyl - 7 -( 5 - oxohexyl ) xanthine , 1 -( 5 - hydroxyhexyl )- 3 - methyl - 7 - propylxanthine and 3 - methyl - 1 -( 5 - oxohexyl )- 7 - propylxanthine (= propentofylline ), especially 3 , 7 - dimethyl - 1 -( 5 - oxohexyl ) xanthine (= pentoxifylline ). particularly preferred compounds of the formula iii are those compounds in which r 5 represents a methyl or ethyl group . equally preferred are those compounds of the formula iii in which only one of the two radicals r 4 or r 6 represents the tertiary hydroxyalkyl group defined above . additionally preferred are those compounds in which r 7 represents a methyl group , and n denotes an integer from 3 to 5 , so that the tertiary hydroxyalkyl radical iiia represents either [(- 1 )- hydroxy -( ω - 1 )- methyl ]- pentyl , - hexyl or - heptyl , especially those in which r 5 denotes methyl or ethyl . in addition , worthy of particular emphasis are those compounds of the formula iii in which r 4 represents the tertiary hydroxyalkyl group , and r 6 represents alkyl , hydroxyalkyl or alkoxyalkyl , having 1 to 4 carbon atoms in each case , such as , for example , 7 - ethoxymethyl - 1 -( 5 - hydroxy - 5 - methylhexyl )- 3 - methylxanthine . another embodiment of the invention comprises using the oxoalkylxanthines of the formula i and ii , or the hydroxyalkylxanthines of the formula i and iii , not as such but in the form of a prodrug from which the therapeutically active xanthine compounds , having the substituents defined in formulae i , ii and iii , can be released only by bio - transformation in the body . suitable for this purpose are , for example , the acetalized oxoalkylxanthines in which the carbonyl groups are replaced by the structural element of the formula iv ## str5 ## and the o - acylated hydroxyalkylxanthines having the structural element of the formula ( v ) in place of the hydroxyl group , where r 9 and r 10 each represents an alkyl group having up to 4 carbon atoms or together represent an ethylene , trimethylene or tetramethylene group , and r 11 denotes an alkyl radical having up to 4 carbon atoms or optionally substituted phenyl or pyridyl . the ratio by weight of the substance releasing tnf to the xanthine derivative in the combination products according to the invention can cover a wide range . a ratio by weight of about 1 : 100 to about 100 : 1 is to be preferred , particularly preferably from about 1 : 10 to about 10 : 1 . the combination products according to the invention can be administered in a variety of ways . for example , they can be administered intravenously , intramuscularly , intraperitoneally , subcutaneously or orally . the combination products according to the invention are prepared by converting the substance releasing tnf and at least one xanthine derivative , where appropriate with other additives and / or auxiliaries , into a suitable administration form . the additives or auxiliaries belong to the group of vehicles , preservatives and other customary auxiliaries . examples of auxiliaries which can be used for oral administration forms are starch , for example potato , corn or wheat starch , cellulose or derivatives thereof , especially microcrystalline cellulose , silica , various sugars such as lactose , magnesium carbonate and / or calcium phosphates . in addition , it is advantageous to add to the oral administration forms auxiliaries which improve the tolerability of the medicaments , such as , for example , mucilage - formers and resins . to improve the tolerability , the medicaments can also be administered in the form of enteric capsules . furthermore , it may be advantageous to add to the administration form , or to a component of the combination product , an agent to slow release , where appropriate in the form of permeable membranes , such as , for example , those based on cellulose or polystyrene resin , or ion exchangers . it is surprising that the said xanthine derivatives , although they are cleared from the body after only a few hours , nevertheless are able to suppress the undesireable side effects of substances releasing tnf , even when the latter are excreted from the body only over a very long period . thus , for example , amphotericin b is still detectable in the body after 12 hours , whereas a xanthine derivative such as pentoxifylline has been excreted from the body after only 3 to 4 hours . despite this the tnf - inhibiting effect of the xanthine derivative is sufficient . the tnf - inhibiting effect of xanthine derivatives has been detected experimentally in the following way : in the case of amphotericin b , it has been shown that the highly toxic side effects of the substance derive from the release of tnf . the release of tnf in mouse serum can be detected by a specific elisa method using murine monoclonal anti - tnf . intraperitoneal administration of amphotericin b in amounts of 100 mg / kg or more to mice is found to be followed by 100 % mortality . the experimental results compiled in the attached table show that the toxic effect of amphotericin b cannot be overcome even by dexamethasone . however , if amphotericin b is administered together with pentoxifylline , then all the mice which received 100 or 150 mg / kg amphotericin b survive when 100 mg / kg pentoxifylline is administered . not until an excessive dose of 200 mg / kg amphotericin b is administered is it no longer possible to neutralize the side effects by administration of 100 mg / kg pentoxifylline . __________________________________________________________________________ % mortality in albino mice after a single intraperitoneal administrationof the product ( group size : 5 mice ) ampho - pentoxi - tericin bdexamethasone fyllinemg / kgmg / kg mg / kg day 0 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7__________________________________________________________________________100 0 0 0 40 100100 0 10 0 20 60 80 100100 0 50 0 20 40 60 60 60 60 60100 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0100 100 0 0 0 0 20 40 40 40 40150 0 0 0 100150 0 10 0 40 100150 0 50 0 60 80 80 100150 0 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0200 0 0 100200 0 10 80 100200 0 50 40 100200 0 100 0 20 100200 100 0 0 100__________________________________________________________________________ | 0 |
reference is now made to fig1 which illustrates the method of the present invention as it can be implemented for paper documents being sent non - electronically . the method of fig1 can be implemented for documents sent via any document dispatching service , such as a courier service or the registered mail service of the post office . the sender 10 provides the documents 12 to be sent and a destination address 14 to a clerk 20 of the document dispatching service . the clerk 20 prepares a dispatch sheet 26 , which typically has a unique dispatch identifier ( not shown ) and has room for dispatch information such as the date and time of dispatch or delivery 16 , the destination address 14 , an indication 18 of proof of delivery such as the recipient &# 39 ; s identity and / or signature , and optionally , additional dispatch information such as the dispatcher &# 39 ; s signature and the identity of the sender 10 , etc . the clerk 20 fills in the dispatch sheet 26 with the date / time 16 and the address 14 , and then prepares a copy 24 of the documents 12 and a copy 34 of the dispatch sheet 26 , typically by utilizing a copy machine 22 or an electronic scanner . the clerk 20 then places the original documents 12 into an envelope 28 carrying the address 14 , and sends the envelope 28 to its destination 30 . in one embodiment of the present invention the dispatching service utilizes a cash - register like device to fill in the dispatch sheet 26 . this provides for reliable time stamping and automated dispatch record keeping . furthermore , the electronic dispatch information produced by such device can be associated using a special mathematical method as discussed in greater detail hereinbelow . the clerk 20 associates the copy 24 of the documents 12 with the copy 34 of the dispatch sheet 26 by any method , a few examples of which follow : a ) by inserting the documents copy 24 and the dispatch sheet copy 34 into an envelope 32 ; b ) by inserting the copy 24 of the documents into an envelope 32 and marking the dispatch identifier on the outside of the envelope 32 ; c ) by printing the dispatch identifier on the documents copy 24 ; or d ) attaching the copies 24 and 34 and applying the stamp of the dispatch service in such a manner that part of the stamp is on the copy 24 of the documents and part of the stamp is on the copy 34 of the dispatch sheet 26 . preferably , the clerk 20 secures the copies 24 and 34 in a manner that makes it difficult to modify or replace the information contained therein , for example by marking the pages of the copy 24 with the dispatching service &# 39 ; s signature , stamp or seal , by spreading each page with invisible or other ink , by sealing the envelope 32 or by retaining them in the service &# 39 ; s secure file 36 and so forth . in one embodiment of the present invention , the associated copies 24 and 34 are provided to the sender at this stage ( where the dispatch sheet 26 is retained with the service to ascertain delivery and to fill in the proof of delivery indication 18 ) or after the delivery is completed . in another embodiment , the dispatch service retains , in a secure location 36 , one or both of the copies 24 and 34 . the clerk 20 can also identify the authenticating party , for example via his signature , or by having the dispatch sheet copy 34 printed on the stationary of the dispatching service , by stamping the documents and / or dispatch sheet copies with the service &# 39 ; s stamp , logo or seal , etc . when it is desired to authenticate the dispatch of the original documents ( and possibly also their receipt at the destination 30 ), either the sender or the document dispatching service provides the associated authentication - information , for example the envelope 32 , unopened , to the party which required the authentication . when the envelope 32 is opened , it has associated therewith copies of both the dispatched documents and the dispatch information . the envelope 32 therefore , provides a reliable proof that the original documents 12 were dispatched on the date and to the destination listed on or in envelope 32 . it will be appreciated that , since a non - interested third party who is neither the sender nor the receiver copied the original documents 12 being sent , it is unlikely that the copies stored in the envelope 32 are other than copies of the original documents 12 . various modifications can be made to the embodiment provided hereinabove . for example , the document copy could be sent to the destination while the original could be authenticated . the authentication - information could be provided by the service , directly to the court of law . the document copy could be produced by a scanner or a camera and stored in an electronic or other storage device such as a disk or on microfilm , while a copy thereof is provided to the sender . the original dispatch sheet could be first filled out and then provided to the sender instead of using a copy . moreover , the original documents could be scanned by the sender in the service &# 39 ; s premises into a secure disk and one printed copy thereof could be sent by the service to the destination while another copy could be authenticated and provided to the sender . alternatively , the documents could be provided to the service via transmission ( e . g ., by facsimile machine ) rather than manually . in the case of a courier , the courier could produce the copy himself using a photocopier at the sender &# 39 ; s premises , and so forth . reference is now made to fig2 which illustrates an authenticator 70 , constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention , which can be part of a system for transmitting information , whether by facsimile machine , modem , computer , network or e - mail stations , and any combinations thereof , or by other electronic means . fig2 illustrates a data communication system comprising a sending transceiver 42 , a communication line 45 , coupled to the sending transceiver 42 , a communication network 44 and a receiving transceiver 46 . authenticator 70 of the present invention communicates at least with the sending transceiver 42 , and can form part of the sending transceiver 42 or can be separated therefrom . the sender provides original materials 40 for transmission , which can be paper documents or electronic information such as computer disk , memory and other electronic information including audio / video , text and graphics files or pictures . the sender also provides the destination address 52 which represents the address of the receiving transceiver 46 on communication network 44 . the address 52 may for example be a dial number , a network user code and so forth . the sending transceiver 42 needs to transmit the information contents of the materials 40 to the receiving transceiver 46 . to provide authentication , the transmission in fig2 is performed through the authenticator 70 in a “ store & amp ; forward ” manner . the authenticator 70 comprises input means 72 for receiving the transmitted information 60 and the destination address 62 from the communication line 45 . the input means 72 may for example comprise a line interface , a dual - tone multi frequency ( dtmf ) decoder for receiving a destination address 62 such as a dial number , and a transceiver similar to that of the sending transceiver 42 which can receive the information 60 . the authenticator 70 also comprises an optional storage unit 54 such as a tape , disk or memory device and so forth for storing the information 60 and related dispatch information , an internal clock 50 for generating a time indication 66 of the transmission , a transceiver 76 for transmitting the information 60 to address 62 ( the transceiver 76 can be used by the input unit 72 as well , for example by using a relay mechanism ), a controller 56 , a user interface 48 , and an output unit 58 for providing the authentication - information , for example to the sender . the information 60 is then transmitted over the communication network 44 to the receiving transceiver 46 by the transceiver 76 using the address 62 . the internal clock 50 provides an indication 66 of the current time , and is utilized to provide a time indication for the transmission . internal clock 50 is securable ( to ensure the veracity of the produced time indication 66 ), and preferably provides time indications according to a non - changing time standard , such as greenwich - mean - time ( g . m . t .) or utc . alternatively , the time indication 66 can be externally obtained , for example from a communication network server , as long as the source is secured from being set or modified by an interested party such as the sender . the security of the time indication can be provided in a number of ways , such as by factory pre - setting the clock 50 and disabling or password securing the set date / time function of the internal clock 50 . alternatively , the clock 50 can maintain a “ true offset ” with the true preset date / time , that reflects the offset of the user set date / time from the genuine preset one . the transmission completion indication 64 provides information regarding the success of the transmission . it is typically obtained from the communication protocol used by the transceiver 76 . it may be for example in the form of an electronic signal provided by the transceiver 76 which is used to determine the validity of the rest of authentication - information , or in a form similar to that provided in transmission reports such as “ transmission ok ” or “ error ”. in one embodiment of the present invention , the fact that the rest of authentication - information elements are provided , indicates that an affirmative completion indication has been provided . the storage unit 54 is used for storing the information 60 and / or the dispatch information , including the address 62 , the time indication 66 , and optionally the transmission completion indication 64 . typically , the storage unit 54 is relatively secure , such that the authentication - information contained therein is assumed unchangeable . for example it may be a write - once - read - many ( worm ) device such as an optical disk or a programmable read - only memory ( prom ) device , it may be enclosed within a securable device , or it may be provided with read - only access privilege . alternatively , the authentication - information is stored in a secure manner , for example using a compression , private or public key encryption or scrambling technique , a password , or a combination thereof , such as those employed by the widely used rsa encryption method , and by the pkzip ( tm ) program from pkware inc ., glendale wis ., u . s . a ., and where the “ securing ” procedure , key or password are unknown to any interested party . the controller 56 associates the information 60 and the dispatch information , by storing them in storage unit 54 and by associating link information with the stored authentication - information , for example in the form of a unique dispatch identifier such as a sequential dispatch number . to provide the authentication - information for the transmission , the dispatch identifier is provided to the controller 56 through the user interface 48 . the controller 56 , in turn , retrieves the various stored authentication - information elements from storage unit 54 . if the stored information is also secured ( i . e ., by compression , password , etc . ), the controller 56 “ unsecures ” them , and then provides them to the output unit 58 . the output unit 58 provides the authentication - information to an output device ( not shown ). the authenticator 70 may include an output device or may communicate with some external unit . the output device can be , for example , a printing unit , a display unit , a storage unit such as a computer disk , the printing apparatus of the sending transceiver 42 and so forth . the information 60 and the dispatch information , can be associated with each other in any suitable manner . for example , if the materials 40 provided for transmission are paper documents , one embodiment of the authenticator 70 authenticates the original documents by printing the dispatch information on them . in another embodiment , they can be stored in storage unit 54 together ( e . g ., sequentially or combined into a single file ), or separately using a link information element ( e . g ., using a dispatch identifier ). if the output is a printout , output unit 58 typically formats the printout to indicate the dispatch information on at least one , and preferably on all , of the pages containing the printout . alternatively , a link information element , such as a dispatch identifier , can be printed on each printed page of the information 60 , and separately on a dispatch page containing the dispatch information . another method includes printing both the information 60 and the dispatch information together on contiguous paper , optionally between starting and ending messages , and so forth . an alternative special mathematical association method is discussed hereinbelow . typically , the authenticator 70 is relatively secure , such that the various devices and the authentication - information elements enclosed therein can be assumed to be unchangeable . for example , the authenticator 70 can be enclosed within a password protected sealed electronic box which , if opened without authorization , may disable the normal operation of the authenticator 70 , or may clearly indicate that it has been tampered with . as mentioned hereinabove , the authenticator 70 can form part of the sending transceiver 42 . fig3 illustrates such an embodiment , which is similar to that of fig2 and similar functional elements have similar reference numerals . in fig3 the input unit 72 of the sending transceiver 42 comprises means , for example a serial , parallel or disk interface , for inputting the information 60 and the destination address 62 from any component of the sending transceiver 42 , for example from its input devices . the sending transceiver 42 replaces the transceiver 76 of fig2 . the storage unit 54 however is optional , as the information 60 and the related dispatch information could be provided to the output unit 58 “ on - the - fly ” in a manner similar to that used by the “ copy ” function of document facsimile machines . generally , in various embodiments of the authenticator 70 , the information 60 can be obtained from any source and by any means , including a computer , a disk drive , a scanner or any other component of the sending transceiver 42 , a communication line , a communication network and any combinations thereof , and so forth . it is appreciated that in accordance with the present invention , the various information elements can be provided , generated , associated or secured either by single , combined or separate means of the authenticator 70 . furthermore , any information element having information content the substance of which is equivalent to that of the transmitted information can serve for authentication purposes , regardless of its form , representation , format or resolution , whether it is a paper document or electronic information , whether digital or analog , whether in form of dots and lines or alphanumeric , binary , hexadecimal and other characters , or whether it is encrypted , compressed or represented otherwise , and so forth . the element may contain additional information which does not change the substance and its content , such as a logo , a header message , etc . furthermore , it may contain control , handshake and even noise data . alternatively , an information descriptor such as a form number or name can be provided , and / or any other information content such as the form &# 39 ; s filled - in data , which identifies the dispatched information . optionally , additional dispatch information may be provided to , or generated by authenticator 70 , such as the number of pages transmitted , page numbers , the sender &# 39 ; s identification , the sending transceiver &# 39 ; s 42 identification , the receiving transceiver &# 39 ; s 46 identification , the transmission elapsed time , a transmission identifier , integrity information such as a cyclic redundancy code ( crc ), a checksum or the length of the transmitted information , an authenticator identification indication such as a serial number , a verification from the communication network 44 that the transmission has actually taken place at the specified time from the sender to the recipient &# 39 ; s address , a heading message , a trailing message and so forth . typically , when the authenticator 70 comprises a reasonably secure storage unit 54 , the stored information is retained therein and copies thereof are provided to the output unit 58 . preferably , the provided output or any part thereof is reasonably secured , so as to prevent any fraudulent action . for example , if the output is a printout , it can be secured by spreading invisible or other ink on it , or by using special ink , special print fonts or special paper to print the authentication - information , or in any other suitable manner . another method includes securing the dispatch information using , for example , an encryption technique , and printing the encrypted information on the printout . at a later stage the encrypted information can be decrypted to provide the true dispatch information , and so forth . likewise , mathematical association method as discussed hereinbelow can also be used . it will be appreciated that the following embodiments fall within the scope of the present invention : the authenticator of the present invention can operate for information , such as a document produced by a word processor , transmitted through a computer . in this embodiment , the computer may include the secure time generator ( which may for example be externally plugged into the parallel port ). the authenticator obtains the dispatch information from the transceiver , and the document is provided from the hard disk or word processing program . the authenticator encrypts the document and the dispatch information together and stores them in a file . when authentication is required , the authenticator retrieves the stored file , decrypts it and provides the document and the dispatch information associated therewith to a printer . similarly , information transmitted in a computer network or electronic mail system can be authenticated , for example , by having a file server or mail manager ( whose time generator is considered secure ) store the transmitted information together with its associated dispatch information in a secure manner . one embodiment of secure storage is that which has read - only privileges . alternatively , such read - only effect can also be obtained by having the authentication - information encrypted with the authenticator &# 39 ; s private key : everybody can decrypt it using the authenticator &# 39 ; s public key , but no interested party can change it without such action being detectable . the present invention can be operated in conjunction with a message transmission forwarding service such as that provided by graphnet inc . of teaneck , n . j ., usa . the service obtains the information and address from the sender , typically by an electronic transmission , occasionally converts it ( for example from ascii text or word processor format into a transmissible document format ) and forwards it to the requested address . the forwarding service serves as the authenticator and may for example provide the dispatch information associated with the transmitted information to the sender in a secure manner , such as in a sealed envelope or in encrypted form . an efficient method for associating a plurality of information elements is by associating a digital representation thereof using a method referred to herein as “ mathematical association ”. a digital representation of an information element can be considered as a number , for example as the element &# 39 ; s standard binary , hexadecimal or other base representation . using mathematical association , rather than maintaining the information elements ( numbers ) themselves , it is sufficient to maintain the results ( also numbers ) of one or more functions which are applied to one or more of these information elements . ( these results are sometimes referred to as “ message - digests ”, “ hash - values ” or “ digital - signatures ”). more formally , if a is a set of information elements , and f is the mathematical association function , then the set b of information elements is obtained as the result of applying the function f to the set a of information elements , i . e . b = f ( a ). preferably , the function f is selected such that a fraudulent attempt to change the elements of the set a , or an attempt to claim that a set a ′ which comprises different elements is the original set , can be readily detected by comparing the result b ′ obtained by applying the function f to the set a ′, to the original result b , i . e ., by chekking if f ( a ′)= f ( a ). it would be advantageous to select the function according to a cryptographic schemes . encryption and digital envelope functions can provide for secure data interchange . digital signatures can provide for accurate and reliable verification of both the signature generator and the data . one - way hash functions provides for security , and can reduce the size of the generated signatures while still enable verification of the original data used to generate these signatures . utilizing combinations of cryptographic schemes can optimize particular implementations . various function classes of various degrees of complexity can be used for mathematical association purposes in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention . furthermore , the function f and / or the result b can be kept secret and unknown in general , and to interested parties such as the sender or the recipient in particular . however , even if the function f and / or the result b are known , the task of finding a meaningful different set a ′ such that b = f ( a ′) is mostly very difficult even for relatively simple functions , not to mention for more complex ones . a special class of functions most suitable for the purposes of the present invention is the class of functions having the property that given the result b = f ( a ), it is exceptionally difficult to find a second set a ′ such that applying the function f to the second set a ′ will yield the same result b . the term “ exceptionally difficult ” refers herein to the fact that although many different such sets a ′ may exist , it is so difficult to find even one of them ( sometimes even to find the set a itself ) that it is practically infeasible . in fact , the functions of this class “ hide ” the elements they are applied to , ( and sometimes the elements even cannot be reconstructed ) and therefore this class is referred to herein as “ the hiding class ”. there are many advantages to using mathematical association in general , and functions of the hiding class in particular : ( a ) it is efficient , for example for saving storage space and transmission bandwidth , to maintain a function result , the size of which is normally very small as compared to the original information elements themselves which can be arbitrarily large . ( b ) it provides security , since the result is cryptic and there is no need to secure the information elements themselves . furthermore , it is difficult , and sometimes infeasible to reconstruct the original elements . ( c ) it provides a clear indication as to the authenticity of the elements of the set a used by the function to generate the result b . at any later time , the result b ′ obtained by applying the function f to a purported set a ′ can be compared to the original result b , and a match indicates beyond any reasonable doubt that set a ′ is same as the original set a . moreover , integrity information such as the length of the information elements of the set a can be added and used as part of the set a , or the results of a plurality of functions can be maintained such that to make the task of finding such a different set a ′ infeasible . ( d ) the result b ′ provided for comparison must be equal to the original result b , since any change to a will yield a different result b ′ with very high probability , and even if by chance a different set a ′ is found for which f ( a ′)= b , the chance that it will be meaningful or will have the same length is practically zero . ( e ) the function can be selected such that it is relatively easy and fast to compute the function result . few well known and widely used functions of the hiding class are encryption functions ( e . g ., the rsa [ 1 . 06 ] or the des [ 1 . 01 ] algorithms ) and cyclic - redundancy - check [ 3 ] ( c . r . c .) functions ( e . g ., the c . r . c - 32 function ). while c . r . c functions are generally used in applications requiring verification as to the integrity of an arbitrarily long block of data , encryption is used to maintain the original data elements , though in different , cryptic representation . encryption functions convert the information elements into one or more cryptic data blocks using one key , while enabling their reconstruction by providing a matching ( same or different ) key . other well known members of this class of functions in the prior art are compression functions ( e . g ., the lempel - ziv 1977 [ 5 ] and 1978 algorithms ), one - way hash functions [ 1 . 03 ] ( e . g ., the md4 [ 4 ], and md5 [ 1 . 04 ] algorithms ), and macs [ 1 . 13 ]. since for authentication purposes there is no need to maintain the original information elements , the use of encryption functions ( which normally maintain the information though in a cryptic representation ) may be inefficient . one - way hash functions ( and other functions of the hiding class ), on the other hand , maintain a small sized result value , but the information elements from which the result has been produced are secured , i . e ., cannot be reconstructed therefrom . it would be more advantageous , for example , to apply a one - way hash function to the union of all the information elements , i . e ., to a bit - string , where the leftmost bit is the leftmost bit of the first element , and the rightmost bit is the rightmost bit of the last element . this produces a cryptic and secure result , as described hereinabove . furthermore , one - way hash functions can be computed relatively quickly and easily . generally and more formally , the result b is a set of one or more information elements b1 , . . . , bm , where each element bi ( which itself can comprise one or more information elements ) is the result of applying a ( possibly different ) function fi to a subset si of a set a which comprises one or more information elements a1 , . . . , an , where the various subsets si are not necessarily disjoint or different , each subset si includes at least a portion of one or more ( or even all ) of the electronic information elements of the set a , and where each function fi can comprise one or more functions ( i . e ., fi can be the composition of functions ). preferably , the functions fi are members of the hiding class . the elements of such a subset si are considered to be mathematically associated . assuming that the set a comprises five information elements a1 , a2 , a3 , a4 , a5 , a few examples of mathematical association function fi and their result set b follow : ( the union function is denoted as u ( x1 , . . . , xk ), which is an information element comprising a bit - string , where the leftmost bit is the leftmost bit of the element x1 , and the rightmost bit is the rightmost bit of the element xk .) b 1 = f 1 ( s 1 )= f 1 ( a 1 , a 4 , a 5 )= a 1 /( a 4 + a 5 + 1 ) b 1 = f 1 ( s 1 )= f 1 ( a 1 , a 3 , a 4 )= encrypt ( u ( a 1 , a 3 , a 4 )) b 1 = f 1 ( s 1 )= f 1 ( a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , a 4 , a 5 )= md 5 ( u ( a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , a 4 , a 5 ))* c . r . c ( a 3 ) mod5933333 b 1 = f 1 ( s 1 )= f 1 ( a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , a 4 , a 5 )= c . r . c ( encrypt ( u ( a 1 , a 2 )), compress ( u ( a 2 , a 3 , a 4 )), a 1 , a 5 ) b 1 = f 1 ( s 1 )= f 1 ( a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , a 4 , a 5 )= u ( a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , a 4 , a 5 ) mod p ( where p is a large prime number ) b 1 = f 1 ( s 1 )= f 1 ( a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , a 4 , a 5 )= encrypt ( md 5 ( u ( a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , a 4 , a 5 ))) b 1 = f 1 ( s 1 )= f 1 ( a 1 , a 3 )= c . r . c ( a 1 , a 3 ) b 2 = f 2 ( s 2 )= f 2 ( a 1 , a 2 )= a2 /( a 1 + 1 ) the elements of two or more ( not necessarily disjoint ) subsets of set a can be associated with each other by associating the elements of the result set b which correspond to these subsets , either mathematically , or by non - mathematical methods , as described hereinabove . furthermore , if there is a subset of elements of set a to which no function has been applied , these elements may be associated with the elements of the result set b , again either mathematically or by non - mathematical methods . moreover , the elements of two or more subsets of the set a can be associated with each other by associating the elements of each of these subsets with a common subset comprising one or more elements of the set a , where this common subset uniquely relates to the specific dispatch . this type of association is referred to herein as “ indirect association ”, and the elements of this common subset are referred to herein as “ link elements ”. a link element can be for example a unique dispatch number , or the subset comprising the time indication and a machine serial number , etc . for example , assuming that the element a2 of the above set a uniquely relates to the dispatch , the following function generates a multi - element result set b : b =[ b 1 , b 2 , b 3 ]=[ encrypt ( a 1 , a2 ), compress ( a 2 , a 3 , a 4 ), a 2 + a 5 ] where the subsets si include the following elements : s1 =[ a1 , a2 ], s2 =[ a2 , a3 , a4 ] and s3 =[ a2 , a5 ]. the elements of each subset are mathematically associated . since all of these subsets include the common link - element a2 , all their elements ( in this case all the elements of the set a ) are associated with each other . reference is now made to fig4 which is a block diagram that illustrates an authenticator 100 , constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the authenticator 100 comprises a secure time generator 104 , a storage device 106 and a function executor 102 which has means for inputting the following information elements : the transmitted information , the destination address , a time indication generated by the secure time generator 104 , and a dispatch completion indication . optionally , additional information elements can be provided as well . the function executor 102 can be for example a microchip technology inc .&# 39 ; s pic16c5x series eprom - based micro - controller , and the input means can be for example an i / o port , a serial , parallel or disk interface . the function executor 102 is capable of executing a function f on at least one , and preferably on the union of all of the input elements , and of generating a result information element which is provided to a storage device 106 , and optionally to an output device 108 , such as a printing device . preferably , the function f is a member of the hiding class , and is kept unknown at least to any interested party , by the function executor 102 . this can be achieved for example by enabling the code protection feature of the pic16c5x series microcontroller . alternatively , a mac [ 1 . 13 ] such as a one - way hash function mac can be used where secret codes , keys and data relating to the function can be for example stored in a shielded memory device which is automatically erased if the authenticator 100 is tampered with . also , preferably the storage device 106 is a worm device , such as a prom . preferably , a different function is used for each device employing the function f . this can be achieved for example by using different keys or codes with each function . in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention , the authenticator further comprises a verification mechanism for verifying the authenticity of a set of information elements purported to be identical to the original set of information elements . it is however appreciated that the verification mechanism can be separated therefrom . reference is now made to fig5 which is a block diagram that illustrates a verification mechanism 120 , constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention , where at least part of the information elements were mathematically associated by the authenticator 100 of fig4 . the verification mechanism 120 includes a function executor 122 for generating a new result information element according to the same function employed by the function executor 102 of fig4 . the function executor 122 has means for inputting information elements corresponding to the original information elements input to the function executor 102 of fig4 ., and which are purported to be identical to those original elements . the verification mechanism 120 also comprises a comparator 124 , which has input means for inputting the newly generated result information element and the original result information element which may be obtained from the storage device 106 of fig4 or manually , for example through a keyboard . the comparator 124 then compares the two provided result information elements to determine if they are the same , and the comparison result can be output for example to a display or printing unit . a match indicates that the purported information elements are authentic . reference is now made to fig6 which is a block diagram that illustrates a verification mechanism 140 , constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention , where the information elements were associated non - mathematically , and are for example stored in storage unit 54 by the authenticator 70 of fig2 . the verification mechanism 140 comprises a comparator 144 , which has input means for inputting at least one of the stored associated information elements from the storage unit 54 of fig2 . the comparator 124 also has input means for inputting the corresponding information elements purported to be identical to the stored elements . the comparator 124 then compares the corresponding information elements to determine if they are the same , and the comparison result can be output for example to a display or printing unit . a match of all the compared elements indicates that the purported information elements are authentic . it is appreciated that various embodiments of the present invention can include a combination of the verification mechanisms described hereinabove . also , part of the securing methods which were described for fig2 include for example encryption and compression methods which formally relate to mathematical association functions such as encrypt ( a1 , . . . , aj ) and compress ( a1 , . . . , aj ). occasionally , there is a need for reconstructing some or all of the secured mathematically associated information elements , for example for providing them to an output unit or to the comparator of the verification mechanism . since some compression and encryption functions ( as some other functions ) are reversible , they are typically used when reconstruction of the elements is needed . ( a function g is considered reversible if there exists a function h such that h ( g ( x ))= x , and the function h is called the inverse function of g ). as discussed hereinabove , a mathematical association function can generally comprise a single function , or the composition of two or more functions . for example , the function encrypt ( a1 , . . . , aj ) comprises a single function encrypt , which is reversible , and its inverse function is decrypt . another function compress ( encrypt ( a1 ), c . r . c ( a2 , . . . , aj )) is the composition of three functions — compress , encrypt and c . r . c , where the first two are reversible and their inverse function are decompress ( which yields the set comprising encrypt ( a1 ) and c . r . c ( a2 , . . . , aj )), and decrypt ( which yields the element a1 ) respectively . the c . r . c function however , is not reversible . formally , if a function fi comprises one or more functions , some of which are reversible , a set c comprising one or more information elements c1 , . . . , ck can be generated , where this set c is expressive as a function i applied to the result information element bi of the function fi , where this function i comprises the inverse function of one or more of these reversible functions . while the authentication methods described hereinabove refer mostly to symmetric digital signatures , a preferred authentication method may be obtained using public - key digital signatures . a major advantage of public - key digital signatures over symmetric digital signatures is that they enable any third party ( such as a judge ), to verify the authenticity of both the data and the signer ( where by using symmetric digital signatures , only a designated authenticator such as a secure device or a trusted third party , which have knowledge of the function , secret keys / codes etc ., can perform the verification ). the data is guaranteed not to be tampered with , and furthermore , once the data is signed , the signer is actually “ committed ” to it and cannot later repudiate his commitment to the digitally signed data , for only the signer which has sole knowledge of his private key could have created the signature , thus allowing such data to be legally binding . typically , public - key digital signatures generation and data authentication in performed in the following manner : a computation involving the signer &# 39 ; s private key and the data , which can comprise various elements such as the dispatched message , the time indication , the destination address , and so forth is performed ; the output is the digital signature , and may be attached to the data or separated therefrom . in later attempt of verification of the data , some computation involving the purported data , the signature , and signer &# 39 ; s public key is performed . if the results properly hold in simple mathematical relation , the data is verified as genuine ; otherwise , it may be forged or may have been altered or otherwise tampered with . since the signing process using the whole ( plain ) data is generally time consuming and the signature consumes a considerable amount of storage space , typically a relatively unique representation ( also called a “ fingerprint ” or the “ message digest ”) of the data is first generated using a process in which the data is “ condensed ” or “ hashed ”, for example by means of a one - way hash function into a relative small value , thereby fixing its contents , and the signing process is performed on the fingerprint , resulting in an equivalent effective authentication . therefore , the term digital signature herein refers to the digital signature of either the plain data element ( s ) or of any representation ( function ) thereof . as described hereinabove , the fingerprint of a series of data elements can be generated thereby fixing their contents and associating them with each other . since public - key digital signatures belong to the “ hiding class ”, and since they further own the property that they can be generated with one key ( such as the private key ), and provide for later non - repudiable verification using another matching key ( such as the public key ), the usage of such functions for the purposes of the present invention is therefore of great advantage . reference is now made to fig7 which is a block diagram that illustrates an e - mail system 700 , and a message dispatch and authentication service 750 , constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the sender 701 provides the e - mail message 702 and the recipient &# 39 ; s 799 e - mail address 704 to the message dispatch and authentication service 750 . without limiting the generality , although reference is made to e - mail dispatching services and systems in general , it is appreciated that implementations relating to the embodiments described herein can be easily extended , modified , ported or derived therefrom to other electronic data dispatch systems . the dispatched message 702 may comprise any digital data such as text , pictorial , graphic , audio and video data , any number of files etc ., in any form or representation e . g ., compressed , encrypted , plaintext etc . preferably , the message 702 includes the sender &# 39 ; s 701 digital signature , which the sender can generate by means of his private key , in order to establish the sender &# 39 ; s “ commitment ” to the message 702 , and to provide for verification of the message and sender as the message originator , any third party using the sender &# 39 ; s public key . digital signatures can be generated in system 700 for example by means of a verifiable public - key algorithm such as rsa or dsa . fingerprints can be generated for example by means of a one - way hash function such as md4 or md5 . the service 750 forwards the message 701 to the recipient 799 using the address 704 . the service 750 , preferably after assuring that the message has been successfully delivered , adds ( e . g ., appends ) a dispatch time indication 720 to the message 702 and the address 704 , as well as information 708 indicating the success ( or failure ) of the message delivery . obviously , additional dispatch information elements , such as a sequential dispatch number , the sender , recipient and the service identification information and so forth may be added as well . the service 750 then associates the above data elements for example by generating their fingerprint , which is then signed using the service &# 39 ; s private key 752 , to produce the service &# 39 ; s signature 742 . signing the fingerprint can reduce the resulting signature 742 computation time , transmission bandwidth and storage space . the service then provides back to the sender 701 a service &# 39 ; s generated certificate 740 comprising the service &# 39 ; s signature 742 and optionally various dispatch information elements from which it has been generated ( there is no need to provide the message 702 and address 704 since they are already with the sender 701 ), thus the certificate 740 is typically tiny . thus , for example , using rsa to generate the signature , if m is the dispatched message 702 , a is the address 704 , t is the time indication 720 , i is the delivery information 708 , and ka is the authentication service &# 39 ; s rsa private key , then the following is a sample calculation of s — the signature 742 : the certificate 740 , which comprises the service &# 39 ; s digital signature for the dispatch transaction , constitutes an non - repudiable evidence witnessed by the service for the dispatch and its contents , since the dispatched message contents is securely associated with the dispatch information ( by means of the service &# 39 ; s generated signature and / or fingerprint ), and since the signature , the message and the dispatch information can at any later time be authenticated and verified by any third party both for integrity and originality by means of the service &# 39 ; s public key ( and if the message has also been signed by the sender , it can further be verified in the same manner using the sender &# 39 ; s public key ). thus , for example if pbka is the service &# 39 ; s public key , then by providing the above signature s — the purported message m ′, time indication t ′, address a ′ and delivery information i ′, can be authenticated by verifying that the following relation holds : to increase the credibility of the system , a record of the certificate 740 can be kept with the service , and furthermore , a copy of the certificate 740 can be provided for storage to one or more trustees , such as a designated authority , or law and / or public accounting firms . alternatively , the certificate 740 may itself be signed by one or more trustees , using their private keys . a related embodiment can utilize a time stamping service ( tss ) such as the digital notary system ( dns ) provided by surety technologies inc . [ 1 . 10 ], which has been proposed by haber et al . in their u . s . patent documents [ 2 ]. the certificate 740 or any portion thereof ( such as the signature 742 ) can be sent to the dns to be time stamped . alternatively , an embodiment of the present invention could internally implement the dns scheme . the dns generates a certificate authenticating the certificate 740 . utilizing such time stamping schemes is of great advantage , since the dns generated certificates are virtually unforgeable , and there is no need to deposit copies of the certificates with trustees . since in this case the dns time stamps the certificate 740 anyway , the service 750 itself optionally need not add the time indication 720 . thus , for example , if c is the certificate 740 ( not including the time indication 720 ), which comprises a , i , n and s ( as defined above ), and t is the time indication added by the dns , then dnsc — the dns generated certificate may be calculated as follows : as mentioned above , the message 702 is preferably digitally signed with the sender &# 39 ; s 701 private key , to enable authentication of the sender &# 39 ; s identity as the message originator using the sender &# 39 ; s public key , to establish the sender &# 39 ; s non - repudiable commitment to the message , and to verify the message integrity . nevertheless , any other method can be used for identification and / or authentication of the sender , though such methods can sometimes be more vulnerable or less effective . one embodiment for example could utilize an hardware component ( preferably secured ) with the sender &# 39 ; s unique identification information “ burned - into ”. in another embodiment the service 750 can utilize various log - in procedures to identify and authenticate the sender when he logs - in to obtain service . sample authentication protocols and schemes are described in [ 1 . 09 ] and [ 1 . 11 ]. likewise , the identity of the recipient &# 39 ; s 799 of the message can be authenticated in similar manners . this is useful for example when both the sender and the recipient log - into the same dispatch service for e - mail transactions . however , the message 702 is frequently delivered to another e - mail server ( acting as the recipient &# 39 ; s agent , where the recipient later logs - in , identifies himself and downloads his messages ) rather than to the recipient himself . in such embodiments , it might be sufficient to obtain proof of delivery from the receiving server , for example in form of a server &# 39 ; s digitally signed certificate , which may for example comprise the server &# 39 ; s identification information , a dispatch identifier , the recipient &# 39 ; s address and preferably the message and so forth ( or a fingerprint thereof ) while assuming that the message will eventually reach the recipient . alternatively , a later proof of the final delivery may be obtained from that receiving server . such delivery details as described above may be included in the delivery information 708 . in order to avoid potential disputes , as for example in case of contractual e - mail correspondence , it may be useful to back up such correspondence by an agreement where the parties agree that delivery indication provided by the recipient &# 39 ; s agent is to be considered an acceptable proof of delivery to the recipient . alternatively , it may be agreed that multiple ( two , three or more times of ) certified dispatches of the message to be considered an acceptable proof of delivery and so forth . in one preferred embodiment , the recipient ( or its agent ) may provide a counter - signature ( using his private key ) for the message , the sender &# 39 ; s digital signature of the message , or the service &# 39 ; s certificate or for any portions thereof . this may provide an ultimate evidence for the message dispatch , its contents , its time and its delivery to its destination . thus if ks , kr , ka are the private keys of the sender , the recipient ( or his agent ) and the authentication service 750 respectively , m is the dispatched message 702 , t is the time indication 720 , n is a sequential dispatch number , ids and idr are the identification information of the sender and recipient respectively , and a is the recipient &# 39 ; s address 704 , then the following sample calculations of s — the signature 742 can be performed : such incorporation of identification information relating to the sender 701 , the recipient 799 or both ( either by means of their digital signature , or otherwise ) in the certificate generated by the service 750 , can provide for more complete authentication of the entire dispatch transaction , and can be used as evidence for the dispatch and its contents by both the sender and the recipient . “ applied cryptography ( 2 nd edition )”, ( schneier bruce , john wiley & amp ; sons , 1996 ). [ 1 . 04 ] see [ 1 ] chapter 18 section 18 . 5 , pp . 436 - 441 ., see also “ one - way hash functions ,” ( b . schneier , dr . dobb &# 39 ; s journal m & amp ; t publishing inc ., september 1991 vol 16 no . 9 pp . 148 - 151 ), see also internet request for comments ( rfc ) document 1321 . [ 1 . 06 ] see [ 1 ] chapter 19 section 19 . 3 , pp . 466 - 474 , see also “ a method for obtaining digital signatures and public - key cryptosystems ” ( rivest , r . l ., a . shamir , and l . adelman , communications of the acm , acm inc ., february 1978 vol 21 no . 2 , pp . 120 - 126 ). [ 1 . 07 ] see [ 1 ] chapter 20 section 20 . 1 , pp . 483 - 494 , see also “ the digital signature standard proposed by the national institute of standards and technology ” ( communications of the acm , acm inc ., july 1992 vol 35 no . 7 pp . 36 - 40 ), [ 1 . 12 ] see [ 1 ] chapter 2 , sections 2 . 6 - 2 . 7 , pp . 34 - 44 , see also [ 1 ] chapter 20 , pp . 483 - 502 . “ cyclic redundancy checksums ( tutorial )” ( louis , b . gregory , c users journal , r & amp ; d publications inc ., oct 1992 v10 n10 p55 ( 6 )), see also “ file verification using c . r . c .” ( nelson , mark r ., dr . dobb &# 39 ; s journal , m & amp ; t publishing inc ., may 1992 vol 17 no . 5 p64 ( 6 )). “ the md4 message digest algorithm ” ( r . l . rivest , crypto &# 39 ; 90 abstracts , august 1990 , pp . 301 - 311 , springer - verlag ). “ a universal algorithm for sequential data compression ” ( ziv . j ., lempel a ., ieee transactions on information theory , vol 23 , no . 3 , pp . 337 - 343 ). the references and publications described by the above - mentioned articles are incorporated herein by reference . while the present invention has been described with reference to a few specific embodiments , the description is illustrative of the invention as defined by the claims . | 7 |
a novel precast curb system and method of installation thereof will be described hereinafter . although the invention is described in terms of specific illustrative embodiments , it is to be understood that the embodiments described herein are by way of example only and that the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited thereby . fig1 shows a first embodiment of a precast curb 100 which has a bottom 110 , lateral sides 130 and a steel rod 120 . fig2 shows a first embodiment of a joint 200 which may be used with the precast curb 100 of the fig1 . the joint has a horizontal plate 240 and a first and a second vertical plates 220 and 225 fixed at the lateral edges of the horizontal plate 240 . a third vertical plate 230 extends between the middle of the first and the second vertical plates 220 and 225 . this configuration of the plates defines two spaces 210 and 211 . to install the precast curb 100 in situ , two joints 200 are disposed on the ground , which has been preferably prepared as usual for a curb ( except that no formwork or in situ casting of concrete is necessary ), at a distance corresponding to the length of a precast curb 100 . the extremities of the precast curbs 100 and 101 are inserted in the spaces 210 and 211 of the joint 200 , as shown in fig3 . thus , the lateral surfaces 130 of a precast curb 100 are comprise between the first and the second vertical surfaces 220 and 225 and the bottom 110 rests on the horizontal plate 240 . in fig4 , a second embodiment of the precast curb 300 is shown . the precast curb 300 has a bottom 310 and a longitudinal groove 320 on the bottom 310 of the precast curb 300 . a second embodiment of a joint 400 is shown in fig5 , and is adapted to receive the precast curb 300 of fig4 . the joint 400 has a horizontal plate 410 and a vertical plate 420 . the installation of the precast curb 300 is similar to the method described before . the joint 400 is disposed on the ground , preferably prepared as usual for a curb , at a distance corresponding approximately to the length of a precast curb 300 . the joint 400 is inserted in two consecutive precast curbs 300 and 301 as shown in fig6 . fig7 a shows a starting element used to begin the course of the curb with a slope 710 going up gradually to the level 720 of a precast curb . fig7 b shows an element creating a passage 760 for vehicles which is preferably at the ground level . as for the starting element , the slope 770 goes up gradually to the level 780 of a precast curb . to facilitate the handling of the precast curb , two slots 810 may be molded , as shown in fig8 to allow a standard lift truck to manipulate them . fig9 a , b and c show the elements used for corners ( 9 a and 9 b ) and for subdivision ( 9 c ). as seen in 9 a and 9 b , a corner may have an arcuate form 920 or right angle form 910 . the preparation of the ground similar to that of curbs cast in situ . an example is detailed in fig1 . on one side of the precast curb 990 , the top layer is turf 950 , followed by a layer of top soil 955 and a layer of fill 960 . these layers and the precast curb 990 are disposed on layer of fill 965 . on the paved side , there is the paving 970 on a layer of fill 975 which are disposed on the soil 980 . in fig1 , another embodiment for the precast curb is shown . this precast curb may be used in the same way than the first embodiment for the installation , the joints , the starting element , the driveway element , the slots for the manipulation , the corners elements and the subdivision elements . in order to facilitate the displacement and the handling of the precast curb , gripping means are provided as shown in fig1 a , 12 b , 13 a and 13 b . gripping means 990 and 992 allow a gripping tool 998 to hold firmly and lift the precast curb to move it to the desired place . as shown in fig1 a , the gripping means comprises a recess having a substantially horizontal portion 994 . it is to be noted that the portion 994 is not necessarily horizontal , indeed , this surface is adapted to receive a gripping tool , and thus this surface could be at another angle adapted for particular gripping tool . the portion 996 is rounded in the present embodiment but it could have another profile . the junction between the portion 994 and 996 could be rounded also to minimize crack propagation . referring now to fig1 a , 14 b , 15 a and 15 b , there is shown a joint wherein the first plate 850 and the second plate 855 are substantially parallel to their corresponding lateral sides 880 and 882 . while illustrative and presently preferred embodiment ( s ) of the invention have been described in detail hereinabove , it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art . | 4 |
the following examples concerns hydraulic cutting of the casing of a well beneath a water floor in connection with permanent plugging and abandonment of the well . fig1 and fig2 show an offshore platform 2 installed on the sea floor , which platform is equipped with platform legs 4 , and which is arranged over a surface 6 of the sea . the platform legs 4 extend through seawater 8 down to a sea floor 10 where they penetrate an underlying ground formation 12 . an offshore well 14 is formed in the ground formation 12 and extends up to the platform 2 . such a platform 2 will normally be tied in to more offshore wells 14 , but the figures and the following discussion are simplified by referring only to one offshore well 14 . before the well 14 is permanently abandoned , all removable equipment is removed from the well 14 , including the wellhead and all or parts of the production tubing . after that , the well 14 consists only of casing strings that are permanently placed in the ground formation 12 , and which project above the sea floor 10 . these are the casing strings that are cut immediately below the sea floor 10 , and where the cut off casing parts are then removed from the sea floor 10 . such casing strings are hereinafter just termed casings . in the figures , the well 14 consists of several casings placed inside each other and extending deeper into the ground formation 12 with successively decreasing pipe diameters . in the examples , the pipe assembly consists of a conductor casing 16 ( outermost ), a surface casing 18 and an inner casing 20 . the inner casing 20 may for instance be a so - called intermediate casing . in addition , annulus 22 and annulus 24 between said casings are filled with set cement 26 that binds the pipes together , and which forms a pressure barrier against any underlying reservoir fluids . moreover , the inner casing 20 is provided with various deeper well plugs ( not shown in the figures ). in the figures , annuli 22 , 24 are shown as being filled with cement 26 up to just under the platform 2 , while the inner casing 20 is filled with seawater 8 nearly up to the platform 2 . above the cement 26 and the seawater 8 there is atmospheric air 28 . to begin with , a hydraulic cutting tool 30 that is known per se is lowered to a cutting depth 32 in the inner casing 20 . the cutting depth 32 will normally be approximately 5 metres below the sea floor 10 . the cutting tool 30 is lowered on a cable 34 coupled to a winch 36 on the platform 2 . when lowered into the well 14 , the cutting tool 30 is also connected to the platform 2 via a high pressure line 38 , a compressed air line 40 , two hydraulic lines 42 and 44 , and also a monitoring cable 46 for electronic monitoring of the hydraulic cutting . the cutting tool 30 is shown in the working position in both fig1 and fig2 . according to prior art , the high pressure line 38 is connected to a mixing tank 48 and an upstream high pressure pump 50 on the platform 2 . water 52 is pumped from the pump 50 into the mixing tank 48 , and in the mixing tank 48 the water 52 is mixed with an abrasive 54 to form an abrasive fluid 56 . then the abrasive fluid 56 is pumped down through the high pressure line 38 , through the cutting tool 30 and out through a high pressure nozzle 58 provided for this . the abrasive fluid 56 exits at a very high speed and forms a cutting jet 60 that cuts through the casings 16 , 18 , 20 and said annular cement 26 . in principle , and with reference to fig1 , the known cutting tool 30 consists of a body 62 with an outer diameter that fits into the inner casing 20 ; an angular high pressure pipe 64 that projects down from the body 62 when in the working position , and which is connected by its free end to said high pressure nozzle 58 ; as well as a short drain pipe 66 extending through the body 62 . in the working position the inlet 68 to the drain pipe 66 is arranged at a deeper position than said cutting depth 32 , while the outlet 70 of the drain pipe 66 is arranged immediately above the cutting tool 30 . the body 62 is also equipped with other known equipment that is not shown in the appended drawings . this equipment includes among other things a hydraulic rotating motor and related equipment used during the cutting to rotate the high pressure pipe 64 and the drain pipe 66 through at least one complete rotation about the axis of the inner casing 20 . said equipment ( not shown ) also comprises an actuator device for fixing the cutting tool 30 against the pipe wall of the inner casing 20 in a releasable and pressure tight manner , together with necessary piping , couplings , gaskets and similar connecting means . the actuator device comprises hydraulic cylinders and pistons that upon activation are forced axially against rubber elastic packing elements 72 and 74 in the outer wall of the body 62 , whereby the elements 72 , 74 expand against the inner casing 20 in a pressure tight manner . said rotating motor and actuator device ( not shown ) are driven by means of hydraulic fluid supplied via said two hydraulic lines 42 , 44 , the lines 42 , 44 being connected to at least one hydraulic power and control unit 76 on the platform 2 . also , the body 62 is a unit that is connected to associated external equipment in a pressure tight manner . in the working position , the cutting tool 30 thereby forms a pressure tight barrier between an overlying section 78 and an underlying section 80 of the inner casing 20 , and consequently said short drain pipe 66 represents the only hydraulic connection between the pipe sections 78 , 80 . moreover , the upper end of said compressed air line 40 is connected to an air compressor 82 on the platform 2 . the compressed air line 40 extends through the body 62 and terminates at a lower outlet 84 located immediately below the body 62 . by using the compressor 82 , and after the cutting tool 30 has been anchored in the working position in the inner casing 20 , pressurised air 86 is continuously pumped out through the outlet 84 of the compressed air line 40 . seawater 28 in the underlying pipe section 80 will then be evacuated through the short drain pipe 66 , whereby the water 28 will flow out through the outlet 70 of the drain pipe 66 immediately above the cutting tool 30 . the liquid outflow will continue until its liquid surface 88 in the underlying pipe section 80 has been forced down to the inlet 68 to the drain pipe 66 . after that the outflow will mainly consist of compressed air 86 , or of compressed air 86 mixed in with seeping seawater 28 and / or abrasive fluid 56 . therefore , during the cutting operation there will exist an air filled pipe volume 90 between the packing elements 72 , 74 and the liquid surface 88 . this drain pipe arrangement will however mean that the air pressure in the pipe volume 90 can not exceed the greatest hydrostatic pressure that exists either at the outlet 70 of said drain pipe 66 , in said annuli 22 , 24 or in the surrounding ground formation 12 , to any appreciable extent . as mentioned previously , hydraulic cutting at such a marginal air overpressure will negatively affect the result of the cutting . in the following , and with reference to fig2 , reference will be made to an embodiment of the present invention . with the exception of said short drain pipe 66 , the following embodiment comprises among other things the same equipment as that mentioned in the preceding and known embodiment , including said rotating motor , setting device , compressed air means and casing assembly 16 , 18 , 20 . fig2 also shows that cutting tool 30 in the working position , the cutting jet 60 passing through an air filled pipe volume 90 and cutting through said casings 16 , 18 and 20 and cement 26 . according to the invention , the cutting tool 30 is also connected to the platform 2 via a drain hose 92 . the lower ( upstream ) end of the drain hose 92 is connected to the short drain pipe 66 of the body 62 , and the upper ( downstream ) end of the drain hose 92 is connected to a pressure gauge 94 and an adjustable choke device on the platform 2 . the choke device comprises a knock - out drum 96 to which is connected an air outlet pipe 98 and a liquid outlet pipe 100 . the air outlet pipe 98 is equipped with an air choke valve 102 , while the liquid outlet pipe 100 is equipped with a liquid choke valve 104 and a liquid flow meter 106 . fluids ( liquid 8 , 56 and / or compressed air 86 ) that are drained from said pipe volume 90 via the drain pipe 66 and the drain hose 92 during the hydraulic cutting , will be separated into two branch flows in the knock - out drum 96 , of which one air branch flow exits through the air outlet pipe 98 and one liquid branch flow exits through the liquid outlet pipe 100 . as mentioned , the invention makes it possible to carry out hydraulic cutting at an elevated air overpressure in said pipe volume 90 . this air overpressure may be set at an appropriate pressure level through interaction between the air feed rate and the air outflow rate . the interaction is implemented through control of the air feed rate from the air compressor 82 and / or by choking the air outflow rate through the air choke valve 102 in the air outflow pipe 98 . the air pressure in the pipe volume 90 is measured by means of said pressure gauge 94 . in addition , the level of the liquid surface 88 in the pipe volume 90 may be controlled through interaction between the air pressure in the pipe volume 90 and the liquid outflow rate therefrom . the liquid outflow rate is controlled at the downstream end by means of said liquid choke valve 104 provided in the liquid outflow pipe 100 . this outflow rate is measured by means of said liquid flow meter 106 . by monitoring the types of fluid that flow out via the drain hose 92 , it is possible to obtain an indication of where in the inner casing section 80 the liquid surface 88 is located , in relation to the inlet 68 to said drain pipe 66 . a discharge consisting only of liquid , e . g . seawater 8 and / or abrasive fluid 56 , indicates that the liquid surface 88 is located at a shallower level than said inlet 68 . a discharge comprising a mixture of said liquid and compressed air 86 indicates that the liquid surface 88 is located at approximately the same level as the inlet 68 . a discharge consisting only of compressed air 86 indicates that the liquid surface is located at a deeper level than the inlet 68 , which condition complicates the measurement of the volume of liquid drained . ideally , the liquid surface 88 should be at the same level as the inlet 68 . with this , the drained liquid volume may be measured at any time , which volume also indicates how much liquid 8 , 56 is being introduced to the pipe volume 90 at any time during the cutting . based on information regarding air pressure , outflow rate and type of fluid , it is possible to e . g . control the air pressure in the pipe volume 90 and / or the level of the liquid surface 88 in the inner casing section 80 . by so doing , it becomes possible to provide optimal operating conditions during the cutting operation , which increases the likelihood of achieving efficient and successful hydraulic cuts . said changes are made possible by using the present invention . | 4 |
in the following detailed description of the invention , reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof and in which are shown , by way of illustration , specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced . these embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention . other embodiments may be utilized and logical , electrical , material changes , etc . may be made . fig1 shows an interconnection system 100 according to an embodiment of the invention . an male portion 102 is shown with a corresponding female portion 120 . in the example shown , the male portion 102 can be integrated with a peripheral electronic device , and the female portion 120 can be arranged as a socket of a host device ( not shown ). in other examples , the peripheral device may include the female portion , and the host device may include the male portion . the male portion 102 in fig1 can be structured as part of a card . in one example , the card includes non - volatile memory such as flash memory . the memory device may include a number of possible configurations ( e . g . nand , nor , etc .). the card may contain some input / output functionality , such as ieee 802 . 11 wireless capability , or even combinations of functionality . although the male portion 102 shown in fig1 includes a memory device , the invention is not so limited . in other embodiments , the male portion 102 includes an end of a cord ( not shown ) coupled between , for example , a host device , and a peripheral device . fig1 shows the male portion 102 including a unique geometry that mates with the female portion 120 . for example , a slanted side 106 and a rail 104 are shown on the male portion 102 . configurations with unique features ( e . g . slants , rails ) prevent users from inadvertently trying to couple the male portion 102 with the female portion 120 in the wrong way . by providing only one way to insert the male portion 102 into the female portion 120 , unwanted events such as short circuits , mechanical damage , etc . are prevented . fig1 also illustrates a latch 108 . in selected embodiments , for example a memory card embodiment , the male portion 102 is inserted into the female portion 120 , and latched to prevent the memory card or other device from falling out of the female portion 120 . fig1 further illustrates a bias post 130 , such as a spring loaded post . in selected examples , the male portion 102 is pushed into the female portion 120 once to engage the latch 108 . if removal of the male portion 102 is desired , a second push deactivates the latch 108 , and the bias post 130 at least partially ejects the male portion 102 from within the female portion 120 . a number of first communication contacts ( e . g ., connectors , conductors , pins , posts , terminals , waveguides , etc .) 121 are shown in the female portion 120 , to interface with a number of second communication contacts ( not shown ) on the male portion 102 . in one example , the communication contacts 121 include electronic communication contacts , such as metal conductors . in one example , the communication contacts 121 include optical communication contacts , such as fiber optic interfaces . in one example , the communication contacts 121 are grouped into one or more arranged protocols , such as usb , sata , etc . fig1 illustrates a usb 2 . 0 protocol arrangement 122 and a usb 3 . 0 protocol arrangement 124 . other examples of protocols include mini usb 2 . 0 , and micro usb 2 . 0 . an unoccupied region 126 is included in one example for future inclusion of additional protocol arrangements . although two separate protocol arrangements 122 , 124 are shown in fig1 , other examples include only one arrangement , or more than two . in addition to communication contacts 121 , in one example , a port 140 may be included for transmission of media , such as gas or liquid media . for example , liquid can be transmitted for cooling of one or more components . hydrogen gas can be transmitted for power , such as in a hydrogen fuel cell . a port 140 is shown in the front view of the male portion 120 of fig2 . in one embodiment , the port 140 is located within a region 116 for expansion of additional future protocol arrangements . in one embodiment , the port 140 is integrated within a guide 128 , as described below . a guide ( e . g ., a pin , post , etc .) 128 is further illustrated in fig1 . the guide 128 includes a leading taper section 132 and a tolerance fit section 134 . in the present disclosure , a tolerance fit describes an interface between two components ( e . g . guide 128 and guide hole 118 ) where the tightness of the fit is controlled to limit an available amount of play between the components . inclusion of a tolerance fit in a mechanically robust component such as a guide , and the resulting limited amount of play available , can protect more sensitive components such as communication contacts from damage due to excessive play during insertion of the male portion 102 into the female portion 120 . in one example , the guide 128 is configured with a length , such that when the male portion 102 is inserted into the female portion 120 , the leading taper section is the first item within the female portion 120 to make contact on the front surface 103 of the male portion 102 . next , the tolerance fit section 134 of the guide 128 engages ( e . g ., mates with ) a guide hole ( 118 in fig2 ) in the male portion . in one example , any tolerance issue between the male portion &# 39 ; s rail and slanted side ( 104 and 106 in fig1 ), and the female portion &# 39 ; s ( 120 in fig1 ) matching mating surfaces , and the male portion &# 39 ; s ( 102 in fig1 ) communication contacts and the female portion &# 39 ; s communication contacts ( 121 in fig1 ), may be resolved by having section 134 of the guide 128 engage the guide hole before any communication contacts 121 interface with each other between the male portion 102 and the female portion 120 . when the tolerance fit section 134 engages the guide hole 118 first , alignment of the male portion 102 and the female portion 120 is ensured prior to any engagement between corresponding communication contacts . this protects the communication contacts 121 from mechanical damage . in one example , the guide 128 further includes one or more power contact surfaces . fig2 shows the guide hole 118 with a number of contact surfaces 119 that correspond to power contact surfaces on the guide 128 . although four contact surfaces 119 are show in the guide hole 118 of fig2 , other configurations may include one , two , three or more contact surfaces . example configurations of power contact surfaces on guides 128 are discussed in more detail below , regarding fig3 a - 3c . fig2 further shows a first mating connection 112 and a second mating connection 14 for coupling with protocol arrangements 122 and 124 respectively . in one example , power contact surfaces on the guide 128 engage corresponding power contact surfaces 119 within the guide hole 118 before any communication contacts 121 interface with each other between the male portion 102 and the female portion 120 . in one example , the power contact surfaces on the guide 128 are located within the tolerance fit section 134 of the guide 128 to facilitate the timing of engagement . when the power contact surfaces on the guide 128 engage power contact surfaces 119 within the guide hole 118 first , an electrical connection between the male portion 102 and the female portion 120 is ensured prior to any engagement between corresponding communication contacts . in one example , engagement between the power contact surfaces on the guide 128 and the power contact surfaces 119 within the guide hole 118 is monitored by a circuit , and no transmission ( e . g . data transmission ) is performed before the power connection is checked . this protects the communication contacts 121 and devices such as memory cells coupled to the communication contacts from electrical damage . in one example the guide provides the additional functionality of a heat exchange capability between the female portion 120 and the male portion 102 , such as a heat pipe . in one example the guide provides the additional functionality of a conduit for exchange of other gaseous or liquid materials to support male portion 102 functionality . although a single guide 128 is shown , other embodiments may include multiple guides 128 . in one example different guides 128 include one or more different functionalities described above , such as heat exchange , power supply , material transport , etc . fig3 a shows one example of a guide 310 that may be used similar to guide 128 from fig1 . the guide 310 includes a tolerance fit section 312 and a non - conductive leading taper section 314 . the leading taper section 314 is shown in a front end view 316 . the guide 310 includes two power contact surfaces 318 and 320 , with an insulating material 319 separating the contact surfaces 318 and 320 . in the example shown , the power contact surfaces 318 and 320 are on opposite sides of the guide 310 . other configurations may include the power contact surfaces 318 and 320 on adjacent sides of the guide 310 . in one example , the power contact surface 318 includes a supply contact surface . examples of supply voltages may include 3 . 3v , 1 . 8v , or other voltages suitable for powering a peripheral device . in one example , power contact surface 320 include a ground contact surface . in other examples , the power contact surface 320 may include a voltage that is different than the power contact surface 318 . fig3 b shows another example of a guide 330 that may be used similar to guide 128 from fig1 . the guide 330 includes a tolerance fit section 332 and a leading taper section 334 . the leading taper section 334 is shown in a front end view 336 . similar to guide 310 , the guide 330 includes two power contact surfaces 338 and 340 , with an insulating material 339 separating the contact surfaces 338 and 340 . in the example shown , the power contact surfaces 338 and 340 are on opposite sides of the guide 330 . in fig3 b , the power contact surface 338 includes a supply contact surface . examples of supply voltages may include 3 . 3v , 1 . 8v , or other voltages suitable for powering a peripheral device . in one example power contact surface 340 include a ground contact surface . in fig3 b , the ground power contact surface 340 is integrated with , or otherwise coupled to , the leading taper section 334 . this configuration facilitates the ground power contact surface 340 engaging before the supply contact surface 338 . this configuration can further prevent electrical damage by ensuring a ground before any power is supplied . fig3 c shows another example of a guide 350 that may be used similar to guide 128 from fig1 . the guide 350 includes a tolerance fit section 352 and a non - conductive leading taper section 354 . the leading taper section 354 is shown in a front end view 356 . the guide 350 includes more than two contact surfaces separated by insulating material 359 . fig3 c shows a first contact surface 358 , a second contact surface 360 , a third contact surface 362 , and a fourth contact surface 364 . in the example shown , the first contact surface 358 , and the second contact surface 360 are both supply contact surfaces , with different voltages . in one example , the first contact surface 358 is a 3 . 3v supply , and the second contact surface 360 is a 1 . 8v supply . in one example , the third contact surface 362 is a ground . in one example the fourth contact surface 364 provides one or more communication contacts such as supporting a system peripheral interface ( spi ) or i 2 c interface . fig3 c , in the end view 356 , illustrates the contact surfaces 358 , 360 , 362 , 364 , located in a recess below a surface 366 of the tolerance fit section 352 . this configuration provides good mechanical alignment of the male portion 102 and female portion 120 , without relying on the contact surfaces 358 , 360 , 362 , 364 as the alignment surfaces . the surface 366 of the tolerance fit section 352 can be made of a material that provides better friction and wear characteristics , while the contact surfaces 358 , 360 , 362 , 364 can be made of materials that provide better power transmission . an embodiment of an information handling system such as a computer is included in fig4 to show an embodiment of a high - level device application . fig4 is a block diagram of an information handling system 400 incorporating a interconnection system according to an embodiment of the invention . the information handling system 400 shown in fig4 is merely one example of a system in which the present invention can be used . other examples include , but are not limited to , tablet computers , notebook pss , cellular telephones , media players , aircraft , satellites , military vehicles , etc . in this example , information handling system 400 comprises a data processing system that includes a system bus 402 to couple the various components of the system . system bus 402 provides communications links among the various components of the information handling system 400 and may be implemented as a single bus , as a combination of busses , or in any other suitable manner . chip assembly 404 is coupled to the system bus 402 . chip assembly 404 may include any circuit or operably compatible combination of circuits . in one embodiment , chip assembly 404 includes a processor 406 that can be of any type . as used herein , “ processor ” means any type of computational circuit such as , but not limited to , a microprocessor , a microcontroller , a graphics processor , a digital signal processor ( dsp ), or any other type of processor or processing circuit or cores thereof . multiple processors such as “ multi - core ” devices are also within the scope of the invention . in one embodiment , a memory device 407 , is included in the chip assembly 404 . those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of memory device configurations may be used in the chip assembly 404 . acceptable types of memory chips include , but are not limited to , dynamic random access memory ( drams ) such as sdrams , sldrams , rdrams and other drams . memory chip 407 can also include non - volatile memory such as nand memory or nor memory . in one embodiment , additional logic chips 408 other than processor chips are included in the chip assembly 404 . an example of a logic chip 408 other than a processor includes an analog to digital converter . other circuits on logic chips 408 such as custom circuits , an application - specific integrated circuit ( asic ), etc . are also included in one embodiment of the invention . information handling system 400 may also include external components 411 , which can include one or more functional elements , such as one or more modular memory components 412 , such as hard drives , one or more devices that handle removable media 413 such as memory cards , compact disks ( cds ), digital video disks ( dvds ), and the like , and / or removable or modular input / output functionality for removable peripherals 415 , such as ieee 802 . 11 , gsm , cdma , bluetooth and the like . in one example , one or more external components 411 and a removable interface include an interconnection system according to embodiments of the invention . information handling system 400 may also include a display device 409 such as a monitor , additional peripheral components 410 , such as speakers , etc . and a keyboard and / or controller 414 , which can include a mouse , or any other device that permits a system user to input data into and receive data from the information handling system 400 . while a number of embodiments of the invention are described , the above lists are not intended to be exhaustive . although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein , it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiment shown . this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of embodiments of the present invention . it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive . combinations of the above embodiments , and other embodiments , will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon studying the above description . | 7 |
conventional computer clock distribution systems resemble a tree with the clock generator at the base , which drives a sequence of clock amplifiers . these amplifiers are typically pulse amplifiers which produce a standard pulse amplitude and , ideally , a standard pulse width . the input temporal pulse shape may be idealized as a trapezoidal periodic variation , as in fig1 . the pulse amplifiers respond to the periodic signal by changing their output voltage from low to high as the input voltage signal increases and passes through the threshold level v lu ; the amplifier changes its output voltage from high to low as the input voltage decreases and passes through the threshold level v ul . the pulse amplifier may also invert the signal so that the output voltage changes from low to high as the input voltage decreases and passes through v ul , with correspondingly inverted changes in response at v lu , as described below . this does not affect the analysis or the final results on bounding of phase and rate of change of phase . as indicated in fig1 the state of the clock distribution amplifier ( cda ) does not change immediately as the periodic voltage signal at the cda begins to increase ; the cda experiences a time delay τ d which is the time required for the magnitude of the voltage to build up to the point where it exceeds the lower - upper threshold v lu required for change of state . a similar time delay is experienced where the periodic voltage begins to decrease from its maximum value . referring now to fig2 the lower - upper threshold level v lu is allowed to vary so that it moves to some new position v &# 39 ; lu as shown . this modification in the threshold level adds to or subtracts from the original time delay τ d an amount τ s , according as the new threshold level v &# 39 ; lu is larger than or smaller than the original &# 34 ; correct &# 34 ; threshold level v lu . if one allows any cda threshold v lu to vary in some direction , by a proper choice of lower - upper thresholds the exit pulse of the cda will be measurably narrowed . given that the threshold of each cda shifts by the same amount ( in magnitude ), clearly the worst possible situation occurs when all thresholds shift in the same direction . if the sequential pulse catchup error can be eliminated in this worst situation , it will be likewise eliminated in all others . in this worst situation , using only logic and a limited amount of delay as in the prior art , a tree of finite size of cdas may be built in which , at some point , the output pulse of one cda will be too narrow to trigger the following stage cda due to sequential pulse catchup ; said output pulse then overrides the preceding positive - going pulse , resulting in no signal for the combined pulses . as noted above , one method of eliminating the disabling error due to sequential pulse catchup is a clock distribution system that uses feedback from each cda to the preceding cda . this system depresses the cumulative phase mismatch ## equ1 ## at each cda ( ideally , to zero ), but at the expense of an increase by a factor ˜ 2 in time required for propagation of a signal along a computation chain associated with a chain of cdas . fig3 exhibits one embodiment of the subject invention for reducing cumulative phase mismatch without increasing the cycle - to - cycle time interval required for signal propagation along a chain . the invention , in its simplest form , is a cda comprising a zero crossing detector ( zcd ) 11 in series with an lrc filter comprising an inductive element 13 , a resistive element 15 and a capacitive element 17 . a buffer , placed between any two consecutive cdas as indicated in fig5 serves to isolate each cda from the local computation system . one resonant frequency of the lrc filter ( alias a frequency of peak response of the transfer function of the filter ) coincides with the fundamental frequence ω o of the ideal periodic signal , shown in fig1 which arrives at any particular cda . the zcd output is normally symmetric about 0 volts and possesses only two values , say + 1 volt and - 1 volt ; lower - upper and upper - lower transitions occur at v in = v lu with ( d / dt ) v in & gt ; 0 and at v in = v ul with ( d / dt ) v in & lt ; 0 , respectively , and the transitions normally occur in a time which is very small compared to the reaction time of the filter . although it is not essential , it is often convenient to set v lu = v ul initially in the analysis of the response . the analysis of the cda response first assumes that the threshold v lu now changes so that the time for the lower - upper transition within a cycle changes by an amount τ s ( see fig2 ). the threshold v ul may be assumed to remain fixed as it is only the net change v &# 39 ; lu - v lu that produces the shift τ s which is of interest here . for convenience , the time variable t is normalized so that the fundamental input is ω o = 1 radian per second . the trapezoidal input voltage to the filter ( fig1 ) is then represented by a fourier series , viz ## equ2 ## and the idealized voltage v zcd as a square wave ( fig4 ) issuing from the zcd is represented by another series , viz ## equ3 ## finally , the transfer function of the lrc filter in fig3 is ## equ4 ## where ω o (= 1 here ) is a resonant frequency of the filter circuit and q (≧ 10 here ) is the energy storage parameter at resonance . ideally , the output v zcd ( t ) is a symmetric square wave , as shown in the solid line in fig4 and represented in equation ( 2 ) above . but with a shift in the threshold v lu the time for transition from the lower state ( v zcd =- 1 ) to the upper state ( v zcd =+ 1 ) shifts from t = 0 to , say , t = τ s ( dotted lines in fig4 ), and v zcd ( t ) is representable as ## equ5 ## with a filter incorporated in the cda , the cda output would be substantially ## equ6 ## where the terms denoted 0 ( 1 / q ) are terms of order 1 / q which are essentially constant in time , and the terms denoted 0 ( 1 / ω 2 ) are higher order terms of the general form c n ( n 2 + a 2 ) - 1 cos ( nt + φ n )( n ≧ 2 ), with c n monotone decreasing or bounded in n . ignoring all but the fundamental terms ( α cos t or sin t ), v out ( t ) may be written more generally in the rotating wave approximation with slowly varying functions a ( t ) and θ ( t ) chosen appropriately , for the first member of a chain of cdas . analysis of the effect of a chain of such cdas upon such a signal indicates that the form of equation ( 6 ) holds more generally ( i . e . for the output of each cda in the chain .) the quantities a ( t ) and θ ( t ) will , of course , depend upon the number n (= 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . ) of the cda in the chain considered . for the fundamental frequency , one finds , after much analysis , that the filtered output is ## equ7 ## combined with eq . ( 6 ), this yields ## equ8 ## one important result of the analysis is that the maximum time rate of change for the phase function θ n ( t ) of the n th cda in the chain also satisfies this inequality , viz thus , the growth of sequential catchup error is limited at each stage by a number which is independent of time and of the number of prior stages ( n ), and which can be arbitrarily small by control of q . the upper bound estimate dθ / dt & lt ; τ s / 4q results from a linearized treatment of the effects of threshold shift . in an effort to confirm the existence of a finite , small upper bound on dθ / dt and to obtain a firm realistic estimate of same , if it exists , a chain of about 100 cdas was modeled with q = 10 and ω o = 1 , the transition threshold of each zcd was shifted a fixed amount , and the error was allowed to propagate and was monitored at time intervals t n = n ( π / 2 ) to determine error buildup . the observed maximum on ( d / dt ) θ , attained near t = 0 , was nearly the same at each cda and was about 7 . 6 % higher than the maximum predicted from the linearized model . this indicated that the linear model is substantially correct . the linear model also predicts that the average value effects which arise from threshold shift are essentially local ( i . e ., they do not propagate from one cda to the next ) and are uncoupled from other phenomena studied . a typical zcd for detection of a response to threshold voltages is shown in fig6 . a pulse or sequence of voltage pulses enters transistor q1 at the base . transistor q1 responds to the upper state of the incoming voltage v in by turning partially ( but not fully ) on so that v 1 attains a value near to but somewhat below v in . transistor q2 now turns off and voltage v 2 goes high , producing an upper state pulse v out = v 3 = v 3 at the emitter of the emitter follower transistor q3 , where v 3 is the upper state voltage output for the zcd . the magnitude of v 2 is determined by resistors r2 and r5 and by the offset voltage of diode d1 . in response to the lower state of v in arriving at q1 , this transistor turns off with v 1 =- v be , the base - emitter offset voltage of q2 , and q2 turns partly on , thus lowering v 2 to a value determined by resistor r2 and r3 . the output voltage now drops to v out = v 3 =- v . sub . 3 . thus , a sequence of approximately square wave pulses is generated at the output . fig7 exhibits a second order active filter which may replace the lrc filter of fig3 . the active filter comprises two resistors r1 and r2 , two capacitors c1 and c2 , and an amplifier a . the transfer function or gain for this filter is ## equ9 ## a choice of amplifier gain coefficient a & lt ; 1 guarantees stability , but any reasonable choice of a may be made . again , one chooses the parameters so that the frequency at peak response ( e . g ., ω = 1 radian / sec .) coincides with the fundamental frequency of the incoming signal at the zcd . the lrc filter of fig3 may be replaced by an electromechanical filter 21 and a shunt resistance 23 positioned as shown in fig1 . at or near resonance ( ω ≈ 1 ), the impedance of the filter 21 is quite small , having a magnitude of the order of 1000 ohms , and a large current is shunted through the resistor 23 which also has a resistance value ≳ 1000 ohms . where resonance is not present ( ω & lt ;& lt ; 1 or ω & gt ;& gt ; 1 ), the filter 21 has a high impedance and , again , current is shunted through the resistor 23 . another alternative is shown in fig1 , where an electromechanical filter 25 is arranged in parallel with a shunt resistor 27 . here the impedance of the filter 25 is very high at or near resonance ( ω ≈ 1 ), and the resistor 27 has associated resistance of 1 , 000 - 10 , 000 ohms so that most of the current flows through the resistor . off resonance ( ω & lt ;& lt ; 1 or ω & gt ;& gt ; 1 ), the filter impedance is low , and the filter draws much of the current flow . an alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in fig8 wherein the cda comprises a peak or level detector 31 and impulse generator 33 together replacing the zero crossing detector and a filter comprising inductive - resistive and capacitive means in parallel . this embodiment functions as shunt - driven model and is the dual of fig3 . the peak detector and impulse generator , acting in concert , produce a current impulse in response to the arrival of a periodic incoming signal with a detectable peak . the current impulse drives the lrc tank circuit 35 , which has a peak response at the fundamental frequency of the incoming signal as before . analysis , similar to the foregoing , of the voltage response to a periodic sequence of pulses when the transition thresholds v lu all suddenly change to v &# 39 ; lu is carried through as before . in the rotating wave approximation applied to the voltage developed at the output of each cda , one finds the bound once again , then , the sequential catch up error and its time rate of change are suppressed so that one signal cannot catch up to and destroy the preceding signal through deleterious shifts in transition thresholds in the peak detector . one embodiment of the current impulse generator of fig8 is shown in fig9 . an input , having an upper and lower state , appears at input terminal t1 and passes through a capacitor c1 and a parallel network of resistive means and diodes ( r1 , d1 and r2 , d2 ) to the base of transistor q1 . as the input to q1 rises , q1 turns partly on , which turns transistor q2 partly on and produces high state at the collector of q2 . if the input to c1 and thus to q1 is low , q1 turns off as does q2 , and the output at terminal t2 is determined by the rlc tank circuit energy . inductor l1 , resistor r6 and capacitor c2 comprise a tank circuit for the generator . the magnitude of the current pulse produced at t2 is determined by resistors r4 and r5 and by the magnitude of v ee relative to v cc (& gt ; v ee ); pulse duration is controlled by c1 and r1 . many of the calculations alluded to herein are discussed in some detail in robert h . wyman , &# 34 ; clock distribution systems for digital computers &# 34 ; ( ph . d thesis , department of applied science , university of california at davis ), also to be issued by lawrence livermore laboratory as ucrl - 51994 . although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein , variation and modification may be made without departing from what is considered to be the invention . | 7 |
the figures show the wheel 1 , the equatorial plane of which is indicated by 11 and which rotates about the axis 2 of a pivot 3 rigid with the member 4 . the fork - shaped member 4 comprises two ball joints 5 located on an inclined axis 6 , this being the wheel steering axis 6 . the ball joints 5 are positioned at the end of two rocker frames 55 forming the wheel suspension . the member 4 is connected to the steering linkage , not shown . the projection of the axis 6 onto the wheel steering transverse plane passing through the axis 2 , ie in the plane of fig1 encounters the resting surface for the automobile frame ( the ground ) at a point 7 , the distance btt of which from the equatorial plane 11 represents the transverse wheel offset . the projection of the axis 6 onto the wheel steering longitudinal plane ( perpendicular to the preceding ), which substantially coincides with the wheel equatorial plane ( the plane of fig2 ), encounters the resting surface for the automobile frame ( the ground ) at a point 8 , the distance btl of which from the contact point 9 of the wheel equatorial plane represents the longitudinal wheel offset . it is clear from the figures that the inclination of the steering axis 6 in both the transverse and longitudinal planes when the wheel is steered results in variations in the attitude of the automobile frame . if the steering angles when the diametrical wheel plane encounters the vehicle longitudinal plane behind the front axle are indicated conventionally as positive , and negative when it encounters the longitudinal plane to the front of the front axle , as indicated by the arrows 10 in fig1 and 2 , it can be seen that for positive steering angles the wheel is lowered relative to the automobile frame ( ie the frame rises relative to its resting surface , namely the ground ), whereas the opposite happens for negative steering angles . as the steering angles of the two steered wheels are of opposite sign with the adopted convention , the frame inclines transversely when travelling through a curve . in addition , as the axis of the pivot 3 encounters the steering axis at a point external to the equatorial wheel plane , the transverse and longitudinal offsets ( btt , btl ) also vary when the wheel is steered . fig3 to 7 show the left side of a automobile frame 100 with a steered front wheel 101 and a non - steered rear wheel 102 . the longitudinal axis of the automobile frame is indicated by 103 . a device 104 comprising inter alia two light emitting diodes ( leds ) 105 and 106 is fixed to the rim of the wheel 102 by known means . the distance between said diodes 105 and 106 in the horizontal plane is indicated by d . an analogous device 104 of known type able to receive inter alia the light beams emitted by the diodes 105 and 106 and measure the angle between them is fixed to the rim of the wheel 101 by known means . specifically , as shown in fig6 and 7 , the device 104 comprises inter alia at least one cylindrical lens 108 able to concentrate the light beams emitted by the diodes of the device mounted on the adjacent wheel into light planes . the axis of the cylindrical lens is perpendicular to the plane of fig5 and parallel to the plane of fig6 and 7 . a line 109 of optical sensors on which the light planes concentrated by the lens fall is positioned in a direction perpendicular to the lens axis . the distance between the points at which the light planes originating respectively from the diodes 105 and 106 strike the line of sensors 109 is a known function of the angle α which depends on the known geometrical characteristics of device 104 . the angle α can hence be found by processing this information by a microprocessor 107 which receives the signals from the diode line 109 . the same microprocessor 107 then processes the angle on the basis of the known distance d between the diodes 105 and 106 , to calculate the wheel base p between the wheels 101 and 102 . as is apparent from fig3 and 4 , the wheel base p is a function of the steering angle , ie as the steering angle varies the wheel base p changes by an amount δp . the relationship governing the variation in δp with the steering angle for a given automobile frame is determined by processing , by interpolation , the δp values for at least two steering angles . from this the measurement of the wheel offsets btl and btt can be obtained knowing the geometrical steering characteristics . in this respect , the goniometer 104 rigid with that steered wheel for which , for example , it is required to know the transverse offset , is moved about a circumference of radius r the center of which is the point of contact of the wheel steering axis with the ground . r 1 = distance of the goniometer from the outer side of the wheel ; r 2 = distance between the outer side of the wheel and its equatorial plane of symmetry ; as the emitter - goniometer distance is basically equal to the wheel base , by measuring the wheel base variation δp for steering angles 0 and β , we have : ## equ1 ## where r 1 and r 2 are known geometrical characteristics of the device . the invention being thus described , it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims . | 6 |
surprisingly , the present inventors have found that mixtures of ipbc and dcdt are especially efficacious in controlling the growth of bacterial microbes , specifically the klebsiella pneumoniae species . this particular species is a member of the capsulated , facultative class of bacterial and is generally present in air , water and soil . these bacterial continually contaminate open cooling systems and pulping and papermaking systems and are among the most common slime formers . the slime may be viewed as being a mass of agglomerated cells stuck together by the cementing action of the gelatinous polysaccharide or proteinaceious secretions around each cell . the slimy mass entraps other debris , restricts water flow and heat transfer , and may serve as s site for corrosion . the fact that the klebsiella species used in the tests is a facultative species is important as , by definition , such bacteria may thrive under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions . accordingly , by reason of demonstrated efficacy in the growth inhibition of this particular species , one can expect similar growth inhibition attributes when other aerobic or anaerobic bacterial species are encountered . it is also expected that these compositions will exhibit similar growth inhibition attributes when fungi and algae species are encountered . in accordance with the present invention , the combined ipbc and dcdt treatment may be added to the desired aqueous system in need of a biocidal treatment , in an amount of from about 0 . 1 to about 200 parts of the combined treatment to one million parts ( by weight ) of the aqueous medium . preferably , about 5 to about 50 parts of the combined treatment per one million parts ( by weight ) of the aqueous medium is added . the combined treatment is added , for example , to cooling water systems , paper and pulp mill systems , pools , ponds , lagoons , lakes , etc ., to control the formation of bacterial microorganisms , which may be contained by , or which may become entrained in , the system to be treated . it has been found that the compositions and methods of utilization of the treatment are efficacious in controlling the facultative bacterium , klebsiella pneumoniae , which may populate these systems . it is thought that the combined treatment composition and method of the present invention will also be efficacious in inhibiting and controlling all types of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria . surprisingly , it has been found that when the ingredients are mixed , in certain instances , the resulting mixtures possess a higher degree of bactericidal activity than that of the individual ingredients comprising the mixture . accordingly , it is possible to produce a highly efficacious bactericide . because of the enhanced activity of the mixture , the total quantity of the bacterial treatment may be reduced . in addition , the high degree of bactericidal effectiveness which is provided by each of the ingredients may be exploited without use of higher concentrations of each . the following experimental data were developed . it is to be remembered that the following examples are to be regarded solely as being illustrative and not as restricting the scope of the invention . ipbc and dcdt were added in varying ratios and over a wide range of concentrations to a liquid nutrient medium which was subsequently inoculated with a standard volume of a suspension of the facultative bacterium klebsiella pneumoniae . growth was measured by determining the amount of radioactivity accumulated by the cells when 14c - glucose was added as the sole source of carbon in the nutrient medium . the effect of the biocide chemicals , alone and in combination , is to reduce the rate and amount of 14c incorporation into the cells during incubation , as compared to controls not treated with chemicals . additions to the biocides , alone and in varying combinations and concentrations , were made according to the accepted &# 34 ; checkerboard &# 34 ; technique described by m . t . kelley and j . m . matsen , antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy , 9 : 440 ( 1976 ). following a two hour incubation , the amount of radioactivity incorporated in the cells was determined by counting ( 14c liquid scintillation procedures ) for all treated and untreated samples . the percent reduction of each treated sample was calculated from the relationship : ## equ1 ## plotting the % reduction of 14c level against the concentration of each biocide acting alone results in a dose - response curve , from which the biocide dose necessary to achieve any given % reduction can be interpolated . synergism was determined by the method of calculation described by f . c . kyll , p . c . eisman , h . d . sylwestrowicz and r . l . mayer , applied microbiology 9 , 538 ( 1961 ) using the relationship : ## equ2 ## where q a = quantity of compound a , acting alone , producing an end point q b = quantity of compound b , acting alone , producing an end point q a = quantity of compound a in mixture , producing an end point q b = quantity of compound b in mixture , producing an end point the end point used in the calculations is the % reduction caused by each mixture of a and b . q a and q b are the individual concentrations in the a / b mixture causing a given % reduction . q a and q b are determined by interpolation from the respective dose - response curves of a and b as those concentrations of a and b acting alone which produce the same % reduction as each specific mixture produced . dose - response curves for each active acting alone were determined by linear regression analysis of the dose - response data . data was fitted to a curve represented by the equation shown with each data set . after linearizing the data , the contributions of each biocide component in the biocide mixtures to the inhibition of radioisotope uptake were determined by interpolation with the dose - response curve of the respective biocide . if , for example , quantities of q a plus q b are sufficient to give a 50 % reduction in 14c content , q a and q b are those quantities of a or b acting alone , respectively , found to give 50 % reduction in 14c content . a synergism index ( si ) is calculated for each combination of a and b . where the si is less than 1 , synergism exists . where the si = 1 , additivity exists . where si is greater than 1 , antagonism exists . the data in the following tables come from treating klebsiella pneumoniae , a common nuisance bacterial type found in industrial cooling waters and in pulping and paper making systems , with varying ratios and concentrations of ipbc and dcdt . shown for each combination is the % reduction of 14c content (% i ), the calculated si , and the weight ratio of ipbc and dcdt . table i______________________________________ipbc vs . dcdtppm ppm ratioipbc . sup . 1 dcdt . sup . 2 ipbc : dcdt % i si______________________________________50 0 100 : 0 9425 0 100 : 0 9012 . 5 0 100 : 0 806 . 25 0 100 : 0 633 . 13 0 100 : 0 461 . 56 0 100 : 0 340 10 0 : 100 980 5 0 : 100 980 2 . 5 0 : 100 970 1 . 25 0 : 100 710 0 . 625 0 : 100 440 0 . 313 0 : 100 2950 10 5 . 00 : 1 99 3 . 1525 10 2 . 50 : 1 99 2 . 6012 . 5 10 1 . 25 : 1 99 2 . 326 . 25 10 1 : 1 . 60 99 2 . 173 . 13 10 1 : 3 . 19 99 2 . 121 . 56 10 1 : 6 . 41 99 2 . 0850 5 10 . 0 : 1 99 2 . 1325 5 5 . 00 : 1 99 1 . 5812 . 5 5 2 . 50 : 1 99 1 . 306 . 25 5 1 . 25 : 1 99 1 . 163 . 13 5 1 : 1 . 60 99 1 . 091 . 56 5 1 : 3 . 21 99 1 . 0550 2 . 5 20 . 0 : 1 99 1 . 6325 2 . 5 10 . 0 : 1 98 1 . 0812 . 5 2 . 5 5 . 00 : 1 98 0 . 80 * 6 . 25 2 . 5 2 . 50 : 1 98 0 . 68 * 3 . 13 2 . 5 1 . 25 : 1 97 0 . 63 * 1 . 56 2 . 5 1 : 1 . 60 97 0 . 58 * 50 1 . 25 40 . 0 : 1 98 1 . 4425 1 . 25 20 . 0 : 1 95 0 . 9812 . 5 1 . 25 10 . 0 : 1 91 0 . 78 * 6 . 25 1 . 25 5 . 00 : 1 83 0 . 80 * 3 . 13 1 . 25 2 . 50 : 1 74 0 . 92 * 1 . 56 1 . 25 1 . 25 : 1 68 1 . 0250 0 . 625 80 . 0 : 1 95 1 . 5025 0 . 625 40 . 0 : 1 91 1 . 0012 . 5 0 . 625 20 . 0 : 1 84 0 . 85 * 6 . 25 0 . 625 10 . 0 : 1 70 1 . 043 . 13 0 . 625 5 . 01 : 1 57 1 . 301 . 56 0 . 625 2 . 50 : 1 52 1 . 2350 0 . 313 160 : 1 94 1 . 4925 0 . 313 79 . 9 : 1 91 0 . 94 * 12 . 5 0 . 313 39 . 9 : 1 83 0 . 76 * 6 . 25 0 . 313 19 . 97 : 1 69 0 . 90 * 3 . 13 0 . 313 10 . 0 : 1 54 1 . 111 . 56 0 . 313 4 . 99 : 1 40 1 . 45______________________________________ . sup . 1 product containing 17 % actives ipbc . sup . 2 product containing 20 % actives dcdt table ii______________________________________ipbc vs . dcdtppm ppm ratioipbc . sup . 1 dcdt . sup . 2 ipbc : dcdt % i si______________________________________50 0 100 : 0 9225 0 100 : 0 8712 . 5 0 100 : 0 716 . 25 0 100 : 0 483 . 13 0 100 : 0 261 . 56 0 100 : 0 140 10 0 : 100 990 5 0 : 100 990 2 . 5 0 : 100 900 1 . 25 0 : 100 390 0 . 625 0 : 100 210 0 . 313 0 : 100 1450 10 5 . 00 : 1 99 2 . 7625 10 2 . 50 : 1 99 2 . 2312 . 5 10 1 . 25 : 1 99 1 . 976 . 25 10 1 : 1 . 60 99 1 . 863 . 13 10 1 : 3 . 19 99 1 . 801 . 56 10 1 : 6 . 41 99 1 . 7650 5 10 . 0 : 1 99 1 . 8925 5 5 . 00 : 1 99 1 . 3712 . 5 5 2 . 50 : 1 99 1 . 126 . 25 5 1 . 25 : 1 99 0 . 993 . 13 5 1 : 1 . 60 99 0 . 93 * 1 . 56 5 1 : 3 . 21 98 0 . 92 * 50 2 . 5 20 . 0 : 1 99 1 . 4725 2 . 5 10 . 0 : 1 99 0 . 9612 . 5 2 . 5 5 . 00 : 1 98 0 . 72 * 6 . 25 2 . 5 2 . 50 : 1 94 0 . 66 * 3 . 13 2 . 5 1 . 25 : 1 92 0 . 62 * 1 . 56 2 . 5 1 : 1 . 60 90 0 . 61 * 50 1 . 25 40 . 0 : 1 95 1 . 4825 1 . 25 20 . 0 : 1 90 1 . 0412 . 5 1 . 25 10 . 0 : 1 81 0 . 91 * 6 . 25 1 . 25 5 . 00 : 1 69 0 . 963 . 13 1 . 25 2 . 50 : 1 54 1 . 231 . 56 1 . 25 1 . 25 : 1 44 1 . 4450 0 . 625 80 . 0 : 1 92 1 . 4825 0 . 625 40 . 0 : 1 86 1 . 0212 . 5 0 . 625 20 . 0 : 1 78 0 . 82 * 6 . 25 0 . 625 10 . 0 : 1 60 0 . 983 . 13 0 . 625 5 . 01 : 1 42 1 . 231 . 56 0 . 625 2 . 50 : 1 32 1 . 3150 0 . 313 160 : 1 92 1 . 4425 0 . 313 79 . 9 : 1 85 0 . 9912 . 5 0 . 313 39 . 9 : 1 76 0 . 75 * 6 . 25 0 . 313 19 . 97 : 1 58 0 . 85 * 3 . 13 0 . 313 10 . 0 : 1 38 1 . 101 . 56 0 . 313 4 . 99 : 1 23 1 . 24______________________________________ . sup . 1 product containing 17 % actives ipbc . sup . 2 product containing 20 % actives dcdt table iii______________________________________ipbc vs . dcdtppm ppm ratioipbc . sup . 1 dcdt . sup . 2 ipbc : dcdt % i si______________________________________50 0 100 : 0 8725 0 100 : 0 7912 . 5 0 100 : 0 636 . 25 0 100 : 0 573 . 13 0 100 : 0 341 . 56 0 100 : 0 130 10 0 : 100 980 5 0 : 100 980 2 . 5 0 : 100 730 1 . 25 0 : 100 310 0 . 625 0 : 100 130 0 . 313 0 : 100 850 10 5 . 00 : 1 98 2 . 2725 10 2 . 50 : 1 98 1 . 8512 . 5 10 1 . 25 : 1 98 1 . 666 . 25 10 1 : 1 . 60 98 1 . 553 . 13 10 1 : 3 . 19 98 1 . 511 . 56 10 1 : 6 . 41 98 1 . 4950 5 10 . 0 : 1 98 1 . 5325 5 5 . 00 : 1 98 1 . 1312 . 5 5 2 . 50 : 1 98 0 . 93 * 6 . 25 5 1 . 25 : 1 98 0 . 83 * 3 . 13 5 1 : 1 . 60 98 0 . 78 * 1 . 56 5 1 : 3 . 21 98 0 . 76 * 50 2 . 5 20 . 0 : 1 97 1 . 2225 2 . 5 10 . 0 : 1 95 0 . 88 * 12 . 5 2 . 5 5 . 00 : 1 88 0 . 83 * 6 . 25 2 . 5 2 . 50 : 1 85 0 . 73 * 3 . 13 2 . 5 1 . 25 : 1 80 0 . 76 * 1 . 56 2 . 5 1 : 1 . 60 77 0 . 75 * 50 1 . 25 40 . 0 : 1 91 1 . 3425 1 . 25 20 . 0 : 1 85 1 . 0212 . 5 1 . 25 10 . 0 : 1 76 0 . 92 * 6 . 25 1 . 25 5 . 00 : 1 63 1 . 053 . 13 1 . 25 2 . 50 : 1 52 1 . 141 . 56 1 . 25 1 . 25 : 1 47 1 . 1350 0 . 625 80 . 0 : 1 89 1 . 3525 0 . 625 40 . 0 : 1 73 1 . 4812 . 5 0 . 625 20 . 0 : 1 70 0 . 95 * 6 . 25 0 . 625 10 . 0 : 1 55 1 . 053 . 13 0 . 625 5 . 01 : 1 37 1 . 411 . 56 0 . 625 2 . 50 : 1 33 1 . 1550 0 . 313 160 : 1 89 1 . 3125 0 . 313 79 . 9 : 1 80 0 . 9912 . 5 0 . 313 39 . 9 : 1 69 0 . 88 * 6 . 25 0 . 313 19 . 97 : 1 52 1 . 003 . 13 0 . 313 10 . 0 : 1 37 1 . 141 . 56 0 . 313 4 . 99 : 1 29 0 . 96______________________________________ . sup . 1 product containing 17 % actives ipbc . sup . 2 product containing 20 % actives dcdt asterisks in the si column indicate synergistic combinations in accordance with the kull method supra . in tables i through iii , differences seen between the replicates are due to normal experimental variance . in accordance with tables i - iii supra ., unexpected results occurred more frequently within the product ratios of ipbs to dcdt of from about 1 : 3 . 2 to 80 : 1 . since the ipbc product contains about 17 % active biocidal component and the dcdt product contains about 20 % active biocidal component , when based on the active biocidal component , unexpected results appear more frequently within the range of active component of ipbc : dcdt of about 1 : 3 . 8 to 68 : 1 . at present , it is most preferred that any commercial product embodying the invention comprises a weight ratio of active component of about 1 : 1 ipbc : dcdt . while this invention has been described with respect to particular embodiments thereof , it is apparent that numerous other forms and modifications of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art . the appended claims and this invention generally should be construed to cover all such obvious forms and modifications which are within the true spirit and scope of the present invention . | 2 |
referring to the figures , wherein like numerals indicate like or corresponding parts , an electrode of the present invention is generally shown at 10 . the electrode 10 of the present invention is formed from a metallic tape , generally indicated at 11 and shown fragmentally in fig1 a to 2h , is used to form a first electrode such as an anode and a second electrode such as cathode , both illustrated at a and c , respectively , in fig5 and 8b and 8 c , and spaced by a separator s and combined into a cell , generally indicated at 13 in fig8 a , for producing electric power without limiting the scope of the present invention . the metal current collector 11 of the first electrode and the second electrode has opposed sides 12 and 14 defining an initial thickness 16 , as best illustrated in a cross sectional view shown in fig1 a . an active core , generally shown at 18 in fig1 a , is formed inside the metal current collector 10 . the active core 18 is formed from first particles 20 being integral with and extending from the metal current collector 11 of at least one of the first and second electrodes . the first particles 20 are formed as the second particle 22 , impacting the metal current collector 11 , as best shown in fig2 a and 2b , resulting in local increased temperature of the metal current collector 11 , which locally melts , as shown in fig2 c and 2d , as the second particles 22 are at least partially penetrate the metal current collector 11 . as best illustrated in fig2 e and 2f , the impact of the second particles 22 onto the melted metal current collector 11 results in multitude of aerosol drops 24 separated from the metal current collector 11 , as best illustrated in fig2 e and 2f . the active core 18 is formed in response to solidification of the aerosol drops 24 , which follows local melting and ultrasonic cavitations of the metal current collector 11 thereby forming the first particles 20 . the first particles 20 are integral with the metal current collector and present circular or globular configuration , as view in a cross section . the second particles are formed from of active material , other that the metal current collector 11 , and may present a rectangular configuration , or other configuration , and the like , as best shown in fig1 a and 1b , without limiting the scope of the present invention . the circular configuration of the second particles 22 , as shown in fig2 a through 2h are for illustrative purposes only without intent to limit the scope of the present invention . the active material of the second particles 22 includes and not limited to silicon , carbon , germanium , oxides , salts , ceramic components , licoo 2 , limn 2 o 4 , lifepo 4 , mno 2 , li , si , c , ge , sno , sno 2 , and the like , without limiting the scope of the present invention . the first and second particles 20 and 22 are connected with one another to form a porous grid , generally indicated at 32 in fig1 a and 1b of a three dimensional configuration of the active core 18 disposed inside the metal current collector 11 thereby resulting in the metal current collector 11 being integral with the active core 18 and presenting a second thickness 34 . the grid 32 is further defined by the first particles 20 being continuously connected with the metal current collector 11 thereby eliminating sharp interface between the grid 32 and the metal current collector 11 . the first particles 20 are connected to the second particles 22 and the metal current collector 11 in a diffusible fashion with the second particles 22 being at least partially exposed through and beyond the grid 32 . alternatively , the second particles 22 are inside the grid 32 of the active core 18 and do not exposed beyond the active core 18 . the first particles 20 and the second particles 22 are free from low conductivity films at interface defined between the first and second particles 20 and 22 and the metal current collector 11 . the first particles 20 are fused with one and the other thereby forming an inter - layered structure of the grid 32 with the second particles 22 disposed therebetween . the second particles 22 and the metal current collector 11 define points of contacts having a thermal decomposition temperature being lower than a melting temperature of the first particles 20 . the second particles 22 present a size ranging from at least 50 nm and up to 500 nm . the first particles 20 present a size ranging from at least 5 nm and up to 100 nm . based on application requirements , the second thickness 34 may be substantially the same or smaller than the first thickness 16 . the grid 32 presents a plurality of pores , only some of the pores are shown at 36 in fig1 a . the grid 32 may present 60 percent of the pores 36 and 40 percent of the first and second particles 20 and 22 of a total volume of the active core 18 . this ratio is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . the pores 36 may present up to 80 percent of the active core 18 or only 0 . 55 percent of the active core 18 . this ratio is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . the active core 18 is mixed with and covered by an electrolyte , as best shown at 38 in fig4 c . the electrolyte 38 may be liquid or non - liquid . alluding to the above , one of the advantages of the present invention is the absence of an oxide film at contact points the first and second particles 20 and 22 , which reduces electronic resistance at the interface of the cathode &# 39 ; s c active substance and metal binding . multitude of contact points defined between the particles 20 and 22 and the metal current collector 11 expose the greater part of the active core 18 open to electrochemical interaction with the electrolyte . the size of the first particles 20 as viewed in cross section is between 5 to 100 nm . the size of the second particles 22 formed from the active substance is between 50 to 500 nm . based on the results conducted by the applicant through a quantitative electron - microscopic inspection , the average number of contacts of the metal , i . e . the first particles 20 and the metal current collector 10 with the second particles 22 of the active material is 25 - 32 per square micron of particle surface , thereby providing reliable and improved outlet of electrons to the metal current collector 10 during cyclic changes in active substance particle size during reversible electrode operation in the cell 13 . in some applications of the present invention the three - dimensional grid 32 has low thickness and the second particles 22 of form the dense one layer film on the electrode surface . fig3 a and 3b illustrate fragmental view of the inventive apparatus 40 of the present invention , which is described in great details in the patent application serial number incorporated herewith in its entirety . fig3 a and 3b illustrate a nozzle 42 through which the second particles 22 of the active material are injected onto the tape 44 of the electrode 10 rolled between a pair of rollers 46 and 48 . an ultrasonic vibrator , generally shown at 45 in fig3 a and 3b , is positioned to abut the inner side of the tape 44 . the functional aspects and purpose of the ultrasonic vibrator 45 are disclosed in the patent application ser . no . 11 / 560 , 922 incorporated herewith by reference in its entirety . a brush 50 is positioned adjacent the tape 44 to extract excess of the first and second particles 20 and 22 . fig4 a through 4e illustrate various cross sectional view of the electrode 10 of the present invention as the metal current collector 11 is moved along an assembly path with the active core 18 being formed inside the metal current collector 11 . as the active core 18 is formed inside the metal current collector 11 , as described above , and is filled and / or mixed with the electrolyte 38 , a layer of isolating bar 60 is continuously disposed about one of the opposed sides 12 of the electrode 10 of at least one of the first and second electrodes . in one embodiment , the electrode 10 can be an anode and can also include an anode layer 62 formed from lithium covering the active core 18 to extend co - planarly with the layer of isolating bar 60 . in such an embodiment , an anode current collector 64 formed from copper , nickel or other metal can extend over the anode layer 62 and the layer of the isolating bar 60 . an isolating layer 66 extends over the anode current collector 64 sandwiched between the anode layer 62 and the isolating layer 66 . the structure of the electrode 10 as set forth above is applicable to both the anode a and the cathode c of the present invention . fig8 b and 8c illustrate a cross section of the cell includes the anode a and the cathode c formed by the method of the present invention , clearly illustrating the dimensions of the anode a of 15 μm , the cathode of 9 μm , and the separator s of 10 μm . the table shown further below illustrates dimensions and technical characteristics of the preferred embodiment of the cell 13 of the present invention . however , these dimensions are illustrated for exemplary purposes as one of the embodiment of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . as best illustrated in fig5 an assembly “ roll to roll ” process of the present invention is generally shown at 68 . the cathode c and the anode a are rolled from two spaced drums 70 and 72 along an assembly path 74 with the metal current collector 10 of each of the cathode c and the anode a facing one another . an electrolyte with separator ( if necessary ) 76 , either liquid or non - liquid is injected between the cathode c and the anode a in addition to the electrolyte 38 of the metal current collector 10 . a heating element ( not shown ) is adjacent the assembly path 74 to heat the electrolyte 76 thereby improving polymerization of the electrolyte 76 . after the cathode c and the anode a are sealed 80 a pair of cutting devices 82 and 84 disposed on both sides of the assembly path 74 are cutting the assembled cathode c and the anode a to a multitude of prefabricated cells 13 . numerous mechanical , laser , and electrical devices are used as cutting devices 82 and 84 and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . the cells 13 are sealed hermetically along the peripheral edge or the periphery 86 . fig6 a through 6c illustrate various cross section microscopic views to clearly illustrate the first and second nano - particles 20 and 22 of the active core 18 with each of the particles having nano - dimensions . fig7 presents a graph illustrating electrochemical testing results of cathode electrode 10 formed according to the invention . fig8 a is a perspective view of at least one configuration of the inventive cell . fig8 b and 8c show cross section microscopic views of the electrodes of opposite polarity with at least one electrode formed according to the invention . fig9 presents another graph illustrating electrochemical testing results of the cell shown in the fig8 a - c having at least one electrode made according to the present invention . alluding to the above , the electrode 10 and the method of forming the same have numerous valuable advantages of the prior art electrodes and methods . one of the advantages , for example , is the unique structure of the electrode 10 wherein the active core 18 is formed in an organic binder free fashion , i . e . by the inventive method of solidification of the aerosol drops 24 of the metal current collector 10 and the particles 22 of active material while maintaining adhesion therebetween . another advantage of the present invention is to provide a unique method for fabricating the electrodes a and / or c wherein the metal current collector 10 presents nano - structured surface , has low thermal stability and improved cycling life . the unique method of forming the electrodes a and / or c utilizes the high - pressure deposition solidification method wherein the particles 22 of the active material and the solidified drops 24 are formed as a result of the formation of the aerosol mixture form the grid 32 presenting a continuous surface of the metal current collector 10 of the electrodes a and / or c . the present inventive concept has various applications including and not limited to high efficiency thin - film photovoltaic solar cells for cost - effective renewable energy , fuel cell components such as catalytic membranes for environmentally friendly power supplies , super capacitors for smaller and lighter portable handheld devices such as cell phones , laptops , thin film sensors for more effective monitoring and control of temperature , illumination , and humidity , high - conductivity wires with low resistance adaptable for manufacturing of a wide variety of electronic devices , and the like . while the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention . in addition , many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof . therefore , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention , but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims . | 8 |
turning now to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts , and more particularly to fig1 and 2 thereof , an automated apparatus for forming a tubular part 25 having a tubular pull - out 27 on a tube 29 in accordance with this invention is shown having an insulated enclosure 30 enclosing an open interior space 32 containing top and bottom heated platens 33 and 35 supported at the top and bottom of the enclosure 30 on insulated ceramic refractory slabs 37 and 39 . the enclosure 30 is similar to a conventional superplastic forming press , but it does not need or have the powerful hydraulic ram and supporting structures necessary to react the gas pressure forces exerted within the die in the course of conventional superplastic forming operations , so the enclosure is far less costly to build and maintain . instead , a simple frame ( not shown ) of conventional design supports the upper components of the apparatus on the base . the platens 33 and 35 are heated by electrical rod heaters with electrical power controlled by a proportioning , integrating and derivative (“ pid ”) three mode controllers 40 in an electrical control cabinet 42 . the pid controllers make possible a rapid heating rate on a controlled heating curve that ensures that the designated temperature will be reached quickly without overshooting . an insulated side wall 44 of the enclosure 30 surrounds the enclosed space 32 on three sides , and an insulated front door ( not shown ) movable between open and closed positions provides access to the enclosed space 32 for inserting and removing top and bottom halves 46 and 48 of a die 50 , shown in fig2 in which the tubular part 25 is formed . a die lifter 51 of conventional design is provided for lifting the upper half 46 of the die 50 during insertion of the tube 29 and removal of the formed part after forming . a vertically oriented pull - rod 52 extends through aligned holes in the base 54 of the enclosure , the bottom insulated slab 39 , the lower platen 35 , and the die bottom 48 . the pull - rod 52 has a proximal end attached to an activation unit 55 powered by a motor 58 . in fig1 the proximal end is the bottom end , but the rod could alternatively be arranged to enter the enclosure from the top or sides . the activation unit 55 could be a hydraulic or screw drive , or a servomotor with a gear reduction unit , providing precisely controlled vertical displacement of the rod 52 under the power of the motor 58 , controlled by a programmable controller 60 , which also controls the operation of the pid controllers . the position and line of action of the activation unit 55 can be moved to provide off - center and non - vertical lines of action for the pull - rod 52 , for applications described later below . a pull die , represented in fig1 and 3 as a ball 65 , is removably attached to a distal end of the rod 52 , shown in fig1 as the top end . the ball 65 is the forming die by which the material of the side wall of the tube 29 is formed into the tubular pull - out 27 , as explained in detail below . the die 50 is split along a horizontal center plane 67 through the axis of a cylindrical cavity 70 sized to receive the tube 29 with a snug fit . as shown in fig6 the die lower half 48 has an opening 72 with a flaring lead - in portion 74 providing a draw radius , tapering to a cylindrical bore 75 on a vertical axis 77 intersecting the horizontal axis of the cylindrical cavity 70 and having an internal diameter equal to the desired outside diameter of the pull - out 27 . the vertical axis 77 of the bore 75 coincides with the axis and line of action of the rod 52 when pulled by the activation unit 55 . referring again to fig1 the opening 79 in the lower platen 35 and the insulated slab 39 is of sufficient diameter to receive the rod 52 and also the pull die 65 when it is retracted by the activation unit 55 . the activation unit may be provided with sufficient range to pull the pull die 65 all the way out of the enclosure 30 so that it may be conveniently disconnected from the rod 52 directly without the use of remote manipulators , as described below . in operation , the upper and lower die halves 46 and 48 are preheated to superplastic forming temperature by contact with the platens 33 and 35 heated with the rod heaters under control of the heater controllers 40 . the upper die half is lifted by the die lifter 51 and a tube 29 , having a pre - cut hole 80 through the side wall , is inserted into the lower die half 48 , with the center of the hole 80 aligned with the vertical bore 75 in the lower die half 48 , which in turn is aligned with the opening 79 in the lower platen 35 and insulated slab 39 . the die 50 is closed by lowering the upper die half 46 onto the lower die half 48 . in some applications , the upper die half 46 may be omitted . the tube 29 is made from a metal such as titanium 6 - 4 alloy , which has superplastic properties . superplastic properties include the capability of the metal to develop unusually high tensile elongations and plastic deformation at elevated temperatures , with a reduced tendency toward necking or thinning . the characteristics of superplastic forming and diffusion bonding are now reasonably well understood , and are discussed in detail in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 927 , 817 to hamilton , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 361 , 262 to israeli , and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 214 , 948 to sanders . the diffusion bonding properties are important only in connection with the embodiment illustrated in fig3 - 39 and discussed in detail below . the rod 52 is extended upward , with its axis coincident with the aligned axes 70 of the opening 79 in the lower platen 35 , the vertical bore 75 in the lower die half 48 and the hole 80 in the tube 29 . a pull die 65 , preheated by induction heating or the like to superplastic forming temperature , is inserted from the side into the center of the tube 29 and positioned in alignment with the axis of the rod 52 using a manipulator arm ( not shown ) of conventional design . the rod 52 is advanced and rotated about its axis to engage the threads on the distal end of the rod 52 with corresponding threads in an internally threaded hole in the pull die 65 . the tube 29 is heated in the die 50 to the desired superplastic forming temperature , and the pull die 65 may also be heated by electrical resistance heaters energized by electrical conductors 84 in the rod 52 if it was not heated before attachment to the rod 52 . when the tube 29 and the pull die 65 are at superplastic forming temperature , about 1650 ° f . for 6 - 4 titanium alloy , the motor 58 of the activation unit 55 is energized to pull the pull die 65 through the hole 80 in the tube 29 at a controlled rate . the speed of the activation unit 55 is precisely controlled to pull the pull die 65 at a rate that strains the tubing material at a predetermined rate . hence , it is advisable to quantify the flow of material around the forming radius at the junction of the tube and the pull - out using engineering analysis , such as finite element analysis , to determine the speed at which the pull die 65 is pulled through the hole . the rate that the activation unit 55 pulls the die 65 through the hole is measured by a linear encoder and the motion is precisely controlled during the forming cycle to account for changes in the geometry of the tube in the area adjacent to and within the pull - out 27 . the activation unit 55 has a programmable logic controller , either in the activation unit itself or in the control console 60 , which provides feedback and control to the motor 58 in the activation unit by which the pull die rod 52 is pulled at a precisely controlled rate . the engineering analysis , such as finite element analysis , by which the flow of material around the forming radius is quantified , provides an idealized linear speed schedule to program the linear actuator to match the optimal superplastic strain rate of the tube material . as shown in fig7 - 9 , the hole 80 can be made in various shapes , depending on the conditions . the best shape for a right angle pull - out having an internal diameter equal to the internal diameter of the tube 29 ( shown in fig7 - 9 as half tubes for clarity of presentation ) is an oval hole as shown in fig7 . the narrow elongated hole 81 shown in fig8 is best for elbows , pull - outs , and material having exceptional super - elastic elongation capabilities . the round hole 82 shown in fig9 is appropriate for material having poor elongation capabilities and for the diffusion bonding embodiment discussed below . the tensile stresses developed in the tube 29 as the pull die 65 is pulled through the hole 80 can be great enough in some materials to pucker the tube material circumferentially adjacent to the pull - out 27 . to support the tube sidewall against such puckering , a retaining sleeve 85 , shown in fig1 - 12 , is inserted into the tube 29 to hold the tube material against the sides of the die cavity 70 . a hole 88 in the retaining sleeve 85 is large enough to pass the pull die 65 , and the tube material around the hole 88 is sufficient to form the pull - out 27 . the retaining sleeve 88 may be a partial cylinder as shown in fig1 - 12 , or it may be a complete cylinder . preferably , the retaining sleeve 85 is high temperature , corrosion resistant , tool steel with a suitable release coating to prevent adhesion to the tube 29 . the steel material of the retaining sleeve 85 has a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than the titanium material of the tube 29 , so the steel retaining sleeve expands to hold the tube firmly between it and the die cavity surface 70 . when the formed part 25 is removed from the die cavity 70 and cools , the steel retaining sleeve 85 contracts more than the tube 29 , and the retaining sleeve 85 can be removed easily from the formed part 25 . a tube of 6 - 4 titanium alloy ( 6 aluminum , 4 vanadium , balance titanium , mil - t - 9046j , type ab - 1 ) having an internal diameter of 10 inches and a wall thickness of 0 . 041 inches is selected . an oval hole 80 having a major axis 7 inches long and a minor axis 3 inches long is cut in the sidewall of the tube , with the major axis extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube . the tube 29 is inserted in the lower half 48 of a die made of a suitable die material such as cast ceramic as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 467 , 626 , or corrosion resistant tool steel such as esco 49 - c or hayne &# 39 ; s alloy hn . the die half 48 has a pull - out opening 72 , shown in fig6 having a curved draw radius 74 that tapers in a smooth curve to a cylindrical bore 75 . the tube 29 is positioned with the center of the oval hole 80 aligned with the axis of the bore 75 in the die half 48 . alignment is by alignment pins or the like in the die cavity engaging holes and / or slots in trim portions of the tube 29 . the pull die 65 is pulled through the hole 80 on a pull schedule graphed in fig1 . the pull rate is initially about 0 . 5 inches / minute , but slows gradually to about 0 . 2 inches / minute in the intermediate portions of the cycle . the pull rate is then increased to nearly the same as the initial pull rate . this pull rate schedule produces an optimal strain rate of about 2 × 10 − 4 sec − 1 for the material in the marginal regions around the hole 80 . the resulting part 25 , shown in fig1 , has a thickness at the trim line 90 that is about 0 . 030 ″ which is more than 70 % of the original thickness of the tube 29 . other types of parts may be made using this same process or slight modifications thereof . for example , angled pull - outs of the type shown in fig1 and 16 are made using a die set having an angled opening . the activation unit 55 is moved laterally and the line of action of the pull - rod 52 is aligned with the axis 95 of the angled opening in the die . preferably , the pull - rod 52 is guided to ensure that it moves straight into the opening along the axis 95 thereof . elbows 100 and tees 105 may be made as shown in fig1 and 18 using a heated pull die pulled through one or two oval holes or slots 107 in a closed end portion 110 of closed - end tubes 115 or 120 , shown in fig1 and 20 , made of superplastic material as described above . formed flanges of any desired planform and base curvature , from flat to compound curvature , can be made using tooling described below . the formed flanges are generally for the purpose of attaching a tubular part such as a duct to a structure that receives or delivers a liquid supply through the duct . a flange 125 is shown in fig2 , having a flat base 127 and an upstanding pull - out 130 with a round planform 130 for attachment to a duct or other tubular structure . a plurality of holes 132 is drilled in the base 127 for attachment to the structure to which the flange is to be connected . the flange 125 is cut out of a sheet 135 shown in fig2 in which the pullout 130 is formed by an apparatus 140 , partially shown in fig2 and shown in exploded form in fig2 . the apparatus 140 includes a die base 142 and a matching draw ring 145 which between them hold the sheet 135 in which the pull - out 130 is to be formed . the die base 142 has a central clearance hole 147 sized to receive and pass a punch 150 on the end of a press ram rod 152 . the draw ring 145 has a rounded tapering opening 155 , shown in fig2 , around which the marginal regions 157 of the sheet around a central hole 160 are formed into the pull - out 130 when the punch 150 is pressed into and through the hole 160 . the die base 145 and draw ring 145 are supported in an apparatus similar to the apparatus 30 shown in fig1 but including a central opening in the upper platen 33 and the insulating slab 37 to provide - clearance for the punch 150 when it emerges from the formed hole in the sheet 135 . a manipulator ( not shown ) of known construction is mounted above the enclosure for griping and removing the punch 150 from the ram rod 152 after the forming operation . the process of forming the flange 125 of fig2 starts with cutting the central hole 160 in the sheet 135 . in this example , the sheet is 6 - 4 titanium alloy 0 . 060 inches thick and the hole 160 is circular and one inch in diameter . the die set comprising the die base 142 and the draw ring 145 is installed in the enclosure apparatus and is heated to superplastic forming temperature for the sheet material , or about 1750 ° f . for the 6 - 4 titanium material . the die set is opened and the sheet is inserted onto the die base 142 with the central hole 160 of the sheet 135 aligned coaxially with the clearance hole 147 in the die base 142 and the rounded tapering opening 155 in the draw ring 145 . suitable stops or alignment pins may be attached to or machined in the die base 142 to facilitate such alignment . a mushroom - shaped punch 150 shown in fig2 and 24 is attached to the ram rod 152 and the punch may be preheated in an induction heater or with internal electrical resistance heaters to shorten the cycle time . when the sheet and the punch are at the desired superplastic forming temperature , the punch 150 is moved with an activation unit ( not shown ) corresponding to the activation unit 55 shown in fig1 along a line of action coincident with the aligned axes of the openings in the die base 142 and draw ring 145 and the hole 160 in the sheet 135 . the punch 150 is moved on a schedule that produces the optimal superplastic strain rate for the material of the sheet 135 . alternatively , the punch can be shaped so that the material of the sheet 135 is strained at the optimal superplastic strain rate when the punch 150 is moved at a constant speed . a punch shape intended for this purpose is indicated in fig2 and 24 wherein the leading and trailing surfaces of the punch are angled from the axis of the ram rod more steeply than the middle portions of the punch 150 . after the pull - out 160 is formed in the sheet 135 , the punch is detached from the ram rod 152 by the manipulator , and the ram rod is retracted back through the die set and the formed part . the draw ring 145 is lifted off the die base 142 , taking the formed part with it . the part can easily be separated from the draw ring 145 and removed for cleaning and final trimming and drilling of holes 132 to complete the manufacturing steps for the flange 125 . the same process used to make the flange 125 shown in fig2 can be used to make a flat , rectangular planform flange 165 shown in fig2 cut from a formed sheet 167 shown in fig2 . the apparatus shown in fig2 and 29 used to form the pull - out 169 on the sheet 167 is the same as the apparatus shown in fig2 and 24 except for the shape of the punch and the openings in the die and draw ring , which have a shape corresponding to the rectangular opening of the flange 165 in fig2 . the opening 170 in the sheet 167 ( before forming the pull - out 169 ) is shown as oval in shape , but the shape will vary with the shape of the punch , and each pull - out shape requires its own analysis to determine he optimal shape so that that enough material is available to form the pull - out 169 of the desired size and type of material and that the material is not stretched beyond its superplastic forming limits , and further that the thinout around the lip 172 of the pull - out 169 is not excessive . it is noteworthy that the opening 170 is stretched to be much larger during the forming process due to the material being drawn around the punch . this phenomenon reduces the amount of thinning in the pull - out 169 . a contoured , rectangular flange 200 , shown in fig3 , has a base 205 having a simple contour , but could be made with a compound contour instead . the apparatus 210 for forming the flange 200 includes a die base 212 and a draw ring 214 similar to the apparatus shown in fig2 and 29 , except that the mating surfaces 215 and 217 of the die base 212 and the draw ring 214 , shown in the exploded view of the apparatus 210 in fig3 and 32 , are shaped with the desired curvature of the flange base 205 . the forming process for making the contoured flange 200 is identical to the process used to make the flange 165 shown in fig2 . the flange forming process and apparatus can be modified to produce a reducing flange 230 shown in fig3 . the reducing flange 230 has a base 232 like the base of the flange 165 shown in fig2 , and an upstanding pull - out 234 like the pull - out 169 of the part shown in fig2 . an integral brim 237 projects partially across the top of the pull - out 234 , surrounding a central opening 240 . a series of holes 242 is drilled in the base 232 and another series of holes 244 is drilled in the brim 237 for attachment to mating structures . the apparatus for forming the reducing flange 230 is the same as the apparatus shown in fig2 and 29 , or in fig3 and 32 , depending on whether the reducing flange is to have a flat or contoured base . the punch design is different , however . the punch 250 , shown in fig3 , has a lead - in central projection 252 and a flat shoulder section 254 extending around the projection out to the sides of the punch 250 . the flat shoulder section 254 can be shaped to produce any desired contour , parallel or non - parallel to the base 232 . the process for forming the reducing flange 230 is similar to the process used to form the flange 165 shown in fig2 , except that the punch 250 is not pushed all the way through the sheet . instead , the punch is stopped short of full penetration through the sheet , leaving the brim 237 projecting inward . after forming , the part 230 is cooled with a stream of air which causes it to contract around the punch 250 . as the part thermally contracts , it is restrained by the punch 250 which causes the part to stretch or plastically deform to slightly larger dimensions relative to the dimensions it would have if it were removed hot from the punch . the stretched part is now reheated by allowing it to sit on the hot punch until it thermally expands enough to allow the punch to move freely out of the pull - out 234 . referring now to fig3 and 36 , another embodiment of the invention is shown wherein a part 274 is made having a partial pull - out 275 which is superplastically formed on a tube 29 and is diffusion bonded to a stub tube 278 to form a high strength pull - out of any desired lip thickness and with extra wall thickness in the junction radius 280 where stresses tend to be concentrated . this embodiment removes the weld junction 282 from the vicinity of the junction radius 280 and makes quality welds easier to achieve since the lip 287 of the pull - out can be made any desired thickness . diffusion bonding refers to metallurgical joining of two pieces of metal by molecular or atomic co - mingling at the faying surface of the two pieces when they are heated and pressed into intimate contact for a sufficient time . it is a solid state process resulting in the formation of a single piece of metal from two or more separate pieces without a discernible junction line between them , and is characterized by the absence of any significant change of metallurgical properties of the metal , such as occurs with other types of joining such as brazing or welding . the superplastically formed and diffusion bonded part 274 , shown in fig3 and 36 , is made in an apparatus shown in fig3 - 39 . the part 274 has a short integral pull - out 275 formed on a tube 29 with a pull - die 285 . the term “ integral ” as used herein means that the tube 29 and the pull - out 275 are of a single piece of metal , not separate pieces attached , connected or joined to make the part . an extension or stub tube 278 is diffusion bonded to the end of the pull - out 275 in an overlapping relationship as shown in fig3 and 39 . the thickness of the overlapping region can be made quite thick , as illustrated , without making the other regions of the part unnecessarily thick , so the part is thick where the greatest stresses are encountered and thin elsewhere . the stub tube 278 has a distal end lip 287 that is thick and plane for easy welding into a duct system . the weld region is well removed from the pull - out 275 so there is no problem with weakness in the high stress region caused by weld porosity or other weld defects . the apparatus shown in fig3 - 39 for superplastically forming and diffusion bonding tubing pull - outs of the type shown in fig3 and 36 includes a die set 50 like the die set used in the embodiment shown in fig1 - 6 , the lower die half 48 of which is shown in fig3 - 39 . the pull die 285 of modified form as shown in fig3 - 39 is designed to form the pull - out 275 and also provide radial pressure to press the pull - out 275 against the upper portion of the stub tube 278 and the wall of the opening 72 in the lower die half 48 to achieve a diffusion bond . in preparation for forming and diffusion bonding , the tube 29 and the stub tube 278 are chemically cleaned by immersion , first in an alkaline bath to remove grease and other such contaminants , and then in an acid bath , such as 42 % nitric acid and 2 . 4 % hydrofluoric acid to remove metal oxides from the titanium alloy tube 29 . the cleaned tubes are rinsed in clean water to remove residues of the acid cleaner , but residues from the rinsing solution may remain on the tube after removal from the rinsing bath . these residues are removed from the tube in the region of the diffusion bonding by wiping with a fabric wad , such as gauze cloth , wetted with a reagent grade solvent such as punctilious ethyl alcohol . the tube is wiped until the gauze comes away clean after wiping . the alcohol evaporates leaving no residue and leaving the tube free of contaminants that would interfere with a complete and rapid diffusion bond when the conditions for such a bond are established . titanium and titanium alloys that are to be diffusion bonded must be protected from exposure to oxidizing materials , such as oxygen in the atmosphere , at all times in the process at which the part is heated to a temperature above 700 ° f ., because titanium oxidizes readily above that temperature . for best results , an inert gas , such as welding quality argon , is used as a cover gas to protect the titanium from oxidation attack when the part is hot . the apparatus shown in fig1 , and 37 - 39 is closed after the pull - die 285 is positioned and attached to the pull - rod 52 . the tube 29 and the die set 50 are purged of air and contaminants using dry argon flooding or other known oxygen purging techniques in the diffusion bonding art . the tube 29 and the stub tube 278 are heated by conductive and radiant heating from the die set 50 and the pull - die 285 is heated by internal electrical heaters , by absorbing radiant heat from the tube , or is preheated before insertion into the tube 29 and attachment to the pull - rod 52 , or by some combination thereof . when the tube 29 has reached superplastic forming temperature , the pull - die 285 is pulled down with the pull - rod 52 , using an activation unit 55 like the one shown in fig1 and superplastically forms the margin regions 290 around the hole 80 down and outward against the top portion of the stub tube 278 , as shown in fig3 and 39 . the pull die 285 is sized to provide radial pressure against the pull - out 275 and the overlapping portions of the stub tube 278 to provide sufficient pressure to form a good diffusion bond . if additional pressure is needed , an electrical resistance heater in the pull die 285 can be energized to raise the temperature of the pull - die 285 an additional 10 - 50 ° f . to increase its diameter by thermal expansion and increase the interference pressure between the pull - out 275 and the stub tube 278 . after diffusion bonding is complete , the electrical power to the pull - die 285 is shut off and the die is allowed to cool , or is actively cooled by gas or liquid cooling passages in the pull - die 285 fed from the pull - rod 52 . the cooled pull - die 285 contracts away from the diffusion bonded pull - out / stub tube and is lifted by the pull - rod 52 and is gripped by the manipulator arm while the pull - rod 52 is rotated and detached from the pull - die 285 . after cooling below superplastic temperature , the part is removed from the die cavity 70 and is recleaned to remove any alpha case that may have formed on the part from high temperature contact with residual air that may not have been purged from the die cavity 70 . after cleaning , the part is finished and ready for welding into a duct system without further trimming or other processing . a prethinning scheme , illustrated in fig4 - 42 , prethins the tube 29 in the intermediate regions 295 between the restraining sleeve 85 and a lip portion 300 in the region immediately surrounding the hole 80 in the tube 29 . by prethinning the intermediate regions 295 , the portions of the tube 29 that will be superplastically formed into the pull - out 27 are preferentially prestretched so that the lip portions 300 , which ordinarily are stretched the most during a forming operation of the type illustrated in fig4 and 5 , are protected against excessive stretching by focusing the initial stretching initially in the intermediate portions 295 . in the later phases of the cycle following the phases illustrated in fig4 and 43 , the lip portion is released to stretch freely , but at that point is thicker than the intermediate portions 295 , so the stretching in the later phases of the operation continue to be distributed evenly between the intermediate portions 295 and the lip portions 300 even though the lip portions have a smaller radius . as shown in fig4 , an apparatus for performing a prethining operation in accordance with this invention includes a pull die 305 having a forming surface 307 by which the tube 29 is formed against the surfaces 74 and 75 of the die half 48 . the pull - die 305 is shaped like the die 285 shown in fig3 - 39 , but could be shaped like the pull - die 65 in fig1 if it will not be used for diffusion bonding . a clamping tube 310 slides telescopically on the pull - rod 52 under control of the activation unit 55 to releasably clamp the lip portion 300 of the tube 29 around the hole 80 between a disc 315 and a shoulder 320 on the die 305 . in operation , a tube 29 is selected and the restraining sleeve 85 is inserted in the tube 29 with the axes of the holes 88 and 80 of the restraining sleeve 85 and the tube 29 aligned . the tube 29 and its restraining sleeve 85 are inserted into the die cavity 70 of a preheated lower die half 48 with the axis of the opening 80 aligned with the axis 77 of the bore 75 . the die 305 is preheated and inserted through an open end of the tube 29 with a manipulator arm , as described previously , and the pull - rod 52 is extended and rotated to engage the threads on the distal end of the pull - rod 52 with the threaded hole in the bottom of the die 305 . the pull - rod 52 is retracted slightly to engage the shoulder 320 of the pull - die 305 with the hole 80 in the tube 29 and the clamping tube 310 is slid up the pull - rod to clamp the lip portion of the tube 29 around the hole 80 between the die shoulder 320 and the disc 315 . when the temperature of the tube 29 and the die 305 are at the desired superplastic forming temperature , the pull - rod 52 and clamping sleeve 310 are extended upward as shown in fig4 , superplastically stretching the intermediate marginal portions 295 around the hole 80 while preventing thinning of the lip portions 300 by virtue of its clamped position . the stretching rate is based on an optimal strain rate for the material of which the tube 29 is made . when the intermediate marginal portions 295 have been stretched to the desired extent , the pull - rod 52 and the clamping tube 310 are retracted downward past the initial position it had in fig4 . as illustrated in fig4 , the intermediate marginal portions 295 are now pre - stretched and can be laid over the tapering surfaces 74 of the die half 48 without stretching the lip portion 300 around the hole 80 in the tube 29 , as shown in fig4 . after the position illustrated in fig4 is reached , the lip portion 300 is released by withdrawing the clamping tube 310 and continuing the downward motion of the pull - die 305 to finish stretching the lip portion 300 against the sides of the opening 72 in the lower die half 48 . the die 305 is now pushed back up away from the formed pull - out and is detached from the pull - rod 52 by gripping the pull - die with the manipulator and rotation the pull - rod 52 to unscrew it from the pull - die 305 . the die is opened and the formed part is removed as described earlier . obviously , numerous modifications and variations of the preferred embodiment described above will occur to those skilled in the art in light of this disclosure . accordingly , it is my intention that these modifications and variations , and the equivalents thereof , are to be considered to be within the spirit and scope of my invention , wherein : | 8 |
a security system for a cigarette display case is illustrated in fig4 and generally designated 10 . the system includes a plurality of infrared ( ir ) receivers 12 , a plurality of ir emitters 14 , a processor 16 , and an alarm 18 . the receiver / emitter pairs 12 , 14 are mounted adjacent each shelf exit opening ( see fig2 ) to monitor product removal . the processor 16 is responsive to the detector signals and discriminates between acceptable and unacceptable product removal . if the product removal is unacceptable , the alarm 18 is actuated to alert store personnel of the potential theft situation . the cigarette display case 20 ( fig1 ) on which the security system 10 is installed is generally well known to those having ordinary skill in the display case art and will not be described in detail . an exemplary case is that sold as model system 2000 by harbor industries , inc . of grand haven , michigan . generally , the case 20 includes a plurality of shelf units 22a , 22b , and 22c , which are arranged in a u - shaped configuration . each shelf unit 22a includes seven shelves 23 and is topped by a header 24 . the header includes a front panel 26 for displaying advertising information 28 and an internal void or space 30 . as more clearly illustrated in fig2 and 3 , a security shield or gate 32 is pivotally mounted over each shelf . each gate 32 includes a frame 34 supporting a transparent panel 36 . the gates 32 are mounted in conventional fashion on the display case and are hinged at their upper edge to be pivotal between an open position ( not shown ), wherein the gate extends out from the shelf unit 22 , and a closed position , illustrated in fig1 and 3 . the shelves 23 are vertically spaced enabling a plurality of products or cartons 39 to be vertically stacked on each shelf . a product exit opening 40 is defined between the lower edge of each gate 32 and the associated shelf 23 . the height of the exit opening 40 is selected to be greater than the height of a single product but less then the height of two stacked products . consequently , only one product in the vertical stack on the shelf may be withdrawn through the exit opening 40 at a time . after a product is withdrawn , the remaining products in the stack previously above the withdrawn products drop to the shelf to place a new product in position for removal . one ir receiver 12 and one ir emitter 14 are mounted at opposite ends of each shelf across the exit opening 40 ( fig2 ). the emitter 14 directs ir light toward the receiver 12 . the beam is unbroken when products are not within the exit opening 40 , and the beam is broken when a product is in the exit opening . the receiver 12 is illustrated in greatest detail in fig3 and includes a housing / bracket assembly 50 having a housing portion 52 and a bracket portion 54 . the housing portion 52 is a rectangular parallelopiped enclosing the receiver element 54 . the bracket portion 54 is secured using screw 56 to the conventional slotted bracket support 58 of the case 20 . the receiver element 54 , namely a phototransistor , is connected through wires 60 to plug 62 . the processor 16 ( see fig4 ) is coupled via wires 64 to plug 66 . the plugs 62 and 66 can be interfitted to connect the receiver element 54 with the processor 16 . the wires 64 and plugs 62 and 66 can be covered or hidden using moldings ( not illustrated ). the emitters 14 ( fig2 ), namely light - emitting diodes ( leds ), are mounted in a housing / bracket not illustrated in detail . however , the emitter mounting arrangement is generally identical to the receiver mounting arrangement , being the mirror image thereof . all components of the security system illustrated in fig4 other than the receivers 12 and the emitters 14 , are contained within a housing 67 ( fig1 ). the housing is preferably placed or located in the header void 30 to be inconspicuous . an antenna 69 is mounted on the housing for rf transmissions . the alarm / pager 18 includes both a speaker in the housing 67 and a conventional pager with audible alarm to be carried by a store employee . other alarm means may be used to emit other than audible alarms . turning to fig4 the receivers 12 and the emitters 14 are coupled via the multiplexers ( mux ) 68 and 71 , respectively , to the microprocessor 16 . the processor or control means 16 in the preferred embodiment is that sold as model mc68705p3 by motorola . of course , other digital devices may be substituted therefor . a conventional power supply 76 is provided to couple the five - volt processor 16 with 110 - volt line power . the shelf - enable switches 72 ( fig4 ) are coupled to the microprocessor 16 . in the preferred embodiment , these are dip switches located on the face of the housing 67 . in the preferred embodiment , the processor 16 is capable of monitoring up to 32 shelves . one shelf enable switch 72 is provided for each possible shelf . the switch is turned on if an emitter / receiver pair is associated with the input ( i . e . mounted on a shelf ) and is turned off if a pair is not associated with the input ( i . e . not mounted on a shelf ). therefore , the shelf enable switches 72 enable the unit to accommodate anywhere between one and 32 shelves , inclusive . the option - select switches 74 ( fig4 ) are interposed between the processor 16 and the alarm / pager 18 . in the preferred embodiment , the option - select switch 74 is a four - switch pad accessible on the face of the control unit . the four switches are denominated and have associated functions as follows : ______________________________________switch name function______________________________________first miss enables / disables audible alarm when the first carton in any predefined time interval is withdrawnmultiple tone enables / disables alarm toalarm provide a multiple - tone signalspeaker off / on enables / disables the audible alarm on and offpager off / on enables / disables the rf transmitter______________________________________ prior to actuation of the alarm system , the display case 20 is filled with cartons as necessary . restocking is accomplished in conventional fashion by lifting all of the gates or security shields 32 to the open position and inserting cartons onto the shelves . the gates 32 are then closed , and the case is ready for actuation of the alarm system . power is supplied to the system by power supply 76 . through multiplexer 68 , the processor 16 sequentially polls each receiver / emitter pairs 12 , 14 indicated to be active by the shelf - enable switches 72 . as each pair is sequentially active , the ir emitter produces ir light having a wave length of approximately 880 nanometers ( nm ). in the preferred embodiment , each emitter / receiver pair 12 , 14 is polled 16 times per second . the sequential polling of the pairs prevents cross talk between emitters , which might result in erroneous signals . the amplifier 70 amplifies the signals received from the multiplexer 68 to an appropriate level for use by the processor 16 . the amplifier is of conventional design and will depend on the particular components used . the processor monitors the signal condition of each emitter / receiver pair 12 , 14 to detect theft or pilferage conditions or patterns of signals . a first theft condition is defined as a predetermined or preselected number of product movements at any of the shelf exits 40 within a predetermined or preselected period of time . in the preferred embodiment , such condition is defined as four product movements anywhere within the case in any 15 second interval . a second alarm condition is defined as the presence of a product within , or blocking , an exit opening for a predetermined or preselected period of time . in the preferred embodiment , this is defined as 6 . 5 seconds . programming of the processor 16 will be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art . an exemplary algorithm is appended hereto as appendix 1 . generally speaking , the processor 16 monitors for product presence in each of the exit openings 40 . when a product is present , a 15 - second time interval is initiated . if three additional product movements are detected within the 15 - second period , an alarm signal is sent to the option select block 74 . additionally , the processor 16 monitors the duration of each product - present signal at each exit opening 32 . if a product is present in any opening for 6 . 5 seconds , an alarm signal is sent to the option select block 74 . depending on the options selected using the switches 74 as discussed above , the alarm signal will be sent to the alarm / pager 18 . if the speaker is actuated , an audible alarm will be sounded at the housing 67 . if the pager is actuated , an rf transmission occurs using antenna 69 to activate the remote pager , which also sounds an audible alarm . the present invention positively and accurately monitors product movement and determines with improved accuracy product movement patterns indicative of theft or pilferage . at the same time , the system minimizes false alarms , providing a system of enhanced simplicity and reliability . the above description is that of a preferred embodiment of the invention . various alternations and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and broader aspects of the invention as defined in the appended claims , which are to be interpreted in accordance with the principles of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents . ______________________________________appendix 1______________________________________word / phrase meaningcycle the monitor of one input linescan the checking of all inputs ( 32 cycles ) clear input an input where the ir is passed throughmissed input an input where the ir is not passed throughblocked input an input that is missed for at a minimum of . 25 sec . interrupted a . 25 to 6 sec . blocked inputcycle followed by a clear inputblocked shelf a blocked input that lasts for 6 . 5 seconds or morebeep a single chime on the speakeralarm five chimes on the speakerpage activate autopage payerloop timingspecificationscycle time 2 millisecondsscan time 64 milliseconds ( 15 . 62 scans / second ) cycle specificationsloop startfor input ( x ) = 0 to 31if input ( x ) enabled then set databus to section ( x ). output a 200 microsecond pulse to ir transmitter ( x ) monitor ir receiver ( x ) for clear or blockedinput . if blocked input increment blocked input counter ( x ) ( bic ( x )) if bic ( x ) & gt ; 100 then increment blocked shelf flag ( 6 . 5 seconds ) else if bic ( x ) & gt ; 100 then decrement blocked shelf flag if bic ( x ) & gt ; 2 then set interrupted cycle flag (. 25 to 6 seconds ) reset bic ( x ) to 0end ifif bic ( input ) & lt ;& gt ; 0 then turn on led ( x ) end ifnext inputif blocked shelf flag setturn on blocked shelf ledalarmpageelseturn off blocked shelf ledend ifif interrupted cycle flag set thenreset 15 second window counterif night mode then go to case 4increment interrupted cycle counter ( icc ) select case icccase = 1 if first miss option disabled then beepcase = 2 , 3 beepcase = 4 + alarm pageend selectend ifincrement 15 second window counterif window counter & gt ; 15 seconds thenclear interrupted cycle counter ( icc ) end ifloop end______________________________________ | 6 |
turning now to fig2 a packet switch unit 47 is shown in which an exemplary embodiment of this invention prevents such gateway from becoming overloaded . packet switch 47 is connected to atm network 400 and , via the atm network , to other packet switches , such as packet switch 147 , via gateway 200 . as in fig1 packet switch unit 47 comprises a plurality of speech handlers represented by speech handler 57 and a plurality of packet handlers represented by packet handler 55 . there is also a gateway 200 , according to an exemplary embodiment of this invention , as will be described further below in connection with fig3 . according to a preferred embodiment of this invention , there may be up to 80 different units in packet switch 47 . packet bus 61 is shown in more detail in fig2 . packet bus 61 comprises arbiter 71 , data select 73 and data fanout 75 . arbiter 71 maintains orderly transmission access to the units by determining which unit has the right to transmit packets . data select is under control of arbiter 71 and selects data from one of the units connected to packet bus 61 , depending on which unit arbiter 71 granted transmission rights . data is then moved from data select 73 over bus 74 to data fanout 75 . data fanout 75 broadcasts data passed to it from data select 73 to all units connected to packet bus 61 . if a unit recognizes that the address in the data packet is for that particular unit , the unit receives the data and puts it into a receive buffer ( as will be described below ). if the unit sees that the address is not for that unit , the unit ignores the packet . arbiter 71 comprises two basic units , a selector 76 and a grant generator 77 . selector 76 receives transmission right requests from all of the units connected to packet bus 61 and selects one of those units according to an algorithm . the algorithm selected is not important to this invention , as it may be any algorithm , such as round - robin , token ring , priority select , etc . in this exemplary embodiment , a token ring is used . in token ring selection , each unit is sequentially given an opportunity to &# 34 ; seize &# 34 ; the token . a unit that has a packet to transmit on bus 61 will issue a request to send ( rts ) signal to selector 76 . selector 76 passes the token among all units connected to it . the next unit with its rts signal active &# 34 ; seizes &# 34 ; the token . selector 76 will then select that particular unit to be granted the transmission right . after the unit has transmitted its packet , a predetermined number of packets or all packets , the unit gives up the token by inactivating its rts signal , whereby the next unit may seize the token . when selector 76 has made its selection , it informs grant generator 77 . grant generator 77 generates a grant signal which is sent to the selected unit to indicate that the selected unit may broadcast on packet bus 61 . selector 76 also transmits its selection to data select 73 , so that it may configure itself to receive data from the selected unit . as seen in fig1 packet handlers 55 will generally outnumber speech handlers 57 and will certainly outnumber gateways , such as 200 . packet handlers 55 send packets anywhere in the system for call handling . as shown above , gateway 200 will receive the majority of packets transmitted on packet bus 61 . also , due to the time - sensitive nature of the cdma transmissions , it is very important that gateway 200 handle all packets in a timely manner without dropping any packets , which would cause unacceptable tear down of in - progress calls . thus , acknowledgment and retransmission protocols must be avoided . turning now to fig3 gateway 200 is illustrated in a block diagram , according to an exemplary embodiment of this invention . gateway 200 includes a receive buffer 81 for receiving packets from the packet bus , and a transmit buffer 82 for storing packets before they are transmitted to the packet bus . gateway 200 also includes a control circuit 83 connected to transmit buffer 82 which determines when the transmit buffer has one or more packets to transmit . when control 83 determines that there is a packet to transmit in transmit buffer 82 , it asserts a request - to - send ( rts ) lead 84 which is connected to selector 76 ( fig2 ). when selector 76 grants the request to gateway 200 , grant generator 77 asserts a signal on the clear - to - send ( cts ) line 85 . this clear - to - send signal is received at control 83 which causes transmit buffer 82 to transmit one or more packets to the packet bus . when the packet or packets have been transmitted , control 83 deactivates the rts signal and , thus , relinquishes its transmission rights . receive buffer 81 receives packets from data fanout 75 ( fig2 ), through screen 91 . screen 91 monitors the address of received packets and only allows packets with the address of gateway 200 to pass to receive buffer 81 . microprocessor 86 then causes packets in receive buffer 81 to be moved into interface 87 , which in this embodiment is an atm interface that prepares the data for transmission on atm network 400 . interface 87 also receives data from atm network 400 , removes the atm encapsulation information , and reassembles packets ( if they are larger than the atm payload ). microprocessor 86 then causes packets to be moved from interface 87 to transmit buffer 82 . as stated above , the architecture of packet switch 47 ( fig2 ), and network ( fig1 ) tend to cause receive buffer 81 of gateway 200 to become instantaneously overloaded . in order to prevent such overload , receive buffer 81 is also connected to microprocessor 86 , according to an exemplary embodiment of this invention . microprocessor 86 senses when the number of packets in receive buffer 81 reaches a first predetermined level and then asserts the hold - off ( ho ) signal on lead 90 , which causes the rts signal on line 84 to be asserted . this trigger level may be calculated to prevent the buffer from overflowing . that is , this trigger level should be less than the maximum possible number of additional packets that may be received after microprocessor 86 causes the hold - off ( ho ) signal 90 to be asserted and before the clear - to - send signal on line 85 is received . as stated above , when microprocessor 86 determines that receive buffer 81 is at or above its predetermined threshold , microprocessor 86 sends a hold - off signal 90 . microprocessor 86 continues to assert the hold - off signal 90 until the number of packets in receive buffer 81 are less than or equal to a second predetermined number . this second predetermined number may be the same as the first . thus , as long as receive buffer 81 has more than the first predetermined level , microprocessor 86 will assert the hold - off signal 90 , which causes the rts signal 84 to be asserted . microprocessor 86 continues to process packets from receive buffer 81 through interface 87 . microprocessor 86 does not release the hold - off signal 90 until the number of packets is less than or equal to a second predetermined threshold . in this manner , no other packets may be sent to gateway 200 ( after gateway 200 receives its clear - to - send signal ) because gateway 200 itself is holding on to the packet bus 61 . therefore , the number of packets in receive buffer 81 , by definition , will not continue to increase , and cannot overflow and , thus , no packets will be lost . additionally , this system will cause only minimal backups in the transmit buffers of the other units connected to packet bus 61 , because the amount of time that gateway 200 holds onto the transmit grant to empty its receive buffer 81 will be minimal . each node has direct control of its own transmit buffer and will not continue to generate packets if its own transmit buffer fills up . in addition , packet buffering is essentially shared between the transmit buffers of all nodes on the system , rather than being concentrated in the receive buffer of the overload node , as in the prior art . however , far less buffering is required in the transmit buffers of other nodes with this invention than would have been required if copies of packets were held for retransmission until an acknowledgment was received . transmission buffer 82 may have packets to transmit at times when microprocessor 86 is not asserting a hold - off signal . to this end , or gate 88 is added to control 83 , according to this exemplary embodiment , so that either microprocessor 86 or control 83 may assert a signal on the request - to - send line 84 . additionally , and gate 89 is used so that when transmit buffer 82 has packets to send while microprocessor 86 is holding on to the request to send lead 84 , control 83 sees the clear - to - send signal on line 85 . control 83 will only transmit when it has something to transmit , and thus , not flood packet bus 61 with bad data . turning now to fig4 a flow chart of the operation of gateway 200 is shown . processing starts at 400 and proceeds to decision diamond 402 . in decision diamond 402 , a determination is made whether there are a number of packets greater than or equal to the first threshold in the receive buffer . if there are not , then processing returns back to decision diamond 402 . if , in decision diamond 402 , there are a number of packets greater than or equal to the first threshold , then processing proceeds to action box 404 , wherein gateway 200 requests the transmission right from the arbitration control 71 . processing continues to decision diamond 405 , where a determination is made whether gateway 200 has been granted transmission rights . if not , then processing returns back to decision diamond 405 . when the transmission right is granted , processing continues to decision diamond 406 to determine whether the gateway 200 has one or more packets to transmit . if there are packets to transmit , then processing proceeds to action box 408 where one packet is transmitted . processing proceeds from both decision diamond 406 and action box 408 to decision diamond 410 , where a determination is made whether there have been sufficient packets processed from the receive buffer such that the number of packets in the receive buffer are less than or equal to a second threshold . if there are not , then processing proceeds back to decision diamond 406 . if there are fewer packets in the receive buffer than the second threshold , then processing proceeds to action box 412 where the transmission right is released . processing then returns to decision diamond 402 . it is to be understood that the above - described embodiment is merely an illustrative principle of the invention and that many variations may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention . other types of networks besides packet switches may use this embodiment of this invention without departing from this invention . for example , applicants &# 39 ; invention will work on a local area network regardless of the priority scheme . it is , therefore , intended that such variations be included within the scope of the claims . | 7 |
the present invention generally relates to a system and network for upgrading firmware in a computing device . it is significant to note that the system and method of the present invention are presented in association with a particular exemplary implementation using a computer system communicatively coupled to a network . in the particular example presented , which represents a preferred embodiment , a system administration node within the network is used to distribute a firmware patch to machines having a firmware version that is designated for a firmware upgrade . the firmware patch may also be configured to verify that each particular computer system is at an appropriate firmware level to successfully execute the desired firmware upgrade . it will be appreciated that the firmware patch may be configured to successfully upgrade a computer system having a plurality of compatible preceding firmware versions to the new firmware version . furthermore , the firmware patch may be self - initiating . in alternative embodiments , the firmware patch may be remotely initiated by a system administrator or other operator . it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that both the system and the method for upgrading firmware in a computing device in accordance with the present invention may be selectively applied to any number of suitably configured computing devices coupled to the network . reference is now directed to fig1 which illustrates a computer system with peripheral devices that may be configured to receive , store , distribute , and execute a firmware patch in accordance with the present invention . as shown in fig1 a computer system 100 may comprise a computer 110 , a display monitor 125 , a keyboard 135 , and a mouse 145 . as further illustrated in fig1 various peripheral devices may be integrated with the computer 110 to permit other methodologies for transferring information both to and from the computer 110 . for example , a printer 155 and a scanner 165 may also be communicatively coupled to the computer 110 . in addition , the computer 110 may be coupled to an external network 200 thus allowing the computer 110 to send and receive data via the external network 200 to remote computing devices . as shown , the external network 200 may be a local area network ( lan ), a wide area network ( wan ), or other similar network . the computer 110 may comprise a microprocessor 112 and a memory 300 in communication with each other via a local interface 113 . the memory 300 may comprise , for example , a fixed data storage device 310 , a random access memory ( ram ) 320 , and a non - volatile memory ( rom ) 330 . together the microprocessor 112 and the various memory devices comprising the computer memory 300 ( i . e ., the fixed data storage 310 , ram 320 , and non - volatile memory 330 ) operate to load firmware 335 to “ boot ” the computer 110 , load an operating system , manage files , and execute programs . as previously described , the firmware 335 controls what the microprocessor 112 can accomplish without accessing programs from a disk storage device ( i . e ., the fixed data storage device 310 or mobile data storage device 122 ). the firmware 335 may contain all the programming code required to control the keyboard 135 , display monitor 125 , mouse 145 , mobile data storage 122 , other input / output devices , and a number of miscellaneous functions . in order to ensure that the firmware 335 is always available for the microprocessor 112 , the firmware 335 may be stored in the non - volatile memory 330 . it is significant to note that the term “ volatile ” refers to memory devices that generally lose data stored therein upon the loss of power . thus , a non - volatile memory device refers to a memory device that does not lose stored data upon the loss of power . after loading the firmware 335 , the microprocessor 112 and memory 300 may work together to transfer the operating system from the fixed data storage device 310 to the ram 320 . once the operating system has been successfully loaded into the ram 320 , the computer 110 may execute application software suited to coordinate data transfers between the ram 320 and various input / output peripheral interfaces . for example , the computer 110 may further comprise a video display adapter 114 , a plurality of input interfaces 116 , a modem / network interface card ( nic ) 118 , a plurality of output interfaces 120 , and a mobile data storage device 122 , all of which may also be coupled to the local interface 113 . having generally introduced and described the computer system 100 with regard to fig1 reference is now directed to fig2 which presents a schematic illustrating various items that may be stored on the fixed data storage device 310 within the computer system 100 of fig1 . as illustrated in fig2 the memory 300 may comprise a boot image 400 that may be stored on the fixed data storage device 310 . the boot image 400 may comprise a system loader 410 , a system loader configuration file 420 , and a plurality of ram designated executables 430 . as further illustrated in fig2 the ram designated executables 430 may comprise a bootable kernel 450 , an operating system 434 , a file management system 436 , and applications 438 . each of the aforementioned items comprising the boot image 400 may contain instructions or executable programming code compatible with microprocessor 112 ( fig1 ). as such , the system loader 410 , the system loader configuration file 420 , the bootable kernel 450 , the operating system 434 , the file management system 436 , and the applications 438 , as well as , any other code stored on the fixed data storage device 310 may be identified by a start memory address and an indicator indicative of respective size . when power is initially applied to the computer 110 ( fig1 ), the microprocessor 112 ( fig1 ) may be supplied power , and in response , may be configured to read particular memory addresses in the non - volatile memory device 330 ( e . g ., firmware 335 ) to receive preliminary instructions . next , the microprocessor 112 ( fig1 ) may execute the firmware instructions thereby permitting the computer 110 ( fig1 ) to become operational . the firmware 335 may contain all the programming code required to control the keyboard 135 , display monitor 125 , mouse 145 , fixed data storage devices 310 , input interface 116 , and output interface 120 , and a number of miscellaneous functions ( fig1 ). once the firmware 335 is successfully processed by the microprocessor 112 ( fig1 ), the microprocessor 112 may retrieve the boot image 400 from the fixed data storage device 310 . as illustrated in fig2 the boot image 400 for a boot process that does not require a firmware upgrade may proceed as follows . first , the boot image 400 directs the microprocessor 112 ( fig1 ) to the system loader 410 . the system loader 410 may be configured to add to the command infrastructure provided by the firmware 335 . the system loader 410 may build upon the firmware 335 by supplying instruction code that allows higher - level functionality than that required to interrupt the boot process . in addition , the system loader 410 may be configured to direct the microprocessor 112 ( fig1 ) using data supplied by the system loader configuration file 420 . as illustrated in fig2 the system loader configuration file 420 may contain data suited to direct the microprocessor 112 to a plurality of ram designated executables 430 . for example , the system loader configuration file 420 may be configured to direct the microprocessor 112 to load the bootable kernel 450 , the operating system 434 , the file management system 436 , and other applications 438 into ram 320 . by moving a copy of the ram designated executables 430 into ram 320 , the computer 110 ( fig1 ) optimizes computer system performance by taking advantage of the faster data transfer rates possible with ram 320 than data transfer rates possible between the microprocessor 112 and the fixed data storage 310 . as further illustrated in fig2 a boot image 400 may contain applications 438 that include a software patch 440 . a software patch is an actual piece of object code that is inserted into ( or “ patched ” into ) an executable program , such as applications 438 . the typical software patch 440 thus becomes a part of the improved application 438 to which it was applied . as a result , the typical software patch 440 together with the improved application 438 rely on the operating system 434 , the file management system 436 , the bootable kernel 450 , the system loader configuration file 420 , the system loader 410 , and the firmware 335 to supply an appropriate command structure for manipulating data within the computer 110 ( fig1 ). often , a software patch 440 will be accompanied by an associated install script , which may contain specific instructions tailored to the particular requirements of the installation . in this context , a script is a file containing a sequence of operating system commands that may also contain means for controlling the sequence of such execution . it is significant to note that an executable program or any other method of directing the computer 110 to perform the necessary tasks may be utilized . having described a typical boot process with regard to the manipulation and processing of the various items comprising an exemplary boot image 400 with regard to fig2 reference is now directed to fig3 which presents a modified boot image in accordance with the present invention . as illustrated in fig3 the memory 300 may comprise a modified boot image 480 that may be stored on the fixed data storage device 310 . the modified boot image 480 may comprise a system loader 410 , a system loader configuration file 420 , and a firmware patch 500 in accordance with the present invention . in a preferred embodiment , the system loader configuration file 420 of the modified boot image 480 may be configured to direct the system loader 410 to execute the firmware patch 500 upon the next boot request . the firmware patch 500 differs from prior art software patches , such as the exemplary typical software patch 440 ( fig2 ) for at least the reason that prior art software patches are reliant upon the current command infrastructure as defined by the present firmware version and operating system . the firmware patch 500 is unique in that it contains the execution code necessary to perform a firmware upgrade . specifically , the firmware patch 500 contains a bootable kernel , firmware update logic , and a non - volatile memory interface . the bootable kernel may further comprise a system loader interface and reboot logic . the firmware patch 500 permits a system administrator to distribute a firmware upgrade to a class of machines via a network . in addition , the firmware patch 500 permits a system administrator to “ push ” the firmware update to a plurality of network connected computer systems simultaneously . furthermore , the firmware patch 500 can be bundled along with other software patches that may rely on the firmware update . once the firmware patch 500 has upgraded the firmware 335 within each respective computer system 100 ( fig1 ), the associated executable application may be configured to modify the boot image 480 such that the computer system 100 is programmed to boot in the new firmware / operating system environment rather than repeatedly applying the firmware patch 500 upon each power - up or computer system boot . reference is now directed to fig4 which presents a schematic diagram illustrating the various elements comprising the firmware patch 500 of fig3 . in this regard , the firmware patch 500 may comprise a patch memory map 550 that may contain all the necessary function code and data to perform the designated firmware upgrade . as illustrated in fig4 the patch memory map 550 may comprise a firmware revision 552 , an install application 554 , and a flash application 556 . as also illustrated in fig4 the flash application 556 may comprise a bootable kernel 560 , which may further comprise a system loader interface 562 and a reboot logic 564 . the bootable kernel 560 , the system loader interface 562 , and the reboot logic 564 may be compatible with the underlying firmware presently stored within the nonvolatile memory 330 ( fig3 ) on the computer system 100 ( fig1 ). in a preferred embodiment , the install application 554 may be configured to load the bootable kernel 560 , the system loader interface 562 , and the reboot logic 564 from the flash application 556 on the fixed data storage device 310 or “ boot ” disk . as previously described , the modified boot image 480 ( fig3 ) may comprise the firmware patch 500 , which may comprise the modified memory map 550 . the install application 554 may also be configured to direct the system loader 410 to load the firmware patch 500 and guide the computer 110 ( fig1 ) through the firmware upgrade boot process . once the computer 110 is operative in a mode that is compatible with the presently installed firmware 335 , the flash application 556 may verify that the presently installed firmware 335 is indeed a version that is designated for the firmware upgrade . if it is determined that the present firmware version is suited for the upgrade , the flash application 556 may be configured to replace the contents of the non - volatile memory device 330 with the firmware revision 552 . next , the install application 554 may include code necessary to apply an upgraded operating system , software patches , and other application programs compatible with the new firmware ( i . e ., the firmware revision 552 ). last , the install application 554 may include code to load a suitable boot image for the new command environment . this may include the necessary instruction for directing subsequent boot processes to the boot image for the new command environment and for removing the firmware revision 552 and the flash application 556 from the boot disk . reference is now directed to fig5 which presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary network configuration that may be used to distribute and execute the firmware patch 500 of fig4 . in this regard , fig5 illustrates a network environment 600 that uses a plurality of nodes to transfer data to and from a plurality of computing devices . more specifically , the network environment 600 comprises a plurality of computer systems 100 a - 100 f , herein labeled , “ a ,” “ b ,” “ c ,” “ d ,” “ e ,” and “ f ” in communication with each other via communication links 175 and a network 200 . each of the computer systems 100 a - 100 f may be configured identical to the computer system 100 illustrated in fig1 . as illustrated in fig5 the network 200 comprises a plurality of nodes 210 a - 210 e in communication with each other via a plurality of network communication links 215 . it will be appreciated that the network communication links 215 may comprise a plurality of singular or grouped ethernet , t1 , t3 , e1 , e3 , synchronous optical network ( sonet ) or other data network communication links . as illustrated , the network 200 may comprise a plurality of nodes 210 a - 210 f . as also illustrated in fig5 the network 200 may be configured in a ring configuration such that either of two different physical pathways formed by the various network communication links 215 may be traversed by data transfers between any of the various computer systems 100 . for example , data originating from computer system 100 a , herein labeled “ a ,” may be communicated along a first communication link 175 to a first node 210 a . as shown , node 210 a may be in communication with two other nodes 210 b and 210 e . as a result of the network structure illustrated in fig5 each of the computer systems 100 b , 100 c , 100 d , and 100 e may receive data originating from computer system 100 a via the network 200 and the various communication links 175 that interconnect each of the computer systems 100 to a network node 210 . in a well - known manner , data originating at computer system 100 b and suitably configured to designate computer system 100 d as its destination may be transmitted along communication link 175 to network node 210 b of the network 200 . network node 210 b may then use information contained within the data to identify the network node associated with a designated destination computer system . in the case of computer system 100 d , the appropriate destination node is network node 210 d . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the data may traverse the network 200 via the path identified by network nodes 210 b , 210 c , and 210 d . alternatively , the data may traverse network nodes 210 b , 210 a , 210 e , and 210 d . having been properly transferred from a first or source network node 210 b to a second or destination network node 210 d within the network 200 , the data may then be transmitted from the second network node 210 d via the communication link 175 to the designated destination computer system 100 d . it will be appreciated that the network environment 600 may be used to transmit video , voice , and text data between each of the interconnected computer systems 100 a - 100 f . it will be further appreciated that the network environment 600 may comprise bi - directional communication links 175 and bi - directional network nodes 210 a - 210 e to permit simultaneous video , voice , and text data transfers to and from each of the computer systems 100 a - 100 f coupled to the network 200 . as a result , it is possible to configure the firmware patch 500 of the present invention to provide suitable feedback to a system administrator 610 that “ pushes ” the firmware upgrade to a plurality of networked computer systems 100 b - 100 f to indicate the status of the firmware upgrade . for example , if the flash application 556 determines that the presently installed firmware on computer system 100 e is not suited for the current firmware patch 500 , the flash application 556 may be configured to report accordingly to a suitably configured firmware upgrade database status application ( not shown ) executing at computer system 100 a on the network 200 . similarly , if the firmware upgrade has been successfully installed , each of the upgraded computer systems 100 b - 100 f may be configured to report the same to the firmware upgrade status application . it is significant to note that the network 200 is presented for simplicity of illustration and description , with a limited number of network nodes 210 a - 210 e and network communication links 215 . those skilled in the art will appreciate that , in more practical configurations , a network 200 may comprise any number of network nodes 210 a - 210 e and network communication links 215 necessary to communicatively couple remotely located computer systems 100 a - 100 f . having briefly described a network environment 600 ( fig5 ), which may support remote application of the firmware patch 500 , reference is now directed to fig6 which illustrates a method for delivering and installing firmware upgrades that may be practiced via a computer system coupled to the network of fig5 . as illustrated in fig6 a method for performing firmware upgrades 700 may begin with step 705 , herein labeled , “ start .” next , as indicated in step 710 , the method for performing firmware upgrades 700 may deliver a firmware install patch to a boot disk ( e . g ., the fixed data storage device 310 ) on each computer system 100 ( fig1 ) that is designated to receive the firmware upgrade . once the firmware install patch has been stored on the boot disk within a computer system 100 ( fig1 ), the install application 554 ( fig4 b ) may be initiated as shown in step 715 . the method for performing firmware upgrades 700 may continue by performing a verification of the firmware version presently operative on the respective computer system 100 , as indicated in the query of step 720 . if the determination in step 720 is negative , the method for performing firmware upgrades 700 may be configured to notify an operator that the presently installed firmware is incompatible with the intended firmware upgrade as shown in step 725 . having notified the operator , the method may proceed to terminate , as indicated by the flowchart of fig6 . otherwise , if the determination in step 720 is affirmative , the method for performing firmware upgrades may continue by performing step 730 where the system loader 410 ( fig3 ) may be configured to select the flash application 556 ( fig4 ) upon the next boot of the computer system 100 ( fig1 ). next , the install application 554 ( fig4 ) may trigger a boot of the microprocessor 112 ( fig1 ) as indicated in step 735 . with the flash application 556 ( fig4 ) designated in the modified boot image 550 ( fig4 ), the method for performing a firmware upgrade 700 may proceed by executing the flash application 556 ( fig4 ) as shown in step 740 . with the computer system appropriately configured to allow the microprocessor 112 ( fig1 ) to install the firmware upgrade into the non - volatile memory device 330 without compromising the operating system , the method may now use the firmware update logic 570 and the non - volatile memory interface 580 from the flash application 556 ( fig4 ) to load the new firmware as shown in step 745 . as illustrated in step 750 , the method for performing firmware upgrades may use the flash application 556 ( fig4 ) to select the operating system 434 ( fig2 ) upon the next boot of the computer system 100 ( fig1 ). having installed the firmware revision 552 ( fig4 ) in the non - volatile memory device 330 of the computer system 100 ( fig1 ) in step 745 , and reset the system loader configuration file 420 ( fig2 ) to select the operating system kernel for transfer into ram 320 ( fig1 - 3 ), the install application 554 ( fig4 ) may be configured to boot the microprocessor as indicated in step 755 . as further illustrated in step 760 of the flowchart of fig6 the method for performing firmware upgrades 700 may be configured to pause while the newly installed firmware revision 552 ( fig4 ) executes and the reconfigured system loader 410 transfers the operating system kernel into ram 320 ( fig1 - 3 ). once the boot process has completed , the method for performing firmware upgrades 700 may be configured to clean up the file system by removing the flash application 556 and the firmware revision 552 from the on the fixed storage data device 310 ( fig1 ), as illustrated in step 765 . the method for performing firmware upgrades 700 may then terminate as indicated in step 770 herein labeled , “ end .” any process descriptions or blocks in the flowchart of fig6 should be understood to represent modules , segments , or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process for performing firmware upgrades 700 . alternate implementations are included within the scope of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed , including substantially concurrently or in reverse order , depending on the functionality involved , as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present invention . it will be appreciated that the methods for performing firmware upgrades 700 in accordance with the present invention may comprise an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementing logical functions and can be embodied in any computer - readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system , apparatus , or device , such as a computer - based system , processor - containing system , or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system , apparatus , or device and execute the instructions . in the context of this document , a “ computer - readable medium ” can be any means that can contain , store , communicate , propagate , or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system , apparatus , or device . the computer readable medium can be , for example but not limited to , an electronic , magnetic , optical , electromagnetic , infrared , or semiconductor system , apparatus , device , or propagation medium . more specific examples ( a non - exhaustive list ) of the computer - readable media would include the following : an electrical connection ( electronic ) having one or more wires , a portable computer diskette ( magnetic ), a random access memory ( ram ) ( electronic ), a read - only memory ( rom ) ( electronic ), an erasable programmable read - only memory ( eprom or flash memory ) ( electronic ), an optical fiber ( optical ), and a portable compact disc read - only memory ( cdrom ) ( optical ). note that the computer - readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed , as the program can be electronically captured , via for instance optical scanning of the paper or other medium , then compiled , interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary , and then stored in a computer memory . reference is now directed to fig7 a - 7 d , which present a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary state table that further details a firmware upgrade in accordance with the present invention . in this regard , the state table may be characterized by a plurality of state types as labeled generally across the top of each of the fig7 a - 7 d . as shown in fig7 a - 7 d , the state types may comprise normal operation ( i . e ., normal operation of a computer 110 ), general patching ( i . e ., operations using a high level patch application that typically include an install script ), firmware reflash , and reboot operations . normal operation may comprise running various applications that have been loaded into ram 320 ( fig1 - 3 ) from the fixed storage device 310 ( fig1 - 3 ). general patching operations may comprise network and file system manipulations to modify ram designated executables 430 ( fig2 ). firmware reflash operations , on the other hand , may comprise non - volatile memory 330 manipulations ( e . g ., erasing and writing ). finally , reboot operations may comprise tasks associated with identifying a source for data instructions to be used when initializing the computer 110 ( fig1 ). for example , the firmware 335 ( fig1 - 3 ), the modified boot image 480 ( fig3 ), or the fixed data storage device 310 ( fig1 - 3 ). as illustrated in fig7 a - 7 d , each of the states in the state table may be identified by a task ( task ), a variable indicating the next boot source ( nb ), and a variable indicating the firmware version ( fw ) present in the non - volatile memory device 330 ( fig1 - 3 ). it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the progression through the various states illustrated in fig7 a - 7 d is by way of example only . in fact , multiple variations are possible ( i . e ., a number of states may be encountered out of the exemplary order presented ) all such variations are deemed within the scope of the preferred embodiment of the present invention . it should be emphasized that the above - described embodiments of the present invention , particularly , any “ preferred ” embodiments , are merely possible examples of implementations , merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention . many variations and modifications may be made to the above - described embodiment ( s ) of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention . for example , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logic functions or steps in the process for performing firmware upgrades 700 may be implemented in hardware . if implemented in hardware , as in an alternative embodiment , the method for performing firmware upgrades 700 may be implemented with any , or a combination , of the following technologies , which are all well known in the art : a discrete logic circuit ( s ) having logic gates for implementing logic functions upon data signals , an application specific integrated circuit ( asic ) having appropriate combinational logic gates , a programmable gate array ( s ) ( pga ), a field programmable gate array ( fpga ), etc . all such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present invention and protected by the following claims . | 6 |
the present invention is an iv bag adapter or infusion set with a drip chamber that is substantially transmissive of uv light in a range that is not affected by ambient lighting in a clinical setting . both the adapter and the infusion set are designed to be inexpensive and disposable and molded within a tolerance that gives meaningful quantitative data regarding drug concentrations . as an example of one injectable medication , fig1 illustrates a heparin calibration plot at 260 nm . concentration in units / ml ( u / ml ) is plotted against absorption units ( au ) per centimeter ( au / cm ). the plot is stored in the memory of a spectrometer ( see fig4 ) for automated comparison of a recently compounded preparation . an acceptable variance can be programmed into the spectrometer , which in the case of heparin is a realistic level on the order of ± 25 percent . widely divergent samples that represent potential ade &# 39 ; s are readily identified due to the magnitude of the discrepancies , preventing harm to patients . fig1 shows a 50 u / cc concentration with an au / cm value of 0 . 5 . a 10 - fold error plots a reading of 1 . 35 au / cm . therefore , the frequently encountered 10 × error would easily be recognized , and the heparin sample would be rejected when tested . with such testing accuracy , the 1 , 000 × heparin error suffered by the quaid twins would never recur . fig2 illustrates an adapter 1 for an iv bag ( not shown ). typically , a medication for iv infusion will typically be stored ( or individually compounded ) in a plastic bag in the pharmacy of a hospital . when a physician orders the medication for a patient , the pharmacy retrieves it from storage , or compounds it if necessary , and sends it to the patient &# 39 ; s floor and nursing station for infusion . after an iv bag is compounded and before being sent to the floor , iv bag adapter 1 is sterilely inserted via spike 2 into the receptacle of the iv bag , which is of the same dimensions of receptacle 4 . adapter chamber 3 is purged of air and filled by iv fluid bag contents by repetitive squeezing of the iv bag and chamber 3 until the chamber is preferably at least half full . this maneuver , besides preparing the solution for spectroscopic testing , has the additional salutary effect of ensuring the mixing of the iv bag &# 39 ; s contents . the adapter 1 is then inserted into receptacle or slot 12 of spectroscopy enabled reader 7 , fig4 discussed below , and the fluid is verified as to drug contents and concentration by comparing it to a previously entered physician &# 39 ; s order . that the chamber is filled at least half way enables the uv waves to pass through the solution as opposed to air . in other words , reader 7 in fig4 has a “ light path ” in the lower half of slot 12 . if the fluid is verified , a bar coded label is printed and affixed to iv bag which contains pertinent information including patient name , drug and concentration , time of admixture , physicians name , etc . in this way , compounding and mislabeling errors are curtailed . spike 2 and receptacle 4 can be supplied with a peal - off plastic covering ( not shown ), which ensures sterility until testing . fig3 illustrates drip chamber 6 of an infusion set 5 that sits atop test chamber 3 , which is also constructed of substantially uv - transmissive material . while conventional thermoplastics — like polyethylene , polystyrene , and polyurethane — have proven substantially uv - transmissive , polycyclic polyolefin has proven to be an ideal material when all factors are considered . infusion set 5 can be used in lieu of iv bag adapter 2 , as is often the case in clinical practice . in this instance , infusion set 5 with chamber 3 can be placed into the receptacle of a spectroscopically enabled reader ( see fig4 ) for verification of drug type and concentration . this could take place on the patient ward if the hospital so chooses , such that in pharmacy verification is omitted . it is noted that adapter or test chamber 3 of both the iv bag adapter 1 and iv infusion set 5 are preferably of the same dimension and the spectroscopically enabled reader is constructed to interact and function with either device such that a reader of a single design and dimensions can be utilized . fig4 represents a generic spectroscopic analyzer or spectrometer 7 for reading the fluid contents of adapter or test chamber 3 . once chamber 3 has been filled to a minimum level 11 of at least one half from iv bag 10 , the iv bag adaptor 2 or infusion set 3 can be inserted into receptacle or slot 12 of analyzer 7 . controls 8 are utilized to control analysis that is monitored on screen 9 . the various types of controls will be known by those of skill in the art , and may include dials , buttons , keyboards , touch screens , and the like , that are part of or operatively connected to the spectrometer . analyzer 7 can be networked with a computerized physician order entry system , and once verification has occurred , a bar coded label ( not shown ) can be printed and affixed to iv bag 10 , which is then distributed to the point of care . depending on the preference of the institution , the invention and a verification system can be configured be in numerous ways to decrease medication errors . for example : a hospital may want to batch - compound a morphine solution to be used for filling multiple iv bags for use with patient controlled anesthesia pumps . after a hundred bags are filled from the morphine stock preparation , a number of bags may be randomly chosen for analysis and verification utilizing iv adapter 1 . if the verification is consistent with the purported drug and its specified concentration , those bags can be labeled and sent to the patient care areas for use . in this way the drug and concentration is verified and the hospital can save money by batch - compounding high - risk drugs with assurance . once ready for infusion at the bedside , the barcode may be read by the barcode - enabled infusion pump , which also contains an institutional reference of normal values based on patient weight , age , etc . should the pre - established institutional norms be exceeded , an alert would be displayed and the infusion pump would immediately be locked or stopped to prevent administration of the incorrect medication . in this manner , errors of compounding or pump programming are discovered and prevented . other institutions may deploy other strategies for prevention of medication errors and or diversion of medications . for example , infusion set 5 can be used at the point of care in a continual surveillance mode . drip chamber 6 of iv infusion set 5 can be monitored spectroscopically in such a fashion by placing it into the receptacle with a spectroscopically enabled sensor . it can then be clamped to the drip chamber or pole mounted and then connected to the infusion pump for real time monitoring of drug infusion . | 0 |
a preferred embodiment of the bipolar electrosurgical instrument of the present invention is shown in fig1 . generally designated as 10 , the instrument is comprised of a tubular member 12 having a proximal end 14 and a distal end 16 . fitted into the distal end 16 is a cylindrical insulating plug 18 , preferably comprised of ceramic , or the like . mounted upon a distal end surface 20 of plug 18 is a surface electrode 22 , preferably of stainless steel , tungsten or tungsten alloy . with no limitation intended , and as better seen in fig2 electrode 22 preferably has a pentagon shaped cross - section , providing a knife edge 24 facing outward from the end 20 of insulating plug 18 . distal end surface 20 of plug 18 may preferably be generally circular or oval . a longitudinal bore 26 is drilled or otherwise formed lengthwise through plug 18 , communicating with the lumen of tubular member 12 . an actuator or push rod member 28 is preferably made of plastic or covered with a nonconductive material and extends through tubular member 12 . near the distal end of tubular member 12 , it is joined , as at junction 48 , with an &# 34 ; l &# 34 ;- shaped rigid support member or rod , such as stainless steel rod 30 , which is inserted through bore 26 . rod 30 further includes blade electrode 32 , preferably of stainless steel , tungsten or tungsten alloy , and which is disposed to operably cooperate with surface electrode 22 . the actuator member 28 extends through the length of the tubular member 12 and terminates at its proximal end in a thumb loop 34 . alternatively , the rigid support rod 30 may be comprised of a one - piece rod which extends the full length of member 12 and protrudes from its proximal end , as depicted in fig4 . a pair of rigid finger loops 36 and 38 are attached at the proximal end 14 of the tubular member 12 to provide a secure grip for moving actuator member 28 and concomitantly , stainless steel support rod 30 , reciprocally within the bore 26 , causing electrode 32 to move toward or away from electrode 22 on plug 18 . a pair of flexible conductive wires 40 and 42 are insulated from one another and extend through tubular member 12 . a conventional cord 44 , with electrical connector 46 on its free end , is electrically joined to the wires 40 and 42 at their proximal ends to facilitate their connection to an electrosurgical generator . the distal ends of wires 40 and 42 are electrically joined to electrodes 22 and 32 , respectively . specifically , conductive wire 40 extends the full length of tubular member 12 from cord 44 to surface electrode 22 . conductive wire 42 extends from cord 44 to a junction point 48 , where it is mechanically and electrically joined to steel rod 30 . when the thumb loop 34 and actuator member 28 are formed from plastic , there is no danger of shock to the surgeon . if a one - piece metal push rod is used , the thumb loop 34 should be appropriately insulated . it is suggested that cord 44 be supplied with rf voltage from an rf source 50 . control of this supply may be attained by use of a conventional on / off foot switch 52 , as known in the art . when the foot switch is depressed , a circuit is completed and electrical current is permitted to flow from the electrosurgical generator 50 and through electrodes 22 and 32 when tissue is captured therebetween . one skilled in the art will readily recognize that a finger - operated switch , such as switch 92 in fig4 mounted on housing 12 is equally useful to provide current in a controlled fashion to electrodes 22 and 32 . fig3 depicts a cross - sectional view showing an alternative tip arrangement for the present invention . in this embodiment , blade electrode 32 is mounted on a rigid support member 30 which is stationary . however , the insulating plug 54 is made moveable by virtue of being rigidly affixed to an actuator member such as stainless steel rod 56 . a thumb loop 58 is affixed at its proximal end and coated with a thin , insulative coating ( not shown ). thumb loop 58 is positioned in opposable relation to finger loops 36 and 38 on the tubular member 12 , as in the previous embodiment . thus , moving thumb loop 58 in a distal direction will simultaneously extend plug 54 beyond the distal end of member 12 and toward stationary blade electrode 32 . stationary blade electrode 32 may be mounted on support rod 30 , which is secured in retainer 60 comprised of a block of plastic . movement of thumb loop 58 brings cutting edge 24 toward or away from stationary electrode 32 . when radio frequency ( rf ) energy from source 62 is applied using foot switch 64 , a polyp or other tissue segment held between electrodes 22 and 32 will be severed . fig4 depicts an alternative embodiment featuring a variation of the plug shown in fig3 and eliminating the foot switch option . designated generally as 80 , this cylindrical plug can similarly be made to extend outward from the distal end of tubular member 12 by movement of a thumb switch . as better seen in fig5 the plug 80 features metal traces 82 and 84 inlaid in noncontacting and spiral relation upon the peripheral surface 86 . when energized , these traces 82 and 84 function as bipolar electrodes for effecting electrocoagulation of tissue and blood . additional flexible wire conductors 88 and 90 pass through the tubular member and supply rf voltage to these traces , which are preferably comprised of a tungsten alloy . to activate the electrocoagulating electrodes 82 and 84 , conductors 88 and 90 are joined to thumb switch 92 . when thumb switch 92 is advanced distally to lock on detent 93 , the circuit is completed and the traces 82 and 84 are energized . when the circuit is completed , rf voltage is supplied via cord 44 from rf source 62 . the electrodes 22 and 32 must be energized independently from traces 82 and 84 . push button 99 mounted on thumb switch 92 is connected to conductors 40 and 42 and cord 44 . it permits the user to exactly control the duration of cutting by the duration it is depressed . the plug 80 may also be extended or retracted . a rigid actuator member 94 is affixed to a sliding thumb switch 96 . movement in a distal direction extends the plug 80 , while proximal movement retracts it . slippage is prevented by detents 98 . fig6 and 8 depict alternative embodiments for the seductive electrodes 22 and 32 of fig1 - 4 . a pair of generally u - shaped electrodes either pass through or are secured within a plug member , such as plug 100 . in fig6 the legs of the moveable u - shaped electrode 102 are embedded and fixed within an oval - shaped plug 100 , better seen in fig7 . they are securely held in place with , for example , beads of potting material 104 and 106 . stationary electrode 108 is dimensioned to be slightly larger in total surface area than electrode 102 . bores have been drilled through the insulating plug 100 to receive legs 110 and 112 of electrode 108 . these legs 110 , 112 extend into tubular member 12 and are secured in a pair of nonconductive retainers 114 and 116 . a rigid actuator means , as depicted in fig3 includes a stainless steel rod 118 , which extends through tubular member 12 to a thumb loop , as in previously described embodiments . the rod 118 is securely affixed at its distal end to plug 100 so translational movement of the thumb loop causes the end plug carrying electrode 102 to be displaced along the longitudinal axis of tubular member 12 toward or away from fixed electrode 108 . the converse is depicted by plug 120 in fig8 . the legs of moveable electrode 122 are embedded within plug 120 and secured with potting material 124 and 126 . fixed electrode 128 is disposed coaxially with moveable electrode 122 and has legs 130 and 132 which extend through bores 134 and 136 in plug 120 to retainers 138 and 140 inside tubular member 12 . plug 120 is similarly affixed to an actuator means , here depicted as stainless steel rod 142 , which extends to a thumb loop ( not shown ), as in previous embodiments . it is well within the contemplation of one skilled in the art that although the electrodes in fig6 and 8 are depicted as being somewhat rectangular in shape , electrodes 102 , 108 , 122 and 128 may be dimensioned in various curved configurations as well . an example is provided in fig9 wherein electrodes 150 and 152 feature distal curves to provide a scoop - like excision in tissue . furthermore , as better seen in fig1 , plug 120 may have a circular distal surface . one skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations in electrode configuration are possible , but such variations do not depart from the spirit of the present invention . for example , fig1 and 12 show a variant of the embodiment of fig1 , in which the electrode tips 160 and 162 have been flattened into a plane perpendicular to that of the longitudinal axis of the tubular member 12 . in operation , a surgeon grasps tubular member 12 at its proximal end , inserting his thumb and fingers in loops 34 , 36 and 38 . the distal portion of the electrosurgical instrument is then advanced through a laparoscopic trocar or endoscope and the distal end carrying or otherwise supporting the bipolar electrodes is positioned near the tissue to be removed . by moving thumb loop 34 toward tubular member 12 , electrode 30 in fig1 is moved distally from electrode 22 . in the embodiment of fig8 electrode 122 is moved distally from electrode 128 . in the embodiments of fig3 and 5 , the thumb loop 34 , 54 is pulled proximally . this draws the plug ( 54 , 86 or 100 ) proximally and away from the electrode ( 32 or 108 ). in all embodiments , movement of the thumb loop , as herein described , provides a gap into which the tissue to be excised is inserted . upon reciprocal movement and simultaneous application of radio frequency energy , the tissue is electrocauterized and severed . to provide enhanced electrocoagulation , traces such as depicted in fig4 may be included on all embodiments . this invention has been described herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required . however , it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices and that various modifications , both as to equipment details and operating procedures , can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself . | 0 |
the steel material used in the wear pad of the present invention is powder metallurgically manufactured , which is a condition for the steel being , to a great extent , void of oxide inclusions and obtaining a microstructure comprising an even distribution of up to 50 vol .-% of hard phase particles of m 2 x —, mx — and / or m 23 c 6 / m 7 c 3 type , the size of which in their longest extension is 1 to 10 μm , wherein the content of said hard phase particles are distributed in such a way that up to 20 vol .-% are m 2 x - carbides , - nitrides and / or - carbonitrides , wherein m mainly is v and cr , and x mainly is n , and 5 to 40 vol .-% of mx - carbides , - nitrides and / or - carbonitrides , wherein m mainly is v , and x mainly is n , wherein the average size of said mx - particles is below 3 μm , preferably below 2 μm , and even more preferred below 1 μm . preferably , the powder metallurgical manufacturing comprises gas atomizing of a steel melt with nitrogen as the atomizing gas , which gives the steel alloy a certain minimum content of nitrogen . by solid phase nitriding of the powder , higher , desirable nitrogen content may be obtained . in the first place , carbon shall be present in the steel of the invention in a sufficient amount in order to , together with nitrogen in a solid solution in the matrix of the steel , contribute to giving the steel a high hardness of up to 60 to 62 hrc in its hardened and tempered condition . together with nitrogen , carbon may also be present in primarily precipitated m 2 x - nitrides , - carbides , and / or - carbonitrides , wherein m mainly is v and cr , and x mainly is n , as well as in primarily precipitated mx - nitrides , - carbides and / or - carbonitrides , wherein m mainly is v , and x mainly is n , as well as in possibly occurring m 23 c 6 — and / or m 7 c 3 - carbides . carbon shall together with nitrogen give the desired hardness and form hard phases included into the steel . the content of carbon in the steel , i . e . carbon which is in solid solution in the matrix of the steel plus the carbon which is bound in carbides and / or carbonitrides , shall be held at as low a level as may be motivated for production economical reason as well as to phase . the steel shall be able to austenitize and be transformable to martensite at the hardening . when necessary , the material is deep frozen to avoid retained austenite . preferably , the carbon content shall be at least 0 . 01 %, even more preferred at least 0 . 05 %, and most preferred at least 0 . 1 %. the maximum carbon content may be allowed to max . 2 %. depending on the field of application , the carbon content is adapted to the amount of nitrogen in the steel as well as to the total content of the carbide forming elements vanadium , molybdenum and chromium in the steel , in the first place , so that the steel gets a content of m 2 x - carbides , - nitrides and / or - carbonitrides of up to 20 vol .-% as well as a content of mx - carbides , - nitrides and / or - carbonitrides of 5 to 40 vol .-%. m 23 c 6 — and / or m 7 c 3 - carbides may be present in contents up to 8 to 10 weight -%, mainly at very high chromium contents . the total content of mx —, m 2 x — and / or m 23 c 6 / m 7 c 3 - carbides , - nitrides and / or - carbonitrides in the steel shall , however , not exceed 50 vol .-%. furthermore , the presence of additional carbides in the steel shall be minimized so that the content of dissolved chromium in the austenite is not below 12 %. preferably , the content of dissolved chromium in the austenite is at least 13 %, and even more preferred at least 16 %, which ensures that the steel obtains a good corrosion resistance . nitrogen is an essential alloy element in the steel of the invention . like carbon , nitrogen shall be present in solid solution in the matrix of the steel to give the steel an adequate hardness and to form the desired hard phases . preferably , nitrogen is used as an atomizing gas at the powder metallurgical manufacturing process of the metal powder . with such a powder production , the steel will contain max . 0 . 2 to 0 . 3 % nitrogen . this metal powder may then be given a desired nitrogen content according to any known technique , e . g . by pressurizing in nitrogen gas or by solid phase nitriding of the manufactured powder , and therefore the steel suitably contains at least 1 . 6 %, preferably at least 2 . 6 % nitrogen . as pressurizing in nitrogen gas or solid phase nitriding is used , it is , of course , also possible to allow the atomizing to take place with another atomizing gas , e . g . argon . in order not to cause brittleness problems and give retained austenite , the nitrogen content is maximized to 9 . 8 %, preferably 8 %, and even more preferred max . 6 %. as vanadium , but also other strong nitride / carbide formers , e . g . chromium and molybdenum , has a tendency to react with nitrogen and carbon , the carbon content should at the same time be adapted to said high nitrogen content , so that the carbon content is maximized to 2 %, suitably max . 1 . 5 %, preferably max . 1 . 2 % for the nitrogen contents mentioned above . in this connection it should , however , be noticed that the corrosion resistance decreases with increased carbon content and that also the galling resistance may decrease , which is a disadvantage , above all because comparatively large chromium carbides , m 23 c 6 and / or m 7 c 3 , may be formed as compared to the steel of the invention being given a lower carbon content than the highest contents mentioned above . in those cases when it is sufficient that the steel has lower nitrogen content , it is therefore desirable to reduce the carbon content too . preferably , the carbon content is limited to such low levels as may be motivated for economical reasons , but according to the invention the carbon content may be varied at a certain nitrogen content , wherein the content of hard phase particles in the steel and its hardness may be adapted depending on the field of application , for which the steel is intended . at certain contents of the corrosion inhibiting alloy elements , chromium and molybdenum , nitrogen also contribute to promote the formation of mx - carbonitrides and to suppress the formation of m 23 c 6 and / or m 7 c 3 which reduce the corrosion resistance of the steel in an unfavorably way . silicon is present as a residual from the manufacture of the steel and may occur in a minimal content of 0 . 01 %. at high contents , silicon gives a solution hardening effect , but also a certain brittleness . silicon also is a stronger ferrite former and must therefore not be present in amounts exceeding 3 . 0 %. preferably , the steel does not contain more than max . 1 . 0 % silicon , suitably max . 0 . 8 %. a nominal silicon content is 0 . 3 %. manganese contributes to giving the steel good hardenability . to avoid brittleness problems , manganese must not be present in contents exceeding 10 . 0 %. preferably , the steel does not contain more than max . 5 . 0 % manganese , suitably max . 2 . 0 % manganese . in embodiments where the hardenability is not of as great importance , manganese is present in the steel in low contents as a retained element from the production of the steel and binds the amounts of sulfur which may be present by forming manganese supplied . manganese should therefore be present in a content of at least 0 . 01 % and a suitable manganese range is 0 . 2 to 0 . 4 %. chromium shall be present in a minimum content of 16 %, preferably 17 %, and even more preferred at least 18 %, to give the steel the desired corrosion resistance . chromium also is an important nitride former and shall as such en element be present in the steel to , together with nitrogen , give the steel an amount of hard phase particles , which contribute to giving the steel the desired galling and wear resistance . of said hard phase particles , up to 20 vol .-% may consist of m 2 x - carbides , - nitrides and / or - carbonitrides , where m mainly is cr but also a certain amount of v , mo and fe , and 5 to 40 % may consist of mx - carbides , - nitrides and / or - carbonitrides , where m mainly is v . however , chromium is a strong ferrite former . in order to avoid ferrite after hardening , the chromium content must not exceed 33 %, suitably it amounts to max . 30 %, preferably max . 27 %, and even more preferred max . 25 %. nickel is an optional element and may as such possibly be present as an austenite stabilizing element in a content of max . 5 . 0 % and suitably max . 3 . 0 % to balance the high contents of the ferrite forming elements chromium and molybdenum in the steel . preferably , the steel of the invention , however , contains no intentionally added amount of nickel . however , nickel may be tolerated as an unavoidable impurity , which as such may be as high as about 0 . 8 %. cobalt also is an optional element and may as such possibly be present in a content of max . 9 % and suitably max . 5 % in order to improve the tempering response . molybdenum should be present in the steel , as it contributes to giving the steel the desired corrosion resistance , especially good fretting resistance . however , molybdenum is a strong ferrite former , and therefore the steel must not contain more than max . 5 . 0 %, suitably max . 4 . 0 %, preferably max . 3 . 5 % mo . a nominal molybdenum content is 1 . 3 %. molybdenum may principally completely or partly be replaced by tungsten , which does not , however , give the same improvement of the corrosion resistance . further , twice as much tungsten as molybdenum is required , which is a disadvantage . in addition , also the scrap metal treatment is more difficult . vanadium shall be present in the steel in a content of 7 . 5 to 11 . 0 , preferably 8 . 5 to 10 . 0 , and even more preferred 8 . 8 to 9 . 2 %. a nominal vanadium content is 9 . 0 %. within the scope of the invention idea , it is also conceivable to allow vanadium contents of up to about 14 % in combination with nitrogen contents of up to about 9 . 8 % and carbon contents in the range 0 . 1 to 2 %, which gives the steel the desired properties , especially at the use as hard material coatings in tools with high requirements for corrosions resistance in combination with high hardness ( up to 60 to 62 hrc ) and a moderate ductility as well as extremely high requirements for wear resistance ( abrasive / adhesive galling / fretting ). in principle , vanadium may be replaced by niobium to form mx - nitrides , - carbides and / or - carbonitrides , but in such larger amount is required as compared to vanadium , which is a disadvantage . further , niobium results in the nitrides , carbides and / or carbonitrides getting a more edged shape and being larger than pure vanadium nitrides , carbides and / or carbonitrides , which may initiate ruptures or chippings and hence reduce the toughness and the polishability of the material . this may be especially detrimental for the steel in those cases when the composition is optimized in order to achieve an excellent wear resistance in combination with good ductility and high hardness , as regards the mechanical properties of the material . in this case , the steel must not contain more than max . 2 %, suitably max . 0 . 5 %, preferably max . 0 . 1 % niobium . as to production , there are also problems , as nb ( c , n ) may give clogging of the tapping jet from the ladle during the atomizing . according to said first embodiment , the steel must therefore not contain more than 6 %, preferably it amounts to max . 2 . 5 %, suitably max . 0 . 5 % niobium . in the most preferred embodiment , niobium is not tolerated more than as an unavoidable impurity in the form of a retained element emanating from the raw metal materials at the manufacture of the steel . in addition to said alloy elements , the steel need not , and should not , contain any additional alloy elements in significant amounts . certain elements are expressively undesired , as they influence the properties of the steel in an undesired manner . this is true for e . g . phosphorus , which should be held at as low a level as possible , preferably max . 0 . 03 %, in order not to influence the toughness of the steel in a negative manner . also sulfur is in most cases an undesired element , but its negative influence on the toughness , above all , may essentially be neutralized by means of manganese , which forms essentially harmless manganese sulfides and may therefore be tolerated in a maximal content of 0 . 5 % in order to improve the machinability of the steel . titanium , zirconium and aluminum are also in most cases undesired but may together be allowed in a maximal amount of 7 %, but normally in considerably lower contents , & lt ; 0 . 1 % in all . as mentioned , the nitrogen content shall be adapted to the content of vanadium and possibly occurring niobium in the material to give the steel an amount of 5 to 40 vol .-% of mx - carbides , - nitrides and / or - carbonitrides . the conditions for the proportions between n and ( v + nb / 2 ) are shown in fig1 , which shows the content of n related to the content ( v + nb / 2 ) for the steel of the invention . the corner points in the areas shown have coordinates according to the table below : according to a first aspect of the steel used according to the invention , the content of n , on one hand , and of ( v + nb / 2 ), on the other hand , shall be so balanced in relation to each other that the contents of these elements are within a region defined by the coordinates i ″, f ″, g , h , i ″ in the coordinate system of fig1 . according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention , the contents of nitrogen , vanadium and possibly occurring niobium in the steel shall be so balanced in relation to each other that the contents are within the region defined by the coordinates i ″, f ″, f ′″, i ′″, i ″, and more preferred within j ″, e ″, e ′″, j ′″, j ″. table 2 shows the composition ranges in weight -% for a steel according to the first preferred embodiment of the invention . the steel according to the first embodiment is suitable to use for wear surfaces of products with high requirements for corrosion resistance in combination with high hardness ( up to 60 to 62 hrc ) and comparatively good ductility as well as high demands for wear resistance ( abrasive / adhesive / galling / fretting ). with a composition according to the table , the steel has a matrix , which after hardening from an austenitizing temperature of 1080 and low temperature tempering at 200 to 450 ° c ., 2 × 2 h , or high temperature tempering at 450 to 700 ° c ., 2 × 2 h , consists of tempered martensite with a hard phase amount consisting of up to about 3 to 15 vol .-% of m 2 x , where m mainly is cr and v , and x mainly is n , and 15 to 25 % of mx , where m mainly is v , and x mainly is n . table 3 shows the composition ranges in weight -% for a steel according to an additional , preferred embodiment of the invention . within the scope of the idea of the invention , it is also conceivable to allow nitrogen contents of up to about 9 . 8 %, which , in combination with vanadium contents of up to about 14 % and carbon contents in the range 0 . 1 to 2 %, gives the steel the desired properties , especially at use for wear surfaces with high requirements for corrosions resistance in combination with high hardness ( up to 60 to 62 hrc ) and a moderate ductility as well as extremely high requirements for wear resistance ( abrasive / adhesive / galling / fretting ). the steel according to said embodiment has a matrix , which after hardening from an austenitizing temperature of about 1100 ° c . and low temperature tempering at 200 to 450 ° c ., 2 × 2 h , or high temperature tempering at 450 to 700 ° c ., 2 × 2 h , consists of tempered martensite with a hard phase amount consisting of up to about 2 to 15 vol .-% of m 2 x , where m mainly is cr and v , and x mainly is n , and 15 to 25 % of mx , where m mainly is v , and x mainly is n . the steel according to the embodiments described above has proved to be suitable for use for wear pads of band saw blade guides , which are exposed to wear from a moving band saw blade . such wear pads are subjected to a great mixed adhesive and abrasive wear , especially galling and fretting . at the hot working , the wear pad is austenitized at a temperature between 950 and 1150 ° c ., preferably between 1020 and 1130 ° c ., most preferred between 1050 and 1120 ° c . higher austenitizing temperatures are in principle conceivable but are unsuitable with regard to the fact that the hardening furnaces normally existing are not adapted to higher temperatures . a suitable holding time at the austenitizing temperature is 10 to 30 min . from said austenitizing temperature the steel is cooled to room temperature or lower , e . g . to − 40 ° c . to eliminate retained austenite in order to give the product the desired dimensional stability , deep freezing may be practiced , which is suitably performed in dry ice to about − 70 to − 80 ° c . or in liquid nitrogen at about − 196 ° c . to obtain an optimal corrosion resistance , the tool is low temperature tempered at 200 to 300 ° c . at least once , preferably twice . if the steel instead is optimized to obtain a secondary hardening , the product is high temperature tempered at least once , preferably twice , and possibly several times at a temperature between 400 and 560 ° c ., preferably at 450 and 525 ° c . the product is cooled after each such tempering treatment . preferably , also in this case deep freezing is used as mentioned above in order further to ensure a desired dimensional stability by eliminating possibly remaining retained austenite . the holding time at the tempering temperature may be 1 to 10 h , preferably 1 to 2 h . the composition of the wear resistant steel material gives a very good tempering response . in connection with the different hot workings , which the wear pad is subjected to , for instance at the hot isostatic pressing in order to form a compacted compound product , and at the hardening of the finished compound product , adjacent carbides , nitrides and / or carbonitrides in the wear resistant steel material may coalesce and form large agglomerates . the size of said hard phase particles in the wear layer of the finished , heat treated product may therefore exceed 3 μm . the main part expressed in vol .-% is in the range 1 to 10 μm in the longest extension of the particles and the average size of the particles is below 1 μm . the total amount of hard phase is dependent on the nitrogen content and the amount of nitride formers , i . e . mainly vanadium and chromium . generally , the total amount of hard phase in the wear layer of the finished product is in the range 5 to 40 vol .-%. the steel powder used for producing the wear pad is manufactured by disintegration of a melt with the indicated composition , except nitrogen , for the wear resistant steel material . inert gas , preferably , nitrogen , is blown through a jet of the melt which is split into droplets which are allowed to solidify , and subsequently the powder obtained is subjected to solid phase nitriding to the desired nitrogen content . to find a material that permitted the production of long life and comparatively inexpensive wear pads for band saw blade guides exposed to wear from a moving band saw blade , the experiments below were carried out . in a band saw for sawing metal , wear pads having cemented carbide blocks brazed to a support lasted about six months before failure due to cracking . wear pads manufactured of the steel material vanax 75 , a powder metallurgically produced steel with a composition within the intervals indicated in claim 1 , is still running after having been in service for more than one year and is still in surprisingly good shape . fig8 to 10 show an example of a preferred embodiment of a wear pad of the present invention for a band saw blade guide exposed to wear from a moving band saw blade . as shown a wear pad 1 in accordance with the invention may have a very simple form , e . g . basically a parallelepipedal block made from vanax 75 , which makes it very easy and cost - efficient to produce . in the shown embodiment it presents a length 2 on the order of 10 cm , a width 3 on the order of 6 cm , and a thickness 4 on the order of 2 cm . preferably , the wear pad has a length of 10 cm ± 20 %, a width of 6 cm ± 20 %, and a thickness of 2 cm ± 20 %. preferably , at least the leading edge 9 of the wear surface 5 , which is intended to face the band saw blade , is rounded . in the oppositely facing surface 6 of the block , there are two threaded blind bores 7 and 8 permitting the wear pad to be easily mounted to a carrier , not shown , by means of screws , likewise not shown . even though the shown wear pad is shown as a solid block of vanax 75 , it is possible and in some cases preferred to have it metallurgically bonded to a support , not shown , to form a compound product . as an example , the support may be of a material having better thermal conductivity than that of vanax 75 to improve heat dissipation from the wear surface . test rods of vanax 75 , a powder metallurgically produced steel with a composition within the intervals indicated in claim 1 , was cut from a hit isostatic pressed body and then ground and polished to the same surface finish as the alloys applied by welding . the test bars of vanax 75 were heat treated in a vacuum furnace with the use of nitrogen gas as the quenching medium . the hot working cycle used was austenitizing at an austenitizing temperature , t a = 1080 ° c . during 30 min followed by deep freezing in liquid nitrogen and tempering twice at a tempering temperature of 400 ° c . during two hours ( 2 × 2 h ). the microstructure of vanax 75 consists of a martensitic matrix and 23 vol .-% of a hard phase of mx - type , where m is v , and x is n and c . the hard phase particles have an average size below 3 μm , preferably below 2 μm , and even more preferred below 1 μm . the hard phase particles are homogeneously distributed in the matrix , see fig4 . the friction properties when two surfaces of vanax 75 were tested against each other are shown in fig5 . this material shows good friction properties on an even level , μ about 0 . 36 , which may be attributed to the even distribution of very fine and hard hard - phase particles . the tempering response of the wear resistant steel material , vanax 75 , was tested . the result is shown in fig7 and proves that the wear resistant steel material has a very good tempering response . for vanax 75 in deep frozen condition , a hardness of 60 to 62 hrc is obtained at tempering up to about 500 ° c . vanax 75 in non - deep frozen condition shows a good tempering response and obtains a hardness of 51 to 55 hrc . the high temperature resistance of the wear resistant steel material was examined by studying how the hard phase particles were influenced at heating to different temperatures up to about 1300 ° c . it could be determined that the hard phase particles were very stable . in principle , none or very little growth of hard phase particles took place , in spite of the high temperatures used . this is very advantageous if the material is to be used at high operation temperatures ( 700 to 800 ° c .) and long operation periods . the machinability of the wear resistant steel material according to the invention was examined . the machinability of vanax 75 in delivery condition , i . e . hot isostatic soft annealed condition ( 35 hrc ), and in hardened and tempered condition ( 60 hrc ) was examined ( see fig7 ). vanax 75 in delivery condition has the best machinability ( 1 . 0 ). | 1 |
hereinafter , the lcf will be described in further detail with reference to example and comparative example , but the range of the lcf is not limited to the following example . a clc composition was prepared by dissolving rmm856 , which is a clc mixture available from merck , in a mixed solvent of toluene and cyclohexanone ( weight ratio = 7 : 3 ( toluene : cyclohexanone )) to be about 40 wt % of solid ; heating at 60 ° c . for 1 hour in order to prepare a homogenous solution ; and then sufficiently cooling . a substrate layer with a hydrophilic surface was manufactured by performing a corona treatment for 5 seconds under the conditions of 300 watt on one side of a pet ( mrl38 , available from mitsubishi ) substrate . a wetting angle of the pet substrate to water was about 60 °, and a wetting angle of the hydrophilic surface to water was controlled to be about 30 ° to 40 ° through irradiation of ultraviolet rays . then , a clc composition ( a ) was coated on the hydrophilic surface of the substrate layer with a wire bar , and then dried at 100 ° c . for 2 minutes to manufacture a liquid crystal layer with a thickness of about 5 μm . then , a concentration gradient of a chiral agent was induced by irradiating ultraviolet rays within a wavelength range of 350 nm to 400 nm using an ultraviolet ray irradiating apparatus ( tlk40w / 10r available from philips ) to the coating layer that was dried at a temperature of about 60 ° c . ( intensity of irradiation : about 100 mj / cm 2 ). after inducing the concentration gradient , the ultraviolet rays were again irradiated using the ultraviolet ray irradiating apparatus ( fusion uv , 400 w ) in order to sufficiently cure the composition to polymerize the coating layer and manufacture a clc layer , thus manufacturing an lcf . a haze value of the lcf manufactured by the above process was measured with a hazemeter ( hr - 100 ) available from sepung , and as a result , a haze value was about 10 %. the clc layer of the lcf manufactured by the above processes was in contant with a λ / 4 wavelength layer to manufacture a reflective polarization plate . a λ / 4 wavelength layer that has an alignment layer and a liquid crystal layer on one side of a tac substrate in order was used as the λ / 4 wavelength layer , and the liquid crystal layer of the λ / 4 wavelength layer was in contact with the clc layer with an adhesive to manufacture the reflective polarization plate . an lcf and a reflective polarization plate were manufactured using the same method as in example 1 , except that a pet substrate on which a corona treatment was not performed was used . a haze value of the lcf manufactured by the above process was measured with a hazemeter ( hr - 100 ) available from sepung , and as a result , a haze value was about 2 %. wideband reflecting properties of the lcfs manufactured from example 1 and comparative example 1 were confirmed using an axo scan apparatus available from axo metrics , and the results thereof are shown in fig1 and fig1 , respectively . fig1 shows the result of example 1 and fig1 shows the result of comparative example 1 , and an x axis of each figure is a wavelength , and a y axis of each figure is a transmittance . in addition , lines marked with “ 0 ” in fig1 and fig1 are the results measured from the front and lines marked with “ 55 ” are the results measured from a 55 ° angle of inclination . from the results of fig1 and fig1 , it can be confirmed that a stable wideband property was shown at the front and angle of inclination in example . while a light source was irradiated to the clc layer of the manufactured reflective polarization plate , x and y values of cie of the light emitted through the clc layer were measured using the manufacturer &# 39 ; s manual with an ez contrast apparatus available from eldim , and are shown in the following table 1 : | 8 |
as shown in the drawings for the purposes of illustration , the present invention is embodied in a thermal balloon ablation apparatus which comprises a reusable component and a disposable component for delivering therapy to a body cavity . in accordance with the present invention as shown in fig1 a and fig1 b , the thermal balloon ablation apparatus comprises a reusable component 2 and a disposable component 4 . reusable component 2 further comprises a housing 6 which has a handle 8 . integral to housing 6 is a display means 10 and user controls 12 . disposable component 4 comprises a distal balloon 14 , a semi - rigid or rigid catheter 16 having a distal and proximal end , a semi - rigid or rigid distal sheath 18 , a flange 20 , a semi - rigid or rigid proximal sheath 22 , a pneumatic fitting 24 , a proximal balloon 26 , and a protective shield 28 . fig2 shows a detailed cross sectional view of disposable component 4 . distal balloon 14 can be inflated to volumes of 30 ml without generating significant back - pressure and is suitable for use at temperatures in excess of 165 c . in the preferred embodiment the balloon is fabricated from 0 . 12 mm thick silicone rubber , is shaped in the approximate shape of the uterine cavity and has a natural volume of approximately 15 ml , however other materials and shapes are acceptable so long as they allow the balloon to substantially conform to the uterus when inflated and provided they facilitate transfer of heat energy between the liquid contained in the balloon and the endometrium . distal balloon 14 is bonded in a liquid tight manner to the distal end of catheter 16 . in the preferred embodiment this bond is made using an adhesive material . the distal end of catheter 16 further includes a plurality of liquid ports 30 located such that they are contained within distal balloon 14 . in the preferred embodiment , proximal balloon 26 is fabricated from silicone rubber and has a natural volume of approximately 30 ml . the proximal end of catheter 16 is bonded in a liquid tight manner to the proximal balloon such that a liquid tight system exists comprising distal balloon 14 , catheter 16 and proximal balloon 26 . in the preferred embodiment this bond is made using an adhesive material . the liquid tight system comprising distal balloon 14 , catheter 16 and proximal balloon 26 is filled with liquid 32 such that there exists only liquid 32 within the system and no significant volume of gas at room temperature and ambient pressure . liquid 32 must be non - toxic and pose minimal hazard to the patient in the event that distal balloon 14 ruptures . ideally , liquid 32 should be such that it can be heated to temperatures above 100 c without boiling . in the preferred embodiment 100 % glycerin is used which can be heated to temperatures above 165 c without boiling at ambient pressures . a total volume of approximately 30 ml of liquid 32 is contained within the system such that the entire volume of liquid can be contained within the natural volume of the proximal balloon 26 such that distal balloon 14 can be collapsed for insertion through the cervix . the distal end of catheter 16 further includes an end cap 34 fabricated from a soft rubber material in order to reduce the risk of perforating distal balloon 14 or uterine tissue during insertion into the uterus . a thermal insulating material 36 is located between catheter 16 and distal sheath 18 and between catheter 16 and proximal sheath 22 . thermal insulating material 36 prevents excessive heating of the external surfaces of the distal sheath 18 and proximal sheath 22 during thermal balloon ablation treatment using the apparatus . in the case of distal sheath 18 , it is desirable to ensure that the temperature of the external surface does not exceed 49 c in order to prevent necrosis of tissues of the cervical canal , defined as the area between the internal opening ( also known as “ os ”) of the cervix and the external os of the cervix of a patient . in the preferred embodiment , thermal insulating material 36 is a combination of mica and closed cell silicone rubber foam . distal sheath 18 has a diameter of approximately 6 mm such that it can be easily inserted through the cervical canal of a patient . distal sheath 18 and proximal sheath 22 are separated by flange 20 which is of sufficient diameter that it cannot be inserted into the cervical canal of a patient . in the preferred embodiment , flange 20 is fabricated from silicone rubber and has a diameter of 12 mm . the dimensions of disposable component 4 are intended such that the distal end of the apparatus can be inserted through the cervical opening into the uterus to the point at which flange 20 prevents further insertion , to treat uteri with sounded depths between 7 cm and 12 cm as measured from the external cervical opening . therefore the length of distal sheath 18 plus the length of catheter 16 protruding distally beyond distal sheath 18 is less than 7 cm . the dimensions of disposable component 4 are also intended to shield the cervical canal from treatment where the cervical canal is defined , for the purpose of this embodiment , as the 3 . 5 cm long region immediately internal to the external cervical opening , and therefore distal sheath 18 is approximately 3 . 5 cm in length . it will be obvious to one skilled in the art that these dimensions can be varied to suit the anatomy of the body cavity which is to be treated using the apparatus . proximal balloon 26 is covered by a protective shield 28 comprised of a rigid heat conducting material . in the preferred embodiment , this material is thin - walled aluminum with an outer diameter of approximately 2 cm and a length of approximately 10 cm . any similar material or configuration is acceptable so long as it provides mechanical protection for proximal balloon 26 during handling and insertion into reusable component 2 and so long as proximal balloon 26 makes substantial contact with the inside surface of protective shield 28 when the total volume of liquid 32 is substantially contained within proximal balloon 26 . protective shield 28 is affixed to the proximal side of pneumatic fitting 24 . catheter 16 extends through pneumatic fitting 24 in an airtight manner . pneumatic fitting 24 further includes a rubber o - ring 38 on its proximal surface . it is necessary that all components of the apparatus which may come into contact with the vaginal canal , cervix or uterus be sterile at the time of use , non - toxic , and non - allergenic . it is intended that disposable component 4 is sterile and will be discarded after each use of the device to treat a single patient . fig3 shows a detailed cross sectional view of the pneumatic chamber 40 and associated components of the distal end of reusable component 2 . pneumatic chamber 40 further contains a cylindrical heating element 42 and an inner chamber 44 . in the preferred embodiment , heating element 42 is a 60 watt , electrically powered , flexible membrane type heater . inner chamber 44 is cylindrical in shape and approximately 2 cm in diameter and 11 cm in length such that is allows insertion of protective shield 28 and the proximal balloon 26 and liquid 32 contained therein . in the preferred embodiment pneumatic chamber 40 is fabricated from nylon material and inner chamber 44 is fabricated from stainless steel . heating insulation 46 located around the outside of the heating element minimizes heat transfer from heating element 42 to the external surface of pneumatic chamber 40 and housing 6 . a plurality of heater temperature sensors 48 are located on or adjacent to heating element 42 in order to produce a signal indicative of the temperature of heating element 42 . a plurality of liquid temperature sensors 50 are located so as to be adjacent to proximal balloon 26 when it is located in pneumatic chamber 40 and substantially filled with liquid 32 in order to produce a signal indicative of the temperature of the liquid in proximal balloon 26 . in the preferred embodiment heater temperature sensors 48 and liquid temperature sensors 50 are t - type thermocouples . pneumatic chamber 40 is connected in an airtight manner to a pneumatic pressurizing means 52 . when the disposable component 4 is installed in reusable component 2 , locking connectors 54 located on the distal end of pneumatic chamber 40 engage pneumatic fitting 24 such that rubber o - ring 38 is compressed between pneumatic fitting 24 and pneumatic chamber 40 providing an air tight seal . a disposable component detection means 55 is located on pneumatic chamber 40 and adjacent to locking connectors 54 which generates a signal when pneumatic fitting 24 is engaged on the distal end of pneumatic chamber 40 . in the preferred embodiment disposable component detection means 55 is a mechanical contact switch having an actuator which generates an electrical signal when the actuator is depressed through contact with pneumatic fitting 24 . alternately , disposable component detection means 55 can be an electrical contact mechanism and may further include an electrical fuse arrangement in disposable component 4 in which the fuse is blown by applying an electrical current from reusable component 2 after the apparatus is used to treat a patient . this allows detection of cases in which the user installs a previously used disposable component 4 in which case the apparatus could be configured to inhibit further operation . fig4 shows a detailed cross section of the proximal end of disposable component 4 assembled within and reusable component 2 . when installed in this manner , proximal balloon 26 is sealed within pneumatic chamber 40 in an air - tight manner . by modulating the pressure in pneumatic chamber 40 using pneumatic pressurizing means 52 the apparatus initiates flow of liquid 32 between proximal balloon 26 and distal balloon 14 through catheter 16 and liquid ports 30 . for example , if a vacuum of − 100 mmhg is maintained in pneumatic chamber 40 relative to ambient pressure , liquid 32 will be drawn from distal balloon 14 such that after a short period of time , substantially all of liquid 32 will be located in proximal balloon 26 . also for example , if a positive pressure of 180 mmhg is maintained in pneumatic chamber 40 relative to ambient pressure , liquid 32 will tend to flow from proximal balloon 26 into distal balloon 14 . in this case , and when distal balloon 14 is located within an enclosed cavity such as the uterus of a patient , and when this enclosed cavity is less than 30 ml in volume , after a short period of time distal balloon 14 will reach a steady state in which a volume of liquid 32 is located in distal balloon 14 with a liquid pressure of 180 mmhg relative to ambient pressure . fig5 provides details of the preferred embodiment of pneumatic pressurizing means 52 . in the preferred embodiment , pneumatic pressurizing means 52 comprises a solenoid activated 2 - way , 2 - position valve 56 , a solenoid activated 4 - way , 2 - position valve 58 , a pneumatic pressure transducer 60 , a pneumatic pump 62 and flexible pneumatic tubing 64 . the configuration shown in fig5 allows pneumatic pressurizing means 52 to generate either positive or negative pneumatic pressure at an input port of 2 - way , 2 - position valve 56 by switching 4 - way , 2 - position valve 58 and operating pneumatic pump 62 . the 2 - way , 2 - position valve 56 is switched to either connect pneumatic chamber 40 to this input port or alternately to connect pneumatic chamber 40 directly to atmosphere for rapid venting of air within pneumatic chamber 40 . pressure transducer 60 provides an output signal indicative of the pressure within pneumatic chamber 40 relative to ambient pressure and must be capable of measuring both positive and negative pressures . pneumatic pump 62 is capable of start - up and operating over a range of pressures of at least − 100 mmhg to + 180 mmhg relative to ambient pressure . it will be understood by one skilled in the art that a variety of apparatus could be similarly utilized in order to act as pneumatic pressurizing means 52 . fig6 shows details of the control system contained within reusable component 2 . re - usable component further comprises a microcontroller 66 with an integral timer 68 , and an electrical power supply 70 . in the preferred embodiment , display means 10 is an lcd module and user controls 12 comprise an on / off power switch 72 and an inflate switch 74 . microcontroller 66 accepts as inputs signals from heater temperature sensors 48 , liquid temperature sensors 50 , disposable component detection means 55 , pressure transducer 60 , and inflate switch 74 . microcontroller 66 has outputs which control operation of heating element 42 , pneumatic pressurizing means 52 and display means 10 . on / off power switch 72 provides a means for an operator to connect or disconnect microcontroller 66 and thereby all electrical components of the invention from electrical power supply 70 and thereby initiate or terminate operation of the apparatus . in the preferred embodiment , microcontroller 66 operates to control operation of the system to allow a user to deliver thermal balloon ablation treatment to the uterine cavity of a patient . the user first activates the device by turning on - off power switch 72 to the “ on ” position . this provides power to microcontroller 66 which in turn provides power as required to all electrical components of the invention and initiates the software program which is resident in microcontroller 66 . microcontroller 66 first acts to poll disposable component detection means 55 to determine if a disposable component 4 has been properly inserted and locked into reusable component 2 . if no disposable component 4 is detected , microcontroller issues a notice to the user via display means 10 and continues to poll disposable component detection means 55 . when a disposable component 4 is detected , operation of microcontroller 66 proceeds to pre - heat liquid 32 . pre - heating liquid 32 involves the following steps . first pneumatic pressurizing means 52 is activated to draw and maintain a pneumatic pressure of approximately − 100 mmhg relative to atmosphere in pneumatic chamber 40 . this has the effect of drawing substantially all of liquid 32 into proximal balloon 26 which is sealed inside pneumatic chamber 40 . then , after a period of approximately 30 seconds , microcontroller activates heating element 42 and monitors the signals from heater temperature sensors 48 and liquid temperature sensors 50 . a pressure of approximately − 100 mmhg is maintained in pneumatic chamber 40 throughout the pre - heating of liquid 32 . in the event that the temperature of heating element 42 exceeds 200 c as indicated by heater temperature sensors 48 , microcontroller turns heating element 42 off until the measured heater temperature drops below 165 c . this is to prevent excessive temperatures at the surface of heating element 42 from damaging proximal balloon 26 . pre - heating of the liquid is terminated when liquid temperature sensors 50 indicate that liquid 32 within proximal balloon 26 reaches a temperature of 165 c . in practice , pre - heating of liquid 32 typically requires about 5 minutes . during this pre - heating period , microcontroller 66 implements test routines in order to detect leaks or problems with the apparatus and proceeds to generate warnings to the user via user display 10 or inhibit further operation as warranted . these are not described but will be apparent to those skilled in the art . when pre - heating is terminated , the invention is ready for use to treat a patient . when the invention is ready for use to treat a patient , microcontroller 66 outputs a suitable message via display means 10 . microcontroller 66 then operates pneumatic pressurizing means 52 to maintain a pressure of approximately − 100 mmhg in pneumatic chamber 40 and operates to maintain liquid 32 within proximal balloon 26 at a temperature between 160 c and 170 c . maintaining the temperature of liquid 32 in this range is achieved by cycling heating element 42 on and off in response to signals from heater temperature sensors 48 and liquid temperature sensors 50 in a similar manner to that described during pre - heating of liquid 32 . when the invention is ready to treat a patient , microcontroller 66 also monitors inflate switch 74 to determine when it is activated by the user . when the invention is ready for use to treat a patient , the user inserts the distal end of disposable component 4 through the cervical opening of the patient until flange 20 rests against the cervix preventing further insertion . this operation precisely locates the distal balloon 14 and distal sheath 18 in the uterine cavity as required for treatment . it is expected that the patient has been prepared for surgery and may have received a sedative or anesthetic . it is also expected that the user will have confirmed that the depth and volume of the uterine cavity are suitable for use of the described invention . after the distal balloon 14 and associated components have been properly located in the patient , the user activates inflate switch 74 to begin treatment . when microcontroller 66 detects activation of inflate switch 74 , it proceeds to implement a treatment cycle as follows . first heating element 42 is turned off . next , timer 68 is activated and pneumatic pressurizing means 52 releases the − 100 mmhg vacuum in pneumatic chamber 40 to atmosphere through 2 - way , 2 - position valve 56 . pneumatic pressurizing means 52 is then activated to generate and maintain a pneumatic pressure of 180 mmhg in pneumatic chamber 40 . this has the immediate effect of forcing 165 c liquid 32 from the proximal balloon 26 through catheter 16 and liquid ports 30 into distal balloon 14 which is located in the uterus of the patient . after a short period of time , the liquid in distal balloon 14 reaches a steady state pressure of 180 mmhg . at this pressure , the uterus will be fully distended and distal balloon 14 will be filled with heated liquid 32 and be in contact with substantially all of the walls of the uterine cavity . in this steady state , the liquid pressure inside distal balloon 14 will be essentially equal to the liquid pressure inside proximal balloon 26 and the pneumatic pressure inside pneumatic chamber 40 . the microcontroller operates to automatically maintain this pressure in pneumatic chamber 40 , and thereby distal balloon 14 for a period of 90 seconds as indicated by timer 68 . during this 90 second period thermal energy from heated liquid 32 within distal balloon 14 is dissipated to the surrounding tissue of the uterus and results in the desired cauterization of the endometrial tissue . during this 90 second period , the temperature of liquid 32 in distal balloon 14 will decrease as the heat energy is dissipated to the surrounding tissues . the nature of this cooling will be dependent of the specific anatomy of the uterine cavity undergoing treatment . in some cases in order to minimize this cooling effect it may be advantageous for microcontroller 66 to pulse the pneumatic pressure in pneumatic chamber 40 during the treatment period in order initiate flow back and forth between distal balloon 144 and proximal balloon 26 to continually mix the volume of heated liquid 32 contained within disposable component 4 . when the 90 - second treatment period is completed , microcontroller 66 proceeds to control operation of the invention as follows . first , timer 68 is reset and pneumatic pressurizing means 52 releases the 180 mmhg pressure in pneumatic chamber 40 to atmosphere through 2 - way , 2 position valve 56 . pneumatic pressurizing means 52 is then activated to generate and maintain a pneumatic pressure of approximately − 100 mmhg in pneumatic chamber 40 . this has the immediate effect of withdrawing liquid 32 from distal balloon 14 back into proximal balloon 26 through catheter 16 and liquid ports 30 . after 15 seconds as indicated by timer 68 , microcontroller 66 generates a message to the user via display means 10 indicating that distal balloon 14 has been deflated and can be removed from the uterus of the patient . it is expected that the user will then remove the apparatus from the patient . after another 120 seconds as indicated by timer 68 , microcontroller 66 operates to vent pneumatic chamber 40 to atmosphere through 2 - way , 2 - position valve 56 and generates a message to the user via display means 10 indicating that the user can remove and discard disposable component 4 . microcontroller 66 then monitors disposable component detection means 55 in order to detect when disposable component 4 is removed from reusable component 2 for discard . when removal is detected microcontroller 66 continues to poll for installation of a new disposable component 4 in order to allow another patient to be treated or the invention can be turned off by the user using on / off power switch 72 . the described operation of the invention is for illustration purposes only . it will be obvious to one skilled in art that there are numerous possible modifications to the operation of the invention as described . fig7 a shows deployment of the distal end of disposable component 4 during treatment of a 7 cm deep uterus which is the smallest indicated uterus for use of the preferred embodiment of the invention . fig7 b shows deployment of the distal end of disposable component 4 during treatment of a 12 cm deep uterus which is the largest indicated uterus for use of the preferred embodiment of the invention . the outlines of distal balloon 14 prior to inflation 76 and after inflation 78 with liquid 32 to a pressure of 180 mmhg . this shows how the invention operates to treat the indicated range of uterine sizes after inserting disposable component 4 through the cervical canal until flange 20 prevents further insertion . when the user properly operates the device by inserting disposable component 4 through the cervical opening and into the uterus of a patient in this manner , the invention does not require a user to adjust insertion depth based on uterine length , minimizing the risk of perforating the uterus , and providing thermal protection of the cervical canal by ensuring distal sheath 18 and the underlying thermal insulating material 36 are properly located between the internal os and external os of the cervix . fig8 shows an alternate embodiment of the device . in this alternate embodiment , heating element 42 , and one or more of liquid temperature sensors 50 are located within distal balloon 14 . this embodiment further includes a multi - conductor electrical cable 80 and an electrical connector 82 which operates to make electrical contact when pneumatic fitting 24 is engaged by locking connectors 54 . multi - conductor electrical cable 80 and electrical connector 82 function in order to provide power from electrical power supply 70 to heating element 42 and to control operation of said heating element 42 via operation of microcontroller 66 . multi - conductor electrical cable 80 and electrical connector 82 also function to convey signals from liquid temperature sensors 50 indicative of the liquid temperature within distal balloon 14 to microcontroller 66 . in the alternate embodiment , heating element 42 is a liquid - tight , 40 w , electrical resistance type heater and liquid temperature sensors 50 are t - type thermocouples . operation of the alternate embodiment differs from the preferred embodiment in that liquid 32 is not heated prior to initiation of treatment , but is instead heated after distal balloon 14 is inserted through the cervical opening into the uterus and inflated to a pressure of 180 mmhg by pneumatic pressurization of pneumatic chamber 40 . when the user initiates treatment by pressing inflate switch 74 , microcontroller 66 operates to inflate distal balloon 14 as described in the preferred embodiment then operates control heating element 42 to heat the liquid within the distal balloon to a pre - determined temperature as indicated by liquid temperature sensors 50 . in the alternate embodiment microcontroller 66 maintains said liquid temperature for a predetermined time as measured by timer 68 before withdrawing the liquid into the proximal balloon 26 by operating pneumatic pressurizing means 52 to draw a negative pressure in pneumatic chamber 40 . in this alternate embodiment it is desirable that liquid 32 be of a viscosity such that it readily flows through catheter 16 and liquid ports 30 for inflation of distal balloon 14 . for example , saline solution can be used as liquid 32 , in which case heating of the liquid is restricted to temperatures substantially below 100 c to prevent boiling . in the alternate embodiment and using saline solution as liquid 32 a liquid temperature of approximately 85c and a treatment time of approximately 10 minutes have been found effective to cauterize the endometrium . use of other liquids with low viscosity and higher boiling points , such as perfluoroperhydrophenanthrene ( c14f24 ) allows use of higher treatment temperatures and shorter treatment times . it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that a variety of alternate embodiments exist for the disclosed inventions which may also specifically include a combination of the two described embodiments such that heating of liquid 32 is initiated by heating elements located in both reusable component 2 and disposable component 4 . specifically this combination would be advantageous where it is desired to locate heating element 42 in distal balloon 14 , however , liquid 32 is highly viscous and must be heated above ambient temperature by a heating element external to distal balloon 14 in order to adequately flow through catheter 16 and liquid ports 30 for inflation of distal balloon 14 . for example , this allows use of 100 % glycerin as the liquid 32 , which is highly viscous at room temperature but can be heated to temperatures of over 165 c without boiling . it will also be recognized that the described apparatus could readily be modified by replacing heating element 42 with a cooling means in order to enable injection of cold liquid into distal balloon 14 to cauterize the endometrium . similarly it will be understood by one skilled in the art that the disclosed apparatus could readily be modified to effect thermal balloon ablation of other cavities or ducts in the human body , such as the urethra for treatment of pathological conditions of the prostate gland . it will be apparent from the foregoing that , while particular forms of the invention have been illustrated and described , various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . accordingly , it is not intended that the invention be limited except as by the appended claims . | 0 |
particularly suitable aqueous solutions include those of highly polymeric materials which may be cross - linked by suitable substances and are converted to gels of the desired consistency . an example is polysaccharide which may be cross - linked with chromium chloride . other suitable substances for use in forming such gels include guargum , alginates and partially hydrolyzed polyacrylates which may be cross - linked by salts of tri - or also di - valent cations such as calcium chloride , chromium chloride , aluminum sulfate , aluminum chloride and ferric chloride to name a few . these gels are thixotropic and have the advantage of being pumpable and resuming a gel form when at rest . when migrating through the oil , such gels form large drops moving at only slightly different rates from each other and so are not lost by dispersion . in a further embodiment of this invention , the method is characterized in that potassium chloride ( kcl ) is used in the solution to be gelled . the use of potassium chloride solution is particularly advantageous since potassium always contains the radioactive isotope k 40 . as a rule , the amount of about 0 . 0118 % of k 40 present in natural potassium will sufficiently label a gel having a highly concentrated amount of kcl at the interface area between the oil and the brine . of course , it is permissable to use irradiate kcl to provide an even more easily detectable label . other gamma radiation sources are acceptable also . the gamma radiation generated by an intermediate layer of a 20 % kcl solution while the cavity is being washed out with water , depends on the width of the annulus , i . e ., the borehole diameter , and is attenuated by the two casing strings and the salt solution contained therein . in practice , the dose rate may be calculated as follows : a 20 % kcl solution having a density of 1 . 13 contains 226 kg of kcl per cubic meter , i . e ., 118 kg of potassium ( k ) per cubic meter . the activity is 1 μcurie ( cu ) per 1 . 23 kg k . that is , 96 μcu per m 3 of 20 % solution . for a layer thickness of 9cm , the calculated surface activity amounts to 8 . 4 μcu / m 2 . ( cf . grodde and schrimpf : evidence of cement by labelling with gamma ray sources . published in erdol zeitschrift 79 , no . 2 , 53 - 56 , february 1963 ). attenuation may be brought about by two casing strings which together may have a wall thickness of 1 . 6 cm and by a 5 cm layer of brine amounts to 59 % for the gamma radiation of k 40 having an energy of 1 . 46 mev . based on the dose rate inside the protective tube strings amounts to 2 . 75 μr / hr . this dose rate may be determined by using sensitive scintillometers as are used for measuring the gamma radiation of rocks . to attain maximum deflection of the scintillometer , the layer of gelled kcl solution should have a depth of at least one meter . unfavorable conditions can result in not clearly recognizing the gelled layer containing the kcl . such unfavorable conditions include : ( 1 ) strong and irregular gamma ray emission from the rocks , ( 2 ) increased attenuation of the k 40 irradiation of the gel by the connections of the tube strings and the eccentric position of the tubes and ( 3 ) a narrow annulus between the rocks and the protective tube string , that is to say , small thickness of the gel layer . in such instances , the gel solution may be admixed with synthetic gamma - ray emitting substances including , for example , the following salts suitable for this purpose , the gamma - ray emitting isotope being indicated in parentheses nh 4 ( br 82 ), nai ( i 131 ), cocl 2 ( co 60 o , cscl ( cs 137 ), sbcl 3 ( sb 124 ). in practice , it should be sufficient to increase the activity of the gel solution to 1 mcu per cubic meter . these synthetic gamma ray sources may be dissolved in a kcl solution , or in fresh water if a gel of lower density is desired . | 4 |
hereinafter , embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings . firstly , the structure of a manufacturing system provided with a transfer apparatus in a first embodiment will be explained with reference to fig1 to fig3 . fig1 is a perspective view schematically showing the overall structure of the manufacturing system provided with the transfer apparatus in the first embodiment . fig2 is a one - direction cross sectional view conceptually showing a cross section if the transfer apparatus in fig1 is cut in one direction ( i . e . an anteroposterior or front - back direction in fig1 ). fig3 is an another - direction cross sectional view conceptually showing a cross section if the transfer apparatus in fig1 is cut in another direction ( i . e . in a horizontal direction in fig1 ). in fig1 , a manufacturing system 100 is provided with a rail 1 , a vehicle 10 , a manufacturing apparatus 20 , and a buffer apparatus 30 . the manufacturing system 100 has a transportation function , which allows the vehicle 10 to travel along the rail 1 and which transports a foup 3 ( i . e . one example of the “ transported object ” of the present invention ) which can accommodate or house a plurality of wafers ( i . e . one example of the “ processed object ” of the present invention ) to the manufacturing apparatus 20 ; and a manufacturing function , which performs various processes on the wafers in the foup 3 by using the manufacturing apparatus 20 , thereby manufacturing a semiconductor element . the rail 1 serves as a track for the vehicle 10 traveling , as one example of the “ track ” of the present invention . the rail 1 is laid on a ceiling in a factory in which the manufacturing system 100 is placed . the vehicle 10 is an oht ( overhead hoist transport ) driven by using a linear motor as power , as one example of the “ transporting vehicle ” of the present invention , and it is attached to the rail 1 in a suspended form . the vehicle 10 travels along the rail 1 and transports the foup 3 not only to the manufacturing apparatus 20 but also to a stocker , oht buffer , large - scaled stocker , or the like not illustrated . the operations , such as transportation and travel , of the vehicle 10 are controlled by a not - illustrated controller in the manufacturing system 100 . incidentally , for convenience of explanation , only one vehicle 10 is illustrated on the rail 1 ; however , typically , more vehicles 10 ( e . g . several tens or several hundreds ) are provided . the vehicle 10 is provided therein with a hoist mechanism 11 , which has a winding device 12 having a not - illustrated winding shaft , a winding belt 13 , and a gripper 14 . one end of the winding belt 13 is fixed to the winding shaft , and the other end is fixed to the gripper 14 . the winding device 12 rotates the winding shaft by using a not - illustrated motor as power , and it can wind up or wind off the winding belt 13 from the one end . the gripper 14 can be displaced into a holding state in which an upper part ( i . e . flange ) 3 a of the foup 3 is held on the both ends of the gripper 14 which are bent inward , or into a release state in which the flange 3 a of the foup 3 is released . by the winding belt 13 being wound up or wound off , the hoist mechanism 11 having such a structure hoists the gripper 14 in a vertical direction below the rail 1 and displaces the gripper 14 at a vertical position , thereby transferring the foup 3 from the vehicle 10 side to the buffer apparatus 30 side described later , or from the buffer apparatus 30 side to the vehicle 10 side . as described above , in the embodiment , a transfer path by the vehicle 10 extends downward in the vertical direction from the transfer position of the vehicle 10 ( i . e . a stop position shown in fig1 ) to longitudinally transfer the foup 3 . the manufacturing apparatus 20 performs a predetermined process on the foup 3 , and actually on the wafers accommodated in the foup 3 , as one example of the “ processing apparatus ” of the present invention . the manufacturing apparatus 20 is provided therein with a not - illustrated processing device for performing the predetermined process on the wafers , and two openings h 1 and h 2 which can bring in and out the wafer to be processed , in the processing device . the manufacturing apparatus 20 is provided with two load ports lp 1 and lp 2 which function as ports for transferring the foup 3 with the buffer apparatus 30 , in the exterior adjacent to each of the two openings h 1 and h 2 and below the rail 1 . the manufacturing apparatus 20 is provided with a not - illustrated inner and outer transfer mechanism which brings in and out the wafers , which are in the foup 3 transferred to each of the two load ports lp and lp 2 , in the processing device through the opening h 1 or h 2 . the operations , such as bringing in and out the wafers , and the predetermined process , of the manufacturing apparatus 20 are controlled by the controller in the manufacturing system 100 . incidentally , for convenience of explanation , only one manufacturing apparatus 20 is illustrated below the rail 1 ; however , typically , more manufacturing apparatuses 20 ( e . g . several or several hundreds ) are provided which perform different processes on the foup 3 . moreover , the number of the openings and the load ports are not limited to two but may be three or more , and the arrangement thereof can be also in various aspects . the buffer apparatus 30 transfers the foup 3 with the vehicle 10 and with the manufacturing apparatus 20 such that the foup 3 is efficiently transferred between the vehicle 10 and the manufacturing apparatus 20 , as one example of the “ transfer apparatus ” of the present invention . incidentally , for convenience of explanation , only one buffer apparatus 30 corresponding to the one load port lp 1 is illustrated on the manufacturing apparatus 20 provided with the two load ports lp 1 and lp 2 ; however , two buffer apparatuses 30 each corresponding to respective one of the load ports lp 1 and lp 2 may be provided as another embodiment . the buffer apparatus 30 is provided with a main body part 31 , an oht port p 1 , a buffer p 2 , and a transfer mechanism 32 . in fig2 , the main body part 31 is an inverted l - shaped case which can be installed or attached from the front side ( i . e . the left side in fig2 ) to the load port lp 1 . the main body part 31 is disposed such that a longitudinal direction is a direction perpendicular to the orientation of the rail 1 ( i . e . one example of the “ horizontal one direction ” of the present invention and an x direction in fig2 ) in the installation or attachment . the main body part 31 has a length ( i . e . a length lx in fig2 ) which allows at least two foups 3 to be disposed in the x direction and has a length ( i . e . a length lw in fig3 ) which allows at least one foup 3 to be disposed in the orientation of the rail 1 . incidentally , for convenience of explanation , the structure of the buffer apparatus 30 in which the main body part 31 is attached to the load port lp 1 will be explained . within the main body part 31 , there are placed the oht port p 1 , the buffer p 2 , and the transfer mechanism 32 . the main body part 31 is provided with an opening h 11 which can transfer the foup 3 between the oht port p 1 and the vehicle 10 , on an upper surface corresponding to the vertical direction of the rail 1 ( i . e . shown by an alternate long and short dash line g 1 in fig2 and fig3 ). moreover , the main body part 31 is provided with an opening h 12 which can transfer the foup 3 with the load port lp 1 ( i . e . the manufacturing apparatus 20 ), on the side surface adjacent to the foup 3 put on the load port lp 1 . the oht port p 1 functions as a port of the buffer apparatus 30 for transferring the foup 3 on which the predetermined process is to be performed or has been performed in the manufacturing apparatus 20 , through the opening h 11 with the vehicle 10 , as one example of the “ first shelf ” of the present invention . the oht port p 1 is placed above the load port lp 1 in the vertical direction of the rail 1 such that the vehicle 10 can transfer the foup 3 in a short time by longitudinal transfer ( i . e . transfer which allows the foup 3 to be displaced only in the vertical direction in the transfer ). as is clear from fig1 to fig3 , the oht port p 1 exists at a position to block the transfer path ( i . e . the “ original transfer path ” of the present invention ) when the vehicle 10 longitudinally transfers the foup 3 with respect to the load port lp 1 of the manufacturing apparatus 20 if the buffer apparatus 30 is removed . thus , as viewed from the vehicle 10 , it is only necessary to perform the transfer operation on the port which is at the same position in planar view , i . e . which is below the transfer position in the vertical direction , regardless of the presence of the buffer apparatus 30 . in other words , if there is only a difference in the height of the port as viewed from the vehicle 10 , the control with respect to the transfer operation by the vehicle 10 is almost the same , regardless of the presence of the buffer apparatus 30 , so that it is extremely useful in practice . the buffer p 2 functions as a temporary put shelf for at least temporarily putting the foup 3 on which the predetermined process is to be performed or has been performed in the manufacturing apparatus 20 , as one example of the “ second shelf ” of the present invention . the buffer p 2 is placed below the load port lp 1 in the vertical direction of the rail 1 and in the x direction so that it does not block the transfer of the foup 3 by the transfer mechanism 32 described later . the transfer mechanism 32 is displaced among the load port lp 1 , the oht port p 1 , and the buffer p 2 and transfers the foup 3 among them , as one example of the “ displacing device ” of the present invention . the transfer mechanism 32 is provided with a holding device 33 , a horizontal displacement mechanism 34 , and a hoist mechanism 35 , and it is placed on the front side of the main body part 31 ( i . e . the left side in fig2 ). the holding device 33 is one example of the “ holding device ” of the present invention and has a pair of planar portions . the planar portions enter below the flange 3 a in the x direction and support the both ends of the flange 3 a from the below , thereby holding the foup 3 . as shown in fig2 , the horizontal displacement mechanism 34 is one example of the “ horizontal displacing device ” of the present invention , and it is provided with a rail part 34 a placed such that the longitudinal direction is parallel to the x direction ; and a slide part 34 b which can be slid in the x direction along the rail part . to the tip of the horizontal transfer mechanism 34 ( i . e . the end on the manufacturing apparatus 20 side of the slide part 34 b ), the holding device 33 is fixed . the hoist mechanism 35 is one example of the “ vertical displacing device ” of the present invention , and it is provided with a turn belt 35 a which can turn in the vertical direction by using a not - illustrated motor as a power source ; and a hoist device 35 b which is displaced in the vertical direction with the turn of the turn belt . to the hoist device 35 b , one end of the rail part 34 a is fixed . the transfer mechanism 32 displaces the holding device 33 in the x direction ( i . e . one example of the “ first direction ” of the present invention ) and in the vertical direction ( e . g . one example of the “ second direction ” of the present invention ) among the load port lp 1 , the oht port p 1 , and the buffer p 2 by the mutual operation performed by the horizontal transfer mechanism 34 and the hoist mechanism 35 described above , and the transfer mechanism 32 holds or releases the foup 3 on the holding device 33 , thereby transferring the foup 3 among them . the operations , such as the displacement of the transfer mechanism 32 and the transfer of the foup 3 , are controller by the controller in the manufacturing system 100 . next , the transfer operation between the transporting vehicle and the processing apparatus via the transfer apparatus in the manufacturing system 100 will be explained with reference to fig4 . fig4 is a flowchart showing the first transfer operation process in the first embodiment . in fig4 , firstly , an instruction to transport the foup 3 to the manufacturing apparatus 20 is given to the vehicle 10 which holds the foup 3 on which the process in the manufacturing apparatus 20 is to be performed , by the controller in the manufacturing system 100 . here , it is assumed that the foup which is the first transportation target is “ foup 0 ”. after that , on the basis of the instruction from the controller , the vehicle 10 ( i . e . written as “ oht ” in fig4 ) travels along the rail 1 and stops at a predetermined transfer position corresponding to the buffer apparatus 30 ( i . e . stop position shown in fig1 to fig3 ). then , by the hoist mechanism 11 , the gripper 14 holding the foup 0 is lowered in the vertical direction through the opening h 11 in the buffer apparatus 30 from the inside of the vehicle 10 , and the foup 0 is released from the gripper 14 at the vertical position at which the foup 0 is in contact with the upper surface of the oht port p 1 . in other words , the foup 0 is transferred from the vehicle 10 to the oht port p 1 ( step s 51 ). then , in the buffer apparatus 30 , the holding device 33 is displaced to below the flange 3 a of the foup 0 on the oht port p 1 by the horizontal displacement mechanism 34 , and the hoist mechanism 35 before the holding device 33 is raised until it comes into contact with the lower surface of the flange 3 a . in this manner , the foup 0 is held by the holding device 33 . then , the holding device 33 which holds the foup 0 is displaced to above the load port lp 1 ( i . e . written as “ l port ” in fig6 ) through the opening h 12 before the holding device 33 is lowered until the foup 0 comes into contact with the load port lp 1 . in this manner , the foup 0 is transferred from the oht port p 1 to the load port lp 1 ( step s 52 ). after that , the holding device 33 is horizontally displaced to the side of the foup 0 on the load port p 1 , and the foup 0 is released from the holding device 33 . the wafers in the foup 0 transferred to the load port lp 1 are temporarily accommodated in the manufacturing apparatus 20 , and the predetermined process is performed inside before the wafers are put into the foup 0 on the load port lp 1 again . then , on the basis of a new instruction from the controller , as in the operation in the step s 51 , a foupn ( i . e . “ n ” is a variable indicating the order that the foup 3 is transported ) which is a second transportation target is transferred onto the oht port p 1 from the vehicle 10 which has arrived at a new transfer position which is different from the previous one ( step s 53 ). then , the holding device 33 which holds the foupn on the oht port p 1 is displaced to above the buffer p 2 by the horizontal displacement mechanism 34 and the hoist mechanism 35 before the holding device 33 is lowered until the foupn comes into contact with the buffer p 2 . in this manner , the foupn is transferred from the oht port p 1 to the buffer p 2 ( step s 54 ). then , it is judged whether or not the predetermined process in the manufacturing apparatus 20 has been completed on the foup ( here , foup 0 ) on the load port lp 1 , by the controller ( step s 55 ). as a result of the judgment , if it is judged that the predetermined process has not been completed ( the step s 55 : no ), it becomes in a standby state until the predetermined process has been completed . on the other hand , as a result of the judgment in the step s 55 , if it is judged that the predetermined process has been completed on the foup ( here , foup 0 ) on the load port lp 1 ( the step s 55 : yes ), the foup on which the process has been completed is transferred from the load port lp 1 to the oht port p 1 by the transfer mechanism 32 ( step s 56 ). at this time , the foup on which the process has been completed is displaced to the oht port p 1 such that it slips through above the foupn put on the buffer p 2 . then , the foupn is transferred from the buffer p 2 to the load port lp 1 by the transfer mechanism 32 which is unloaded ( i . e . which no longer holds the foup 3 ) ( step s 57 ). after that , on the basis of the instruction from the controller , the vehicle 10 of the transfer mechanism 32 which is unloaded ( i . e . which no longer holds the foup 3 ) is stopped at a predetermined transfer position . then , the unloaded gripper 14 is lowered in the vertical direction through the opening h 11 by the hoist mechanism 11 , and the foup on which the process has been completed is held by the gripper 14 . in other words , the foup on which the process has been completed is transferred from the oht port p 1 to the vehicle 10 ( step s 58 ). after that , the gripper 14 which holds the foup on which the process has been completed is raised by the hoist mechanism 11 and is held within the vehicle 10 . in this manner , the vehicle 10 becomes in the state that it can travel . then , it is judged whether or not there is an instruction to transport the foup 3 to be processed , by the controller ( step s 59 ). as a result , if it is judged that there is the instruction ( the step s 59 : yes ), the foup which is a third transportation target is set to “ foupn + 1 ” ( step s 60 ). then , as in the operation in the step s 51 , the foupn + 1 which is the third transportation target is transferred to the oht port p 1 from the vehicle 10 which has arrived at a new transfer position which is different from the previous one , as the operation in the step s 53 again . after that , the foupn + 1 is transferred from the oht port p 1 to the buffer p 2 , as the operations in the step s 54 to the step s 59 . then , it is judged whether or not the predetermined process has been completed on the foup ( here , foupn ) on the load port lp 1 , and when it is judged that the predetermined process has been completed , the foup on which the process has been completed is transferred from the load port lp 1 to the oht port p 1 . then , after the foupn + 1 is transferred from the buffer p 2 to the load port lp 1 , if the foup on which the process has been completed is transferred from the oht port p 1 to the vehicle 10 , it is judged whether or not there is another instruction to transport the foup 3 to be processed . on the other hand , as a result of the judgment in the step s 59 , if it is judged that there is no further instruction ( the step s 59 : no ), it is judged whether or not the predetermined process has been completed on the foup ( here , foupn + x ( i . e . “ n + x ” is shown by the foup 3 which is the last transportation target )) on the load port lp 1 as the operations in the steps s 55 , s 56 , and s 58 . if the predetermined process has been completed , when the last foup on which process has been completed is transferred from the load port lp 1 to the oht port p 1 , the last foup is transferred from the oht port p 1 to the vehicle 10 . by this , all the foups 3 on which the predetermined process is performed in the manufacturing apparatus 20 are transferred to the vehicle 10 through the buffer apparatus 30 , and the series of first transfer operation process is ended . as described above , according to the first transfer operation process in the embodiment , it is possible to improve the operating rate of the manufacturing apparatus 20 by using the buffer p 2 for replacing the foup 3 on the load port lp 1 to efficiently replace the foup 3 on which the process has been completed by the foup 3 to be processed from now . incidentally , the operation in the step s 58 may be performed in tandem with the step s 57 if it is after the foup 3 on which the process has been completed is transferred to the oht port p 1 as the operation in the step s 56 . next , another transfer operation which is different from the first transfer operation in fig4 will be explained with reference to fig5 . fig5 is a flowchart showing a second transfer operation process in the first embodiment . in fig5 , firstly , as in the case of fig4 , an instruction to transport the foup 3 to the manufacturing apparatus 20 is given to the vehicle 10 which holds the foup 3 on which the process in the manufacturing apparatus 20 is to be performed , by the controller in the manufacturing system 100 . here , it is assumed that the foup which is the first transportation target is “ foup 0 ”. after that , on the basis of the instruction from the controller , the foup 0 is transferred from the vehicle 10 ( i . e . written as “ oht ” in fig5 as in the case of fig4 ) to the oht port p 1 ( step s 61 ). then , in the buffering apparatus 30 , the foup 0 is transferred from the oht port p 1 to the load port lp 1 ( i . e . written as “ l port ” in fig5 as in the case of fig4 ) by the transfer mechanism ( step s 62 ). then , it is judged whether or not the predetermined process in the manufacturing apparatus 20 has been completed on the foup ( here , foup 0 ) on the load port lp 1 ( step s 63 ). as a result of the judgment , if it is judged that the predetermined process has not been completed ( the step s 63 : no ), it is continued until the predetermined process has been completed . on the other hand , as a result of the judgment in the step s 63 , if it is judged that the predetermined process has been completed on the foup ( here , foup 0 ) on the load port lp 1 ( the step s 63 : yes ), it is judged whether or not there is an instruction to transport the foup 3 to be processed , by the controller ( step s 64 ). as a result , if it is judged that there is the instruction ( the step s 64 : yes ), the foup on which the process has been completed is transferred from the load port lp 1 to the buffer p 2 by the transfer mechanism 32 ( step s 65 ). then , if the foupn which is the second transportation target is transferred from the vehicle 10 to the oht port p 1 on the basis of a new instruction from the controller ( step s 66 ), the foupn is directly transferred from the oht port p 1 to the load port lp 1 ( step s 67 ). in other words , as opposed to the case of the first transfer operation process described above , the foupn before the processing is not temporarily put on the buffer p 2 . then , the foup on which the process has been completed ( here , foup 0 ) is transferred from the buffer p 2 to the oht port p 1 ( step s 68 ). after that , the foup is transferred from the oht port p 1 to the vehicle 10 ( step s 69 ). here , the foup which can be the third transportation target is set to “ foupn + 1 ” ( step s 70 ). then , as in the operation in the step s 63 and the step s 64 again , it is judged whether or not the predetermined process in the manufacturing apparatus 20 has been completed on the foup on the load port lp 1 , and when it is judged that the predetermined process has been completed , it is judged whether or not there is an instruction to transport the foup 3 to be processed next . on the other hand , as a result of the judgment in the step s 64 , if it is judged that there is no further instruction ( the step s 64 : no ), the foup on which the process has been completed is transferred from the load port lp 1 to the oht port p 1 ( step s 71 ), and then , the foup is transferred from the oht port p 1 to the vehicle 10 ( step s 72 ). by this , as in the first transfer operation in fig4 , all the foups 3 on which the predetermined process is performed in the manufacturing apparatus 20 are transferred to the vehicle 10 through the buffer apparatus 30 , and the series of second transfer operation process is ended . as described above , according to the second transfer operation process in the embodiment , if the predetermined process has been completed in the manufacturing apparatus 20 , the foup 3 on the load port lp 1 is removed immediately after that , and the foup to be processed next is put onto the load port lp 1 ( actually , the wafers in the foup 3 are brought into the manufacturing apparatus 20 ). therefore , it is possible to further improve the operating rate of the manufacturing apparatus 20 . incidentally , according to the first embodiment , the oht port p 1 is disposed above the load port lp 1 in the vertical direction of the rail 1 , and the buffer p 2 is disposed below the load port lp 1 in the vertical direction and in the x direction ; however , the arrangement of the buffer is not limited to this . fig6 is a one - direction cross sectional view for explaining one example of the arrangement which is different from the arrangement of the second shelf in the embodiment . in fig6 , in a buffering apparatus 130 , a buffer p 12 is disposed between an oht port p 11 and a load port lp 11 in a vertical direction g 1 of the rail 1 . a transfer mechanism 132 is displaced among the buffer p 12 , the oht port p 11 , and the load port lp 11 , and the foup 3 can be transferred among them . by this , even in the arrangement of the buffer p 12 , it is possible to obtain the same operation and effects as those in the buffer apparatus 30 in the first embodiment described above . incidentally , according to the first embodiment , the buffer apparatus 30 has the length lx which allows at least two foups 3 to be disposed in the x direction ( i . e . the longitudinal direction of the buffer apparatus 30 , which is one example of the “ first direction ” of the present invention ) which crosses the orientation of the rail 1 at right angles in the state that it is attached to the load port lp 1 ; however , the form of the buffer apparatus 30 is not limited to this . fig7 is a top view schematically showing the panoramic view of a transportation system provided with the transfer apparatus in the embodiment . in fig7 , a transportation system 300 is provided with a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 20 and 220 . the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 20 and 220 are provided with a path ( i . e . a hatching portion in fig7 ) which is used for a system administrator or the like who administrates the transportation system in the failure or maintenance of any element , to carry in and out broken equipment or maintenance equipment , or to place the transfer apparatus of the present invention . the plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 20 and 220 are placed in two lines such that the path is between them and such that the load ports lp 1 , lp 2 , and lp 21 to lp 23 are disposed on the path side . as shown in fig7 , the width of the path lth ( i . e . the shortest distance between the load ports lps in a pair of manufacturing apparatuses opposed to each other across the path ) is less than a length la in the x direction of the buffer apparatus 30 in the first embodiment . thus , the buffer apparatus 30 cannot be attached to any of the load ports . fig8 is a one - direction cross sectional view for explaining one example of the outer shape which is different from the outer shape of the transfer apparatus in the first embodiment . in fig8 , a buffer apparatus 230 which is also shown in fig7 has a length ly obtained by combining a length of a space required for a transfer mechanism 232 to be displaced in the vertical direction and a length which allows one foup 3 to be disposed , in the x direction , before and after it is attached to the load port lp 1 ( i . e . except the attachment ). the length ly is less than the width of the path lth . this is because a storage mechanism 40 which can be stored in a main body part 231 is provided before and after an oht port p 21 is attached to the load port lp 1 . the storage mechanism 40 is provided with a storage device 41 and a hinge device 42 . the accommodation device 41 is placed in the vicinity of an opening 211 which can let the foup 3 through by the transfer of the transfer mechanism 232 in the main body part 231 , and the accommodation device 41 accommodates or houses the ohr port p 21 in the perpendicular direction . the hinge 42 rotatably connects one end of the oht port p 21 with the accommodation device 41 , and the hinge 42 can displace the oht port p 21 between a transfer position opposed to the rail 1 and an accommodation position at which it is accommodated in the accommodation device 41 . as shown in fig8 , when the buffer apparatus 230 is attached to the load port lp 1 , the buffer apparatus 230 is displaced on the path in fig7 in the state that the oht port p 21 is accommodated at the accommodation position ( i . e . the state of a buffer mechanism 230 a in fig8 ), and it is disposed on the front side ( i . e . the left side in fig8 ) of the load port lp 1 which is an attachment target . then , the buffer apparatus 230 is attached to the load port lp 1 in the state that the oht port p 21 is displaced to the transfer position ( i . e . the state of a buffer mechanism 230 b in fig8 ). in the attachment , the oht port p 21 is disposed in the vertical direction of the rail 1 . as described above , by providing the accommodation mechanism 40 which can accommodate the oht port p 21 , it is possible to make the buffer apparatus compact and light . therefore , it facilitates the displacement of the buffer apparatus , and it increases the degree of freedom in the attachment of the buffer apparatus . next , a method of positioning the transfer apparatus of the present invention will be explained with reference to fig9 to fig1 . each of fig9 is a top view or a side view showing one example of a positioning device for positioning the buffer apparatus with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 in fig1 to fig3 . fig9 a is a top view showing the buffer apparatus 30 in the first embodiment poisoned ( in other words , attached ) with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 in the first embodiment , and fig9 b is a side view showing the buffer apparatus 30 in fig9 a . in fig9 a , the buffer apparatus 30 is provided with a cylindrical abutting part 4 on the side surface on the load port lp 1 side . in contrast , on a floor surface between the buffer apparatus 30 and the manufacturing apparatus 20 ( i . e . below the load port lp 1 in fig1 to fig3 ), there is placed a poisoning block 5 ( i . e . one example of the “ positioning device ” of the present invention ) in which one surface is formed in a tapered shape . the buffer apparatus 30 is set into a displacement state described later when it is attached to the load port lp 1 , and the buffer apparatus 30 is displaced in the x direction until the abutting part 4 abuts on the positioning block 5 . by this , the buffer apparatus 30 is positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 . in fig9 b , the buffer apparatus 30 is provided with a plurality of travel roller 38 for displacement and a plurality of legs 39 each of which makes a pair with respective one of the plurality of travel rollers 38 , on the bottom surface . each travel roller 38 is provided with a caster 38 a and a jack bolt 38 b which can extend and contract the caster 38 a in the perpendicular direction . each leg 39 is provided with a support part 39 a which is in contact with the floor surface and which supports the main body of the buffer apparatus 30 ; and an adjuster 39 b which fixes the support part 39 a to the floor surface of the buffer apparatus 30 without displacing the support part 39 a . when the buffer apparatus 30 is displaced , the jack bolts 38 a are tightened counterclockwise . then , the buffer apparatus 30 becomes in the state that the casters 38 a extending from the main body of the buffer apparatus 30 come into contact with the floor surface and that the support parts 39 a are released from the floor surface ( i . e . the displacement state of the buffer apparatus ). in this state , the buffer apparatus 30 can be easily displaced by rotating the caster 38 a . moreover , by the abutting part 4 abutting on the positioning block 5 , the jack bolts 38 b are tightened clockwise when the buffer apparatus 30 positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 is fixed . then , the buffer apparatus becomes in the state that the casters 38 a contracted toward the main body of the buffer apparatus 30 are released from the floor surface and that the support parts 39 a are in contact with the floor surface ( i . e . the fixed state of the buffer apparatus ). in this state , the buffer apparatus 30 is stably disposed . fig1 ( a ) is a top view showing the buffer apparatus 130 positioned with respect to the load port lp 1 , and fig1 ( b ) is a side view showing the buffer apparatus 130 in fig1 ( a ). incidentally , in fig1 , the same constituent elements as in the case of the buffer apparatus 30 in fig9 described above will carry the same referential numerals , and the explanation thereof will be omitted . in fig1 ( a ), the buffer apparatus 130 is provided with an abutting part 104 in which an abut surface is formed in a tapered shape , on the side surface on the load port lp 1 side . in contrary , on a floor surface between the buffer apparatus 130 and the manufacturing apparatus 20 ( i . e . below the load port lp 1 in fig1 to fig3 ) , there is placed a cylindrical poisoning pin 105 ( i . e . one example of the “ positioning device ” of the present invention ). the buffer apparatus 130 is set into the displacement state when it is attached to the load port lp 1 , and the buffer apparatus 130 is displaced in the x direction until the abutting part 104 abuts on the positioning pin 105 . by this , the buffer apparatus 130 is positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 . fig1 ( a ) is a top view showing the buffer apparatus 230 positioned with respect to the load port lp 1 , and fig1 ( b ) is a side view showing the buffer apparatus 230 in fig1 ( a ). incidentally , in fig1 , the same constituent elements as in the case of the buffer apparatus 30 in fig9 described above will carry the same referential numerals , and the explanation thereof will be omitted . in fig1 ( a ), the buffer apparatus 230 is provided with an abutting part 204 in which an abut surface is formed in a tapered shape , on the side surface on the load port lp 1 side . in contrary , on a floor surface between the buffer apparatus 230 and the manufacturing apparatus 20 ( i . e . below the load port lp 1 in fig1 to fig3 ) , there are placed two cylindrical poisoning pins 205 a and 205 b ( i . e . one example of the “ positioning device ” of the present invention ). the buffer apparatus 230 is set into the displacement state when it is attached to the load port lp 1 , and the buffer apparatus 230 is displaced in the x direction until the two positioning pins 205 a and 205 b engage with the abutting part 204 . by this , the buffer apparatus 230 is positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 , more accurately than in the case of one positioning pin . fig1 ( a ) is a top view showing a buffer apparatus 330 positioned with respect to the load port lp 1 , and fig1 ( b ) is a side view showing the buffer apparatus 330 in fig1 ( a ). incidentally , in fig1 , the same constituent elements as in the case of the buffer apparatus 130 in fig1 described above will carry the same referential numerals , and the explanation thereof will be omitted . in fig1 ( a ), the buffer apparatus 330 is provided with not only the abutting part 104 which abuts on the positioning pin 105 ( i . e . one example of the “ positioning device ” of the present invention ) but also an engagement part 36 ( i . e . one example of the “ positioning device ” and the “ fixing device ” of the present invention ) which can certainly lock the main body of the buffer apparatus 330 on the positioning pin 105 . one end of the engagement part 36 is rotatably mounted on the side surface on the load port lp 1 side , and the other end is bent so that it engages with the positioning pin 105 at a predetermined turn position . the buffer apparatus 330 is provided with a lock lever 38 on the side surface on the opposite side of the load port lp 1 . the lock lever 37 can be operated by the system administrator , and it can displace the engagement part 36 between a lock position which is the aforementioned predetermined turn position and at which the main body of the buffer apparatus 330 is locked with respect to the positioning pin 105 ( i . e . shown by the engagement part 36 in a dashed line in fig1 a ) and a non - lock position which is a turn position initially set and at which the main body of the buffer apparatus 330 is released ( i . e . shown by the engagement part 36 in a solid line in fig1 a ). in the attachment to the load port lp 1 , firstly , the buffer apparatus 330 is set into the displacement state , and the lock lever 37 is displaced to the non - lock position . then , the buffer apparatus 330 is displaced in the x direction until the abutting part 104 abuts on the positioning pin 105 , and then , the engagement part 36 is displaced to the lock position . after that , the buffer apparatus 330 is set into the fixed state and is fixed at the position that the buffer apparatus is positioned . by this , the buffer apparatus 330 is positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 , more accurately and certainly than the case where it is positioned only by the abutting part 104 . fig1 is a side view showing a buffer apparatus 430 positioned with respect to the load port lp 1 . incidentally , in fig1 , the same constituent elements as in the case of the buffer apparatus 330 in fig1 described above will carry the same referential numerals , and the explanation thereof will be omitted . in fig1 , on a floor surface on which a buffer apparatus 430 positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 is disposed , there are placed convex cones 406 ( i . e . one example of the “ fixing device ” of the present invention ). in contrast , a plurality of legs 439 of the buffer apparatus 430 have support parts 439 a which are formed in a concave shape and which engage with the cones 406 on their contact surfaces with floor surface . when the buffer apparatus 430 is displaced , the jack bolts 38 b are tightened counterclockwise , and the extended casters 38 a come into contact with the floor surface . at the same time , the support parts 439 a are set into the aforementioned displacement state that they are released from the floor surface ( i . e . the floor surface including the portions in which the cones 406 are placed ). when the buffer apparatus 430 positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 is fixed , the jack bolts 38 b are tightened clockwise , and the contracted casters 38 a are released from the floor surface . at the same time , the support parts 439 a are set into the aforementioned fixed state that they engage with the cones 406 . by this , the buffer apparatus 430 is disposed more stably than the case of a simple flat floor surface . fig1 is a side view showing the buffer apparatus 430 positioned with respect to the load port lp 1 , as in fig1 . incidentally , in fig1 , the same constituent elements as in the case of the buffer apparatus 430 in fig1 described above will carry the same referential numerals , and the explanation thereof will be omitted . in fig1 , on a floor surface on which the buffer apparatus 430 positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 is disposed , there are placed the same cones 407 ( i . e . one example of the “ fixing device ” of the present invention ) as the cones 406 in fig1 . however , portions 6 of the floor surface in which the cones 407 are placed are lower than the original floor surface on which the manufacturing apparatus 20 , the buffer apparatus 430 , and the like are placed , by the height of the cones 407 . this is to avoid a danger to a person , such as the system administrator tripping over or falling on the cones which project from the floor surface . as in the case of fig1 , when the buffer apparatus 430 is displaced , the jack bolts 38 b are tightened counterclockwise , and the extended casters 38 a come into contact with the original floor surface . at the same time , the support parts 439 a are set into the aforementioned displacement state that they are released from the floor surface ( i . e . the floor surface including the portions 6 in which the cones 407 are placed ). when the buffer apparatus 430 positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 is fixed , the jack bolts 38 b are tightened clockwise , and the contracted casters 38 a are released from the original floor surface . at the same time , the support parts 439 a are set into the aforementioned fixed state that they engage with the cones 407 . by this , the buffer apparatus 430 is disposed more stably than the case of the simple flat floor surface , as in the case of fig1 , while avoiding the danger to a person caused by the placement of the cones 407 . fig1 a is a top view showing a buffer apparatus 530 positioned with respect to the load port lp 1 , and fig1 b is a side view showing the buffer apparatus 530 in fig1 a . incidentally , in fig1 , the same constituent elements as in the case of the buffer apparatus 30 in fig9 described above will carry the same referential numerals , and the explanation thereof will be omitted . in fig1 , the buffer apparatus 530 is not provided with a travelling device , such as the travel roller 38 in fig9 , and the buffer apparatus 530 cannot be displaced by itself . thus , for the displacement of the buffer apparatus 530 , a jack carriage 50 ( i . e . one example of the “ travelling device ” of the present invention ) is used . the jack carriage 50 is provided with a not - illustrated hydraulic jack part ; a support table 51 , which can support the bottom surface of the main body of the buffer apparatus 530 ; a plurality of roller parts 52 , which have wheels and which are displaceably mounted on the bottom surface of the support table 51 ; a handhold 53 , which is held by the system administrator when the jack carriage 50 is displaced ( i . e . including when the buffer apparatus 530 is displaced ). when the buffer apparatus 530 supported by the plurality of legs 39 is displaced after being positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 , firstly , the roller parts 52 are inclined ( i . e . shown by the roller parts in dashed lines in fig1 b ) by the power of the jack part , thereby setting the support table 51 at a level ( i . e . entrance level ) which allows the support table 51 to enter below the main body of the buffer apparatus 530 . then , the jack carriage 50 is displaced in the x direction by the operation of handhold 53 , and the support table 51 at the entrance level is disposed below the center of the main body of the buffer apparatus 530 away from the plurality of legs 39 . then , by the operation of the jack part , the inclined roller parts 52 are made vertical ( i . e . shown by the roller parts in solid lines in fig1 b ). then , the plurality of legs 39 are released from the floor surface , and the support table 51 is set at a level ( i . e . support level ) which allows the support table 51 to be in contact with the bottom surface of the main body of the buffer apparatus 530 , so that the buffer apparatus 530 is set into the displacement state . after that , if the jack carriage 50 is pulled in the x direction from a position at which an abutting part 33 abuts on the positioning block 5 and is released from a position at which the buffer apparatus 530 is positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 by the operation of the handhold 53 , the buffer apparatus 530 can be arbitrarily displaced . the displacement here may be performed by man power , or by using an external or built - in power mechanism , such as an electric motor . incidentally , if the buffer apparatus 530 in displacement is positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 , the aforementioned processes may be performed in the reverse order . next , with reference to fig1 and fig1 , a method of fixing the transfer apparatus in the first embodiment will be explained . fig1 is a one - direction cross sectional view showing one example of the fixing device for fixing the transfer apparatus in the embodiment . fig1 is a one - direction cross sectional view for explaining one example of the fixing device in another form which is different from the fixing device in fig1 . incidentally , in fig1 and fig1 , the same constituent elements as in the case of the buffer apparatus 230 in fig8 described above will carry the same referential numerals , and the explanation thereof will be omitted . in fig1 , the buffer apparatus 330 is provided with a fixation part 63 for fixing the upper part of the main body of the buffer apparatus 530 . the fixation part 63 has an opening which can let through a connection bolt 62 described later . in contrast , a bracket 60 ( i . e . one example of the “ fixing device ” of the present invention ) which can be connected to the fixation part 63 is fixed to a rail 301 . the bracket 60 is provided with a main body part 61 and the connection bolt 62 . one end of the main body part 61 is fixed on the side surface of the rail 301 , and the other end has an opening which can screw in the connection bolt 62 . if the buffer apparatus 330 is positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 , the other end abuts on the fixation part 63 on the buffer apparatus 330 side . in this condition , the fixation part 63 is screwed to the main body part 61 by using the connection bolt 62 , by which the upper part of the buffer apparatus 330 is fixed and the buffer apparatus 30 is more stably disposed . in fig1 , a bracket 70 ( one example of the “ fixing device ” of the present invention ) is fixed on the ceiling , with respect to the fixation part 63 of the buffer apparatus 330 which is also shown in fig1 . the bracket 70 is provided with a main body part 71 and a connection bolt 72 , as in the bracket 60 in fig1 . when the buffer apparatus 330 is positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 , the fixation part 63 is screwed to the main body part 71 by using the connection bolt 72 while the other end of the main body part 71 abuts on the fixation part 63 on the buffer apparatus 330 side , by which the upper part of the buffer apparatus 330 is fixed and the buffer apparatus 30 is more stably disposed . fig1 a is a top view showing a buffer apparatus 630 positioned with respect to the load port lp 1 , and fig1 b is a side view showing the buffer apparatus 630 in fig1 a . incidentally , in fig1 , the same constituent elements as in the case of the buffer apparatus 30 in fig9 described above will carry the same referential numerals , and the explanation thereof will be omitted . in fig1 , a fixation pin 7 ( one example of the “ fixing device ” of the present invention ) for fixing the lower part of the main body of the buffer apparatus 630 is fixed on the bottom surface of the buffer apparatus 630 . the fixation pin 7 is provided with a main body part 7 a , a horizontal positioning part 7 b , and a fixation bolt 7 c . the main body part 7 a has a concave portion on the side surface , and it can extend and contract in the perpendicular direction . one end of the horizontal positioning part 7 b can engage with the concave portion of the main body part 7 a in the horizontal one direction , and the other end has an opening which can let through the fixation bolt 7 c . in contrast , a fixation part 8 is placed on the floor surface corresponding to the aforementioned fixation pin 7 of the buffer apparatus 630 positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 . the fixation part 8 has a concave portion which can engage with the fixation pin 7 and an opening which can screw in the fixation bolt 7 c , on the upper surface . when the buffer apparatus 630 positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 is fixed , the main body part 7 a abuts on the concave portion of the fixation part 8 , and one end of the horizontal positioning part 7 b engages with the concave portion of the main body part 7 a in the horizontal one direction . in this condition , the horizontal positioning part 7 b is screwed to the fixation part 8 by using the fixation bolt 7 c , by which the lower part of the buffer apparatus 630 is fixed on a predetermined horizontal surface and the buffer apparatus 30 is disposed more stably than the case where the legs 39 are simply in contact with the floor surface . fig1 a is a top view showing a buffer apparatus 730 positioned with respect to the load port lp 1 , and fig1 b is a side view showing the buffer apparatus 730 in fig1 a . incidentally , in fig1 , the same constituent elements as in the case of the buffer apparatus 30 in fig9 described above will carry the same referential numerals , and the explanation thereof will be omitted . in fig1 , a fixation pin 107 ( one example of the “ fixing device ” of the present invention ) for fixing the lower part of the main body of the buffer apparatus 730 is fixed on the bottom surface of the buffer apparatus 730 . the main body of the fixation pin 107 can extend and contract in the perpendicular direction , partially as in the fixation pin 7 in fig1 . a portion 108 on the floor surface corresponding to the fixation pin 107 of the buffer apparatus 730 positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 is lower than the original floor surface on which the manufacturing apparatus 20 , the buffer apparatus 730 , and the like are placed so that it can engage with the fixation pin 107 . when the buffer apparatus 730 positioned with respect to the manufacturing apparatus 20 is fixed , the fixation pin 107 is extended and engages with the portion 108 of the floor surface . by this , the lower part of the buffer apparatus 730 is fixed in the horizontal direction and the buffer apparatus 30 is disposed more stably than the case where the legs 39 are simply in contact with the floor surface . incidentally , the positioning device , the fixing device , and the travelling device shown in fig9 to fig1 described above may be provided alone for the transfer apparatus of the present invention . alternatively , one or a plurality of combinations of the plurality of devices may be provided . the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . the present embodiments are therefore to be regarded in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive , the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing or following description and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein . for example , a transfer apparatus provided with two second shelves for two ports ( i . e . in which two transfer apparatuses in the embodiment are arranged side by side ) is also included in the technical scope of the invention . next , the structure of a manufacturing system provided with a transfer apparatus in a second embodiment will be explained with reference to fig2 to fig2 . fig2 is a perspective view schematically showing the appearance of a manufacturing system provided with the transfer apparatus in fig8 , as a second embodiment . fig2 is an another - direction cross sectional view conceptually showing a cross section when the transfer apparatus shown in fig2 is cut in another direction ( i . e . vertical direction in fig2 ). fig2 is a top view showing the arrangement of the transfer apparatus shown in fig2 with respect to a processing apparatus . incidentally , in fig2 and fig2 , the same constituent elements as in the case of the manufacturing system 300 in fig8 described above will carry the same referential numerals , and the explanation thereof will be omitted . the specification which is different from the case of the manufacturing system 300 in fig8 will be particularly explained . in fig2 , a manufacturing system 1100 is different from the manufacturing system 300 in fig8 in that the buffer apparatus 230 is disposed on the side surface side ( the right side in fig2 ) of the load port lp 1 instead of being disposed on the front side of the load port lp 1 . in other words , the manufacturing system 300 and the manufacturing system 1100 have different attachment positions of the buffer apparatus 230 to the load port lp 1 . in the second embodiment , in particular , in fig2 , the buffer apparatus 230 is constructed such that a length w 2 in the x direction of the load port p 21 ( i . e . in the direction perpendicular to the orientation of the rail 1 ) is less than or equal to a length w 1 in the x direction of the load port lp 1 . thus , for example , if there is an obstacle on the front side of the load port p 21 ( i . e . in the x direction in fig2 and fig2 ), the buffer apparatus 230 can approach the manufacturing apparatus 20 from the orientation of the rail 1 ( i . e . the right side in a z direction in fig2 and fig2 ). moreover , the buffer apparatus 230 can transfer the foup 3 from a position which is away on the right side in the z direction of the load port lp 1 . incidentally , the buffer apparatus 230 may be constructed such that the length w 2 of the load port p 21 is greater than or equal to the length w 1 of the load port lp 1 . in this case , for example , the side part of the buffer apparatus 230 protrude into the path in fig7 ; however , the protraction into the path can be significantly reduced , in comparison with the case where the buffer apparatus 230 is disposed on the front side of the load port lp 21 . in the second embodiment , preferably , in the buffer apparatus 230 , the width length lw of the main body part 231 is less than or equal to the length w 1 in the x direction of the load port lp 1 , and for example , the buffer apparatus 230 can be disposed in a space which is made on the side of the load port lp 1 between the main body of the manufacturing apparatus 20 and the path without protruding into the path in fig7 . in fig2 , when the buffer apparatus 230 is attached to the load port lp 1 , it is displaced in the z direction in the state that the oht port p 21 is accommodated at the accommodation position ( i . e . the state of a buffer mechanism 230 a in fig2 ), and it is disposed on the side surface side of the load port lp 1 which is the attachment target ( i . e . the right side surface side of the load port lp 1 in fig2 ). then , the buffer apparatus 230 is attached to the load port lp 1 in the state that the oht port p 21 is displaced to the transfer position ( i . e . the state of a buffer mechanism 230 b in fig2 ). at this time , the transfer mechanism 232 of the buffer apparatus 230 is disposed such that the longitudinal direction of a slide device 234 which can slide a holding device 233 matches the z direction . when the buffer mechanism 230 is in the state of the buffer mechanism 230 b , for example , the holding device 233 is displaced in the z direction toward to the load port lp 1 by the horizontal displacement mechanism 234 , and a pair of planar portions of the holding device 233 enters below the flange 3 a of the foup 3 on the load port lp 1 and support the both ends of the flange 3 a from below ( i . e . hold the foup 3 ). in other words , in the second embodiment , the transfer mechanism 232 can displace the holding device 233 by the mutual operation of the horizontal displacement mechanism 234 and a hoist mechanism 235 described above , in the z direction ( i . e . one example of the “ third direction ” of the present invention ) and the vertical direction ( one example of the “ second direction ” of the present invention ) among the load port lp 1 , the oht port p 21 , and the buffer p 22 . according to the second embodiment , in the buffer apparatus 230 , the orientation of the rail 1 matches the z direction ( i . e . the third direction ) in which the horizontal displacement mechanism 234 displaces the foup 3 , so that the buffer apparatus 230 can be also disposed on the side of the load port lp 1 ( right beside in the second embodiment ). as described above , if the buffer apparatus 230 is disposed on the side of the load port lp 1 , it is possible to effectively use the space which is made on the side of the load port lp 1 . on the other hand , the buffer apparatus 230 does not occupy the path at all , which is provided on the front side of the load port lp 1 in the manufacturing apparatus 20 , and the buffer apparatus 230 does not block a passage on the path at all . in other words , it is also possible to provide a narrow path in accordance with the arrangement of the buffer apparatus 230 . on the other hand , as described above , it is useful if the width length lw of the main body part 231 is set to less than or equal to the length w 1 in the x direction of the load port lp 1 ; however , as shown in fig2 , it is also possible to set the width length lw to greater than or equal to the length w 1 in the x direction of the load port lp 1 . in this case , in fig2 , if the buffer apparatus 330 is brought close to the manufacturing apparatus 20 in the z direction , the main body part of the buffer apparatus 330 collides with the outer frame of the manufacturing apparatus 20 or the corner of the main body of the manufacturing apparatus 20 . in this case , however , it is not particularly problematic if the arrangement and size of the ports p 21 and lp 1 are constructed such that the oht port p 21 is located above the load port lp 1 when or immediately before the buffer apparatus 330 collides with the corner of the main body of the manufacturing apparatus 20 . for example , it is useful if the load port lp 1 is provided as close to one corner on the front surface of the main body of the manufacturing apparatus 20 as possible ( i . e . the right corner on the front surface of the manufacturing apparatus 20 in fig2 and fig2 ). alternatively , in this case , the oht port lp 21 and the transfer mechanism 232 may be able to extend in the horizontal direction ( i . e . toward the left side in fig2 and fig2 ). moreover , by making the oht port lp 21 and the transfer mechanism 232 extendable , the buffer apparatus 330 can transfer the foup 3 with respect to the load port lp 2 located far away from the front surface of the manufacturing apparatus 20 ( i . e . the load port on the left side in fig2 and fig2 ). in the manufacturing system 1100 provided with the buffer apparatus 230 in the second embodiment , it is possible to perform the same process as the first transfer operation process in fig4 or the second transfer operation process in fig5 by using a controller in the manufacturing system 1100 , with respect to the transfer operation between the vehicle 10 and the manufacturing apparatus 20 through the buffer apparatus 230 disposed on the side of the load port lp 1 , and it is also possible to quickly transfer the foup 3 with respect to the load port lp 1 , thereby improving the operating rate of the manufacturing apparatus 20 . moreover , the buffer apparatus 230 can apply the positioning device ( or positioning method ), the fixing device ( or fixing method ), and the travelling device ( or traveling method ) in fig9 to fig1 , and the buffer apparatus 230 can be more stably disposed by the devices . incidentally , the buffer apparatus in the second embodiment described above may be also constructed such that its height is equal to or greater than the height of a manufacturing apparatus , in response to the large - scaled manufacturing apparatus . in this case , as shown in fig2 , the buffer apparatus 430 is constructed , for example , such that a second oht port p 40 can be disposed above an oht port p 41 corresponding to the oht port p 21 in fig2 . the second oht port p 40 is displaced between a transfer position at which the foup 3 can be transferred with the vehicle 10 in the horizontal state and an accommodation position at which it is accommodated in a main body part 431 in the vertical state , as in the oht port p 41 . for example , if the buffer apparatus 430 is disposed on the side surface side of the load port lp 1 ( i . e . the right side in fig2 ), a transfer mechanism 432 is controlled by a controller in a manufacturing system 1200 , and the transfer mechanism 432 displaces a holding device 433 in the z direction ( i . e . one example of the “ third direction ” of the present invention ) and the vertical direction ( one example of the “ second direction ” of the present invention ) among the aforementioned second oht port p 40 , the oht port p 41 , and the transfer mechanism 432 holds or releases the foup 3 on the holding device 433 , thereby transferring the foup 3 among them . incidentally , the buffer apparatus 430 can be disposed not only on the side surface side of the load port lp 1 but also on the front side of the load port lp 1 , as in the buffer apparatus 30 in fig2 as shown in fig2 . for example , the main body part 431 of the buffer apparatus 430 is provided with a frame which is free of as much side surfaces as possible . in this case , when it is to dispose the buffer apparatus 430 on the front side of the load port lp 1 , the buffer apparatus 430 can be attached to the load port lp 1 such that one portion of the load port lp 1 ( i . e . the front part of the load port lp 1 ) is located within the main body part 431 . by this , it is possible to dispose the buffer apparatus 430 closer to the main body of a manufacturing apparatus 420 in the x direction , and for example , it is possible to reduce the protrusion of the buffer apparatus 430 into the path in fig7 . the entire disclosure of japanese patent application no . 2009 - 183310 filed on aug . 6 , 2009 including the specification , claims , drawings and summary is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . | 7 |
referring to fig1 reference numeral 10 generally indicates a process for extracting gold from gold - bearing ore , in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention . the invention 10 includes a first stage , generally indicated by reference numeral 12 , as well as a second stage , generally indicated by reference numeral 14 . in the first stage 12 , gold - bearing ore is fed , typically at a rate of 10 - 100 tonnes per hour dry solids , via a flow line or conduit 16 into a mill 18 , together with mill return water , described in more detail hereunder , which enters the conduit 16 via a conduit 20 . make - up water enters the conduit 16 along a conduit 19 . in the mill 18 the ore is ground down in the presence of the water until approximately 80 % of the ore has a particle size of less than 75 microns . a slurry or pulp comprising the milled ore and water is hence formed in the mill 18 . the pulp passes from the mill 18 , along a conduit or flow line 22 , into a thickener 30 . in the thickener 30 , the slurry fraction or pulp is thickened , typically to about 50 % by mass . water is withdrawn from the thickener 30 via a flow line or conduit 32 , which leads to a holding tank 34 . water from the holding tank 34 , is then returned as mill return water , along the conduit 20 , to the mill 18 . in certain applications , calcium cyanide can , if desired , be added to the mill return water . it may then be added as a calcium cyanide make - up solution together with lime , to the holding tank 34 . in such applications , calcium cyanide will thus be introduced into the milled ore or pulp via the mill return water . sufficient calcium cyanide can then be added so that the cyanide concentration in the milled ore or pulp is maintained at about 100 - 400 ppm ( by mass ). thickened slime or pulp produced in the thickener 30 passes along a flow line 36 to pachuca vessels or tanks 38 , for leaching and thereafter , along a flow line 40 , to further recovery of the gold from the lixiviant . the pachucas 38 hence form part of the second or gold recovery stage 14 in which leaching of gold values from the ore , separation of lixiviant from the ore , and recovery of the gold values from the lixiviant , are effected in known manner . for example , in the pachucas 38 , calcium cyanide and lime can be added for recovery of gold values from the thickened slime in known fashion . if desired , oxygen can also be introduced into the pachucas 38 to enhance gold recovery , e . g . by means of air agitation or induced air with mechanical agitation or pure oxygen injection . the process 10 also includes at least one injection means 50 leading into the conduit 32 and / or the conduit 20 , for injecting air or oxygen into these conduits . for example , one or more injection means 50 can be provided in each of the conduits 32 and 20 . by injecting air or oxygen via the injection means 50 , higher dissolved oxygen levels in the milled pulp is obtained . the applicant believes that this will lead to increased gold value recoveries due to more complete gold dissolution in the cyanide lixiviant being effected , particularly if the process or plant 10 is running at greater than design throughputs , or if the plant throughput is to be increased . oxygen in the pulp is also consumed by unoxidized minerals and organics in the milled pulp . in their unoxidized state , these species react with calcium cyanide , rendering it unavailable for gold dissolution . excess calcium cyanide must hence be added to the pulp to compensate for this , leading to increased cyanide consumption . the oxygen injection , it is believed , will hence also result in a decrease in cyanide consumption . the oxygen injection means 50 and their points of introduction into the conduits are preferably selected that the oxygen can be introduced into the conduits in turbulent zones and under pressure , since pressurized oxygen injection will enhance oxygen dissolution in the water , while turbulent flow conditions will ensure that the gaseous bubbles of oxygen are well dispersed in the fluid in the conduits . the injection means should also be located at such a position that there is sufficient residence time in the process downstream of the injection means to allow the oxygen to dissolve before it can escape to the atmosphere , e . g . in the thickener 30 . furthermore , by increasing the oxygen levels in the slurry by the oxygen injection arrangements , the reaction of gold with the calcium cyanide as hereinbefore described , takes place at a faster rate so that , apart from being able to increase plant throughput as hereinbefore described , the residence time of the gold in the process can be reduced . this has the advantage that the contact time of the carbonaceous material with the gold is reduced , lessening the re - absorption of the gold onto the carbonaceous material , thereby also enhancing gold recovery , i . e . rendering it more efficient . a further advantage of the oxygen injection provided by the present invention is that gold - bearing ores also contain iron pyrites minerals which also react with cyanide , i . e . consume calcium cyanide . oxygen oxidizes these minerals to form iron hydroxides , which form as a cyanide - immune layer on the iron pyrites particles , thereby also reducing potassium cyanide consumption . with the oxygen injection in accordance with the present invention , it is thus believed that formation of small oxygen bubbles in the pipelines is promoted , resulting in high oxygen transfer efficiencies , leading to optimized oxygen usage with accompanying cost benefits . an additional benefit may be the reduction in oxygen demand in the leaching stage , due to the increased or higher oxygen levels in the feed slurry , which are , as described , obtainable with the present invention . in one embodiment of the invention , the injection means 50 may each comprise a sonic nozzle by means of which oxygen at a pressure of 300 - 500 kpa is released , through a nozzle at a velocity approaching the speed of sound , into the conduit carrying the slurry or water . the zone of injection is then preferably at an elbow in the conduit so that fluid turbulence is maximized and , as mentioned above , a sufficient distance from the next downstream vessel which is open to atmosphere , to allow the oxygen to dissolve . ideally , the velocity of the fluid in the conduit should be between 2 and 5 meters per second for good dispersion of the oxygen bubbles . for example , the injection means may then be that available under the trade name primox . in another embodiment of the invention , the injection means may be a so - called vitox ( trade name ) arrangement or system in which all or a portion of the fluid flowing along the conduit is pumped through a venturi . oxygen or air is injected under pressure into the slurry at the venturi . the venturi creates a dispersion of bubbles in its downstream branch thereof , i . e . in its vitox pipe . the oxygenated or aerated fluid thus formed is sparged back into the conduit through high velocity nozzles . these nozzles serve to further reduce the size of undissolved gas bubbles , and create areas of high turbulence which help to dissolve the oxygen . in yet another embodiment of the invention , the injection may be by means of an in - line mixer , typically comprising a plurality of baffle plates in the conduit . preferably , sufficient oxygen is injected so that dissolved oxygen levels in the slurry in the conduit 28 are maintained above saturation level of oxygen in slurry at a point where the slurry is open to atmosphere , e . g . in the thickener 30 . the actual rate of oxygen injection will hence depend on the efficiency of dissolution , the oxygen consumption by the slurry , and the oxygen saturation levels in the slurry , but typically the injection rates can be 0 . 1 to 0 . 2 kg of oxygen per tonne of ore milled . typically , 60 - 70 % by mass of the total gold content of the ore entering the stage 12 is extracted in the stage 12 , with a further about 25 % by mass typically being extracted in the stage 14 , to give a combined or total extraction of about 85 - 95 % by mass . with the process of the present invention , the applicant believes that the gold extraction in the stage 12 can be increased . referring to fig2 reference numeral 100 generally indicates a process for extracting gold from gold - bearing ore , in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention . parts of the process 100 which are the same or similar to those of the process 10 , are indicated with the same reference numerals . the process 100 includes a gold recovery stage 102 . in the stage 102 , the thickener overflow water conduit 32 leads from the thickener 30 into a holding tank 104 . a conduit 106 leads from the holding tank 104 to a high pressure water pump 108 , while a conduit 110 leads from the pump to a high pressure water gun or monitor 112 which directs high pressure water onto a spent ore dump 114 from which residual gold is recovered in known fashion . at least one of the oxygen injection means 50 leads into each of the conduits 32 , 106 while an oxygen - sparging arrangement 116 can lead into the tank 104 , if desired , to aid in increasing the dissolved oxygen level in the water . | 2 |
the following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention . the description is not to be taken in a limiting sense , but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention , since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims . various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features . broadly , embodiments of the present invention generally provide a modular furniture assembly that allows the user to easily rearrange the components with one another to convert them into a new arrangement of furniture wherein respective components of the same type can be stacked . fig1 a - 1c show one embodiment of the present invention , on which one of the modular components may be a base module 32 . the base module 32 may be the support surface that may serve as the furniture structural form to which the rest of the modular components may be attached . the base module 32 may be made of a rigid material suitable for furniture construction . in one embodiment , the base module 32 may be made of wood , plastic , metal , composite , or recycled material . the dimensions of the base module 32 may be determined by the user . in one embodiment , the height of the base module 32 may be less than half of the width of the base module 32 . the shape of the base module 32 may provide stability to the furniture . in one embodiment the base module 32 may have a square or rectangular shape . in one embodiment , the base module 32 may include a plurality of legs attached to its bottom side . in one embodiment , the base module 32 may include a seat cushion 14 . in one embodiment , the base module 32 may include a fabric slip cover that covers all or part of the module wherein the fabric may be made of an appropriate material for indoor or outdoor use . fig2 a - 2c show one embodiment of the present invention , on which one of the modular components may be a frame module 34 . the frame module 34 may be configured to provide support to the user when connected to the base module 32 . in one embodiment , the frame module 34 may provide support to the arms , legs , or head of the user . the frame module 34 may be made of a rigid material suitable for furniture construction . in one embodiment , the frame module 34 may be made of wood , plastic , metal , composite , or recycled material . the frame module 34 may be placed on any side of the base module 32 to form different furniture designs . in one embodiment , the frame module 34 may be placed in front of the base module 32 to simulate a leg support . in one embodiment , the frame module 34 may be placed next to at least one side of the base module 32 to simulate an arm support . in one embodiment , the frame module 34 may be placed between two base modules 32 to form a larger surface . in one embodiment , the frame module 34 may include shelves . in one embodiment , the frame module 34 may include a cushion . in one embodiment , the frame module 34 may include a fabric slip cover that covers all or part of the module wherein the fabric may be made of an appropriate material for indoor or outdoor use . fig3 a - 3c show one embodiment of the present invention , on which one of the modular components may be a back rest module 36 . the back rest module 36 may be configured to provide lateral support to the user sitting on the modular furniture assembly . the back rest module 36 may be placed next to the backside of the base module 32 . in one embodiment , the back rest module 36 may have a curved shape . the back rest module 36 may be made of a material suitable for furniture construction . in one embodiment , the back rest module 36 may be made of wood , plastic , metal , composite , or recycled material . in one embodiment , the back rest module 36 may include a back rest cushion 16 . in one embodiment the back rest module 36 may include shelves . in one embodiment , the back rest module 36 may include a fabric slip cover that covers all or part of the module wherein the fabric may be made of an appropriate material for indoor or outdoor use . fig4 a - 4c show one embodiment of the present invention , in which one of the modular components may be an arm rest module 38 . the arm rest module 38 may be configured to provide support to the arms of the user when connected to the base module 32 . the arm rest module 38 may be made of a rigid material suitable for furniture construction . in one embodiment , the arm rest 38 may be made of wood , plastic , metal , composite , or recycled material . the arm rest module 38 may be placed on any side of the base module 32 to form different furniture designs . in one embodiment , the arm rest module 38 may include shelves . in one embodiment , the arm rest module 38 may include an arm rest cushion 18 . in one embodiment , the arm rest module 38 may have a curved shape . in one embodiment , the arm rest module 38 may include a fabric slip cover that covers all or part of the module wherein the fabric may be made of an appropriate material for indoor or outdoor use . fig5 a - 5c show one embodiment of the present invention , in which one of the modular components may be a leg rest module 10 . the leg rest module 10 may be configured to provide support to the legs of the user when connected to the base module 32 . the leg module 10 may be made of a material suitable for furniture construction . in one embodiment , the leg rest 10 may be made of wood , plastic , metal , composite , or recycled material . the leg rest module 10 may be placed on the front of the base module 32 to form different furniture designs . in one embodiment , the leg rest module 10 may have a curved shape . in one embodiment , the leg rest module 10 may include a leg rest cushion 20 . in one embodiment , the leg rest module 10 may include a fabric slip cover that covers all or part of the module wherein the fabric may be made of a material for indoor or outdoor use . fig6 a - 6c show one embodiment of the present invention , in which one of the modular components may be a filler module 12 . the filler module 12 may be configured to fill out empty spaces between the modules as needed . the filler module 12 may be made of a material suitable for furniture construction . in one embodiment , the filler module 12 may be made of wood , plastic , metal , composite , or recycled material . in one embodiment , the filler module 10 may include a fabric slip cover that covers all or part of the module wherein the fabric may be made of an appropriate material for indoor or outdoor use . the modules may be placed one next to each other . in one embodiment , the modules may be connected to each other by using quick acting fasteners that allow the easy assembling and disassembling of the modules with minimal effort and without the use of a tool . in one embodiment , the quick acting fastener may be hook and loop fastener , female and male interconnections , nut and bolt fasteners , clips , or adhesive tape . in one embodiment , the modules may be permanently attached by using screws , rivets , chemical welding , or adhesives . the attachment sides of each one of the modules 34 , 36 , 38 and 10 may be designed to match the sides of the base module 32 and 12 so the full contact of these surface areas allows for a tight bond between the modules and a strong and stable final assembly . in one embodiment , the modules may have tapering vertical sides to allow for nested stacking . the degree of slope may be matched on all of the other modules to allow for the entire surface of one side of the module to be coplanar and in full contact with one entire side of the other modules . therefore , the components may be attached to each other in a number of ways . the cushions 14 , 16 , 18 , and 20 may be specifically designed to be used with the corresponding module . the cushions may come in a choice of fabrics , colors , cushion densities and other properties appropriate for their intended use either indoors or outdoors . fig7 a - 13d represent different furniture arrangements , which can be created from combining the modules of the present invention . these examples only show some of the configuration possibilities . the users may be limited only by their imagination . to change the design of the furniture from one type of furniture to another , the user manually rearranges the modules to the desired design . in one embodiment , the same modules that formed a couch may be converted to form different types of modular furniture . for example , the modules that formed a couch may be converted , with additional modules , to hold a twin sized mattress 22 , a full sized mattress 24 , a queen sized mattress 26 , or a king sized mattress 28 . another example , the modules that formed a couch may be converted to a chair and a chaise lounge . in one embodiment , the modular furniture may be used outdoors . in one embodiment , the modular furniture may be used indoors . it should be understood , of course , that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims . | 0 |
the chart used in the identification of the colors is that of the royal horticultural society ( r . h . s . colour chart ). the description is based on the observation of two year - old plants during june while budded on rosa froebelli understock and growing outdoors near west grove , pa ., u . s . a . reference to color in common terms is to be accorded its ordinary dictionary significance . height . — approximately 90 to 100 cm on average at the end of the growing season . width . — approximately 70 to 80 cm on average at the end of the growing season . habit . — bushy and semi - erect . color . — young stems : light green , green groups 143c , and more or less stained with reddish coloration . adult wood : near green group 137b . thorns . — size : medium to large , commonly approximately 9 . 5 to 14 mm ( average approximately 12 mm ) in length to the base of the stem axis , approximately 2 . 8 to 3 . 8 mm ( average approximately 3 . 4 mm ) in width perpendicular to the stem axis , and approximately 8 . 5 to 10 mm ( average approximately 9 mm ) in vertical height . quantity : moderate . color on young stems : reddish with a greenish tip . color on adult stems : greenish changing to tan when fully mature . stipules . — adnate , pectinate , wide and linear . petioles . — upper surface : primarily yellow - green group 144a with some lightening to near yellow - green group 144b with glandular edges , and possibly with some red pigmentation near and through greyed - purple group 185a , 187a , 187b , and 187c . under surface : yellow - green group 144b with some darkening to near yellow - green group 144a with a few prickles mixed with glandular acicules . leaflets . — number : 3 , 5 , and sometimes 7 . shape : spear - like . size : terminal leaflets commonly are approximately 7 cm in length on average and approximately 3 . 5 to 4 cm in width on average serration : single and regular . texture : leathery . general appearance : dense , medium green , and semi - glossy . color ( young foliage ): upper surface : commonly between greyed - purple group 183b and greyed - purple group 187c . under surface : commonly between greyed - purple group 183b and greyed - purple group 187c . color ( adult foliage ): upper surface : medium green , yellow - green group 147b . under surface : light green , yellow - green group 147c . number of flowers . — commonly in clusters of 1 to 7 flowers per stem . peduncle . — rather straight , rigid , near yellow - green group 144a and more or less suffused with near greyed - purple group 183b and greyed - purple group 187c , bears numerous pediculate glands , and the length commonly is approximately 6 cm on average . sepals . — upper surface : tomentose , near yellow - green group 144b at the base , and more or less suffused with greyed - purple group 183c at the tip . under surface : light green , more or less stained with reddish coloration . bear glandular edges that are slightly appendulated . buds . — shape : generally oval with an elegant shape . size : small . length : approximately 2 . 5 cm on average . color upper surface : upon opening light mimosa yellow , yellow group 8d , and lightly edged and suffused with venetian pink , red group 49b . color under surface : upon opening light mimosa yellow , yellow group 8d . spot at base : none observed . flower . — shape : double and generally flat - shaped . diameter : approximately 9 to 10 cm on average when fully open . color ( when opening begins ): upper surface : light mimosa yellow , yellow group 8d , and lightly suffused and edged with venetian pink , red group 49b . under surface : light yellow , yellow - white group 158c . color ( when blooming ): upper surface : light yellow , yellow group 8c , and widely suffused with neyron rose , red group 55b . under surface : pale chrome yellow , yellow - white group 158d . color ( at end of opening ): upper surface : light yellow , yellow group 8c , and very widely suffused and edged with neyron rose , red group 55b . under surface : pale chrome yellow , yellow - white group 158d . petal number : approximately 24 to 25 on average under normal growing conditions . petal arrangement : imbricated . petal configuration : reflexed tip and an obtuse base . petal shape : generally oval with a corrugated tip . petal size : approximately 3 . 5 cm in length on average , and approximately 3 cm in width on average . petal texture : rather firm and consistent . petal margin : wavy and somewhat reflexed ( as illustrated ). petaloids : none observed . stamen : approximately 88 to 94 on average . anthers : near yellow group 13c and yellow - orange group 16a and typical in form . filaments : commonly of irregular heights , free - standing , and near yellow group 13c . pistils : approximately 47 to 52 on average . styles : tomentose at the base , near yellow group 8d and at the tip yellow group 8a more or less twisted in form , and commonly of irregular heights . stigmas : located at substantially the same level as the anthers , typical in form , and near yellow group 8d and yellow group 9d . fragrance : none . lasting quality : long . petal drop : good , the petals commonly detach cleanly before drying . receptacle : smooth , near yellow - green group 144a , approximately 4 . 2 to 8 . 2 cm ( average approximately 5 . 7 cm ) in length , and in longitudinal section in the shape of narrow funnel . vegetation . — very vigorous . blooming . — very floriferous with continuous blooming throughout the season . tolerance to diseases . — good tolerance to cryptogamic diseases is exhibited . tolerance to frost . — very good . aptitude to bear fruit . — good . | 0 |
describing now the drawings , it is to be understood that throughout the various figures the same reference characters have been conveniently used to note the same or analogous components . turning attention now to fig1 there is shown a toilet seat 1 mounted in a substantially flat channel 10 which is formed between an upper portion or part 2 &# 39 ; and a lower portion or part 2 &# 34 ; of a transport and cleaning body or housing 2 . below the toilet seat 1 there is rotatably mounted a transport roll 3 or equivalent structure . this transport roll 3 is provided with teeth 4 and thus forms a gear - type element . in the lower surface of the toilet seat 1 there are formed recesses 5 which are complementary to and coact with the teeth 4 of the transport roll 3 . a shaft 6 serves for mounting the transport roll 3 . above the toilet seat 1 there are arranged two support rolls or rollers 7 which are in contact with the seat surface 1 &# 39 ; of the toilet seat 1 , the surface of each support roll 7 being elastic . in fact , it is possible for the transport roll 3 , the support roll 7 , or both , to be provided with an elastic surface layer or a brush - like surface layer , as generally indicated and symbolized by reference characters 3 &# 39 ; and 7 &# 39 ;, respectively . in fig1 there has only been shown one of the support rolls 7 . these support rolls 7 are attached to a common shaft 8 . the transport roll 3 and the support rolls 7 are mounted in recesses 9 or equivalent structure of the body or housing 2 . extending within the flat channel 10 are rubber seals 11 which are attached at the upper portion 2 &# 39 ; of the body or housing 2 and contact the toilet seat surface 1 &# 39 ;. within a chamber or space 12 serving for water cleaning of the toilet seat 1 there opens a channel 13 for the water infeed and equipped with a nozzle 13 &# 39 ;. a chamber or space 14 for sterilizing the toilet seat 1 is connected with a channel 15 which likewise is provided with a nozzle 15 &# 39 ; and serves for the infeed of a suitable sterilizing or disinfecting agent . reference character 16 designates collecting chambers for the employed flushing water and sterilizing agent , respectively . the outflow channels from such collecting spaces or chambers 16 have been designated by reference characters 17 and 27 . at the left - hand portion of fig1 there has been shown part of a supply container 18 for the sterilizing agent . in fig2 the complete supply container 18 is visible . fig2 shows the rear side of the device for the liquid cleaning and sterilization of the toilet seat 1 . the supply container or reservoir 18 is provided in conventional manner with a suitable valve and an air pump generally designated by reference character 19 . the control of the air pump 19 is accomplished by a cam 20 and a lever 21 , although a different type of control can be employed . in fig3 there is shown a drive mechanism for the transport of the toilet seat 1 in its circumferential direction . the toilet seat 1 has been shown in cross - section . the teeth 4 of the transport roll 3 are in form - locking contact with the recesses 5 provided at the lower surface of the toilet seat 1 . the shaft 6 of the transport roll 3 carries a larger size gear 22 which coacts with a smaller gear 23 . the drive of the smaller gear 23 is accomplished by means of a drive gear 25 which with the smaller gear 23 possesses a common drive shaft 24 . the support rolls 7 , in the exemplary embodiment under discussion , ensure for the proper position of the toilet seat 1 . the illustrated shafts 6 , 8 , 24 are arranged in suitable bearings 27 which are attached in the transport and cleaning body or housing 2 . fig4 illustrates the drive gear 25 of fig3 in side view . this drive gear 25 , which may be a rudimentary or basic hydraulic turbine impeller by way of example , possesses eight work or function surfaces 26 , one of which is also visible in the showing of fig3 . the drive gear or wheel 25 defining an impeller is mounted in a hollow space 28 &# 39 ; of a body member or housing 28 . for the infeed of the drive water or other suitable fluid medium there is provided a channel 29 . a further channel 30 serves for the outfeed of the water . in the modified embodiment of fig5 a stationary ring or base 31 is shown having a mounting portion 32 . this stationary ring 31 forms the lower part of the toilet seat 1 and is not rotatable but can be pivoted upwards about a standard hinge arranged in the mounting portion 32 . the hinge - mounted stationary ring 31 is provided with an inner annular side wall or raised portion 33 and an outer annular side wall or raised portion 34 . in the void or space 44 between these side walls 33 and 34 there are arranged a front roll carrying member 35 , two lateral roll carrying members 36 and a rear roll carrying member 37 . recesses or sockets 35 &# 39 ; are formed in the ends of the front roll carrying member 35 to engage the rounded forward ends 36 &# 39 ; of the lateral roll carrying members 36 . the opposite ends 36 &# 34 ; of these roll carrying members 36 are provided with recesses or notches each engaging an elliptical or curved leaf spring 40 or equivalent structure . both leaf springs 40 bear against recesses or notches provided in ends 37 &# 39 ; of the rear roll carrying member 37 in order to support the latter . spacer rings 41 are mounted on locating pins 42 inside the elliptical or curved leaf springs 40 . rolls or rollers 38 rotating about substantially vertical axes are mounted by means of shafts 39 on the roll carrying members or roll carriers 35 , 36 and 37 . the rolls or rollers 38 are provided with substantially conical surfaces 38 &# 39 ; at their upper regions and are maintained in an upper position on the shafts 39 by means of spiral springs 54 , 54 &# 39 ; not visible in fig5 but shown in fig8 and 9 . extended holes or slots 42 &# 39 ; are formed in each roll carrying member 35 , 36 and 37 , as clearly shown for the roll carrying member 37 in fig5 . screws 43 pass through these slots 42 &# 39 ; to retain the roll carrying members 35 , 36 and 37 on the stationary ring or base 31 with lateral side play . the extended or elongate form of the holes or slots 42 &# 39 ; permit the roll carrying members 35 , 36 and 37 and therefore also the rolls 38 to displace laterally . for reasons of representational clarity and as mentioned previously , only one extended hole or slot 42 &# 39 ; is shown in fig5 with its associated screw 43 . similar extended holes or slots 42 &# 39 ; can also be formed in each of the other roll carrying members 35 and 36 , preferably oriented with their long axis extending in the direction of motion of the rolls or rollers 38 , i . e . substantially radially . fig6 shows a schematic cross - section through the toilet seat of the invention taken at the line vi -- vi of fig5 and showing both the lower stationary ring or base 31 and the upper rotatable seat ring or seat portion 1a of the toilet seat 1 . a substantially conical bearing surface 1 &# 34 ; formed at the junction of the main portion of the rotating ring or seat portion 1a and its outer reinforced ring 47 contacts the substantially conical surfaces 38 &# 39 ; of the rolls 38 which , as is indicated in fig8 are of a different material than the rest of the roll , preferably a rubber - like or elastomeric material . the shafts 39 of the rolls 38 are fastened to the related roll carrying member , such as the roll carrying member 35 by means of a screw 46 as shown in fig6 . the reinforced ring 47 is integrally formed on the rotatable ring 1a and is provided with a groove or depression 49 for a drive belt 48 as well as with an interior reinforcing flange 52 . opposing contact surfaces 50 of the upper rotatable seat portion 1a and the lower stationary ring or base 31 are held out of contact by the spring forces acting on the rolls 38 , so that the stationary ring 31 and the rotatable ring or seat portion 1a are only in contact at the conical surfaces 38 &# 39 ; of the rolls or rollers 38 and the conical surface 1 &# 34 ; of the rotatable ring or seat portion 1a . in this position the rotatable ring or seat portion 1a is free to rotate . when the rotatable ring or seat portion 1a is loaded from above , for instance by a seated occupant , the roll 38 shown in fig6 together with the roll carrying member 35 is displaced to the left in the direction of the arrows 100 and 101 , so that the contact surfaces 50 come into mutual contact and prevent the rotatable ring or seat portion 1a from rotating in this position . in the interior space or void 51 of the seat portion 1a there is a raised space or void 51 &# 39 ;. the lower surface of the seat portion 1a defining the upper limit of this raised space or void 51 &# 39 ; can either be higher than the height of the shaft 39 of the roll or roller 38 or can be designed to be supported by this shaft 39 . the edge regions 53 of the rotatable ring or seat portion 1a are curved or arched downward to form a lip to protect the gap between the contact surfaces 50 . fig7 substantially corresponds to fig6 except that the section is taken at line vii -- vii of fig5 and passes through the roll carrying member 37 at the location where the screw 43 engages the extended hole or slot 42 &# 39 ;. fig8 and 9 show two embodiments of the previously described roll 38 . according to fig8 a cylindrical spring 54 is arranged between the roll 38 and the shaft 39 in an interior space or void 39 &# 39 ;. according to the modification of fig9 a cylindrical spring 54 &# 39 ; is arranged beneath the vertically movable roll 38 . fig1 shows a plan view of a toilet seat according to the invention having the aforedescribed rotatable ring or seat portion 1a and a device 2 for driving the seat portion into rotation in the direction of the arrow 102 . this device 2 may be constituted , by means of , for instance , a hydraulic drive , such as a water turbine , acting on the drive belt 48 and a device for cleaning and optionally sterilizing the toilet seat by means of the elements previously described with reference to fig1 to 4 . as can be seen from fig6 the rolls or rollers 38 prevent the rotating or rotatable ring or seat portion 1a of the toilet seat 1 from being lifted off the stationary ring or base 31 . this can only be done after the curved leaf springs 40 and the spacer rings 41 have been removed , since only then can the roll carriers or roll carrying members 35 , 36 and 37 with the rolls or rollers 38 be moved out of engagement with the reinforcing flange 52 without excessively loading the rotatable seat portion 1a . as can be seen by comparing fig6 and 7 , the rotatable ring or seat portion 1a has the same profile at the front and at the rear . it will be understood that an analogous , wider profile may be provided at intermediate regions . a difference between fig6 and 7 is that fig7 shows a construction in which the rotatable ring or seat portion 1a is formed with a lower or shallower profile in the region of the mounting portion 32 . having now had the benefit of the foregoing description the mode of operation of the inventive apparatus will be described and is as follows : during flushing of the toilet a portion of the flushing water is used for three functions . the drive wheel or turbine impeller 25 is driven and thus the transport roll 3 , so that the toilet seat 1 is placed into rotational movement . at the same time there is also rotated the cam 20 which is coupled with the transport roll 3 , so that by means of the lever 21 there is pumped a certain quantity of air into the supply container or reservoir 18 , which then expels an appropriate dosage , for instance 1 . 5 ml of the sterilizing agent from the supply container 18 into the channel 15 . further portions of the flushing water are conducted through the channel or duct 13 and the nozzle 13 &# 39 ; into the chamber or space 12 for the water cleaning and through the channel 15 and the nozzle 15 &# 39 ; into the chamber 14 serving for sterilization of the toilet seat 1 , and in the channel 15 the water is admixed with the sterilizing agent . as shown in fig1 the toilet seat 1 , with the first exemplary embodiment illustrated and under discussion , moves from the right towards the left in the direction of the arrows . the seat surface 1 &# 39 ; which is to be cleaned and sterilized initially arrives at the chamber 12 for undergoing water cleaning . the nozzle 13 &# 39 ; extends obliquely towards the left of such chamber 12 ( fig1 ), so that there is prevented outflow of the water towards the right . the used water flows laterally of the toilet seat 1 ( i . e . according to the showing of fig1 behind and forwardly of the toilet seat ) into the collecting chamber 16 and the outflow channel 27 . in the direction of the rotational movement of the toilet seat 1 the chamber 12 is bounded by the rubber seal means 11 , so that the water cannot penetrate between the rolls 3 and 7 . the rubber seal or seal means 11 simultaneously functions as a stripper or scraper , so that in the chamber 14 the toilet seat surface 1 &# 39 ; can be sprayed with a highly concentrated sterilizing agent and thus faultlessly sterilized . also this chamber 14 is bounded in the direction of the rotational movement of the toilet seat 1 by a further rubber seal 11 , so that the toilet seat surface 1 &# 39 ; is dry and clean externally of the transport and cleaning device 2 . of course , the drive wheel or gear 25 , the gears 22 and 23 , the transport roll 3 , the cam 20 , the lever 21 and the air pump 19 are structurally designed such that the toilet seat 1 is transported throughout its entire periphery or circumference through the cleaning device 2 , and during this movement both of the chambers or spaces 12 and 14 are supplied with appropriate liquids . as indicated above , power for driving the toilet seat into rotation may be obtained from a water wheel or hydraulic motor or turbine of known type engaging the flow of flushing water or from other known motor means , such as an electric motor . known means of power transmission , such as gear drives , belt drives or shaft drives , transmit the power to a standard transport roll engaging the drive belt 48 of the embodiments of fig5 to 10 , such as the transport roll 3 of fig1 . the drive belt 48 drivingly engages groove 49 provided in the reinforced ring 47 of the rotatable seat portion 1a to impart rotational motion thereto . since the rotatable seat portion 1a is not loaded by a seated occupant during the flushing operation , the opposed contact surfaces 50 are in their separated position and the rotatable seat portion 1a bears on the conical surfaces or rollers 38 &# 39 ; of the rolls 38 with its conical surface 1 &# 34 ;. the rolls 38 are free to rotate about substantially vertical axes and act to support and guide the seat portion 1a in its rotation . the extended holes or slots 42 &# 39 ; permit lateral displacement of the roll carrying members 35 and with them the rolls or rollers 38 in order to accommodate minor irregularities or inaccuracies of the conical surface 1 &# 34 ;. of course , the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings by way of example . thus , for instance , the disclosed and illustrated constructions can be designed as a constructional unit along with the flushing water reservoir . it is possible to employ a different known dosing device , for instance a water driven piston pump . the equipment also can operate with a single cleaning chamber . this single cleaning stage or also the channel 13 for the water infeed , in the exemplary embodiment of fig1 can have infed thereto for instance any suitable commercially available , liquid household cleaning agent . for this purpose there is suitable for instance a pump working according to the ejector principle . the apparatus of the invention can be arranged to be fixed or tiltable . equally the mode of operation can be different than that described by way of example . with lesser pressure of the flushing water the cleaning can be accomplished first following the flushing operation . in this case there is used for the drive and the cleaning part of the water flowing in the flushing water reservoir . in place of an exchangeable of refillable supply container 18 there also could be used a known spray can . while there are shown and described present preferred embodiments of the invention , it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto , but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced withing the scope of the following claims . | 0 |
fig1 - 2 show a heat dissipating device in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention . the heat dissipating device comprises a heat sink 10 , three heat pipes 20 , a heat reservoir 30 mounted on the heat sink 10 , a fan 40 mounted to a side of the heat sink 10 and a pair of clips 50 . the heat sink 10 comprises a heat spreader 102 and a plurality of fins 104 . the heat spreader 102 is preferably made of copper or aluminum material , and has a bottom mating surface for contacting a heat source such as a cpu ( not shown ). the heat spreader 102 defines a recess 106 for partially receiving the fan 40 and three parallel adjoining grooves 108 in a top surface thereof , opposing the mating surface . the heat spreader 102 defines mounting holes 107 at two lateral sides , near the recess 106 . the heat spreader 102 forms ears 110 extending outwardly at four comers thereof . the heat spreader 102 is attached on the cpu by screws 112 extending through the ears 110 and engaging with a retainer ( not shown ) surrounding the cpu . each screw 112 is provided with a spring 114 therearound , for ensuring a secure engagement between the screws 112 and the retainer . the fins 104 are attached on the spreader 102 . the fins 104 define three adjoining slots 116 in a bottom portion thereof corresponding to the grooves 108 of the heat spreader 102 , and three spaced slots 118 in a top portion thereof . the grooves 108 and the slots 116 , 118 each have a semicircle cross - section . each heat pipe 20 is generally u - shaped , and forms a capillary structure therein . opposite ends of each heat pipe 20 respectively form an evaporating portion 202 and a condensing portion 204 parallel to the evaporating portion 202 . the evaporating portions 202 of the heat pipes 20 are fixedly received in holes formed by the corresponding grooves 108 of the heat spreader 102 and slots 116 of the fins 104 by soldering means or by other conventional means such that the heat pipes 20 and the heat sink 10 ( inclusive of the fins 104 and the heat spreader 102 ) are thermally connected together . the heat reservoir 30 is a block made of a material with a high thermal conductivity , such as copper , and has a sealed chamber therein containing working medium having a high specific heat , such as water . the heat reservoir 30 has a square configuration . three slots 302 corresponding to the slots 118 of the fins 104 is defined in a bottom portion of the heat reservoir 30 . the condensing portions 204 of the heat pipes 20 are fixedly received in holes formed by the slots 302 of the heat reservoir 30 and the slots 118 of the fins 104 such that the fins 104 , the heat pipes 20 and the heat reservoir 30 are thermally connected together , which means that heat received by the spreader 102 is transferred to the heat reservoir 30 and the fins 104 by the heat pipes 20 . when the cpu operates , heat is generated by the cpu and transferred to the heat sink 10 , the raised temperature of the heat sink 10 can be calculated by following equation : δt is the raised temperature of the heat sink 10 ; q is the amount heat of the cpu operating ; m 1 is the mass of the heat sink 10 ; m 2 is the mass of the water in the heat reservoir 30 ; c 1 is the specific heat of the heat sink 10 ; c 2 is the specific heat of the water in the heat reservoir 30 . in a comparison between the prior art and the present invention , suppose that the amount heat generated by the cpu is a constant value , the specific heat of the heat sink in the prior art is the same as c 1 of the present invention , and the mass of the heat sink in the prior art is a combination of m 1 and m 2 of the present invention . the heat sink 30 is made of copper , the specific heat of water is bigger than the specific heat of copper , which means c 2 is bigger than c 1 , so the increased or decreased speed of the temperature of the heat sink 10 with the heat reservoir 30 is much lower than the heat sink without the heat reservoir in the prior art when they are used to absorb or dissipate a determined amount of heat . because the heat sink 10 and the heat reservoir 30 are thermally connected with the cpu , the large degree of fluctuation of the temperature of the cpu between busy and idle conditions can be improved . thus , the speed of the fan does not need to be varied abruptly due to the sudden increase or decrease of the temperature of the cpu . when the cpu is busy and the heat generated by the cpu is increased , the heat reservoir 30 can absorb the heat and store the heat therein to drop the temperature of the cpu to an acceptable level . when the cpu is shifted to idle and the heat generated by the cpu is decreased sharply , the heat reservoir 30 can release the heat stored therein to prevent the temperature of the cpu from being lowered too quickly . thus the temperature of the cpu can have a more stable variation . the fan 40 is contained in a bracket 402 having a generally circular configuration , and is mounted to a lateral side 105 of the fins 104 via the clips 50 . the fan 40 is used for producing forced airflow to flow through channels ( not labeled ) between the fins 104 to thereby promote heat dissipation efficiency of the heat sink 10 . the bracket 402 forms four lugs 404 extending outwardly therefrom . an aperture 406 is defined in each lug 404 . the rotational speed of the fan 40 is controlled by bios based on the temperature of the cpu . each clip 50 comprises a body 502 positioned on the lateral side 105 of the fins 104 , and a tab 504 perpendicularly extending from a bottom side of the body 502 . an engaging screw 510 extends through a top end of the body 502 for engaging in a corresponding mounting hole 304 . each body 502 forms a pair of bulges 506 . a screw hole 507 is defined in each bulge 506 . each tab 504 defines a locating hole 508 corresponding to one the mounting holes 107 of the heat spreader 102 . in this embodiment , the clips 50 are fastened on the heat sink 10 by engaging screws 113 through the locating holes 508 of the clips 50 and into the mounting holes 107 of the heat spreader 102 , and by engaging the screws 510 into the mounting holes 304 of the heat reservoir 30 . the lugs 404 of the bracket 402 are fastened to the clips 50 by extending screws ( not shown ) through the apertures 406 of the lugs 404 into the screw holes 507 defined in the bulges 506 of the clips 50 . thus , the fan 40 is secured on the lateral side 105 of the heat sink 10 and the heat reservoir 30 and blows air flow through the channels of fins 104 to enhance heat dissipating effectiveness of the heat sink 10 . in operation of the heat dissipating device , one portion of heat accumulated on the heat spreader 10 can be immediately taken away to the fins 104 of the heat sink 10 where the heat is dissipated to atmosphere . the other portion of the heat accumulated on the heat spreader 10 is transferred to the heat reservoir 30 via the heat pipes 20 . the heat on the heat reservoir 30 is absorbed by the working medium in the heat reservoir 30 and is reserved in the heat reservoir 30 . when the heat generated by the cpu is decreased sharply , the heat can be quickly dissipated by the heat sink , the heat reserved in the heat reservoir 30 is released to prevent the temperature of the cpu from being dropped too quickly . when the heat generated by the cpu is increased rapidly , the heat reservoir 30 may absorb the heat and the fins 104 can dissipate the heat to lower the temperature of the cpu to an acceptable level . thus , the heat reservoir 30 may store or release heat based on the amount of heat generated by the cpu to realize a compensation to the quick increase or decrease of the temperature of the cpu due to shift between idle and busy conditions , thereby maintaining the temperature of the cpu to have a stable change rate within a predetermined range . thus , change of the rotation speed of the fan 40 is maintained at a stable rate within a predetermined range since the change of the speed of the fan is proportional to the change of the temperature of the cpu . accordingly , an abrupt fluctuation of the noise level generated by the operation of the fan 40 can be avoided . fig3 - 4 show a heat dissipating device in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention . the heat dissipating device of the second preferred embodiment is similar with that of the first preferred embodiment . however , a heat reservoir 30 ′ replaces the heat reservoir 30 of the first embodiment . the heat reservoir 30 ′ has a u - shaped configuration , and comprises an upper portion 302 ′, a lower portion 304 ′ and a middle portion 306 ′. the upper portion 302 ′ of the heat reservoir 30 ′ is parallel to the lower portion 304 ′, and is connected to the lower portion 304 ′ via the middle portion 306 ′. the upper portion 302 ′ defines three slots 308 ′ in a bottom portion thereof , corresponding to the slots 118 of the fins 104 . a pair of mounting holes 305 ′ is defined in a lateral side of the upper portion 302 ′. in the second preferred embodiment , the heat sink 10 is sandwiched between the upper portion 302 ′ and the lower portion 304 ′. the lower portion 304 ′ is attached to the cpu . in operation of the heat dissipating device in accordance with the second embodiment , one portion of heat accumulated on the lower portion 304 ′ is conducted to the heat spreader 102 , and is subsequently transferred to the fins 104 for being dissipated to atmosphere . the other portion of the heat accumulated on the lower portion 304 ′ is absorbed by the working medium in the lower portion 304 ′ and is stored in the lower portion 304 ′. the heat pipes 20 transfer one portion of the absorbed heat from the heat spreader 102 to the upper portion 302 ′ of the heat reservoir 30 ′. the heat on the upper portion 302 ′ is absorbed by the working medium in the upper portion 302 ′ and is stored in the upper portion 302 ′. when the heat generated by the cpu is decreased sharply , the heat stored in the heat reservoir 30 ′ can be released to prevent the temperature of the cpu from being quickly dropped . when the heat generated by the cpu is increased rapidly , the heat reservoir 30 ′ may absorb the heat to lower the temperature of the cpu to an acceptable level . thus , the heat reservoir 30 ′ may store or release heat based on the amount of heat generated by the cpu to realize a compensation to the quick increase or decrease of the temperature of the cpu , thereby maintaining the temperature of the cpu to have a stable change rate . therefore , the change of the rotation speed of the fan 40 is maintained at a stable rate , and the abrupt fluctuation of the noise level generated by the operation of the fan 40 is prevented . it is believed that the present invention and its 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 of the invention . | 7 |
referring to the figures , wherein like numerals indicate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views , a representative automobile is generally shown at 10 in fig1 . the automobile 10 includes a rearwardly facing exterior surface which includes a rear window 12 , a pair of rear brake light assemblies 14 , and other standard features . a chmsl assembly , generally indicated at 16 , is supported for viewing through the rear window 12 . when a driver touches the brake pedal and thus activates the braking system , the chmsl assembly 16 is energized , together with the brake lights 14 , to illuminate an elongated , generally rectangular red region signaling rearward drivers of a brake - induced deceleration . referring to fig2 , the chmsl 16 includes a housing 18 which is mounted or fixed to the vehicle 10 . in some vehicles , the housing 18 will be suspended from the inner roof or headliner portion , whereas in other vehicles the housing 18 will be mounted on a rear deck lid or exterior of the vehicle on the trunk lid . alternatively , the housing 18 need not be a part of the chmsl 16 per se . rather , it can be incorporated into a dome light assembly , a rear brake light assembly , or other such structure . the housing 18 includes a light transmissive screen 20 presented in the rearwardly facing direction . typically , although not necessarily , the light transmissive screen 20 will comprise the closing end of the housing 18 through which only visible light may pass . the light transmissive screen 20 can possess optical characteristics , such as lensing or coloration attributes as may be deemed necessary . furthermore , the light transmissive screen 20 can , in some circumstances , be formed integrally with the rear window 12 of the vehicle 10 . one or more primary visible light sources 22 are disposed in the housing 18 for projecting visible light along a path toward the light transmissive screen 20 . in the preferred embodiment , the primary visible light source comprises an array of light emitting diodes ( led &# 39 ; s ) or other light generating elements having favorable power consumption , size and temperature attributes . notwithstanding , a single light source 22 of sufficient light output intensity could be used with similar effectiveness . the primary light source 22 is positioned within the housing 18 , horizontally transverse within the automobile 10 , such that the light emitted from the light sources 22 is projected into a translucent material having a shape which causes the light to spread and reflect within it . the translucent material shape may be in the form of a collector 24 and a diffuser 26 , joined end - to - end with or without gap between . the collector 24 and diffuser 26 may be made from a silicone material , although other materials known to those skilled in the art may also be used such as epoxy or urethane or opaque materials . the combination diffuser 26 and collector 24 are structured to help evenly mix and spread the light patterns from the multiple light sources 22 , and direct these light patterns through an exit face 28 of the diffuser 26 . although shown in the drawings as a single piece , the collector 24 / diffuser 26 can be spaced one from another and can also be designed as an array of multiple sub - units serving each one or two individual light sources 22 . light emanating from the exit face 28 , along the path of light , passes into another optical feature in the form of a substantially transparent plate 30 . the transparent plate 30 can be permanently affixed in the housing 18 , or more preferably can be removably supported on an interchange mechanism 32 that will allow convenient , user friendly substitution with a different transparent plate 30 . a phosphor - coated indicia is disposed on one face of the transparent plate 30 . phosphor materials such a strontium , zinc , cadmium sulfides , or any other material or pigment that absorbs light energy and radiates visible light when exposed to ultraviolet light can be used . different phosphor materials and blends of materials can be selected to radiate different visible light colors . regardless of the particular phosphor material chosen , it is preferably of a type which is generally transparent or invisible in the absence of ultraviolet light . a secondary ultraviolet light source 36 is also provided within the housing 18 . the secondary ultraviolet light source 36 is selectively energized to project ultraviolet light onto the phosphor - coated indicia 34 to produce a visually interesting display through the light transmissive screen 20 for the benefit of viewers positioned rearwardly of the vehicle . thus , when the secondary ultraviolet light source 36 is activated , the phosphor - coated indicia 34 absorbs light energy at the relevant wave lengths and then radiates visible light . light colorations for the primary light source 22 , such as “ red ” for stop light applications , will be created in the light path upstream of the indicia 34 so as not to affect or alter the visual distinctiveness of the glowing indicia 34 . for example , the red color for a stop light application can be achieved through a red light emitting primary light source 22 , or coloring agents or films used with the collector 24 / diffuser 26 . the light transmissive screen 20 can be provided with an ultraviolet light blocking agent so that uv light cannot escape from the housing 18 . the remainder of the housing 18 is also made from a material impervious to the passage of ultraviolet light . by this means , uv light emitted from the secondary light source 36 is completely undetectable to an outside observer . nevertheless , the uv light causes the phosphor - coated indicia 34 to glow with visible light colors rendering an impressive visual effect . the uv blocking agent incorporated into the light transmissive screen 20 can be in the form of a film applied to the inner surface of the screen 20 , as depicted in fig2 , or the light transmissive screen 20 can be doped with an appropriate uv blocking material . other techniques may also be employed . fig3 is a simplified perspective view of the transparent plate 30 with the phosphor - coated indicia 34 being arranged to form the arbitrary and exemplary word “ team ”. here , the secondary ultraviolet light sources 36 are shown in an inactive state , and as a result the phosphor - coated indicia 34 are substantially invisible or undetectable to an outside observer . accordingly , if the chmsl 16 is activated with the brake light system , light from the primary light source 22 , acting through the collector 24 / diffuser 26 , is projected through the light transmissive screen 20 without the phosphor - coated indicia being noticeable . however , when the secondary ultraviolet light sources 36 are energized , as shown in fig4 , the uv light irradiates the phosphor - coated indicia 34 causing it to glow . thus , observers , particularly those positioned rearwardly of the automobile 10 , would be able to discern the phosphor - coated indicia 34 , especially at night , and thus appreciate the intended expression . preferably , the glowing indicia 34 can remain energized at the same time as the primary light source 22 without adversely affecting the color output from the primary light source 22 . thus , if the primary light source 22 operates as a red stop like , for example , then the indicia 34 can remain glowing without unduly changing the red color perceived by an observer . however , if the color alternation is not acceptable , a control circuit can be used to electronically interconnect the primary visible light source 22 and the secondary ultraviolet light source 36 in such a manner that the secondary ultraviolet light source 36 can only be energized when the primary visible light source 22 is de - energized . thus , conflicts between the two lighting systems , operating through the common chmsl assembly 16 and housing 18 are never problematic . referring now to fig5 , a first alternative embodiment of the invention is depicted . for convenience , prime (′) designations are used with corresponding previous reference numerals in this example . here , the chmsl assembly 16 ′ includes a primary light source 22 ′ positioned adjacent a collector 24 ′ and diffuser 26 ′. these features are similar in design and functionality to the previous embodiment . in this application , however , the transparent plate 30 is omitted and the phosphor - coated indicia 34 ′ is affixed directly to the exit face 28 ′ of the diffuser 26 ′. optical uv filters 38 ′ may be positioned between the secondary uv light sources 36 ′ and the phosphor - coated indicia 34 ′. the uv filters 38 ′ allow uv light of a predetermined wave length only to pass through . for example , a typical uv light wave length might be 365 nm . thus , when energized , the uv light source 36 ′ may produce light within a wide range of wave lengths , however the filter 38 ′ will only allow light at the 365 nm wave length to pass through to the phosphor - coated indicia 34 ′. in some circumstances , this may be beneficial . phosphor - coated indicia 34 ′ of differing compositions , and responsive to uv light in different wave lengths , may be applied in concert with different uv filters 38 ′ to achieve additional lighting effects . if the phosphor - coated indicia is selectively chosen so that its phosphor material is reactive to uv radiation at one wave length but not affected by uv light at another wave length , the multiple uv filters 38 ′ and their secondary uv light sources 36 ′ can be selectively energized to excite only portions of the phosphor - coated indicia 34 ′ at any given time . thus , multiple expressions can be achieved through a single system . fig5 also illustrates the smooth dispersion of the light rays emanating from the primary light sources 22 by way of their projected beam patterns 40 ′. as illustrated here , the beam patterns 40 ′ are in the form of even , elliptical spreading which results in a smooth optical presentation to drivers traveling behind the automobile 10 . it will be appreciated , however , that other non - elliptical lighting patterns can be achieved by optimizing the design of the collector 24 ′ and diffuser 26 ′, and / or by incorporating a lens or reflector into the optical system . in fig6 , a second alternative embodiment of the subject invention is illustrated in schematic form . for convenience , double prime (″) designations will be used with previously introduced reference numerals . as in previous embodiments , the chmsl assembly 16 ″ includes a primary light source 22 ″ positioned adjacent a collector 24 ″ and diffuser 26 ″ having an exit face 28 ″. a uv light source 36 ″ is likewise provided . in this example , the phosphor - coated indicia 34 ″ is applied directly to the inner surface of the light transmissive screen 20 ″. thus , the transparent plate 30 of the preceding example is again eliminated . to address the interchangeability issue , the light transmissive screen 20 ″ can be mounted with some form of interchange mechanism to permit convenient substitution for another light transmissive screen 20 ″ with differently formed phosphor - coated indicia 34 ″. a control circuit 42 ″ is shown electrically interconnecting the primary visible light source 22 ″ and the secondary uv light sources 36 ″ in the manner as previously described . according to any one of the preceding embodiments , a method for selectively presenting lighted indicia from an automobile 10 can be accomplished . the method comprises the step of containing a primary visible light source 22 , a secondary ultraviolet light source 36 and a phosphor - coated indicia 34 within a uv impervious housing 18 . the phosphor - coated indicia 34 is irradiated with the ultraviolet light from the secondary uv light source 36 while the primary visible light source 22 is inactive . by this technique , the phosphor - coated indicia 34 is visible to observers outside through a light transmissive screen 20 incorporated into the housing 18 . a control circuit automatically de - energizes the secondary uv light source 36 in response to the primary visible light source being energized so that there is no conflict between the two lighting systems operating within a common housing 18 . the phosphor - coated indicia 34 is substantially invisible to observers whenever the primary light source 22 is active . preferably , although not necessarily , the phosphor - coated indicia are mounted on a removable transparent plate 30 or on a removable light transmissive screen 20 ″ so that expressive ideas can be changed from time to time . the step of automatically de - energizing the secondary ultraviolet light source 36 is responsive to a brake - induced vehicle deceleration , such as occurs when a driver depresses the brake pedal . obviously , many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . for example , the various features and distinctions among the several embodiments are generally interchangeable one with another . it is , therefore , to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described . | 1 |
fig1 shows an exhaust gas purification system 1 for exhaust gases flowing from cylinders of an internal combustion engine , in particular a diesel engine , which is arranged in an exhaust tract and has a housing 2 with an inlet 3 and an outlet 4 . the inlet 3 is shown connected to an inlet line and the central cylindrical body of housing 2 . the outlet 4 is shown connected to an outlet line and the cylindrical body of housing 2 . at least one catalytic converter element 6 and one filter element 7 are shown arranged in the housing 2 . the catalytic converter element is designated below as a catalytic converter and the filter element as a filter . the inlet line and the outlet line are not illustrated in fig1 . the inlet line can be connected on the inlet side to a conically widening transitional portion 8 of the housing 2 , which transitional portion merges into a treatment portion 9 of the housing 2 , said treatment portion being designed , for example , cylindrically , as seen in longitudinal section . connected to the treatment portion 9 on the outlet side is a conically tapering transitional portion 11 which is connected to the outlet line , not illustrated . thus for example , conical portions 8 and 11 are connected to the ends of cylinder 9 as shown if fig1 . an overall exhaust gas stream from the internal combustion engine , in particular the diesel engine , flows through the inlet line to the housing 2 . fig1 shows by way of example a housing 2 designed cylindrically , as seen in cross section ( fig2 ). the housing 2 may , of course , also have other geometrically designed shapes , as seen in cross section , for example , oval or race track . the catalytic converter 6 and filter 7 are arranged or positioned in the housing 2 such that a first part of the overall exhaust gas stream flows through the catalytic converter 6 and a second part of the exhaust gas flows through the filter 7 . the first part of the exhaust gas also flows through a second filter 12 arranged or positioned on the outlet side after passing through the catalytic converter 6 . the second part of the exhaust gas also flows through a second catalytic converter 13 arranged on the outlet side after passing through the first filter 7 ( e . g ., particulate filter ). in this way , the first filter is placed in series with the second catalytic converter , and the first catalytic converter is placed in series with the second filter . as a result , the first filter and the first catalyst are in direct communication with the inlet . thus , two separate and segregated exhaust gas flow paths are created in the housing . in one embodiment , the outlet 11 is in communication with the atmosphere by way of an outlet pipe . for example , a first part of the overall exhaust gas stream first flows through the inlet - side catalytic converter 6 , which is preferably designed as an scr catalytic converter , and then flows through the filter 12 which directly follows the latter and is preferably designed as a diesel particle filter . this arrangement leads to a rapid attainment of the operating temperature of the catalytic converter 6 and therefore to a reduction in nitrogen oxides in the first part of the overall exhaust gas stream . however , since the first part of the overall exhaust gas stream thereby has a reduced nitrogen oxide content , this leads to a less efficient soot combustion in the diesel particle filter , in the case of both active and passive regeneration . the abovementioned condition may be mitigated , or even eliminated , by means of the description , in that the second part of the overall exhaust gas stream flows first through the filter 7 arranged on the inlet side and likewise designed as a diesel particle filter , in order then to flow through the directly following second catalytic converter 13 . the second part of the overall exhaust gas stream consequently has a nitrogen oxide fraction such that soot combustion ( regeneration ) may be achieved more quickly . in one embodiment , the first catalytic converter and the first filter are substantially geometrically equivalent . further , the first filter and second catalytic converter may be geometrically equivalent to the first catalytic converter and the second filter . further still , the cross - sectional area of the first filter element and the first catalyst may be substantially equivalent ( e . g ., within ± 10 cm 2 of each other ). in addition , the cross - sectional area of the second filter and the second catalytic converter may be substantially equivalent . by means of the description , therefore , the benefits of the series - connected filters 7 ( catalytic converter 6 ) and catalytic converters 13 ( filter 12 ) are advantageously combined with one another , in order thereby to achieve a better purification of exhaust gases , in particular of diesel exhaust gases . in this case , account is taken of the fact that both series connections are different , but these differences can be used as an advantage by combining the two series connections in one common housing 2 . as may be gathered from fig1 , the overall exhaust gas stream may be divided into substantially two halves , and therefore the respective components ( filter 7 , 12 and catalytic converter 6 , 13 ) and their geometric extent in both the radial ( cross - sectional area ) and in the axial direction may be designed identically . fig2 shows a front view of the inlet side of the housing 2 in cross section , in which , of course , only the in each case inlet - side filter 7 and catalytic converter 6 can also be seen . it is , of course , within the scope of the description to provide more than one catalytic converter 6 and one filter 7 in each case on the inlet side and therefore also on the outlet side , as shown , for example , in fig3 . in fig3 , for example , two filters 7 and two catalytic converters 6 are arranged on the inlet side and are designed such that the clear diameter of the treatment portion 9 is filled by the components , each component occupying a quarter of the clear diameter and being arranged obliquely opposite to one another . in this case , the overall exhaust gas stream is divided into four part flows which , in turn , flow , oriented in parallel ( with respect to the main flow direction from the inlet side to the outlet side ), through the components . the part flows are not illustrated in the individual figures . on the outlet side , the respective filter 7 is then followed by the second catalytic converter 13 and the respective catalytic converter 6 by the second filter 12 , although this cannot be seen in fig3 because of the view illustrated , two filters 12 and two catalytic converters 13 being arranged , of course , on the outlet side . a further embodiment is shown in fig4 and 5 . in fig4 , the filter 7 is arranged centrally in the housing 2 and is surrounded by the inlet - side catalytic converter 6 virtually in the manner of a casing . on the outlet side , the filter 7 is followed , in turn , by the second catalytic converter 13 , the second filter 12 following the inlet - side catalytic converter 6 . the components may again be selected in terms of their configuration such that the components are connected in series in each case and may be identical in their geometric extent . of course , the individual components may be designed differently in their geometric extent , in particular in their longitudinal extent . thus , the inlet - side filter 7 may be longer than the inlet - side catalytic converter 6 , as a result of which , of course , correspondingly different axial lengths of the components which in each case follow may be obtained . this concludes the description . the reading of it by those skilled in the art would bring to mind many alterations and modifications without departing from the spirit and the scope of the description . for example , i3 , i4 , i5 , v6 , v8 , v10 , v12 , and turbine engines operating on non - limiting fuel types such as ethanol , kerosene , jet fuel , gasoline , propane , proponol , diesel , or other alternative fuel configurations could use the present description to advantage . | 8 |
the present invention provides toner particles having high transfer efficiency and excellent cleaning properties , and reducing toner consumption . the present invention also provides a developer for an electrostatic image including the toner particles . the present invention also provides a method of forming an electrophotographic image using the developer for an electrostatic image . according to an aspect of the present invention , there is provided toner particles including a binder resin and a colorant , wherein a particle diameter distribution of the toner particles satisfy the following conditions : wherein d 16 , number and d 16 , volume respectively refer to a cumulative 16 % number particle diameter from the smallest number particle diameter and a cumulative 16 % volume particle diameter from the smallest volume particle diameter ; d 50 , number and d 50 , volume respectively refer to a 50 % number particle diameter and a 50 % volume particle diameter ; d 84 , number and d 84 , volume respectively refer to a cumulative 84 % number particle diameter from the smallest number particle diameter and a cumulative 84 % volume particle diameter from the smallest volume particle diameter . according to an aspect of the present invention , there is provided a developer for an electrostatic image including toner particles . according to an aspect of the present invention , there is provided a method of forming an electrophotographic image , the method including forming a toner image by adhering toner to a photoreceptor on which an electrostatic image is formed , and transferring the toner image to a transferring medium . toner particles according to embodiments of the present invention have high transfer efficiency and excellent cleaning properties , and reduce toner consumption . hereinafter , the present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings , in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown . hereinafter , toner particles according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail . as used herein , the term “ and / or ” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items . expressions such as “ at least one of ,” when preceding a list of elements , modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list . toner particles according to an embodiment of the present invention include a binder resin and a colorant , wherein a particle diameter distribution of the toner particles satisfy the following conditions : in this regard , d 16 , number and d 16 , volume respectively refer to a cumulative 16 % number particle diameter from the smallest number particle diameter and a cumulative 16 % volume particle diameter from the smallest volume particle diameter . d 50 , number and d 50 , volume respectively refer to a 50 % number particle diameter and a 50 % volume particle diameter . d 84 , number and d 84 , volume respectively refer to a cumulative 84 % number particle diameter from the smallest number particle diameter and a cumulative 84 % volume particle diameter from the smallest volume particle diameter . toner particles according to an embodiment of the present invention have a narrow particle diameter distribution and high transfer efficiency , and reduce toner consumption since the toner particles satisfy the above conditions . according to an embodiment of the present invention , gsd α & gt ; 0 . 5 . according to another embodiment of the present invention , gsd γ ≦ 1 . the binder resin contained in the toner particles according to the current embodiment may be prepared by polymerizing at least one polymerizable monomer selected from the group consisting of a vinyl - based monomer , a polar monomer having a carboxy group , a monomer having an unsaturated ester group , and a monomer having a fatty acid group . the polymerizable monomer may include at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of styrene - based monomers such as styrene , vinyl toluene , and α - methyl styrene ; acrylic acid or methacrylic acid ; derivatives of ( meth ) acrylates such as methyl acrylate , ethyl acrylate , propyl acrylate , butyl acrylate , 2 - ethylhexyl acrylate , dimethylamino ethyl acrylate , methyl methacrylate , ethyl methacrylate , propyl methacrylate , butyl methacrylate , 2 - ethylhexyl methacrylate , dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate , acrylonitrile , methacrylonitrile , acrylamide , and metacryl amide ; ethylenically unsaturated mono - olefins such as ethylene , propylene , and butylenes ; halogenated vinyls such as vinyl chloride , vinylidene chloride , and vinyl fluoride ; vinyl esters such as vinyl acetate and vinyl propionate ; vinyl ethers such as vinyl methyl ether and vinyl ethyl ether ; vinyl ketones such as vinyl methyl ketone and methyl isoprophenyl ketone ; and nitrogen - containing vinyl compounds such as 2 - vinylpyridine , 4 - vinylpyridine , and n - vinyl pyrrolidone , but is not limited thereto . generally , a polymerization initiator may be used to initiate the polymerization . examples of the polymerization initiator are a benzoyl peroxide - based polymerization initiator and an azo - based polymerization initiator . a portion of the binder resin may be subjected to a reaction with a cross - linking agent , such as an isocyanate compound and an epoxy compound . the colorant contained in the toner particles may be used in the form of a pigment itself , or alternatively , in the form of a pigment master batch in which the pigment is dispersed in a resin . the pigment may be selected from pigments that are commonly and commercially used , such as a black pigment , a cyan pigment , a magenta pigment , a yellow pigment and a mixture thereof . the amount of the colorant may be sufficient to color the toner and form a visible image by development , for example , in the range of 1 to 20 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the binder resin . meanwhile , the toner particles may further include additives in addition to the binder resin and the colorant . the additives may include a releasing agent such as wax , a charge control agent , or the like . wax improves fixing properties of a toner image . examples of the wax include polyalkylene wax such as low molecular weight polypropylene and low molecular weight polyethylene , ester wax , carnauba wax , and paraffin wax . the amount of the wax contained in toner may be in a range of about 0 . 1 parts by weight to about 30 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the entire toner composition . if the amount of the wax is less than 0 . 1 parts by weight , oilless fixing of toner particles in which toner particles are fixed without using oil cannot be performed . on the other hand , if the amount of the wax is greater than 30 parts by weight , toner may be flocculated while it is stored . the additives may further include external additives . the external additives are used to improve fluidity of the toner or control charge properties of the toner . examples of the external additives include large particulate silica , small particulate silica , and polymer beads . the toner particles according to the current embodiment may be prepared by using various methods . in other words , any method of preparing toner particles having the above - mentioned properties which is commonly used in the art may be used . for example , the toner particles may be prepared by using the following method . a coagulant is added to a mixture including a latex dispersion , a colorant dispersion , and a wax dispersion . then , the mixture is homogenized and aggregated to prepare toner particles . that is , the latex dispersion , the colorant dispersion , and the wax dispersion are added to a reactor and mixed . then , the coagulant is added thereto , and the mixture is homogenized at a stirring line speed of 1 . 0 to 2 . 0 m / s at a temperature of 20 to 30 ° c . for 10 to 100 minutes while controlling the ph in the range of 1 . 5 to 2 . 3 . then , the reactor is heated to a temperature in the range of 48 to 53 ° c . and stirred at a stirring line speed of 1 . 0 to 2 . 5 m / s to perform aggregation . the aggregated particles are fused , cooled , and dried to obtain desired toner particles . the dried toner particles are treated with external additives using , for example , silica , and a charge quantity thereof is adjusted to obtain desired toner for a laser printer . the toner particles according to the current embodiment may have a core - shell structure . the toner having the core - shell structure may be prepared by using a method including : preparing a primary aggregated toner by adding a coagulant into a mixture of a latex dispersion for a core , a colorant dispersion , and a wax dispersion , and homogenizing and aggregating the mixture ; forming a shell by adding a latex for a shell to the primary aggregated toner ; and fusing the structure . according to another embodiment of the present invention , a developer for an electrostatic image including the toner particles is provided . the developer for an electrostatic image may further include at least one carrier selected from the group consisting of ferrite coated with an insulating material , magnetite coated with an insulating material and iron powder coated with an insulating material . according to another embodiment of the present invention , a method of forming an electrophotographic image using the toner particles is provided . particularly , the method includes forming a toner image by adhering the toner or the developer for an electrostatic image to a photoreceptor on which an electrostatic image is formed , and transferring the toner image to a transfer medium . the toner or the developer for an electrostatic image according to the current embodiment is used in an apparatus for forming an electrophotograhic image . in this regard , the apparatus for forming an electrophotographic image includes laser printers , photocopiers , facsimiles , or the like . hereinafter , one or more embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the following examples . however , these examples are not intended to limit the purpose and scope of the invention . average particle diameter of toner was measured using a multisizer 3 coulter counter . an aperture of 100 μm was used in the multisizer 3 coulter counter , an appropriate amount of a surfactant was added to 50 to 100 ml of isoton - ii ( beckman coulter inc .) as an electrolyte , and 10 to 15 mg of a sample to be measured was added thereto , and the resultant was dispersed in a ultrasonic dispersing apparatus for 5 to minutes to prepare a sample . a glass transition temperature ( tg ) of a sample was measured using a differential scanning calorimeter ( dsc , manufactured by netzsch co .) by heating the sample from 20 to 200 ° c . at 10 ° c ./ min , rapidly cooling the sample to 10 ° c . at 20 ° c ./ min , and heating the sample at 10 ° c ./ min . an acid value ( mgkoh / g ) was measured by dissolving a resin in dichloromethane , cooling the solution and titrating the solution with 0 . 1 n koh methyl alcohol solution . a molecular weight was measured by using a gel permeation chromatography ( waters alliance gpc 2000 systems ). tetrahydrofuran ( thf ) was used as a solvent , and a calibration curve was obtained by using standard polystyrene . a 30 l reactor equipped with a stirrer , a thermometer , and a condenser was installed in an oil bath in which the oil is a heat transfer medium . 6 , 600 g of distilled water and 32 g of a surfactant ( dowfax 2a1 ) were added to the reactor , and the reactor was heated to 70 ° c . and stirred at 100 rpm . then , an emulsion mixture including monomers , i . e ., 8 , 380 g of styrene , 3 , 220 g of butyl acrylate , 370 g of 2 - carboxyethyl acrylate , and 226 g of 1 , 10 - decanediol diacrylate , 5 , 075 g of distilled water , 226 g of the surfactant ( dowfax 2a1 ), 530 g of polyethylene glycol ethyl ether methacrylate , and 188 g of 1 - dodecanethiol , as a chain transfer agent , was stirred at 400 to 500 rpm for 30 minutes using a disc - type impeller . then , the emulsion mixture was gradually added to the reactor for 1 hour . the reactor was maintained for about 8 hours and gradually cooled to room temperature to complete the reaction . the glass transition temperature ( tg ) of the binder resin measured using a differential scanning calorimeter ( dsc ) was 62 ° c . the number average molecular weight of the binder resin measured by a gel permeation chromatography ( gpc ) using polystyrene as a standard sample was 50 , 000 . 540 g of a cyan pigment ( daicolor pigment mfg . co . ltd ., japan , ecb303 ), 27 g of a surfactant ( dowfax 2a1 ), and 2 , 450 g of distilled water were added to a 3 l reactor equipped with a stirrer , a thermometer , and a condenser , and the reactor was slowly stirred for about 10 hours to obtain a pre - dispersion . the pre - dispersion was further dispersed using a beads mill ( netzsch , germany , zeta rs ) for 4 hours . as a result , a cyan pigment dispersion was obtained . then , the particle diameter of the cyan pigment was measured using a multisizer 2000 ( malvern instruments , ltd . ), and d50 ( v ) was 170 nm . in this regard , when the volume of the particles is accumulated from particles of the smallest size in ascending order until the cumulative volume reaches 50 % of the total volume of the toner , an average particle size of the accumulated particles corresponding to 50 % of the total volume of the particles is defined as d50 ( v ). 65 g of a surfactant ( dowfax 2a1 ), and 1 , 935 g of distilled water were added to a 5 l reactor equipped with a stirrer , a thermometer , and a condenser , and 1 , 000 g of wax ( nof corporation , japan , we - 5 ) was added to the reactor while slowly stirring the reactor at a high temperature for about 2 hours . the wax was dispersed for 30 minutes using a homogenizer ( ika , t - 45 ). as a result , a wax dispersion was obtained . then , the particle diameter of the wax was measured using a multisizer 2000 ( malvern instruments , ltd . ), and d50 ( v ) was 320 nm . 13 , 881 g of the latex dispersion for a core , 2 , 238 g of the colorant dispersion , and 2 , 873 g of the wax dispersion were added to a 70 l reactor , and the mixture was mixed at room temperature for about 15 minutes at 1 . 21 m / s . 5 , 760 g of a solution including poly silicato iron ( psi ) and nitric acid ( psi / 1 . 88 % hno 3 = 1 / 2 ), as a coagulant , was added to the reactor , and then the mixture was homogenized using a homogenizer ( ika , t - 45 ) while stirring the reactor at 25 ° c . at 50 rpm ( at a stirring line speed of 1 . 79 m / sec ) for 30 minutes while controlling the ph in the range of 1 . 3 to 2 . 3 . after the mixture was dispersed for 30 minutes , the reactor was heated to 51 ° c . and stirred at 2 . 42 m / s using a pitched paddle - type impeller having a diameter of 0 . 30 m and a height of 0 . 07 m until the d 50 , v was in the range of 6 . 2 to 6 . 4 μm . then , 5 , 398 g of a latex for a shell was added thereto for about 20 minutes . the reactor was stirred until an average particle diameter of the toner particles was in the range of 6 . 7 to 6 . 9 μm . a 4 % sodium hydroxide aqueous solution was added to the reactor and the reactor was stirred at 1 . 90 m / s until the ph reached 4 and at 1 . 55 m / s until the ph reached 7 . while maintaining the stirring speed , the reactor was heated to 96 ° c . to fuse the toner particles . when circularity measured using a fpia - 3000 ( sysmex , japan ) was 0 . 980 , the reactor was cooled to 40 ° c ., and the ph of the mixture was adjusted to 9 . 0 . then , the toner particles were isolated using a sus sieve having a pore size of 16 μm and cleaned four times using distilled water . the ph of the toner particles was adjusted to 1 . 5 by using a 1 . 88 % nitric acid aqueous solution and the toner particles were cleaned . the toner particles were cleaned four times with distilled water to remove a surfactant , or the like . then , the cleaned toner particles were dried in a fluidized bed dryer at 40 ° c . for 5 hours to obtain dried toner particles . toner particles were prepared in the same manner as in example 1 , except that the size of the impeller and stirring rate were adjusted as shown in table 1 below . in table 1 , d refers to a diameter of the impeller , and b refers to a height of the impeller . the stirring rates of table 1 are expressed using percentages based on the stirring rate of example 1 . toner particles were prepared in the same manner as in example 1 , except that different types of impeller were used . referring to table 2 , while the toner particles prepared according to an embodiment of the present invention satisfy the conditions ( 1 ) and ( 2 ), the toner particles prepared according to comparative examples 1 to 3 don &# 39 ; t satisfy the conditions ( 1 ) and / or ( 2 ). the toner particles prepared according to examples 1 to 3 and comparative examples 1 to 3 were evaluated as follows . 9 . 75 g of toner particles prepared in examples 1 to 3 and comparative examples 1 to 3 , 0 . 2 g of silica ( tg 810g ; cabot co . ), and 0 . 05 g of silica ( rx50 ; degussa gmbh ) were mixed to prepare a toner . using the toner , charging properties were measured using a device for measuring charging properties ( epping , germany ). 9 . 3 g of a carrier ( 100 μm , the image society of japan ) and 0 . 7 g of a mixture of the toner and silica were mixed using a turbular mixer ( wab , switzerland ). charge amount of 1 g of the mixture was measured at room temperature and humidity by using a q / m meter for 90 seconds , and the results are shown in table 3 below . 9 . 75 g of toner particles prepared in any of examples 1 to 3 and comparative examples 1 to 3 , 0 . 2 g of silica ( tg 810g ; cabot co .) and 0 . 05 g of silica ( rx50 , degussa gmbh ) were mixed to prepare a toner . using the toner , 1 , 000 pages of a4 paper having a letter image with 5 % coverage were printed using a samsung clp - 510 printer . then , weights of toner remaining on the developer and waste toner were measured and compared with the weight of the developer before the printing . toner consumption per 1 , 000 pages was calculated . toner consumption per 1 , 000 pages =( weight of developer before printing )−[( weight of developer after printing )−( weight of waste toner after printing )] 9 . 75 g of toner particles prepared in any of examples 1 to 3 and comparative examples 1 to 3 , 0 . 2 g of silica ( tg 810g ; cabot co .) and 0 . 05 g of silica ( rx50 , degussa gmbh ) were mixed to prepare a toner . using the toner , solid patterns of 2 cm × 2 cm were transferred using a samsung clp - 510 printer , and then weights of toner remaining opc , an intermediate belt , and paper were measured . transfer efficiency was evaluated using the measured weights according to the following equation . primary transfer efficiency (%)=[( amount of toner remaining on intermediate transfer medium )/( amount of toner remaining on photoreceptor )]* 100 secondary transfer efficiency (%)=[( amount of toner remaining on paper )/( amount of toner remaining on intermediate transfer medium )]* 100 9 . 75 g of toner particles prepared in any of examples 1 to 3 and comparative examples 1 to 3 , 0 . 2 g of silica ( tg 810g ; cabot co .) and 0 . 05 g of silica ( rx50 , degussa gmbh ) were mixed to prepare a toner . using the toner , iso / jis - scid n2 images were printed using a samsung clp - 510 printer and evaluated as follows . the results of the evaluation are shown in table 3 below . as shown in table 3 , toner particles prepared in examples 1 to 3 according to embodiments of the present invention have a narrow particle diameter distribution , excellent change properties , high transfer efficiency , and excellent image quality , and reduces toner consumption . while the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims . | 6 |
the change - speed gearbox shown in fig1 consists essentially of a gearbox housing made up of two parts , namely , a gearbox housing 1 and a clutch / gearbox housing 2 . rotatably mounted in the housings 1 , 2 , are an input shaft 4 , connected to the clutch 3 ( indicated only in outline ), and two countershafts 5 and 6 . the input shaft 4 and the countershafts 5 and 6 carry , in known manner , respectively fixed and loose gearwheels for various gear speeds , the loose gearwheels being capable of being connected nonrotatably to their respective shafts by way of corresponding synchronising devices . the construction of the present change - speed gearbox is one in which , in known manner , output pinions 7 and 8 transmit torque from both the countershafts 5 and 6 to an output gearwheel 9 . connected nonrotatably to the output gearwheel 9 is a bevel gear right - angle drive 10 , the design of which will now be described . the bevel gear right - angle drive 10 consists of a crown wheel 11 and a pinion 12 , which are in engagement with one another , e . g ., through hypoid gearing . however , in accordance with the invention , the crown wheel 11 is carried on an axle member 13 , which consists of the same material as the gearbox housings 1 , 2 , thus avoiding problems caused by differences in thermal expansion between the gearbox housings 1 , 2 and the axle member 13 . the axle member 13 is rotatably mounted in the gearbox housings 1 , 2 by means of bearing units 14 and 15 , the double bearing unit 15 on one side being preloaded by means of an adjusting nut 16 screwed on to the axle member 13 . the double bearing unit 15 loaded on the axle member 13 by means of the adjusting nut 16 is accommodated outside in a bearing sleeve 17 , which is fitted in the gearbox housing 1 by means of a screw thread 18 , is sealed by means of an o - ring 19 , and is secured by means of a lock nut 20 with a locking plate . the bearing sleeve 17 is provided at its outer end with an actuating tooth system 21 and is closed off by means of a forced - in cap 22 . in assembling the change - speed gearbox , all the shafts and the components carried on them are preassembled and then fitted in the clutch / gearbox housing 2 , as is the axle member 13 with the double bearing unit 15 , the adjusting nut 16 , and the bearing sleeve 17 preassembled on it . in putting together the gearbox housing 1 and clutch / gearbox housing 2 , the bearing sleeve 17 must be rotated by means of the actuating tooth system 21 , that is to say , screwed into the screw thread 18 , until the flanges of the two parts of the housing meet . then , after the two parts of the housing have then been connected together , the crown wheelpinion mounting distance is adjusted by further rotation of the bearing sleeve 17 . by this simple method of assembly , measurement of the distance between the bearings and adjustment of the preload of the bearings by selection washers and the like , which has hitherto been necessary in the case of gearbox arrangements of this kind , is avoided . because the axle member 13 consists of the same material as the gearbox housings 1 , 2 , a decrease in bearing preload due to thermal expansion is avoided and misalignment of the gear teeth is eliminated . a reduction in the tooth noise in operation can thereby be achieved . a further advantage is that axle member 13 , with the toothed parts 11 and 12 , and the bearing sleeve 17 arranged on it can be delivered preassembled to the gearbox assembly line . in the case of the embodiment of the change - speed gearbox of the invention shown in fig2 the general construction of the gearbox corresponds to that described in fig1 and , accordingly , the same reference symbols are used , distinguished only by prime marks . this embodiment differs in the mounting of the axle member 13 &# 39 ;, which in this case is carried in conventional manner in two taper roller bearings loaded relative to one another . the bevel gear right - angle drive 10 &# 39 ; again consists of a crown wheel 11 &# 39 ; and a pinion 12 &# 39 ;, which are in engagement with one another , e . g ., by way of hypoid gearing . the crown wheel 11 &# 39 ; is again arranged on an axle member 13 &# 39 ;, which consists of the same material as the gearbox housings 1 &# 39 ;, 2 &# 39 ;, whereby problems due to differences in thermal expansion between the gearbox housings 1 &# 39 ;, 2 &# 39 ; and the axle member 13 &# 39 ; are avoided . the axle member 13 &# 39 ; is rotatably mounted in the gearbox housings 1 &# 39 ;, 2 &# 39 ; by means of taper roller bearings 25 and 26 , which are fitted in respective bearing sleeves 27 and 28 which are screwed in by means of screw threads 29 and in the gearbox housing 1 and in the clutch / gearbox housing 2 , respectively . the bearing sleeves 27 and 28 are sealed against the respective housing openings by means of o - rings 31 and 32 located in recesses in the housing opening , and have on their free ends actuating tooth systems 33 and 34 , with which the preloading adjustment of the taper roller bearing arrangement can be undertaken . of course , once the bearing preload and the crown wheel - pinion mounting distance have been successfully adjusted , the bearing sleeves 27 and 28 can be secured in known manner against unintentional rotation . the important difference between the two embodiments of the change - speed gear with a bevel gear right - angle drive , in accordance with the invention shown in figure i and in fig2 consists in that in the case of fig1 the bevel gear right - angle drive can be adjusted from only one side , whereas in the embodiment shown in fig2 both sides of the bevel gear right - angle drive must be accessible in order to make the adjustment . the gearbox housings 1 , 2 or 1 &# 39 ;, 2 &# 39 ; can be so designed in the region in which the respective axle member 13 or 13 &# 39 ; is located and mounted that , without any changes in the housing , the respective output gearwheel 9 or 9 &# 39 ; can be connected to a final differential gear unit , from which the axle drive shafts for the driven front wheels of the vehicle can be directly driven . although the form of the invention shown and described here constitutes the preferred embodiment of the invention , it is not intended to illustrate all possible forms of the invention . words used here are words of description rather than of limitation . various changes in the form of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed . | 8 |
the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing 3d integrated structures based on an assembly approach in which a layer - to - be transferred is coated with a bi - layer capping stack , a polyimide layer , and an adhesive layer . that structure is then bonded to a glass carrier - wafer and upon removal of the bulk silicon , it is transferred to a new circuit , and attached to this new circuit using bonding techniques such as , for example , adhesive bonding . in the subsequent step , the glass layer is released ( for example , by laser ablation ), and the residual polyimide layer is removed by plasma ashing using oxygen . the aforementioned protecting capping stack is comprised of two layers including a first layer of silicon nitride and a second layer of an amino silane deposited over the whole area of the wafer . such a bi - layer cap provides not only protection from both cu and oxygen diffusion , but it presents a sicmos - compatible and reliable solution for use in the 3d applications where cu - polyimide layers are present . the thickness of the first and second layers of the inventive bi - layer capping coating may vary depending on the conditions used for depositing each of the layers . typically , the sin layer has a thickness of from about 100 to about 1000 nm , while the amino silane has a thickness of a few monolayers . other thickness besides the ranges mentioned herein are also contemplated herein the term “ amino silane ” is used in the present invention to denote a compound that has the formula : wherein r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , r 5 , and r 6 , independently of each other , can be hydrogen or an organic radical such as , for example , a lower alkyl radical containing from 1 to about 6 carbon atoms , an acyl radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms , or an allyl , alkenyl or alkynyl radical containing 2 to 6 carbon atoms and r 4 can be an organic radical such as , for example , a lower alkyl containing from 1 to about 6 carbon atoms or an aromatic system such as , for example , phenyl or benzyl derivative . illustrative examples of amino silanes that can be employed in the present invention as the second layer of the bi - layer capping coating include , but are not limited to : 3 - aminopropyl - trimethoxy silane , vinyl aminomethyl triacetoxysilane , and the like . of the aforementioned amino silanes , it is highly preferred to use 3 - aminopropyl - trimethoxy silane as the second layer of the bi - layer capping coating of the present invention . as stated above , the first layer of inventive bi - layer capping coating is a silicon nitride layer . the process of depositing silicon nitride is well known . illustrative methods that can be used in the present invention to deposit the silicon nitride layer of the bi - layer capping coating include , for example , spin - coating , chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition ( pecvd ), chemical solution deposition , atomic layer deposition , evaporation , physical vapor deposition ( pvp ), and other like deposition processes . the silicon nitride layer of the bi - layer capping coating of the present invention exhibits good adhesion properties to materials used in the back - end - of the - line ( beol ) processing , namely conductive materials such as cu , and dielectric films including , for example , silicon dioxide , oxide films containing phosphorus or boron , such as phosphorus doped silicate glass ( psg ), boron doped silicate glass ( bsg ), and boron - phosphorus doped silicate glass ( bpsg ), a silicon oxynitride , nitrides , and other low - k organic and non - organic films . also silicon nitride allows for good chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ) process selectivity to the aforementioned materials . therefore , in cu - dual damascene structures , it is used as a cmp hard mask . the above characteristics of silicon nitride allow this insulating material to be utilized as a capping layer in applications in which metal capping layers failed . namely , silicon nitride can be deposited over the surface of the to - be - transferred layer ( with cu patterned structure ) followed by the amino silane deposition ( formation of the bi - layer cap ). subsequently , the layer transfer steps are implemented ( deposition of polyimide adhesives , attachment of glass , removal of the bulk silicon , bonding to a new substrate , release of glass carrier , strip of polyimide ). in embodiments wherein the silicon nitride is deposited over an interconnect structure containing cu metallurgy , the silicon nitride serves as a cu protection layer , preventing cu oxidation . depending on the processing scheme , the silicon nitride layer can be easily removed by well - known wet or dry etching processes , or simply ( and preferably ) by a cmp process . in such a scheme , silicon nitride would serve as a sacrificial layer . for other 3d applications , the silicon nitride layer can be left on as a constituent of the structure , and it can be , for example , used as a passivation layer or as an etch stop layer to add additional wiring layers . in this invention , the bi - layer capping layer is proposed for cmos - compatible processes related to 3d integration applications , hence it is expected that the thermal budget will not exceed 400 ° c . the thermal stability of silicon nitride has been well documented for such applications . on the other hand , thermal stability of the amino silane / polyimide system depends on the processing ambient . the degradation under nitrogen is minimal at 400 ° c . ( 16 hours ), but air enriched nitrogen probably causes oxidation and decomposition of unreacted surface amino silane . however , the application of present invention is related to polyimide materials which have to be cured in an oxygen - free ambient . hence , without any added restrictions the stability of the amino silane - polyimide interface is insured . all of the above information leads to the conclusion that silicon nitride / amino silane system is an excellent capping bi - layer for 3d integration applications when cu - polyimide interfaces are involved . the prior art structure of the assembly approach technique used in 3d integration applications is shown in fig1 . the structure consists of : a layered structure - to - be transferred 100 , which includes bulk silicon 101 and device layer 102 terminated by the cu patterned wiring level 103 ; capping layer 200 ; sacrificial polyimide layer 300 ; adhesion layer 400 ; and glass carrier 500 . in such a structure , only an amino silane , such as 3 - aminopropyl - trimethoxy silane , is used as the capping layer 200 . amino silanes serve as adhesion promoters for patterned si beol structures enabling increased strength in the cu - polyimide and dielectric - polyimide interfaces . in addition , amino silanes serve as cu diffusion barriers , limiting the creation of cu - containing precipitates in the polyimide . however , upon plasma exposure the amino silane reduces simply to a layer of silicon oxide and electrical evaluation of the layer transfer process using this scheme showed increased cu wire resistivity . hence , it has been concluded that cu surface degraded during the oxygen - plasma removal of the polyimide , caused by oxidation was not prevented by the silicon oxide layer resulting from the oxidized amino silane . the present invention is based on a bi - layer approach , i . e ., the previous single capping layer 200 in this scheme is substituted by a capping layer 200 ′ which is comprised of two films : silicon nitride 201 ′ underneath the amino silane layer 202 ′. the schematic diagram of the inventive structure is shown , for example , in fig2 . the combined properties of the silicon nitride 201 ′ ( oxygen diffusion barrier layer with good adhesion properties to beol materials ), and amino silane layer 202 ′ ( adhesion promoter to polyimide ) provides superior capping layer characteristics . in fig2 , reference numeral 100 denotes a layered substrate to be transferred . the layered substrate 100 includes a semiconductor substrate 100 , device layer 102 which can be terminated with a layer 103 that comprises at least one metallic element such as ti , ta , zr , hf , silicides , nitrides and conducting siliconnitrides of the aforementioned elemental metals ; cu , w , al , composites of these metals with glass ; and any combination thereof . preferably , layer 103 comprises cu . the metallic element of layer 103 may be patterned , i . e ., a patterned wiring level , or a blanket layer . when a patterned metallic element is present , portions of layer 103 may be comprised of an insulating material including oxides , nitrides , oxynitrides , polymeric dielectrics and inorganic dielectrics . the insulating material may be porous or non - porous . the layered substrate 100 is fabricated using any well - known semiconductor processing technique . the semiconductor substrate 101 may be a bulk semiconductor including , for example , si , sige , sic , sigec , gaas , inp , inas and other iii - v compound semiconductors , ii - v compound semiconductors , or layered semiconductors such as silicon - on - insulators ( soi ), sic - on - insulator ( sicoi ) or silicon germanium - on - insulators ( sgoi ). when the layered semiconductors are employed , the top layer of those substrates represent the device layer 102 . fig2 also shows an example of a carrier assembly that can be employed in the present invention . the carrier assembly may include a carrier wafer 500 , adhesion layer 400 and intermediate layer 300 . the carrier assembly is fabricated using techniques that are well - known in the art . for example , the carrier assembly can be formed by applying an adhesive coating atop a carrier wafer using a conventional deposition process such as spin - on coating , pecvd , cvd or physical vapor deposition ( pvp ). the intermediate layer is then applied by using one of the above mentioned deposition processes . in a preferred embodiment , the carrier assembly comprises glass and an intermediate layer of a polyimide . carrier wafer 500 may be comprised of a semiconductor including any group iii - v or ii - v semiconductor , soi , sgoi , alumina , ceramics and the like . intermediate layer 300 of the carrier assembly is any polyimide material , which is typically used as an adhesive coating in such a structure . examples of polyimide materials that can be employed in the present invention include polyamic acid ( paa )- based polyimides , polyimic ester - based polyimides and pre - imidized polyimides . adhesion layer 400 includes coupling agents such as amino silanes . adhesion layer 400 serves to bond the carrier wafer 500 to the intermediate layer 300 . the 3d structures transferred using this bi - layer ( silicon nitride / amino silane ) approach preserved circuit performance , indicating that the inventive bi - layer capping coating reliably performs its function . this invention is based on the use of the wafer - level layer transfer process which incorporates the inventive bi - layer capping coating described above . this type of passivation material is proposed since it is compatible with current cmos technology . specifically , the wafer - level layer transfer method of the present invention includes first providing a layer to be transferred on a semiconductor substrate using well known cmos process steps . the first layer of the inventive capping coating , e . g ., silicon nitride , which provides good adhesion and protection from oxidation for the layer to be transferred is then formed using a conventional deposition process such as spin on coating , pecvd , cvd or pvp . next , the second layer of the inventive capping coating , i . e ., the amino silane , which serves as an additional diffusion barrier and provides adhesion to the carrier assembly is applied to the first layer using spin on coating , pecvd , cvd or pvp . the carrier assembly comprising the intermediate layer attached to a carrier wafer by means of suitable adhesive is then adhered to the second layer . after this step , the semiconductor substrate is removed such that the layer to be transferred is attached to the carrier assembly thus achieving layer transfer . the removal may be achieved by laser ablation or etching . the method of the present invention may further comprise the steps of joining an exposed surface of the transferred layer to a top surface of a receiver substrate , and removing the carrier assembly to achieve further transfer of the transferred layer from the carrier assembly to the receiver substrate . in this embodiment , the semiconductor and receiver substrates contain semiconductor components and the carrier assembly is used to enable the layer transfer of the semiconductor components from semiconductor substrate onto semiconductor components from the receiver substrate . the focus of this invention is on ability to integrate multifunctional 3d structures with active and passive components by coating their interconnecting elements with passivation layer to protect them from degradation during the layer transfer process . the concepts disclosed in the present invention can be used to add functionality to the 3d ics without deviating from the spirit of the invention . for example , the methods can be applied to future optoelectronic device structures . in such cases , firstly the type of the material to create the layers can be replaced by other materials such as ii - vi and iii - v materials , ( example : gallium arsenide or indium phosphide ) and organic materials , and should be selected according to the specific application however similar bi - layer passivation can be used to preserve electrical and mechanical stability of the semiconductor elements . secondly the functional bi - layer can be an integral part of an optoelectronic structure , including future 3 - dimensional circuit stacks , allowing for integration of complex multifunctional and mixed - technology systems or elements on a single wafer . while the present invention has been particularly shown and described with respect to preferred embodiments , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in forms and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . it is therefore intended that the present invention not be limited to the exact forms and details described and illustrates , but fall within the scope of the appended claims . | 7 |
according to the invention , higher alcohols ( i . e ., those containing at least 2 carbon atoms per molecule ) may be efficiently produced in high yield from synthesis gas in a two - stage catalytic reaction system . in the inventive system , an alkali metal - and cobalt - containing synthesis gas conversion catalyst converts synthesis gas to linear higher alcohols , preferably with ethanol as the major higher alcohol . the resulting product , which contains a significant amount of water as well as unconverted synthesis gas and unsaturated organic oxygenates in addition to methanol and higher alcohols , is contacted with a copper - containing catalyst in order to upgrade the liquid product by hydrogenating undesirable oxygenates to convert them to higher alcohols and to convert water by reaction with carbon monoxide in the unconverted synthesis gas to produce carbon dioxide and free hydrogen . the process of the invention is flexible in terms of its ability to be practiced in a single reactor or in multiple reactors , with the two catalyst stages being operated at the same or similar temperatures and pressures , or at different reaction conditions as desired . the composition of the feed synthesis gas can be varied widely , and generally comprises h 2 and co in an h 2 / co molar ratio in the range of about 5 : 1 to about 1 : 5 , preferably in the range of about 1 : 1 to about 3 : 1 . the first reaction stage is preferably carried out at a temperature in the range of about 450 ° f to about 650 ° f . and a pressure of at least about 500 psig , preferably at about 1000 to 2500 psig , with the second stage reaction preferably being carried out at a temperature in the range of about 400 ° f . to about 650 ° f . and a pressure of at least about 500 psig , preferably at about 1000 to 2500 psig . preferably , for economic reasons , the reaction stages are carried out at the same or similar pressures , although they may conveniently be carried out at different temperatures , if desired . at operating conditions , the effluent stream leaving the first reaction zone containing the first catalyst will be gaseous , but will contain condensable components ( water , alcohols , etc .). the effluent preferably is fed directly to a second reaction zone containing the second catalyst without intermediate condensation or separation of components , and the reaction over the second catalyst is a gas phase reaction . a mixed gas / liquid product is obtained by cooling the product of the second reaction to ambient conditions . the first catalyst functions to at least partially convert synthesis gas to water and unsaturated organic oxygenates having 2 or more carbon atoms per molecule . preferably , alcohols including higher alcohols are also produced , and hydrocarbons which include olefins and paraffins are generally unavoidably produced as by - products . as used herein , the term &# 34 ; oxygenates &# 34 ; includes alcohols , and the term &# 34 ; unsaturated oxygenates &# 34 ; denotes non - alcohol oxygenates such as carboxylic acids , aldehydes , ketones , and esters . an important role of the second catalyst is to convert a portion of the undesirable unsaturated oxygenates to alcohols by hydrogenation and to reduce the water content of the liquid product by means of a water - gas shift reaction . descriptions herein of the catalyst - forming components used according to the invention are made with reference to the state of the catalyst prior to reduction under operating conditions unless otherwise specified . the first catalyst is generally characterized as a catalytically active alkali metal - containing synthesis gas conversion catalyst comprising a major weight proportion ( i . e ., at least about 50 wt . %) of cobalt ( calculated as coo ). the first catalyst may be substantially free of copper , and under operating conditions preferably comprises cobalt metal and oxides ( e . g ., coo ) modified by the presence of an alkali metal compound , preferably an oxide or carbonate of potassium , sodium , cesium , or rubidium . preferred alkali metal compounds are k 2 co 3 and na 2 co 3 . in a highly preferred form , the alkalized cobalt first catalyst is further modified by the presence of an oxidized transition metal such as zinc oxide ( zno ) or zinc carbonate ( znco 3 ). cobalt oxide - containing catalysts which are not modified with an alkali metal are effective in converting synthesis gas , but produce a high yield of straight chain , saturated hydrocarbons with only traces of oxygenates . alkali metal - containing cobalt catalysts , on the other hand , are highly selective for oxygenates , with substantial yields of c 2 + (&# 34 ; higher &# 34 ;) oxygenates . methanol is the predominant oxygenate in the product . since the presence of an alkali metal lowers the activity of cobalt - containing catalysts , relatively high reaction temperatures may be necessary or desirable with alkali metal - containing cobalt synthesis gas conversion catalysts in order to attain acceptable activities . while the addition of an alkali metal compound to a cobalt - containing synthesis gas conversion catalyst can shift the selectivity of the catalyst from hydrocarbons to a mixture of hydrocarbons and oxygenates , incorporation of a transition metal oxide in addition to the alkali metal promoter can further shift the oxygenate selectivity in favor of higher oxygenates . zinc oxide is especially preferred as a modifier for shifting the selectivity of the cobalt catalyst to higher alcohols , in particular to ethanol as the major higher oxygenate . the product of reaction of synthesis gas over a cobalt / zinc oxide / alkali metal catalyst is a complex liquid mixture ( at ambient conditions ) consisting of two layers , with a relatively dense layer containing mostly water and low molecular weight alcohols , and a less dense layer containing other alcohols along with small amounts of acids , aldehydes , ketones , esters , and saturated hydrocarbons . ethanol , however , is the predominant single component . within the general framework given above , the cobalt - containing catalyst may incorporate a variety of different modifiers and promoters . all such catalysts , however , are very active for conversion of synthesis gas , have good selectivity for higher oxygenates , especially for ethanol , and maintain good long term stability . for example , a catalyst containing coo / zno / al 2 o 3 / na 2 co 3 in a weight ratio of 87 / 9 / 4 ( on a sodium carbonate - free basis ) can withstand sulfide poisoning and still convert synthesis gas to a mixture of hydrocarbons and oxygenates . a coo / mno / zno catalyst having a weight proportion of 53 / 40 / 7 modified with potassium carbonate yields nearly 60 weight percent higher alcohols ( on a water - free basis ) in a liquid product when operated in a single stage . cobalt should be the major catalyst component and the alkali metal and transition metal additives should be present in much smaller amounts in order to maintain high ethanol selectivity compared to methanol , and high activity . preferably , the first catalyst should comprise at least about 50 weight percent cobalt ( calculated as coo ), up to about 10 weight percent of the alkali metal ( calculated as k 2 o ), and 0 to about 20 weight percent of an oxidized transition metal ( calculated as zno ). the first catalyst is characterized as having a relatively low weight ratio of oxidized transition metal ( e . g ., zinc ) to cobalt , generally in the range of zero to about 0 . 15 , calculated as zno / coo , respectively . ratios in the range of about 0 . 08 to about 0 . 12 are preferred . preferably , the first catalyst comprises at least about 0 . 5 weight percent alkali metal ( calculated as k 2 o ) and highly preferably 1 to 5 weight percent alkali metal , calculated as k 2 o . the first catalyst preferably comprises about 10 weight percent of the oxidized transition metal ( calculated as zno ) and about 90 weight percent cobalt ( calculated as coo ), on an alkali metal - free basis . additional first catalyst forming materials may include one or more additional metal oxides , such as oxides of titanium , manganese , aluminum , or magnesium , preferably tio 2 , al 2 o 3 , mno , or mgo . these materials enhance the surface area and physical strength of the catalyst , and may act as a diluent to render the catalyst less active and less expensive . a highly preferred first catalyst comprises a major weight proportion of cobalt ( calculated as coo ) and is prepared by precipitating coo with subsequent impregnation by an alkali metal compound , or coprecipitation of coo with an alkali metal compound . if the cobalt oxide catalyst is to be impregnated with an alkali metal compound , it is first precipitated as part of a non - stoichiometric complex mixture of oxidized cobalt compounds ( such as oxides , hydroxides and carbonates , for example ), washed , dried , and thereafter impregnated with an aqueous solution of the alkali metal compound and dried to provide a catalytic material . if desired , the dried catalytic material may be calcined prior to use in order to remove any remaining water and to convert remaining cobalt salts to oxide forms which are more readily reduced to metallic cobalt under operating conditions . coprecipitation can readily be effected from an aqueous solution of a soluble cobalt salt ( e . g ., cobalt nitrate ) with addition of a soluble alkali metal compound such as sodium or potassium carbonate . the ph is then raised sufficiently to precipitate the mixture of cobalt compounds . a ph of 8 - 10 is typically sufficiently high to effect precipitation and may be obtained by addition of ammonium hydroxide , for example . the precipitate is washed to remove excess alkali metal and cobalt salt , dried , and optionally calcined . the precipitate must not be washed so thoroughly as to remove all alkali metal , of course . if a support is desired , it is preferably added after drying of the cobalt oxide precipitate , but can be added with the soluble cobalt salt , if desired . the second , copper - containing catalyst may be substantially free of cobalt , if desired , and is selected for its ability to hydrogenate unsaturated organic oxygenates and to effect a water - gas shift reaction . the second catalyst serves to upgrade the product from synthesis gas conversion by the first catalyst . copper is known to be a hydrogenation catalyst , especially for oxygenates , and the preferred form of copper in the second catalyst is cu ( ii ) ( prior to partial reduction under operating conditions ). although not all copper - containing materials possess the hydrogenation and water - gas shift activities required for use in the invention , copper - containing catalysts which have been found to be useful include those which are active for the synthesis of methanol under the operating conditions of the invention . the second catalyst can be a member of the methanol synthesis catalyst family or the modified methanol synthesis catalyst family . typical examples usually contain copper and zinc , but can be ternary mixtures , most commonly cu - zn - cr and cu - zn - al . the modified methanol synthesis catalysts contain alkali metal compounds which serve to suppress methanol synthesis activity . these catalysts are typically prepared by coprecipitation from an aqueous solution containing cu ( ii ), zn ( ii ), and if desired al ( iii ) or cr ( iii ) as soluble salts such as nitrates , acetates , citrates , chlorides , etc . sodium carbonate , potassium carbonate or ammonium carbonate solutions are typically used to coprecipitate the metal ions as carbonates / hydroxides . in the methanol synthesis catalyst family , the alkali is thoroughly washed out . in the modified methanol synthesis catalyst , the alkali is only partially washed out . alkali can also be added by impregnation of the dried or calcined metal - containing material with an aqueous alkali metal compound solution . the cu / zn atomic ratio in such catalysts can range about 0 . 3 to about 2 . 5 . alumina is considered to be a structural component and can be present in the range of about 2 to 35 mole % as al . chromium can be a structural component as well as a catalytic component , and is present typically at about 2 to 35 mole % as cr . the alkali metal compound is preferably a carbonate or hydroxide of potassium , sodium , cesium , or rubidium . alkali metal is not required , however , if the catalyst has low methanol selectivity or if production of substantial amounts of methanol is acceptable . a preferred copper - containing catalyst is generally characterized as a mixed copper - chrominum oxide which is prepared by coprecipitation with subsequent impregnation with a solution of an alkali metal salt . the coprecipitated mixed copper - chrominum oxide catalyst ( with or without alkali ) is referred to as a &# 34 ; copper chromite &# 34 ; catalyst . preparation of the copper chromite catalyst is preferably effected by coprecipitating copper ( ii ) ions with chromate ions in the presence of an excess of ammonium relative to copper to produce a copper - ammonium - chromate precipitate . coprecipitation may be conveniently effected by mixing of respective solutions of copper nitrate ( cu ( no 3 ) 2 ) or another soluble copper ( ii ) salt and a stoichiometric excess of a solution of ammonium chromate (( nh 4 ) 2 cro 4 ) with at least a 3 : 1 weight ratio of ammonium chromate to copper . if desired , ammonium hydroxide or an equivalent material can be partially substituted for ammonium chromate . precipitation of the copper - ammonium - chromate precipitate , which preferably contains a substantially equimolar ratio of chromium to copper , is effected by raising the ph of the mixture , as by the addition of ammonium hydroxide , for example . the equimolar cu : cr precipitate is separated from the mixture and dried to produce a brown product . the copper content of catalysts prepared by precipitation of copper nitrates or similar salts may vary widely , with typical copper contents ( calculated as cuo ) of about 10 wt . % to 60 wt . %. copper chromite catalysts made as described above generally contain copper and chromium in a cu : cr atomic ratio of about 1 : 1 . 5 to about 1 . 5 : 1 , typically about 1 : 1 as noted above . the brown product is then calcined under carefully controlled temperature conditions to produce a stable , black copper chromite catalyst . the calcining step is carried out at a sufficiently high temperature to drive off ammonia and fix the cuo and cr 2 o 3 constituents of the copper chromite catalyst . the temperature is controlled so as not to reach a temperature at which the product degrades . a calcining temperature of about 550 ° f . or less is preferred , although a 600 ° f . temperature may be used as long as spikes in temperature above 700 ° f . are avoided . ( slightly higher temperatures may be used if certain other components such as bao are present .) after calcining , the black copper chromite catalyst preferably is impregnated with an aqueous solution of a soluble alkali metal compound , and dried to provide an alkali - impregnated copper chromite catalyst . optionally , the resulting catalyst may be calcined . temperature control of this calcining step is less important than the initial calcining step and are preferably conducted at temperatures of up to 650 ° f ., such as 625 ° f . the alkali metal compound , if present , preferably comprises between about 1 and 10 weight percent of the second catalyst ( measured as carbonate ) and preferably is present at about a 5 weight percent level . of the alkali metals , potassium and sodium are preferred , although cesium and rubidium are acceptable . the alkali metal compound preferably is a potassium salt such as koh or the highly preferred k 2 co 3 . the second catalyst may contain other components , such as zinc , as desired . barium ( in oxide form , bao ) is a useful additional component , especially in copper chromite catalysts . the presence of a soluble barium salt in the catalyst - forming solution facilitates copper chromite precipitation , and results in the formation of stable barium chromite which enhances the physical strength of the catalyst without detrimentally affecting catalyst performance . in use , the first and second catalysts may be disposed in the same reactor using identical or similar reaction conditions , or different conditions if the reactor design so permits . alternatively , the catalysts may be disposed in series in separate reactors . when synthesis gas is passed over the first and second catalyst beds in series , a liquid product is obtained upon cooling of the gaseous effluent , and typically forms a single liquid phase . if synthesis gas is contacted with a first catalyst comprising an alkali metal - containing coo / zno catalyst alone , the reaction would produce a liquid product having an organic phase and an aqueous phase . the production of a single phase establishes that the copper - containing second catalyst effects a water - gas shift reaction . the alkali metal - containing cobalt catalyst alone typically would yield a lightly colored liquid product which discolors upon contact with air for short time periods . the two catalyst system of the invention , on the other hand , yields optically clear , colorless material which is oxidatively stable when exposed to air over lengthy time periods . this phenomenon may be explained on the basis that copper in the second catalyst hydrogenates constituents in the effluent from the first catalyst which cause color formation upon oxidation . gas chromatographic analysis of products from the first catalyst alone and the two catalyst bed product reveals fewer contaminant compounds with the two catalyst system , indicating that the second catalyst is hydrogenating by - product acids , aldehydes , ketones , and esters . if the effluent from the first reaction stage contains olefins , the second catalyst will be effective in at least partially converting the olefins to paraffins . the following specific examples are provided in order to illustrate the practice of the invention , but are not to be construed to limit the scope of the invention . in the following examples , all percentages are expressed in terms of weight unless specified otherwise . in this example , two cobalt catalysts ( designated a and b ) and two copper catalysts ( designated c and d ) were prepared and tested for activity as synthesis gas conversion catalysts , both individually and in a tandem catalyst bed process . the catalyst preparation and alcohol synthesis procedures and results are set forth below . catalyst a : 78 . 32 g of ti ( oc 3 h 7 ) 4 , titanium tetraisopropoxide , was added to 300 ml of h 2 o and stirred . to this mixture was added 230 . 04 g of co ( no 3 ) 2 · 6h 2 o , 26 . 28 g zn ( no 3 ) 2 · 6h 2 o , and 4 . 24 g k 2 co 3 . the resulting mixture was stirred for approximately one hour . a separately prepared 6m na 2 co 3 solution in water was slowly added until the ph was approximately 10 . the resulting solid precipitate was filtered and washed twice , each time with 300 ml h 2 o . the washed solid was then dried overnight at 250 ° c . in a vacuum oven . the resulting catalyst was then calcined for two hours at 1200 ° f . the nominal composition of this catalyst was 67 . 9 % coo , 20 . 6 % tio 2 , 8 . 2 % zno , and 3 . 3 % k 2 o on a carbonate - free basis . about 5 % to 10 % residual sodium carbonate remained in the catalyst . catalyst b : 318 . 6 g co ( no 3 ) 2 · 6h 2 o and 29 . 2 g zn ( no 3 ) 2 · 6h 2 o were dissolved in 600 ml h 2 o . separately , 200 g na 2 co 3 was dissolved in 600 ml h 2 o . the na 2 co 3 solution was slowly added to the cobalt solution until the ph was approximately 10 . the resulting solid precipitate was filtered and washed twice , each time with 500 ml h 2 o . the washed solid was dried overnight at 250 ° f . in a vacuum oven and calcined for two hours at 1200 ° f . the nominal composition of the catalyst was 91 % coo and 9 % zno on a carbonate - free basis . approximately 5 % to 10 % residual na 2 co 3 remained in the catalyst . catalyst c : 26 . 01 g of ba ( no 3 ) 2 was dissolved in 800 ml h 2 o and heated to 150 ° f . 218 . 12 g cu ( no 3 ) 2 · 3h 2 o was added . a separate solution of ammonium chromate was prepared by dissolving 126 . 02 g ( nh 4 ) 2 cr 2 o 7 in 600 ml h 2 o and adding 150 ml nh40h . the two solutions were rapidly mixed . the resulting solid precipitate was filtered and washed twice , each time with 200 ml h 2 o . the washed solid was dried overnight at 250 ° f . in a vacuum oven . the resulting catalyst was slowly heated to 600 ° f . and maintained for one hour . the resulting barium copper chromite catalyst was analyzed to contain 37 . 6 % cuo , 48 . 2 % cr 2 o 3 , and 8 . 9 % bao , the balance comprising water , other carbonates , and other oxides . catalyst d : to 10 g of catalyst c was added 0 . 5 g k 2 co 3 dissolved in 7 . 0 ml h 2 o . the impregnated catalyst was dried and recalcined for three hours at 600 ° f . the finished catalyst contained approximately 3 . 4 % k 2 o . the catalysts were tested for alcohol synthesis in a fixed - bed , continuous - flow pilot plant . yields were determined by gas chromatography . the flow rate was controlled by mass flow controllers and metered from the test unit by a wet test meter . the gas flow rate ( cc of gas per gram of catalyst per hour ) and carbon monoxide analysis were determined prior to reaction and again at the reaction temperature . the liquid products were collected for about 24 hours and analyzed by gas chromatography . liquid samples were tested for water content ( percent ) by karl fischer analysis . catalyst a : 5 . 0 g of catalyst a was diluted with an equal volume of high surface area carbon and loaded into a fixed bed reactor . the reaction pressure was 1500 psig . the inlet feed gas composition was 44 . 5 vol . % co , 7 . 7 vol . % co 2 , and 47 . 8 vol . % h 2 . the total gas flow rate was 2392 cc / hr / g catalyst . the reaction temperatures were 575 ° f . and 590 ° f ., as indicated in table i . the catalyst was tested for several days at these conditions . the results of the test are summarized in table i . the product contained low yields of methanol and high yields of c 2 + alcohols . many other oxygenated products were also present . additionally , the liquid product consisted of two layers , one a predominantly organic ( alcohol ) layer and one a predominantly water layer . both layers contained significant levels of both water and alcohols . the water content in the total liquid product was approximately 45 wt . %. catalyst b : 5 . 0 g of catalyst b was diluted with an equal volume of high surface area carbon and loaded into a fixed bed reactor . the reaction pressure was 1500 psig . the inlet feed gas composition was 46 . 9 vol . % co , 8 . 3 vol . % co 2 , and 44 . 8 vol . % h 2 . the total gas flow rate was 2399 cc / hr / g catalyst . the reaction temperature was 540 ° f . again the product contained relatively little methanol with high levels of c 2 + alcohols and other c 2 + oxygenates . the product also separated into two layers , an aqueous layer and an oxygenate layer . the total liquid product was analyzed to contain approximately 40 wt . % water . catalyst results are summarized in table i . catalyst c : 3 . 9 g of catalyst c ( barium copper chromite , a methanol synthesis catalyst ) was diluted with an equal volume of high surface area carbon and placed in the fixed bed reactor . the reaction pressure was 1500 psig . the inlet gas composition was h 42 . 9 vol . % co , 7 . 5 vol . % co 2 , and 49 . 6 vol . % h 2 . the total gas rate was 3251 cc / hr / g / catalyst . the product was a single layer of nearly pure methanol , although traces of other products were present . the product was analyzed to contain approximately 2 wt . % water . the results of this catalyst test are summarized in table ii . catalyst d : 10 . 0 g of catalyst d ( potassium carbonate promoted barium copper chromite ) was diluted with an equal volume of high surface area carbon and placed in the fixed bed reactor . the reaction pressure was 1500 psig . the inlet gas composition was 43 . 9 vol . co , 7 . 7 vol . % co 2 , and 48 . 4 vol . % h 2 . the total gas flow rate was 1216 cc / hr / g catalyst . this catalyst made mostly methanol , but at a substantially reduced rate compared to catalyst c . the water in the product was analyzed to be 2 . 5 wt . %. the catalyst results are summarized in table ii . catalyst a followed by catalyst c : 5 . 0 g of each catalyst was diluted with an equal volume of high surface area carbon . the catalysts were loaded into the reactor separately such that the temperature of each catalyst could be individually controlled . the effluent contained product from catalyst a and unconverted synthesis gas , and was passed over catalyst c . the reaction pressure was 1500 psig . the inlet gas composition was 43 . 9 vol . % co , 7 . 7 vol . % co 2 , and 48 . 4 vol % h 2 . the total gas flow rate was 1209 cc / hr / g catalyst . both catalysts were maintained at the same temperature throughout the test . the reaction temperatures were 550 ° f ., 560 ° f ., and 570 ° f . unlike the single catalyst tests for the cobalt higher alcohol catalysts ( catalysts a and b ), the product from the two catalysts formed only a single layer . the water content of the total product was reduced to approximately 10 wt . in addition , many of the intermediate oxygenates were hydrogenated to their corresponding alcohols . the yields of c 2 + alcohols was nearly tripled over those of the single cobalt catalyst tests . for the two catalyst test , the yield of methanol was also increased compared to that obtained with catalyst a alone . the yields of methanol can be controlled , however , by selection of process conditions . finally , although the crude alcohol product from either of the cobalt catalysts alone ( catalyst a or b ) changed in color ( from colorless to tan ) upon standing in air for several days , the product of the two catalyst system was oxidatively stable after several weeks exposure to air . results are given in table iii . catalyst a followed by catalyst d : 5 . 0 g of each catalyst was loaded separately into a fixed - bed reactor . the reaction pressure was 1500 psig , and the inlet gas composition was 43 . 8 vol . % co , 7 . 7 vol . % co 2 , and 48 . 5 vol . % h 2 . the total gas flow rate was 1200 cc / hr / g catalyst . the temperature of the catalyst a was 560 ° f . and the temperature of catalyst d was 545 ° f . the product formed only a single phase with a water content of approximately 19 wt . %. because catalyst d was less active for methanol synthesis relative to catalyst c , this product was richer , i . e ., has a higher selectivity , in c 2 + alcohols as compared to the test of catalyst a followed by catalyst c . while there was 19 wt . % water in the product , this water content was sufficiently low that molecular sieves can be used to dry the final product . the results of this test are given in table iv . catalyst b followed by catalyst c : 5 . 0 g of each catalyst was loaded separately to a fixed - bed reactor . the reaction pressure was 1500 psig , and the inlet gas composition was 41 . 5 vol . % co , 7 . 3 vol . % co 2 , and 51 . 2 vol . % h 2 . the inlet gas flow rate was 1280 cc / hr / g catalyst . the temperature of catalyst c was maintained at 515 ° f . and the temperature of catalyst b was set at 515 ° f ., 540 ° f ., or 545 ° f . at 515 ° f . the temperature was too low for catalyst b to synthesize h many c 2 + alcohols . the product was mostly methanol , with approximately 10 vol . % c 2 + alcohols , and contained 3 . 4 wt . % water . at 540 ° f ., catalyst b was highly active and the product contained 30 % c 2 + alcohols . this product contained low levels of water ( 4 . 7 wt . %). as shown in table i , the alcohol product from catalyst b alone would contain approximately 40 vol . % water . when catalyst b was operated at 545 ° f ., c 2 + alcohol yields and selectivities were increased and the water levels in the product remained low at 5 . 3 wt . %. the results for this test are given in table v . this example demonstrates that copper chromite catalysts can be used to catalytically dry higher alcohol products . in addition , by changes in catalyst composition , loadings , or process conditions , the yields and selectivity of methanol can be adjusted over a wide range . for example , at lower reaction pressures , catalytic drying with copper chromite might be effected without significant increases in the yields of methanol . also , although these tests were conducted in a single reactor , multi - reactor or multi - stage processing would also be effective . table i__________________________________________________________________________catalyst : a bcatalyst components : coo -- tio . sub . 2 -- zno -- k . sub . 2 o coo -- zno -- k . sub . 2 o__________________________________________________________________________temperature , ° f . 575 590 540pressure , psig 1500 1500 1500co conversion , % 14 . 2 13 . 3 16 . 5selectivity :(%) co . sub . 2 44 . 4 42 . 1 41 . 4ch . sub . 4 10 . 5 10 . 1 12 . 2c . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons 18 . 7 19 . 7 16 . 6meoh 0 . 9 2 . 6 1 . 4c . sub . 2 + alcohols 7 . 7 11 . 7 14 . 5other 18 . 0 13 . 8 14 . 0yields ( g / hr / g catalyst ) ch . sub . 4 . 011 . 010 . 016c . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons . 018 . 017 . 019meoh . 0018 . 0049 . 0037c . sub . 2 + alcohols . 010 . 014 . 024 % c . sub . 2 + alcohols in 28 . 9 41 . 1 48 . 4organic phase of liquid % water in total liquid 45 % 45 % 40 % __________________________________________________________________________ table ii__________________________________________________________________________catalyst : c dcatalyst components : cuo -- cr . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 -- bao cuo -- cr . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 -- bao -- k . sub . 2 o__________________________________________________________________________temperature , ° f . 515 520pressure , psig 1500 1500co conversion , % 18 . 7 6 . 1selectivity :(%) co . sub . 2 -- 1 . 3ch . sub . 4 1 . 4 -- c . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons 3 . 3 -- meoh 93 . 2 96 . 8c . sub . 2 + alcohols . 9 1 . 7other 3 . 7 . 3yields ( g / hr / g catalyst ) ch . sub . 4 . 0026 -- c . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons . 0013 -- meoh . 348 . 045c . sub . 2 + alcohols . 0022 . 0005 % c . sub . 2 + alcohols in . 9 1 . 7organic phase of liquid % water in total liquid 1 . 5 % 2 . 5 % __________________________________________________________________________ table iii__________________________________________________________________________catalysts : a and ccatalyst components : coo -- tio . sub . 2 -- zno -- k . sub . 2 o cuo -- cr . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 -- bao__________________________________________________________________________temperature , ° f . 550 560 570pressure , psig 1500 1500 1500co conversion , % 51 . 9 53 . 5 56 . 4selectivity :(%) co . sub . 2 30 . 1 36 . 2 40 . 8ch . sub . 4 7 . 7 9 . 9 10 . 7c . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons 8 . 8 12 . 5 13 . 4meoh 25 . 3 15 . 9 10 . 5c . sub . 2 + alcohols 19 . 2 18 . 0 18 . 1other 8 . 9 7 . 5 6 . 5yields ( g / hr / g catalyst ) ch . sub . 4 . 015 . 020 . 023c . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons . 015 . 022 . 025meoh . 100 . 065 . 045c . sub . 2 + alcohols . 047 . 046 . 048 % c . sub . 2 + alcohols in 36 . 0 43 . 4 51 . 6organic phase ofliquid % water in total liquid 10 . 7 10 . 7 9 . 2__________________________________________________________________________ table iv__________________________________________________________________________catalyst number : a and dcatalyst components : coo -- tio . sub . 2 -- zno -- k . sub . 2 o cuo -- cr . sub . 2 o . sub . 3 -- bao -- k . sub . 2__________________________________________________________________________ otemperature , ° f . 560 / 545pressure , psig 1500co conversion , % 43 . 3selectivity :(%) co . sub . 2 47 . 4ch . sub . 4 14 . 1c . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons 16 . 7meoh 1 . 1c . sub . 2 + alcohols 15 . 3other 8 . 9yields ( g / hr / g catalyst ) ch . sub . 4 . 025c . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons . 026meoh . 004c . sub . 2 + alcohols . 028 % c . sub . 2 + alcohols in 55 . 6organic phase in liquid % water in total liquid 19 . 7 % __________________________________________________________________________ table v__________________________________________________________________________catalyst : b and ccatalyst components : coo -- zno -- k . sub . 2 o bao -- cuo -- cr . sub . 2 o . sub . 3__________________________________________________________________________temperature , ° f . 515 540 / 515 545 / 515pressure , psig 1500 1500 1500co conversion , % 26 . 3 43 . 0 46 . 0selectivity :(%) co . sub . 2 24 . 1 36 . 8 40 . 1ch . sub . 4 5 . 1 9 . 1 11 . 1ch . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons 8 . 3 12 . 1 13 . 0meoh 46 . 8 19 . 0 16 . 9c . sub . 2 + alcohols 7 . 4 12 . 9 15 . 5other 8 . 4 10 . 1 3 . 4yields ( g / hr / g catalyst ) ch . sub . 4 . 0051 . 015 . 019c . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons . 0072 . 017 . 020meoh . 093 . 062 . 059c . sub . 2 + alcohols . 0093 . 026 . 034 % c . sub . 2 + alcohols in 11 . 8 30 . 7 43 . 2organic phase of liquid % water in total liquid 3 . 4 4 . 7 5 . 3__________________________________________________________________________ in this example , a cobalt catalyst ( designated e ) and a copper catalyst ( designated f ) were prepared . catalyst f . was tested for activity as a synthesis gas conversion catalyst , both individually and in a tandem catalyst bed process with catalyst e . the catalyst preparation procedure for catalyst e and alcohol synthesis procedure and results are set forth below . a solution of 398 . 3 g of co ( no 3 ) 2 · 6h 2 o in 350 ml of h 2 o and a solution of 36 . 5 g zn ( no 3 ) 2 · 6h 2 o in 50 ml h 2 o were added to a beaker and heated to 140 ° f . with stirring . a solution of 265 g na 2 co 3 in 700 ml h 2 o was heated separately to 140 ° f ., and added quickly to the cobalt - zinc solution . rapid bubbling of gas occurred . the mixture was stirred one additional hour , then allowed to stand for about one hour . the final ph was 9 . the mixture was filtered , and the resulting purple solid filter cake was reslurried with 1000 ml h 2 o and filtered . three days later , the filter cake was reslurried with 500 ml h 2 o , filtered and dried overnight in a vacuum oven at 100 ° c . the resulting dried powder was then calcined at 1100 ° f . for 41 / 2 hours . the pore volume of the resulting catalyst was 0 . 52 ml h 2 o / g catalyst . 22 . 65 g of the catalyst was subsequently dried and calcined , ground to a fine powder , and impregnated with a solution of 0 . 82 g k 2 co 3 in 12 ml h 2 o . the resulting impregnated catalyst was dried in a vacuum oven at 106 ° c . and calcined at 1100 ° f . for 2 hours . catalyst e comprised co , zn , and k 2 co 3 in a nominal weight ratio of 88 / 9 / 3 , with co and zn measured as coo and zno , respectively . this catalyst was a methanol synthesis catalyst obtained from united catalysts , inc . of louisville , ky , under the designation &# 34 ; alkanols synthesis catalyst l - 2639 &# 34 ; and as delivered contained cu , zn , al , all in oxide form , and alkali metal , in unknown proportions . the catalyst was further impregnated with k 2 co 3 to a final catalyst k 2 co 3 content of about 12 wt . %. catalyst f . was tested individually and in tandem with catalyst e for alcohol synthesis using the procedure of example 1 , above . results are set forth below . this catalyst was not tested individually , but would be expected to perform similarly to catalyst g , described in example 3 . 18 . 85 g of catalyst f . was loaded into a fixed bed reactor , as in example 1 , and tested for conversion of synthesis gas . the reaction pressure was 2000 psig and the reaction temperature was 550 ° f . the inlet feed gas composition was 44 . 3 vol . % co , 8 . 0 vol . % co 2 , and 47 . 8 vol . % h 2 . the inlet gas flow rate was 335 cc / hr / g catalyst . the results of the test are summarized in table vi , below . table vi______________________________________catalyst : fcatalyst components : cu -- zn -- al - 12 % k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3______________________________________temperature , ° f . 550pressure , psig 2000co conversion , % 9 . 5selectivity (%) co . sub . 2 0 . 5ch . sub . 4 2 . 9c . sub . 2 . sup .+ hydrocarbons 3 . 0meoh 62 . 8c . sub . 2 . sup .+ alcohols 17 . 4other 13 . 4yields ( g / hr / g catalyst ) ch . sub . 4 0 . 0003c . sub . 2 . sup .+ hydrocarbons 0 . 0003meoh 0 . 013c . sub . 2 . sup .+ alcohols 0 . 002c . sub . 2 . sup .+ alcohols in organic 19phase of liquid______________________________________ 7 . 81 g of catalyst e and 5 . 03 g of catalyst f were loaded into a reactor using the procedure of example 1 . the reaction pressure was 1500 psig , the temperature of catalyst e was 520 ° f ., and the temperature for catalyst f was 500 ° f . the inlet gas composition was 34 . 0 vol . % co , 6 . 1 vol . % co 2 , and 60 . 0 vol . % h 2 . the inlet gas flow rate was 928 . 7 cc / hr / g catalyst . unlike the single catalyst test for catalyst e , the liquid product from the two catalysts formed only a single layer . table vii__________________________________________________________________________catalysts : e and fcatalyst components : coo -- zno -- k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 cu -- zn -- al - 12 % k . sub . 2 co . sub . 3__________________________________________________________________________temperature , ° f . 520 500pressure , psig 1500co conversion , % 14 . 9selectivity :(%) co . sub . 2 50 . 7ch . sub . 4 11 . 6ch . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons 17 . 5meoh 2 . 8c . sub . 2 + alcohols 9 . 2other 7 . 4yields ( g / hr / g catalyst ) ch . sub . 4 0 . 004c . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons 0 . 005meoh 0 . 002c . sub . 2 + alcohols 0 . 004 % c . sub . 2 + alcohols in 47 . 5organic phase of liquid__________________________________________________________________________ in this example , a cobalt catalyst ( designated g ) and a copper catalyst ( designated h ) were tested for activity as synthesis gas conversion catalysts , both individually and in a tandem catalyst bed process . the catalyst preparation procedure for catalyst g and alcohol synthesis procedures and result are set forth below . solutions of 398 . 3 g of co ( no 3 ) 2 · 6h 2 o in 350 ml h 2 o , and 36 . 5 g nz ( no 3 ) 2 · 6h 2 o in 50 ml distilled h 2 o were separately prepared . the two solutions were added to a beaker and stirred . a solution of 250 g na 2 co 3 in 700 ml distilled h 2 o was slowly added to the cobalt - zinc solution and stirred for about 1 hour , and filtered with # 3 filter paper . the filter cake was reslurried twice , each time with 1000 ml h 2 o and filtered . the resulting catalyst was dried in a vacuum oven overnight and then placed in a dessicator . the resulting catalyst was then calcined , and the pore volume was determined to be 0 . 31 ml h 2 o / g catalyst . the catalyst comprised coo and zno in approximate 91 / 9 weight proportion , and na 2 co 3 . this catalyst was a methanol synthesis catalyst obtained from united catalysts , inc . of louisville , ky under the designation &# 34 ; alkanols synthesis catalyst l - 2639 &# 34 ; and comprised copper , zinc , copper , and aluminum , all in oxide form , and alkali metal , in unknown proportions . the catalysts were tested for alcohol synthesis in a fixed bed , continuous flow pilot plant using the procedure of examples 1 and 2 above . 5 . 0 g of catalyst g was loaded into a fixed bed reactor , and tested at a pressure of 1580 psig , and a temperature of 540 ° f . the synthesis gas feed was 30 . 7 vol . % co , 5 . 4 vol . % co 2 , and 63 . 9 vol . % h 2 . the inlet gas flow rate was 2447 . 0 cc / hr / g catalyst . results are summarized in table viii , below . table viii______________________________________catalyst : gcatalyst components : coo -- zno -- na . sub . 2 co . sub . 3______________________________________temperature , ° f . 540pressure , psig 1580co conversion , % 30 . 5selectivity :(%) co . sub . 2 38 . 9ch . sub . 4 12 . 9c . sub . 2 . sup .+ hydrocarbons 15 . 9meoh 2 . 6c . sub . 2 . sup .+ alcohols 17 . 8other 11 . 8yields ( g / hr / g catalyst ) ch . sub . 4 0 . 021c . sub . 2 . sup .+ hydrocarbons 0 . 023meoh 0 . 009c . sub . 2 . sup .+ alcohols 0 . 06 % c . sub . 2 . sup .+ alcohols in organic 55phase of liquidc . sub . 2 . sup .+ olefins / c . sub . 2 . sup .+ paraffins 0 . 91______________________________________ synthesis gas was passed over catalyst h alone at pressures of about 1500 psig and 1200 psig at temperatures of about 480 ° f . and 575 ° f ., respectively . at 480 ° f ., the feed gas at the reactor inlet contained 33 . 6 vol . % co , 6 . 0 vol . % co 2 , and 60 . 4 vol . % h 2 . the feed gas used at 575 ° f . contained 44 . 1 vol . % co , 8 . 2 vol . % co 2 , and 47 . 7 vol . % h 2 . the gas flow rate at 480 ° f . was 2687 cc / hr / g catalyst , and that at 575 ° f . was 264 cc / hr / g catalyst . table ix______________________________________catalyst : hcatalyst components : cu -- zn -- al - alkali metal______________________________________temperature , ° f . 480 575pressure , psig 1500 2000co conversion , % 23 . 7 41 . 3selectivity (%) co . sub . 2 -- 13 . 0ch . sub . 4 -- 5 . 9c . sub . 2 . sup .+ hydrocarbons -- 2 . 5meoh 98 . 9 62 . 6c . sub . 2 . sup .+ alcohols 0 . 2 7 . 3other 0 . 8 6 . 9yields ( g / hr / g catalyst ) ch . sub . 4 -- 0 . 002c . sub . 2 . sup .+ hydrocarbons -- 0 . 0008meoh 0 . 30 0 . 04c . sub . 2 . sup .+ alcohols 0 . 0004 0 . 003______________________________________ 5 . 0 g of each catalyst was loaded separately into a reactor , and testing was carried out in the pressure of 1500 psig . catalyst g was maintained at 500 ° f . and catalyst h was maintained at 480 ° f . the inlet gas composition was 45 . 7 vol . % co , 8 . 2 vol . % co 2 , and 45 . 1 vol . % h 2 . the total gas flow rate at the inlet was 1207 . 0 cc / hr / g catalyst . table x__________________________________________________________________________catalyst : g and hcatalyst components : coo -- zno -- na . sub . 2 co . sub . 3 cu -- zn -- al - alkali metal__________________________________________________________________________temperature , ° f . 500 ° f . 480 ° f . pressure , psig 1500co conversion , % 20 . 6selectivity :(%) co . sub . 2 42 . 7ch . sub . 4 7 . 9ch . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons 14 . 1meoh 8 . 1c . sub . 2 + alcohols 12 . 7other 13 . 6yields ( g / hr / g catalyst ) ch . sub . 4 0 . 006c . sub . 2 + hydrocarbons 0 . 010meoh 0 . 013c . sub . 2 + alcohols 0 . 013 % c . sub . 2 + alcohols in 40 . 0organic phase of liquid__________________________________________________________________________ the foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only , and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom , as modifications within the scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art . | 2 |
the present invention provides an energy / angle resolved coherent scattering ( ear - cs ) system for screening baggage and other articles that employs both energy and angle resolution of coherent scattering data . referring now to fig1 – 2 there is depicted an embodiment of the invention providing a scanning system for detecting the presence of contraband material within a baggage item . as used herein and in the subjoined claims , the term “ contraband ” is intended to denote substances or articles whose transportation or possession is forbidden or improper . a wide variety of substances or articles may be considered as contraband , including non - exclusively : firearms and similar weapons ; explosives and explosive devices ; incendiaries , propellants , and accelerants ; drugs such as heroin , cocaine , opium and its derivatives and other narcotics , cannabis ( including marijuana and hashish ), amphetamines and barbiturates ; hallucinogens and psychotropics ; and other substances and articles which present biological , chemical or radiological hazards to people and property . the term “ baggage item ” is intended to include non - exclusively objects such as luggage , suitcases , cargo , freight , boxes , cartons , envelopes , crates , packages , personal articles , and the like , appointed to be hand - carried by an individual or transported on aircraft , rail , ship , bus or other like public conveyance . within enclosure 1 depicted by fig1 – 2 , there is deployed an x - ray source 2 adapted to illuminate an interrogation volume 6 within a baggage item 5 , depicted in this instance as a conventional suitcase . penetrating x - radiation emanating from source 2 in primary beam 3 passes through primary beam collimator 4 , which restricts the x - ray flux to a fan beam 20 . as used herein and in the subjoined claims , a fan beam is understood to mean a beam that is substantially wider in a first transverse direction perpendicular to the beam direction than in a second transverse direction . preferably , the beam is about 1 mm wide in its second transverse direction and is at least about 10 times wider in the first direction . fan beam 20 impinges on volume 6 . a portion of the x - ray flux within fan beam 20 is coherently scattered by material within interrogation volume 6 , creating a scattered radiation 7 . as depicted , interrogation volume 6 is a small part of the total volume of baggage item 5 . however , in other embodiments within the scope of the present invention , volume 6 may comprise as much as the entire volume of item 5 and may further comprise the container of item 5 itself . a portion of scattered radiation 7 is intercepted by focusing collimator 10 and passes therethrough to strike energy - resolved detector array 11 , which is movably disposed on track 12 . a portion of the flux in beam 20 is not scattered and emerges from volume 6 as transmitted beam 9 , which strikes dual energy detector array 13 . baggage item 5 is transported through enclosure 1 by motion means , such as a conveyor system 8 of conventional design in a direction indicated by arrow d . the direction of transport is generally perpendicular to the plane containing the width of fan beam 4 , i . e ., the plane perpendicular to the sheet of fig1 and the plane of the sheet of fig2 . additionally , collimator 10 and detector array 11 are movable along track 12 and in a vertical direction , as indicated by the arrows in fig2 , to permit different interrogation volumes within baggage item 5 to be examined . fig3 depicts an alternative embodiment in which the interrogation volume 15 comprises substantially the entire volume of baggage item 5 instead of the relatively smaller portion 6 scanned in the embodiment of fig1 – 2 . accordingly , the embodiment of fig3 also incorporates focused collimator 16 and energy - resolved detector array 17 that are of greater angular extent than respective collimator 10 and detector 11 seen in fig1 – 2 . in other embodiments of the present system , a plurality of energy - resolved detector elements are used instead of the detector array 11 seen in fig1 . advantageously , the use of multiple detector elements permits scattering data to be collected simultaneously at a plurality of scattering angles , in many instances eliminating the need for a mechanical motion means to position the detector at the different angles . such an arrangement significantly reduces the time needed for data collection , resulting in higher system throughput . still other embodiments employ one - and two - dimensional , energy - resolved detectors , which are capable of detecting radiation and resolving both its intensity in one or two dimensions , respectively , and its energy . any suitable detector having the requisite energy resolution for detecting coherently scattered radiation may be used in the practice of the present invention . these detectors include ge , cdznte ( czt ), and cdte solid state detectors . preferably , the detector is a cdznte or cdte detector . the invention further provides a method for scanning an interrogation volume within a baggage item to signal the presence of at least one contraband substance . as best understood by reference to fig1 – 2 , an implementation of the method comprises illuminating the interrogation volume with a fan beam 20 of penetrating , polychromatic x - ray radiation and detecting the radiation coherently scattered by material within the interrogation volume 6 . preferably , the x - rays are provided by a source such as a conventional , rotating tungsten - anode x - ray tube 2 operating at a potential of about 160 kv . the x - rays pass through a collimating slit 4 to create a fan beam 20 that circumscribes a primary beam direction and has an opening angle preferably ranging from about 40 to 80 °. an attenuated portion of fan beam is transmitted along the primary beam direction and impinges on dual energy detector 13 . the output of the one or more detectors is used to determine an energy - dependent absorption correction . the coherently scattered radiation 7 is detected at a plurality of scattering angles θ . at each of the angles , an energy - resolved scattering spectrum is obtained . an energy - resolved scattering spectrum may be represented as a graph of scattered intensity versus x - ray energy . peaks are seen in the scattering spectrum at certain energy values e i which correspond to wavelengths λ i by the equation e i = hc / λ i . these λ i values , in turn , satisfy bragg &# 39 ; s law for various of the lattice d - spacings d i characteristic of the material within the interrogation volume , as discussed hereinabove . however , the intensity of the scattering is generally so low that to obtain an adequate signal to noise ratio data must be accumulated for a time that is unacceptably long for a practical baggage screening system . accordingly , it is preferred that data be accumulated simultaneously in plural detectors and combined to enhance signal to noise ratio for the present analysis . fig4 a depicts the results of a simulation experiment in accordance with the method of the invention , in which computer - generated simulated data are collected for an extended period of time to obtain an acceptable signal to noise ratio . the data are presented in a plot of energy e versus scattering angle θ , the intensity of color or gray scale in the plot representing the intensity of scattered radiation for a hypothetical material . data of the form seen in fig4 a would be collected by a detector with both energy and spatial resolution capability . the five curved bands correspond to five d - spacings d i or values of momentum transfer χ i that satisfy bragg &# 39 ; s law . the narrow horizontal spots within each band correspond to the energies of the tungsten fluorescence lines at about 59 and 67 kev . as seen in fig1 , the incident x - ray flux at these energies is especially high , resulting in intense coherent scattering at these energies . a portion of the data that make up fig4 a are extracted to form the graphs seen in fig4 b and 4 c , which depict results that would be obtained in ar - cs and er - cs experiments respectively , conducted using substantially the same conditions . that is to say , the data of fig4 b and 4 c represent the results that would be obtained using the same source and the same data collection time using extant ar - cs and er - cs systems . in particular , fig4 b represents a horizontal slice taken across fig4 a , i . e . data taken for a constant incident energy of 59 kev , one of the fluorescence energies of tungsten . fig4 c represents a vertical slice of fig4 a taken at a constant scattering angle of 2 . 5 °. peaks are clearly perceptible in both fig4 b and 4 c . however , the data collection time assumed in fig4 a – 4 c is unacceptably long for a baggage screening system . the same simulated experiment , but with data taken for a much shorter time that would be acceptable for a baggage screening system , results in a much poorer signal to noise ratio , as depicted by fig6 a . the bands easily distinguished in fig4 a are barely perceptible in fig6 a . the slices in fig6 b and 6 c , which correspond to fig4 a and 4 c , respectively , do not reveal easily discernable peaks . the present ear - cs method overcomes the limitations of existing ar - cs and er - cs systems by simultaneously collecting data resolved in both angle and energy . in the present method , a scattering spectrum is obtained from each of a plurality of scattering angles . each scattering spectrum corresponds to a vertical slice , such as the data depicted in fig4 c and 6 c sliced from the data of fig4 a and 6 a , respectively . each scattering spectrum is then corrected for absorption using a correction derived from a dual energy detection method . the scattering spectra are combined to produce a scattering pattern , which has enhanced signal to noise ratio . in one implementation for combining the spectra , the energy range in each is divided into a plurality of small energy ranges . each small energy range corresponds to a particular value of momentum transfer χ . the scattering pattern is produced by combining , point by point , the data representing substantially similar values of χ in the various spectra . one method for combining the spectra relies on transformation of the scattering angle for each data point to an equivalent , normalized angle θ n based on a single energy , such as the maximum energy e m at which scattering data are collected . the normalized angle θ n for scattering of x - rays of energy e at a real angle θ is given by the formula the results of transforming the data of fig4 a using equation ( 4 ) are depicted in fig5 a . intensity maxima corresponding to five d - spacings are clearly visible in fig5 a . it will be recognized that the data could also be renormalized using a transformation of energy instead of angle . a further summation of the data points of fig5 a having substantially the same normalized angles yields the scattering pattern seen in fig5 b , in which the intensity maxima of fig5 a sum to form the peaks seen in fig5 b . the same transformation of the data of fig6 a produces the scattering pattern depicted by fig7 a , in which the same peaks are only weakly visible . however , the summation of the points of fig5 a having substantially the same normalized angles yields the scattering pattern of fig7 b , in which peaks are visible with sufficient signal to noise ratio for a workable baggage scanning system . an alternate method that yields the same results would be to bin together the results for each constant value of χ and then prepare a histogram of the resulting data , preferably by using a pre - calculated look - up table that directs each of the pixels in a data set , e . g . those depicted in fig4 a and 6 a , to the proper bin locations and adds the pixels in each bin together . plots of these results also give directly the results set forth in fig5 b and 7 b . other techniques for combining the scattering spectra to form the combined scattering pattern will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are included within the scope of the present invention . the method of the invention further comprises comparison of the combined scattering pattern , e . g . as obtained by the foregoing method , with a library of reference scattering patterns . as noted above , every material exhibits a unique scattering pattern , so that detection of an experimental pattern that matches a reference pattern indicates that the sample interrogated contains at least the material corresponding to the reference pattern . in certain instances , it is sufficient to compare the experimental scattering pattern with a single reference pattern to determine the presence or absence of the one corresponding substance . however , in most circumstances the library preferably contains reference scattering patterns characteristic of a large plurality of contraband materials , any one or more of which can thus be detected . the matching of reference and experimental patterns may readily carried out using a computer system programmed to implement pattern matching techniques known in the art . more specifically , the present ear - cs method is able to detect the presence of a plurality of substances in an interrogation volume . the presence of multiple substances gives rise to a scattering pattern that is a superposition of the scattering patterns of the individual constituents . that is to say , the experimental scattering pattern exhibits plural peaks , each of which is attributable to one of the substances and occurs at a specific value of χ that is unaffected by the presence of other substances . in some instances , there may be overlap or coincidence of the peaks of different substances . however , it is extremely unlikely that all the peaks of different substances overlap in a way that precludes identification using the present system . the present scattering methods are also able to identify semi - crystalline , non - crystalline , amorphous , gels , and other poorly ordered materials in some instances . many of these materials have sufficient short - range order to produce a scattering pattern having relatively broad peaks with sufficient intensity for detection . the present method preferably employs a dual energy detection technique to determine an energy - dependent absorption correction . it is known that the intensity of an x - ray beam passing through a uniform material is attenuated exponentially with distance . the extent of attenuation ( i . e ., the ratio of transmitted to incident flux ) is dependent on the thickness and on the atomic density of the material , the average atomic number of the material , and the x - ray energy . in general , the degree of attenuation increases with increasing atomic density and average atomic number but decreases with increasing x - ray energy . for a polychromatic incident beam this attenuation is often termed “ beam hardening ,” since the preferential attenuating of the lower energy portion of the flux increases the average beam energy to a higher value . higher energy x - rays are often said to be “ harder ” than lower energy x - rays . the present dual energy technique preferably relies on two x - ray detectors , one a low energy detector and the other a high energy detector . systems using either more than two detectors sensitive to different energy ranges or energy - resolved detectors may be useful in some instances as well and are within the scope of the present invention . preferably , the high and low energy attenuation data are obtained from detectors that are also used in connection with the formation of a dual energy or radiographic density transmission image of the baggage item . advantageously , additional detectors for collecting the attenuation data are not required with this embodiment . the low energy detector is sensitive to low - energy x - rays but substantially transmissive for high - energy x - rays . in one embodiment , the primary fan beam first passes through the baggage item , then at least part of the beam impinges on the low - energy detector , and subsequently enters the high energy detector . preferably a filter is interposed between the detectors and serves to strongly attenuate any low energy x - rays that emerge from the low - energy detector . typically , the systems are sensitive to x - ray energies of about 20 to 80 kev and about 80 to 160 kev , respectively . the system is calibrated , first with no baggage item present to determine the unattenuated flux in both detectors and then with a strongly absorbing sample , e . g . a thick lead sheet , or with the x - ray source deactivated , to determine full attenuation . preferably , the system is further calibrated with partially attenuating samples of known atomic and mass density and thickness . a range of such samples representative of the items commonly encountered in baggage is preferably used . such samples typically include lucite , aluminum , and ferrous metal . preferably , the samples cover a range of average thickness and average atomic number encompassing the items normally encountered . for each sample and thickness , the fractional attenuation seen in both the low and high energy detectors is determined . alternatively , the high and low energy attenuations for various reference samples of known atomic number and thickness may be calculated theoretically based on the principles of atomic physics . a lookup table is then developed from which average atomic number and thickness may be inferred for any combination of low and high energy attenuations seen during routine baggage scanning . the ensuing atomic number and thickness values allow an accurate energy - dependent absorption correction to be determined using known principles . advantageously , the foregoing dual energy correction is more easily implemented than known correction methods , since the combination of low and high energy fractional attenuations allows both the average atomic number and effective thickness of the sample to be readily determined . it is to be noted that for the small values of scattering angle 2 θ normally encountered , i . e . usually less than about 10 ° and more frequently less than about 5 °, the scattered beam traverses a path in the sample that is substantially the same in thickness and composition as in the path of the primary beam . the lowest order coherent scattering peaks , corresponding to the largest d - spacings of typically encountered materials , are found at scattering angles of less than about 10 ° for incident x - ray energies of 30 – 150 kev preferably used in the present system . lower energy x - rays are insufficiently penetrating to examine typical baggage items , while higher energy x - rays result in very low coherent scattering angles that do not permit the primary and scattered beams to be physically distinguished . referring now to fig9 there is shown the operation of an embodiment of the present baggage screening system used in conjunction with a prescanning device 89 . the system is shown generally at 100 . x - ray source 2 produces bremsstrahlung radiation 3 that is collimated by primary collimator 4 to form fan beam 20 that impinge on baggage item 5 . some of the x - rays are coherently scattered forming the scattered x - ray path 7 and focused onto the 2 - d detector array 11 by collimator system 10 . energy - resolved detector system 11 generates signals indicative of the x - rays incident thereon . signals are recorded based on the scatter angle and the energy of the x - ray photons detected . preferably , the signals are stored in a data array 29 in the memory of a computer means ( not shown ), such as a general - purpose computer or specialized digital circuitry incorporated within the detector electronics . an energy - resolved scattering spectrum is constructed from the scattered intensity at each scattering angle . the position of detector system 11 , collimator 10 , and conveyor 8 are determined from position information 88 from pre - scanning device 89 that determines potential suspect interrogation volume in concert with a position controller 90 . detector system 11 and collimator 10 move in directions indicated by the arrows in fig2 so that any desired volume within baggage 5 can be selected for scanning . alternatively , a narrow fan beam , such as beam 19 limited by collimator 18 as shown in fig8 , may be employed . use of a narrow fan beam beneficially reduces the likelihood of undesirable multiple scatter events reaching the detector . some of the x - ray flux either passes through the baggage unaffected undergoes a compton scatter or photoelectric absorption process . the unaffected flux passes through the baggage item to form beam path 9 . this flux is detected by the dual energy detector system 13 . in addition dual energy transmission image 27 is constructed by a computer and displayed on display monitor 91 . the atomic number and attenuation information generated from the x - rays collected by dual energy detectors 13 are used in a correction process 22 . for example , the scattering spectra may be corrected based on empirically determined attenuation tables or calculated attenuation scaling laws 26 that are a function of the average atomic number and the effective thickness of the material in the beam path and of the x - ray energy . the attenuation information obtained from energy - dependent absorption correction 26 is than used in carrying out correction process 22 that produces corrected spectra data 29 . the corrected data then undergo a signal processing transformation 23 for normalization of the data , e . g . as shown in fig5 . the end result of that transformation is a 1 - d histogram or scattering pattern 30 of χ . pattern 30 ( fig5 . 2 ) is then compared with a library of reference scattering patterns 25 using material classifier function 24 , preferably implemented using a computer . if a contraband substance is determined to be in the bag by material classifier 24 an audible or visible alarm signal 28 is generated and the position of the alarm in the baggage is indicated in dual energy transmission image 27 . preferably , a single general purpose computer with a stored computer program is readily used to store the data accumulated during the operations of the present system and to perform the various required data calculations and transformations . having thus described the invention in rather full detail , it will be understood that such detail need not be strictly adhered to but that various changes and modifications may suggest themselves to one skilled in the art , all falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the subjoined claims . | 6 |
the invention in its simplest form is exemplified in fig1 in which a two - layer film is generally designated 10 . layer 11 of film 10 is a heat sealant layer &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; consisting of copolyester resin . layer 12 of film 10 is the base layer &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; consisting of different polyester and / or copolyester polymers . fig2 illustrates an alternate construction in which a three - layer film is generally designated 13 . in this form , the base layer 12 &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; is sandwiched between the heat sealant layers 11 &# 34 ; a &# 34 ;. in both structures , the purpose of layer 11 is to serve as a heat sealant layer when the film is sealed to itself or a second substrate . in both films 10 and 13 , the function of layer 12 is generally that of providing the primary strength and toughness of the film . optionally , the heat seal layer &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; may contain slip and antiblock agents to lower the coefficient of friction , c . o . f ., of the film as well as to prevent roll blocking . low c . o . f . ( 0 . 2 - 0 . 5 g ) is often necessary to enable the film to &# 34 ; slide through &# 34 ; various converting machinery . the base layer &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; determines the film &# 39 ; s physical properties . as discussed earlier , the polymers used for this layer consist of either ( 1 ) a polyester ; ( 2 ) a copolyester ; or ( 3 ) a blend of a polyester and copolyester . use of a polyester will result in the least expensive base layer . however , the film with a polyester base layer will not be as strong as that obtained with a copolyester or polyester / copolyester blend . the copolyester selected for the heat sealant layer &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; will determine the heat seal properties of the film . there are many different kinds of copolyesters polymers commercially available . by utilizing different glycols and / or acids to react with terephthalic acid , different copolyester resins are obtained . the invention and effect of polymer selection is illustrated by the following examples . a base layer &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; consisting of a polyester polymer was coextruded with a petg copolyester . the petg utilized was produced by reacting terephthalic acid , ethylene glycol and 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol . this copolyester can be chemically defined as poly ( ethylene - 1 , 4 - cyclohexylene - dimethylene terephthalate ). one commercial petg copolyester of this formulation is kodar 6763 manufactured by eastman chemical products , inc . kodar is a registered trademark of eastman chemical products , inc . the base layer resin was placed into a first extruder and the heat sealant resin was placed in a second extruder and the resins were coextruded through a feedblock and cast film die and then quenched on a chilled roll . the resultant film had a total thickness of 0 . 7 mil ( 0 . 0007 inches ) of which 0 . 6 mil was the polyester base layer and 0 . 1 mil was the petg copolyester heat sealant layer . the film of example 1 except that a pcta copolyester was used as the base layer &# 34 ; b &# 34 ;. the pcta utilized was a copolyester produced by reacting terephthalic acid , isophtalic acid and 1 , 4 - cyclohexanedimethanol . this copolyester can be chemically defined as poly ( 1 , 4 - cyclohexylene - dimethylene terephthalate - co - isophthalate ). one commercial pcta of this formulation is kodar a150 manufactured by eastman chemical products , inc . kodar is a registered trademark of eastman chemical products , inc . the film of example 1 except that a different petg copolyester was used for the heat sealant layer . the copolyester used was produced by utilizing diethylene glycol as the &# 34 ; second &# 34 ; glycol in the polymerization . this copolyester can be chemically defined as poly ( ethylene - co - diethylene terephthalate ). one commercial copolyester of this formulation is kodabond 5116 manufactured by eastman chemical products , inc . kodabond is a registered trademark of eastman chemcical products , inc . hereinafter this petg will be referred to as &# 34 ; diethylene glycol copolyester .&# 34 ; table 1 contains physical properties of the films of examples 1 - 2 and demonstrates the effect of changing the base layer from a polyester to pcta copolyester . note that the film with the polyester based layer ( example 1 ) has lower tensile , elongation and tear strength . the pcta copolyester base film is a tougher and less tear resistant film which can be important properties in many packaging applications . table 2 lists seal strength properties of films from examples 1 and 3 which contain the same base layer ( polyester ) but different heat sealant layers . note that the film with the diethylene glycol copolyester heat sealant ( example 3 ) has a broader sealing latitude ( range ). table 1______________________________________ example 1 example 2______________________________________ultimate tensile 7300 5700astm d882 ( psi ) ultimate elongation 188 5astm d882 (%) tear 20 18astm d1922 ( g ) ______________________________________ table 2______________________________________tensile strength of heat seals made at 40 psi , 0 . 5sec . dwell ( g / inch ). seal temperature ( f .) example 1 example 3______________________________________250 ° f . 1248 522 g300 ° f . 2043 980 g325 ° f . 2050 1153 g350 ° f . 2088 1353 g375 ° f . 2090 1457 g400 ° f . 2090 1530 g450 ° f . 2090 1630 g / in______________________________________ &# 34 ; ab &# 34 ; film of the present invention is lap sealable to itself which provides an additional advantage over heat sealable opet films . for example , bag lap seals are more aesthetic than fin seals . a lap seal is formed when a film overlaps onto itself and a seal is formed between the film and an overlaping section of the film . a fin seal is formed between two nonoverlaping sections of film . fin seals have a fin - like shape and are known in the art . lap seals are also known in the art . a base layer &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; comprised of the pcta copolyester used in example 2 was coextruded with the diethylene glycol copolyester of example 3 as the &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; heat seal layer . the &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; heat seal layer contained an organic silicone slip agent and an inorganic diatomaceous earth antiblock agent . the base layer b was 0 . 6 mil in thickness and the sealant layer a was 0 . 1 mil . a base layer resin &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; comprised of polyester was placed into a first extruder and a heat sealant layer resin &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; comprised of diethylene glycol copolyester was placed into a second extruder . the resins were coextruded through an &# 34 ; aba &# 34 ; feedblock and cast film die and then quenched on a chilled roll . the resultant film had a total thickness of 0 . 7 mil ( 0 . 0007 inches ) of which 0 . 5 mil was the polyester base layer &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; sandwiched by two 0 . 1 mil heat sealant layers &# 34 ; a &# 34 ;. in the preferred coextrusion process of an &# 34 ; aba &# 34 ; film , the heat sealant layer resin is split into two streams rather than being placed in a third extruder . optionally , the films of examples 1 - 4 can be produced utilizing blown film coextrusion techniques . example 6 below describes the film of example 4 produced utilizing a blown film coextrusion technique . using a 2 - layer spiral coextrusion blown film die , the film of example 4 is produced . the base layer &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; polymer is extruded into the outer spiral channel of the die and the heat seal layer &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; polymer is extruded into the inside spiral channel . the 2 - layers are combined just prior to the final land of the die and then cooled by conventional blown film techniques . film from example 4 and 50 ol mylar , ( a commercial opet containing a heat seal coating ), were separately used as the inside liner of a laminate bag . referring to fig3 the film 15 was laminated to paper 17 using a laminating adhesive 16 . this laminate 14 was subsequently formed into bag 21 depicted in fig3 a . conventional techniques for adhesively laminating film to paper , film to film and film to other materials is known in the art and adhesives such as glue or the like are commercially available . the following u . s . patents disclose various techniques for adhesively laminating film to paper , film to film and / or film to other materials and the adhesives used in such techniques : u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 515 , 840 ; 4 , 452 , 846 ; 4 , 421 , 580 ; 4 , 399 , 182 ; 4 , 389 , 438 ; 4 , 386 , 124 ; 4 , 264 , 662 ; 4 , 119 , 479 ; 4 , 105 , 118 and 3 , 922 , 440 . adhesives for laminating film to paper include but are not limited to urethanes and acrylics . adhesives for laminating film to paper are commercially available from morton chemical as well as other commercial sources . u . s . pat . no . 3 , 343 , 663 discloses the use of polyethylene as an adhesive for laminating film to paper . adhesives for laminating film to film include but are not limited extrudable adhesives , resins and ties . examples of adhesives for laminating film to film are plexar and binel ( or cxa ). plexar is a modified polyolefin and a registered trademark of norchem . binel ( or cxa ) comprises copolymers of ethylene having one or more monomers wherein the monomer has a functional group . binel ( or cxa ) is a registered trademark of e . i . dupont de nemours and company . fig3 a is a schematic of the general bag style made with this laminate . the bag 21 contained a longitudinal seam 19 which consisted of a film to film heat seal and paper to paper glued seal . the bag bottom 20 consisted of various folds , heat seals and glue seals . consumable food such as popping corn and oil 22 is shown on the bag bottom 20 . this bag style is often referred to as a square bottom bag and can be produced on several commercial bag making machines . conventional bag making techniques and equipment therfor is known in the art and is commercially available . conventional bags include but are not limited to square bottom and pinch bottom bags . the following u . s . patents disclose various bag making techniques and equipment therefor : u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 277 , 798 ; 3 , 220 , 635 ; 3 , 143 , 277 and 2 , 265 , 075 . fig4 is a schematic of different bag style sometimes referred to as a &# 34 ; pinch bottom &# 34 ; style . this pinch bottom bag 30 contains longitudial and end seams 32 and 34 made by film to film heat seals and paper to paper or film to paper glue seals . consumable such as popping corn and oil 36 is shown disposed inside of the pinch bottom bag 30 . square bottom bags and pinch bottom bags can be produced to a predetermined size . table 3 contains data on the lamination strength of the film to paper as well as the film to film bag seam strengths . table 3______________________________________ lamination peel bag seam strength g / inch strength g / inch______________________________________example 4 film bags 726 1780ol mylar bags 505 937______________________________________ note that the lamination strength of the coextruded film of example 4 is 44 % stronger than that of the coated polyester . this property exemplifies one inherent advantage of the films of this invention i . e ., a natural low surface tension , hence good wetability and lamination strength . furthermore , when the heat sealant is composed of a diethylene glycol copolyester , significantly superior heat seal properties are obtained . this is exemplified in table 3 in the bag seam strength data where the bags made from film of example 4 yields a 90 % stronger seal . table 4 lists heat seal range data of the film of example 4 compared to two commercially available heat sealable opet films . the seals were of the &# 34 ; fin &# 34 ; type where the heat seal side was sealed to the heat seal side . table 4______________________________________heat seal strength for fin seals made at varioustemperatures sealed at 40 psi , 0 . 5 . sec . dwell ( g / in . ) seal temp example 4 ol mylar melinex 850______________________________________250 ° f . 522 g / in . 195 267300 ° f . 980 g / in . 603 500325 ° f . 1153 g / in . 725 500350 ° f . 1353 g / in . 926 500375 ° f . 1457 g / in . 926 500400 ° f . 1530 g / in . 926 500450 ° f . 1630 g / in . 926 500______________________________________ in particular , note from table 4 that the film of example 4 exhibits an increasing seal strength over a 200 f . range ( 250 f . 450 f .) while the opet film &# 39 ; s seal strength exhibit this temperature - seal strength relationship over much smaller ranges i . e . 100 f . for 50 ol mylar and 50 f . for melinex 850 . in addition , seals 76 % and 226 % stronger are obtained at 450 f . with example 4 film compared to 50 ol mylar and melinex 850 , respectively . the broad fin heat seal range of the film of example 4 illustrated in table 4 provides many advantages in packaging applications . in particular , in various converting applications where heat seals are made , the film will have a broader operating window compared to heat sealable opet &# 39 ; s . in other words , the film will be less operator and machine dependent in making acceptable seals . table 5 lists additional heat seal data ( g / in .) for &# 34 ; lap &# 34 ; seals where the sealant layer was sealed to the non - sealant layer . table 5______________________________________seal temp example 4 ol mylar melinex 850______________________________________275 ° f . 280 227 213325 ° f . 381 227 213375 ° f . 418 268 222______________________________________ the strong lap seals obtained with the film of example 4 provides additional advantage over heat sealable opet films . for example , bag lap seals are more aesthetic than fin seals . another advantage is the ability to obtain &# 34 ; differential &# 34 ; seals with the film of example 4 . in other words , a package could have very strong seals on its seams by heat sealing at a temperature at the high end of the film &# 39 ; s heat seal temperature range while a weaker , peelable seal could be made at the &# 34 ; top &# 34 ; seam where the package is to be opened by the end user by heat sealing at a temperature at the low end of the film &# 39 ; s heat seal temperature range . differential seals apply to &# 34 ; ab &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; aba &# 34 ; films of the present invention . in fig3 a , a predetermined amount of consumable food such as popping corn and oil 22 is optionally disposed inside the laminate bag 21 and the open end of the bag 24 is heat sealed closed . when the consumable food 22 is cooked , the bag expands from steam pressure and physical expansion of the consumable food as shown in fig3 b . in some cases , this pressure / expansion causes the bag top seal to peel open allowing the steam and pressure to escape . fig3 b illustrates the expanded bag 25 and cooked consumable food such as popcorn 23 which applies pressure on top seal 28 . the seal 28 is made preferentially weaker than other bag seals to allow for pressure escape and / or ease of opening . an example of a commercial packaging application wherein the bags of example 7 are utilized is in microwave popcorn bags . example 8 describes an evaluation of the bags of example 7 in this application . 100 bags 21 of fig3 a , described in example 6 were filled with 74 grams of popping corn and 24 grams of shortening 22 . the tops of the bags were then heat sealed . the closed bags having a peelable seal were then &# 34 ; popped &# 34 ; for 31 / 4 minutes in a 700 watt microwave oven at a microwave oven manufacturer recommended and predetermined power setting for cooking popping corn in the microwave oven and then removed from the microwave oven . table 6 lists the results of the popping tests . table 6______________________________________ seal leakage pop volume (%) ( cc &# 39 ; s ) ______________________________________bags made with example 4 2 % 2200filmbags made from dupont ol 16 % 2200mylar______________________________________ note that the bags made from example 4 film exhibited a significantly lower amount of oil ( shortening ) leakage . this is a result of their 90 % stronger seam strength listed in table 3 . in this application , it is important that the popped bag &# 34 ; self - vents &# 34 ; properly . as the bag 25 fills with popcorn and pressure is built up from the generation of steam , as depicted in fig3 b , the top seal 28 will peel open slightly to &# 34 ; vent - off &# 34 ; the steam and pressure . this prevents the popcorn 23 from having a &# 34 ; tough &# 34 ; texture due to saturation with steam . however , self venting must not occur prematurely or the pop volume will be decreased due to lower bag pressure and temperature . the differential seal properties of the example 4 film play an important role in self - venting . the ability to control the seal strength by varying the seal temperature enables the top seal to be optimized for proper venting and ease of opening the bag after popping . table 6 shows the pop volume of the bags is comparable as all bags vented properly . in addition , there were no incidences of film burning / holes and all bags vented and opened properly . summarizing this example , it is clear that the bags made from example 4 film are superior as their differential seal properties provided strong bag seam seals while maintaining bag venting and openability . the film of example 5 is utilized to make the laminate bags of example 7 or the laminate bags of fig4 . in addition to their use in the microwave popcorn bag applications , films of this invention can be used for a wide variety of packaging applications . they can be used either alone or as a layer of a lamination or first substrate with a second substrate such as paper or other films . the film of the second substrate is not the same as the first substrate . examples of some applications include snack food ( potato chips , corn chips , etc .) packages , lidding stocks for frozen food trays , cooking pouches , medical pouches for supplies or bag - in - box liquid packaging or the like . the present invention being thus described , it will be obvious that the same will be varied in many ways . such variations are not invended as a departure from the spirit or scope of the invention and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims . | 1 |
the following discussion is directed to various embodiments of the invention . the embodiments disclosed should not be interpreted , or otherwise used , as limiting the scope of the disclosure , including the claims . in addition , one skilled in the art will understand that the following description has broad application , and the discussion of any embodiment is meant only to be exemplary of that embodiment , and not intended to intimate that the scope of the disclosure , including the claims , is limited to that embodiment . embodiments of the invention include coatings that result in clear marks and excellent image quality when marked with a laser . the materials used to produce color change upon stimulation by energy may include a color - former such as a fluoran leuco dye and an activator such as sulphonylphenol dispersed in a matrix such as radiation - cured acrylate oligomers and monomers and applied to a substrate . in particular embodiments , either the leuco dye or the activator may be substantially insoluble in the matrix at ambient conditions . an efficient radiation energy absorber that functions to absorb energy and deliver it to the reactants is also present in this coating . energy may then be applied by way of , for example , a laser or infrared light . upon application of the energy , either the activator , the color - former , or both may become heated and mix which causes the color - former to form an open lactone ring and a mark to be produced . a fixer comprising a lewis acid such as a transition metal salt may accept electrons from the open ring and prevent it from closing , thus , preventing or retarding fading of the image . referring now to the embodiments illustrated in the drawing , there is shown imaging medium 100 , energy 110 , substrate 120 , imaging composition 130 , and suspended particles 140 . imaging medium 100 may comprise a substrate 120 . substrate 120 may be any substrate upon which it is desirable to make a mark , such as , by way of example only , paper ( e . g ., labels , tickets , receipts , or stationary ), overhead transparencies , or the labeling surface of a medium such as a cd - r / rw / rom or dvd ± r / rw / rom . imaging composition 130 may comprise a matrix , an activator , a radiation absorbing compound such as a dye , a color forming dye , and a fixing agent . the activator and the color forming dye , when mixed , may change color . either of the activator and the color forming dye may be soluble in the matrix . the other component ( activator or color forming dye ) may be substantially insoluble in the matrix and may be suspended in the matrix as uniformly distributed particles 140 . the fixing agent may be present in imaging composition 130 as finely ground powder or dispersed as a hot melt added before the addition of the insoluble component . the imaging composition 130 may be applied to the substrate via any acceptable method , such as , by way of example only , rolling , spraying , or screen printing . energy 110 may be directed imagewise to imaging medium 100 . the form of energy may vary depending upon the equipment available , ambient conditions , and desired result . examples of energy which may be used include ir radiation , uv radiation , x - rays , or visible light . the antenna may absorb the energy and heat the imaging composition 130 . the heat may cause suspended particles 140 to reach a temperature sufficient to cause the interdiffusion of the color forming species initially present in the particles ( e . g ., glass transition temperatures ( t g ) or melting temperatures ( t m ) of particles 140 and matrix ). the activator and dye may then react to form a color . one method of color formation may include a reaction in which a fluoran leuco dye reacts with an acidic activator . the lactone ring of the leuco dye opens upon the transfer of a proton from the activator resulting in color formation . this reaction may be easily reversible causing the loss of color . as an example of a reversal , a carboxyl in the open lactone ring may easily lose a proton , causing closure of the ring . the fixer ( e . g ., transition metal cation ) may form a chelate complex with the carboxyl of the open lactone ring and prevent it from closing ( i . e ., preventing or retarding the loss of color ). example 1 illustrates exemplary embodiments of the present invention . several modifications may be made that are within the scope of the present invention . for example , antenna 60 may be any material which effectively absorbs the type of energy to be applied to the imaging medium to effect a mark . by way of example only , the following compounds ir780 ( aldrich 42 , 531 - 1 ) ( 1 ), ir783 ( aldrich 54 , 329 - 2 ) ( 2 ), syntec 9 / 1 ( 3 ), syntec 9 / 3 ( 4 ) metal complexes ( such as dithiolane metal complexes ( 5 ) and indoaniline metal complexes ( 6 )), dye 724 ( 7 ), dye 683 ( 8 ), or oxazine 1 ( 9 ) ( 7 , 8 , and 9 available from organica feinchemie gmbh wollen ) may be suitable antennae : where m 1 is a transition metal , r 1 , r 2 , r 3 , and r 4 are alkyl or aryl groups with or without halo substituents , and a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , and a 4 can be s , nh , or se ; where m 2 is ni or cu and r 5 and r 6 are aryl or alkyl groups with or without halo substituents ; additional examples of antennae can be found in “ infrared absorbing dyes ,” matsuoka , masaru , ed ., plenum press ( 1990 ) ( isbn 0 - 306 - 43478 - 4 ) and “ near - infrared dyes for high technology applications ,” daehne , s . ; resch - genger , u . ; wolfbeis , o ., ed ., kluwer academic publishers ( isbn 0 - 7923 - 5101 - 0 ). the activator ( e . g ., bisphenol - a ) and color - forming dye 90 ( e . g ., 2 - anilino - 3 - methyl - 6 - dibutylaminofluoran ) may act in tandem to produce a mark . the activator and dye may be any two substances which when reacted together produce a color change . when reacted , the activator may initiate a color change in the dye or develop the dye . one of the activator and the dye may be soluble in the matrix at ambient conditions . the other may be substantially insoluble in the lacquer at ambient conditions . by “ substantially insoluble ,” it is meant that the solubility of the other in the lacquer at ambient conditions is so low , that no or very little color change may occur due to reaction of the dye and the activator at ambient conditions . although , in the embodiments described above , the activator may be dissolved in the lacquer and the dye remains suspended as a solid in the matrix at ambient conditions , it is also acceptable that the color former may be dissolved in the matrix and the activator may remain as a suspended solid at ambient conditions . activators may include , without limitation , proton donors and phenolic compounds such as bisphenol - a and bisphenol - s . color formers may include , without limitation , leuco dyes such as fluoran leuco dyes and phthalide color formers as described in “ the chemistry and applications of leuco dyes ,” muthyala , ramiah , ed ., plenum press ( 1997 ) ( isbn 0 - 306 - 45459 - 9 ). non exclusive examples of acceptable fluoran leuco dyes comprise the structure shown in formula ( 10 ) lacquer 30 may be any suitable matrix for dissolving and / or dispersing the activator , antenna , and color former . acceptable lacquers may include , by way of example only , uv curable matrices such as acrylate derivatives , oligomers and monomers , with a photo package . a photo package may include a light absorbing species which initiates reactions for curing of a lacquer , such as , by way of example , benzophenone derivatives . other examples of photoinitiators for free radical polymerization monomers and pre - polymers include but are not limited to : thioxanethone derivatives , anthraquinone derivatives , acetophenones and benzoine ether types . it may be desirable to choose a matrix which is cured by a form of radiation other than the type of radiation which causes a color change . matrices based on cationic polymerization resins may require photo - initiators based on aromatic diazonium salts , aromatic halonium salts , aromatic sulfonium salts and metallocene compounds . an example of an acceptable lacquer or matrix may include nor - cote cdg000 ( a mixture of uv curable acrylate monomers and oligomers ) ( available from nor - cote int &# 39 ; l , crawfordsville , ind .) which contains a photoinitiator ( hydroxy ketone ) and organic solvent acrylates ( e . g ., methyl methacrylate , hexyl methacrylate , beta - phenoxy ethyl acrylate , and hexamethylene acrylate ). other acceptable lacquers or matrices may include acrylated polyester oligomers such as cn292 , cn293 , cn294 , sr351 ( trimethylolpropane tri acrylate ), sr395 ( isodecyl acrylate ), and sr256 ( 2 ( 2 - ethoxyethoxy ) ethyl acrylate ) ( available from sartomer co ., 502 jones way , exton , pa . 19341 ). fixing agents may include lewis acids such as , by way of example only , transition metal cations . other exemplary examples may include salts comprising fe 3 + , cu 2 + , ni 2 + , co 2 + , zn 2 + , fe 2 + , mn 2 + , zr 4 + , al 3 + , or sn 2 + . other exemplary examples may include zinc stearate , zinc undecylenate , zinc oleate , zinc caprilate , zinc laurate , zinc linoleate , aluminum oleate , aluminum palmitate , aluminum stearate , copper stearate , iron stearate , manganese stearate , manganese naphthenate , nickel oleate , tin oleate , transition metal / organic acid salts , and transition metal / fatty aliphatic acid salts . it may also be desirable that the fixing agent is easily meltable or fuseable at the temperatures at which the color begins to develop . an ir - sensitized bisphenol - a alloy was prepare by dissolving ir780 dye into a bisphenol - a hot melt . the alloy consisted of 97 . 26 % bisphenol - a and 2 . 74 % ir780 . the alloy was cooled and ground into a fine powder . 14 . 31 g of the alloy powder , 1 . 54 g of darocur - 4265 ( available from ciba specialty chemicals , 540 white plains rd ., po box 2005 , tarrytown , n . y . 10591 ), and 4 . 92 g fine zinc stearate powder were sequentially mixed into 35 . 77 g of cdg000 uv - curable lacquer to form a lacquer mix . an ir - sensitized 2 - anilino - 3 - methyl - 6 - dibutylaminofluoran ( leuco - dye alloy ) was prepared by dissolving ir780 dye into a melt containing 2 - anilino - 3 - methyl - 6 - dibutylaminofluoran ( formula 11 ) and m - terphenyl . the composition of the alloy was 90 . 45 % 2 - anilino - 3 - methyl - 6 - dibutylaminofluoran , 9 . 05 % m - terphenyl , and 0 . 5 % ir780 . the leuco dye alloy was finely ground in a ball mill ( particle size 1 μm - 7 μm ). 23 . 47 g of the finely ground leuco dye alloy was added to the lacquer mix . the resulting mixture was compounded on a 3 - roll mill , applied to a substrate , and uv cured by the radiation of a mercury bulb . a mark was made with a 780 nm ir - laser of energy density of 0 . 1 - 0 . 5 j / cm 2 . the marked substrate was exposed to conditions of 35 ° c . and 80 % relative humidity for 3 days . after 3 days , the imaged area showed contrast loss of less than 5 %- 10 %. similar coatings prepared without the addition of zinc stearate showed 60 %- 80 % contrast loss in the same environment . the above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles and various embodiments of the present invention . numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated . it is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications . | 6 |
as shown in fig1 , led display 102 is controlled by image workstations 104 through various links and interfaces . led display 102 can take various forms while remaining within the teachings of the invention . in a preferred embodiment , led display 102 is a large display appropriate for outdoor use and installation as a billboard . in another embodiment of the invention , led display 102 is used as a jumbo screen at sporting events including outdoor and indoor applications . in an embodiment of the invention that is compatible with color television , the led display 102 is capable of displaying 60 complete images per second and is further capable of displaying the color gamut of television . moreover , the teachings of the invention are applicable to monitors for use as computer displays . in one embodiment , image workstation 104 is a computer that provides a user interface to display system 100 . in other embodiments , the functions of image workstation 104 are distributed to various computers . and in yet another embodiment , the functions of image workstation are contained within self - contained hardware such as a pc card . in the embodiment shown in fig1 , image workstation 104 is operated remotely from led display 102 , however , one of skill in the art will understand that other configurations may be employed without deviating from the teachings of the invention . as shown in fig1 , image workstation 104 is locally connected to first communication interface 106 a , which can be in the form of a local area network ( lan ) or other suitable interface . communication interface 106 a is in turn connected to a wide area network ( wan ) 108 that allows for communication with led display 102 , which is remotely located . wide area network 108 is then connected to a second communication interface 106 b . as with communication interface 106 a , communication interface 106 b can , but need not be , a local area network or other suitable interface . in the embodiment being described , display pc 110 is connected to communication interface 106 b . display pc 110 then controls the displaying of images on led display 102 . image workstation 104 and display pc 110 can be implemented as digital computers having at least a memory for storing and image computer code , and a processor for executing code . image workstation 104 and display pc 110 may be very similar in operation . however , because they may have different assigned tasks according to the invention , image workstation 104 and display pc 110 may have different features and performance capabilities . one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the communication elements of fig1 including communication interfaces 106 a and 106 b and wide area network 108 can be replaced with other communicating elements . when used as a public billboard , it is inevitable that some of the communicating elements may be susceptible to tampering . accordingly , it is important to use security encryption and virtual private networks ( vpns ). moreover , as communications technology advances other communicating elements will become available . for example , an embodiment of display system 100 provides for a direct communication link between image workstations 104 and led display 102 . as further shown in fig1 , another embodiment of the invention includes camera 114 to be used in a feedback control system . camera interface 112 is connected to communication interface 106 b and camera 114 to provide a monitoring function for led display 102 . camera 114 may be part of a feedback control system that continuously monitors led display 102 and adjusts the inputs to led display 102 for optimal display and viewing . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , camera 114 operates to detect the light pattern on led display 102 to produce a digital representation of the distribution of brightness and color on the sign . the present invention then uses this information to correct , on a pixel - by - pixel basis , any deviations from the pattern that was intended to be displayed . camera 114 is also used to detect display malfunctions such as fault detection and provides technical measurements used in the pre - production ad production of original content displayed on led display 102 . in another embodiment , camera 114 is a digital camera capable of viewing the entire led display 102 . moreover , the digital camera is capable of operating over the entire brightness range of led display 102 . this operation may be accomplished through the use of aperture control or the use of neutral density filters . in an embodiment , the dynamic range of camera 114 is at least 2000 : 1 . field - of - view of camera 114 is preferably adjustable from an area containing less than 32 × 32 pixels on led display 102 to about 30 % more than the entire width of led display 102 . for proper operation , the output of camera 114 is at least an array of 360 × 360 pixels . in another embodiment , camera 114 is operated in timing with the display so that images are taken during intervals when led display 102 is blank or when led display 102 is displaying an image . in an embodiment of the invention implementing the feedback control system , on a bright day , the feedback control system increases the magnitude of the inputs to led display 102 , whereas on a dark , moonless night , the feedback control system decreases the magnitude of the inputs to led display 102 . an appropriate sensor for use in the feedback control system is a photocell . the current through the photocell can be calibrated for various brightness levels . moreover , display pc 110 and / or image workstation 104 may have stored on them various versions of the same image such that an optimal display image can be displayed for its preferred contrast or brightness effects . the control functions of the feedback control system are executed by display pc 110 in an embodiment of the invention . in another embodiment , the control functions are executed by image workstation 104 . in yet another embodiment , support and computing storage 116 executes the control functions . support and computing storage 116 may be implemented as similar to image workstations 104 or display pc 110 , however , because it may have very difficult tasks assigned to it , support and computing storage 116 may have different features and performance capabilities . in an embodiment support and computing storage 116 is a large bank of hard disk media with high speed processing capabilities for the operation and management of many led displays 102 . in an alternative embodiment of the invention , a plurality of displays such as led display 102 are controlled by image workstation 104 . furthermore , additional support computing and storage 116 may be provided to increase the processing capabilities of display system 100 . it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that display system 100 as illustrated is but one embodiment of the present invention and that modifications can be made without deviating from the invention . image data , control data , status data and exceptions may be communicated over the described communicating elements of display system 100 . standard ietf network protocols such as tcp / ip are used to communicate from the image workstation 104 to led display 102 . tasks that are performed over the communication links include transferring images , establishing image display sequences , reporting the status of operations , and receiving of error signals . in a preferred embodiment , all functionality of the led display 102 is controlled at image workstation 104 , remotely located from led display 102 . however , in another embodiment , image workstation 104 is collocated with led display 102 , where image workstation 104 further executes the tasks of display pc 110 . in the embodiment of fig1 , display pc 110 controls the sequence of images displayed on the sign , gathers status data and provides a record of the actual images shown with associated time and other ancillary data . in advance of transmission to led display 102 , image workstation 104 processes images from , for example , advertising agencies in preparation for transmission to led display 102 . moreover , image workstation 104 establishes the desired image sequences to be shown on led display 102 . as part of its functionality , image workstation 104 can query the status of display pc 110 , led display 102 , and camera 114 . according to a preferred embodiment of the invention , led display 102 comprises a matrix of discrete elements called pixels . fig9 a shows subassembly 902 comprising four pixels 904 . the four pixels are contained within multiple pixel block 906 which , as shown in fig9 b , has mounting apertures 908 on the back . as shown in fig9 b , connector 909 extends from multiple pixel block 906 . connector 909 is used to supply drive signals to the pixels including the multiple elements of the pixels , which are leds in the preferred embodiment of the invention . referring to fig9 c , subassembly grid 920 is configured to receive a plurality of subassemblies 902 arranged in rows and columns . mounting apertures 908 are used to mount subassemblies 902 to frame 924 , the back of which is not shown in the fig . in this way , pixels are arranged in a matrix of rows and columns . referring back to fig9 a , multiple pixel block 906 further has louver 910 . advantageously , louver 910 shades the pixels from direct sunlight thereby reducing the required drive to create a perceived brightness or contrast . louver 910 can reduce the viewing angle from above , however , because led display 102 is generally to be viewed from directly in front or from below , louver 910 generally does not create a reduction in performance . where viewing is desired from above , louver 910 can be removed . to further improve the performance of led display 102 , low reflectance resin 912 may be used to fill in spaced between the pixels . furthermore , the body of multiple pixel block 906 is preferably made of low reflectance plastic . fig1 a , shows the elements comprising a pixel 904 according to an embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig1 a , pixel 904 is comprised of multiple leds including red led 206 , first green led 208 , a second green led 212 and blue led 210 . note that second green led 212 has a different chromaticity than first - green led 208 . as shown in fig1 a , the four - colored leds are configured in a square pattern . fig1 b shows the four leds in a denser pattern achieved by offsetting a square pattern to form a diamond pattern 1004 . fig1 c also shows a four - colored pixel according to an alternative embodiment . the four colors are provided by a total of eight leds configured in a circular scattered pattern in pixel 908 . it has been found that the scattering of the four leds improves the human perceived chromacity emitted from the pixel 904 . according to an embodiment of the invention , the number of leds used for each of the four different colors is not equal . this is due to different performance qualities of the leds used . for example , blue and red are at extremes of human perceptible colors and therefore more leds may be necessarily to create the same intensity as with , for example , green , white is near the middle of the range of human perceptible colors . moreover , leds are sometimes produced from different materials with different performance qualities . for example , red leds are typically made from arsenide alloys which produce a bright led whereas blue and greens are often produced using nitride alloys which produce a less bright led . furthermore , the advent of a 1 ingap leds for colors between red and yellow - orange produces a very bright output . accordingly , the number and scattering of leds within a scattered pixel such as pixel 908 is arranged according to the performance of the leds in use . for example , a higher number of low brightness leds can be included while reducing the number of high brightness leds . in this manner , more uniform intensity is achieved for a wide color gamut . as new semiconductor materials are developed and as led technology progresses different patterns can be used . fig1 d illustrate another circular pattern of leds according to an embodiment of the invention . by increasing the number of leds , this pattern allows for including different proportions of specific led colors in greater variety . in pixel 1008 , leds of a specific color are included in higher or lower numbers depending on the leds &# 39 ; performance characteristics . as is known in the art to which it pertains , about 50 % of the just - noticeable different colors can be produced by three led colors . the use of three led colors , however , cannot produce all human perceptible colors as previously explained . this can be understood with reference to fig1 which is taken from cie ( commission international de l &# 39 ; eclairage ) data . as shown in fig1 , boundary 1102 represents the limits of human perceptible color . typical humans can perceive all colors within boundary 1102 , but cannot perceive colors outside of boundary 1102 . using leds of three different colors , a triangular boundary 1104 is produced having vertices at red led 1106 , first green led 1108 and blue led 1110 . the points corresponding to red led 1106 , first green led 1108 and blue led 1110 corresponds to the chromacity of a specified red , green and blue led respectively . triangular boundary 1104 represents the limits of colors that can be produced using these three colors . the illustrated three - color combination can therefore produce colors within triangular boundary 1104 , but cannot produce colors outside triangular boundary 1104 . according to the present invention , a greater range of perceptible colors is produced by including a fourth color in each pixel . if a fourth led , in this example second green led 1112 , is added to the system describe immediately above , a quadrilateral boundary 1114 , connecting points 1106 , 1108 , 1110 and 1112 , is produced . the addition of second green led 1112 significantly enriches the gamut of greens and deep greens . this improved system can therefore produce colors within quadrilateral boundary 1114 which is larger than triangular boundary 1104 . importantly , the color range outside quadrilateral boundary 1114 is smaller than for the triangular boundary 1104 . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the performance and chromacity of the leds may be specified as follows : red led 1106 has cie chromacity coordinates near the 660 nm monochrome point with ( x , y )=( 0 . 730 , 0 . 270 ) ( where the ( x , y ) values are expressed according to the cie standard ): first green led 1108 has chromacity components near the 545 nm monochrome point ( x , y )= 0 . 266 , 0 . 724 ); second green led 1112 has chromacity components near 506 nm monochrome point ( x , y )=( 0 . 004 , 0 . 655 ); and , blue led 1110 has chromacity components near 465 nm monochrome point ( x , y )=( 0 . 135 , 0 . 040 ). other specifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art . fig4 is a graphical display of the improved performance in an exemplary four led display system according to an embodiment of the invention . in this chart , the performance of the four color led display summarized above is shown . the performance of a three color led display without the second green led is also shown . fig4 shows a noticeable improvement of the four color led display over the three color led display . moreover , fig4 shows noticeable improvements over flat panels displays and high definition television . it has been observed that about 30 % more colors are available in a four - color led system as compared to a three - color led system . moreover , the use of a four - color led system allows for optimization or minimization of selected factors such as led power consumption or led lifetime . the use of multiple colors of leds to produce a perceived color is a control issue whereby an identified color within boundary 1102 has a unique coordinate as described by cie standards . thus , to reproduce a specified color becomes a mathematical issue of mixing different intensities of colors . where only three colors are used , such as red led 1106 , first green led 1108 and blue led 210 , there exists a unique combination of the three colors that produce a given color within boundary 1104 . where four colors are used , such as by the addition of second green led 1112 according to the present invention , however , there may not be a unique combination of colors that produces a specified color within boundary 1114 . in fact , usually many solutions exist to produce a given color . for example , in order to produce color 1120 the intensities of the four leds can be adjusted to produce color 1120 . this is a first solution for color 1120 . note that because color 1120 is within triangular boundary 1104 produced by blue led , red led and first green led , these three leds can be used to produce color 1120 . this is a second solution for color 1120 . moreover , because color 1120 is also within triangular boundary 1124 produced by blue led , red led and second green led , these three leds can be used to produce color 1120 . this is a third solution for color 1120 . in practices there are many more combinations available . algorithms based on known mathematical formulas are used to produce colors using a four or more color led system . for example , see gunter wyszecki and w . s . styles , color science : concepts and methods , quantitative data and formula , second edition ( new york : john wiley and sons , 1982 ), which is incorporated herein by reference . because there can be many different solutions for producing a given color , the present invention applies conditions that produce desirable effects . in particular , the present invention seeks to control certain operating parameters to enhance the appearance of the image or the efficiency of the display . for example , in one embodiment of the invention , it is desirable to minimize the amount of power used by the led display . it is well known in the art that leds of different types use different amounts of power . the difference in power usage is generally related to the wavelength of the light output and the semiconductor alloys used . for example , blue and red are of extremes of human perceptible colors and therefore use relatively more power to generate a perceived intensity . compared to green which is near the middle of the range of human perceptible colors , less power is generally needed to produce the same perceived intensity as with red or blue leds . moreover , red leds are typically made from arsenide alloys whereas blue and greens are produced using nitride alloys . in practice , it is observed that red leds use the most power followed by blue leds and then green leds . this observation is made at the time of the invention and is subject to change as new semiconductor materials are developed and as led technology progresses . in a four color led pixel according to an embodiment of the invention , the inputs , such as those proportional to average current , are given by the vector x x = [ i r i g i g 2 i b ] wherein i r corresponds to the input to red led 1106 , i g corresponds to the input to first green led 1108 , i g2 corresponds to the input to second green led 1112 , and i b corresponds to the input to blue led 1110 . the performance of a pixel can be expressed as a system of pixels . the system for the four - color led displays is then given by array a a = [ x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 y 1 y 2 y 3 y 4 z 1 z 2 z 3 z 4 ] wherein x j , y j and z j represent the cie tristimulus values for the leds producing the j - th color . then the vector result of the matrix - vector product ax is the vector of tristimulus values of the light produced by the pixel containing the leds . a desired color can be described by the vector of tristimulus values suppose that the error between two tristimulus vectors is given by the scalar - value function e (., .) where e ( a , b )≧ 0 with equality if , and only if , a = b . the error between the desired color and luminance and that obtained with input x is then e ( c , ax ). let s be the set of inputs that minimize the error , i . e ., s ={ x | x = argmin e ( c , ac )}. this will normally consist of only a single vector if the leds consist of only three colors . with four or more colors the set s will typically contain many possible inputs ; then it will be possible to have some function ( g (.) of the inputs that can be minimized to optimize the choice of input . since the elements of the input vector are usually further constrained ( e . g ., to be non - negative ) to a set t , the optimal choice for input is then the choice of x that minimizes g ( x ) subject to xεs ∩ t , i . e ., x minimizes both e ( c , ax ) and g ( x ). in an exemplary embodiment , g ( x ) is the current input to the leds . moreover , power may be minimized for all inputs greater than zero . in another embodiment , g ( x ) is the power to the led which is the product of the current and voltage applied to the leds . and , in yet another embodiment , g ( x ) is the operating time of an led . by minimizing the operating time of an led , the lifetime of that led is maximized . minimizing current or power input reduces the operating cost of a display as well as reduces the heat generated by the display . this minimization can be important for very large displays where tens of thousand to millions of individual leds are used . where certain short lifetime leds are used , it is desirable to minimize the operating time of such leds thus reducing costs associated with replacing such leds . other characteristics can be adjusted as desired by one of skill in the art . in a preferred embodiment , the minimization of the present invention provides for operation using side conditions . for example , a parameter is minimized by operating identified leds at extremes of their operating range . in an embodiment of the invention , the extremes are lower extremes such as operating an identified led at zero current . this can be understood by example . leds of four colors are provided within each pixel , however , only three or less leds are used to generate a specified color . for example , assume that it is desirable to minimize the operating time of second green led 1112 in order to maximize its life . referring again to fig1 , quadrilateral boundary 1124 has vertices at red led 1106 , first green led 1108 , second green led 1112 and blue led 1110 . also , quadrilateral boundary 1124 is a composite of triangular boundary 1104 ( with vertices at red led 1106 , first green led 1108 and blue led 1110 ) and triangular boundary 1126 ( with vertices at first green led 1108 , second green led 1112 and blue led 1110 ). minimization of the operating time of second green led 1112 becomes an application of threshold conditions . fig1 is a flowchart of a method for minimization according to the present invention . the method of fig1 is a minimization achieved with side conditions according to an embodiment of the invention and applicable to minimization of operating time as well as power and current . at step 1202 , an led , led - min , is identified for which operating time is to be minimized . at step 1204 , a region of chromacity with boundary , boundary - min , is identified . in minimizing the operating time of led - min , the region encompassed by boundary - min is minimized . at step 1206 , a region of chromacity with boundary , boundary - x , is identified . in this manner , the composite boundary . boundary - tot , created by boundary - min plus boundary - x produces the color gamut of the embodiment being describe . at step 1208 , a desired color is input . step 1210 is then a threshold operation to check whether the desired color is within boundary - x . the desired color will lie within boundary - x if it can be generated without use of led - min . if this condition is met , the desired color is generated at step 1212 without use of led - min . however , if the desired color does not lie within boundary - x , the desired color is generated at step 1214 through the use of led - min . the method of fig1 is maybe implemented in software byone of skill in the art . in another embodiment , certain steps of fig1 can be implemented in hardware . for example , boundary data may be stored in random access memory ( ram ). the method of fig1 is also applicable to current , power and other parameters as will be known to those of skill in art . the method of fig1 can be supplemented within a verification operation that would verify that the desired color lie within the composite boundary . led display 102 of fig1 must also operate over a wide range of ambient light . where led display is used indoors , it must operate at different levels of lighting . moreover , where led display 102 is used outdoors , it must operate in direct sunlight , in scattered light from fog , or on a dark moonless night . thus , led display 102 preferably operates over a wide range of luminance . in a preferred embodiment of the invention , display system 100 operates in this wide range , from bright to very dark , using steps in luminance . preferably , the steps in luminance are closely related to human perceived just - noticeable differences in luminance . thus , the difference in pixel luminance between adjacent steps is below the level that is just noticeable by human perception . in this manner , undesirable artifacts are not introduced into led display 102 . the present invention accommodates a wide range of luminance that is necessary to display images in bright daylight as well as moonless nights . this can be accomplished according to the invention by choosing the levels of the dynamic range of led display 102 in a non - linear manner and implementing these non - linearities in led control electronics . in this way , the present invention avoids noticeable artifacts in images with large areas of nearly constant brightness . to understand this aspect of the present invention , it is first necessary to understand the problem . fig5 is a simplified representation of the control electronics of an led display . a digital control signal , d , at input 502 is directed to a digital to analog converter ( dac ) 504 . in a typical implementation , an 8 - bit dac 504 produces 256 different levels at dac output 506 which is then input into linear control electronics 508 . linear control electronics 506 then drives led 510 . implementation of dac 504 with linear control electronics 506 then produces even increments of luminance at led display 102 . however , evenly distributed increments of luminance may produce some noticeable and undesirable artifacts , such as contouring within certain ranges of luminance . fig6 shows a linear scale 602 with increments 604 - 1 through 604 - 256 which are evenly distributed in the range from 0 lumens to 100 lumens in this example . increments 604 - 1 through 604 - 256 have increments of 0 . 3906 lumens when an 8 - bit dac 504 is used . fig6 also shows a just - noticeable difference scale 610 which is a representation of the increments of human perceived just - noticeable differences in luminance , which characteristically have unevenly distributed increments . for each increment of scale 610 , an average person would just perceive a difference in light intensity . of particular interest in scale 610 are the widely spaced increments of high intensities approximately greater than 90 luminance and the contrastingly closely spaced increments for low intensities approximately less than 10 lumens . in comparing the increments on scale 602 at high intensity over 90 lumens to the increments on scale 610 , the increments on scale 602 of 0 . 3906 lumens per increment are observed to be smaller than the just - noticeable increments for the same range of intensities on scale 610 which are about 1 lumen per increment . the result being that for a high intensity , the evenly distributed scale producers increments in intensity that are not noticeable by human perception . this is a desirable result . contrastingly , in comparing the increments on scale 602 at low intensities below 10 lumens to the increments on scale 610 , the increments on scale 602 at 0 . 3092 lumens per increments are observed to be larger than the just - noticeable increments for the same range of intensities on scale 610 which are about 0 . 2 lumens per increment . the result here for low intensities is that the evenly distributed scale produces increments in intensity that are undesirably noticeable by human perception . the prior art systems would not work properly producing an undesirable contouring effect . it is important to note that scale 610 is shown as an example . in practice , scale 610 varies for different colors of leds . for example , a just - noticeable difference scale would be different for red , blue and green leds . it can , therefore , be understood that to have evenly distributed increments in luminance from very low to very high luminance can produce human perceived noticeable differences at low luminance . this perceived noticeable differences are especially noticeable for large areas of low luminance to produce what is called contouring . the undesirable effect of contouring as addressed by the present invention can be understood with reference to an example . fig1 a represents an image 1302 with a wide range of luminance and further has a large area 1304 of almost constant brightness . in area 1304 , however , there are subtle changes in brightness that cannot be correctly represented . it is only when the difference in brightness exceeds a certain level that a range of pixels is displayed at a different intensity . this produces the undesirable effect of contouring . contouring produces a noticeable line such as line 1306 where a range of equal intensity transitions to another range of noticeably different intensity . the present invention solves this problem . fig1 b represents an image 1352 with a wide range of luminance which also has a large area 1354 of almost constant - brightness . as with area 1304 , area 1354 has subtle changes in brightness . image 1352 , in contrast to image 1302 , is displayed with smaller increments of intensity for low intensities . thus , there is no noticeable contouring effect in image 1354 and no lines similar to line 1306 are present . thus , in one embodiment of the present invention , such a contouring problem is resolved by implementing a non - linear control function as part of the led control circuitry . fig7 is a simplified representation of a non - linear control electronics of an led display according to the invention . a digital control signal , d , at input 702 is directed to a digital to analog converter ( dac ) 704 . in an typical implementation , an 8 - bit dac 704 produces 256 different levels at dac output 706 which is then input into non - linear control electronics 708 . non - linear control electronics 706 then drives led 710 . in an embodiment of the invention , non - linear control electronics 706 is implemented to closely match the non - linear characteristic of just - noticeable difference scale 610 for any a desired chromacity . such non - linear control electronics 706 would then have a characteristic given by a function , f ( x ), as shown in fig8 a . using curve fitting methods known in the art , a third order function , y = ax 3 + bx 2 + cx + d , as shown in fig8 b is used to approximate the non - linear characteristic of scale 610 according to another embodiment of the invention . such curve fitting techniques can also be used to generate a quadratic function , y = ax 2 + bx + c , as shown in fig8 c . in yet another embodiment of the invention , an exponential function , y = ke ax , as shown in fig8 d is used to approximate the non - linear characteristic of scale 610 . the non - linear characteristic of scale 610 is implemented in another embodiment using several piece - wise linear functions , y 1 = m 1 x + b 1 1 , y 2 = x + b 2 1 , and y 3 = m 3 x + b 1 1 , as shown in fig8 e . fig8 e shows a representative of a piece wise linear control function using three different linear functions to approximate the non - linear function of scale 610 . the three ranges of the piece - wise linear function of fig8 e are then implemented using switching techniques for varying levels of intensities . using more piece - wise linear functions would provide even more improvement . the block diagram shown in fig8 f represents an implementation of non - linear control electronics implementing non - linear characteristics as shown in fig8 a - e . at block 802 , the various cie components are determined for a particular color which provides cie inputs 804 to curve fit block 806 . as shown , cie lab is used such that three inputs 804 are provided to curve fit block 806 . where a different standard is used more inputs may be necessary . it is curve fit block 806 that implements non - linear characteristics such as those shown in fig8 a - e . moreover , curve fit block 806 is preferably implemented in software such that changes can easily be made . hardware implementations can be more limiting , but can nonetheless be implemented . upon fitting a certain color to a non - linear characteristic , curve fit block 806 provides non - linear inputs 808 to brightness output block 810 . as a result of the processing of curve fit block 806 at least three non - linear inputs 808 are provided . it is brightness output block that provides led inputs 812 to a given pixel . the concept of fig8 f is therefore extended to the many pixels of an led display . among other implementations , led display 102 , as shown in fig1 , may be implemented as a standing signboard to display advertisements to the general public . moreover , led display may be implemented as a large video display for displaying moving images . accordingly , led display is appropriate for displaying images related to television or print media . in many implementations , however , the interaction of at least two particles is required to display a high quality image on led display 102 . moreover , there must be a efficient and effective transfer from a creator of original artwork to led display 102 . an image transfer interface according to an embodiment of the invention assures that original artwork generated in other media is properly displayed on led display 102 . television and print media are characterized by nonlinear luminance characteristics . television outputs its images onto a cathode ray tube (“ crt ”) which has an output luminance that is not directly proportional to the applied electrical drive . the non - linearity is further aggravated by the use of a non - linear mapping of the crt output to limit the dynamic range needed in studio equipment . print media , on the other hand , must deal with reflected luminance that is not directly proportional to the amount of ink per unit area . leds , however , have the advantages that their luminance characteristics can be applied linearly without need for a gamma transformation . hence , it is desirable that the signals sent to drive led display 102 have a representation that is linear in luminance for each color in each pixel . the present invention takes advantages of this linearity for each color in each pixel of the led display 102 . advantageously , the present invention provides the additional benefit that other operations such as the accommodation of reflected sunlight from the surface of led display 102 can be done directly without need to transfer to a linear luminance representation . moreover , in the present invention , chromacity is represented for each pixel individually . whereas many chromacity representations are available , adherence to a standard facilitates image transfer . with ever increasing computational power , adherence to the cie standard has become easily realizable . in this way chromacity is characterized in a widely understood digital format . advantageously , the representation of color and luminance of each pixel as digital data allows the direct transfer via a communications network such as the internet or other private digital network in an embodiment of the invention . adherence to the cie standard provides advantages and reduces confusion at the display interface sometimes associated with image transfer in the prior art . in one preferred embodiment , the present invention complies with standards of the cie and the international color consortium (“ icc ”) for the color management framework . thus , either ciexyz or ceelab can be used . gunter wyszecki and w . s . styles provide background on color and the cie standards in their book color science : concepts and methods quantitative data and formulae , second edition ( new york : john wiley & amp ; sons , 1992 ). such book is herein incorporated by reference as background . the cielab standard provides certain advantages because it can be used within a tiff framework whereas the ciexyz is not part of the tiff standard . conversions between cielab and ciexyz , however , are provided in wyszecki and styles . accordingly , either cielab or ciexyz are used in different embodiments of the invention . importantly , all data processing , including anti - aliasing and color tansformations , must be performed before an image is encoded into the tiff - cielab format . in an embodiment of the invention , these tasks are performed by creators of original artwork . in implementing this the tiff - cielab format , the tasks to be performed by the operator of led display 102 are reduced to mapping the received image into the gamut of the led display and setting the overall image brightness level . prior to displaying the image , the operator of the led calibrates led display 102 . fig3 summarizes a process for the management of image transfer implemented in an embodiment of the invention . at step 302 , a workstation display is calibrated to conform with an identified standard such as cielab . this image workstation is used by creators of original artwork to be displayed on led display 102 . step 302 can typically be accomplished through hardware or software that performs a digital transformation to calibrated crt or other display media . in the present invention , an entity such as an advertising agency develops original network at step 304 using the workstation calibrated at step 302 . the present invention provides advantages over the prior art because displays are not typically calibrated and standardized such that upon transfer to a display medium , undesirable characteristics are sometimes visible on the final display medium , but were not visible on the display media upon which the original network was created . these undesirable characteristics can lead to unsatisfied customers . having developed original artwork , the creator then digitally represents the image at step 306 in compliance with a standardized manner . in an embodiment of the invention , the cielab standard is used in compliance with the tiff framework . part of step 306 includes performing anti - aliasing and color transformation tasks . implementing anti - aliasing techniques is important to avoid jagged edges . jagged edges can be created because the light from the pixels is not continuous over the surface of led display 102 . in led display 102 the light is concentrated at the leds with a non - illuminating surface surrounding it . thus , without implementing anti - aliasing techniques lines may appear jagged if the line is not aligned with the rows or columns of the pixels . solutions to this problem are well known in the art and can be achieved in software . at step 308 , the digitized image is then transferred to a recipient such as the operator of led display 102 . because the image is digitized , the image transfer can be accomplished through the use of a digital network such as wide area network 108 including the internet or other private network such as atm . in an embodiment of the invention , image workstation 104 serves as the recipient of the digital data . at step 310 , the image is then mapped into the gamut of led display 102 . step 310 is executed by either image workstation 104 , display pc 110 or support computing and storage 116 of fig1 . to optimize viewing of the led display , the image brightness level is controlled at step 312 . this step can be executed efficiently by display pc 110 . by implementing the method of fig3 , the quality of the images displayed on the led display can be closely controlled for quality . the method of the present invention provides an efficient scheme for accountability of the critical tasks necessary toward achieving a high quality image at led display 102 . because at least one party is involved in developing original artwork and a separate party is involved in displaying the image on led display 102 , the party operating led display 102 cannot guarantee strict calibration and compliance by the developer of the image . he can , however , guarantee his compliance with steps 310 - 312 . similarly , a party developing original network cannot guarantee the other party &# 39 ; s compliance ; the party developing original artwork can , however , guarantee compliance with steps 302 - 308 . in this way , overall quality control is achieved and liability for defective images is readily isolated . advantageously for the party operating led display 102 , tasks are reduced to only steps 310 and 312 and do not involve any judgments on chromacity . chromacity is strictly in the hands of the party developing the image . when implementing the method of fig3 , errors are often isolated to incorrectly calibrated crts or loose compliance with the display standard . because the party developing original artwork has the largest stake in a high quality image shown on led display 102 , he will be highly motivated to meticulously comply with steps 302 - 308 . in complying with steps 302 - 308 , the creator of original artwork should routinely maintain all the transfer functions from the original artwork to the color standard in use . calibrations of display media should be made in a scheduled manner and up to date transfer functions should always be used . similarly , transfer functions from the color standard in use to all output devices should be properly documented and controlled . moreover , the transfer function should be routinely determined and stored for all operations . for example , up to date and correct transfer functions should be maintained for all crts in use , hard copy printouts and led display 102 of the present invention . several operating procedures are designed to reduce the risk of either faulty operation of the sign or its failure to operate . camera 114 , which can be operated autonomously , monitors led display 102 and provides failure or fault signals upon improper operation of led display 102 . in an embodiment , a feedback control system implemented at display pc 110 reduces improper operation as described above . in another embodiment , camera 114 provides failure or fault signals to image workstation 104 through the described communications link of fig1 . other signals available to both display pc 110 and image workstation 104 include internal operating temperatures and power system parameters . in a preferred embodiment , display pc 110 executes a program that interprets dispatch tables , sometimes called “ play lists ,” and places the scheduled images on led display 102 . as part of a fault tolerance scheme , display pc 110 contains a default play list that allows the sign to operate for extended periods of time without communication with image workstation 104 . such a default play list is desirable so as to limit the impact of a failure of the communications link between image workstations 104 and display pc 110 . fig2 is a flowchart of a fault tolerance implementation . in step 202 an initial image p 0 is input into display system 100 . at step 204 , the image p 0 is displayed on led display 102 . at step 206 , the algorithm checks for the occurrence of an exception . if an execution exists , the exception service is executed as shown in step 208 . an example of an exception is a command to abort the current play list to install another desired play list . if no exception exists , the algorithm at step 209 then checks whether the display system 100 is finished displaying image p 0 . if not , loop 210 is executed and image p 0 continues to be displayed . upon image p 0 being displayed for its allotted time , step 212 is executed to check whether the next image p 1 is present . p 1 is present upon the proper operation of display system 100 . in a remotely operated system such as that shown in fig1 , image workstation 104 transfers the image p 1 to display pc 110 . when the communication link between image workstation 104 and display pc 110 is working properly , p 1 will be present at step 212 . then , at step 214 , image p 1 is copied into p 0 and loop 216 reinitiates execution of step 202 . where the communication link between the image workstation 104 and display pc 110 is not working properly , image p 1 may not exist . other undesirable situations can also prevent the availability of image p 1 . in such situations , step 218 is executed to copy the contents of a default image , p 2 , into image p 0 . loop 220 then reinitiates step 202 . in an embodiment of the invention , subsequent unavailability of p 1 at step 212 will iteratively copy different images p 2 into p 0 at step 218 . in this embodiment , p 2 is actually a set of images { p 2 a , p 2 b , . . . }. the present invention solves the control issues arising out of four color creation and further adds important features including increased color gamut , improved luminance dynamic range and realization , improved feedback control of image quality and improved image quality control . as this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of essential characteristics , the present embodiments are therefore illustrative and not restrictive . the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them . all changes that fall within the meets and bounds of the claims , or equivalence of such meets and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the claims . | 6 |
in accordance with the invention there is provided a marine jet drive as shown in fig1 and 2 , located generally at the transom t of a vessel and generally above the keel line k , with the direction of the jet stream j rearward , to promote said vessel &# 39 ; s movement forward as indicated by arrow f . said jet drive has an impeller housing 1 , attached to intake flange 2 ; a rotatable impeller 3 , disposed in impeller housing 1 , its axis of rotation aligned generally with keel line k ; a diffusor housing 4 connected to the impeller housing 1 forming a water outlet port ; an inner housing 5 , disposed inside diffusor housing 4 ; a drive shaft 6 , rotatively connecting the impeller 3 with the engine 7 ; a nozzle housing 8 forming a rearward facing nozzle , attached to the diffusor housing 5 , having means of deflecting jet stream j ; a water intake duct 10 , placed ahead of the impeller housing , attached to the vessel and transmitting the generated thrust forces to said vessel ; and an intake grid 11 , disposed in the intake duct 10 . impeller 3 includes an impeller hub 12 , an impeller bell 13 and a plurality of impeller blades 14 having blade tips 16 radially extending from the impeller bell 13 . the blades 14 are advantageously positioned to promote fluid flow from the intake duct 10 to the diffusor housing 4 when the impeller 3 rotates . the diffusor housing 4 supports the inner housing 5 by a plurality of stator vanes 18 , radially disposed between diffusor housing 4 and inner housing 5 , as seen in fig1 and 2 . the stator vanes 18 are advantageously positioned to recover the rotational energy , imparted by the impeller 3 . the jet drive further includes a nozzle housing 8 , at the rearward end forming the nozzle discharge port 85 , to accelerate the jet stream and is shaped on the outside to accommodate and support the left and right steering / reversing deflectors 86 and 87 . the nozzle discharge port 85 is shaped advantageously , to promote the efficient functioning of said nozzle port , the efficient deflection of the jet stream j for steering while moving forward , and the efficient deflection for reversing and steering while in reverse . this shape may be circular , oval , rectangular or trapezoidal or any combination of these shapes . the present embodiment in cross sectional view , prefers a shape symmetrical about a vertical axis through the center of the impeller axis , of trapezoidal shape for the upper half of the nozzle and of rectangular shape for the bottom half of the nozzle discharge port 85 , with the upper and lower corners rounded off in circular shape , as best shown in fig3 . the steering / reversing deflectors 86 and 87 are each pivotally suspended about vertical axes , that may be parallel and separate or coincident . the present embodiment shows coincident suspension about a common upper pivot pin 89 and common lower pivot pin 90 . these deflectors are located to each side of the nozzle and consist of segments , that may be cylindrical spherical or conical in shape or any combination of these . the present embodiment provides for the upper half to be conical and the lower half to be cylindrical . the nozzle shape generally matches this shape . upon actuation of the left deflector 86 to engage the jet stream j , the reaction will be to turn the vessel to the right , the reaction being stronger as the deflector engages a larger portion of said jet stream . the opposite reaction will result from actuation of the right deflector 87 . at the bottom of each deflector and below the jet stream j are disposed reversing ducts 96 and 97 , rigidly attached to deflectors 86 and 87 , so that they turn with said deflectors . when both deflectors are simultaneously fully engaged in the jet stream j and close off the rearward flow of the water , said jet stream &# 39 ; s only escape will be down and forward through the reversing ducts 96 and 97 , producing a forward flow g and a reverse reaction on the vessel . the orientation of said reverse ducts is such that the flow direction in straight reverse steering position , from reverse ducts 96 and 97 , is approximately 30 degrees away from straight forward to the left and to the right , to avoid depositing aerated water near the jet drive intake duct 10 . the direction is also approximately 30 degrees downward , so that the reverse flow may pass below the vessel transom t and below reverse / trim plane 101 , when in the retracted position . these angles may vary , to suit specific requirements . the water flow to the reverse ducts 96 and 97 is divided by the inside vertical baffles 94 of the reverse ducts . in the reverse position , said vertical baffles come together and form a single flow divider . reverse steering is obtained by rotating the steering / reverse deflectors in unison , as shown in fig4 and 5 , where said deflectors and said flow divider are in the reverse , hard to port position . left duct 96 has a small cross hatched area 91 feeding it , while cross hatched area 92 identifies the much larger area of flow to the right duct 97 . this results in a reverse jet stream g2 much stronger than g1 , resulting in a reverse left turn . one or more turning vanes 98 may be placed in reversing ducts 96 and 97 , to promote efficient reverse flow and increase structural integrity of said reversing ducts . alternately , in a different embodiment , the reverse duct may be replaced by a single split duct , rigidly attached to nozzle housing 8 , placed below the steering / reverse deflectors . said split duct having left and right outlet ports aimed in forward direction at angles approximately 30 degrees away from straight forward and approximately 30 degrees downward . the vertical baffles 94 remain rigidly attached to the steering / reversing deflectors and as before , when placed together in reverse , form a flow divider . said vertical baffles extend to close proximity of the split reverse duct , preventing water from escaping into the opposite port . steering action in reverse , causes flow variation to the right and left outlet and reverse steering action as a result . the advantage of this embodiment is a lower force on the vertical pivots 89 and 90 , a lower strain on control rods 106 and 107 and less aeration of the intake duct 10 when steering in reverse , but no steering vanes 102 and 103 can be used . a neutral position may be found by closing both deflectors 86 and 87 until the composite of reverse jet streams g1 and g2 is in balance with forward jet stream j . in this embodiment , the conical shape of the upper parts of deflectors 86 and 87 , serves to promote the jet flow downward to the reverse duct , without adversely affecting the steering function in forward . in other embodiments , a sideways reverse flow may be produced , or a combination of directions may be produced , depending on the shape of the nozzle discharge port and steering / reverse deflectors chosen . baffle 88 is located above nozzle discharge port 85 , in the horizontal plane and prevents upward escape of the jet stream j , when the steering / reversing deflectors engage said jet stream . baffles 99 are placed to each side of the nozzle discharge port 85 with their outer edges in close proximity to the steering deflectors , as shown in fig1 and 3 . baffles 100 are located at the base of the nozzle in the horizontal plane and serve to form the upper walls of the reversing ducts 96 and 97 . baffle 88 and baffles 99 are joined respectively at their outward and upward edges ; baffles 99 and 100 are joined at respectively the lowermost and rearmost edges , forming one continuous baffle arrangement , preventing jet stream escape in any direction but rearward or downward . a steering and reversing control assembly 104 as shown in fig4 and 5 is coupled to the deflectors 86 and 87 with rod end bearings 105 for turning said deflectors into the jet stream j and may be hydraulically or mechanically or electromechanically actuated . the control assembly 104 is advantageously placed inside the vessel to protect said assembly from the corrosive action of water and air outside the transom t . said assembly is suspended directly from the forward flange 84 of impeller housing 1 . this permits the installation and alignment of the assembly 104 in the factory , without the presence of any components forward of transom flange 2 . when the jet drive is installed on the vessel , the assembly 104 will be re - installed in identical fashion , without the need of adjustment or alignment of the linkages . a left control rod 106 and right control rod 107 are supported by linear bearings 108 and are provided with water seals 109 on the rearward ends to prevent water entry into the bearings and the vessel . said control rods are pivotally connected to the left and right steering / reverse deflectors 86 and 87 via linkages 110 and rod end bearings 105 . the forward ends of said control rods are pivotally linked to a bell crank 111 , via linkages 112 . actuation , of said bell crank by steering cylinder 113 , will cause the deflectors 86 and 87 to turn in unison , thereby providing steering action with the vessel in general forward movement . the bell crank pivot pin 114 is attached to a sliding base 115 , slidably supported on two rods 116 , that are rigidly attached to forward flange 84 of impeller housing 1 , by means of stiffener rods 134 and back plate 135 , permitting said base to slide along an axis in parallel to the control rods 106 and 107 . the sliding base 115 is actuated by reverse control cylinder 117 and when it is moved in rearward direction , the deflectors 86 and 87 close to the reverse position and coil spring 118 maintains a controlled closing force . steering action in reverse is obtained by actuation of the bell crank 111 , by steering cylinder 113 . a neutral position may be found by moving the sliding base 115 to a position between forward and reverse , until the thrust generated by forward and reverse flow balances . in addition , the reverse cylinder 117 may move sliding base 115 all the way forward to the park position , pulling both control rods 106 and 107 all the way forward , so that no surface of said rods , that forms a sealing surface for the water seals 109 is exposed to marine growth , during extended periods of non - use of the vessel . in another embodiment , the sliding base 115 may be replaced with a base disposed in the same approximate position , but supported pivotally about a vertical axis , approximately the same distance forward of the transom as the bell crank pivot bolt 114 and more than the bell crank radius to either side of the jet drive centerline . the pivot support is rigidly mounted to the forward mounting flange 84 of impeller housing 1 . the travel of bell crank pivot pin 114 in this embodiment will describe an arc with little deviation from the straight line , produced by slide 115 . the linkages 112 , pivotally attached to control rods 106 and 107 will compensate for said deviation . the jet drive may further include left and right steering vanes 102 and 103 , each attached to the outboard surfaces of reverse ducts 96 and 97 respectively , as seen in fig1 , 3 , and 5 . the rudders are disposed in the vertical plane , parallel with the vessel keel line k when the deflectors 86 and 87 are positioned for straight forward movement of the vessel . the steering action will as a result also cause the rudders to articulate in the desired direction . steering vanes 102 and 103 may be attached rigidly or pivotally , with a shear bolt or with shear bolts only , to prevent damage to the reverse ducts 96 and 97 in case the rudders strike a solid object , so that they can break away or rotate out of the way . also included in the jet drive design is a reverse / trim plane 101 , pivotally attached to the transom t , by hinge 130 , below the jet drive , to prevent forward flowing water from reverse ducts 96 and 97 from hitting transom t and to favorably influence the performance of the vessel while moving forward . hydraulic cylinders 131 position said reverse / trim plane during forward operation . a hydraulic valve 132 with roller actuator 136 , mounted on the steering / reverse control back plate 135 is operated by cam 133 , attached to sliding base 115 and causes the cylinders 131 to retract fully , when shifted in reverse . in forward mode the reverse / trim plane resumes its adjusted trim position , as hydraulic valve 132 is actuated by the forward movement of sliding base 115 , via actuator 136 and cam 133 . the reverse / trim plane cylinders have a park position similar to the steering / reverse control rods , whereby the actuating cylinders 131 are in the fully retracted position , to prevent marine growth on the rod surfaces during protracted times of inactivity . when the slide base 115 moves all the way forward in the park position p , valve 132 is again actuated , causing the retraction of cylinders 131 . as described above , a neutral thrust position of the deflectors can be found , by moving sliding base 115 in between the forward and reverse positions . | 1 |
before proceeding to a detailed description of the preferred embodiments , a prior art will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings relating thereto for a clearer understanding of the differences between the prior art and the present invention . [ 0035 ] fig1 is a principle drawing of a conventional mouse . a ball 10 rotates when the user operates the mouse . an x - direction shaft 11 and a y - direction shaft 12 are disposed along an x - axis and a y - axis that intersect at right angles relative to the ball 10 in such a manner as to come into contact with the ball 10 . in order to maintain the contact between the ball 10 and the x - direction shaft 11 and the y - direction shaft 12 , a presser roller 15 is placed in a direction oriented at an angle of 45 degrees relative to the x - axis and the y - axis . an x - axis rotary encoder 25 and a y - axis rotary encoder 26 are mounted , respectively , on distal end of the x - direction shaft 11 and the y - direction shaft 12 for detection of the rotating directions and rotating distances of the ball 10 by decomposing them in the x - axis and y - axis directions . the x - axis rotary encoder 25 comprises an x - axis slit disc 13 , an x - axis light emitting device 16 and an x - axis light receiving device 17 , and the y - axis rotary encoder 26 comprises a y - axis slit disc 14 , a y - axis light emitting device 18 and a y - axis light receiving device 19 . slits are formed at predetermined angles in the x - axis slit disc 13 and the y - axis slit disc 14 , and light emitted from the x - axis light emitting device 16 and the y - axis light emitting device 18 passes through the x - axis slit disc 13 and the y - axis slit disc 14 and are then received by the x - axis light receiving device 17 and the y - axis light receiving device 19 , respectively . [ 0037 ] fig2 a and 3 b are explanatory drawings explaining detection , by the rotary encoder , of the travelling directions and distances of the mouse , that is , the rotating directions and distances of the x - direction shaft 11 and the y - direction shaft 12 . here , for the sake of simplicity , a light emitting device 41 , a light receiving device 42 and a slit disc 43 shown in fig2 a and 3 b are regarded as corresponding , respectively , to the x - axis light emitting device 16 and the y - axis light emitting device 18 , the x - axis light receiving device 17 and the y - axis light receiving device 19 , and the x - axis slit disc 13 and the y - axis slit disc 14 which are all shown in fig1 . in other words , with fig2 a and 3 b rotations in both of the x - direction and the y - direction can be described . as shown in fig2 two optical light receiving devices such as photoconductors 44 , 45 , are arranged in parallel within the light receiving device 42 . as shown in fig3 a , 3b , if it is assumed that pulses that are detected and converted into electric signals by the photoconductors 44 , 45 are pulse a and pulse b , respectively , then , since the phase relation - ship between pulse a and pulse b is altered depending on the rotating direction of the slit disc 43 , the rotating direction of the slit disc 43 can be detected . [ 0039 ] fig4 a to 4 d are a four - plane view of a conventional mouse , in which fig4 a is a top plan view , fig4 b a front view , fig4 c a side view and fig4 d a rear view of the conventional mouse . the conventional mouse 20 is constructed by fitting a lower case 21 and an upper case 22 together , and thereafter inserting a key top 23 having incorporated therein click switches sw 1 , sw 2 in a front of the upper case 22 so that the key top is fitted in the upper case 22 , and the mouse is connected to the host via a cable 24 . [ 0040 ] fig5 is a circuit diagram of the conventional mouse . the x - axis rotary encoder 25 and the y - axis rotary encoder 26 are connected to a ball rotation detector unit 32 within a control ic 31 built into the mouse 20 , and the left click switch sw 1 and the right click switch sw 2 are connected to a switch detector unit 33 within the control ic 31 built into the mouse . the ball detector unit 32 within the control ic 31 detects the travelling direction and distance of the mouse 20 ( hereinafter , referred to as ball coordinate data ) from outputs from the x - axis rotary encoder 25 and the y - axis rotary encoder 26 , and the data so detected are then transmitted to the host via the cable 24 . a mechanical switch is used for the left click switch sw 1 and the right click switch sw 2 of the mouse . the control ic 31 constituted by a microprocessor transmits to the host , in a predetermined format , information representative of whether or not the click switches are depressed ( hereinafter , referred to as sw 1 , sw 2 switch data ). the travelling direction and distance of the mouse are decomposed in the x - axis and y - axis for detection , a cursor displayed on the screen is moved in response to the result of the detection , and when the cursor overlaps with an icon , the click switches are operated to thereby activate an operation corresponding the icon so selected . a mouse with a wheel comprises a mouse as described above and an additional wheel . with this mouse with a wheel , a rotation that can be obtained through operation of the wheel can be allocated , for instance , to a scroll function to scroll through an application software on the screen , thereby making it possible to simplify the operation of application software that has been getting more complicated in recent years . [ 0045 ] fig6 a to 6 d are a four - plane view of a conventional mouse with a wheel , in which fig6 a is a top plan view , fig6 b a front view , fig6 c a side view and fig6 d a rear view thereof . this conventional mouse with a wheel is constructed by fitting the lower case 21 and the upper case 22 together , and thereafter inserting in a front of the upper case 22 a key top 23 having incorporated therein the click switches sw 1 , sw 2 , so that the key top 23 can be fitted in the upper case 22 . the mouse so constructed is then connected to the host via the cable 24 . furthermore , an opening 61 is formed in the center of the key top 23 and a part of a wheel 62 is exposed to the outside via the opening . [ 0046 ] fig7 is a circuit diagram of the conventional mouse with a wheel . a wheel rotary encoder 71 and a wheel rotation detector unit 67 are added to the circuit of the conventional mouse shown in fig3 a and 3b . [ 0047 ] fig8 is a perspective view showing a construction of the wheel of the conventional mouse with a wheel . a wheel 62 is connected via a wheel shaft 63 to the wheel rotary encoder 71 comprising a wheel light emitting device 65 , a wheel light receiving device 66 and a wheel slit disc 64 , and the rotating direction and distance of the wheel 62 is detected using a method similar to that described referring to fig2 a and 3 b . information representative of the detected wheel rotating direction and distance ( hereinafter , referred to as wheel rotation data ) is transmitted to the host via the cable 24 in a predetermined format together with the ball coordinate data and the sw 1 , sw 2 switch data . in a case where this wheel rotation data are allocated , for instance , as a vertical scroll function to scroll an application software vertically on the screen , the application software can be scrolled on the screen by operating the wheel 62 with the finger of the user in a direction in which scrolling is to be performed without moving the cursor . [ 0050 ] fig9 is a perspective view of a mouse having a wheel with rotating bodies according to a first embodiment of the present invention . in addition , fig1 a to 10 d are a four - plane view of the mouse having a wheel with rotating bodies according to the first embodiment of the present invention , in which fig1 a is a top plan view , fig1 b is a front view , fig1 c is a side view and fig1 d is a rear view thereof . a rear portion of the lower case 21 is covered with the upper case 22 . in addition , a front portion of the lower case 21 is covered with the top key 23 having formed therein the left click switch sw 1 and the right click switch sw 2 . furthermore , the opening 61 is formed in the center of the key top 23 , and a part of a wheel 81 with rotating bodies is exposed to the outside from the opening . an operation signal of the mouse 80 is transmitted to the host via the cable 24 . a switch sw 4 is provided on a side of the mouse . [ 0051 ] fig1 is an exploded perspective view of the mouse having a wheel with rotating bodies according to the first embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , the wheel has a polygonal configuration , but the configuration of the wheel is not limited thereto . the wheel 81 with rotating bodies comprises a polygonal wheel 82 , spokes 83 connecting respective vertexes of the polygonal wheel 82 to the center thereof and a rotating body 84 and can rotate about the wheel shaft 63 . the rotating body 84 can rotate about a frame of each side of the polygonal wheel 82 . in this embodiment , the polygonal wheel 82 is of an octagonal configuration , but the configuration of the wheel is not regulated thereto . in addition , in this embodiment , the rotating body 84 is of a cylindrical configuration but , as will be described later , there is no limit to the configuration thereof . the rotating body 84 resting on a frame that is positioned uppermost among the frames of the polygonal wheel 82 is exposed to the outside from the opening 61 formed in the center of the key top 23 of the mouse 80 , and the user can rotate the polygonal wheel 82 and the rotating body 84 with his or her finger . a central portion 92 of the polygonal wheel 82 is supported on a wheel supporting portion 91 , and a switch sw 3 is disposed at a lower portion of the wheel 81 with rotating bodies . the central portion 92 of the polygonal wheel 82 is supported on the wheel support portion 91 via a slide mechanism 93 adapted to slide in vertical directions . in this embodiment , the slide mechanism takes the form of a spring . when the user presses down the wheel 81 with rotating bodies exposed from the opening 61 with his or her finger , the polygonal wheel 82 is then slid and the rotating body 84 depresses the switch sw 3 . the switch sw 3 can be allocated a function of a middle click of a so - called three - button mouse . the polygonal wheel 82 is connected via the wheel shaft 63 to the wheel rotary encoder 71 comprising the wheel light emitting device 65 , the wheel light receiving device 66 and the wheel slit disc 64 , and the rotating direction and distance of the polygonal wheel 82 are detected in a similar method to the one described referring to fig2 a and 3 b . the wheel rotation data representative of the detected rotating direction and distance of the polygonal wheel 82 are then transmitted to the host via the cable 24 . the rotating body 84 resting on a frame that is positioned uppermost among the frames of the polygonal wheel 82 is in contact with a spherical shaft 85 , which is connected to a rotating body rotary encoder 72 comprising a rotating body light emitting device 87 , a rotating body light receiving device 88 and a rotating body slit disc 86 . when the user touches the rotating body 84 with his or her finger so as to rotate it , the spherical shaft 85 is rotated in response the rotation of the rotating body by the user and the rotating body slit disc 86 is then rotated . thus , the rotating direction and distance of the rotating body 84 can be detected in a method similar to that described with reference to fig2 a and 3 b . the information representative of the detected rotating direction and distance of the cylindrical rotating body 84 ( hereinafter , referred to as rotating body rotation data ) is then transmitted in a predetermined format to the host via the cable 24 together with the ball coordinate data , the wheel rotation data , and the switch data sw 1 , sw 2 , sw 3 . [ 0058 ] fig1 is a circuit diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention , in which the rotating body rotary encoder 72 , a rotating body rotation detector unit 89 , the switch sw 3 and a switch sw 4 are added to the circuit of the conventional mouse with a wheel shown in fig7 . in the mouse 80 according to the present invention , a click feeling , which will be described below , is imparted to be felt in rotationally operating the polygonal wheel 82 and the rotating body 84 of the wheel 81 with rotating bodies with the finger of the user &# 39 ; s hand in order to have a rough idea on the operating distance of the wheel 81 with rotating bodies . first of all , as to the polygonal wheel 82 , the click feeling is imparted by providing at least an elastic projection 94 at the wheel support portion 91 such that the projection is caught between the respective spokes of the polygonal wheel 82 . this projection 94 is effective to fix the position of the polygonal wheel 82 . then , as to the rotating body 84 , the click feeling is imparted by providing a recessed and raised construction 95 in the interior of the rotating body 84 and also providing a projection 96 having a certain degree of elasticity on each of the frames of the respective sides of the polygonal wheel 83 . in addition , in this embodiment , the rotating body 84 takes the form of a cylinder , but it is needless to say that it is possible to construct the rotating body 84 , irrespective of the configuration thereof , so as to impart the click feeling . [ 0062 ] fig1 a to 13 c show drawings of other embodiments of the rotating body according to the present invention . a second embodiment shown in fig1 a provides a cylindrical rotating body 84 a having formed therein recessed portions so that the fingers are caught thereat , a third embodiment shown in fig1 b provides a spherical rotating body 84 b , and a fourth embodiment shown in fig1 c provides a spherical rotating body 84 c having formed therein a recessed portion . however , other configurations may be used . in addition , the surface of the rotating body 84 may be covered with a resin , such as a rubber , providing friction in order to reduce the slippage encountered when the wheel 81 with rotating bodies is operated with the finger of the user . [ 0064 ] fig1 shows data output formats of the mouse having a wheel with rotating bodies according to the first embodiment of the present invention . the upper part of fig1 shows a normal output format in which a first byte represents the sw 1 , sw 2 and sw 3 switch data , a second byte the ball x - direction rotational data , a third byte the ball y - direction , a fourth byte the rotating body rotational data and a fifth byte the ball y - direction rotation data , and these data are sent to the host sequentially via the cable 24 . since the mouse cursor is moved by operating the rotating body wheel according to the present invention without moving the mouse main body in a place which is too narrow to move around the mouse , in the present invention there is provided a switch sw 4 for changing over the aforesaid data output formats . in a case where the wheel 81 with the rotating body is operated by with the finger while depressing the format change - over switch sw 4 , for instance the data is sent in the format shown in the lower part of fig1 to the host via the cable 24 . the first byte represents the sw 1 , sw 2 and sw 3 switch data , the second byte the rotating body rotational data , the third byte the wheel rotational data , and the fourth and fifth bytes are not used . in the normal data output format , the second byte represents the ball x - direction rotational data and the third byte represents the ball y - direction rotational data , and therefore by depressing the switch sw 4 the mouse cursor can be moved through the operation of the wheel with the rotating body . in addition to the mouse , there exists a pointing device as a coordinate input device , and the aforesaid format change - over switch sw 4 can be applied to the pointing device . [ 0068 ] fig1 is a perspective view of a pointing device having a format change - over switch according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention . a pointing device 100 is adapted to output a displacement data by inclining a dome portion 101 with the finger of the user &# 39 ; s hand . in this embodiment , there are provided a first switch sw 1 ′ and a second switch sw 2 ′ corresponding , respectively , to the functions of the left click switch and the right click switch of the above - described mouse , and the format change - over switch sw 4 is provided on a side of the pointing device 100 . [ 0070 ] fig1 is a circuit diagram of the pointing device having the format change - over switch according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention . a dome portion displacement detection sensor unit 111 is connected to a dome portion displacement detector unit 112 inside a control ic 31 ′, and this control ic 31 ′ transmits to the host , via the cable 24 , the displacement direction and distance of the dome portion 100 detected by the dome portion displacement detection sensor unit 111 as x - direction displacement data and y - direction displacement data . the first switch sw 1 ′ and the second switch sw 2 ′ are connected to a switch detector portion 33 ′ within the control ic 31 ′ built in the pointing device 100 . the control ic 31 ′ transmits to the host , via the cable 24 , the sw 1 ′, sw 2 ′ switch data which are information representative of operating states of the first switch sw 1 ′ and the second switch sw 2 ′ together with the x - direction displacement data and the y - direction displacement data . [ 0071 ] fig1 shows data output formats of the pointing device provided with the format change - over according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention . the respective data are sent to the host , via the cable 24 , in the format shown in the upper part of fig1 . a first byte of the data output format represents the sw 1 ′, sw 2 ′ switch data , a second byte the x - direction displacement data of the dome portion 101 , and a third byte the y - direction displacement data of the dome portion 101 . in a case where the dome portion 101 is operated with the change - over switch sw 4 being depressed , the respective data are transmitted to the host via the cable 24 in a format such as shown in the lower part of fig1 . a first byte represents the sw 1 ′, sw 2 ′ switch data , second and third bytes are not used , a fourth byte represents the x - direction displacement data of the dome portion 101 , and a fifth byte the y - direction displacement data of the dome portion 101 . in a case where the output data obtained when the change - over switch sw 4 is depressed are allocated as a vertical and horizontal scroll function to scroll through the application software in vertical and horizontal directions on the screen , when the dome portion 101 is operated with the finger so as to be inclined in a direction in which the application software is to be scrolled on the screen with the change - over switch being depressed , a scrolling of the application software on the screen can be effected without moving the cursor . as has been described heretofore , according to the present invention , in the mouse with the wheel , rotating directions and distances that are normal to each other at right angles can be obtained by means of the wheel with the rotating body , and in a case where rotations of the two axes obtained through operation of the wheel with the rotating body are allocated as the vertical and horizontal scroll function to scroll through the application software on the screen in vertical and horizontal directions , it is possible to perform scrolling - up , - down , - left and - right with ease by operating the wheel with the rotating body with the finger . in addition , it is possible to switch the data output formats for transmitting data to the host by providing the format change - over switch on the coordinate input device , and in the mouse having the wheel with the rotating body , rotations of the wheel with the rotating body that are perpendicular to each other can be allocated for instance as the scrool function to scroll through an application software on the screen . in other coordinate input devices such as a pointing device , a scroll of an application software on the screen is made possible without moving the cursor . it is needless to say that the change - over switch can be used to change over other functions . | 6 |
referring now to the drawings , fig1 shows a schematic diagram of a hydraulic system 10 , which includes a sump 12 containing hydraulic fluid at relatively low pressure ; a pump 14 ; a fluid filter assembly 16 ; a line 18 for hydraulically connecting the filter &# 39 ; s outlet 20 and the pump &# 39 ; s inlet 22 ; a transmission 24 , a supply line 26 for hydraulically connecting the pump &# 39 ; s outlet 28 and the transmission &# 39 ; s inlet 30 ; a passage 32 for returning lubricant and leakage flow from the transmission 24 to the source 12 ; an engine 34 ; and a pressure regulator valve 36 connecting line 26 and line 18 . the transmission 24 includes a torque converter 38 and a lubrication and cooling circuit 39 . engine 34 drives torque converter 38 and pump 14 at a variable rotational speed . pump 14 , which draws fluid from the sump 12 through filter 16 , delivers pressurized hydraulic fluid to the transmission 24 . regulator valve 36 regulates pressure at the pump outlet to a desired pressure , in response to a balance of opposed forces on the valve produced by a spring 42 , a variable force produced by a controlled pressure acting in the same direction as spring 42 , and a force produced by pressure in supply line 26 . regulator valve 36 returns excess flow from the pump outlet 28 preferably to the nozzle assembly 40 , provided that the flow rate in line 26 first satisfies the requirements of ( i ) the transmission 24 , ( ii ) torque converter 38 , and ( iii ) lube and cooling circuit 39 . the excess flow is delivered through a bypass flow passage 44 from the pressure regulator valve 36 to the nozzle assembly 40 . the bypassed fluid is carried in passage 44 at relatively a high velocity and an elevated pressure greater than pressure in the sump 12 , which is substantially at atmospheric pressure . fig2 and 3 show the components in the vicinity of the nozzle assembly 40 . the outlet 20 of filter assembly 16 is formed with a spout 50 , which is fitted into a pump inlet housing 52 and sealed against the inner surface 54 of housing 52 in this illustration by an o - ring 56 , retained in a recess 58 in the spout 50 . the inner surface 60 of spout 50 is essentially sized to match the inner surface 84 of nozzle insert 74 to reduce flow losses from rapid expansions or contractions . the pump inlet housing 52 is formed with a shoulder 64 , a circular cylindrical inner surface 66 , and a conical inner surface 68 aligned with axis 70 . housing 52 also contains a fluid mixing chamber 72 located downstream from the filter assembly 16 . fig2 and 3 show a nozzle insert 74 having a flange 76 , which abuts shoulder 64 to establish its axial position in housing 52 , and which is fitted with a press - fit against a cylindrical inner surface 54 coaxial with axis 70 , thereby securing the insert in position within housing 52 . insert 74 includes hollow circular cylinder 80 extending axially downstream from flange 76 and bounded by an outer circular cylindrical surface 82 and an inner circular cylindrical surface 84 . an end surface 86 of insert nozzle 74 is preferably flat and formed with a circular outer corner 88 . the shape and size of the nozzle exit 94 is formed from the relative locations of the circular outer corner 88 and the conical inner surface 68 . in operation , fluid drawn from the fluid sump 12 enters the nozzle assembly 40 through the central opening 60 of the filter assembly 16 and flows along axis 70 toward fluid mixing chamber 72 . excess fluid , carried in passage 44 , enters pump inlet housing 52 radially and spirals around the outer surface of the nozzle insert 74 , flows axially in an annular passage 90 between cylindrical surfaces 66 , 82 , flows into the nozzle passage 92 created by conical surface 68 and cylindrical surface 82 , and through the annular nozzle exit 94 , located between surface 68 and the circular outer corner 88 of nozzle insert 74 . the cross sectional area of the nozzle passage 92 decreases and velocity of the flow in passage 92 increases as distance from fluid mixing chamber 72 decreases . the flow exiting through nozzle exit 94 , creates a mixing vortex in the fluid mixing chamber 72 with the flow drawn from the fluid sump 12 , whereupon the combined fluid volume travels through the fluid mixing chamber 72 and enters the pump 14 at inlet 22 . fig4 and 5 illustrate an alternate embodiment , in which the axial position of a nozzle insert 100 is established by contact of three angularly spaced nubs 102 , located at an axial end of the insert , and the conical inner surface 68 of the pump inlet housing 52 . the nozzle insert 100 includes a cylindrical portion 104 , whose outer cylindrical surface 106 is adjacent to and guided toward its correct position along the cylindrical inner surface 54 of pump inlet housing 52 . the outer surface 106 of nozzle insert 100 is bonded to the cylindrical inner surface 54 of pump inlet housing 52 using an adhesive . after the nozzle insert 100 is installed in housing 52 , the filter assembly 16 is installed in housing 52 and sealed against the inner surface 154 of the nozzle inlet 100 by an o - ring 56 , retained in a recess 58 in the spout 50 . fluid drawn from the fluid sump 12 enters the nozzle assembly 40 through the outlet 20 of the filter assembly 16 and flows along axis 70 toward fluid mixing chamber 72 . the inner surface 60 of the spout is essentially sized to match the inner surface 84 of the nozzle insert 100 . excess fluid , carried in passage 44 , enters pump inlet housing 52 radially and spirals around the outer surface 108 of the nozzle insert 100 along the circular cylindrical surface 66 of the housing 52 , flows axially in an annular nozzle passage 92 between the inner conical surface 68 of the housing 52 and an outer conical surface 110 of nozzle insert 100 and through a nozzle exit 112 between surfaces 68 and 110 at the axial end 86 of the nozzle insert 100 , past the outer corner 88 defined by the intersection of the end 86 and the conical surface 110 . upon exiting through nozzle exit 112 , the excess flow creates a mixing vortex in the fluid mixing chamber 72 with the flow drawn from the fluid sump 12 , whereupon the combined fluid volume travels through the mixing chamber 72 and enters the pump 14 at inlet 22 ( shown in fig1 ). fig6 shows an alternate embodiment of the nozzle assembly 40 , in which the axial position of the nozzle insert 120 is established by contact between the nubs 102 and the conical inner surface 68 of the pump inlet housing 52 . the nozzle insert 120 includes a cylindrical portion 124 , whose outer cylindrical surface is formed with threads 126 , which engage threads formed on the inner surface of a cylindrical portion 128 of housing 52 . in this way , nozzle insert 120 is retained in its correct position in the pump inlet housing 52 . the axial position of the nozzle insert 120 can be established by applying an axially - directed elastic force to the insert urging the nubs 102 into contact with the conical inner surface 68 of the pump inlet housing 52 . additional methods of retaining the nubs against the conical inner surface 68 of the pump inlet housing 52 can be a force applied by a lock washer , a wavy snap ring , or compression spring 130 ( shown schematically ) located between the filter assembly 16 and one of the surfaces 132 , 134 of the nozzle insert 120 . additionally a press fit , as illustrated in fig2 could be employed . in these ways , nozzle inserts 74 , 100 , 120 are retained in the correct position in the pump inlet housing 52 to provide precise control of nozzle exit 94 , 112 . preferably the spout 50 of filter assembly 16 is of molded plastic , the pump housing 52 is of cast aluminum alloy , and the nozzle inserts 74 , 100 , 120 are of anodized machined aluminum alloy or hardened powder metal . fluid drawn from the fluid sump 12 enters the nozzle assembly 40 through the outlet 20 of the filter assembly 16 and flows along axis 70 toward fluid mixing chamber 72 . the inner surface 60 of the spout is essentially sized to match the inner surface 84 of the nozzle insert 120 . excess fluid , carried in passage 144 , enters pump inlet housing 52 radially and spirals around the outer surface 108 of the nozzle insert 120 along the circular cylindrical surface 66 of the housing 52 , flows axially in an annular nozzle passage 92 between the inner conical surface 68 of the housing 52 and an outer conical surface 110 of nozzle insert 120 and through a nozzle exit 112 between surfaces 68 and 110 at the axial end 86 of the nozzle insert 120 , past the outer corner 88 defined by the intersection of the end 86 and the conical surface 110 . upon exiting through nozzle exit 112 , the excess flow creates a mixing vortex in the fluid mixing chamber 72 with the flow drawn from the fluid sump 12 , whereupon the combined fluid volume travels through the mixing chamber 72 and enters the pump 14 at inlet 22 ( shown in fig1 ). in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes , the preferred embodiment has been described . however , it should be noted that the alternate embodiments can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described . | 5 |
to solve the above - described problems , the inventors have made investigations on a relationship between a microstructure of a wire rod and wire - drawability . in particular , the inventors also have made investigations on a precipitation mechanism of proeutectoid cementite in hypereutectoid steel . as a result , it has been found that precipitation of proeutectoid cementite can be suppressed by precipitating fine tic in the vicinity of a grain boundary . in particular , a fine tic having a size of 0 . 1 μm or less is most effective , and a sufficient amount of such fine tic must be precipitated . as the c content in steel increases , cementite is more readily precipitated , and thus a larger amount of fine tic is required . such an effect is less likely to be given by coarse tic ; hence , the fine tic is necessary to be precipitated as much as possible . it is therefore extremely important to appropriately control the precipitated amount and size distribution of tic . the fine tic having a size of 0 . 1 μm or less is precipitated in the vicinity of an austenite grain boundary as described above . this makes it possible to decrease grain boundary energy and thus suppress precipitation of proeutectoid cementite . although great effort and cost are required to directly determine the fine tic , such determination can be made in a simplified manner by using electroextraction residue measurement . specifically , while the entire amount of ti exists in steel in a form of compounds such as tic and tin , tin has a size of about 5 to 10 μm . hence , the amount of ti in compounds having a size of 0 . 1 μm or more , more specifically the amount of ti in compounds in the residue collected through filtration with a mesh having an opening of 0 . 1 μm is measured and subtracted from the total amount of ti in steel . the value obtained from such a subtraction is denoted as [ ti *], which represents the amount of fine tic passing through the mesh . the ti in compounds means ti that exists in a form of a compound . as the c content in steel increases , the proeutectoid cementite is more readily precipitated , and thus a larger amount of fine tic is required . based on such a relationship , the [ ti *] is required in the amount of 0 . 0023 ×[ c ] or more , preferably 0 . 0023 ×[ c ]+ 0 . 001 % or more , and more preferably 0 . 0023 ×[ c ]+ 0 . 005 % or more , where [ c ] represents the c content . on the other hand , if a large amount of fine tic is precipitated , grain boundaries become brittle , and toughness of the wire rod is degraded , causing longitudinal cracking during wire - drawing . from such a point , the upper limit of [ ti *] is 0 . 05 % or less , preferably 0 . 03 % or less , and more preferably 0 . 01 % or less . the steel wire rod of the invention must satisfy the basic composition of the wire rod . in addition , the chemical composition of the steel wire rod must be appropriately adjusted to appropriately control a precipitation state of tic . from such a point , the range of each chemical component of the wire rod is determined based on the following reason . c is an element that is effective in increasing strength . increased c content increases strength of a cold - rolled steel wire . the c content must be 0 . 80 % or more to ensure the target strength level of the invention . however , if the c content is excessive , proeutectoid cementite is precipitated in grain boundaries , which impairs wire - drawability . from such a point , the c content must be 1 . 3 % or less . the lower limit of the c content is preferably 0 . 84 % or more , and more preferably 0 . 90 % or more . the upper limit thereof is preferably 1 . 2 % or less , and more preferably 1 . 1 % or less . si is an effective deoxidizer , and exhibits an effect of decreasing the amount of oxide - based inclusion in steel . in addition , si increases strength of the wire rod , and exhibits an effect of suppressing cementite granulation along with thermal history during hot - dip galvanization , and thus suppressing a reduction in strength . si must be contained 0 . 1 % or more so as to effectively exhibit such effects . however , an excessive si content degrades toughness of the wire rod ; hence , the si content must be 1 . 5 % or less . the lower limit of the si content is preferably 0 . 15 % or more , and more preferably 0 . 20 % or more . the upper limit thereof is preferably 1 . 4 % or less , and more preferably 1 . 3 % or less . mn greatly improves hardenability of steel , and thus exhibits an effect of lowering a transformation temperature during air blast cooling , and increasing strength of a pearlite phase . mn must be contained 0 . 1 % or more so as to effectively exhibit such effects . however , mn is an element that is easily segregated , and if mn is excessively contained , hardenability of a portion , in which mn is segregated , is excessively enhanced , and a supercooled phase such as martensite may be formed . in consideration of such influences , the upper limit of the mn content is 1 . 5 % or less . the lower limit of the mn content is preferably 0 . 2 % or more , and more preferably 0 . 3 % or more . the upper limit thereof is preferably 1 . 4 % or less , and more preferably 1 . 3 % or less . p and s are each segregated in prior austenite grain boundaries and thus make the grain boundaries brittle , leading to a degradation in fatigue characteristics . it is therefore basically preferred that the content of each of p and s is as low as possible , but the upper limit of the content is defined to be 0 . 03 % or less in terms of industrial production . each content is preferably 0 . 02 % or less , and more preferably 0 . 01 % or less . p and s are each an impurity that is inevitably contained in steel , and it is difficult to decrease the content thereof to 0 % in terms of industrial production . ti is an element that is extremely important for the wire rod of the invention , which finely precipitates in a form of tic in the vicinity of a grain boundary , and thus exhibits an effect of suppressing precipitation of proeutectoid cementite . the effect is due to a function of fixing c in a form of tic in the vicinity of a grain boundary , and a function of relaxing grain boundary energy to hinder cementite nucleation by the fine tic of 0 . 1 μm or less in size . in addition , as with al , ti exhibits an effect of refining crystal grains and an effect of improving toughness through nitride formation . ti must be contained 0 . 02 % or more so as to effectively exhibit such effects . however , if the ti content is excessive , tic is excessively precipitated , which makes the grain boundary brittle , leading to degradation in toughness . from such a point , the ti content must be 0 . 2 % or less . the lower limit of the ti content is preferably 0 . 03 % or more , and more preferably 0 . 04 % or more . the upper limit thereof is preferably 0 . 18 % or less , and more preferably 0 . 16 % or less . al has a strong deoxidizing function , and exhibits an effect of decreasing the amount of oxide - based inclusion in steel . in addition , al promisingly exhibits an effect of refining crystal grains due to pinning of nitride and an effect of decreasing the amount of dissolved n . al must be contained 0 . 01 % or more so as to exhibit such effects . however , if the al content is excessive , the amount of al - based inclusion such as al 2 o 3 increases , which disadvantageously increases wire breaking rate during wire - drawing . the al content must be 0 . 10 % or less in order to prevent such a disadvantage . the lower limit of the al content is preferably 0 . 02 % or more , and more preferably 0 . 03 % or more . the upper limit thereof is preferably 0 . 08 % or less , and more preferably 0 . 06 % or less . n is dissolved in steel as an interstitial element and induces embrittlement due to strain aging , which degrades toughness of the wire rod . the upper limit of the n content ( total n ) in steel is therefore 0 . 006 % or less . however , such a disadvantage is provided only by dissolved n that is dissolved in steel . a nitrogen precipitate that is precipitated in a form of nitride , i . e ., n in compounds has no bad influence on toughness . hence , the amount of dissolved n that is dissolved in steel is desirably controlled separately from n in steel ( total n ). the amount of dissolved n is preferably 0 . 0005 % or less , and more preferably 0 . 0003 % or less . on the other hand , it is difficult to decrease the amount of dissolved n in steel to less than 0 . 001 % in terms of industrial production ; hence , the lower limit of the n content in steel is 0 . 001 % or more . the upper limit of the n content in steel is preferably 0 . 004 % or less , and more preferably 0 . 003 % or less . the components defined in the invention are as described above . the remainder consists of iron and inevitable impurities . the inevitable impurities may include elements that are introduced depending on starting materials , other materials , and situations of production facilities , etc . the wire rod further effectively contains the following elements singly or in appropriate combination as necessary : ( a ) b : more than 0 % and 0 . 010 % or less , ( b ) cr : more than 0 % and 0 . 5 % or less , ( c ) v : more than 0 % and 0 . 2 % or less , and ( d ) at least one element selected from the group consisting of ni : more than 0 % and 0 . 5 % or less , cu : more than 0 % and 0 . 5 % or less , mo : more than 0 % and 0 . 5 % or less , co : more than 0 % and 1 . 0 % or less , and nb : more than 0 % and 0 . 5 % or less . the properties of the wire rod are further improved depending on a type of the component to be contained . the reason for defining the range of each of the elements to be contained is as follows . b hinders formation of proeutectoid ferrite or proeutectoid cementite , and thus exhibits an effect of facilitating control of a microstructure to be formed into a homogeneous pearlite phase . in addition , b fixes n in steel in a form of bn , and thereby suppresses strain aging and improves toughness of the wire rod . b is preferably contained 0 . 0003 % or more so as to effectively exhibit such effects . the b content is more preferably 0 . 0005 % or more , and further preferably 0 . 0008 % or more . however , if the b content is excessive , a compound with iron ( b - constituent ) is precipitated , which induces cracking during hot rolling ; hence , the upper limit of the b content is preferably 0 . 010 % or less . the upper limit of the b content is more preferably 0 . 008 % or less , and further preferably 0 . 006 % or less . cr reduces the lamellar spacing of pearlite , and thus exhibits an effect of improving strength or toughness of the wire rod . in addition , as with si , cr exhibits an effect of suppressing reduction in strength of the wire rod during galvanization . however , when the cr content is excessive , the effects wastefully reach saturation ; hence , the appropriate cr content is preferably 0 . 5 % or less . the cr content is preferably 0 . 001 % or more and more preferably 0 . 05 % or more so that the effects of cr are effectively exhibited . the upper limit of the cr content is more preferably 0 . 4 % or less , and further preferably 0 . 3 % or less . v forms fine carbide / nitride ( carbide , nitride , and carbonitride ) and thus exhibits an effect of increasing strength and an effect of refining crystal grains . in addition , v fixes dissolved n and thus promisingly suppresses aging embrittlement . the v content is preferably 0 . 001 % or more and more preferably 0 . 05 % or more so that the effects of v are effectively exhibited . however , when the v content is excessive , the effects wastefully reach saturation ; hence , the appropriate v content is preferably 0 . 2 % or less . the v content is more preferably 0 . 18 % or less , and further preferably 0 . 15 % or less . ( at least one element selected from the group consisting of ni : more than 0 % and 0 . 5 % or less , cu : more than 0 % and 0 . 5 % or less , mo : more than 0 % and 0 . 5 % or less , co : more than 0 % and 1 . 0 % or less , and nb : more than 0 % and 0 . 5 % or less ) ni is an element that is effective in improving toughness of the steel wire subjected to wire - drawing . the ni content is preferably 0 . 05 % or more and more preferably 0 . 1 % or more so that the effect of ni is effectively exhibited . however , when the ni content is excessive , the effect wastefully reaches saturation ; hence , the appropriate ni content is preferably 0 . 5 % or less , more preferably 0 . 4 % or less , and further preferably 0 . 3 % or less . cu and mo are each an element that is effective in improving corrosion resistance of the steel wire . the content of each of cu and mo is preferably 0 . 01 % or more and more preferably 0 . 05 % or more so that such an effect is effectively exhibited . however , if the cu content is excessive , cu reacts with s and forms cus that is segregated in grain boundaries , causing flaws during a wire - rod manufacturing process . hence , the upper limit of the cu content is preferably 0 . 5 % or less , more preferably 0 . 4 % or less , and further preferably 0 . 3 % or less . mo is also an element that is effective in improving corrosion resistance of the steel wire as with cu . however , if the mo content is excessive , a supercooled phase is readily formed during hot rolling , and ductility is degraded . consequently , the upper limit of the mo content is preferably 0 . 5 % or less , more preferably 0 . 4 % or less , and further preferably 0 . 3 % or less . co reduces the amount of proeutectoid cementite , and thus exhibits an effect of facilitating control of a microstructure to be formed into a homogeneous pearlite phase . however , when co is excessively contained , the effect wastefully reaches saturation . the upper limit of the co content is therefore preferably 1 . 0 % or less , more preferably 0 . 8 % or less , and further preferably 0 . 5 % or less . the co content is preferably 0 . 05 % or more , more preferably 0 . 1 % or more , and further preferably 0 . 2 % or more so that the effect of co is effectively exhibited . as with ti , nb forms nitride and thus contributes to refining crystal grains . in addition , nb fixes dissolved n and thus promisingly suppresses aging embrittlement . however , when nb is excessively contained , the effects wastefully reaches saturation . the upper limit of the nb content is therefore preferably 0 . 5 % or less , more preferably 0 . 4 % or less , and further preferably 0 . 3 % or less . the nb content is preferably 0 . 05 % or more , more preferably 0 . 1 % or more , and further preferably 0 . 2 % or more so that the effects of nb are effectively exhibited . the high - strength steel wire rod of the invention preferably has a microstructure mainly including a pearlite phase ( for example , 90 % or more in area ratio ), but is allowed to partially ( 10 % or less in area ratio ) contain another phase ( for example , proeutectoid ferrite or bainite ). in the invention , length of the proeutectoid cementite is further preferably controlled . the proeutectoid cementite , which is precipitated on a side near the center with reference to a position of d / 4 ( d : diameter of the wire rod ) of the wire rod , causes cracking during wire - drawing , and thus causes cuppy break . the cementite ( lamellar cementite ) that forms a lamellar structure of pearlite has a property of rotating in response to wire - drawing and orienting in a longitudinal direction of the wire rod . however , the proeutectoid cementite cannot rotate in synchronization with a surrounding phase , and cracking occurs at an interface between the phases . the dominant factor of such rotation is the length of the proeutectoid cementite . if the length ( maximum length ) of the proeutectoid cementite exceeds 15 μm , the cementite is less likely to rotate , causing cracking . however , a short proeutectoid cementite easily rotates , and does not significantly impair the wire - drawability . from such a point , the length ( maximum length ) of the proeutectoid cementite is preferably 15 μm or less , more preferably 13 μm or less , and further preferably 10 μm or less . the lower limit of the length of the proeutectoid cementite may be , for example , but not limited to , about 0 . 1 μm . the high - strength steel wire rod of the invention has good rod drawability and high strength . for example , the wire rod of the invention is allowed to have a tensile strength of 1100 mpa or more , and preferably 1200 mpa or more . the upper limit of the tensile strength is typically , but not limited to , about 1500 mpa . the high - strength steel wire rod of the invention should be manufactured according to a usual manufacturing condition while a billet having a chemical composition adjusted as described above is used . however , as described below , there is a preferred manufacturing condition to appropriately adjust the microstructure or the like of the wire rod . in a typical manufacturing process of a high - carbon steel wire rod , a billet having a predeterminately adjusted chemical composition is heated and austenized . the austenized billet is hot - rolled into a wire rod having a predetermined wire diameter , and is then cooled on a cooling conveyer , during which the austenite phase is transformed into a pearlite phase . in this process , a fine austenite phase is produced along with dynamic recrystallization during the hot rolling , and when tic is precipitated concurrently with such recrystallization , the tic can be finely dispersed in the vicinity of a grain boundary . last four passes ( four passes from the last pass to the last pass but three ) of rolling most greatly affect the crystal grain size , and the area reduction strain over the last four passes is denoted as ε . when the area reduction strain ε is adjusted to be 0 . 4 or more , the crystal grains can be sufficiently refined , and tic can be finely dispersed . the area reduction strain ε is represented by ε = ln ( s 1 / s 2 ) ( s 1 : cross section of a wire rod on an inlet side of a mill roll , s 2 : cross section of a wire rod on an outlet side thereof ). the lower limit of the area reduction strain c is preferably 0 . 42 or more , and more preferably 0 . 45 or more . the upper limit thereof is preferably 0 . 8 or less , and more preferably 0 . 6 or less . the finely precipitated tic is progressively coarsened during the cooling step after rolling . at this time , an important requirement is placing temperature of the wire rod . the placing temperature is controlled at 850 to 950 ° c ., thereby a desired precipitation state of tic is preferably provided . if the placing temperature exceeds 950 ° c ., tic is coarsened . if the placing temperature is lower than 850 ° c ., tic is excessively fine . the upper limit of the placing temperature is more preferably 940 ° c . or lower , and further preferably 930 ° c . or lower . the lower limit of the placing temperature is more preferably 870 ° c . or higher , and further preferably 880 ° c . or higher . the wire rod is cooled by air blast cooling in the cooling step after rolling . at this time , if cooling rate ( average cooling rate ) is too high , bainite or the like is easily contained , which prevents formation of a microstructure mainly including a pearlite phase . from such a point , average cooling rate in a range of the placing temperature is preferably 20 ° c ./ sec or less , more preferably 18 ° c ./ sec or less , and further preferably 14 ° c ./ sec or less . in light of reducing precipitation of the proeutectoid cementite , the lower limit of the average cooling rate is preferably 3 ° c ./ sec or more , more preferably 4 ° c ./ sec or more , and further preferably 5 ° c ./ sec or more . the high - carbon steel wire rod ( high - strength steel wire rod ) of the invention is good in rod drawability , and thus provides a high - strength steel wire , which exhibits desired properties such as strength and a torsion value , through wire - drawing . such a high - strength steel wire is typically used as a high - strength galvanized steel wire after its surface is subjected to hot - dip galvanization . the wire rod of the invention is good in rod drawability , and thus can be drawn without wire breaking even if an area reduction ratio is , for example , but not limited to , more than 80 %, and furthermore 83 % or more . the upper limit of the area reduction ratio is , for example , but not limited to , 95 % or less . the hot - dip galvanization of the steel wire should be performed for about 15 sec to 1 min in a hot - dip galvanization bath at , for example , 350 ° c . or higher ( preferably 400 ° c . or higher ) and 550 ° c . or lower ( preferably 500 ° c . or lower ). the steel wire subjected to wire - drawing such as a drawing process has higher strength with a smaller wire diameter thereof . the tensile strength ts of the high - strength galvanized steel wire is preferably equal to or higher than the tensile strength ts * defined by formula ( 2 ), more preferably equal to or higher than ts *+ 50 ( mpa ), and further preferably equal to or higher than ts *+ 100 ( mpa ). the relationship of the formula ( 2 ) is experimentally obtained . where d represents wire diameter ( mm ) of the high - strength galvanized steel wire . this application claims the benefit of japanese priority patent application jp 2013 - 67465 filed on mar . 27 , 2013 , the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference . although the invention is now described in detail with an example , the invention should not be limited thereto , and modifications or alterations thereof may be made within the scope without departing from the gist described before and later , all of which are included in the technical scope of the invention . billets ( cross section 155 × 155 mm in size ) having chemical compositions ( steel types a to s ) listed in table 1 were prepared . the billets were each hot - rolled into a predetermined wire diameter , placed in a ring shape on a cooling conveyer , subjected to control cooling with air blast cooling for pearlite transformation , and wound in a coil shape , so that hot - rolled wire rod coils were produced . in table 1 , “-” represents “ not contained ”. for each of the produced hot - rolled wire rods , an unsteady portion of an edge ( i . e ., an end of the hot - rolled wire rod ) was cut off , and then a good edge was sampled for evaluation of the hot - rolled wire rod . specifically , the hot - rolled wire rod was evaluated in the following manner on wire diameter , [ ti *], amount of dissolved n , maximum length of proeutectoid cementite , microstructure , and tensile strength ts . in table 2 , “ heating temperature ” represents furnace temperature before hot rolling , and area reduction strain c represents the total area reduction strain c over the last four passes ( four passes from the last pass to the last pass but three ) of rolling . in addition , “ average cooling rate ” represents an average cooling rate from start of placing to a point of 800 ° c . for test no . 5 , however , an average cooling rate from start of placing to a point of 750 ° c . was obtained . [ ti *] and the amount of dissolved n were evaluated with electroextraction residue measurement . in this measurement , a 10 % acetylacetone solution was used for extraction while a 0 . 1 μm mesh was used . the amount of ti in compounds in a residue was measured by inductively coupled plasma ( icp ) emission spectrometry , the amount of n in compounds and the amount of b in compounds therein were measured by absorption photometry , and the amount of ain therein was measured by a bromoester method . the sample amount was 3 g for the bromoester method , and 0 . 5 g for each of the emission spectrometry and the absorption photometry . since the precipitation state of tic is changed only after heating treatment at 1000 ° c . or higher , the precipitation state may be determined for a steel wire subjected to a drawing process or hot - dip galvanization . using such values , the amount of [ ti *] was determined based on “[ ti *]= total ti amount − amount of ti in compounds having a size 0 . 1 μm or more ”, and the amount of dissolved n was determined based on “ amount of dissolved n = total n amount − amount of n in compounds ”. an edge sample of each hot - rolled wire rod was subjected to a tensile test to determine the tensile strength ts of the hot - rolled wire rod . at this time , the average for three tests ( n = 3 ) was obtained . a similar edge sample was buried in a resin and observed by a scanning electron microscope ( sem ) to evaluate a state of the proeutectoid cementite . the sample was observed along a section ( cross section ) perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the wire rod . the proeutectoid cementite was observed on a side near the center with reference to a position of d / 4 ( d : diameter of the wire rod ) in the section , and the maximum length of the proeutectoid cementite was measured . when an end of the proeutectoid cementite was split into a plurality of branches , a value of the sum of the lengths of the branches was obtained . table 2 shows the fabrication conditions of the samples and evaluation results . table 2 also shows a value of 0 . 0023 ×[ c ] of each hot - rolled wire rod ( c is the c content of the hot - rolled wire rod ). each of the hot - rolled wire rods produced as above was formed into a predetermined wire diameter by cold wire - drawing , and was then dipped for about 30 sec in a hot - dip galvanization bath at about 440 to 460 ° c . to yield a hot - dip galvanized steel wire . the tensile strength ts of the wire ( hot - dip galvanized steel wire ) was evaluated by a tensile test . at this time , the average for three tests ( n = 3 ) was obtained . in addition , a torsion value was measured by a torsion test , and presence of longitudinal cracking was determined from observation of a fracture pattern . for the torsion value , the number of times of torsion before break was normalized with a chuck - to - chuck distance of 100 mm , and the average for three tests ( n = 3 ) was calculated . in the three torsion tests , a sample showing at least one longitudinal crack was determined to be sample with longitudinal cracking . table 3 shows the results of evaluation of the hot - dip galvanized steel wire , the evaluation being made on wire diameter , an area reduction ratio after cold wire - drawing , tensile strength ts , tensile strength ts * obtained by the formula ( 2 ), and presence of longitudinal cracking . the following consideration can be made from such results . specifically , test nos . 1 to 3 and 8 to 19 each satisfy all the requirements defined in the invention , in which a pearlite phase occupies at least 90 % ( by area percent ) of the microstructure thereof . in addition , any defect such as wire breaking is not found during wire - drawing , and good wire strength and good torsion characteristics are shown after hot - dip galvanization treatment . among them , each of test nos . 16 and 19 has a slightly large amount of dissolved n and a slightly low torsion value . in contrast , test nos . 4 to 7 and 20 to 23 are examples that each do not satisfy one of the requirements defined in the invention ( or do not satisfy a further preferred requirement ), in which a defect such as wire breaking is found during wire - drawing , or wire strength or torsion characteristics is / are bad after hot - dip galvanization treatment . among them , for test no . 4 , the placing temperature is as high as 1000 ° c ., and the amount of [ ti *] is small ( i . e ., tic is coarsened , and the maximum length of the proeutectoid cementite exceeds 15 μm . ); hence , the proeutectoid cementite cannot be suppressed , and wire breaking occurs during wire - drawing . for test no . 5 , the placing temperature is as low as 800 ° c ., and the amount of [ ti *] is excessively large ( i . e ., tic is excessively refined ); hence , grain boundaries become brittle , and longitudinal cracking occurs . for test no . 6 , the area reduction strain ε over the last four passes is small , and crystal grains are not sufficiently refined , and thus the amount of [ ti *] is small ( i . e ., tic is not refined . furthermore , the maximum length of the proeutectoid cementite exceeds 15 μm . ); hence , the proeutectoid cementite cannot be suppressed , and wire breaking occurs during wire - drawing . for test no . 7 , cooling rate is high , and the microstructure includes a mixed phase of pearlite and bainite ( area ratio of bainite : 40 %); hence , drawability is degraded , and wire breaking occurs during wire - drawing . test no . 20 is an example using steel ( steel type p ) having a low c content , for which strength is low . test no . 21 is an example using steel ( steel type q ) having an excessively high c content , for which the proeutectoid cementite cannot be suppressed , and wire breaking occurs . test no . 22 is an example using steel ( steel type r ) having a low ti content , for which the proeutectoid cementite cannot be suppressed , and wire breaking occurs . test no . 23 is an example using steel ( steel type s ) having an excessively high ti content , for which the amount of [ ti *] is excessive , and longitudinal cracking occurs . the wire rod of the invention has good rod drawability and high strength . hence , the wire rod is preferred as a material for a hot - dip galvanized steel wire or a steel wire strand as a material for a rope for use in a bridge and the like , which is thus extremely useful in industry . | 2 |
there are shown in fig1 and 2 a cross sectional view of a chip - type electronic part in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention and a partially enlarged cross sectional view of the chip - type electronic part in fig1 respectively . as shown in fig1 and 2 , the chip - type electronic part 10 comprises a chip - type main body 12 and a pair of external electrodes 14 formed on two opposing sides of the main body 12 . the main body 12 includes a ceramic composite body 16 and sheet - type internal electrodes 18 located therein . both ends of the internal electrodes 18 are exposed on the two opposing sides of the main body 12 , thereby allowing the internal electrodes 18 to be electrically connected to the external electrodes 14 . the ceramic composite body 16 is made of a magnetic material if the chip - type electronic part 10 is an inductor , or is made of a dielectric material if the chip - type electronic part 10 is a chip capacitor . electrode patterns formed using a conductive paste including therein , e . g ., ag or ag — pd powders , are sintered to form the internal electrode 18 . the external electrodes 14 are made of a porous conductive material , the porous conductive material being formed by the coating a conductive paste including therein , e . g ., ag or ag — pd powders , on the two opposing sides of the main body 12 and bake - pasting it using a heat - treatment . the pores in the porous conductive material of the external electrodes 14 extend from the surface of the external electrodes 14 to the surface of the main body 12 . voids formed at the interfaces between the ceramic composite body 16 and the internal electrode 18 are impregnated with a synthetic resin 22 including , e . g ., silicone resin , epoxy resin , phenol resin or other plastics . also , the synthetic resins 22 are impregnated into the main body 12 and the external electrodes 14 . the impregnated synthetic resins 22 of the main body 12 are continuously linked to those of the external electrodes 14 . additionally , a plate layer 24 is formed on the surface of the external electrodes 14 by using an electroplating method . the above described chip - type electronic part is fabricated using the following steps : forming a main body 12 including a ceramic composite body 16 with sheet - type internal electrodes 18 placed therein ; forming a pair of external electrodes 14 on two opposing sides of the main body 12 ; impregnating synthetic resins 22 by dipping the main body 12 and the external electrodes 14 into a synthetic resin solution ; and hardening the impregnated synthetic resins 22 . the above described main body 12 is fabricated using the following steps : stacking a plurality of ceramic green sheets each having an electrode pattern made of a conductive paste including , e . g ., ag or ag — pd powders , printed thereon , thereby forming a multi - layered structure ; stacking on top and bottom of the multi - layered structure with a plurality of ceramic green sheets without an electrode pattern printed thereon to form protective layers ; pressing the multi - layered structure provided with the protective layers ; dicing the pressed multi - layered structure into a chip - type multi - layered structures ; and sintering the chip - type multi - layered structures to form the main body . the external electrodes 14 made of a porous conductive material are formed on two opposing sides of the main body 12 by coating a conductive paste including , e . g ., ag or ag — pd powders , and bake - pasting it thereon using a heat - treatment . the conductive paste has a specific composition which will allow the pores of the external electrodes 14 to extend from the surface of the external electrodes 14 to the surface of the main body 12 . fig3 is a partially enlarged cross sectional view setting forth a chip - type electronic part in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig3 the second embodiment is similar to the first embodiment , except that the external electrodes 14 of the second embodiment are made of a conductive synthetic resin instead of the porous conductive material of the first embodiment . the conductive synthetic resin is made of , e . g ., a conductive paste including a thermosetting epoxy system , or other conductive synthetic resins . the fabrication of the chip - type electrical part 10 comprises the steps of : forming a main body 12 including a ceramic composite body 16 with sheet - type internal electrode 18 located therein ; impregnating synthetic resins 22 by dipping the main body 12 into a synthetic resin solution ; hardening the synthetic resins 22 ; forming a pair of external electrodes 14 by coating a conductive synthetic resin on two opposing sides of the main body 12 ; and forming a plate layer 24 by using an electroplating method . first , a mixture of powders of fe 2 o 3 , nio , zno and cuo in the molar ratio described below is mixed together in water ball milled and dried using a spray dryer . next , the dried mixture is calcined at a temperature of 800 ° c . for 1 hour to obtain desired ferrite powders . the ferrite powders are then ground , mixed with water and ball - milled for 15 hours to obtain a slurry , which is to be spray dried . thereafter , the spray dried ferrite powders are mixed with an organic binder and an organic solvent to obtain a slurry thereof . a plurality of ferrite green sheets , each having a thickness of 50 μm , are then formed using a doctor blade method from the slurry . subsequently , via holes and electrode patterns are formed on the ferrite green sheets . the ferrite green sheets are stacked , with the electrode patterns thereon being electrically connected to each other through the via holes to form a spiral - type coil . the conductive paste for forming the electrode patterns has the following composition : the ferrite green sheets are appropriately stacked to form a multi - layered structure having the spiral - type coil therein , wherein the coil has 10 turns . then , the multilayered structure is diced and sintered at a temperature of 900 ° c ., to obtain a main body . thereafter , a pair of external electrodes is formed by coating a conductive paste on two opposing sides of the main body and is bake - pasted by using a heat treatment at a temperature of 600 ° c ., thereby forming a semifinished multi - layer chip inductor . the conductive paste used in forming the external electrodes has a composition as described hereinbelow : subsequently , silicone resins are impregnated into the semifinished multi - layered chip inductor , using the method described hereinbelow : filling a vessel with a silicone resin solution diluted with a toluene ; immersing the semifinished multi - layer inductor chip in the vessel ; putting the vessel in a pressure - control container ; lowering the pressure of the container to a pressure of 30 torr by using a vacuum pump ; and maintaining it for 10 minute . then , the semifinished multi - layer chip inductor is removed from the vessel and is heat - treated at a temperature of 200 ° c . for 1 hour so as to harden the impregnated silicone resins . finally , after removing the silicone resin adhered to the surface of the external electrodes using a rotating barrel , a plate layer is formed on the surface of the external electrode by using an electroplating method . a microscopic examination of the sections around the internal electrode of the multi - layer inductor chip fabricated using the above described processes indicates the internal electrode is supported by the impregnated silicone resins . a main body in example 2 is formed using the steps described above for example 1 . next , silicon resins are impregnated into the magnetic composite material using the steps described hereinbelow : filling a vessel with a silicone resin solution diluted by toluene ; immersing a main body in the vessel ; putting the vessel in a pressure - control container ; lowering the pressure of the container to a pressure of 30 torr by using a vacuum pump ; and maintaining it for 10 minute . thereafter , the impregnated main body is removed from the vessel and heat - treated at a temperature of 200 ° c . for 1 hour so as to harden the impregnated silicone resins impregnated . then , the silicone resin adhered to the surface of the main body is removed in a rotating barrel . subsequently , a pair of external electrodes is formed on two opposing sides of the main body by coating a conductive paste of a thermosetting epoxy system and hardening it at temperatures of 150 ° c . for 60 minute and 200 ° c . for 30 minute . then , a plate layer is formed by using an electroplating method , thereby forming a multi - layered chip inductor . a microscopic examination of a section around the internal electrode of the multi - layer inductor chip fabricated using the method described above confirms that the internal electrode is supported by the impregnated silicone resins . in contrast with the chip - type electronic part previous disclosed , the present invention includes the synthetic resin impregnated into the main body , the impregnated resins supporting the internal electrodes to prevent the internal electrodes from vibrating when an external impact or extremely transducing electromagnetic force is applied thereto , preventing the internal electrodes from being fatigued , resulting in increasing the reliance of the chip - type electronic part . in addition , the impregnated synthetic resins improve the coherency between the ferrite sheets of the multi - layered structure , which will , in turns , prevent the delamination between the ferrite sheets , increasing the reliability of the chip - type electronic part . furthermore , the present invention includes the external electrodes made of the porous conductive material , making it possible and easy to impregnate the main body with the synthetic resins through the external electrodes . further , the impregnated synthetic resins of the external electrodes are continuously linked to those of the main body , improving the adhesivity between the external electrodes and the main body . normally , the impregnation of the synthetic resins should be carried after the step of bake - pasting the external electrodes on the main body by using the heat treatment so as to prevent the synthetic resin from being damaged during the heat treatment . however , in one embodiment of the present invention , wherein the external electrodes are formed from the conductive synthetic resin , the step of impregnating the synthetic resins into the main body is carried out before the formation of the external electrodes , resulting in eliminating the step of bake - pasting the external electrodes on the main body by using the heat treatment , which , facilitating the impregnation of the synthetic resins into the main body . while the present invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments only , other modifications and variations may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims . | 7 |
fig1 is a cross - sectional view of a silicon - on - insulator ( soi ) substrate 100 prior to processing thereof in accordance with the present invention . soi substrate 100 comprises a first silicon layer 102 , also referred to as the device layer , a second silicon layer 104 , also referred to as the handle layer , and an insulator layer 106 therebetween . the insulator layer comprises silicon dioxide ( sio 2 ). fig2 depicts the soi substrate 100 of fig1 after photoresist patterning and etching to create a recess 200 in the device layer 102 . fig3 depicts the soi substrate 100 of fig2 after the creation of trenches 300 and 302 . the trenches are created , for example , by photoresist patterning and etching , using , for example , a bosch process known in the art . as one skilled in the art will know , the bosch process involves a sequence of alternating etch and deposition to fabricate high aspect ratio silicon structures while the substrate temperature is controlled near room temperature . fig4 depicts the soi substrate 100 of fig3 after the creation of electrical contacts 400 and 402 thereon . the contacts comprise , for example , a multi layer metal film of gold ( au ) and a titanium ( ti )/ tungsten ( w ) alloy . the contacts can be created by , for example , sputtering the ti / w alloy first as an adhesion layer , then the gold across the substrate , spinning photoresist on top of the gold , and patterning the photoresist to remove it everywhere except on top of where the contacts are desired . finally , the metal film is removed everywhere except where it is protected by the photoresist , and then the remaining photoresist above the gold contacts is removed . contacts 400 and 402 will provide external electrical contact points in use . fig5 is a cross - sectional view of a glass substrate 500 prior to processing thereof in accordance with the present invention . the glass substrate comprises , for example , pyrex 7740 available from corning corporation , corning , n . y . as another example , hoya sd - 2 , available from hoya corporation usa in san jose , calif ., could be used . in general , the glass that is used is rich in sodium ( for anodic bonding , further described below ), and has a thermal coefficient of expansion that closely matches that of silicon . fig6 depicts the glass substrate 500 of fig5 after creation of recesses 600 , 602 and 604 therein . the recesses are created by , for example , standard photoresist patterning and etching techniques comprising either a dry or wet process , or a combination of both dry and wet . fig7 depicts the glass substrate 500 of fig6 after creation of electrode and electrical contact 700 thereon . the contact comprises , for example , a multi layer metal film of gold and a tungsten / titanium alloy . the contact can be created , for example , by applying the metal film across the substrate surface , applying and patterning photoresist , and removing the metal film everywhere except where the contact is sought to be created . the remaining photoresist above the gold contact can then be removed . fig8 depicts the glass substrate 500 of fig7 after creation of recesses 800 and 802 therein . the recesses can be created by , for example , ultrasonic drilling , plasma dry etch or laser drilling . fig9 depicts a semiconductor structure 900 in accordance with the present invention . semiconductor structure 900 comprises glass substrate 500 and soi substrate 100 anodically bonded at interface 902 . as one skilled in the art will know , anodic bonding involves applying a high dc voltage potential of about 1000 v across the interface to generate an electric field , applying pressure of about 30 , 000 pascal and exposing to temperatures of about 400 ° c ., that together drive na + ions in the glass substrate away from the interface region . a na + depletion zone is thus formed that leaves oxygen atoms highly reactive at the interface . oxygen atoms in device layer 102 of soi substrate 100 form a chemical bond si — o , which provides a strong bond between the substrates , due to the permanent covalent bond within the silicon dioxide that is formed . unexpectedly , it was found that anodic bonding could be accomplished with the soi substrate without electrically bypassing the insulator layer . the natural assumption , due to the presence of the insulator layer in the soi substrate , is that the insulator layer would prevent an electrical path from fully forming so as to enable the anodic bonding . however , it is now thought that the potential difference that is used in anodic bonding is enough to open a path in the insulator layer without electrically coupling the two silicon layers in the soi substrate . fig1 depicts the anodic bonding of soi wafer 1000 and glass wafer 1002 using an optional conductive path 1004 to electrically couple device layer 1006 and handle layer 1008 , thereby electrically isolating the insulator layer 1010 . conductive path 1004 can be created in a number of ways , for example , the use of a metallic paste , the use of a metal clamp , or the use of metal sputtering deposition at the edge of the soi wafer . also shown in fig1 are electrodes 1012 and 1014 for enabling the potential across an interface between the soi and glass wafers . although as noted with respect to fig9 , the conductive path between the silicon layers is not necessary for enabling anodic bonding , it is possible that the large potential used in anodic bonding may initially or eventually damage the insulator layer of the soi wafer , or lead to a partial breakdown thereof . for example , depending on the quality of the oxide , an electric field strength on the order of 105 - 107 v / cm can cause oxide breakdown . finally , although not shown in fig1 , it will be understood by one skilled in the art that the flat of the glass and silicon wafers are rotated by 90 degrees with respect to each other in order to allow electrical contact to the silicon wafer and assist with coarse alignment . fig1 depicts the semiconductor structure 900 of fig9 after being flipped for processing of the handle layer 104 of soi substrate 100 . as shown in fig1 , recesses 1100 , 1102 and 1104 have been created in handle layer 104 . as shown , one way to create the recesses in semiconductor structure 900 is to deposit a layer of chromium 1106 on top of handle layer 104 , and cover the chromium layer with photoresist 1108 . the photoresist is patterned and the chromium removed in the areas over the locations in the handle layer where the recesses are sought to be created . chromium can be removed , for example , using chromium etchant 1020 , available from transene company , inc ., danvers , mass . the handle layer is then etched , for example , using a bosch process . fig1 depicts the semiconductor structure 900 of fig1 after selective removal of insulator layer 106 in soi substrate 100 , creating trenches 1200 and 1202 , as well as thin silicon membrane or diaphragm 1204 . the thickness of the membrane varies , for example , from about 1 micron to about 20 microns , depending on the application . fig1 depicts a pressure sensor 1300 in accordance with the present invention . pressure sensor 1300 comprises semiconductor structure 900 from fig1 anodically bonded at handle layer 104 of soi substrate 100 to a second glass substrate 1302 having an opening therein 1304 corresponding to the recess in handle layer 104 leading to membrane 1204 . opening 1304 comprises a first portion 1306 corresponding to the recess in the soi substrate , and a larger , counterbored portion 1308 . the counterboring is done to fit the fabricated device to the packaging . as one skilled in the art will know , thin glass covers 1310 and 1312 protect contacts 400 and 402 , respectively , during processing and would be removed prior to use . membrane diameters for the pressure sensor can range , for example , from about 25 microns to about 5000 microns , with a measurement range from about 10 mtorr to about 100 torr . it should be noted that in creating the anodic bond between soi substrate 100 and the second glass substrate 1302 , there is the potential for debonding of the anodic bond between glass substrate 500 and soi substrate 100 . as shown in fig1 , the potential for debonding is addressed by equalizing the electrical potential between both silicon layers of the soi substrate . as shown in fig1 , a conductor 1400 along an edge of the soi wafer is used , similar to that described with respect to fig1 . in addition , glass wafer 500 and soi wafer 100 are arranged such that the soi wafer is exposed at area 1402 , and a conductor 1404 ( e . g ., a spiral metal spring ) is employed to electrically couple electrode 1406 and device layer 102 of the soi wafer . conductor 1400 then provides an electrical path from electrode 1406 to handle layer 104 in the soi wafer . in this way , the potential difference between the silicon layers of the soi wafer and electrode is equalized with no potential drop across the glass wafer , thereby preventing debonding of the anodic bond with glass wafer 500 when the soi wafer and glass wafer 1302 are anodically bonded , using electrodes 1406 and 1408 . the result is that the strength of the anodic bonds is roughly equal , since no debonding of the first anodic bond has occurred and the glass wafers comprise the same material . fig1 depicts an acoustic sensor 1500 that can be created with the same process flow used to create the pressure sensor , though the mask layout would be different and no second glass substrate is necessary . acoustic sensor 1500 comprises soi substrate 1502 and glass substrate 1504 anodically bonded thereto , including a plurality of electrical contacts 1506 similar to those in the pressure sensor , a plurality of openings 1508 in the glass substrate ( created , e . g ., with ultrasonic drilling ), and a thin silicon membrane or diaphragm 1510 . the membrane thickness ranges , for example , from about 1 micron to about 30 microns . fig1 depicts another device that can be made using the process flow of the present invention with a different mask layout and no second glass substrate . in this case , fig1 depicts an accelerometer 1600 . the accelerometer comprises soi substrate 1602 , glass substrate 1604 anodically bonded thereto , electrical contact 1606 and thin silicon membrane 1608 with opening 1610 therein . lateral dimensions for the accelerometer can range , for example , from about 25 microns to about 5000 microns . while several aspects of the present invention have been described and depicted herein , alternative aspects may be effected by those skilled in the art to accomplish the same objectives . accordingly , it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such alternative aspects as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention . | 1 |
the present invention will be described in detail with respect to embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings . fig1 shows an embodiment of the present invention . the laser beam l emitted from a laser light source 1 is diverged by a lens 2 to enter as reference light into a hologram 3 , which is rotated by a rotating motor 4 and which has an observation window 5 in the center thereof , as shown in fig2 . in this case , the hologram 3 is subjected to multi - exposure such that plane images are imaged at corresponding different depth distances d in accordance with the respective rotational angles of the hologram 3 . as shown in fig3 ( a ), in order to create such multiple - exposure hologram 3 , a plane object j is disposed at a position and irradiated with the reference beam when the hologram 3 is at a rotational angle δ . the plane object j is disposed at a position different from the previous position by changing the rotational angle δ of the hologram 3 and irradiated with the reference beam . such exposure is iterated for a plurality of times . as shown in fig3 ( b ), by rotating the hologram 3 , which has been subjected to such multi - exposure , while being irradiated with the reference beam , plane images j are imaged at corresponding different depth positions . since the hologram 3 which has been subjected to multi - exposure is irradiated with the reference beam from the source 1 , as shown in fig1 the plane image j is imaged at a position corresponding to the rotational angle of the hologram 3 . thus , if an object 6 to be measured is disposed in a space where the plane image j is formed , that portion of the object 6 cut by the plane image j strongly scatters the light . the scattered light is caused to enter through the observation window 5 and the focusing lens 7 into a two - dimensional image sensor 8 , which is composed of a plurality of light receiving elements arranged in a two - dimensional array . the image sensor 8 outputs an opto - electric conversion signal depending on the scattered light entering into a respective one of the light receiving elements . the output signal from the image sensor 8 enters into a distance measuring unit 9 , which measures : the distance to the object 6 . in more detail , in fig1 the reference light from the source 1 enters the hologram 3 , which has been subjected to multi - exposure , while the hologram 3 is being rotated ( for example , one rotation ) by the motor 4 to move and scan the plane image j &# 39 ; in the depth direction . the distance measuring unit 9 sequentially samples the outputs of the respective light receiving elements of the image sensor 8 as the image is moved and scanned . a plane image imaging distance d when the strength of scattered light or contrast is maximum or at a peak period is calculated for each of the light receiving elements ( pixels ) and the calculated distance d is considered as the distance of the appropriate pixel of the object . since the distance d corresponds to the distance between the position at which the plane image j is disposed at the multi - exposure and the position of the hologram 3 , each distance d is determined for each rotational angle of the hologram 3 . in this way , the distance image of the object 6 is obtained for each of the pixels . in this embodiment , light sources k ( each of which includes a laser light source 1 and lens 2 ) are disposed at different positions . by selecting those light sources sequentially , the hologram 3 is subjected to multi - exposure such that plane images j are formed at different positions in a depth direction of the halogen 3 . the light source k may be moved in place of the sequential selection of the light sources . alternatively , light sources may be selectively switched instead . for example , the hologram may be beforehand subjected to multi - exposure such that the plane image j &# 39 ;- 1 is imaged by the light source k - 1 and the plane image j &# 39 ;- n is imaged by the light source k - n . by sequentially one by one lighting up the sources k - 1 to k - n at different positions to the hologram 3 , which has been subjected to multi - exposure , plane images j &# 39 ; different in depth are imaged sequentially . the structure of the device for light reception is similar to that of the embodiment shown in fig1 . the respective outputs of the light receiving elements of the image sensor 8 are sequentially sampled in correspondence to the scan of the source k . a plane image imaging distance d present when the strength of scattered light or contrast is maximum or at a peak period during the scan is calculated for each of the light receiving elements ( pixels ) and the resulting distance d is considered as the distance of the appropriate pixel of the object 6 . in this way , the distance image of the object 6 is obtained for each pixel as in the previous embodiments . fig5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention . in this embodiment , a liquid crystal shutter 10 is provided in front of the hologram 3 . as shown in fig6 the shutter 10 is composed of a plurality of concentric areas 10 - a , . . . , 10 - d . voltages ( electric fields ) applied to respective areas of the liquid crystal are controlled such that the areas open sequentially one by one . the shutter 10 has an observation window 11 as in the hologram 3 . in this case , as shown in fig7 the hologram 3 is beforehand subjected to partial exposure such that plane images are formed at different distances d in concentric areas 3 - a , . . . , 3d similar to those of the shutter 10 . for example , one area of the shutter 10 is opened and reference light is casted on the hologram 3 in a state where a plane object is disposed at a position . another area of the shutter 10 is then opened and the reference light is casted on the hologram 3 in a state where the plane object is disposed at a position different from the previous position just mentioned . by iterating such exposure process a plurality of times , the hologram 3 which are subjected to partial exposure is formed . by casting the laser light l from the source 1 on the resulting hologram 3 and sequentially selecting the open areas of the liquid crystal shutter 10 , plane images are sequentially imaged at different positions in the depth direction of the hologram . thus , in this case , the respective outputs of the light receiving elements of the image sensor 8 are sampled in correspondence to the selection of the open areas of the liquid crystal shutter 10 , the plane image imaging distances d present when the strength of the scattered light or contrast is maximum or at a peak period due to the switching of the shutter 10 is calculated for each of the light receiving elements ( pixels ) and the calculated plane image imaging distances d is considered as the distance to the appropriate pixel of the objects 6 . in this : way , the distances image is obtained for each of the pixels , as same with the previously described embodiment . while in the above embodiments , the area is divided into concentric areas , the shape of the divided areas is freely determined . while in the embodiments the liquid crystal shutter is used , any other type of shutter may be used as long as the shutter has the same function . fig8 shows a fourth embodiment . in this embodiment , the laser beam l from the source 1 is amplified by a lens 2 , then collimated by a lens 12 , and the resulting collimated rays of light are casted as reference light to the hologram 3 . in this case , the hologram 3 is beforehand once subjected to exposure such that when the reference light is casted on the hologram 3 , a plane image is formed at a position where the distance between that position of the formed plane image and the position of the hologram 3 is a predetermined distance do . in this case , the hologram 3 is arranged so as to be moved by a moving actuator 13 in the depth direction ( shown by an arrow m ) with the angle θ between the surface of the hologram 3 and the reference light l being constant . thus , when the actuator 13 causes the hologram 3 to be moved and scanned , the plane image is moved and scanned in the depth direction ( in the direction of the arrow m ) such that the plane image is formed at a position where the distance between that position of the plane image and the position of the hologram 3 is do at all times . thus , the distance measuring unit 9 sequentially samples the respective outputs of the light receiving elements of the image sensor 8 as the hologram 3 is moved and scanned , calculates the sum d of the distance of movement of the hologram 3 ( from a reference position ) and the plane image imaging distance do present when the strength of the scattered light or the contrast is maximum or at a peak period during the movement and scan of the hologram 3 for each of the light receiving elements ( pixels ) and the calculated distance d is considered as the distance to the appropriate pixel of the object 6 . in this way , the distance image of the object 6 is obtained for the respective pixels . while in the above - mentioned respective embodiments the laser beam is used as the light source , pure monochromatic light or white light may be used instead . while the lens 2 is used as the beam diverging means , a hologram which has the same function may be used . | 6 |
at first , referring to fig1 and 2 , this device comprises a crane 1 including a motor 11 to turn a wind drive wheel 13 via a gear wheel 12 . a wire rope 2 is wound around the wind drive wheel 13 and another wind drive wheel 14 . both ends of the rope 2 are securely and respectively fixed at both sides in a stable such that the crane 1 can move along two guide ropes 3 right and left with help of two guide pulley sets 15 , pulled by the rope 2 when the motor 11 is in motion . the shaft of the motor 11 is provided with a sidewise pin 111 to fit in a slot 121 in the cylindrical shaft - linking section of the gear wheel 12 so that the gear wheel 12 can stop a bit when the clockwise revolution of the motor 11 is changed to the counter - clockwise revolution after the gear wheel 12 is assembled with the motor 11 . thereby the motor 11 can have a slight delay in its reversing action as to lessen its burden and thereby to decrease its breaking percentage . the drive wire rope 2 and the guide wire ropes 3 are securely stretched parallel to one another between two lengthwise sides in a stable , with both ends thereof fixed at said both sides . the rope 2 is set between the two ropes 3 , wound around both the wind drive wheels 13 and 14 . the guide pulley sets 15 respectively include three pulleys fitted on the three corners of a triangular frame 10 , and two pulleys , the right and the left , rest on the rope 3 and the middle one touches just under the rope 3 such that the rope 3 is located between the guide pulley set 15 to allow said set 15 to move along on the rope 3 . the motor 11 is connected with a timer 17 , which controls the working time of the motor 11 . the crane 1 is provided with an electric switch 16 for touching a limit rod 18 fixed securely at both end sections of the rope 3 selectably with a bolt . the moving distance of the crane 1 can be limited by the position of the limit rods 18 . when the switch 16 comes to touch the limit rod 18 as shown in fig3 the switch 16 makes the motor 11 to turn reversely with control of a relay 19 so that the crane 1 moves in the reverse direction towards the other side of the stable until the timer 17 stops . to prevent breaking of the switch 16 , two push buttons 102 and 103 are respectively provided at both sides of the crane 1 , for cutting off the power source of the motor 11 when said buttons 102 and 103 are pressed down or come to be pressed down by a sidewise rod at the bottom of the limit rod 18 . therefore , the crane can avoid continuing to move on . besides , manual pressing of said buttons 102 and 103 can stop the crane temporarily at a position where additional washing is desired . as to the motor , the timer , the relay and the push buttons , they are well - known arts , not to be described here . next , referring to fig1 , 5 and 6 , the spray system 4 is mounted on the crane 1 . spray system 4 comprises a guide tube 41 for guiding in water or sterilizing solution sucked in by a pump to be sprayed or shot out of a nozzle 42 , which can be swayed within a pre - set angle by a motor 43 . the swaying angle of the nozzle 42 is controlled by positioning threaded rods 44 , whose turning alters the distance between said rods and the nozzle 42 . in other words , the touching location of the nozzle 42 with the right ends of the positioning rods 44 is changed so that the spraying scope or angle of said nozzle may be adjusted properly . referring to fig7 the nozzle 42 is indirectly linked with an elbow fitting 421 which is screwed with the guide tube 41 . to a sidewise plate 422 is mounted a motor 43 having a shaft 431 to combine with a driving gear wheel 432 . the shaft 431 is provided with a hole for a pin 436 to be inserted therein , and the gear wheel 432 is provided - with a slot 437 in its cylindrical combining section . thus , the pin 436 can protrude out of the slot 437 and thereby stick at one end of the slot 437 to rotate the gear wheel 432 after the shaft 431 and the gear wheel 432 are assembled together . in addition , the slot 437 affords the gear wheel 432 an idle space in reversing rotation of the motor 43 , which is convenient to start the motor 43 . the gear wheel 432 engages with the gear wheel in the elbow fitting 423 , which is combined with the elbow fitting 421 . in order to enable the elbow fitting 423 to rotate and liquid to flow to the nozzle 42 , a hollow inner post 424 is provided to be contained in the elbow fitting 421 . inner post 24 has two circumferential grooves at one end for two anti - leak gaskets 425 to stick in so that said inner post 424 can rotate in the elbow fitting 421 . a bearing 426 is placed around the inner post 424 and then contained in the elbow fitting 421 . a seal cap 427 having a male thread screws with a female thread at one end of the elbow fitting 421 so as to confine a large part of the inner post 424 in said elbow 421 . the inner post 424 is also provided with a male thread 428 at the right end to penetrate through the central hole in the sealed cap and to screw with a female thread in the elbow fitting 423 so that the rotation of the elbow fitting 423 enables the inner post 424 to rotate idly in the elbow fitting 421 and the bearing 426 . then , the elbow fitting 423 is assembled with the nozzle 42 as shown in fig8 so that the fluid can flow orderly through the elbow 421 , the inner post 424 , the elbow 423 and out of the nozzle 42 . thus , the fluid can be shot or sprayed in proper volume , with help of a handle 429 and bolt 420 . the motor 43 is fixed on a positioning plate 46 with two bolts 434 and nuts 435 penetrating two ear holes 433 and two holes 461 . the positioning plate 46 is also provided with two holes 462 for a bolt 45 to penetrate to screw with a nut 47 for screwing the motor 43 with the sidewise plate 422 so that the gear wheel 432 can engage steadily with the gear wheel in the elbow 423 . | 0 |
the present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings , in which embodiments of the invention are shown . this invention may , however , be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein ; rather , these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete , and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art . like numbers refer to like elements throughout . in the figures , the thickness of certain lines , layers , components , elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity . broken lines illustrate optional features or operations unless specified otherwise . the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention . unless otherwise defined , all terms ( including technical and scientific terms ) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs . it will be further understood that terms , such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries , should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein . well - known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and / or clarity . 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 , elements , components , and / or groups thereof . as used herein , the term “ and / or ” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items . as used herein , phrases such as “ between x and y ” and “ between about x and y ” should be interpreted to include x and y . as used herein , phrases such as “ between about x and y ” mean “ between about x and about y .” as used herein , phrases such as “ from about x to y ” mean “ from about x to about y .” it will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “ on ”, “ attached ” to , “ connected ” to , “ coupled ” with , “ contacting ”, etc ., another element , it can be directly on , attached to , connected to , coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present . in contrast , when an element is referred to as being , for example , “ directly on ”, “ directly attached ” to , “ directly connected ” to , “ directly coupled ” with or “ directly contacting ” another element , there are no intervening elements present . it will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “ adjacent ” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature . spatially relative terms , such as “ under ”, “ below ”, “ lower ”, “ over ”, “ upper ”, “ lateral ”, “ left ”, “ right ” and the like , may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature &# 39 ; s relationship to another element ( s ) or feature ( s ) as illustrated in the figures . it will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures . for example , if the device in the figures is inverted , elements described as “ under ” or “ beneath ” other elements or features would then be oriented “ over ” the other elements or features . the device may be otherwise oriented ( rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations ) and the descriptors of relative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly . referring now to the drawings , wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating presently preferred embodiments of the invention only and not for the purpose of limiting same , fig1 shows a network equipment holder 10 for storing , for example , networking and / or telecommunications equipment . in one embodiment of the invention , the network equipment holder comprises a tape storage library , and this tape storage library is discussed hereinafter . network equipment holder 10 includes a first side 12 with a plurality of openings 14 in which tape drives 16 are mounted and a plurality of compartments 18 having openings 20 in which cable guide panels 22 according to embodiments of the present invention can be mounted . only one cable guide panel 22 is illustrated in fig1 ; the other compartments 18 are empty , and it can be seen that these compartments 18 have rear walls 24 . additional elements of network equipment holder 10 are located behind rear walls 24 of compartments 18 . therefore , when opening 20 is covered by a conventional cable guide panel ( not illustrated ) that is screwed or otherwise fixed over opening 20 , it is not possible to access the side of that conventional cable guide panel that faces into compartment 18 without removing the entire conventional cable guide panel . a single trunk cable 26 is illustrated coming from a data source ( not illustrated ) along the first side 12 of network equipment holder 10 and entering compartment 18 over the top side of cable guide panel 22 , and a single patch cord 28 is illustrated leaving the front of cable guide panel 22 and connecting to one of the tape drives 16 . for clarity of illustration , only one trunk cable 26 and one patch cord 28 are shown ; in use , multiple trunk cables and patch cords will be present . the arrangement and connections of these various cables will be described in greater detail hereinafter . cable guide panel 22 mounted in one of the openings 20 of compartment 18 is illustrated in fig2 . cable guide panel 22 includes a frame 30 having a first side 32 , a second side 34 parallel to first side 32 , and a top 36 and a bottom 38 that connect the first and second sides 32 , 34 . frame 30 is sized to fit in opening 20 , and the size can be changed as necessary depending on the size of the particular opening of the device on which the cable guide panel 22 is mounted . frame top 36 includes a projecting flange 40 having a plurality of slots 42 , and frame bottom 38 includes a projecting flange 44 having a plurality of slots 46 . the top and bottom slots 42 , 46 may have openings 48 facing away from the cable guide panel 22 or in the direction of one of the first and second sides 32 , 34 . first side 32 of frame 30 includes a projecting flange 50 having a plurality of cable apertures 52 . the function of the top and bottom slots 42 , 46 and cable apertures 52 will be described hereinafter . cable guide panel 22 further includes a panel member 54 having a first side edge 56 connected to frame first side 32 by a hinge 58 . panel member 54 also includes a second side edge 60 , a top edge 62 , a bottom edge 64 , a front side 66 and a rear side 68 ( illustrated in fig4 and 6 ). the panel member 54 has a recessed central portion 70 having an opening 72 and first and second angled walls 74 extending away from recessed central portion 70 toward the first and second side edges 56 , 60 of panel member 54 . panel member 54 is mounted so as to be free to pivot between open and closed positions relative to frame 30 . a first stop 76 is formed by a projecting portion of the second side edge 60 of panel member 54 which overlies a portion of frame second side 34 when panel member 54 is in the closed position to substantially prevent panel member 54 from rotating more than a given distance into compartment 18 . second side edge 60 of panel member 54 also includes a opening 78 that is aligned with an opening 80 in frame second side 34 when panel member 54 is in the closed position , and a plunger fastener 82 is mounted in opening 78 . when plunger fastener 82 is pressed into opening 80 in frame second side 34 , panel member 54 is fixed relative to frame 30 . when plunger fastener 82 is withdrawn from opening 80 , second side edge 60 of panel member 54 is free to swing about hinge 58 away from frame 30 . panel member 54 further includes a second stop in the form of a projecting tongue 84 ( fig4 ) extending from the bottom portion of rear side 68 of panel member 54 which is generally perpendicular to frame bottom 38 when panel member 54 is in the closed position . however , projecting tongue 84 abuts against the rear portion of frame bottom 38 , as illustrated in fig7 , when panel member 54 projects approximately 90 degrees relative to frame 30 to substantially limit the pivotal motion of panel second side edge 60 away from frame 30 . a plurality of fiber connection modules 90 are mounted in opening 72 in panel member 54 , which fiber connection modules may comprise instapatch brand connection modules available from commscope , inc . fiber connection modules 90 include back sides 92 having ports 94 , compatible with mpo adapters 96 on can - out cables 106 connected thereto and front sides 98 having ports 100 connectable to patch cords 28 . a cable management bar 102 is mounted on rear side 68 of panel member 54 which cable management bar 102 projects away from panel member 54 and passes over the back sides 92 of the fiber connection modules 90 . as illustrated in fig1 and 2 , trunk cables 26 arrive at network equipment holder 10 and pass along first side 12 of the network equipment holder 10 to the one of cable guide panels 22 for which they are intended . the trunk cables 26 for that cable guide panel 22 pass through either the uppermost or lowermost one of the cable apertures 52 in projecting flange 50 and through slots 42 in projecting flange 40 on frame top 36 or slots 46 in projecting flange 44 on frame bottom 38 . while slots 42 are illustrated , through - openings could be provided in the top and bottom projecting flanges 40 , 44 , for the trunk cables ; however , this would require the trunk cables to be passed longitudinally through the through - openings instead of pressed laterally into the disclosed slots . slotted sleeves 104 , illustrated in fig3 , on the trunk cables 28 secure the trunk cables to the top and bottom projecting flanges 40 , 44 . after passing through slots 42 , 46 and into the interior of compartment 18 , trunk cables 26 split into two or more fan - out cables 106 , each of which is provided at its terminal end with a suitable adapter 96 configured to mate with one of the ports 94 on the back sides 92 of fiber connection modules 90 . approximately two feet total of trunk cable and fan - out cable is provided between the projecting flanges 40 , 44 and the adapters 96 to provide slack to allow panel member 54 to move as described below . the fan - out cables 106 are connected to cable management bar 102 by suitable ties 108 to help maintain the relationship between the back sides 92 of the fiber connection modules 90 and the portion of the fan - out cables 106 in the vicinity of the back sides 92 of the fiber connection modules 90 to minimize stress on the adapters 96 when panel member 54 moves as described below . a plurality of patch cords 28 are connected to the ports 100 on the front sides 98 of the fiber connection modules 100 , and these patch cords 28 are bundled and passed through patch cord supports 110 on one of angled walls 74 of panel member 54 and through the central ones of the cable apertures 52 in the projecting flange 50 of frame first side 52 . from the projecting flange 50 , the patch cords run to various ones of tape drives 16 or other data storage elements . a label 112 is provided on one of the angled walls 74 to help identify each of the ports 100 on a given one of the fiber connection modules 90 . as discussed above , panel member 54 is movable between a first , closed , position with first stop 76 in contact with frame second side 34 ( fig2 ) and a second , open position , with second stop or projecting tongue 84 in contact with the rear side of frame bottom 38 . the open position is illustrated in fig6 ; an intermediate position is illustrated in fig5 . as panel member 54 pivots from the closed position to the open position , the ties 108 secure the ends of the fan - out cables near the back sides 92 of the fiber connection modules 90 as the trunk cables 26 are partially pulled from compartment 18 . the patch cords 28 in turn slide freely within cable openings 54 in projecting flange 50 . the trunk cables 26 , meanwhile , remain fixed in the vicinity of the projecting flanges 40 , 44 of frame top and bottom 36 , 38 , respectively , while the slack in the trunk cables 26 and fan - out cables 106 in compartment 18 minimizes stress on the connections . in this manner , bend radius rules are maintained for all sections of the trunk cable 28 , fan - out cables 106 and patch cords 28 as the panel member 54 shifts between open and closed positions . moreover , panel member 54 can be moved between open and closed positions as necessary to make initial or new connections between fan - out cables 106 and the ports 94 on the back sides 92 of the fiber connection modules and then returned to the closed position and secured with plunger fastener 82 while the network equipment holder 10 is in use . this movement between open and closed positions does not violate bend radius rules for any of the cables connected to the cable guide panel 22 and does not require the disconnection of any of the patch cords connected to the ports 100 on the front side 98 of the fiber connection modules 90 . beneficially , the above - described arrangement allows conventional fiber connection modules , such as fiber connection modules 90 , to be used regardless of whether rear access is available and avoids the need to design and / or stock alternate modules for this special application . the present invention has been described herein in terms of one or more preferred embodiments . changes and additions to these embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the foregoing description . it is intended that all such modifications and additions comprise a part of the present invention to the extent they fall within the scope of the several claims appended hereto . | 6 |
hereinafter , a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . although certain elements , such as a greeting word ‘ dear ’, are specifically defined in the following description of the present invention , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that such definitions of elements are merely to improve understanding of the present invention and that the present invention can be carried out without such specific elements . also , in the following description of the present invention , a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention unclear . fig1 shows the structure of a mobile terminal according to the present invention . a transceiver 10 is a processor for transmitting or receiving radio signals . a key input section 20 is a user input section provided with keys for inputting numbers or characters and function keys for setting up various functions . a user can input a telephone number or a text message using those keys . a central processing unit ( cpu ) 30 directs the overall operations of the mobile terminal . as a user interface means , a display section 40 may comprise an lcd device . the user can see any received message or the operational state of the mobile terminal through the display section 40 . a memory 50 includes a telephone number storing section 50 a , a header storing section 50 b and a footer storing section 50 c . such a plurality of storing sections can be included in a single memory or provided on separate memories . the cpu 30 reads an additional comment , i . e ., a header or a footer , from the memory 50 automatically in a preset mode or in response to the user &# 39 ; s request input through the key input section 20 , and adds the header or footer to a text message input by the user . fig2 is a flow chart showing a process of inputting a header or a footer according to the present invention . to activate the process , it is assumed that the user has pressed a menu key and selected an item to display sub - items for inputting a header or a footer . at step 2 a , the cpu 30 recognizes the input of the menu key and directs the display section 40 to display the items contained in a selected menu , for example , as shown in fig5 a . if the user selects one item , for example , the item “ 2 . write a text message ” ( fig5 a ), the display section 40 will display sub - items of the selected item as shown in fig5 b . if the user selects the item “ 5 . input a header / footer ” ( fig5 b ), the cpu 30 will recognize the selection at step 2 b and will determine whether the user wishes to input a header or a footer at step 2 c . to this end , the cpu 30 directs the display section 40 to display sub - items as shown in fig5 c . if the user inputs a header at step 2 d after selecting the item “ 1 . header ” ( fig5 c ), the input header will be stored in the header storing section 50 b of the memory 50 at step 2 e . sub - items for inputting a header may include those shown in fig5 d . alternatively , the user may select the item “ 2 . footer ” ( fig5 c ), and input a footer at step 2 f . the input footer will be stored in the footer storing section 50 c of the memory at step 2 g . sub - items for inputting a footer may include those shown in fig5 e . fig3 is a flow chart showing a process of adding a header and / or a footer to a text message according to the present invention . fig4 a and 4b are views showing items contained in the “ phone book ” menu and sub - items displayed when an item is selected . fig4 a shows items displayed when the user selects a phone book from initially displayed menus . if the user selects the item “ 1 . search phone numbers ” from the displayed items , the picture as shown in fig4 b will be displayed . fig4 a and 4b merely show examples of pictures displayed when the user selects a menu and an item contained in the menu . it is obvious that mobile terminals can have a variety of phone book forms according to the manufacturers or the years of manufacture . fig5 a to 5 e showing items contained in the “ sent messages ” menu and sub - items displayed when an item is selected according to the present invention . fig5 a shows items contained in the “ sent messages ” menu . the items include paging , writing a text message and managing sent messages . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , it is assumed that the user has selected the “ write a text message ” item . fig5 b shows sub - items , which include editing a text message , opening a text message , writing a new text message , deleting a text message and inputting a header / footer . the preferred embodiment of the present invention is applicable when the user selects opening a text message , writing a new text message or inputting a header / footer . the two items “ open a text message ” and “ write a new text message ” are generally selected to send a text message on the mobile terminal . the item “ input a header / footer ” can be selected when the user wishes to store a header or a footer in the memory in advance . fig5 c shows two sub - items “ header ” and “ footer ” displayed when the “ write a header / footer ” item is selected . fig5 d shows sub - sub - items displayed when “ header ” is selected from the display of fig5 c . the user can select or directly input a word ( ex . a honorific title word or greeting word , etc . ), which should be given before the recipient &# 39 ; s name . fig5 e shows sub - sub - items displayed when “ footer ” is selected from the display of fig5 c . the user can directly input any or no footer . hereinafter , a process for adding a header and / or a footer to a text message as shown in fig3 will be explained in more detail with reference to the above described fig4 a , 4b and 5 a to 5 e . it is assumed that the user has selected the “ text message ” menu by pressing a menu key . at step 3 a , the cpu 30 recognizes the input of the menu key and directs the display section 40 to display items contained in the selected menu , for example , the menu shown in fig5 a . if the user selects an item , for example , “ 2 . write a text message ,” the display section 40 will display sub - items of the selected item as shown in fig5 b . if the user selects the items “ 2 . open a text message ” or “ 3 . write a new text message ,” the cpu 30 will recognize the selection at step 3 b and will detect whether the user inputs a text message using a known function of opening a text message or writing a new text message at step 3 c . at step 3 d , the cpu 30 determines whether the user wishes to input a header or a footer . to this end , the cpu 30 may direct the display section 40 to display yes / no options for the user to select one . alternatively , the cpu 30 may be configured to recognize the user &# 39 ; s wish to input a header or a footer when a predetermined key is pressed . if the user selects the item “ 1 . header ,” ( fig5 c ) he or she can then input a recipient &# 39 ; s telephone number at step 3 e . at this time , the user can input the telephone number through a phone book search or by direct pressing of number keys . at step 3 g , the cpu 30 determines whether the input telephone number is recorded in the phone book . for explanatory convenience , the recipient &# 39 ; s name and telephone number “ hong gil - dong 011 - 234 - 5678 ” in fig4 b will be explained as an example . if the input telephone number is determined as being recorded in the phone book , the corresponding recipient &# 39 ; s name will be added as a header to the text message at step 3 h . for example , if the text message input by the user at step 3 c is “ hi ! have a nice day !,” the greeting word and the name of the recipient “ dear hong gil - dong ” will be added as the header to the input message to make a complete text message “ dear hong gil - dong , hi ! have a nice day !” the recipient &# 39 ; s name “ hong gil - dong ” is copied from the records of the phone book and a greeting word “ dear ” is inserted according to the user &# 39 ; s selection on the display as shown in fig5 d . the insertion of a title or a greeting word can make the recipient feel better when reading the text message . if the input telephone number is determined as not being recorded in the phone book , the last four digits in the input telephone number will be inserted as a header to the text message at step 3 j . the complete text message will then be “ dear 5678 , hi ! have a nice day !” if the user selects the item “ 2 . footer ” ( fig5 c ) at step 3 d , he or she can input the recipient &# 39 ; s telephone number again at step 3 f . it is possible to insert a comment stored by the user in advance , for example , “ take care ,” as a footer at the end of the input text message . after completing steps 3 f , 3 h or 3 j , the user can send a final , completed text message at step 3 i . fig3 shows a process of inputting a telephone number of a single recipient in a text message . although not shown in this drawing , it is possible to input telephone numbers of multiple recipients in a multi - address message at step 3 e , using the header / footer inserting function . steps 3 g , 3 h and 3 i or steps 3 g , 3 j and 3 i need be repeated according to the number of recipients . if neither a header nor a footer is added to a multi - address text message , the user needs to input only the telephone numbers of the multiple recipients at step 3 f and repeat step 3 i according to the number of the input telephone numbers . as explained above , the present invention databases additional comments that can be added as a header or a footer to a text message , thereby improving user convenience . the user can add a header or a footer individually for each recipient when forwarding a uniform text message to multiple recipients . accordingly , the present invention can reduce the trouble for the user to repeatedly input the same message to send it to multiple recipients and solve the monotony of a multi - address message by enabling the user to insert each recipient &# 39 ; s name and title or greeting word to improve a sense of intimacy and add a certain comment for a certain recipient or a certain group of recipients . although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes , those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications , additions and substitutions are possible , without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims , including the full scope of equivalents thereof . | 6 |
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